Justice is so fair

Justice for the rich
Prison for the poor
Just who would want for more

Guilty is a sin
Locked up you must be
So that you're no longer free

Your kids were hungry
That you could not abide
Now you'll be rotting here inside

Business man here too
Special treatment he'll rank
Will be out soon with money in the bank

Justice is so fair
So what's your colour Jack?
A long sentence, 'cos you're black

Image found at www.123rf.com


Note that Aboriginal prisoners in Australian jails comprise 30% of the total incarcerated compared with a comparative population of 2.3%.

Beer, beer, glorious beer

Beer, beer glorious beer!
Fill yourselves up to here!
Drink a good deal of it - make a good meal of it
Stick to old fashioned beer!
Don't be afraid of it - Drink till you're made of it
Now, altogether a cheer!
Up with the sale of it  - down with a pail of it
Glorious, glorious beer!
                                             Traditional British drinking song

Once when I was just twenty
I worked for a brewery
A labourer no less
Rolling out the barrels
As a holiday job
To earn extra money
So I could get married

Underground in the cellars
Barrels thirty-six gallons
Kilderkins were eighteen
A firkin down to nine
Pin's just four and a half
Rolled around in tunnels
Maturing in the dark

Never saw the light of day
Wearing out our fingertips
Back bent, pushing, pushing
Those damned old oaken casks
Stumbling in the passages
We cursing and laughing
Until the break of shift

At the end of a days work
In those days of long ago
The shift finally over
We queued at the counter
Given two bottles of bitter
To take home for to drink
Beer, beer glorious beer

Image found at www.embracethefunk.com

Maria Sklodowska

                              Marie Curie and her daughters Eve and Irene


Youngest of five children Maria Sklodowska was born in Poland in 1867. With both parents as teachers she excelled at school and despite her mother dying early when Maria was only eleven years old she continued in her studies. In those days University education was only available for men in her country so she and her sister who was also talented worked out a plan whereby Maria would work as a tutor/governess while her sister Bronya studied abroad and then Maria could do likewise.

When her turn came Maria chose to enroll at the Sorbonne University in Paris despite having barely enough money to support herself. She achieved a masters degree in Physics in 1893 and was commissioned to study the magnetic properties of steel. As she had no laboratory of her own she shared one with a physicist Pierre Curie another graduate of the Sorbonne. Presumably she amended her name to Marie in France

Her studies with other scientists work soon had her conducting experiments on the element Uranium and its properties. The rays emitted from it being weaker than the X-rays found by Roentgen. She herself coined the word radioactivity to explain them. Her discovery then set up a field of study called Atomic Physics. 

She and Pierre were married in 1895. Despite Marie becoming a mother to a daughter Irene in 1897 she continued her studies and Pierre joined her in her work and both later discovered a new radioactive element named Polonium; this name recognized the country of her birth; Poland. Radium was also discovered by them from the substance Pitchblende which was a previously unknown element.

Henri Becquerel together with Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903. The award allowed them to continue their research. Despite this Marie still managed to have another child, Eve in 1904. 

Sadly Pierre was killed in a street accident in 1906 but Marie took over his teaching work at the Sorbonne becoming the first female professor there. She again won the Nobel prize in her own right for Chemistry this time in 1911.

When the Great War 1914-1918 broke out she encouraged the use of portable X-ray machines in the field which were nicknamed "Little Curies". The deleterious effect of X-rays on humans was not well known and it was said she often had test tubes of radium in her lab coat!

She progressively became more unwell in the early nineteen-thirties with aplastic anemia probably caused by radiation and died in a sanatorium in Passy, France in July 1934.

Her daughter Irene also became a Nobel Laureate for her own work in Chemistry in 1935 sharing it with her husband Frederic Joliot.

Image found at www.en.wikipedia.org
This is my precis of an article found at http://www.biography.com/people/marie-curie-9263538

No one's at the helm

There's more hate than love
In this world that seems so fair
For evil lurks there

We are so gifted
Save in compassion's strange realm
No one's at the helm

What of him and her
Is equality that hard?
Such is life's charade

We are all searching
Why can't we find our own God?
Isn't that so odd?

Were taught to compete
So we hate what others are
Our minds just like tar

Wars come and they go
Love is lost to hatred's gain
Many cheer life's pain

Just how can we change
Embrace our differences
And be fair to all?

