Poems

Look at us, we’re all so cool,
We all smoke, don’t be a fool,
Take one now, we’re not in school.
All the same, that’s our first rule. . . . .

Close your eyes or look away,
Perhaps tomorrow, but not today,
Far too many bills to pay. . . .

Doth fade the light
And crimson clouds salute the Western sky,
Doth come the night
Photons from distant stars now reach my eye. . . .

I’ll say a prayer for you Steve,
And for your family too,
And when I see a crocodile . . . .

Billie Joe Morrison - Bobby Gentry Music.

Billie Joe set off for Glasgow to sell his plan for Judgement Day
Gina Rinehart wrote down every single word Billie had to say. . . .

Our Government wants to spend $368 Billion on submarines, at a time when we have so many social problems that they seem unable to address. It is vested interests in Australia and the US that drive our politicians to ignore those they are supposed to represent.

Mankind’s treatment of animals is disgraceful, and not befitting of a civilised species. We have taken cruelty to new levels. None of us are innocent!

Is it ignorance, greed, corruption or perhaps something else that causes our politicians to totally ignore the science of Climate Change. Even as surface and ocean temperatures rise in line with predictions, as natural disasters intensify on a global scale and here in Australia, we experience unprecedented droughts and bushfires, our politicians continue to lie and deny. When will the penny drop? Master’s Degrees from Murdoch University are common in Canberra

Bob Dylan’s music Alan’s words

Come gather round people wherever you roam
Cos slowly, but surely we’re killing our home

The following poem highlights the double standards in our society.

So many of our politicians have not read or fully understood the science of Climate Change. If we do not begin the switch to non-fossil energies, our children will suffer the terrible consequences.

A true hero is someone who is prepared to sacrifice his own life for the benefit of others. The following words are my personal tribute to one such man.

My parents brought me here as ‘ten pound poms’ when I was 2 years old. They returned to England 2 years later quite disillusioned, but my first memories had been formed in that short time. When I emigrated back to Sydney in 1986 I had this wonderful feeling that I was finally home. As the sun sets on Pittwater, and the surrounding bush lights up to green and gold, a man could be forgiven for thinking he had died & gone to heaven.

Working on the Domestic Violence Hotline was very stressful & painful for me personally. The same story was repeated over and over again. Eventually, I had to quit & pursue something less demanding. Perhaps my own troubled childhood contributed to my failure in that position. How awful it is for those women & kids who suffer the horrors of DV.

As the founder & ‘Public Officer’ of a Sydney charity feeding homeless & marginalised people, I have many duties. One of those duties is collecting money on the street with a stand, A-Frame & bucket. To pass the time, I like to observe people & write about some of the more interesting.

The joys of sailing help me to forget the cost & danger of owning a cruising boat. A few years back I sailed from Sydney to Coffs Harbour & had a wonderful trip. When I got home I wrote these words. One has to be careful & concentrate, particularly in heavy weather. The last line of the poem is so true.

At the time of writing, I felt our love would last for eternity. Reality set in some 6 years later. We were very different & sadly we parted. Life is punctuated by wonderful joys and the deepest of sorrows.

There are many ‘red light’ districts in Shanghai. Sex is just another commodity to be bought & sold. The trade is set to grow rapidly due to the imbalance of males to females. Some estimates say there are 40 million more males than females in China, partially due to female children in the countryside being discarded. Masturbation may become more popular than Tai Chi & Ping Pong combined.

Many of us fail to fully appreciate the blessings we have in life. Sometimes I forget just how lucky I am to be alive in this wonderful country in a time of peace, surrounded by loved ones & friends.

More than 100 sailors lost their lives when the mighty Russian submarine ‘Kursk’ went down in the Bering sea around the turn of the century. A huge blow to Russian pride, and despair to so many families in a tragedy, which should never have happened.
How quickly our own politicians in Australia dive for cover, avoid questions & lie when something goes tragically wrong. (eg Insulation debacle)

Sitting in a hotel lounge in Shanghai, I watched a young woman go about her work. I remember the peace & tranquillity of the moment in that beautiful room as the poem was conceived.

How I loved my old VW Kombi. She was like my 5th child, and when we all left England & moved off to Australia in 1986, the Kombi was thrown into a container & shipped too. When she finally gave her last puff of smoke in Sydney I felt so very sad & felt compelled to write her story

My love of science, astronomy & space travel has never dwindled. Sailing ships took mankind to the far reaches of our planet. Modern engineers & scientists grapple with the immense problems associated with flying to even the nearest star. The tyranny of distance may prevent our species from colonising the galaxy.

In years gone by, most women didn’t have regular, paid jobs & were confined to ‘domestic’ duties. The perception was that the husband’s working day finished at 5pm. Times have changed dramatically.

This poem was written as I studied to be a LifeLine telephone counsellor. LifeLine have used it for their Gambling Addiction Courses.
Based on a friend of mine, but I suspect most of us know this man or someone very similar. Unfortunately, he could never admit to having a problem & never sought nor accepted help.

Imagine a young man seeing a beautiful young girl on the dance floor. Their eyes make contact, he asks her to dance. After the dance he walks her home through the ice & snow to her doorstep, arranging to see her again. As his heart pounds, he steals a soft, sweet kiss before saying goodnight. Missing the last bus was of no consequence and the cold night air failed to dampen his spirits as he thought of the girl all the way home.