If you enjoyed ‘After the Storm’, you might like Day-Possum, Morning River Notes, or A Tiny Deity. They all involve observation and a positive emotional turn.
Here’s something I wrote as a craft exercise: a poem in two sentences.
…
Goanna
This afternoon, a goanna ambled toward me,
tongue tasting the air between us—all the while—
his eyes fixed firmly on my sandwich,
which I abandoned to fate, hoping
to avoid an argument, or worse.
…
And people are like that, wanting
what they want, without saying what
it is they want, despite quite clearly
wanting it—despite what you want,
even if it’s just a sandwich.
…
And here’s an update:
…
Hi all,
After a big storm last week, we are expecting another soon—perhaps bigger. A metaphor for the times we live in, or just an observation? I think it can be both.
First off, I’d like to welcome new subscribers. I hope you enjoy reading the poems and exploring the archive. I’ve tried to make counter/field easy to navigate—the ‘start here’ and ‘navigation’ pages help with this, but I’ve recently added some page links at the top of the homepage that make navigation simple. I hope you find them useful.
I’ve also changed the way I do things a little. Where I previously posted two poems a week, I now post one poem (on Wednesday 10pm, AEST) and something else (on Saturday 10am, AEST). Today the something else is an update, but in future it could be anything. I feel this will improve the quality of the poems: I can write longer ones, and edit them more thoroughly. It also gives me a bit more time to make collages, which I think compliment the poems nicely and look good (if I do say so myself). I don’t send email notifications for these Saturday posts because who wants endless emails? Not me! To preserve the visual effect of the blog, I tend to hide the updates after about a week. That means you can still read them after you get the next email notification for the Wednesday poem.
On a craft level, I’m still working my way through ‘The Art of Syntax’ by Voigt and, while it’s a tough read, I’m finding it very rewarding and recommend it highly. You may have noticed improvements in my use of syntax and lineation (at least I hope so), and that is due to Voight.
I’m slowly making sure each poem has a visual accompaniment, but do not want to use photos or AI images. I make them myself and even the simple ones take time. The collages take longer. If there’s one overriding ethic to the blog, it’s ‘hand-made’. In this world of AI-generated writing, I think many readers crave something they know was written by a person. If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place.
I’ve also moved into a more hybrid style that combines observation, stillness, and the mythic. I’m finding it interesting but of course will explore more styles in the future. Keep an eye out, I suppose!
Counter/field has been doing well. Last month was very busy with lots of people visiting and subscribing from all over the world. Welcome! The blog is slowly breaking out of the WordPress ecosystem into the broader internet. Google search results are multiplying, making counter/field easier to find. I also have a social media presence, but, to be honest, the blog is much more interesting.
Well, that’s quite enough from me. Happy reading and have a great day!
Cheers,
Stef.
