Poetry 2017
Togetherness Light and airy Space between my feet and the earth Am I flying? Or is life so good I’m walking on air? I like you, we can be friends You are me and I am you Entwined, past, present and future You rise, I rise You fall, I fall Grab my hand, we’ll face it together You and I, one forever.
Franz Peter Sweet sorrowful music Inevitable, pure, penetrating Enveloping my heart, lifting i Gently, tenderly My heart radiates Tongues of unsullied love Reaching out to anyone, everyone Franz Schubert, you gave this to the world A pleasure, a sacred privilege Pure joy, pure sorrow, sublime beauty Before which darkness melts away The struggle remains but Bathed in the beauty of your music My burden is lighter.
Present Tense Does my life have fixed purpose Determined before my birth By a power above Or I am a living organism A unit of life on this planet A thread in a broadening, heaving, kaleidoscopic tapestry Changing my purpose Changed by my purpose From one moment to the next Tune in, get on board See it, it is looking at me Feel it, it is touching me Break the shackles of higher purpose It is an illusion An invention of those who seek power over me
Queen Lizzie Ninety one, still on the job A Monarch’s lot is an easy one A figurehead, no power, no role Ceremony apart Seen to advise Those with real power Without power themselves An institution past expiry Welcome overstayed People, grow up!
Government Who are these people? Our representatives Their credentials? Manipulation of the truth Sometimes skilful, sometimes blatant Always contemptuous of voters Its only today’s news Swamped by tomorrow Another lie covered up, defended And on it goes Government, hah!
Goodness Have something to say Open your heart Let others see what moves you What floods your eyes with tears of passion Believe in things Good things Inclusive things, because division destroys Humanity is a collective entity Only goodness will move it forward
Blockage My thoughts strike a slab of concrete Not far below the surface It wont budge, wont yield My sharpest mental drillbits snap No penetration, too hard, too steely Give up for now Force doesn't help, won't succeed Step back, turn away, look at that man walking past He looks anxious, no he's smiling now The moment is offering me abundance Accept, appreciate Return to the task later Know when to tune in and tune out Listen to the rhythms Heed the signals They will tell you when the channels are open When you can dive in again Immerse yourself on the task Unleash your creativity In the meantime, chill!
Right-wingness Whither this country jingoism loud, clear Ringing out in appeasement Of those who divide, those who destroy, who thrive on disharmony Where do we go from here? Humanity being divided again The good and the bad Distinguished by colour, by race, by religion By language too A descent, lowering Of decency, of dignity, of compassion Expensive suits and colourful ties Cover hard, unfeeling hearts Political survival is everything to some May their stay be brief Short enough to undo their damage.
War Humanity finds glory in conflict Death in battle, the ultimate accolade To vanquish the enemy No greater objective Seeds of conflict Sown by greed, bigotry All partake The good and the bad The righteous and the evil All relative Their greed is my desire for betterment Their cruelty my need to protect what is precious to me Their wanton murder my self defense Turn it around, it is no different Zero sum No one benefits We all go down in the end
Oneness Colour, race, religion, sexuality Measures of true worth they are not Just used by bigots To mask their dysfunction To reframe it as superiority Examine your hearts Would you be a bigot if you were truly fulfilled? Would you look down on others If you were truly happy with yourself? Would you not wish for all others The rights and privileges you enjoy If you were content, if you did not compete? Isn’t your religion inclusive at its core? Isn’t your nature inclusive at its core? Get in touch with the real you Wherever it hides, wherever it lurks Don’t be afraid Joy awaits you
Morning The morning, my favourite time The earlier, the better, the quieter Wakefulness inspires mindfulness When the shroud of sleep lifts My thoughts are copious and clear Inspiration ignites A transfusion of optimism permeates my body My step affects a spring I welcome the day
Relationship What’s a relationship? Mutual love, mutual respect We are one Inseparable Our lives richly entwined Our fortunes, futures, interdependent Watching over each other Caring, sharing, as one Your growth, my growth, our growth Happy companions You learn French I sweat over Mandarin You dig Adele I swoon over Schubert Pursuing our individual dreams Alone, together
Accountability Who is responsible For my happiness, my destiny For my successes, my failures For my actions, my inactions For my thoughts, my beliefs For my anger, my irresponsibility, my greed For where I find myself today I see him often, know him well He looks back at me when I look at him Cheekily copying my expression He has failed, let me down, many times But he is improving He will never get it all together He will always have room for improvement I will let him know, ruthlessly, when he has failed yet again I will not let up But, he is all I have I guess he is ok, tries hard, sometimes does his best I begrudgingly give him some credit Not too much, lest his head swell up His grades have improved I give him a pass most times Abject failure is less frequent these days Sometimes I surprise him with a credit But, distinctions are a long way off Keep trying my friend, there is plenty of time Like, the rest of my life
Worry My worries. The real ones Bordering on panic Waking in a sweat Constant unease An approaching time of reckoning Wishing it away, desperately Knowing it won’t go away What is it? What is my fear? What can’t I face? Who can’t I face? Is that the key, the cause of my crippling fear? Fear of people, fear of authority Fear of reinforcement of my self-loathing I am speechless, dumb with fear Unable to defend myself I whimper apologies, anything I am ordered To do, say, just let it end Please.
