676 : The Challenge

Mad Kane has a weekly limerick challenge.

She provides the first line rhyme word,

The rest is up to us:

A fellow who claimed to have read

“Ulysses”, while lying in bed,

Admitted, when pressed,

He was there for the rest,

As the challenge had done in his head. 

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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675 : Concentrating the Mind

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #145) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

country, (facilitate), aspect, sent, strands, state,

sustain, write, time, plans, embrace, juggling

In my previous post I dealt with the word ‘facilitate’, 

So it is excluded from this post.

Concentrating the Mind

Writing on a Wrong - Australia Day 2014

Before we start I would like to pay homage 

to the traditional owners of the land:

Pseudocheirus peregrinus.  

Thank you.

This country has,

Over time,

Embraced visitors

From everywhere.

Granted, it has not always been smooth

Some jostling,

Some juggling,

But each arrival

Has added new strands

To the tapestry that is us today.

We are a symphony,

Not a solo.

So how do we explain

The nastiness,

The callousness,

Of our elected government?

The state has become 

The champion 

Of fear, of hatred, 

Of cynical disregard

Of pain and suffering.

Desperate people

Are sent away,

Forced away,

Locked away

Rot away,

Mentally decay,

Everyday.

When the public accept 

This behavior,

They sustain it,

Normalise it.

But if this aspect 

Of government behavior,

Cruelty and disdain,

Becomes normal,

What other plans do they have?

What incremental steps,

Will we see next?

Are you safe?

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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674 : Facilitate

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #145) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

country, facilitate, aspect, sent, strands, state,

sustain, write, time, plans, embrace, juggling

Facilitate

fa-cili-tate – a transitive verb, 

A verb that needs an object,

An awful word,

It gives the impression

Of stern officers of the state

Sent in with allotted time,

With clipboards and plans,

With small neat writing

On gridded paper.

Dot points

Capture all the strands,

All the aspects

Of a meeting of bodies

But not of minds,

A meeting that embodies

But doesn’t build,

That’s held

But is not upheld,

That devours the spirit

Not sustains it.

A facilitated meeting:

The arid country

Of juggled agendas

And compromised outcomes

That encompasses everything

And embraces nothing.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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673 : Waiting for a Gift

Sunday Scribblings 2 has the prompt: "Waiting for a gift".

Mmmm…(thinks)…five syllables.  A haiku?

Waiting for a gift—

The curse of entitlement.

Surprises are best.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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672 : Cheeky

Continuing the 'sharp' haiku theme:

Sometimes things turn sour

And life gives a sharp rebuke—

Turn the other cheek.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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671 : The Caledonian Diet

Mad Kane has a weekly limerick challenge.

She provides the first line rhyme word,

The rest is up to us:

A Scotsman liked his food fried,

(Even better with batter outside).

I imagine it risky

To deep fry malt whiskey

But I have do doubt that he tried.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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670 : Dying Dangerously

Haiku Heights has the prompt 'Sharp'.

It’s not just garfish

That can end up filleted

By a good sharp knife.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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669 : Sharp

Haiku Heights has the prompt 'Sharp'.

Putting it bluntly,

Some things in life should be sharp;

Cheddar cheese is one.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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668 : Trinkets for Muddled Minds

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #144) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

twine, conjure, nest, carry, spirits, bend,

through, curl, trinkets, neglect, cap, back, sigh

Trinkets for Muddled Minds

Greek Chorus,

To be murmured off-side:

Oui, Ja, Yes, No,

Nothing but 

a shyster’s show.

Here.  Listen.

Conjuring up the dead

With strings and mirrors 

To distract, or so it’s said,

Is the way to open purses.

Twine is string, right?

Can I use twine?  Does it matter?

And, what say, the back of a tin lid?

Not a mirror but it could be worse.

Would that be just as mystic as…

What? Smoke and mirrors?  Curses!

But the lid’s fine, right?

Just need and upturned cup.

Oh, glass, cup, what’s the diff?

Please don’t sigh and curl your lip,

And don’t roll back your eyes, either,

If you help me through here, 

There’s money to be made

From people who will pay their shilling

Money for jam, 

From people who believe


The spirits are there and very willing.

Just need to flesh it out a little bit

And neglect the logic quite a bit

And bend the truth somewhat too,

OK, a lot, but you get the idea.

Should work, they’ve come this far,

Cap in hand, wanting success,

So our chances are increased,

Should be able to carry it off,

With their help, the simple dears,

Life is good, knock on wood,

When the sheep are wanting to be fleeced,

N’est pas? Understood?

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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667 : The Wain

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were anxious, devoted, and scrawny.

The Wain

He was a scrawny, little thing,

All arms and legs and bluff,

Substituting wit and sauce

For what he lacked in ‘tough’.

His mum was anxious 

For her son, of course,

Children can be cruel;

She wondered 

What his life would bring

When he headed off to school.

Indeed it was a torrid place

Outside of routine classes:

They are quick and easy prey,

The kids who wear the glasses.

So he devoted himself to study

Each day he learnt a little more.

Now he owns the marketplace

And so employs them all.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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666 : The New Bride

“Bride in Moonlight (Bride turning into a Windmill)” – Arthur Boyd.

Sunday Scribblings 2 has the prompt “sweeping the threshold”.

The New Bride

Life changed for her 

When she agreed

To wear his ring of gold

And, then, 

Lifted into his arms

Swept across 

The threshold

To drown,

To spiral 

Grimly down.

