like the moon's amber skin
the colour of a small flame
I never want to go home
The pious purples of dusk
touch a single tree
The air is an evening animal
Thick Opiate
Smell the
Thunderheads mass
The green young padi
of the low country stir
and like lit universes
Those Eyes that eccentrically circle
They are out to lick the stars
the big eye of god over the door
Roll your sleeves
Stand, smoke in the doorframe
Watch the drowned fields
Wet through with fire
A hen sings
in the heat soldered street
The sun polishes stones
by the saffron slow river
Go, step across
Take the cuffs of the buddha fat urchin
in the broad mollusc hat
His bright sampan shoals
centuries
Winks at the wide eyes of god
Tilting cast-iron crosses
Raw lines nailed to the dead
Time soughs in the dry esparto grass
In earth palaces
Termites thatch dirt
At the gate
Hear the scream of hinges
Yesterday forcing in
Under the almond trees
tread ancestral steps
These words fork their red earth
Prise a narrow slat in time
I shall commemorate their memories
That rise like herons from the wetlands
Glide the great gable of the house
It was like perfection;
Going up in a straight direction.
There was nothing I could see;
Heaven is where I wanted to be.
"It is Judgement Day"
Is what the angels would say.
All I saw was two doors;
On two different floors.
One floor had burning fires;
Full of liars.
One was peaceful;
With people tha were tuthful.
"Which direction do I go?"
Is what I wanted to know.
I will only find out on Judgement
Day;
Hopefully heaven is where I"ll
stay.
A vacant stare upon his face
head cocked to the right hearing voices
most would deny
telling him secrets of the universe
People and their lives rush on by
seeing a dirty pathetic man scraggly hair
and dirty fingernails
a smell that makes you gag
This man and his brown paper bag
causes fear in our minds
his childhood forgotten
his existence erased
A torn colourless, once blue blanket
reflects the dead of his aged eyes
and yet he looks around at you
hoping for some connection
Walk on faster and pass him by
I wonder what's more frightening
the fact that he exists
or the fact the he could be you
Every time you knocked
I always let you in
holding a single red rose
that always made me forget
When the cycle turns good
the pedestal's too high
things always come down
and I'm always around
I took a midnight walk
saw shadows in the moon
bought flowers for myself
knew exactly what I had to do
Flames dancing in the stone fireplace
Apple cider, hay ride race
Prize-winning pumpkins
Sun fading in the west
Kids think candy is the best
Trick-or-Treat?
Vampires, ghosts, and goblins
Shadows cast by robins
Anything hides behind the door
Jack-o-lantern flickers
Bush has prickers
On a beautiful October night
Comfort absorbs my mind
And home with backing
So smooth, so wild.
Floating through air and me
Loss of time, reality
Assumes a brand new pose -
Stunned in silence I watch with ears
As music moves from lush green fields
To Mountain tops and steep sharp cliffs -
Now the brass redefine
With drums and timpani
Behind - sublime.
On a piece of paper Lines and spots
Show these people
What's right, what's not,
And with each other
Back and forth
Engage discussion In music's form.
For collective we a feast
Devoured by hungry heads
As music flows, floods our ears
Absorbed we sit transfixed.
Barossa Music Festival 11th October 97
Now stretch and set the canvass
Wash it well with white
And may this encompass
The workings of your mind.
Now take nocturnal visions
(any dream will do)
Place one in this painting
See our art take form.
Meaning's not intention
That's where you fit in
With your interpretation
Of this and everything.
Watching tranquillity
With circles laid
A straight line in front of me
They grow and fade.
Whereupon two outer rings collide
Energies crossing
Memories swapping
And dimly fade into dream.
Observing from distant bank
My witness conscious
Of final glimpse,
As dragged forward by time my journey moves on.
Pussycat, Pussycat
Where have you been?
I've been to the Games
To see the Queen
Pussycat, Pussycat
What did you see there?
I saw gorgeous looking atheletes
With rippling muscles bared
Pussycat, Pussycat
What did you do then?
I yowled and I screeched
Like a bitch on heat
Trying to cath the attention
Of those delicious looking atheletes
I saw foggy air aspirations
Climb tall mountains
To kiss the green grass
With smoky red lips
I thought I heard something perfect
Like a raindrop against a nice breeze
Colliding into my house
But the clock's not much of a friend
When sleep's not a memory
When bottles won't open
And containers won't close
So we rise
To fall
And meet again in a better world
Time just keeps on churning
Each dream
Each hope
Each glory
With faithful days of life
Rabbits scamper in their paths,
Vixens stalk until no one lasts,
Squirrels sleeping past the nightly cold,
No sun these months do hold.
And as this body now awakens,
With the coal dusted black ravens,
I see it as I have seen before,
A world of death and nothing more.
Maybe all trough the night,
He had laid there, cold in his cage,
Why couldn't I help him, when he need me,
Furious words couldn't describe my rage.
I whispered I was sorry,
Something he would never hear
I said that I loved him, too late again,
Useless words that were so clear.
I didn't cry when he had left,
Something I'm not sorry to admit,
I felt sadness and grief for him,
And my blunders were brightly lit.
As I lifted his body, and sorrowed in my heart
I was afraid that he would awaken and bite me my finger
But I wish he did bite me then
Any sign that that onto life he was lingering
I never told him I loved him,
If I did, he couldn't understand,
The pain was so intense,
As I held him in my hands.
And as I remember him,
Amidst wintry nights,
I always rush to the windows,
When I hear a whisper light.
