And the Glory of the Lord

how lucky we are
those of us who have
handel in our lives
glorious music
to the glory of the lord
christmas all year round

Mid Week Motif - Poets United

Feast On Your Life - (Cross St early 80s)

early summer
early evening
music blasting
shaking the floor boards
very cool gay guys 
just moved in

tap tap tap tap
stilletos clippety clopping
down the stairs
bang bang bang
on the front door

no it's ok
don't turn it down
want to know the name of it
big relieved smiles

and we dance
and we drink
other people pop in
and we do this
and we do that
and we keep on dancin'
and we party all night long

it was like that
back then
a lot of fun



PROMPT: BY KIM NELSON
SUNDAY MINI CHALLENGE






 Imaginary Garden With Real Toads

Krystian Zimerman Chopin - Grande polonaise brillante Op.22, Chopin Pian...

The International Chopin Piano Competition 1975


you were seized by a special gift
success was your destiny
your arrival on the concert platform was welcomed
a young angelic face with fingers that danced across the keyboard
with ease like water in a stream gathering momentum
into a fierce current of polish passion

your pursuit of excellence overwhelming talent
stood you apart from the others in the competition
at 18 your career  was launched your fate sealed
they say you are one of our greatest living pianists

 Sundays Whirligig # 228

This Weeks Words  from"Her First Call" Wendell Berry

seize fate always arrival welcome face water gather current  eases pursuit other

Poor Fellow My Country

For Justice Weinberg
With Thanks 

The Appeal Court Conviction of Cardinal George Pell


Holocaust Museum






we weren't born then
but we know all about it
a reality etched on the psyche  forever

you above all know the supreme importance
of a judicial system that can operate
without fear or favour based  on evidence
 rather than  offering up a  sacrificial lamb
to appease populist opinion

only 72 years ago your lot  was eliminated
in a mass final solution with judicial approval
you must quake in your boots knowing
that we have returned to those terrible times
and here  in the 'lucky country' of all places

be proud that you spoke up against
a sham mock trial
under enormous pressure
your integrity remains in tact

i pray that you will  be given the strength
to withstand any reprisals
you are undoubtedly going to suffer
from the media baying for  your blood


even without the jack boots sig heils
and 4th rate charlie chaplin impersonater
it's the same nightmare played out again
isn't it
only cast  in a different setting
on white sandy beaches with blue skies
which if possible is even more sinister

but this time
there IS nowhere to escape to


Midweek Motif  Poets United

Of the 325-page judgement delivered by the Court of Appeal, Justice Weinberg's reasons accounted for 200 pages.

"I am troubled by the fact that I find myself constrained to differ from two of my colleagues whose opinions I always respect greatly," he wrote.

"That has caused me to reflect even more carefully upon the proper outcome of this application. Having done so, however, I cannot, in good conscience, do other than to maintain my dissent."

Chief Justice Ferguson, in a summary of the Court of Appeal's ruling, said Justice Weinberg found that at times the victim was inclined to embellish aspects of his evidence, and that it contained discrepancies and "displayed inadequacies".

 

"In Justice Weinberg's view there was a significant body of cogent and, in some cases, impressive evidence suggesting that the complainant's account was, in a realistic sense, impossible to accept,"

"To his mind, there is a significant possibility that the cardinal may not have committed the offences.

Justice Weinberg said There is, to my mind, a ‘significant possibility’ that the applicant in this case may not have committed these offences. That means that, in my respectful opinion, these convictions cannot be permitted to stand. The only order that can properly be made is that the applicant be acquitted on each charge.”

The Last Supper

a bucolic scene
tinged with an eerie emptiness
on a summer's day

you sit there in all your majesty
looking  satisfied and replete
a sunday lunch special

looking at those empty chairs
an unsettling thought
crosses my mind

guess it's not time
to lay down with the lamb yet


The Sunday Muse # 69

Sunday's Whirligig

love is such a fragile thing

love is light in fragrant gardens 

love has a fighting chance of surviving

when things are spoken

when things are heard

when strength allows some things to pass

 

love fragile fragrant gardens light fighting chance things spoke hearing pass strength

THIS WEEK'S WORDS come from "Those Who Love" by Sara Teasdale:

Mid Week Motif - Poets United

this afternoon
armed with chairs and a milk crate
some sydney guys  took him on
who ?
the loony terrorist who had killed one woman
then knifed another one going about their daily lives in town

they ran after him warned others and brought him down
without guns
it was all televised by a cameraman
who accidentally happened to be there
thanks guys
you saved people from being injured or killed
forget the power of  one
forget the power of the gun
there is power in standing together
chairs tables milk crates stiletto heels hat pins
hair spray a big sack of potatoes   -  all useful weapons

Egg Plant

when halved
they appear to have magical properties


photo by Marian Kent

giaconda women cook them in 19 different ways
inspiring their  men to compose purple songs about
aubergine cuisine

no one subscribes to the anecdote
a pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled
no  going halves in the egg plant game
just haves and have nots
sharing and caring a fantasy concept in song lyrics

For The Weekend

at home by the fire
on a cold blustery friday night
thoughts of you
enjoy the weekend
keep warm

For Adele Alexandrine Ludivine

your home
was full of love
made with care and thought
smelling of lavender furniture polish

the dog
cats and cocky
were all bilingual

you were always
cooking
cooking
hanging salamis and cheeses
making jars of olives pickles
the sideboard packed with coloured glass jars
of turkish delight nougat  and sugared almonds
piled fruit on stands looking like
a stage set for a still life renoir painting



as a small child i still have memories of
you in your rimless specs
with a smile
that could bring on world peace
crocheting singing with tino rossi
listening to scratchy LPs
you in your marcel wave  hair clips and big starched  apron
fragrant with eau de cologne
collapsing with laughter at jerry lewis on tv
pin curling my hair
telling me stories 

when those arms of yours
wrapped around me
no one could ever feel  more safe and loved
something i cling on to still to keep me going
in a world that has become bereft of people like you

Midweek Motif - PU

Jerry Lewis won the Legion d'Honneur in 2006 . My grandmother picked him as a comic genius and so did the rest of France eventually:)

The Sunday Muse # 67

mirror mirror
on the wall
this is certainly not me at all
although it has been a while
since i studied my face
this girl looks the type to carry mace
unless of course it's the seafood lunch
that's made me part of a mermaid bunch
with pouting  lips and painted nails
and gucci pucci fragrant tails
think i'd better put this broken mirror away
before killer eyes uses this shard as a weapon
for target practice on me oy vey

For China At The Weekend

Sedoka

china loves this song
he says he likes the carpets
and the hot violinists

this was a big hit
in two thousand and one tsk
i'm always 20 years behind