Outback Christmas

A sliver of light peered through the window
Morning once again telling us to get up
It was another hot day taking charge
Simmering slowly at first then boiling us
Like poor potatoes in a cooking pot

Our farming land was miles from any town
On the edge of nowhere, not much rain here
With nothing but kangaroos, flies and snakes
Ditches and waterholes dry for most of the year
With leaves and fruit withering on the vine

Dog seemed pleased to see me wagging his tail
Crows cawed in the middle of the gum trees
While mocking pink Galahs screeched disbelief
Our sheep gathered under the gumtrees shade
Hiding, stoic in ditches from sun's heat

I found wifey busy in the kitchen
She had breakfast all ready for us both
As the mighty sun strode across the sky
Her smile worth at least a million dollars
No way could I have made it without her

"You do know it is Christmas don't you Ben?"
She said as I took my boots off outside
"Course I do, your present's under the tree"
Hand in hand we went into the Lounge room
I hope she likes what I got her in town

Image found at http://nswschoolanimals.com/dogs/

I look out the window

I look out the window
The grass is still green
Greener I hope now
That she has left me
She's done a runner
Has broken all ties
Even snapped the chain
And left keys to the locks

So I cook my own meal
Recovering from shock
Will clearly take time
A shard of light shines
Through the window pane
Her slippery tongue
Will hurt me no more
As puss plays with my socks

Image found at http://www.vetstreet.com

Attention to detail

There was hardly a ripple on the water
As we now basked in the midday sun
I preferred watching the waves heap up
Gigantic in the their fury onto the beach
Then skitter back down foaming at us like fools

Gulls meanwhile searched for who knows what
As they'd eat any left over rubbish
Being the hobos of the shoreline
Wiser terns would circle high then dive in
To gain select items like connoiseurs

Meanwhile Angela called me back down to earth
On her knees with lotion bottle in hand
My task to apply oil as directed
Clearly a simple job made for able men
A sort of reward for services rendered

I make no bones about it, it was great fun
But attention to detail was noticed
She was in the throes of annoyance
I was sent off to wander the shore again
The wise terns shook their heads at me in disgust

Image fiund at http://pixiebirding.blogspot.com.au

Celebration of spending

I recall before the world was rich
When I was just a little titch
Celebrations then were very few
For then we had so much more to do
As poverty is like that you know
I remember Christmases long past
My present was new shoes meant to last
Not a big box of creme de menthe
That would be gone in less than a month

But are we as rich as all that now seems
As we waste money beyond our means
Struggling to pay our debts later on
When the bank's credit has now all gone
Celebrations are all ebb and flow
We're told we are happy so think we are
So we are like cogs in a motor car?
Just consumers for rich magnates gain
Who rub their hands quite blind to our pain

Image of African children being given long lasting sandals found at https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org

I know I'm in love

We run down the beach
Reaching the shallows at last
Nudge each other in

We swim out to sea
Into deep darker water
Up to the sandbar

We watch the sailboats
Then turn to assault the waves
Returning to shore

You try to beat me
But I just get to shore first
We seat ourselves down

The sun and wind dry us
You fall asleep snuggling up
I am your puppet

It's often the case
Hope I can afford that risk
I know I'm in love

Image found at https://www.dreamstime.com/

Lost pearl

The wild winter winds are cold outside
Rain traces tears down the window pane
Dead leaves swirling in the courtyard
Point their fingers for I am to blame
For she has finally left me here

What a homecoming this is for me
House now shrouded in bleakest darkness
I walk though all the rooms in despair
Each precious moment now crams my brain
The error of my ways is now clear

It was spring when we met that first time
Beautiful the past days seem to be
My mind tries to block out each sad thought
For the affair with that other girl
Lost the richest pearl I held so dear

Image found at www.http://bombayoutdoors.com

The mirror and I

The mirror and I have never been friends
I don't see how we can make amends
The image it has provided me with 
Reflects not me but some ugly myth

Perhaps I've seen too many movies
With me a star dating lovey-doveys
I am quite tall surely that must count
But with rippling muscles I really don't

So I shun the looks of that wall hanging
And walk the streets with my heart banging
Smiling eagerly at all the girls
Especially ones with long blonde curls

I don't know what the problem is now
All they do is laugh and jeer, I vow
As in the park the flowers I observe
"Go home granddad, you've got a nerve"

Later that evening the mirror glints
There's an old man in the shadowy tints
I sigh deeply and must accept the truth
I really am an old man now "Strewth!"

