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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

655 : Expectations

Haiku Heights has the prompt "Expectations"

The sad pessimist

Is never disappointed.

Never pleased, either.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

654 : Horatio

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #141) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

think, tip, tincture, tint, integral, synchronize

softly, with, blast, chance, answer, map.

Horatio

He was the admiral of the fleet

Softly spoken though indescrete,

Integral to the French defeat

The glorious Admiral Nelson!

He synchronized the battle plans

With expert eye and steady hands,

Mapped the route to foreign lands,

The admirable Admiral Nelson!

The seas were dark, of leaden tint,

The scene was set with sail and flint

Cannons made the woodwork splint---ter

All eyes upon the Admiral Nelson!

Dust and smoke blocked out the sun,

You think the apocalypse had come,

But victory when the day was done,

Three cheers for the Admiral Nelson!

But he copped a blast of wayward shot,

“Kiss me, Hardy!”? – it matters not,

How to stop the body rot---ting?

What to do with the Admiral Nelson?

The answer came, both quick and dandy,

Tip him into a barrel, handy,

Like a new age cumquat brandy,

Home preserving for the Admiral Nelson!

When the fleet was back in port

The bos’un had a grim report:

There remained no marinade of any sort

A rum to-do for the Admiral Nelson!

The crew had drunk the barrel dry

Of the tincture of the naval guy

No-one thought to wonder why

It tasted of the Admiral Nelson!

Lady Hamilton rued his sad demise,

Never more would his column rise,

So the empire supplied a larger size

And a State farewell to Admiral Nelson.

So sailors, should you chance to roam,

Be an admiral and not a drone,

And get a column of your own,

Look up to the Admiral Nelson!

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

653 : Divertimenti

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were crisp, exquisite and magnificent.

Divertimenti

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

A prodigious talent,

Producing exquisite music

With magnificent intent.

Crisp and bright,

A music for the night.

But think—

If he’d been born today,

He would do the programming part

For a start-up in Bombay.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

652 : High Rise

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads has the prompt of 'bamboo'.

High Rise

Bamboo forests.

Quick growing,

Towering upwards,

With no interaction.

Sleek, tall and discrete,

Tubular belles.

Compartmentalised.

The wind

Whistles

Mournfully

Around them,

Through them.

They sway slightly

And moan to the sky.

As solid as they are,

They are largely 

Empty.

Apartment blocks.

In green.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

651 : The Deficiency of Youth

Picture from Red Dirt Girl, I think (Tumblr)

Theme Thursday has the prompt 'Youth'.

The Deficiency of Youth

Time,

And hence age,

Gives a wisdom,

An aptitude

To apply 

Skills,

Techniques

Beyond

The functional.

Embracing

The subtleties 

Of which the raw

Mechanical

Energy of youth 

Is completely

Oblivious.

Youth knows how.

Age knows why.

And also—

Why not.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

650 : Gifts

Haiku Heights has the prompt "Gifts"

The gifts worth having

Are not those bought with money

But freely given.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

649 : The Piper

Mad Kane has a weekly limerick challenge.

She provides the first line,

The rest is up to us:

The Piper

The bravery of someone who blows

On bagpipes, is hard to suppose.

As they pump and exhale

It lets out a high wail—

Like a cat in its final death throes.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

648 : The Agency

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #140) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

spider, echo, clear, level, attend, pulverize

intact, fly, shuttle, means, follow, listen, split.

The Agency

They build webs

Lightly

Quietly

Always listening

And attending

To vibrations,

Echoes of activity

Of interest;

Clear messages 

To attend to,

To shuttle across to,

To follow to the source

And pulverize,

Figuratively.

Or literally.

The small fly,

The small fry,

The little guy,

Who, at some level,

Has tweaked 

Their tendrils,

Tweaked their interest,

And though captured intact

The mind will be split

From the body—

Stress positions,
Ways and means,

Enhanced interrogation.

They are a spider

Multiple eyes,

Multiple arms

Venomous.

We should feel safer

But we don’t.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

647 : The Sarong

The Sarong

The folk who devised the sarong

Have a history incredibly strong.

They’ve worn it, it appears,

For thousands of years,

But it’s amazing it’s lasted this long.

