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Australian General Semantics Society Inc. First National Conference 27-29 August 2010 Melbourne Poetry Evening Dr Earl Livings is a teacher of Professional Writing and a passionate poet, as well as a general Semanticist! EARL has had poetry and fiction published in journals and anthologies around Australia and also in Britain, Canada, the USA, and Germany. He has also read his work on national and community radio and at many public venues. He is the current editor of Divan (www.bhtafe.edu.au/divan), Australia’s first all-Australian online poetry journal. His first book of poetry, Further than Night (Bystander Press), was published in 2000. In 2005 he won the Melbourne Poets Union International Poetry Competition. Earl teaches in the Professional Writing & Editing course at Box Hill Institute. He holds a PhD in Creative Writing and is working on a novel and his next collection of poetry. Earl explained that he normally starts a poetry reading with someone else's work. This time, recognising a wedding anniversary in the group, he chose a poem by Kathleen Raine, which was read on the occasion of his own wedding! Kathleen Raine lived from 1908-2003. This poem is taken from her book "The Year One" (1952). “Amo Ergo Sum” The Year One (1952) Kathleen Raine Because I love The sun pours out its rays of living gold Pours out its gold and silver on the sea. Because I love The earth upon her astral spindle winds Her ecstasy-producing dance. Because I love Clouds travel on the winds through wide skies, Skies wide and beautiful, blue and deep. Because I love Wind blows white sails, The wind blows over flowers, the sweet wind blows. Because I love The ferns grow green, and green the grass, And green the transparent sunlit trees. Because I love Larks rise up from the grass And all the leaves are full of singing birds. Because I love The summer air quivers with a thousand wings, Myriads of jewelled eyes burn in the light. Because I love The iridescent shells upon the sand Takes forms as fine and intricate as thought. Because I love There is an invisible way across the sky, Birds travel by that way, the sun and moon And all the stars travel that path by night. Because I love There is a river flowing all night long. Because I love All night the river flows into my sleep, Ten thousand living things are sleeping in my arms, And sleeping wake, and flowing are at rest. ~0~ (Back to the AGS National Conference Home Page)

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