Image found at https://www.mnn.com

Winter afternoon

We curl up together
This winter afternoon
With wild winds out of doors
Twigs whipping the window

Your Dad's old clock chimes three
You grunt your approval
As I unfasten your bra
Wanting what I do too

As I lay my head down 
To hear your beating heart
The open fire alone 
Lights up the living room

As dusk falls we make love
Still wrapped up together
Steps outside now rouse us
You jump up and dash off

And the door bell now rings
So have to check the door
The starlit sky reveals
Your parents on the step

I force a smile for them
"Thought we would pay a call"
They said looking so pleased
"Who's that?" I hear you say

"Come on in, the fires lit"
"I'll put the kettle on"
When I take in the tea
Wife grins and winks at me


Image found at https://www.today.com/

The ring on her finger

If you hadn't smiled at me
Election day when we voted
How beautiful were your eyes
You subtly glanced my way
Thinking I must not let her get away

Who cares what party got in
I waited 'til you emerged
You grinned as you saw me there
"That was thirsty work" I said
"Just one" she said  "I've more to do today"

We drove to a drinking spot
Both in our separate cars
"Thanks" she said getting her drink
Sitting in a cosy nook
"It's not often I can escape this way"

'Twas only then I noticed
Fool that I am for sure
The ring now on her finger
She sees me look, sweetly smiles
"Don't worry, it pushes the rest away"

My heart sang a song of love
Surely she heard my thoughts
"I can't exist without you"
For my wishes all came true
"I think the same too" she said, "It's OK"

Image found at http://www.fhm.com

Just out of reach

They have all come back
Now I am a widower
Bittersweet fortune

I write them emails
They tell me of their children
And their own lives now

Those cute girls at school
Now almost as old as I am
I kissed in the park

Held hands what a treasure
Thinking she might be the one
While at the movies

Touching their fingers
And looking into their eyes
Yes, she was the one

Each breakup sadness
The grief of a teenager
First step to adult

Then they were all gone
Finding the love of your life
Others lost in the mist

Damn the internet
They are back in my life now
But just out of reach

Just where is the one 
That cried so when we parted?
I never found her

Image found at https://www.bps.org.uk

I'm a fool

I'm a fool with such heartache
I have had it since she chucked me
Left now with a cargo of grief
As she chose him, don't you see?

It's not easy to forget her
But Spring blossoms they come what may
While the rain clouds still cry for me
To comfort one more gloomy day

Softening the earth around me
Giving a sweet smell of flowers
Already spurting from the ground
A promise for my lonely hours

The bright sun shines all about me
Just to complete the magic act
The office blonde just winked at me
No, I'm not kidding, it's a fact

Image found at https://en.fotolia.com/tag/wink

An old oak tree

When I was young, young as can be
I used to climb an old oak tree
There hidden in the branches high
I ruled the Earth and the sky

My brother couldn't find me there
Or else he couldn't give a care
Clouds scudded by all the long day
Far off the farmer cut the hay

The sun did shine and birds did sing
And now there was a funny thing
A squirrel was in the tree too
Looked as tho' he said "Who are you?"

I kept still and said not one word
Silence broken by a Blackbird
Who cawed "Awk...and just who are you?"
Finger to my lips, I hushed him too.