The sarong is kept classically sewn

While the rest of society’s grown.

Sure, it’s casual and light

But there are no pockets in sight

You can use to store your iPhone.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

646 : The Knight Errant

Prompted by recent events,

But really just a fictional doodle.

The Knight Errant.

Wherever do you keep your horse?

And who scoops up the crap it leaves behind?” 

― Myra McEntire.

Waving the flag for a lady,

And fighting whom she decrees,

He’s a member of a tiny band

Who few can really understand

And, acting rather mercenary,

Doing what is necessary

To be the perfect emissary,

Valiant knight from another land,

Waving the flag.

The lady, of course, can clearly see

The perfect opportunity

To remove the knights she cannot stand.

And if they think they’ll win her hand,

The chivalrous will always be

Waving the flag.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

645 : The Taunter

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were combative, represent and sluggish.

Joe Hockey, our poor excuse for a treasurer

taunted General Motors, dared them to leave the country. 

So they did.  Good job, Joe.

The Taunter

Some people, 

Itching for a fight,

Are needlessly combative.

And pound their particular pulpit,

Dull and uncreative.

You find

They wield a sluggish mind,

They sit

And say they represent

The holy forces of The Right

But evidence is absent.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

644 : The Caretaker

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #139) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

fix, apart, snatch, cover, pair, angel

waves, simple, box, clay, lies, moon

The Caretaker

Beneath the moon,

Beneath the clay,

In a simple box,

Lies a simple man.

He was a believer,

This simple man.

He believed 

That a celestial father,

Attended by a pair or so
Of luminous angels,

Would never, ever

Permit our world,

His world, 

Genesis one one,

To fall apart,

To come undone,

No matter 

How bad it got,

How hot it got.

It would never happen.

He believed that

No matter 

How many storms

And crashing waves

And searing droughts

And floods, 

And fires, 

And blizzards

Were visited upon us

To cover our world,

With pain, 

And suffering 

And death,

All within our control,

But beyond our will,

That his diety,
His God,
Would protect him,

That all would be well.

He believed that
God,

His God,

Would fix it all,

Would snatch him,

A true believer,

But a negligent caretaker,

From the unfortunate mess

That he had made

To a heaven 

Built of his desiring.

Never seeing that 

He had made a hell

From the one heaven that 

He would ever be given,

This simple man,

In a simple box,

Beneath the clay,

Beneath the moon.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

643 : The Office Christmas Party

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were highlight, instruct and submit.

Last year, after my workplace Xmas party,

one of the senior management (female!) reached over

and twiddled my left nipple.  

Presumably part of the 

staff recognition program.

The Office Christmas Party

I’m not here to instruct, of course;

Just giving some advice—

It’s now that office parties hit

Or tweak, to be precise.

What fun! 

But
highlights
the risks
you run.

Submit

If you must

To the false façades

But wear a jumper

Thick and coarse,

And a pair of 

Nipple guards.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

642 : Ode to a Cow

My thanks to Foss, Denmark, for the physical prompt.

Ode to a Cow.

Frankie is a Friesian

A special kind of cow,

Frankie is my saviour:

Let me tell you how.

Frankie is a stress cow

A foamy rubber ball

Frankie can be screwed up

And thrown against the wall.

Frankie is a Friesian

Made of squidgy stuff,

Frankie takes a lot of flack,

You can treat her rough.

Frankie is a stress cow

With stumpy little feet

Frankie lets you toss her

And is stoically discrete.

Frankie is a Friesian

Who will never irritate;

Frankie can be trusted -

A most endearing trait.

Frankie is a stress cow

Who helps me through the day

Frankie stands and listens

And she never turns away.

Frankie is a Friesian

A special kind of cow,

Frankie is as dumb as dirt

But I like her anyhow.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

641 : A Life in the Day

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #138) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

prison, cloak, become, lens, goods, cash,

pursuit, skirt, cruel, wild, Venus, beloved

A Life in the Day

We emerge

From a prison 

Of sorts,

A safe house

Some say,

Into the light,

Into a world

That is harsh,

Wild even, 

Wildly uneven,

Sometimes comforting

Often cruel,

And frequently unfair.