The wind howling in the night,
Or a cat on the streets,
Anything but not him,
Something I would never meet
I was then so lonely,
And into that night so dreary,
I needed a person to give me love
I wanted someone to care for me
And as if by magic, in the heavens above,
Glittering stars formed a frosted dove,
And in the distance, I saw you,
Perhaps too, looking for someone to love.
And deep inside, I knew you'd be true,
And in your home would you keep me too,
I don't know why I thought those things,
But in my heart, I just knew.
And in the years to come, would I to you, happiness
bring,
And with scented gentleness would I bless your being,
For Forever in my soul would I hold you dear,
As you granted my wishes and gave me wings.
In the Wrong Place
Well, this didn't go the way I'd hoped
With Bunny prancing
This way and that
I could have staggered in somewhere else
And had my palms read
By Miss Curlers
Misquoting Rimbaud
To appease some lover
Who will treat her worse
Than I ever could
Something could happen
But Bunny preens and prances
And breaks my concentration
Things never go
The way I'd hoped
I End This Today
This is the day
I will cut my throat
I've packed away neatly all my Poe
In gray meat wrappers
And sparkling gemstones
Line my closet floor
I would rather discuss
The art of the perfect martini
With brown-skinned, two-timing barbers
Than cut the threads of my life
But that would require
Something I do not have
nudes
and
pastels
mix fine receipe
to counter reality:
the real enemy
as all artists know,
bent on belittling
our lives
with narrow bands
of
untested truth.
furious forms
void of passion
a disenchanted diary
of western thought.
gyrating nude trunks
perspire rivers
in rites of bonfire
bouncing polyrhythms
of glazed breasts
pairs of earthenware
sweat clay moisture
announcing liberty
made tangible
by bewitching flames
familiar spirits
bring punishing winds
to whip
unworthy messengers
until they forsake
their gods.
The dog got sick.
The landlord got serious.
The neighbours got eyes.
I got quiet
and wrote the scene
in my fiction---
a comedy
to remember her by.
An antiquated love,
For velvet floor length dresses,
With touches of frillwork lace,
For summer fans to still the August heat,
And pantaloons of sheerest gauze,
For cool drinks of aromatic tea’s,
While seated on southern veranda’s
In rocking chairs, side-by-side,
Talking of the english ivy
That gives such cooling shade...
An old-fashioned longing,
For soft night and moonlit darkness...
For patchwork quilts made with love,
Thrown across the foot
Of summertime’s white, cooling sheets...
Open windows, enticing
A lake cooled breeze to come inside,
Through thin gauze curtained windows
To dance across bare skin
In nature enhanced celebration...
Lifting melody of reminiscent charm
Of having been there before...
Yet standing in this unearthly realm,
Somewhere between
Here... then... there and before...
Waiting... wondering... watching...
Those things that go before...
I stood in pouring rain one night,
mesmerized by frightening beauty
lightning stroking darkened skies,
as if it were a lover, igniting passions fires
across an undulating mistress’s skin.
Gently he rolled across West Texas desert plains,
flash of lights swaying in horizons silhouette.
Building, building, building, magnificent power growing,
as each fingertip caressed delicate skin.
He began in distance, drawing closer, ever closer
to a well of passionate, dormant life, until with
massive moans reverberating,
thrashing skyclouds,
screaming earth-winds,
his mistress dissolved into tear-soaked flame.
I silently watched, as crescendo echoed,
footsteps sounding as he turned to go,
leaving traces of his hunger on earths fragile skin,
wondering, when this lover’s kiss would be felt again...
Feel the power of my love,
radiating out over you.
Extending its strength
that is constant and new.
My love is freely given,
absent of all conditions.
It is a part of me I offer repeatedly
like the incoming tide.
Come and take my hand.
Stand close to me.
Let this unison of love
make us both stronger.
I implore you to listen to my words,
feel the truth.
Hear them not with your ears
but your heart.
Feel the warmth
of my love surrounding all of you.
Walking as one
but alone no longer.
Standing together side by side.
Filling in the void
in both of us that was once
a empty part.
A mental understanding
and knowing of what you are.
Accepting all of you
with no reserve.
Come and take my hand.
Stand by me
share this love till eternity.
Do it for me. Do it for you.
Giving you the love
that I have held inside for so long.
Releasing the feelings
I have before I lose my nerve.
Slide your hand in mine.
Hold it tight.
Closing your fingers firmly
round mine too.
Every day as you watch the sunset,
think of me.
Send your sun on its way
to light my day.
In return when I wake
and the rays of sun warm my face,
I will forget the darkness.
Thinking of my love for you.
Finding time to be together
so we can share our dreams
with one another.
Always finding there is a way.
Come and take my hand, stand with me.
Share this love I offer up
which is honest and true.
Feel the power surging into you.
The force of this love encompassing
and becoming a part of you.
Come and take my hand.
Stand with me.
Share the love that is all of me.
Feeling the energy flow between us.
Come and take my hand.
Hold me close.
Love me with the gladness
of your heart and never let us part.
Come and take my hand.
Care for my love that is yours.
Let it fill your body
and soul with a tidal rush.
Come and take my hand.
I will never leave you for you are
the caretaker now of my heart.
I was caged,
But now I am free
To fly the open passage ways
Of stars
Up and over the sun
And beyond
Into lands only my mind ventures
To places that originate
In blue
And fog
And breeze
And stories
From which I was prohibited.
Someday those caged creatures,
Who are my friends,
Will discover the secret
And open the door for themselves
With the key the find in their pocket.
