What's Going On?...Silence .

 

there will be

 consequences for sure

teaming up

with our yankie mates

together

building the nuclear submarines

for our defense

 

our largest trading partner

remains sinisterly silent 

they wont be happy

wonder what they have planned for us

we wont like it

 

 that’s the trouble with inviting

 the fox into the chook house

never a good idea

 the poets know that

even blind Freddy

can see that

the pollies?

just dazzled by the trade dollars

TANKA TUESDAY NO 32

the returning chill
red leaves blowing in the wind
regret of autumn

looking forward to spring time
autumn's dark sadness  hits home

NAPOWRIMO APRIL 24...DAYS 22 - 30

 DAY 22

 CINQUAIN

 

swiss guard

multicoloured

outfits carnival style

protecting the pope  from the foe

yeah sure

the pope

so reassured

of being protected

by rainbow clown look alike types

yeah sure !

DAY 23

TANKA TUESDAY # 31 

it's getting colder

i dont like autumn

winter's even worse

gone the years i could escape

will have to endure it now

 

 

 

 

CINQUAIN

old age

is very hard

you have to cop it sweet

the old folk complain constantly

tough time

SENRYU

if you are youngish

do everything you want to

time flies by quickly

DAY 24...HEART

 

 Cinquain 

  Sherlock 

does have a heart

 though he's rude and abrupt

 he is capable of loving

 surprise 

 

DAY 25

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day"

 

by all means

if you desire a clip o'er thy ear hole

thou cream faced loon

no one wants to be compared

to the driest continent on earth

where summer is known for its

ferocious heat and blistering

sun burn

hot blood begets hot thoughts and

hot thoughts begets hot deeds 

hot headed?

Thou art as witty as a runcible spoon

fare thee well as i enter the dreamtime

rounded with a  sleep

Good night!

DAY 26

 

 

 

ANZAC DAY

big deal down under

we mourn our dead soldiers

this year people seem more sad than

in the past

 

maybe it's age

or maybe the times

who knows why

impending doom

 seems to be the prevailing mood

hope i've got it wrong

DAY 27...Poets and Story Tellers United....Friday Writings #124

consume heartless peculiar teeth inflamed

Better Red than Dead

Really?

I dont think so

heartless peculiar creature

consumed with self importance

inflamed by jealousy

sneers  through  flashing  white teeth

desperate for attention

 

 DAY 28....ERASURE POEM

 

 

  he wandered about

convinced he was great

and would make America grate again

Dear God

let's do a deal rid me of my problems

I promise to not dye my hair and

to read a book

CINQUAIN

i don't

 care  who you are

musical genius 

maybe but i'm not cleaning up

your mess

Beethoven

DAY 29...LATIN a DEAD LANGUAGE

latin lingua mortua est
its fragments still beautifying
the romance languages

memories of latin class
sedete in silencio
says sister celestina
the sound of chairs scraping
in preparation for translating
cicero and suetonius

angelic convent girls
fortiter et suaviter
the school motto
emblazoned on our
school hats and blazers

all the while
si verum sciatur
we would have preferred
carpe vinum
with
troy donahoe
the everly bothers
or
elvis presley

DAY 30

we'll meet again
don't know where
don't know when
but i know we'll meet again
some sunny day

shades of Vera Lyn
memories of
black and white movies
standing for god save the queen
before the start of every movie
like all good little colonialists
all nice gals kept a' glory box'
back then
a sort of treasure trove of
things you would need
when you got married

pas moi
i wanted to be brigitte bardot
and drive a sports car
ho hum must go now

 

 

it's teatime
this lil ole lady
has a date with her tea pot
until we meet again
thanks for all the great poetry
it has been fun
even though
my eyes are hanging out of my head
through lack of sleep

take care possums
say hi to your mum
and bob's your uncle

 

 

Tanka Tuesday Challenge no 30

 

 TANKA

she was a spring bride

thirty nine years ago now

my how time does fly

she has a birthday quite soon

forever young  and happy

a toast to

wonder woman colleen

of cherry blossom time

a breath of spring

after a long winter

 blogging away for ten years

encouraging poets

to practise their craft

 

HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 HAPPY BLOGGING

 

NAPOWRIMO APRIL 2024...DAYS 15 - 21

 DAY 15..

.ANAPHORA

 

 

ANAPHORA

because you are the  one

who regularly contacts me

year in year out

because you are the  one

who remembers my birthday

every year

because you seem concerned

when things aren't going well

for me

because you give me your time

because you tell me

how contact with me

enriches your life

because you make me laugh

 you are my true friends and

i have never even met you

 

 

 

DAY 16.....WORDLE

          SUNDAY WHIRL

unbroken memory twigs wallow divine crystal blood creation ledge cell wake ancestors

her memory twigs

stop wallowing

in your unbroken ancestors' fate

divine providence

is not a crystal ball

yes blood is thicker than water

 and so is chicken soup

you've read the creation story

no need to stand on a ledge

waving a cell phone

wake up to yourself

 

DAY 17

 

..For Susan's prompt at What's Going On - What IS it about poetry?  

