Sunday, August 16, 2009

strewn
across the midden
bottletops


In Australia, 'midden' principally refers to the shell heaps left a long time ago by Aboriginal folk. Where I live, they're often found in sheltered spots with incredible views of the water.

16 comments:

  1. love it emma (as you know midden is what we call a trash heap in scotland)

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  2. as seems appropriate in lots of ways, if not others

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  3. It's beautiful Emma, thanks for the explanation of I would have missed the magic of it...;)

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  4. And a long time from now, "midden" may have come to mean a heap of shells and bottletops. Ocean view not guaranteed.

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  5. Uuuuh, this is of course a difficult one for me. So I have to thank you for your explanation. When I read your verse I remember all these reports about drinking problems in areas with deprived backgrounds.

    Best wishes
    Ralf

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  6. Oh, forgot to say: the picture is ... perfect!

    bw r

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  7. That's good, Emma; and thanks for the explanation. It's a very straightforward haiku but also meaningful in its way.

    I'm on vacation this week. out in the wilderness. I'll try to write a few things while I'm living off the grid. :-)

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  8. Yes, explanation helped, Dalloway...every country has its junk yard and the scene is quite familiar....Midden is a new word, though :)

    wishes,
    devika

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  9. Ha! Bill I think you might be right.

    Thanks Ralf - (thats me by the way)

    Patrick, probably straightforward, but I think its delightful that people love to find beautiful spots to consume - shellfish or beer - whether last year or a thousand years ago.

    http://www.aboriginalaffairs.vic.gov.au/web7/rwpgslib.nsf/GraphicFiles/AA_13_ShellMiddens_13/$file/AA_13_ShellMiddens_13.06.08.pdf

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  10. "(thats me by the way)"

    For sure. Every letter, every pixel. Very authentic.

    Best wishes
    Ralf

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  11. Emma,I love how I can come here and learn new things about your part of the world. I really like this.

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  12. looking
    the message --
    The Midden Post

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  13. thanks Juhani - I managed to translate your blog.... I can now tell my friends I have a haiku translated into Finnish!

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  14. I just read this tonight. I was familiar with midden as a trash heap, but a pile of ancient shells is an entirely different picture. And what a shame to mar that picture with bottlecaps! A sad commentary on modern man and his careless habits. In this haiku you have captured the ancient and the new, the beautiful and the ugly, nature and man. Quite an accomplishment for only nine syllables.

    Adelaide

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  15. Lovely, and thanks for your additional explanation. Great sense of change through time, bottletops the new shells.

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Thanks for taking the time to write something.