Saturday 30 January 2016

I'm all alone now




We had crossed the bridge
Nature cast her spell on us
As it always did

It was not yet fall
We could drink in late summer
Her signs of plenty

Wild roses still bloomed
My Clare looked so beautiful
Following the trail

At the running stream
She shed her shoes to paddle
Held tight lest she fall

Birds swooped down to drink
She then smiles right back at me
My own woodland sprite

Special was her flair
To tease me so with her eyes
But that's over now

A line has been drawn
So spare just one thought for me
All those years ago

Beauty lasts of course
But I couldn't hold on tight
I'm all alone now

Image found at www.someplacewild.com

The wise crow



Hers was an icy heart
As frigid as a goats kiss
And so depressing

Just what could I do?
Perhaps our zodiac signs 
Were never aligned

She's so attractive
There's something about her
I couldn't let go

Shrugging my shoulders
I had long been debating
Of quitting the town

When this wise old crow
Came swooping down towards me
To give me advice

His feathers were warm 
As we huddled together
Shall I cut and run?

He croaked with laughter
Shook his wise head and flew off
So she's a keeper

Image found at www.therobinreport.com

Ring a ring o'roses


Ring-a-ring o'roses
A pocket full of posies
A'tishoo! A'tishoo!
We all fall down

I naturally thought as a toddler that when I sneezed and my mother said "Bless you!" that I looked so cute as my face exploded with surprise.

This was not so for many hundreds perhaps thousands of years for a person sneezing was often an initial sign that the plague or other incurable sickness had arrived. Former rural or nomadic life was changing to permanent settlements. Many families were now gathered together without running water other than a river in which washing clothes or disposing of bodily wastes was carried out as there was no sewerage system or clean running water only the river itself or wells sunk close to cess pits if no other fresh water was close by.

So as my heart skipped a beat as I or my forebears sneezed just for one second you can't decide whether to stay or go to heaven. So mother's "bless you" would either keep me safe or help me on my journey.

The children's round song "Ring a ring o'roses" was once thought to be related to this as the roses were another sign that the disease had taken hold with a rash on the skin confirming that you might be struggling for your life. 

Bless little children
That their lives may be happy
To fulfill their dreams

Image found at www.iamachild.wordpress.com

Wednesday 27 January 2016

I was younger then


Of course I was younger then emerging out of my youthful years still gripped by the pop culture of my youth.

However when married with children just reaching their teens with the TV and Radio blaring the latest hits I am now drawn back to those times.

One of the hits in 1974 was Can the Can by Suzi Quatro which was so popular in Britain and Australia where I was living, quickly becoming number one.

From stomping my way through my teenage life with Trad Jazz in the 1950's and being overwhelmed as a young married by the Beatles in the 1960's here was I mesmerized with Suzi in the 1970's.

The whole family was glued to the TV when the weekly program "Countdown" was aired giving the latest news on the Pop scene and interviewing celebrities from all over the world in the studio.

Suzi Quatro's first tour of Australia was in 1974 and her fifteenth and final one in 2015, so thank you Suzi for keeping me young at heart.

Image found at www.allmusic.com

Morning's mirror


In the morning's mirror
He looked at his reflection
Pathetic failure

He really needed
A radical change in life
Was that possible?

Could he hide the past
Adopt a seamless persona
To fool one and all

The mirror's image
Burst out laughing in his face
Could not convince him

Image found at www.matthewmilson.wordpress.com

Saturday 23 January 2016

It's not about you



Heavy is my heart
Hit hard by a failed romance
End of sweet kisses

Hoist the anchor now
Set sail to find another beau
Back to the action

State your aim young man
I'll fight for a new girlfriend
Surely risk my all

So those are the facts
I'll spend hours of planning
Just to win her heart

We'll make a great team
That will fix my loneliness
Or am I dreaming?

