Bounty

By Helen Hagemann

PROSE POETRY

This collection of prose poetry will surprise, astound, delight, tell a story, and provide you with an effortless read. Along with images, the poetry is created so that you can enjoy little blocks of prose that act like word pictures. The objects / subjects in the poetry are given a narrative voice rather than written from a personal perspective. Moreover, this collection is subversive, adroit, deceptively plain speaking, unpremeditated, and packaged in prose that stands alone in a crazy logic of its own. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oz.one Publishing
• Release date: Nov 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223857914

Helen Hagemann

In 2004 Helen Hagemann received a poetry mentorship award from the Australian Society of Authors studying with Jean Kent, a NSW poet. In 2008, she won a Macquarie/Varuna Longlines Poetry scholarship resulting in the publication of a chapbook Evangelyne & Other Poems published by the Australian Poetry Centre, Melbourne (2009). Her second collection of Arc & Shadow was published by Sunline Press, Cottesloe, WA (2013). Helen holds a Masters in Writing from Edith Cowan University, has taught prose and poetry in Fremantle in association with the OOTA Writers Inc., and has been accepted into writing residencies throughout the world. The Last Asbestos Town, a debut novel, is now published as a 2nd Edition through the imprint Oz.one Publishing.

Book preview

BOUNTY

Helen Hagemann

––––––––

Oz.one Publishing ©

Bounty

Helen Hagemann

Copyright (c) Helen Hagemann 2023

Cover Design by Hagemann / Canva ©

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the author. helenhagemann.net

Oz.one Publishing ©

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Bounty

Monarchs

Bee Season

Caterpillar

Water-bird

Bottlebrush

Music

Cushions

Cups

Op-Shop

Rugs

Canvas

Night Pareidolia

Lamp

50s Cars

Jukebox

Art

Gambler

Old Churches

Weatherboards

Stairs

Camping

Trails

Pinnacles

Ferry

Vase

Fountain

Bridge

Statue

Archways

Market

Pottery

Fly-trap

Souvenirs

Carts

Hut

Tiles

Poetic Space

Castle

City

Hotel

Desk

Mirror

Glassware

Balcony

Bedroom

China Doll

Footstool

Breakfast

Beer

Mangoes

Sunset

Church

Jetty

Picture Hall

Bus Shelter

Ticket Box

Anchor

Lighthouse

Acknowledgements

About the Author

PREFACE

Bounty is a completed project of prose poetry that mainly reflects a whole body of objects per se subjects that occupy our state / home / locality / backyard / urban or rural environment. Often prose poetry does not get the recognition it deserves, yet in its small, squared form it is eye-catching, accessible and easily viewed. Certain ‘objects’, too, have been overlooked in the writing of poetry as having no emotional engagement, a lived experience or voice. Objects are inanimate, yet, as with fine-arts, they can appeal to the eye in an artistic sense and expression. Prose poetry also has the ability to include the poetic techniques of alliteration, symbolism, theme, repetition, sound, rhythm and figurative language. I have written many prose poems over the years, some have been published and I sincerely love the form. I am especially fond of the poetic suite: Ticket Box, Picture Hall, Bus Shelter and Anchor written while on Rottnest Island, Western Australia. These are examples of how one can document small structures that are historically significant. From various prose-poets such as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Pierre Reverdy, Charles Simic and the Australian poet Gary Catalano, I have taken the idea that language can be surreal, experimental, interesting, fun and quirky. I am also inspired by the work of Gertrude Stein, an early twentieth-century contemporary of Pablo Picasso. Stein was largely influenced by cubist paintings and championed Picasso’s cubism by distorting language in her own avant-garde writing. This is evident in her expansive prose poem titled Tender Buttons. I am indebted to Stein who allowed me, by example, the freedom to experiment, to be progressive and to hopefully show how prose poetry can bring many subjects / ‘objects’ to life.

INTRODUCTION

This collection Bounty is a two decade long exploration of prose poetry. The form has allowed me to explore a multi-layer of styles and preoccupations within the genre. The collection as three separate sections and progressions range from the everyday life of the familiar as in Section 1 – Bounty that explores some common place objects such as rugs, cushions, cups, vases, clothes, cars, churches and houses.  Section 2 – Cultural highlights the experience of travelling utilising various mechanisms of language. Section 3 – Avant is inspired by my university studies of Gertrude Stein especially her subversion of the conventional use of language. While Stein’s unconventional work was ‘language as cubism in a distorted framework’ where the reader makes meaning, my poetry encompasses some experience, meaning or