(still more!) memery
Still for this meme, fahye asked me:
1. Favourite poem?
Oh dear. So many favourites! It's like having to decide between your pets or children, because I have a different and separate history with each. There are poems that have been my absolute, long-time treasured favourites; and there are the newer, burning passions that might just be short-lived crushes, something that gets me through a particular moment or experience in life, but that may just also stay with me for years.
Cavafy's "The City" is my idea of a perfect poem. I've loved it for a very long time, quoted it often (it's the signature of my e-mails, for chrissake!). It doesn't fit into either of the two main categories of Cavafy's poetry (historical and erotic), it's more overtly allegorical. I notice some people's reaction to it seems to be of melancholy, because it rejects the idea (so ever-present in popular culture) that you can uproot yourself and just start over, have a new beginning - but I've never seen the poem as depressing. I believe in a kind of divine justice, that we are the sum of our actions and our past, and that to deny that is pure foolishness. Theodore Roethke's "The Waking", Nazim Hikmet's "On Living" and Dylan Thomas' "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" are other old favourites.
More recently, I've fallen for Paul Dehn's "At The Dark Hour" for its austerity and strength of emotion, Louis MacNeice's "Snow", and pretty much anything by Anne Michaels. Trying to explain precisely why is more difficult - I honestly have no idea how to critique poetry, and have to go by gut feeling. When I was in primary school I used to compete in eisteddfods where I would recite poems, monologues and such, and it's brought me up with the habit of reading poems aloud, tasting the sounds and phrases; so that's a large part of how I approach a poem. Maybe that's also why I don't favour very long poems - my voice wears out when I try to read it in one sitting, or I lose concentration.
2. When I move to Sydney next year (fingers crossed!), what small, known-only-to-locals, tucked-away shops/cafes/places should I hunt down?
OMG YES! Come to Sydney!! Best place for yum cha! Or, if you're into pizza, Arthur's on Oxford Street is terrific. My favourite lunch spots are around where I study. Like...the laksa at Happy Chef in the Sussex St Asian foodcourt (an oddity in itself in that it's a foodcourt where they sell alcohol) in Chinatown, which is the best I've tasted: not too sweet, very full-on spicy. Or the Lebanese at Habibi's, Surry Hills - I've never had dinner there, but lunch was great. There's a fabulous place to get hot pies and pasties at Circular Quay, a kiosk-liked vendor that basically sells just coffee and pastries. And there's a couple of really good cafes/restaurants on Glebe Pt Road where I regularly eat. Pancakes on the Rocks isn't exactly a local secret, but if you're not afraid of calories, it's a good place for a snack - as is Max Brenner's in the Centrepoint building. so_spiffed and I, after a day of gallery-seeing, like a (very) late breakfast at Aristotle's Coffee Lounge (Oxford St, Darlinghurst) or a (very) massive dessert course at the Rocks Cafe, which is not just for tourists.
1. Favourite poem?
Oh dear. So many favourites! It's like having to decide between your pets or children, because I have a different and separate history with each. There are poems that have been my absolute, long-time treasured favourites; and there are the newer, burning passions that might just be short-lived crushes, something that gets me through a particular moment or experience in life, but that may just also stay with me for years.
Cavafy's "The City" is my idea of a perfect poem. I've loved it for a very long time, quoted it often (it's the signature of my e-mails, for chrissake!). It doesn't fit into either of the two main categories of Cavafy's poetry (historical and erotic), it's more overtly allegorical. I notice some people's reaction to it seems to be of melancholy, because it rejects the idea (so ever-present in popular culture) that you can uproot yourself and just start over, have a new beginning - but I've never seen the poem as depressing. I believe in a kind of divine justice, that we are the sum of our actions and our past, and that to deny that is pure foolishness. Theodore Roethke's "The Waking", Nazim Hikmet's "On Living" and Dylan Thomas' "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" are other old favourites.
More recently, I've fallen for Paul Dehn's "At The Dark Hour" for its austerity and strength of emotion, Louis MacNeice's "Snow", and pretty much anything by Anne Michaels. Trying to explain precisely why is more difficult - I honestly have no idea how to critique poetry, and have to go by gut feeling. When I was in primary school I used to compete in eisteddfods where I would recite poems, monologues and such, and it's brought me up with the habit of reading poems aloud, tasting the sounds and phrases; so that's a large part of how I approach a poem. Maybe that's also why I don't favour very long poems - my voice wears out when I try to read it in one sitting, or I lose concentration.
2. When I move to Sydney next year (fingers crossed!), what small, known-only-to-locals, tucked-away shops/cafes/places should I hunt down?
OMG YES! Come to Sydney!! Best place for yum cha! Or, if you're into pizza, Arthur's on Oxford Street is terrific. My favourite lunch spots are around where I study. Like...the laksa at Happy Chef in the Sussex St Asian foodcourt (an oddity in itself in that it's a foodcourt where they sell alcohol) in Chinatown, which is the best I've tasted: not too sweet, very full-on spicy. Or the Lebanese at Habibi's, Surry Hills - I've never had dinner there, but lunch was great. There's a fabulous place to get hot pies and pasties at Circular Quay, a kiosk-liked vendor that basically sells just coffee and pastries. And there's a couple of really good cafes/restaurants on Glebe Pt Road where I regularly eat. Pancakes on the Rocks isn't exactly a local secret, but if you're not afraid of calories, it's a good place for a snack - as is Max Brenner's in the Centrepoint building. so_spiffed and I, after a day of gallery-seeing, like a (very) late breakfast at Aristotle's Coffee Lounge (Oxford St, Darlinghurst) or a (very) massive dessert course at the Rocks Cafe, which is not just for tourists.