One More Sonnet

Tag: design

  • Loosely Applied

    Loosely Applied

    Concrete construction, designer’s despair:
    over-tended landscape, sharp and severe,
    too much exactness, preempted repair;
    nothing left to chance, exhausted idea.
    Made to resemble somewhere else but here:
    rectangled, circled, and ratio-ed square,
    hint of something made transparently clear,
    a misguided homage belongs elsewhere:
    ‘belongs’ – a possessive that’s made to adhere…
    ‘constrained’ – a caught-yard of rarified air…
    ‘suffocated’ – short of depth, too austere…
    ‘made to measure’ – overly shaped with care…
    . The golden rule, best considered a guide;
    . a general frame that’s loosely applied.

    © Tim Grace, 25 August 2013

    To the reader: Great garden designs have an inner quality, a core-strength, an integral thread of inspiration that leaves no doubt about intention. Design has to be a deliberate response to a problem; but more importantly, an authentic and appropriate remedy. The application of a fixed design solution (as in the golden ratio) provides some scaffolded security but overly applied strips away the virtue of design’s natural curiosity; design is an applied art – then a science of sorts.

    To the poet: A poet can fail his own test. As a sonnet written about the over-applied rule, this one goes near to proving the point. A truly responsive design will be so responsive to its context that a distinction of cause and effect will be hard to determine. The environmental need and its fix become one-and-the-same. Nature is the best of all ‘fixers’ it’s also the best of all ‘mimics’ – naturally!

    Loosely Applied
    Loosely Applied
    Picture Source:
    http://youtu.be/aRvzapleXJ4
  • Sketch of Dawn

    Sketch of Dawn

    Overnight arrival, concealed by dark.
    Uncovered by the scratchy-sketch of dawn.
    Bleak demeanour, drawn as stubborn and stark.
    Bearing the Mistral’s mark; from elsewhere born.
    And so blows the breath of an awkward gust;
    tugs at the rigging with canvas attached;
    agitates, orchestrates a whistling thrust.
    And so throws a whisper; from elsewhere hatched.
    The unknown foreigner, anonymous,
    more shadow than substance; a pirate’s mast
    that bears no scrutiny: Notorious.
    . Best comes the pedigree by light of day.
    . Open to inspection and expose.

    © Tim Grace, 28 July 2013

    To the reader: Built into the fibre and fabric of this nautical replica is a mischievous spirit. I was at ‘the coast’ doing what poets do at sunrise; walking the wharf. And there she appeared … Notorious … a black caravel. Overnight this ‘dark shadow’ had moored itself to the shoreline. As is her habit, she slips the coast of Australia slinking into ports under cover of dark; under pretence of a plundering prank… black comedy?

    To the poet: This poem was written about an experience; a Notorious encounter of sorts. But like so many interesting snippets there’s a larger back-story. While writing the poem I had no idea the ship was built by an Australian, Graeme Wylie, in his backyard, as recuperative therapy. Graeme, a furniture maker by trade, built the Portuguese Caravel by-eye from surplus wood-stock. In a physical sense, the ship is sheer poetry… a compilation of ideas and a floating metaphor.  (reference: http://scienceillustrated.com.au/blog/in-the-mag/vintage/the-mahogany-ship/)

    Sketch of Dawn
    Sketch of Dawn
  • A Natural Stamp

    A Natural Stamp

    The strength of argument is undermined
    when a salient point is overstressed.
    For combative sake, such is underlined;
    brought to fore, emboldened and overdressed.
    At front of mind keep things staid and subtle.
    Let the main point grow from a single source.
    Hold back on highlights, their shine can scuttle
    gentle persuasion (a more useful force).
    Let the shape of things assume a pattern.
    By design, logic itself will unfold
    its grand plan; and in good time, unflatten
    that which by rights should have its credits told.
    . Let the emphasis be a natural stamp.
    . Let the logic of truth light its own lamp.

    © Tim Grace, 18 October 2012

    To the reader: Fashion often begins as a bold statement that gains mainstream approval. Singularity becomes popularity. The norming effect absorbs distinction. Peaks of interest wane; become mundane… we simply lose interest in the fad. Used sparingly, boldness is an effective attention grabber; useful in assembling interest, drawing a crowd and gaining focus. Overused, it’s a crude and ugly device.

    To the poet: “Are all things to be boldly underlined?” Impacts can pack a punch and leave a lasting impression; as in a bruising affair. Then again, there’s a lot to be said for the subtle approach that through imperceptible gradations alters a line of thought or a chain of events. In poetry, novel nuance is equal to brazen boldness; our good-readers are alert to ambiguity; they’ll stop without a red-light flashing.

    A Natural Stamp A Natural Stamp
    Picture Source?
    http://youtu.be/tI7fktKY6OU