Image found at www.7-themes.com

The clock ticked on

Had I just woken from a dream?
For all was not what it seemed
Inky dark was in mottled shades
Dawn peeped through Venetian blades

Diaphanous nightwear stirred by my side
But knew in marriage I was not tied
Sweet pursed lips on my cheek were placed
And loving arms me now embraced

Soon the morn's iridescent day
Would place sunbeams on where we lay
Dissonant thoughts in my mind did strain
Trying to recall from whence she came

The girl by my side has such soft skin
She murmured as I tucked back in
As I stroked her it was like rich velour
Fool was I if ever sought for more

So then I kissed one sweet fingertip
And laid back down on her pillowslip
Content she moaned and snuggled up 
Once more we drank from the loving cup

The weather changed, the clock ticked on
Her clipped voice said she must be gone
It was the last I saw of her that day
As lacy frills flounced off and away


Image found at www.countryantiquefurniture.co.uk

Mystery's Trap

My poor mind has now drawn a blank
This poem fails to form with ease
Nothing comes at the prompt word's tease
Many ideas toured through my mind
Prompting "Nothing" was so unkind
To Magical nought I have to thank

So I must sadly say goodbye
Nothing is a negative thought
I think of all the books I've bought
But they've not helped me now to play
Thin air is all you get today
Apologise I do with one sad sigh

Oh dear! I fell for Mystery's trap
And done what I thought I could not do
A poem has come out of the blue
This verse appeared just like a ghost
When the poet needed it the most
So put you hands together and clap

Image of painting by Gustave Caillebotte, "Portrait of a Man Writing in His Study"
found at www.betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com

Are you buying sir?

Sunny day in spring
She stood there in the market
Basket on her arm

Beautiful, a plum
Her hair was all akimbo
Secret gems for eyes

I so wanted her
Desperate to kiss those lips
To touch her fingers

She saw me looking
So then slowly walked my way
Crowd parting for her

"Are you buying sir?"
She laughed, our eyes were now locked
The crowd hushed in awe

This our first meeting
Heralded a fierce romance
My money well spent

I think of her still
And all my other lovers
I weep but for her

Image of "Sicilian girl with basket of fruit" (Artist not known) found at www.flickriver.com

A small endowment

I talk to the earth
Soon I shall know her in spades
She knows me for sure

I sing to the sea
I hear her sad sirens call
She whispers to me

I hear the wind's song
It tells our history so well
All over the world

Have I told my tale?
Will there be thunderous applause?
That I did no harm

Let me rest in peace
Let children see earth's beauty
A small endowment

For it has great worth
Please make sure you value it
It's worth more than gold


Image found at www.chakracentre.org

Life for me today

I hate the rattle of my bones
I loathe the ringing of the phones
Others hate to hear my moans
But that is life for me today

I risk walking down the street
As I slip and slide on my feet
So I shun everyone I meet
For that is life for me today

I fear my falling at every step
All of me seems so inept
I can't say I've been well kept
Up to this very point today

Life was fun when I was young
Oh! What songs I have sung
Oops! Now I've trod in some dung
Ah! That is life for me today

Image found at www.dailymail.co.uk
The picture is not in fact me but that of a former Dutch Prime minister tripping on a red carpet!

I am in love again

Whispering
Breath of love 
I feel your hand
You close your eyes
And when we kiss
I then hear your sighs

Murmuring
Unspoken words
I touch your  hair
You lean into my hand
On a journey 
To a promised land

Laughing 
In joyous bond
I kiss your cheek
You and I snuggle up
We are but one
Sipping our loving cup


Image found at www.sodahead.com

My mind askew

Unhappy I am with crimson thoughts
The nightmare pulls my mind askew
A sanguinary battle rages now
As pain once more builds up anew

Once more guilt rattles this my cage
This guesthouse of furry creatures wild
I yearn for those moments now long past
When peace reigned like a sleeping child

There was a time when life was flowers
Blooming sweet scented days so few
Firm the rudder in our ship of state
Steady your arm, sweet kiss, loving you

Image found at www.dreamstime.com

Free as a bird

I remember when
My youth was at its full bloom
Future so far off

Life seemed good back then
I did the breweries proud
How I laughed out loud

Pub my second home
Of smoking I did my share
Filling the ashtrays

Once or twice stumbled
Lost in the dark lonely streets
On the wrong way home

Man with no mission
Luckily short my romance
With this foolish life

Was I spurned in love
Or bullied in the workplace
Or just plain stupid?

No, for I was young
Responsibilities none
As free as a bird

Waiting to be snared
In that first seductive kiss
Of a sweet romance

Image found at www.biervat.blogspot.com

The Glance

It's a problem
Riding on the evening train
Except with closed eyes

Just one casual glance
In the wrong direction here
May a receive a look

Or an angry pout
As though you had touched this maid
Not just glanced outside

For it is as though
You had caressed her bare arm
As she glares a you

In your journey's time
Now must avoid at all costs
Just one look her way

As your train pulls in
You get up and leave your seat
To wend your way home

She too now alights
And speaks a few words to you
"I've seen you before"

My heart dropped like stone
Fearing of what she would say
As she smiles and states

"See you tomorrow
We'll talk then if you like"
I walk home so pleased

Image found at www.darkmoon.me

Man's foolishness

I wandered in the woodland green
Sure in thinking I was unseen
They were of course watching me
For I was where I should not be

A rippling brook was not far off
Crows call above sounded like a cough
But all was quiet by the stream
It was as though I was in a dream

