1577 - Missed

 

Missed.

A deathbed request:
"Some of your oatcakes please..."
But she couldn't wait.
 .
---
© 2022  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

1576 - The Circus Comes to Town

 

The Circus Comes to Town

Lock up your babies, while there’s time,
The candidates are a-coming;
Photo ops are a pantomime—
The spin will be mind-numbing.

Those dubious bits of nonsense, the polls,
Excite or make us fretting.
As reliable as pinning voodoo dolls,
But each time we keep forgetting.

The facts become superfluous
When intent is clearly to mislead;
They tell us they want what’s best for us
But merely sell us fear and greed.

Then be not shy, but use your vote,
And, while you can, go cast it.
We cannot sink the gravy boat,
But with luck we can outlast it.
 .
---
© 2022  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

1575 - Why should they care?

The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle:

signal drive plaid lone life joke
club ice fire merry join fly


Why should they care?

I wonder what drives them.
These well fed, well paid, members of The Club?
Rhetorical question.
Fly in, fly out,
Make merry around fires or pools,
Sipping drinks chilled with imported glacier ice,
While it’s still there,
Why should they care?
That’s the life!
The signals drip entitlement.
Pillage while you can,
Because you can,
All you can.
Joke about the poor lone pathetic fools
Who lament your actions.
Your media buddies ridicule them
With cheap shots and phone taps,
Headlines, all in bold caps.
“Well played!” they chortle.
Well, plaid is Gaelic for blanket—
Covered up.  Hidden.  Smothered.
The truth.  Justice.  Equity.
Just the scars are visible. 

They've gone.
Why should they care?
 .
---

© 2022  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

1574 - Off One's Tree

 The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle:
flutter, cage, hanger, cold, try, tree,
deny, womb, wish, finish, stray, eager.


Off one's tree.

When bold opportunity knocked
And offered to grant them their wish
Their hearts denied them a flutter,
Cold and rather brutish:
From womb—
The next stop is tomb.

They mutter
But most prefer it that way.
While their chosen cage is not locked
Few are eager to stray.

When bold opportunity knocked
And offered to grant them their dreams
They pulled the hanger door shut—
Caution hates extremes.
Why try?
Just to finish thereby?

Clear cut—
And most prefer it that way.
While their chosen cage is not locked
Few are eager to stray.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

1573 - Don't mention the Page 3 girls

 

The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle:
fun, Florida, girls, unify, news, middle,
scandal, hard, lie, run second, spray.

Don't mention the Page 3 girls

The news runs lies,
Broadcast at all hours;
Anger, shock and scandal.
No middle ground to unify,
The morals of a vandal.
A venomous spray
Is no fun way to start the day.
But it titillates the flock—
I really wonder why.

◊

A second try—
Good news is still hard to see...
But wait!  "Florida" means full of flowers.
Well, that was news to me!

 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

1572 - Sign in, Clock off.

 

The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle;

sign, lame, chime, tethered shine, game, erotic, card, tame, soft, found.

 

Sign in, Clock off.

Pick a card!  Go on, any card!
Did you win?  Of course not.
The game is fixed.
What starts as a sweaty coupling,
Erotic or cold, functional,
Has its own rules, I’ve found.
Nothing you can anticipate,
Nothing tethered to logic.
It’s a racket.  It’s a con.
It’s barely here before it’s gone.
The fates roll the dice, it’s loaded,
Spin the wheel, it’s rigged,
Shuffle the deck and stack it.
Nothing matches, nothing rhymes.
Sitting, lordly, the Gods, watching, amused.
Visiting their whim upon the fit and lame,
The wild and tame,
The timid and game.
Soft option, or hard, it’s all the same.
Daily, the rise, the shine and set.
People live and die, eat and work, beget.
Time marches, relentlessly forward,
Until it strikes the hour.  Your hour.
Can you hear the chimes?
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

1571 - Through a Glass, Darkly.

 

Sunday Wordle prompt:
Fiery, color, hand, catwalk, casualty, glass
rhythm, flow, blow, three, unity, furnace.

 

Through a glass, darkly.

The response is immediate:
The clenched hands,
The face’s fiery colour too,
The temple’s rhythmic flow
That beats out the base tattoo
Of raw intent.

A red veil descends,
The unity of reason and passion ends
In a furnace of anger and pride.
Intent to return pain for pain,
Hurt for hurt (if the past is any guide).

They strut, as on a catwalk,
Openly displaying their mission,
Unwilling to concede or even talk.
Base emotions drive them to strike a blow,
A three-pronged spear of retribution:
Revenge, vengeance, hurt, willing slaves.

In these heated moments
Reason is the first casualty.
Consequences, the second.

Best dig two graves.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
--- 

1570 - A Sailor from Spain

 Mad Kane's limerick prompt: main.

 A Sailor from Spain

 Pedro was a sailor from Spain
And, while quite discrete on the main,
An indecent passion
For bondage and lashin'
Got him keelhauled again and again.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
--- 

 

1569 - Or Not

 

Or not.

Life is a series of turns
where we choose a direction
Often unconscious of the eddies
and turmoil that follow.
Chaos theory.  Butterflies.
The slightly delayed trip that resulted in a chance meeting.
Or not.
The battle valiantly fought.
Or not.
The offense taken.
Or not.
Where would the alternative path have gone?
Or not.
Sitting on the fence.
Or not.
We make a choice and can never know
What we miss.
Or not.
Ignorance is bliss.
Or not.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---

1568 - Terra Nullius

A wordle, using 

world, play, plan, divided, untethered, clothes, hurt, travellers, fresh, future, speak, text.

