Owen Bullock
Owen Bullock began writing haiku in 1999 and has published four collections, Wild camomile (2009), Breakfast with epiphanies (2012), Urban Haiku (2015) and River’s Edge (2016). He is a former editor of Kokako, New Zealand’s only specialist haiku magazine, and was one of the editors who produced Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, Vol IV (2012).
He has also published three books of longer poems, Sometimes the sky isn’t big enough (2010), Semi (2017) and Work & Play (2017), as well as the novella, A Cornish Story (2010).
Owen holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Canberra where he currently teaches. Visit his podcast website to hear about Owen’s latest research. Contact Owen.
tapping
the boatshed wall
a boat
a giant rimu falls
within an hour
rain
years later
off the pier
the same few boys fishing
ex-junkie –
two bags
in his teacup
into the stillness
a neighbour shovels
gravel
op shop
pepper grinder
even has pepper
shadows
on the chess board
becoming fewer
city dump
a little boy finds
an old speech bubble
an ambulance
fades with the distance . . .
sometimes . . .
another accusation the sky is purple
Publication notes
tapping: wild camomile (PostPressed) 2009.
a giant rimu falls: ibid.
years later: ibid.
ex-junkie – : ibid.
into the stillness: ibid.
op shop: ibid.
shadows: man and boy.
city dump: ibid.
an ambulance: moments in the whirlwind (NZ Poetry Society anthology) 2009.
another accusation: Presence #40 (UK) 2010.