Teapots and Incense

 

The world of dew
Is a world of dew, and yet
And yet…
~ Issa

Hi, I’m Anita.
Thank you for taking a stroll into my ordinary world. ..
A world filled with tatters of poetry, glorious words, many cups of tea, all kinds of cake, ducks, swans and pelicans, jugs filled with daisies, autumn leaves, pails of sea water, scurrying toddlers, children’s chatter, babies, bath toys, trials and triumphs in the kitchen, shreds of conversation, precious friendships, quirky views on books, language, education, philosophy, restaurants, art, films, travel and lots of other random stuff …

So welcome to these haphazard fragments of my story … a story that is as fragrant and ephemeral as sandalwood incense drifting over our little courtyard garden and as fat and settled as the teapot that sits comfortably on my kitchen bench.

© Anita Patel, 2015

 

Published by anitapatel

Anita Patel is a writer (and retired teacher) who has lived in Canberra since 1982. She is as Australian as a banana paddle pop and a pair of sandy thongs and she is also a part of the Asian diaspora. Her collections of poetry are: 'Petals Fall' published by Recent Work Press in 2022 (https://recentworkpress.com/product/petals-fall) and 'A Common Garment' published by Recent Work Press in 2019 (https://recentworkpress.com/product/a-common-garment/). In 2019, she collaborated with acclaimed artist, Annie Franklin, to produce 'Heart Stitched' (a story - in paintings and poetry - of the quirky, unexpected and dazzling layers in the natural world). They received significant support from Nancy Sever (Nancy Sever Gallery). In 2022, their second book 'Grief and Beauty' (which arose from the 2019-20 bushfires) was published - once again with support from Nancy Sever. She has had work published in the Canberra Times, in Conversations (Pandanus Press, ANU), in Block 9, Burley Journal, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Demos Journal, Mascara Literary Review, Not Very Quiet Journal, Cordite Poetry Review, Backstory Journal, Other Terrain Journal, Pink Cover Zine, FemAsia Magazine, Plumwood Mountain Journal, Eucalypt: a tanka journal and Print Issue 42 of The Blue Nib Journal. Her work is also included in the following anthologies: The Australian Poetry Anthology (Vol. 8), 'This Gift This Poem' (Puncher and Wattman),'What We Carry' (Recent Work Press) and 'Book of Birds' (Recent Work Press). Her children’s poems are included in an anthology 'Pardon My Garden' (Harper Collins). Her poem “Women’s Talk” won the ACT Writers Centre Poetry Prize in 2004 and her poetry was selected for and published in Australian Book Review’s States of Poetry ACT, 2018. She has performed her work at the Canberra Multicultural Festival, Poetry on the Move Festival, Noted Festival, Floriade Fringe Festival, In Other Words Festival (at Lost in Books, Fairfield), the Queensland Poetry Festival, the National Folk Festival, at Smith’s Alternative, at Word in Hand (Glebe) and La Mama Poetica. Her reviews, “Found in Translation”, on the performances of four Japanese women poets and their translators at Poetry on the Move Festival, 2017 and “No More Silent Waiting”, on the anthology Autonomy edited by Kathy D’Arcy (2018) have been published by Not Very Quiet Journal. She was the guest editor for Issue 2 of Not Very Quiet Journal.

10 thoughts on “Teapots and Incense”

  1. Pingback: Teapots and Incense | teapotsandincense

  4. Hi Anita

    I just read ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North’ …it’s so strange how you’ll get hit by two Issa quotes, in different places, on the same day…

    I’d love to read you poem Women’s Talk but I can’t find it online. Would you consider posting it here?

    Kik

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    1. Hi Kik,
      Yes I think that Issa is my favourite haiku poet.
      “Women’s Talk” was published in a literary journal Block 9 in 2009. I will be putting a copy of it in a log on friendship that I am intending to write. I will probably photograph the poem from the journal in case of any issues with copyright. Thank you so much for reading my odd little pieces. I love sharing them with friends like you.
      Anita xx

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