So our business we did resume
Me basking in the leafy gloom
Until I heard Ma's loud voice call
Waking me from the sylvan thrall

Image found at https://professormungleton.blogspot.com.au

Let's be friends

Met at the office
A shy glance across the room
And a smile from me "Hello"
Her lowered eyes in reply
I wonder if she cared

Sadly I walked home
My Ma saw my look that night
She guessed and gave me a hug
"Give her just one yellow rose
Just to say let's be friends"

So early next day
A rose cut and wrapped up well
Then placed safely on her desk
What delight to see her smile
And lift it to her nose

She knew it was me
So each day she would say "Hi"
And blush as I smiled at her
Soon we would both go to lunch
And held her soft warm hand

Image found at https://www.pinterest.com.au/

Em and me

I opened the old iron gate and it moaned
Then clanged with annoyance as I pulled it shut
As there was no pleasing it
It was because I was free
So I breathed in the cool air
Climbed the hill to the silo
In order to walk the fields
Kicking the stubble
And singing a song
Happy as could be

The wind blows climbing to the top of the hill
I can just see the sea over the horizon
I'll go there when I'm older
That is when I've finished school
Me and Em will run away
Worm our way out one dark night
Have to oil the hinges first
Be gone by first light
Off down to the coast
Happy as can be

Ma was not all that cross I'd run off that day
All she said was "Wondered when you would get back"
Em just grinned at me licking
Some cake mix from her fingers
So then she offered me some
I could see she'd been crying
She really thought I'd left home
I'd never do that
She's my sister
And will always be

Image found at www.shutterstock.com

Note: I am aware that licking cake mix bowls with eggs in is frowned upon but I was just recalling my own childhood memories of 70 years ago! The story is of course fictitious.

Roused with a gentle kiss

I want my childhood back
Running off down the woods
To shimmy up the trees
Swinging from the high limbs
Like Tarzan in the films
A friend of monkeys too

It's not a crime is it?
To make a wooden sword
From bits found in Dad's shed
To strap around my waist
So I can chop my way
Through thick jungle trees

Sadly I was dreaming
Roused with a gentle kiss
While I was flying high
Hanging on a jungle vine
As childhood merged slowly
Into old age once again

My dear wife smiled at me
Grinning like waxing moon
My dreamy adventure
Eased the sting of old age
But what joy to relish
This dear woman I loved

Image found at https://allhailtheblackmarket.com

Our door in the war

When we were young doors were different
They let people in didn't shut them out
Were poor as church mice like most in the street
Key was on a string behind the letterbox
Us kids would haul it up to get in then
Raid the bread bin and fight over any crust
Until Mum came home to cook a real meal
In wartime everyone was poor like us
Even the man up the street with a car
Not that he could drive it without gas
That was rationed too as most things were then
Food, clothes, even sweets, (lollies or candy)
We had to survive a week on four ounces
So had ours when we went to the flicks
Kids could never last all through the film
What with Tarzan, cowboys and Mickey Mouse
At some time I'd dash out to the toilet
Find my way back to my seat in the dark
Then whisper to find out what happened
Lady behind us would be cross and say "Shush!"
Hoping the manager didn't throw us out
To leave us staring at the closed doors
Did once, so went to the river and got wet

Image found at http://www.imdb.com/

I remember her

I remember her
The summer holding her hand
Walking beside her

Sun on our faces
Dragonflies darting about
Breathing in the air

She was my first love
No one told me the rules
But I was happy

Reaching the hilltop
We sat looking over the town
The sun grinned at us

Steam train puffed along
Dragonfly settled on me
It wanted to talk

Was too much in love 
To listen to the message
So it flew away

And she did so too
Life was not how I had planned
Later we broke up

Walking beside her
Slowly retracing our way
Winter was to come

Image found at www.pixabay.com

I must be getting old

Being but a man
I have little discipline
No patience either

Gazing as I do
In moments of sublime bliss
At unaware you

Calm heroic me
Know my limits but will steal
Pieces of your heart

As I smile at you
Despite the response in kind
I notice your tears

Would the prophets say
"Go take this beauty and fly
Gently dry her eyes"

No they would say
"You are past this game old man
Write it down instead"

This poem written back in 2013 seems to reflect the person I sometimes pretend to be so thought it deserved an airing

Image found at https://www.shutterstock.com

We never learn

I walked in this park

T'was a cemetery

And I was alone

But for the others

Who lay there so peacefully

That is what I thought

So then I sat down

My mind wandered, drifted off

In contemplation

I heard someone say

“Just why are you here young man?”

