The ARVOs

August 3rd, 2013 | Photos

One of my favourite groups is the ARVOs.

It stands for “Australian Rhyming Verse Orators”.

We meet on the first Sunday of the month, from 2 – 5 pm, so we are the “Sunday ARVOs”.

We gather at the Scout Hall at the Jack O’Toole Reserve (yes, him of woodchopping fame) in Kew. There might be 20 of us, or there might be only six. In winter we gather around an open fire (Jim and Peter bring the wood), or on hot summer days we sit beneath the big old gum tree out the back.

Our names go up on the whiteboard in the order that we arrive, and we take it in turns to recite or read, for about five minutes or so – all the rules are very loose. We usually get around the circle three times – sometimes only two. Some of us write, and some of us don’t. Some of us recite, and some of us just read. I do a bit of both, though I have to confess I mostly read these days. We break in the middle for afternoon tea – or coffee.

I have to confess I don’t get to all the ARVOs meetings, by a long shot, but I do my best.

I have included the ARVOs on my “Links” page, but I’ll put it here again also:
http://www.arvosbushpoetry.com

These photos were taken at the September 2012 meeting.