This piece was written for D'Verse's challenge this week to demonstrate turns in poetry – where a poem shifts gear or opens a window. At her birth she staggered on unfamiliar legs while her mother licked her clean and tried not to stand on her in forgetfulness or fatigue. Soon she stood alone, with a coat that … Continue reading Blood lines
Poetry
The mother of deserved sorrows
This is my response to the D'Verse poetry challenge around paradox. I am the mother of deserved sorrows I am the ender of the grief. I am violator of the rapists I am the robber of the thief. I am killer of the killers, I am the harbinger of fate. I am the slayer of … Continue reading The mother of deserved sorrows
The Uncommon Cold
A double enead poem (99 syllables in 3 stanzas of 6/5/11/6/5) written for this Carrot Ranch challenge with accompanying photo. The bleak uncommon cold of northern winters speaks not to warmer Southern Hemisphereans (well, bar Antarctica and kitsch Christmas cards). If I was there today I’d want to leave soon and sit by a fire … Continue reading The Uncommon Cold
Death, thy name is bushfire
This poem was written in response to this challenge from the D'verse site : Bring us to a time and place in your poem. Give us the smells, sights and sounds of your setting. The Fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Death, astride his pale green horse, rides over the hill bringing Hades with him, and … Continue reading Death, thy name is bushfire
A magnetic embrace
This is a quadrille submitted to the D'verse poetry page Your healing, seemingly random, barely understood, as you intend. Finding that fluttering life muscle behind my dead eyes, you palpate gently until wisdom’s heartbeat returns These words, these iron filings of my secret armour, seek your magnetic orbit and the grace of your embrace.
The dingo and the moon
Content warning for the sensitive. Strong language and images. I wrote this piece at some time during the 1970's, when I was clearly an angry young man, and only recently re-discovered a hand-written version. At about the same time I discovered the Ship Street Poetry site, which encourages freedom of expression using whatever language you … Continue reading The dingo and the moon
Snarky snickersnackery
This preposterous piece of poetic puerility was written for the divine Ms. Owen's 'A Mused Poetry' prompt for this week: 'Snarky Rant. That's right: a jaded, sarcastic, fed up, perhaps even nihilistic poem in an "I stick it to you, sucky events!" manner.' I'll thank Charles Dodgson for the inspiration when next I see him. The … Continue reading Snarky snickersnackery
Remember not and remember
I have just re-discovered this piece I wrote for my wife, Sue, when her beloved younger brother was facing his final days with us. Remember not his lostness in space, his days, numbered and unnumbered, annihilated through ingestion, his false stairways climbed in hope of heaven his roads travelled to others’ horizons; he knew the … Continue reading Remember not and remember
Black, white and brindle truth
If you are sensitive about your beliefs then I'm not quite sure why you are following this blog. Nevertheless, this piece is more challenging and requires deeper thought than most. I look forward to your comments. All people of colour have a deep spiritual connection to the land of their ancestors. Never trust a black … Continue reading Black, white and brindle truth
Me, you and him: A study in disability
Yesterday, before we planned the future, I watched you scan the room and discretely re-arrange it to make his wheelchair entry as smooth as your own. As the room talked, you led the listening to him and planted your thoughts on the borders of his lifetime garden. At some signal I did not see, the … Continue reading Me, you and him: A study in disability
