1192 - Something has gone terribly wrong...

"Something has gone terrible wrong" 

LNP Party spokesperson, election night.

There is some comfort in knowing

That fear and greed and hate

Does not have the capacity

To win our main debate.

It's sad

But it was all they had.

And a pity

That they could just condemn.

But the end result was showing—

We're more mature than them.

  .

---

© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery

---

For the international readers:
In Australia, the LNP are the repository of
right-wing religious extremists
and use the colour blue. 
Largely Republican in outlook.

The ALP is the left-wing progressives,
sometimes called Socialists
but a badge worn with pride here,
and use the colour red. 
Largely Democratic in outlook.

1191 - Sorry Honey...

Haiku Horizon's prompt: Smart

Sorry Honey...

You think you're so smart.
You think that you're the bee's knees.
A sure sign you're not.
  .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
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1190 - We Never Learn

We Never Learn

Nothing
In this world
Is constant—
Change
Is the normal state.
Things begin,
Mature
And decay,
Create
And recreate,
Again
And again
And again.

This way
Mistakes
Of yesteryear
Can be the shadowy
Blueprint
For tomorrow's
Brave frontier.
  .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1189 - Reflections

An all day meeting in Sydney finished at 12:30pm.
Couldn't change my ticket, so...
Reflections

A free afternoon—
Sitting around an airport:
Some time to reflect.

A long afternoon,
Just watching the passing parade.
Drink airport coffee.
  .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1188 - Neanderthals

Mad Kane's limerick prompt: sent.

Neanderthals

The politics of the right are content
To return us to caves or a tent.
One hopes that the goal
Of the upcoming poll
Is that they don't just go but are sent.
  .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1187 - Microsurgery

Prompt: Brain

Micro Surgery

A fellow who felt so  inclined

To offer a piece of his mind

Observed on reflection

That the cerebral dissection

Was a surgery he should have declined.

 .

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© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery

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1186 - Capital Works

Prompt: wolf

Capital Works

Capitoline wolf.
Philosopher emperors.
Good roads and crossed paths.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1185 - Evans no!

Prompt: Flash
Evans no!

It's Gareth's defence:
"It seemed like a good idea"
But wasn't that flash.
 .
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© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
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1184 - Rubáiyát

Rubáiyát 
Idle thoughts from a recent Iranian holiday.

From before the first caravans had 'er shipped,
Travellers have into Persia slipped
To find the world of Omar Khayyam,
And Lo, behold, we find the eucalypt!

◊

Lo!  Gatekeeper, we come to seek a place
To rest our head, to wash out face
And perhaps to sit around at night
To share our tales of time and space.

◊

We're strangers and yet momentary friends —
The overt message that each picture sends:
Is one of hope and brotherhood,
Of different lives with common ends.

◊

Oh Shiraz, Shiraz, daughter of the vine,
Seduced by the purveyors of divine,
And so now a miracle has come to pass —
In reverse — water now replaces wine.

◊

A swirl of cloth, draped but loose —
Those ones with God demand its use —
To stop men's blood from overheating,
Liberation to some, to others a noose.

◊

Alone amongst the legs, the trade is slow,
A boy sells you weight for a coin or so —
To make a living, such as is, but I am well fed
And so turn away; I do not want to know.

◊

As both sultan and lowly peasant affirms
They enter life on different terms
But each departs through a common door,
It makes no difference to the worms.

◊

Ah Persia, wondrous land of past intrigue
A land, we're told, that bats above its league,
Rugs and spices to entrance the travellers
And that most curious illness - mosque-fatigue.

◊

Lo! Strangers, what can you tell us?
Believe us, Sir, we dislike the turbanned fellahs,
For too long they beguiled with paradise —
We no longer buy the dream they sell us.

◊

The overlords are largely derided,
Seditious thoughts are freely provided.
There's no telling what the future holds
But revolutions are seldom guided.

◊

Ancient Persepolis had style and grace,
A most won'drous architectural space.
It remained the centre of civic life
Until Alexander came and trashed the place.

◊

So long to start and yet so soon gone,
Markets, mosques and tea salon,
All defer to the distant call—

The caravans pack and then, 

separately, 

move on.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
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1183 - The Helping Hand.

The Helping Hand

They came seeking help.
Detained, they are left to rot.
Where's the compassion?
 .
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© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
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