Dark Secrets

afterwards
they moved away
to a far flung outpost
on the planet
the furtherest they could get
to forget
never went back
there was no talk of it

she was born later
in the escape zone
a free zone

a  cocoa cola drinking
bikini wearing surfer chick
growing up near a white sandy beach
under electric blue skies

but she  always knew
what she was never supposed to know

how could she know
was it idle talk assimilated
when she was still in a cot
maybe it was the look
on her nana's face
when she saw the blue numbers
on the deli lady's arm

nevertheless
she felt all of it
she always knew

somehow
she had inherited their terror

Midweek Motif Poets United

“The darkness is really out there. It’s not something that’s in my head, just. It’s in my work because it’s in the world.”— Margaret Atwood

Sunday Muse # 40

there's a reason
my bird loving marmalade boys
are put out by this image

Haibun Heaven

Nora Heysen 1911 - 2003




Nora Heysen

overshadowed
by her famous daddy
a woman's lot




Nora Heysen




Sascha Grishin's Art Blog


What if an artist’s daughter becomes an artist? Fathers and daughters

After her opening in Canberra in 2000, at the age of 89, Nora Heysen told me something that has haunted my imagination ever since.  She recounted how, on her return from Europe and working in a style that we could term as ‘conservative classical modernism’ – in other words basically an academic style that had absorbed elements of Paul Cézanne and the Impressionists (in her case mainly Pissarro) – an incident occurred in her studio.

She had been working on a still life composition and left it on her easel in her studio overnight.  When she returned the following morning, she noticed that her father had intervened in the composition, straightening out her lines and reinforcing the perspectival structure of her composition.  Over breakfast Hans did not mention his artistic intervention and she never brought it up herself, but it confirmed in her mind that she needed to get out of Adelaide if she was to survive as an artist.
 


Nora Heysen self portrait 1934

strength and clarity
shines through her lovely face
a girl called nora

Bonus Wordle - MLMM

Jealous Junk Jettison Jaded Jollification Jeopardize Jackassery Joint Jittery Jostle Journey Joyride


hard not to be jaded
jostling for shreds of sanity
after this nightmare journey
joint joyride to hell

if only she could dispense
with the jittery jollification
jettison this jackassery junk
escape the jealous sociopath
without jeopardizing her survival

The Sunday Muse # 39

op art on eight legs
courtesy of the grand designer
splendid black and white composition

Midweek Motif - Poets United

cute blinky bill
may only exist as a fluffy toy
in the future

https://www.sydneycloseup.com/are-koalas-endangered/








eating fish
may not be as healthy
as you think


http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/07/01/about-99-percent-oceans-plastic-has-disappeared-where-its-ending-should-scare




take lots of pics
to show your grandkids
they wont be visiting



https://www.sbs.com.au/news/we-share-the-same-backyard-the-islands-disappearing-off-australia

Womens March Sunday

Shadorma


i wonder
how many are bashed
statistics
say a lot
hiding new bruises under
their ornate tattoos


















abuse flows
directed at them
by weak men
vile cowards
jealous of their immense strength
wanting to kill them





 https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/thousands-rally-for-sydney-women-s-march-20190120-p50sij.html

One out of three women has experienced domestic violence in Australia .

Summer 2019

Shadorma

hot and dry
another scorcher
the roads melt
dams are dry
even the birds are thirsty
everything is still






the dead fish
float on the rivers
a million
maybe more
the world is getting hotter
cotton farms don't help




Murray cod (30 - 40 years old.)..found dead

* Cotton farming takes too much water from the already struggling river systems.  It is not suitable farming for Australia which is the driest continent on earth.*


For today’s prompt, I invite you to write a new poem with Mary Oliver’s words in mind. Let’s craft poetry that wastes no words - Imaginary Garden with Real Toads 


Poet Pantry - Poets United

Midweek Motif - Poets United

 

“Life is strong and fragile. It’s a paradox…..It’s both things, like quantum physics: it’s a particle and a wave at the same time. It all exists all together." Joan Jett

so busy

we don't notice

years whizzing by

we don't notice

we have not heard from friends

some dropping off the twig

along with all of the pets

we are shocked 

when we run into them

they don 't remember us

we are shocked

the children once baby sat

are

now wedded

now parents 

now lawyers

now accountants

now crims

it's amazing to have survived

any of it

to still be here

amazing maybe

because i have been missing 

for most of my life

so like me

to arrive at the very end

The Sunday Muse # 38

outdoor recital
she would feel guilty
if it were a bechstein

Wordle # 217 - MLMM

Tea and Honey, Burst, Lunch, Twinkle, Fresco
Dogwood, Waggish, Dripping, Basket, Pester



relaxing with a few snifters at lunch
al fresco under the dogwood tree
Fred and Rita
a waggish couple of basket cases
dripping with talent
pestered constantly for autographs by fans
blend together like
tea and honey
flouncing and flirting
twinkle toes bursting
dancing on the stage