Happiness Walk daily Along the path you cut, you shape, you surface, you adorn Strewn with your happiness With your contentment, with your fulfilment Happiness does not await only at the end of a journey It is a constant companion Not found in wealth and opulence Or grand achievement Or huge success It hides in full view In simple things In honest toil In expressing your passions In reaching out In loving In embracing In diligence In learning In good health Above all, in humility
Learning Is your world spinning out of control Are you caught in a vortex Go for a walk, clear your head Smell flowers One thing at a time That’s all you can do Humility is power Acknowledge your ignorance It opens the door to finding out Accept your failure It is an opportunity to learn A small mind is always full Only a thimbleful, but still full Proud of its fullness Has nothing more to learn A large mind is always empty Its many thimblefuls slopping and splashing in a corner It hungers to learn, to find out Grow your mind, it is easy Just be aware of how little you know Be tenuously attached to your knowledge Flow with the truth, swim with the facts Be swept by the currents of truth and fact But always be ready to change course
Collectiveness Can’t you see We are all in this together? You cannot survive on your own You will die Benevolence, generosity, compassion ensure survival Aggression, greed, bigotry ensure extinction No longer relying on physical superiority or instinct Our weapons lie between our ears Happiness and prosperity for all
Chill The morning chill Reaches my skin through inadequate insulation Penetrates Until hot coffee pushes it back It will return after my cup is empty Relentless, cruel morning chill Wear a bloody hat, put on gloves Wear a thicker jacket Thumb your nose at the morning chill
Turn On What turns me on? What rocks my boat? What lights me up? The joy of being with others Friends, family, those I don’t know well Even strangers Solitude, pounding on a keyboard Producing music or words Curled up with a book That transports me to another world, another time Music that brings me to my knees Or makes me soar Or moves me in words I cannot express Walking, walking, in city or country In jungles of concrete or trees and shrubs and soggy paths My life is measured in moments
Compassion Whom do we look after Who is taken care of, Supported, welcomed By a truly caring society? Where does charity begin? Where does it end? How do we regard those in need? What do they deserve? Our compassion? Our contempt? Do we extend a hand to draw them into our fold Or to push them back into their despair? Why is the desperation of others So easy to ignore by those who enjoy the largesse of affluence? What sort of mind is not moved What sort of mind is so focussed on excessive acquisition That the welfare of others, even those in their midst, Is of no concern No, much worse That it begrudges assistance to those in need?
Generosity Why doesn’t generosity become bipartisan? Why don’t we become a nation of people who Look after each other Appreciate what they have Are willing to share Are welcoming Reach out to those in need, far and wide What is stopping us from being happy with what we have We have the means of becoming a wealthier country But for whom, only ourselves?
