Poet Profile

Robyn Cairns

Robyn Cairns (known to her family and friends as Rob or Robbie) experiences great joy in the challenge and love of writing short form poetry to express both her emotional and sensory connection to the world. Robyn enjoys experimenting with different forms of short form poetry and is learning to break rules more often. She has two chapbooks published by Ginninderra Press; this peace (2020) and horizon (2023) and has had her work published in various online and hardcopy journals. Robbie was thrilled in 2023 and shared great enjoyment collaborating on the monoku project Damselflies with her dear friend Marianne Paul.

Awards and Other Honors:

Damselflies, a collaborative chapbook with Marianne Paul won second place in Haiku Canada’s Marianne Bluger Book and Chapbook Awards 2024.

Books Published:

Picaro Poets: In Transit - Ginninderra Press (2016); Picaro Poets: The Drifting - Ginninderra Press (2016); This Peace - Ginninderra Press (2020); Horizon - Ginninderra Press (2023); Damselflies in collaboration with Marianne Paul, Paper Heron Press (2023).

emerging to a changed Earth cicada

first sweep
of my paddle blade
the tilt of a heron

petrels synching full moon flights

receding tide
the curled edges
of a dead stingray

that one shell that speaks whale song

night sail
the flicker
of stars and phones

Credits:

“emerging to”, “first sweep” – Under the Same Moon - Fourth Australian Haiku Anthology (2023); “petrels” – Damselflies (with Marianne Paul), Paper Heron Press (2023); “that one shell” – Haiku 2024 edited by Scott Metz & Lee Gurga, Modern Haiku Press, 2024; Kingfisher Issue 8, 2023; “receding tide”; “night sail” – Echidna Tracks, Australian Haiku: Issue 12 (January 2024 - April 2024).