KEY POINTS:
I have always loved poetry for its ability to uplift, conquer dark demons, politically agitate, to make one laugh or cry, and for its truth, ie: "Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite them / little fleas have lesser fleas and so add infinitum." (Jonathon
Swift). Ain't that the truth.
I have many favourite poets including our own Denis Glover, for humour and irreverence; James K. Baxter (largely his earlier work) for posing the unanswerable questions and then answering them in a few striking words; Philip Larkin for his take on the nuclear family ("They f*** you up your Mum and Dad / They do not mean to but they do / They give you all your faults they have and make some others just for you.")
A poem is not as restrictive as the two-line rhyme often required for a song. Prose poetry can often turn into a novella, a song requires a much stricter metre or rhythm but at the last drum roll the answer is in the ear of the listener. Lou Reed has brought poetry to music, Leonard Cohen has brought music to poetry, although some may beg to differ.
I believe great poetry and music, in fact all art, may lie somewhere between the Greek muse goddesses, and divine inspiration - as well as the ability to absorb everyday situations and report them so they lose their mundane aspects and shine. Of course the finding or loss of love have always made for some fine art.
I first knew what love was when at 19, after having a loss of confidence and selling my guitar to Harmony House (a music pawn shop), my old dad - who was only 10 months from death, and incidentally abhorred my guitar playing bussed into town, brought my guitar back, placed it in my room, swore my mother to secrecy and never said a word about it.
I still perform on stage. Harry, Dave and myself are about to begin workshopping for a new Hello Sailor album. Last October's release When Your Lights Are Out is still popular and received a couple of five-star reviews so let's hope we can repeat that small triumph.
Our first Western Springs concert supporting Fleetwood Mac in front of 60,000 people and being given a rose by Stevie Nicks is one of my happiest Hello Sailor memories. But the good memories still continue with the Sailor boys - after 33 years playing we are more bonded than ever and I truly love them (the silly old buggers.)
I used to have several illicit pleasures. These days my guilty pleasure is a good shot of Swedish vodka.
I'm actually quite a nice easy-going sort of man, unless someone or something releases the Taurean in me. But otherwise, like Ferdinand, I just like to smell the flowers.
I sleep all night with the radio on and one night I awoke to Paul Kelly's version of Hot Chocolate's It Started With A Kiss. I cried myself back to sleep - that song is a masterpiece, in my humble opinion, and one of the greatest love songs ever.
* Graham Brazier is Canvas' new poetry reviewer. Brazier is also a musician, who has fronted the band Hello Sailor since 1975.