Xenophobia What drives politicians these days? Xenophobia, greed? Our xenophobia, our greed They smell in the wind The scent of what we want Why don’t we give them a different scent? The sweet scent of generosity, inclusion
Disclosure Near the heart of things are deep fears I doubt myself I question my worth I wonder about my sincerity Am I a charlatan, a dilettante? These questions stand like sentries Blocking the road to my absolute heart My innermost place They dilute my passion Who created them? From where do they spring? I push on regardless I try to ignore them Refuse to believe them But they jump out Grab me, pull me down, sometimes crush me Something dark lies underneath I have to find out Is it that I don’t accept myself That I don’t like myself Why not Where is the answer I plead to be liked You don’t hear those silent pleas Because they shame me Neediness shames me My façade of self-sufficiency took years to build I’m trying to break it down Difficult Can I replace fear with passion
SelfLove Let up, let up, let up Go easy on him Don’t beat up on him Stop bashing him He’s not that bad Yeah, he can be silly And he chickens out Retires to his corner Disappears from view But, he is aware of his shortcomings He tries The effort hurts him, scares him sometimes Don’t judge him Applaud his efforts Give him credit for his small successes Like him Please
Trust Whom can I trust? Whom do I trust? Everyone, no one? When is trust betrayed? When a confidence is betrayed? People slip up, let out a secret But, will they let you down Will they abandon you in your hour of need? What about those who keep secrets But run away when you need a helping hand What is trust? Degrees of trust? Is it reliability? Is it knowledge That someone is on your side Knows you, accepts you, loves you Rejoices in your success As if it is their own? What about those you don’t know? Do you trust at first sight?
Progress Falling down Rising up We do it all the time Two steps forward One step, two steps, three steps backward Inching forward, hopefully Setbacks happen Back steps outnumber forward ones Temporarily, one hopes The march is on Life We must all move forward Or we will all slip backwards
You Don’t hover on the surface Find that opening Go inside Drag it all out Your fears Your hopes Your passions Look at them Let others see them They are you
Chopin Chopin, pure emotion Deep, troubled emotion Poetic and sentimental Compelling Never unmoving Even the most whimsical mazurka Or little prelude Leaves a mark incapable of dispassion The Barcarolle, pure, unadulterated Music The ballades, scherzi transport you, if you let them Etudes, preludes, gems of serenity and turbulence and in between His grave forever a shrine Adorned with flowers Visited by those like me Who are helplessly gripped by his music
Self-Loathing Why is it so dark the sunshine shut out In broad daylight, I cower in a corner Dark, dank Wet with fear I cannot move I dare not rise I will only fall again The world laughs Wants to keep me there Delights in my fear Cruel world Or is it me Cruel to myself Stamping unworthiness On myself Sending myself to an imaginary corner Don’t come out Don’t try to rise above your lowly station Who do you think you are? They’ll only laugh at you anyway You are no good Go back to your corner And stay there
Self-Acceptance Go ahead Get ahead of yourself Throw caution to the winds Find yourself in the outer reaches Unshackle yourself from restraint Leave forever the cloisters of fear and caution Fall and rise And fall again And rise again Love your life Love yourself
Me Knowing myself is a struggle I suspect I’m not so bad, after all I try to remember, not that good either So I don’t get carried away OK probably captures it Just like you And him And her You might despise my politics Laugh at my poetry, such as it is Confession: it’s not really poetry I don’t know anything about writing a poem But don’t hate me I sort of know you don’t I don’t engender hatred Maybe pity Possibly cringing at my disclosures I cringe too, sometimes This one scored a cringe From me But I feel compelled to show it I’m not sure why I might find out later I try to be positive It’s not easy sometimes When I’m down, it’s time for a long walk Preferably uphill
Perspective Like yourself Like others No one is better No one is worse We do stuff Good and bad We are not fools because we do foolish things We are not superior because we do some things well
My Worst Enemy I hold myself back Not through lack of effort Not through lack of dedication Not through lack of motivation But lack of self-belief I will never be good enough I will always fall short So, I lower my expectations To where I think they deserve to be Warranted by my mediocrity Who told me I was mediocre? Who was so cruel? I know him, he controls my destiny I don’t allow him to be positive I stop him when he is encouraging me I don’t believe his praise I cannot get rid of him He is me
Cognition The turning point in Darwinism Is when a species is able to annihilate itself And its habitat For humanity It is no longer survival of the fittest Individual survival dissolves into collective survival Human cognition has the tools Intelligence, compassion, generosity, selflessness, kindness To survive together But we must shed our arsenal of Greed, selfishness, bigotry, lust for power That promote individual, short-term survival Long-term, we are done for Let the penny drop Before it is too late Is it too late already?
