Monday, January 27, 2014

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. 
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---


Sunday, January 26, 2014

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?
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

672 : Cheeky


Continuing the 'sharp' haiku theme:

Sometimes things turn sour
And life gives a sharp rebuke—
Turn the other cheek.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

670 : Dying Dangerously

Haiku Heights has the prompt 'Sharp'.

It’s not just garfish
That can end up filleted
By a good sharp knife.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

669 : Sharp

Haiku Heights has the prompt 'Sharp'.

Putting it bluntly,
Some things in life should be sharp;
Cheddar cheese is one.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Sunday, January 19, 2014

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?
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Saturday, January 18, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Sunday, January 12, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---



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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Friday, January 10, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---


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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---



Thursday, January 09, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

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!”
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Sunday, January 05, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Saturday, January 04, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Friday, January 03, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---