What we do,

What we become,

In our pursuit 

Of purpose,

How we skirt, 

—Or not,

Disasters 

And the vagaries

Of our fate

Is as unpredictable

As the landing 

Of a falling leaf.

Our life when viewed 

Is through a lens

But darkly so.

Venus,

The Morning Star,

The Evening Star,

The goddess of love,

Is with us

All the way.

Who will be

Our ‘beloved’?

And who us for them?

And for how long?

And why?

If we follow

The approved

Pathway

We will worship

Cash

And accumulate

Goods.

But of what value

Are these things?

The day

Of our life,

The small flicker

In the fabric of time

Will, like the sun,

Rise,

Peak,

And decline,

Until the night, 

Like a cloak,

Is laid upon us.

We must use the time

Wisely.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

640 : Friday

Friday

It’s Friday tonight

I can turn off the alarm—

And get up early.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

639 : Once a jackal

Once a Jackal.

The jackal,

A street fighter,

A brawler,

Cunning,

Conniving,

Sly as they come,

With awkward gait

And imitation smile,

Hunting

As a pack,

Can bring down 

A leopard.

But

A Jackal

Will always

Be a jackal.

And

A leopard

Will always

Be a leopard.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

638 : Mandate? Blind Date!

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were Brief, Expose and Insist.

Mandate?  Blind date!

It was lost, more than being won,

A voter’s stern protest.

Now they insist they have a mandate

And expose their hairy chests,

And scare the people living there.

Too late, they recoil in disbelief.

The marriage — an arranged one,

The honeymoon was brief.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

637 : Once in a blue moose...

A work colleague tried to tell me that Swedish Mooses

were one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases on the planet. 

I disagreed, of course, but a limerick seemed appropriate.

Once in a blue moose…

A moose that lives in cold Sweden

Does little ‘xcept feedin’ and breedin’,

It’s said that its farting

Is thoroughly disheartening

And speeds the ice cap’s recedin’

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

636 : First Flight

Sunday Scribblings has the prompt ‘Flight’.

It’s spring in Australia and the air is full of flapping.

First Flight.

All fluff and beak

And adrenalin,

Claws

Grasp

The branch 

Tightly.

Until chirps

(Or nudges)

Of encouragement

Pry them free

And, with a panicky

Squawk!

Take a leap of faith,

And fluff,

And adrenalin,

And fly!

Like an eggbeater.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

635 : The Observer

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #136) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

habits, create, however, virtue, regard, gap,

cycle, undoing, lessen, choice, gathering, suffering

In a week where Australia has been found to be hacking 

the Indonesian president's wife's phone, this seemed topical.

But spying, of course, comes in many guises.

The Observer.

Please, please

Don’t call it spying.

Call it 

Information gathering

And regard it 

As a virtue,

As a choice we make

To know our neighbours,

As ourselves.

Cycling 

Finely,

Intimately,

Through their thoughts

Quietly, 

Secretly, 

On the side,

Is one of those habits

That is hard to stop

That is hard to drop

And it’s good for us to know...

We rationalize.

However

One man’s virtue 

Can be another man’s 

Undoing;

Attempts to lessen

Misunderstanding

To reduce the gap, 

As it were,

Between what is said

And what is meant

Can lead to suffering

If what you learn,

The truth of the matter,

Hurts.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

634 : The Moppet

dVerse Poets challenges us to write a Nerudan ode.

The Moppet

Sweet and pure

To the viewer,

All flounce and bounce,

And basely pure,

A coquette

With hair hot-curled

And perfect skin

Brushed 

And glowing

To defy her age,

In frocks

And smocks

And bobby socks

And yet her eyes

Are knowing

Of her role—

A toy thing

In a corporate world.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

633 : Shackled

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were bitter, manipulate and tight.

Shackled

Politicians manipulate—

A universal rule.

When things are tight 

They lie like thieves

And take us all for fools.

Docile

We feign a limpid smile.

Grieve, but passively collude—

Collude and so capitulate

To bitter servitude.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---

632 : Doomed to Fry

“God is a woman”, says my spy,

"All men are doomed to forever fry:

They know perfectly well

They’ll be sent down to Hell,

To roast, 

But they'll never know why."

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

---