Knowledge The Key Hurry, there’s no time to lose Don’t waste time On trivialities Serious business awaits Unlock secrets So much unknown Jump to it Find the key Open the doors Go inside Feast on knowledge
Conquer Fear To stand up Face the public Regardless of fear Regardless of being thought of as an imposter No matter how developed your thoughts No matter how prepared you are It is now Parade your imperfect achievements They will always be imperfect to some, especially yourself Inspire others Inspire yourself It is your courage that inspires Not the quality of your achievement
Your Passion Don’t lock away your passion It is the ultimate disservice to yourself Don’t idle in neutral Open the throttle Passion breeds enthusiasm Passion sprouts optimism They let the sunlight in Rush out, get moving There’s no time to lose Make a start Draw that line in the sand Don’t look back Tune in to the present Take that first step Then another Slowly, surely moving forward You’ll soon pick up pace, guaranteed Your feet will leave the ground You will soar Into your new world
The Blues The dreaded blues descend It’s part of being human Recognise it Accept it Ride it Take a walk, burn some energy Change your hair, put in some colour Treat yourself some other way You deserve it, always Talk to someone, there’s no shame If you cry, so much the better Analyse, if you can It’s not important, but Try to remember you are intelligent Smart Capable Don’t be hard on yourself You deserve the same kindness you show others.
Loneliness How nice to be in the “in crowd” At ease, plenty of friends about Gathered at the table Helping themselves to goodies Or laughing and chatting in groups They all know each other It is hard to join Introduce oneself They don’t want to know someone new Or even know someone better There are the exceptions But they are swamped by those who want to remain in their comfort zones The polite laughter Clipped replies Please go away now You are not yet one of us Perhaps you will never be Not stated, but clearly understood Other stragglers befriend Hello there Get to know each other Then their eyes wander, gleam recognition Aha, their friends have arrived Alone again Naturally?
Autumn Walk Autumn Leaves Moist forest paths, Autumn strewn Soft and comforting under foot The trees smile down, it’ll be winter soon They’ll fall asleep, trunk, branch and root Silky, low slivers of sunlight Shimmer through canopy sparse Bathe the forest in twilight Give pleasure to those who pass
Truly Blessed The truly blessed are those Whose passion is to help others Who are those people Who eschew material wealth Whose needs are simple Whose pleasures are cheap or even free Make no mistake They exist, in our midst No placards, no banners Herald their arrival Or proclaim their contribution To making this world A better place They have no need for jewels Or caviar Or Havana cigars Or mansions Or luxury cars They find happiness In feeding a family in far off Haiti In educating a child in Bangladesh In welcoming refugees on our doorstep In sharing their wealth and bounty In brightening the lives of the disadvantaged amongst them We must know some of them Can we be like them?
To Music Music finds its way deep inside me Chopin’s music parts the folds and layers And always finds the openings and crevices The fault lines in my crust of invulnerability, of self-reliance Schubert seeps through my skin Into my being And warms me with an inner glow The beauty of Tchaikovsky, arrows That painfully find their mark What about Mozart Melting, simple, sublime beauty Beethoven, awe-inspiring, majestic, weighty And JSB, music that brings out our better selves That speaks to us individually and collectively
Right Whinge To right-wingers Why are the 3 percent of climate change deniers Within the scientific community More compelling than the 97 percent Who endorse it To some Christians Why are isolated Bible verses that condemn homosexuality More compelling than the example of Jesus Who exhorted us to love one another To not judge To cast stones only if we were without sin Who was always inclusive Tell me
Concentration Concentrate, focus What do these words mean? Concentrate on what Focus on what Specifically! You play notes You write words Your mind wanders You rein it in Try to tether it to the task But on what? The rope attached to my mind is still in my hand It takes off again, away from the task Mind and body doing their own thing Not interested in what the other is doing
Seymour Seymour sixty-eight today If he was alive Guileless Innocent Creative Sunny Gifted A free spirit Harnessed, shackled, choked, finally crushed By neglect By bullying By physical violence By stigma By religious hate His life wasted away Consigned to the scrap heap Too difficult for siblings Battling their own demons I wish, wish, wish That I had shown more courage To protect him Look after him He is forever my soul mate If ever I look forward to dying It will be to see him again
Mirror Man Focus, focus, mirror man Silly man Concentration Don’t you know it holds the key To using time productively To making progress Achieving success Don’t wander off Don’t be distracted Attach to the task Like a limpet on a hull Immersed in the music Submerged in the words A part of the picture They, a part of you Don’t wander away Stay your troubles Face them later Your special moments unsullied In your oasis of wonder and delight Watching your private magic Luxuriating in your endeavours Emerge with a lighter, springier step To lighter burdens To a better world