 Terra Nullius

Can the world, will the world, survive untethered greed?
How will constant growth play out
If we don’t heed the warnings plainly given?
How much can we hurt the planet and still be forgiven?
How do you plan a survival package if the people are divided
Into rival tribes on just about everything?

Freshly scented politicians in their smart new clothes
Tell us it will be just fine, that our future is rosy.
But here is the subtext:
Re-elect us, we don’t care,
We won’t be there.

What if time travellers were really possible?
But no-one has come back to speak to us
Because there is no-one there in the future to return?
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---

1567 - Of Distant Lands

 

My first Wordle for a long time; the words provided are
Vicious, justice, cheers, settle, sway, shelf, chain, tell, call, web, send, month.

 

Of Distant Lands.

She is a fluid,
A liquid expression of power and grace
Contained in a vessel, not with chains
But with walls, and ditches and shelves.
There are cheers when she moves
Pacing the enclosure, watching and yet not really there.
Unformed, phantom images fill her mind:
Grasslands on a sweeping Savannah.  
Gazelles.  
The hot west wind.  
The cooling wells.
The images send a shiver and yet she knows not what they are.
Or why.
She stands, looking at the jeering faces, puzzled.
They too watch and wait,
Posting never to be viewed photos to the web,
Hoping for a snarl or a growl.
The sign, after all, says ‘vicious’
And so they express their wishes, a primal need for fear,
And yet her heart aches for a primal justice, unclear and undelivered.
She watches, swaying.  They watch, praying.  God knows why.
By and by she settles in the shade and the crowd murmurs its disappointment.
Some call out to get her to move about.
Months pass.  She paces, lies, dreams of places she can’t quite understand,
Cannot tell why or what are these troubling images
Of distant lands.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---

1566 The Red and the Yellow

 

The Red & the Yellow

They are more than just supporters,
They cheer the circus on;
Cowards or just stupid?  They crow
The madness of King Don.
He tweets—
They leap up from their seats.
They know
The carnage he can bring
To the democratic quarters
But, yellow, they just stand and sing.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1565 - Lack of proficiency

 Tossed a job to do.
Not given any support—
An awkward meeting.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1564 - Not my job

 Push back on Spanky.
Why should I write the letter?
Not doing her job.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1563 - Follow the Crowds

Against the odds
I won the football tipping.
With the odds, perhaps.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1562 - Size does matter?

 The Tigers and Cats—
Two football adversaries.
The Tigers prevailed.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1561 - A little rain must fall

 It's going to rain.
You can smell it in the air.
No tea leaves needed.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1560 - Bring out the bread and cheese

 My Granny's pickle.
Making the house smell lovely.
A simple pleasure.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1559 - A visit from the Wongs

 Mr Wong and son.
Or Mrs Wong and daughter.
Cannot really tell.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1558 - Football Gand Final

 A longer weekend.
Happy with the extra day—
Not going to watch.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1557 - Little Miss Precious

 Petulant princess.
Doesn't acknowledge a gift—
Passive aggressive.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1556 - Bonus!

 A cancelled meeting!
Suddenly I have free time.
A simple pleasure!
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1555 - Knit one, Purl one, Drop one.

 Today's big challenge—
Unravelling a problem
And reknitting it.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1554 - Solar Keratosis

 Liquid nitrogen—
Burning off the unwelcome.
Too much sun when young.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1553 - Unskilled Labour

 Leading the ladder—
Winning the footy tipping!
Just three games to go...
 .
---


© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1552 - Comensal

Uneasy diners:
Mr Wong and two magpies
A three beak circus.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

Repost - The Blackbird of Remorse

 .

You've heard of The Bluebird of Happiness.

You've heard of the Pigeon of Discontent.
You've heard of the White Dove of Peace.

A Rondeau 

With the recent visits by Mr Wong

a repost seemed fitting:

 The Blackbird of Remorse

With steely eyes, it watches you
Despair mistakes and endlessly rue
The choices made, now viewed aghast;
Right at the time but time has passed.
The bird is harsh and oft untrue
In the scorn it piles on you
For things you cannot now undo.
It cares not and attaches fast,
With steely eyes.

What’s done is done, the options few
To retrace our steps and start anew.
You can but endure the questions asked
By the watching, critical cast:
These birds don’t leave, they just accrue.
With steely eyes.

.

---



© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

---

1551 - Fight or Flight?

 Mr Wong meets Mr Pie.
Both looking for meat handouts:
The feathers will fly.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

And a crow watches from a neighbour's roof.

1550 - Waking Up

 The daily Sammy.
It can be rather patchy—
Do we continue?
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1549 - Please Wait On The Verandah

 Mr Wong visits.
Came inside the other day!
Scared everyone.*
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

*Himself as well.

1548 - Where have all the Senryus Gone?

 The best intentions—
Life can get away from us
And habits crumble.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1547 - Breakfast Happiness

 Saturday dinner.
Leftovers for my breakfast!
It's a good life.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1546 - Strange Times

 Licorice by mail.
Shopping with Corona.
Times are different.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1545 - Mr Wong

 Mr Wong visits.
Bright yellow (critical?) eyes,
Demanding his tithes.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1544 - Prepared

 Walking in the rain
Not entirely unpleasant.
(An umbrella helps).
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1543 - Dinner

 Chicken and Fennel,
Slow roasted in the oven.
Saturday dinner.
    .
---
© 2020 J Cosmo Newbery
---