I struggled from sleep

Before I answered

Others began to cry out

Yes, I heard them all

Talk about bedlam

For each grave had opened up

They clamored to speak

Then the questions came

“What measure of man are you

To kill your own kind?”

One by one they spoke

“But their skins were not as mine”

“So the pit for you”

What is your excuse?

“They prayed to other gods”

“Fool, I still heard them”

So then the next

“They spoke a foreign language”

“To hell you must go”

And there were more

“Our leaders told us we must”

“And did you not cheer?”

“I was a soldier

It was my duty to fight”

“But you killed children”

On and on they spoke

And for each was an answer

I had to protest

“Stop” I then called out

“These men have all been punished

Their families too”

“Silly little man

I was not speaking to them

No, I spoke to you”

Image from www.straartkaart.nl

This poem (a haiku stream) was published elsewhere back in 2014. The times seems right to resurrect it!

In Brighton Town

When I was younger maybe only thirty 
I used to live in Brighton Town
Close to the briny sea

My workplace was close to the main road in
Just as I went out for lunch
I heard a strange din

I tried to cross the busy thoroughfare
But saw a large car driving near
So I had to take some care

A large Rolls-Royce with open top
Husband and wife sat in the back
Clearly it would not stop

The woman waved to me which was so kind
I waved back, good bloke that I am
And put it out of mind

Later I caught on just who I had seen
That lady who had waved at me
Had been the bloody Queen!

Image found at http://www.motortrend.com

One of them

Everything overtook me
As I drove out from the city
Until they all disappeared

So the tall trees waved to me
The clouds uncovered the warm sun
The scent of summer soothed me

So I turned off the road
Drove a bumpy track to the woods
To hear the sound of silence

They knew me, I'd been before
So the trees stopped whispering
And the birds stopped twittering

The flowing stream just gurgled
So I put my back on a tree
And heard the sound of silence

In that place I fell asleep
And dreamed that I belonged there
I was really one of them

Finally when I awoke
A chorus of all the creatures
The trees and the running stream

Told me that this was the truth
"You do" they said each one weeping
 I hung my head in silence

Image found at https://www.stocksy.com

I am old and my bones ache

I am old and my bones ache
As a child I saw the dark
By growing up in wartime
Everyone had so little
Except those that stole and cheated

But then it seemed much better
I could run around quite free
Couldn't afford very much
But it all looked good to me
But not those that stole and cheated

We thought we were quite well off
Home, food and saving money
Bought a car and house as well
All on the never never
But not those that stole and cheated

Changed my job a few times
Travelled the whole wide world
Wars and poverty still rife
Our world dying a slow death
Thanks to those that stole and cheated

Image 1 found at http://www.wri.org/
Image 2 found at http://www.twitter.com

In the library

I saw her in the library
Twice before I dared to speak 
And there between the bookcases
We stooped, whispering, cheek to cheek 

We talked of books, I stroked her arm
She seemed to like me doing that
Her eyes displayed a trust in me
She watched me silent as a cat

We walked together hand in hand
By the canal with barges there
As I took her home that night
I kissed her lips, ears, everywhere

I hoped ours was an enduring love
But soon feared that was not the case
She became offhand, more guarded
Love slid away, back to first base

Image found at www.Dreamstime.com

Stillness of the night

In the stillness of the night
A bellow of indignation
Rent the calmness of our sleep
It was our beloved boychild
I switched on the bedside light

My wife grunted beside me
Snuggled right down feigning sleep
I rose to warm a bottle
For his midnight drop of milk
To assuage his hunger plea

Crying stopped when he saw me
Sly smile came upon his face
Picked him up and sat with him
While he gorged his midnight feast
Declined none, burped contentedly

My strong arms rocked him off to sleep
Then placed our little blossom
In the crib his dreams to weave
I stayed for just a little while
For he uttered not one peep

Closet tidy; where's my mate?
So crawled back into our bed
My wife's embrace wrapped me up
She'll not deny me anything
I am happy with my fate

Image found at https://www.istockphoto.com