IVAN HEAD was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1953. Participation in Speech and Drama led him to read, learn and recite poetry from an early age. He has been writing poetry for most of his adult life and regularly reviews poetry publications for Quadrant, the Australian journal founded by James McAuley in the mid-1950s. He has a PhD from Glasgow University on the interpretation of miracle stories, and was a philosophy major from the university of Western Australia. Ivan was head (Warden) of two Australian university colleges for 27 years
Sonnet on the Philosophy of Lawn Bowls
Through the club-house plate glass
I see the green-keeper on his roller,
gliding forth and back across grass
that seems too short to mow.
The earlier blades were set to zero.
As he comes and goes, he seems to print the couch
and zip the baize. I hear no sound
as if the roller floats above the ground.
For a moment I think to dip a knee,
and send a blocking shot to lie against
the far-end jack.
That would express my philosophy –
to stop with Hume
all easy bias of the age.
IVAN HEAD was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1953. Participation in Speech and Drama led him to read, learn and recite poetry from an early age. He has been writing poetry for most of his adult life and regularly reviews poetry publications for Quadrant, the Australian journal founded by James McAuley in the mid-1950s. He has a PhD from Glasgow University on the interpretation of miracle stories, and was a philosophy major from the university of Western Australia. Ivan was head (Warden) of two Australian university colleges for 27 years