Starting Over at 18

Rahal al - Qunun

no turning back
the die is cast

apostasy
in the religion of peace
is
punishable by death

who will take her

who will then hide her

may this brave young woman
embarking on a new life
know and enjoy all the freedoms
we take for granted

may God protect her
may God grant her
a long life of peace and happiness

Mid Week Motif  - Poets United





https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/08/rahaf-al-qunun-saudi-woman-under-un-protection-as-australia-urges-asylum-claim

ON THE LINE BETWEEN AUTUMN AND WINTER - TIM SCHAEFER/ TIMOTEO

 timoteo - https://catnip - blogspot.com



 1.

Between what could have been
and what was
lies The Land Of Regret
where the hotel service is lousy
the beds are never made
(the sheets get so tangled)
and it's always raining.
You can go there 
for a visit
but don't stay too long
and never buy 
a one-way ticket
or you will never come back. 


II.

I've had more embarrassing moments
than you
due to a proclivity
for winging it 
in situations that required
a boy scout's preparedness
counting on some magic
unrealism to carry the day
and when it didn't
(which was 99 percent)
I developed a taste for the raw egg
that was dripping down my face
and so I wince
when reviewing the past 
but that die is cast
life is still a blast.


III. 

I journeyed back 
to my little town
population two hundred six
in its heyday
to find it in ruins
the little cafe where all the kids
fed the jukebox and pinball machine
workin' on those night moves
at least in their heads
now just a storehouse
for some rickety furniture
the pool hall 
gone
the people I knew 
gone
it was like a war memorial
in the quiet aftermath 
of a bloody conflict 
where I literally fought
to survive as an 
outcast and a loner
and yet have always felt
better off for being battle tested.



IV.

I stand behind my life 
the way the man who follows
the elephant down the street
with a shovel and a wheelbarrow
stands behind his work. 



V.

No one is unlovable--
if you don't believe it
check out the couples
down at your local Walmart

VI
I can write about old loves

family 

and friends

with no trepidation

and I do.

They don't read my work.

That

intimate stranger

I leave to you.

VII. 

I've searched for meaning

in this carnival world 
that surrounds me
only to learn
there's nothing to do
but join in the dance.


VIII.

It shifted to winter seamlessly
there was nothing you could point to
that said you've crossed over
but somewhere along the line
you did of course
autumn days still mild
nights portending of what's to come
the scent of wood smoke in the air
then one morning you awaken
and the world around you 
has grown cold
and you brace 
for December's finality.


 TIM'S NEW BOOK IS OUT--AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON.COM




The below is a rambling response to Tim's excellent  poem. Originally I wrote it in his comment section but it disappeared into the ether.   So with his kind permission I have written it here for Poetry Pantry -  Poets United. Enjoy!

1
no point in visiting
the land of regrets
always raining
the sheets remain tangled
can never be undone

 2
embarrassment
only occurs when you
acknowledge  and have a regard 
for the opinions of others
i know an american who has had
more embarrassing moments than you or anyone else in the world
clue
a psycho with bad hair fixated on building expensive walls 

3
battle testing is not for the faint hearted
well you are still alive so you won
your tormenters
may have died a grizzly painful death
note  - i resisted saying with any luck
i don't want you to think i'm too awful:)

 4.

good thing to stand behind your life
but i would never stand behind anything
that i could not hit on the head with a frying pan

 5
no one is unlovable
wrong--
you have not met 
my  insufferable narcissistic noisy neighbour from hell

6


 family can be strangers
kindness in strangers 
sometimes not  found in  family
strangers know your secrets 
especially if you are a poet or a priest 


7
you'll never find meaning
by joining the dance
no one is enjoying themselves
it's dancing by numbers

do you own dance 
alone or
with another crazy together

 8
to the ancient greeks
winter was the season of death
all the season cheaters
live in the winter free tropics or sub tropics
a lot of not so ancient greeks made their way down here :)