Sunday, January 31, 2021

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.
 .
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© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

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?
 .
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© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
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Monday, January 25, 2021

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.
 .
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© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
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