It was said that all things must pass: the big wheels turning, turning over the drought-lands, the down-and-out lands cattle skeletons ploughed in like rotted ships fence-posts - frayed and far-fetched zippers - dragging lines of wind-sawn wire – dun and drear the fierce fires rolling, roiling wanton flames - the lunge and buck, the … Continue reading Things that Pass
bare little tree - small bird's nest revealed (we imagine a goose one webbed foot curved to twiggy bowl, the other flaps about rowing the air honk! honk! her arm through mine enjoying a giggle). geese 'V' on high but we can't fly. we gallop the drawn lines our dog and our masks. blue sky … Continue reading the goose and the magpie nest
Soldiers (and not only you) they may lie before you die they may lie again when your speechless body is in earth's pouch the close, dark hug of it... your life given for a cause... not yours. Lies are the wounds in all our histories suppurating as tiny texts in little known museums or finding … Continue reading Truth
crude wooden tripods stand tethered human pendulums swinging amongst fumes and fuming damming politicians and incandescent commuters damming the city’s arteries a timely attack the heart on the hill* bloodless while the body rages taut fists enacting death throes of a planet in need *Australia's Parliament House is commonly referred to as "the house on … Continue reading Extinction Rebellion
it was committed to the earth. I think: to search for worms; that the dead are thermometers of our Earth this friable literature this soft and pleasingly dark loam poem buried there giving birth in time to a soliloquy of flowers to say and sway as nature does comfortably green
August follows from a grey and fearful July – the closed hatch of cities in lock-down. Concrete and buildings hunkered under shifty, flannelette skies. The grime of recycled messages from haggard, mesh-faced leaders. Closed front doors, a stultifying blank. Resentment breeds as fast as the virus itself. Different areas, different rules. Anger like pavement cracks … Continue reading August – Haibun Monday
The river rolls and whispers to me of gentle whorls and rhythms free this joyous ride, journey d’espirit to find the sea, to find the sea. But underneath this joie de vivre is tumbled sand and grinding scree, a world of strict conformity. No pebble’s free. No pebble’s free. Sharp edges worn over the years, … Continue reading The River
who is she? face like mine but aged in a tiny sudden way surprising as a pond - murky water turned mother of pearl a dance-floor for the sky time is a galaxy pinpointed and vast I find security counting frost hairs around a leaf; photographing rain drops in the puddles the trees swing deep … Continue reading reflections
the Romans feathered helmets erect learned the sterility of war their Empire's wondrous landmarks became punctuation in history's soil their roads crossed continents in massive webs their confidence still glimmers in ancient armour and upturned pillars but now, we're in dress-rehearsal writing history our age split asunder by tablets lit with green-glowing back-turned candles - … Continue reading Different Century, Same…?
So this is what I wrote 12 months ago on July 9th. A lot has changed and nothing has changed. In Australia, it is Sydney, not Melbourne in Lockdown and facing a new, more contagious form of the virus. I know a lot more people in Sydney than I do in Melbourne and I hear more of the strains of the Lockdown. It’s not easy. But, having been a bit self congratulatory early on, I think Berejiklian has knuckled down and accepted that this is going to be harder than she thought.
Biden is now president in the US and I gather that, in terms of COVID, things are improving.
But personally, last year seems like a doddle compared to 2021. Everything is relative.
As Victoria rushes to stem the tide of COVID, other Australian states look on, both sympathetic and protective of their own safety. Borders are closing. The Queenslanders (with the whole of New South Wales between them and Victoria) even suspect Victorians of smuggling themselves across the border on freight trucks. Maybe it’s true but it seems unbelievable to me.
This year is unbelievable.
World politics is unbelievable.
In the US, the numbers are terrifying. Over 1600 deaths in the last two days and 61,848 new cases just yesterday. P showed me the graphs.
He made the remark that during two days in April, more people died of COVID19 than died in the September 11 attacks in 2001.
And yet Trump still glosses over it and congratulates himself on saving thousands of lives.
Will the dead be remembered every year in memorials all over the country? Will the doctors who tried…
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Out of the Cave 