Losing things

In my dreams I keep losing things Walking along and suddenly I realise I don’t have my handbag I did have it, but it’s like I just put it down and walked away So now I retrace my steps in panic Looking frantically for the handbag With the purse and the money and my driver’s…

Murder on the Orient Express – ripples in a pond.

The other night I watched the 2017 film of “Murder on the Orient Express”. This is not a review of that movie. It just got me thinking about an aspect of the story that younger me, reading the Agatha Christie novel and watching the earlier film, did not consider. And it’s a powerful one. There…

Blind luck

Take a photo and look at it And pretend for a moment That you live in the moment which you have paused so effectively With modern technology It’s not so easy, of course Now becomes then in the blink of an eye My words already speaking from the past The future waits on the other…

The pigeon

We spotted it in my mum’s garden. It had shiny green tinted feathers around its neck area, a grey and white head. Beautiful, as pigeons go.  It was drinking from a dripping tap and having a bit of an impromptu shower. A little odd, we thought. Then it started to walk away and we noticed…

Fog at the waterfront

Globes of dim light hanging in space Resolve into lamps lining the quay As fog rolls in from the chilly sea Seats line the barriers facing the brine In summer time it’s good to sit And meditate on the rolling tide But now, in the night and the misty air The ocean is vanished behind…

Balter

Clumsy capering, lurching about Out of time to the music’s beat What are you doing? You call that a dance? Take care you don’t trip on your own two feet Scuffling along a concrete street Shoes clip on cracks, stumble and slip Pick up your feet! Can’t you see what comes next? You’ll break your…

Review “The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes” by Neil Gaiman.

“The Sandman” is a series of comics written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by various artists. While the original comics began in the 1980s, in 2010 they were re-released in a series of ten volumes collecting the stories. “Preludes and Nocturnes” is the first of these, collecting “The Sandman” numbers 1-8. The main character is…

An Australian Night

The smooth pale skin of the ghost gum trees Glimmers faintly in the star strewn night Leaves rustle softly in the night breeze Catching the glint of the pale moonlight Boobook owls call and frogmouths hoot Wagtails sing to the rising moon Koalas bellow while possums fight And crickets chirrup a background tune Rocks loom…

Defective genetics

No need to worry, said the doctor Medication will stop the degeneration You’ll be fine She meant to be encouraging It might even be true But all the kind words In the whole world Won’t stop the pain It might not get any worse But it won’t get better Another disability Another aspect of defective…

In praise of the Cello

It would be hard, I think, to find someone who doesn’t enjoy music. It does seem to be a universal human pastime. Tastes in music, of course, can vary widely, and people will often enjoy the sound of some instruments more than others. For me, it’s the cello. Also known as the violoncello, it has…