Life in the present tense

Below is a poem written yesterday, Sunday May 3rd, whilst I was attempting some quiet Quaker reflection in a wet walk to Ben Buckler at the north end of Bondi, followed by a coffee or two in a very unquiet cafe. On Saturday we had a fabulous trip to the Blue Mountains and whilst we were eating our lunch we heard ' Time to Say Goodbye' on the C D player, which made us all, immediately, think of my cousin Sue's funeral. Loss and separation, goodbyes and hasta la vistas are emerging as a bit of a theme, I see, in my poems!

This poem is for Sue, and for Lyn's friend Annie and Susan's sister Linda, with love

Life in the present tense

Decaf skinny flat-white
Twice, in the noise and chat
Of families, friends met
In the Sunday café
Speedo’s, North Bondi Beach
And me, thinking, alone

Of 'Time to say Goodbye’
Sue, gone too soon before
The wonder of Freddie,
And others, now leaving
Fate having chosen them
At random, I suppose

As flies to wanton boys
All lottery and chance
Or god playing dice, eyes
Blindfold? Choose for yourself
Philosophy of Death
Life in the present tense

No rewind button or
Fast forward, how it ends,
Here and now all we have
To light our way, living
To avoid if only
That saddest word- regret

Lily's Song

This poem was written whilst I was travelling to Coff's Harbour to meet up with my school friend Jen, for what was to prove a wild and blustery short stay at South West Rocks, near Trial Bay, which is stunningly beautiful. Back at Jen' house I again read her book about Gerard Manley Hopkins, whom she studied at school and had introduced to me (who had to make do with yet more Wordsworth...) There are echoes of Hopkins' lines in my poem. My visit to Armidale inevitably took me down Memory Lane, especially spending time with Jen's lovely mum. She did not want to be told that she is still, in her nineties, 'lovely', but it is true. She remarked, somewhat bemused, that I 'hadn't half changed since I was a girl'! That will be the 4 children, 3 grandchildren and 45 years, I thought....

Thank you Jen, for our 50 years of friendship- come September; and Alan, still so caring and warm; and Brendan for being such a credit to his family as a Young Life worker, plus funny and interesting too.

This poem is dedicated to Lily, the most wonderful granddaughter anyone could wish for. I think, after talking to her about her current reading that she may understand more of this poem than I first thought, although she is still only 10.

Lily’s Song

I saw this morning, Morning Glory
Indigo splashing on Bondi wall
Memory’s eye clicked and locked it in
Saved with same, convolvulus climbing
Rampant over Keralan hillside
Blue as the picture book butterflies

Lone traveller, my poem drops on
Boarding pass, Quantas to Coff’s Harbour
Through ten shades of blue where ocean ends
And sky begins, remembering Pied
Beauty, Hopkins’ Glory Be To God
Astonishing quite my schoolgirl self

I think of Lily, beloved child
Each morning’s sun and evening star
Growing in beauty, her spirit free
In a French landscape, to soar and fly
Grounded in love, a fragile blossom
Still, tightly I hold her in my heart

A poem for Mandy and John

This poem was inspired by a lovely 3 days we spent with the Labram family in Yackandandah, just after Easter.

No Boxing Kangaroos

Labram’s hill, Yackandandah
Early morning sketching
No boxing kangaroos
But birds glorious in technicolour
Crimson rosella, lorikeets
Honeyeaters, nature’s gaudiest on show

End of summer autumn tints
And fearful drought’s dire signs
Tall trees felled, grass burnt brown
Victorian landscape in Indigo Shire
Our English friends at home here now
Welcoming us, visiting your new lives

Gold rush history, cottage
In the country township
Speak of settler hardship
Flat whites on The Bakery’s sunlit porch
A forest walk to Woolshed Falls
Then stunned by sunset over sacred rocks

How much you have gained, making
This move, from crowded streets
A world away, England
To blue skies land, with space for all to breathe
For boys to run and spirits grow
Freely, wild and lovely, Australia

Dreams from my father



Lunging through grey waters to Kangaroo Island

Southern Ocean’s jewel, last stop Antarctica

I think of time and place and separation’s pull

And journeys made in tears and hope



My father an ambitious Scot set forth one day

With never a backward glance nor grief for family

Dreaming, I suppose, of making his life anew

But stopped abruptly, meeting love



Another now turned sixty settled long ago

To raise a family where eucalyptus reigns

Beneath the Southern Cross at night, his world upturned

But yearns for England’s soft rainfall



Tread softly now for baby Isaac sleeps and dreams

His doting parents present joy and future hope

From the Solomon Islands, England, Adelaide

Forbears travelling, meet in him

Last weekend we all went to Adelaide for a wonderful weekend with my cousin Martin and his family, celebrating the wedding of his second daughter Kelly, to Dustin. Also there were Martin's sister Marilyn and- big surprise for the bride, Marilyn's son Tony, over in Oz for a long weekend! Jodi - Kelly's sister- was there as a bridesmaid, and we had a chance to meet up with her lovely month old baby Isaac. We all had a great time with what felt like real family across the globe. The vows exchanged by the couple were hilariously funny and very personal to them. A very special time, all in all.

Afterwards Andy and I went to Kangaroo Island for 2 days, which is a real gem, with lots of wild life and beautiful white sand beaches. Really excited to see koala close up, and an echidna trying to hide from my camera.

Photos of weekend in Wayamba