Peace.

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
---

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.

 .

---

© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery

---

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.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

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
---

1183 - The Helping Hand.

The Helping Hand

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

1182 - Rubáiyát (part)

Rubáiyát (part)

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.

.

---

© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery

---

I have been holidaying in Iran.

1181 - KU DE TA

KU DE TA

There a place in Bali called KU DE TA,
Who serve up tonics as a 'liquid spa'.
Internally ablative,
The naming's creative,
But "Elvis Parsley" is a pun too far.

◊

A haiku response

So, it's good for me?
What? Just because it's green?
Coffee please.  Roasted.

 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1180 - The Inner Shirley

Haiku Horizon Prompt: Flame.
 

The Inner Shirley

Shirley Valentine—
Went on a Greek holiday;
Rekindled her flame.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1179 - Hell No!

A well-meaning friend,
religious but still a good sort,
bought me a copy of C S Lewis' book
'Surprised by Joy'.


Hell No!

There was an odd fellow named Lewis
Who said the thing we must to do is
Fall to our knees,
As there's a god we must please,
Fail and he'll surely barbeque us.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1178 - Pygmalion

Pygmalion

He carved a statue.
Aphroditi gave it life.
So—what could go wrong?
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1177 - Mixed Feelings

Mixed Feelings
There once was a manager named Steve
Who was asked rather roughly to leave,
While the process was brutal
That told him to tootle
I find it quite a challenge to grieve.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1176 - Release

Release

Let your friends fly free—
Not everyone is a loss
If they don't return.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1175 - Maybe Not

Maybe not.
“Where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise.’”
- Thomas Gray


Ignorance is bliss?
There is so much ignorance
Yet so little bliss.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1174 - Plating Up

Plating Up

The venues that constantly dismay
Are the 'all-you-can-eat' buffets.
Our resolve dissipates
As we pile up our plates
And what goes in, invariably stays.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1173 - The Cycle

The Cycle

The cold winds are here;
The air is quite frosty;
But the bulbs are up.
 .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1172 - Opposing Forces

Opposing Forces

Some folk like to fight.

Like vegetarianism,

Violence is a choice.

◊

The nighttime launching

Of sharp and flaming missiles

Is a futile thing.

◊

Some just want to fight—

Choose your weapons carefully;

Choose your arena.

.

---

© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery

---

1171 - Bad Move

Bad Move

There was a young maiden called Marion,

Who always seemed to be marryin'.

Once the knot was tied

They mysteriously died—

Much to the delight of the carrion.

.

---

© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery

---

1170 - Unthai-ing the knot

UnThai-ing the knot. 

When visiting a restaurant in Melbourne's suburbs
we were subjected to the manager
dressing down a staff member in front of the patrons.
In reply to a 'Tell us how you enjoyed your meal' email
I outlined my concerns and was told it didn't happen.

A restaurateur, let's call him Brian,
Accused me of scurrilous lyin'
When I expressed my concern
At his bullying turn,
And, in more ways than one, I'm not buyin'.
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1169 - Surely Not?

Surely Not?

Too much chocolate!
(I was reliably told)
Is there such a thing?
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1168 - Tempus Transit

Tempus Transit

Another year gone—
The relentless march of time,
Enjoyed day by day.
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1167 - A Good Egg

TEO
1943 - 2018

Haiku Horizon prompt: Egg

 

A Good Egg.

We'll all go sometime—
What better an epitaph:
He was a good egg.
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1166 - Idle Thoughts on A Hot Sunday

 

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #336) presents a list of words
that we must incorporate in a writing piece. 

The words this week are:

magic, ransom, band, rain, trample, tale,
cat, change, aim, dangerously, dense, day

Idle Thoughts on A Hot Sunday

To each comes it’s own—
Every dog shall have its day;
The cats get the best spot.

◊◊

Forty Two degrees—
Centigrade, not Fahrenheit,
Dangerously dry.

The weather changes:
The rain bands pass overhead
But hold in the rain.

◊◊

What killed the magic?
Peering at their mobile phones,
All else seems boring.

So are they just dense?
Unseeing and uncaring—
They trample on life.

A retirement plan—
Kidnap all the wretched phones;
Hold them to ransom.

Do they have an aim?
What tale will they tell their kids?
Will the kids listen?
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---
 

1165 - Aim

Haiku Horizon prompt: Aim

Aim

It would be lovely to live in a culture
where calmness was the aim. - Matt Haig

Told we must set goals
And chant our affirmations—
Aim high, we are told.

◊

The Self-Help Gurus:
They aim to achieve too—
Mostly our money.
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

Aim for the moon.
If you miss, you may hit a star.
- W. Clement Stone

Would that be a constellation prize?

1164 - The Precious

The Precious.

There was a young princess, quite pretty,
Whose attitude edged on the shitty.
The chief tool of her trade
Was a guilt-trip tirade,
Followed by a funk of self-pity.

◊

A pretend princess—
Lacks the graces of the job;
Just wants the title.
.
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---

1163 - Pecking Disorder

 Midweek Motif : Doorways

Pecking Disorder

They eye the gateway
And covet the green beyond—
It will not happen.
  .
---
© 2018 J Cosmo Newbery
---