I sat down in the sward of green
To drink in this stunning sylvan scene
Resting my back against a tree
My eyes drank in all I could see

Little animals before my eye
Beautiful plants on the ground did lie
Sweet essence of joyful nature
Living life in utmost rapture

The music of the forest trees
The murmur of the birds and bees
Sent me to sleep and I did dream
But it was not what it all seemed

Those visions did not my mind caress
But instead spoke of man's foolishness
What I saw was not pristine green
But a time and place that had once been

My senses reversed were now of shame
When I awoke nothing was the same
The trees state was evidentiary
And birds called out in misery

Image found at www.fineartamerica.com

You're my eternity

What is the limit
Of my love for you?
That boundless stretch 
Of happiness

Where are our dreams
In wonderland?
Or in love and care
For each other

How will we will live
In joy unbounding?
Laughing happily
Our secret touch

And is there trust?
We are but one
Knowing each other
Filling all senses

There is no limit 
In my love for you
I breathe you in
You're my eternity

Image found at www.pixgood.com

Farewell my day

Farewell my Day
What ravishing sky
Brilliant orange
Of Sun's sad goodbye
Sinking in the sea
As day's page is turned over

Night's sharp tooth sinks in
No mirror of daytime
But dark creature that roams
Who brushes against me
Spooning like a cheap lover

Time slows, mind weighed down
Cementing the hours
'Til Sun vents his fury
Stops this dark torture
Lightening Night's dark cover

Image found at www.mikeandrewphotography.com

I hold your hand

I see you there
My eyes dance
You are so beautiful

You then look up
Our eyes meet
Your look is quizzical

My finger points
First to me 
And then across to you

You shyly smile
Lower your eyes
But still you nod your head

I say my name
And then you blush
As then you tell me yours

Now side by side
we quietly whisper
Each to the other

It is not long
As hearts beat strong
Before I hold your hand

It's warm of course
I hold it tight
We're off to our magic land


Image found at www.motherconfidential.com

No gain without pain

Current real girlfriend

Stated that it was over

Such devastation

The break up painful

The  loneliness absurd

'Til the siren's call

There at the bus stop

Those green eyes smouldering

Her hair enticing

How she was surprised

When I just walked up to her

And told her my name

We talked in the street

A flicker of interest

Then we made a date

Full six month's later

She told me of her boyfriend

That now would give up

She keen as I was

Accepting my proposal

Chose a June wedding

Image found at www.adelaidenow.com.au

Her love was clear to see

She wore a flimsy pink dress
All their eyes were on her
Yet hers alone were on me

She walked across the floor
Their hungry looks were a laugh
They knew she was meant for me

We kissed held each other tight
The atmosphere was then tense
For her love was clear to see

Image found at www.pickyourweddingdresses.com

Enlightenment

And the baby cried
Aware that he had been born
The day of his birth

There was confusion
And delight in this his world
The age of learning

Everything so fast
With so much information
Exploding feelings

Now it was all clear
His understanding of life
To love and create

The joy of family
His responsibility
To impart wisdom

Having the insight
Living life to the fullest
For a time well spent

And now be thankful 
In your own enlightenment
Whatever your life

The first six verses of this haiku include a synonym for the word enlightenment

Image found at www.vaadediva.com

How you have bloomed

You were like a flower
From a gangly teen
To something in between
How you have bloomed

Yet once we were friends
You would laugh and play
Now that has all changed
Our friendship seems doomed

That cute cheeky smile
All your loving ways
We were mates for ever
Was what I had assumed

But you've now grown up
You want to try it all
In that big world out there
Is what we all presumed

Perhaps to return one day
To see us all again
I'm hoping our romance
Will then be resumed

Image found at www.stock-clip.com

Once there was birdsong

There's a pounding in my heart
Where once there was birdsong
That sweet trill, that thrill
But all that has now gone

I was not careful enough
So my suitcase is packed
Before war breaks out
Our relationship cracked

Our dispute is now over
Love's fruit did not survive
Blown away by winter's wind
Now sunk full fathoms five

Image found at www.imgarcade.com

Tumbling down

How gorgeous she was
I so easily fell in love
With those sparkling eyes

Her hand like flowers
Opening so prettily
As I held her close

She and I belonged
Just like a cup and saucer
'Til the other man

Too sporty for me
And that flash sports car of his
Even I liked it

So it was over
Everything came tumbling down
Like a house of cards

Image found at www.conversation.which.co.uk

Where have you hidden?

Like a rabid wolf

With my yellow eyes ablaze

Slathering at the mouth

Deep in the dark wood

I followed your forest trail

Far away from home

I searched all over

A game that we used to play 

All those years ago

How foolish we were

Young love living in our world

One of our making

Swimming in the ocean

Dancing in cherry blossoms

Kissing your pink lips

Playing foolish games

Wrapped up completely in love

The future far off

Until one day you've gone

And I cannot track you down

Where have you hidden?

Image found at www.wolfiewolfgang.com