Some things just had to go.
Dump, dump, dump she did, with all the self defeating, nasty little habits she’d hoarded over time. It was time to take the hanky firmly by a thread and with pedal planted nicely under foot, claim herself a hanky free place where she would no longer need to rely on being picked. She also trashed the motion of skipping in dizzy circles to get to where she ‘d convinced herself she needed to be. Now, a short distance beyond the clean-up, she sits to catch the slowing of her breath – reviving her tired little shoes and socks. And puff went the world.
(Reposted from 2011. Find her in Clunk & Jam book 2019.)
Blow the Man Down .
Round and round the racecourse, my finger beat you there. You mustn’t laugh, you mustn’t cry, or tell little girls, “There, there.” Take one step out and two steps down to a place you cannot stand. For it was you, you naughty boy who tried to steal my hand.
The trick is to find a place where size doesn’t matter, nobody can touch the bottom and everyone can reach.
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A Week Away .
Sit in awe and wonder of a woman who wears her possible fate in a way that marks a question on the mirrors of us all. For nothing is ever more beautiful that pure courage and truth shared in the absence of fear. While she may feel there is now little she can give – she has never been so full. And despite energy low and time much shorter than most, she commits to home made juices, savouring every dip of spoon – offering a recipe for us all.
Her touch is void of hurry, lingering long and toasty warm. And the serenity of her space sits you firmly in your seat and somewhere goes your list of ‘things to do’. The treat is the mischievous sparkle that skips across tiring eyes to reveal a woman who’s swapped ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ to invite little girls to play. And we do. Following her shuffling slippers on legs we joke are now so fashionably thin and a bottom all but gone. She steps into her garden world, full of birds she points high in gums. Willy Wagtails snapping insects in her wake.
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Poor chook.
(Reposted from 2010. Now in Clunk & Jam book, 2019)
Wonder x 8 .
Sit in awe and wonder of Sir Spider as he creates an extraordinary lace, at a flying pace, with an endless thread and no instruction book in hand x 8. No education. No hand-me-down skills x 8. No voice to ask for directions.
Wonder….how does he know where to begin? How does he create such perfect symmetry with no tools of measure? How does he know when to snip the last thread to complete his masterpiece? And does he have any real idea why he does what he does? Does he feel a zone of frustration in a tiny vein, knowing tomorrow he’ll have to start all over again?
Or is he blissfully happy in his delightfully thoughtless spin? Makes you wonder ….
(Find in ‘Clunk & Jam’ book.)
Bush Telegraph .
Something is coming… This time, not giant fingers of flame. Or swirling clouds carrying fire not rain. It is the Kookaburra laughing in the face of times so tough. The Roo springing back through broken bushes with pouches full of seeds to sew . Koalas feasting on dripping leaves, hugging branches now long cooled. Galahs that squawk and grumble lining new-found homes with feathers soft for a brand new life to hatch. The Eagle that soars close steering fear filled eyes to a sky now not of flame – but hope. And a time once held so terrible still is moved by the rumbling march of close and distant friends. Spring invites the tears to flow into blackened soils that grow a new beginning.
Footnote: Written in response to the Victoria bush fires in February 2009.
(Clunk & Jam book)