Alarms

Could have 

Changed 

Her fate

But she meekly 

Did as he decreed

And then 

It was too late.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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665 : Group Think

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #143) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

illuminates, impact, remote, scenes, storm, one,

haunt, litter, need, pool, lifeless, price

Group Think.

In the remote past,

Scenes of turmoil;

A lifeless

But turbulent place

Feels the impact,

Reels to the impact

Of Nature.

Storms

Sweep the planet;

Lightning

Fractures the sky;

Illuminates the land.

Thunder,

A deferred timpani,

Grumbles behind.

Volcanoes 

Litter the scene—

Sulphurous sores,

The weeping pores,

Of a fevered planet.

No ghosts dare

Haunt this place.

◊

In the midst 

Of this cassoulet 

Of what has been

Lives the promise 

Of what will be.

On one afternoon

In one magical moment

In one small pool

Of warm and enriched water

Nothing happened.

But in the larger seas,

In a broader sense,

Over countless seasons,

Imperceptively,

And yet relentlessly,

Associations are made.

Different skills

Meet different needs.

Collaboration

And adaption,

The group

Outperforms

The individual.

And pays the price 

Of survival.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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664 : The Baited Hook

The Baited Hook

Said one little fish

To another little fish

Ignore the baited hook!

Said the other little fish

To the first little fish

What harm is there to look?

Said the first little fish

To another little fish

You really must beware!

Said the other little fish

To the first little fish

I promise I’ll take care.

Said the first little fish

To another little fish

This urge, I beg you fight it.

Said the other little fish

To the first little fish

What harm is there to bite it?

Said the first little fish

To another little fish

I swear I’m never wrong!

But the other little fish

Gave a brief little swish

Then he and the bait were gone.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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663 : The Blue Haze

Poetry Jam has the prompt 'Fire'.

The Blue Haze

The blue haze,

An iconic image

Of our country.

We name 

Our mountains

The Blue Mountains

Seldom thinking why.

Why are they blue?

Oil.  Oil is the why.

Eucalyptus oil.

And it is why

They burn so well.

Have done.

Will do.

Only more so,

More often,

As the climate

Heats up,

As the debate heats up,

As tempers flare,

As some prepare,

As some despair,

As some trust

In prayer,

And some declare

It isn't there—

Skeptics,

Hired guns,

Acquired guns,

Raise their guns

And fire

Is the result.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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662 : The List

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were faithful, isolate and scrutinize.

The List

When you scrutinize your circle

Of friends and merely so,

When you isolate the faithful 

From those you should let go,

You get a better picture 

Of the dismal catalogue—

The more I mix with people

The more I like my dog.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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661 : The Moose Head

Mad Kane has a weekly limerick challenge.

She provides the first line,

The rest is up to us:

The Moose Head

A woman was throwing things out


When her husband gave a loud shout.


“I’m happy enough


That you’re chucking out stuff


But the moose head, I can’t live without!”

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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660 : Cognitive Dissonance

.
Cognitive Dissonance

We have 

Some odd reactions

When we scratch

And bite;

We know that,

In our heart,

We are good

So can't explain

The spite.

And so

To protect

Our status quo

It’s understood

Our response

Is rather curt—

We justify our actions

And hate

The one we’ve hurt.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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659 : The Treadmill

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #142) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

bit, might, behind, spare, caress, sky,

save, expect, pair, struck, scarlet, first.

Sunday Scribblings 2 provided the topic:

"A road that leads nowhere".

The Treadmill

Come sit with me and rest a bit

Beneath the evening sky

And ponder what might be true

And what to save, and why.

Refrain

If we do not share

If we are not there

If we do not care

Does it really matter

Where the road is leading?

As the sky retreats to a scarlet streak

And stars caress the night,

Let us discuss the love behind

Our creations of delight.

Refrain.

What you expect is an unmatched pair, 

Seldom reflecting what you find

On the road that’s going nowhere,

On the treadmill of your mind.

Refrain.

Spare a thought for those driven types

Who struck out for the top;

The answer was much nearer home

But first they had to stop.

Refrain.

Come sit with me and rest a bit

Beneath the evening sky

And ponder what might be true

And what to save, and why.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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658 : The Offering

The Offering.

Christmas Eve, 2013.

I was busy,

Engrossed 

In my work.

She appeared 

Unannounced

And handed me

A home-made

Chocolate mousse.

“It’s for you” she said.

An embarrassed smile,

A surprised ‘thank you’

And she was gone.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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657 : The Chocolate Egg

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were gorgeous, jittery and outrageous.

The Chocolate Egg.

It is not 

Uncommon,

When you think 

Someone is 

Absolutely

Gorgeous;

That their eyes,

Their body,

Their presence,

Makes you,

Demands you,

Start sweating.

Your mouth 

Ignores your brain;

You stutter,

You feel,

Absolutely 

Stupid,

Anxious,

Jittery,

Entranced,

Until,

In an outrageous

Travesty of 

Natural justice,

They speak

And you 

Realize 

That the sweet 

Façade

Hides

Nothing.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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656 : New Year, Same Year

As things seem to be a bit cyclic,

A rondeau to kick off 2014.

New Year, Same Year

To start the year, fond hopes are nursed

Our dreams are once again rehearsed

For love and life and new careers

For happiness and for fewer fears

For peoples, far and wide dispersed

But inwardly suspect the worst—

Politicians, who have been pursed,

Dispense fireworks and festive cheers

To start the year.

Resolutions come and quickly burst,

Hopes are dashed and waistlines cursed;

From what we’ve seen in other years

We wouldn’t have as many tears

If we were to use April 1st

To start the year.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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