It's not about you
Woo by gentle persuasion
For she's a princess

Image found at www.bbc.co.uk


Hot day at Bondi beach



Dawn heralded a new day as a few gathered on the beach
The day of reckoning as temperatures soared
Hordes headed to the shore and prepared for battle
All day they stayed bodies strewn across the sands

Whether bronzed or pale they came to face the midday sun
Few took cover but braved it out face to face
With the glaring enemy shining strongly
Neither side gave in until the Sun set to

The guilty one was disappearing over the horizon
There was a hush as those witnesses left held sway
The sun had been a fierce combatant today
Some looked red in the face others just browned off

Gathered in the cool of evening came the celebrations
Scoffing drinks and hamburgers triumph in their eyes
Giving and receiving praise for their courage
And hearing tales of woe from their burnt allies

Others though now hid hid in shame for they were not participants
They had avoided the battlefield and escaped
Going to the hills to some safe sylvan bank
With a cool running stream...those pale weaklings

Image found at www.swathiramaswami.com


Bondi is a popular beach in Sydney

Friday 22 January 2016

In their love stories


Looking at the word
It was procrastination
Just what could I write?

How could I use it

Preferring romantic tales
Love and tenderness

Where's the poetry

In such a sad word as this
My mind's uncertain

Those tears in her eyes
There is no future with him
She tells him the truth

But he still has hope
And cannot accept goodbye
His love is so blind

So she lies to him
I am seeing someone else
He stares open mouthed

Men they are such fools
He's taken her for granted
So he pays the price

He was angry now
Both loving and hating her
Her eyes were fearful

Will he do her harm?
She wonders what she should do
So then she tells him

Let's both have a break
Play the field just to make sure
It is worth a try

So he nods sadly
Gullible as most men are
Kicks stones on way home

Every writer
Puts a little of themselves
In their love stories

Image found at www.psychologytoday.com

Thursday 21 January 2016

Encounter with the gods


I'm no longer steady on my feet for they do not remember our life long past.

Oops! Here I go again the pavement welcomes me like an old friend as I stumble on the sidewalk pavers.

Where has that man gone who played sport like crazy and reveled in running distance races or more to the point where those willing legs?

Age wearies me as I totter around watchful of errant ants lest I trip over them as I shuffle along.

So what do we have when we are old and Hebe the Greek goddess of youth no longer looks on us?

Oh yes, I wrote myself a memo about her the other day but seem to have lost it now...yes, here it is, it's Mnemosyne the little known Greek goddess of memory; I wonder why I keep forgetting that, I'll have to write myself a memo.


Image 1 found at http://www.greek-gods.info/ancient-greek-gods/hebe/hebe-pictures.php
Image 2 found at http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisMnemosyne.html

Wednesday 20 January 2016

Back to the mountains


The mountains call me again
To that inviting scent of pine
I'll walk the trails to see my friends
This old world of yours and mine

Listen to the birds sing their songs
Hear the whisper of our tree
Brush against green ferns waving fronds
To watch squirrels quickly flee

Where better to sit me down
To rest by bank of rushing stream
The wriggle of the tiny fry
With the croak of frogs I dream

Be by my side once again
Hold my hand as you did before
It's not the same here all alone
But you'll watch me evermore

For I sense you everywhere
We laughed and loved all those years past
I search for you I know you're here
Who says that love will not last

Image found at www.commons.wikimedia.org



I love her madly


I love her madly
But will she ever be mine?
Sweet creature of dawn

My eyes watch her stir
Freed from her nocturnal sleep
As I close my eyes

She knows I look on
When she lets the sun kiss her
As I hide away

Who'll be her lover?
To break this poor heart of mine
Hidden in darkness

What omen ignored
Who did my parents offend?
To be cursed this way

Will the one I love
Be bride to deadly nightshade
And dare to kiss me

Image found at www.deadlyremedies.com

Sunday 17 January 2016

I'll try to be there


With his tight showlaces
I saw an old man fumbling
Mirror's reflection

It was me of course
Boy, youth, father now old man
Cursing memory

I now stand up straight
Hands trembling with memories
Anger in my heart

Where is the logic?
Tedious, trying, tiring day
Untying the knot

Tomorrow will dawn
How comforting the prospect
I'll try to be there

Image found at www.offset.com

Saturday 16 January 2016

I am the revenant


I have now returned home
The pilot flies over
This my city of birth
Bustling busy with life

I am the revenant
There is no shame in that
The engines roar, I sigh
The plane drops slowly down

We're dismissed like schoolkids
Stewardess smiles at me
We are freed from her care
My feet now touch home soil

I engage a taxi cab
Takes me to my hotel
Shafts of light filter through
The tall city buildings