 

 

poetry

food and drink for me

i would not

have survived

if it had not been for 

all the gifted blog poets 

collectively shining

a bright light on a dark world

 

 

 

your work 

your kind words

your encouragement

your  humour

your sadness

your joy 

a weekly life line thrown 

year in year out

thank you dear poets

for everything

 

 

DAY 18

 

 

memories of my grandparents

one ot their favourite songs

a  smiling singing audience

 expressing  sheer joy

beacons of light

showing the best in us

we  need more of it

 

DAY 19 ...Poets and Story Tellers United

 

 

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine,

 et lux perpetua luceat eis

Requiescat in Pace 

 

Grant them eternal rest o Lord

may the perpetual light shine upon them

Rest In Peace

aussie wild flowers

amongst the roses and dahlias

to mourn the victims

 

 

 FLOWER MEMORIAL

 WESTFIELD SHOPPING MALL BONDI JUNCTION

 

TANKA

it was a surprise

they did not expect to die

shopping in the mall

on saturday afternoon

they were all so very young

 DAY 20.....Cahills Restaurant Sydney

FOR MY CHINA

 

The Cahill’s restaurants in the inner city area of Sydney were well known not only to those 

seeking a 

well presented, although not too expensive, lunch or a pre-theatre dinner served in pleasant 

surroundings but also to generations of children for whom being taken to Cahill’s for afternoon 

 tea was a “treat”.

 

 all dressed up

in a suit and tie

afternoon tea

with Aunty Marge 

who used to sing

in the David Jones choir

was an exciting treat

(ice cream cake with caramel sauce )

for a little boy

in the 50's

 

 DAY 21.....A Simple Childhood

post war

money tight

creative  playtime

fewer backyard pools

but sprinklers were great fun

this old gal is still tempted

to frolic in one

( when no one is looking)

 

remember picnic baskets

(no eskies back then)

sitting on the ground

or

on the rocks at the beach

at twilight

a simple time

a lovely time 

in life

long gone

things are a lot different now

not easy

not even for santa

we had the best of it

the consumer world

teaches our children well

we will pay the price

 

 

TANKA TUESDAY .....NO.29

 new coolness
autumn deepens
dry grasses

there's a new coolness
time to store away the fans
bring out the heaters
they will not be used often
in this warming climate

autumn has always
carried a tinge of sadness
the end of summer
autumn deepens as the months
approach winter dark

Sydney floods: Two killed and thousands forced to evacuate - BBC News

there's no dry grass here
floods and more floods everywhere
warragamba dam peaking
floods surrounding areas
climate change is here to stay

 

NAPOWRIMO .....APRIL 2024

 

 

DAY 8

 

midday turns into midnight

the solar eclipse

all the mystery has gone

would have been more fun and scary

when it meant a visit from the dark force

or that the world was going to end

 the sophisticatd and scientifically informed

scoff at these primitive notions

as for those poetric types

 some are staying inside]

 with their cats

 lights on

rattling their rosary beads

waiting for it to be over

DAY 9

 ODE TO MY BED PILLOWS

 

i hold you close

at night

my comfort

my refuge

my joy

i am loathe to leave you every day

i look forward to returning to you

every night

i  love you

DAY 10

enough of this cheery badinage

he would say

no one had a clue what he was on about

a delightful eccentric in 1975

i miss him as he was

i miss all of us as we were

age

is not kind to hippies

DAY 11....APRIL (what it means to me )
WHATS GOING ON? _ newwhatsgoingon.blogspot.com

april love

pat boone singing corny songs

1957

april showers

an understatement

in sydney at the moment 

(floods )

april is poetry month

masochists writing

more than one poem a day 

at 3am  - exhausting but fun 

shakespeare's birthday

swimming season over

coooler weather

bringing out the woolly socks 

an overall tinge of sadness

heralding

the coming days of winter

 

Apologies LOL 

DAY 12

my marmalade boy

could convince anyone

that he could do anything

 

he convinced me that

he could only eat red salmon

fresh prawns and chicken

 

DAY 13....POETS and STORYTELLERS UNITED

not so long ago

this could really happen to

long suffering wives

 

 

 

 

Simone de Bauvoir 

had lots to say about this

in"The Second Sex"

 

 

simone changed our lives

girls of my generation

said no thanks no way

 

 

not bad for a guy

who writes books about lions

witches and wardrobes

DAY 14

 

i  moaned 

all afternoon

you did not come on time

i wont be able to shop it's 

 too late

 

 i should 

say thank you luv

this is my shopping mall

this does not happen here in OZ

it did

 Sydney stabbing: seven people dead, including attacker shot by police at Bondi Junction shopping centre

Fly me to the moon 王OK...FOR CRO MAGNON... MAGNON MEANDERINGS

  

An old man's heart

quivers with memories

of younger days

What's Going On?...SHADORMA...MIRACLES

miracles

none that i know of 

not for me 

anyway

i'm still alive i suppose

that's a miracle

Tanka Tuesday NO 28...POETS AND STORY TELLERS UNITED NO #121

 YOUTH IS NATURE , AGE IS ART

cooler weather
time for a sweater and scarf
iris likes bangles
died last week at 102
the coolest chick in heaven 

Iris Apfel (1921 - 2024 ) RIP

YOUTH IS NATURE, AGE IS ART

a fashion icon
designer and model
right until the end
creative innovative
a testament to old age

Tanka Tuesday NO 27

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 

  KIGO WORDS

 "new coolness" (shinryoo early autumn )

"autumn colours"( shuushoku all autumn )

 "remaining heat" ( zansho  early autumn )

 

there's a new coolness
time to find some warmer clothes
where did she put them
it's the same thing every year she must be more organised

 

 

 

 

 

 

autumn moves slowly
the leaves have not fallen yet
it will happen soon
autumn colours red and gold
something to look forward to

 

 

it is easter soon
the remaining heat is great
still swimming weather
it's your birthday on friday
seventy is not that old

he's a bookish bloke

loves red wine and camembert 

a wine and cheese guy

Jonathan Wolstenholme