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Charmaine Calaitzis

Charmaine’s poetry and essays emerged after her husband of 25 years left her and their son in 1987. Much of her earliest work reflects her coming to terms with that issue. As with all life crisis, soul presents itself and will usually manifest in some artistic form, which in this case is poetry. Since her early 'cringe', many experiences, travels, books, transformations, guides and realisations later, Charmaine now presents her work to the world.

Colloquial Fire Alliteration

 

Playing with fire
Ring of fire
Fireball
Fire in the belly - Ned Kelly.

Steady, Aim, Fire!
Firearm
I got fired.
So fire me.

Perish by fire
Build up the fire
Keep the home fires burning
Fire it off quick.

Combustion fire
Electric fire
Open fire
Camp fire
Bush fire
Grass fire
Bonfire.

Fire resistant
Fire prevention
Fire protection
Fire insurance
Fire brigade
Fireman
Fire station
Fire engine

Fireworks
Firefly
Fire stick
He's a Prick.

Burn off
Burn up
Burnt out
Burn down - Slow down
Slow burn - Quick burn
Sun burn
Burnt dinner
Chinese burn.

Firing range
Close range.

 

  

COURAGE OF WRITERS

 

In every corner of the world
someone is writing
expressing soul and innermost feelings
pouring their lives onto the page.

No restrictions, no laws to guide them
no reason behind the impulse
no matter if the writing is never read
human evolutionary growth has occurred.

As they stand on the shoulders
of all previous humanity
another level is created
into consciousness.

Passion, wonder, anger, love, grief
awakening compassion
all are dreamed out of the writer's heart
drawn into the world for understanding.

As they plumb the depths of being
all secret places are revealed
old loves mourned, new loves rejoiced
other dimensions revealed, new worlds born
consciousness expands.

Writers scorn the status quo and go
above and below and beside the main stream
forging new tributaries of imagination
transforming the walls of perception.

Creating deeper pools of swirling knowledge
flowing into the sea of generation
borne aloft yet again
in future days.

They listen to the sparks of creation
build a fire of it from their own lives
ignite the slumbering deadwood of disbelief
then lay down in the smoldering ashes

saying "I have lived".

©Charmaine Calaitzis2001. Colloquial Fire Alliteration won The Big Show Competition, April 2001.

 
 

Current Publications

A Poets' Journey, Anthology by Arrow Publishing, available June,July,2001.
The Crack Between Worlds, Poetry by Charmaine written 1992-1999 with Clip Art illustrations. Hardcover, 160 pages, $30 + postage.

On the Knocker, Novel by John (Pincher) Martin, edited and published (2001) by Charmaine. Softcover, 105 pages, $21.00 + postage. The River of Times, (in progress) Novel by Leo Kissin, edited by Charmaine (2001). Softcover, 300 pages.

Contact information

Charmaine can be contacted at firsttime@optusnet.com.au
Links:
Raw Women's Diary
(Work in 2000, 1999 and 1998 editions)
Bangalow Writers’ Group