I don't remember it
Everything has changed now 
But I have too it seems
There is justice in that

There is fluctuation
My thoughts are all jumbled
Stranger in my own city
We must be friends again

I shall walk through the streets
Cut through the alleyways
Breathe in the atmosphere
To claim it back again



Image 1 found at www.flickriver.com

Image 2 founds at www.ctbuh.org





I hunger for her


I came home early
Sally was in the kitchen
And called out "I'm here"

"What are you doing?"
Finding her stood at the stove
Brushing hair from face

She is beautiful
Wooden spoon in hand ready
But accepts a kiss

I look at the pot
"It's carrot and ginger soup"
She says happily

I do love my wife
She satisfies all my needs
I hunger for her

Illustration and recipe found at www.taste.com.au but Sally is not available

Thursday 14 January 2016

A love story



The weather had changed and the halcyon days of summer were over and the beaches slowly emptied of holiday-makers day by day.

Tom had lived here for many years and he eyed every visiting family that he saw for the girl of his dreams; a stranger from out of town, cute, fresh, vibrant and with an eye for a local boy like him...but it never happened.

Soon the the weather would get colder and the beaches would be deserted and the stalls would close their shutters for the winter and the sea would rage and the skies would storm and only the brave would hurriedly walk the promenade rugged up against the cold and quickly return home for a hot drink.

So Tom walked slowly along the beach thinking of little when he saw a figure in front of him squatting down at the shore line fossicking among the sand and the shingle.

"Hi Tom," she said looking up at him her face grinning for they were both in the same class at school but didn't talk much unless they had to.

Suddenly a change came over Tom as he looked at Penny for the first time with new eyes as she looked so different, so beautiful that he was swept off his feet with astonishment that this stunning girl was in front of him and had been all along.


Image found at gettyimages.com

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Food glorious food



Food glorious food
That passion for survival
Constant love affair

What's the sweetest thing
That your lover says to you?
"I could eat you up"

Way to a mans's heart
Is through his stomach of course
The rest will follow

"Let's sandwich in here"
As he finds a cosy nook
And as for dumpling!

But does he love you?
If he calls you his lamb chop
He certainly does!

Image found at www.livescience.com

The male's dilemma


I am imperfect
That's because I am a man
Thus doomed from the start

We're from Mars of course
So we use lame excuses
That show on our face

Those girls from Venus
Will use their womanly wiles
We're gullible fools

Always so wary
Of that harrowing look
Spelling out our doom

We know not the rules
Whether springtime or in fall
The male's dilemma



Image 1 found at www.commons.wikimedia.com
Image 2 found at www.sarracenia.com

Sunday 3 January 2016

Loneliness is my friend



Loneliness is my friend
Who can argue with that?
Not always been that way
There was another time
Gladly kissing in twilight
Those delicate moments
Grazing on each other
Fingers curling tufts of hair
Laughing, munching one apple
Wet bodies in the sea
Ripples of tenderness
Gentle touches on the wrist
Gladly promising lies
Such soft sweet words are said
That one black day will break 
The others poor sad heart
Yes, I remember then
The sky finally falls
For there is no heaven
For those that lost their love
Loneliness is their friend

Image found at www.gettyimages.com


Saturday 2 January 2016

The snare of life


My days are numbered
Time's hands whirl round the clock's dial
Soon I will be dust

This gives me some pause
Have the angels too read my words?
A slap on the wrist

Don't fancy the cold
Nor even the fires of hell
Much like "Down Under"

And when I have left
Just who will remember me?
After my last gasps

That's the snare of life
My loss is another's gain
Food for their table

Please read nothing in this as my brain is merely responding to the Whirl's prompt words

Image found at www.flickr.com

Friday 1 January 2016

I have two sisters


I have two sisters
Holly and Ivy their names
No brothers have I

But I have red hair
So I am called carrot top
But I can't see why

I have freckles too
The girls are peaches and cream
I'm the ginger nut

Sue across the road
Holds hands as we walk to school
They are soft and warm

Her brother is Ted
We are the awesome threesome
We have so much fun

Ted likes our Holly
But is scared she is prickly
So won't ask her out

Ivy likes him though
She may be a bit clingy
Which makes him wary

Just what's in a name?
Sue colors up when we meet
I really like that

Image found at www.btwol.com