Winning What is winning? Winners don’t need vanquished Success does not require the failure of others Success is learning from your failure Failure is gloating over your success Enjoy the success of others Regardless of whether you succeed or fail Life is not a contest between individuals Life a contest with forces that can destroy us all Fortune places us on a ladder The higher we are the greater our potential To contribute to our survival The ultimate victory
Right-Wing Bubble The hard right wing bubble More like a balloon It soared for a while But it is now deflating People have seen what it stands for Division Elitism Bigotry Rejection of scholarship Hatred of minorities Suspicion of differences Greed Heartlessness Benefits for the few at the expense of the many Trickle down Small-mindedness Devoid of vision Ultimately destructive Its brief race is coming to an end Its hold on power is loosening, diminishing Oblivion is the best place for it Banishment from decent human communities
Fear Of Failure We all fail Make mistakes Commit errors of judgement Suffer from stage fright Terrified of appearing ridiculous Plagued by the imposter syndrome Fear of failure Blocks learning You learn from failure When you don’t fear it When your sense of self is unchanged by it When you know you are not a lesser person because of it Only then can you find the reasons you failed Rise from your failure With a snippet of knowledge you didn’t have before
Footscray Scorned by inhabitants Of the other sides of the CBD Drug-ridden, violent, indigent Only the odd white face Submerged in a sea of dark shades In a derelict, forgotten pocket Of this fair city But Footscray, with alacrity Demonstrates to all who care to look The heterogeneity of racial, religious and cultural diversity Combining easily, no, effortlessly With the homogeneity of shared values, needs and aspirations Immersed not in drugs but goodwill Providing rich, varied fulfilment to all Come along late on a Saturday morning Be one of a thousand faces Hailing from all over the planet Going about their business Marketing Enjoying the sunshine Rugged up against the cold Sheltering from the rain Talking to their kids Ducking in somewhere for lunch Quick to smile back Or greet you in return Enjoy a kebab Or bite into a heavenly Viet roll Or grapple with a gigantic thosai Or slurp some pho And please Return with a changed opinion Of this marvellous suburb
Kate Kate, feisty, wilful Beware when she is hungry Better that you look away Or a dagger pierces your forehead But she loves With all her heart With no guile, with no restraint It’s on her sleeve In her eyes, in her outstretched arms In every bone, every fibre of her miniature, six-year-old body Which strains at the leash To reach out and engulf you with love.
My Music To music, the music that I love Human expression sublime Always says something Never banal, never in the background No matter how well I know it Or how often I’ve heard it before It always demands attention I cannot resist Reaction is involuntary
Honesty What, then, is honesty Is it accepting the harsh truth Whose truth? Who can I trust To tell me exactly how it is I cannot trust myself My perceptions are biased Often against myself Others are driven by their own undercurrents Is the essence of everything black and white Just a matter of digging Uncovering layer upon layer of disguising colours Until the kernel is reached Just asking
Beginnings The end of something Marks a new beginning Preparation Embarkation Completion Reflection Cycles of life Some concentric, never ending Others leaping and dancing Bouncing Colliding Partnering Colluding Chaotic Ordered Continuously supporting life From birth to death What beginning is marked By the end of life? A new chapter In heaven Or in hell Or on earth, in different skin Or as a wandering soul Or re-united with loved ones gone before Or nothing Who cares Don’t long for heaven Or insure against hell Or find life’s meaning in the hereafter Live this life as if there is no other Be nourished By the air you consciously, gratefully breathe Reality beckons It is happening Before your eyes Heed, act Grasp the opportunity Now.
Jingoism Dutton’s jingoistic drumbeat Sounding again Feebler this time Rallying fewer to its cause Not that it attracted many to begin with If you want to be a citizen of this country Be competent in English, Thump thump! (whatever that means) Embrace Australian values, Thump-ti-thump! (What are they again?) Answer new, more difficult questions, Thump-titi-thump! What’s the point No one’s interested Save your breath Foolish hard-line conservatives Your race is run The people’s flirtation with you lot A resounding failure They now know, first hand, What you stand for So, sip your Grange and puff on your Havanas As you lament the stupidity of the masses When they consign you to the political scrapheap Under an anachronistic rock You have no role in humanity’s future
Best Me Who is the best me? Is it the one Whose clothes are always ironed Who plays the piano Who loves music with eccentric passion Who supports charities Who gives help and support Who values self-sufficiency Who values good health Who is usually thoughtful and considerate Who does not take himself too seriously I’m getting warmer now Who sees the funny side of things Who is vulnerable, thin-skinned Who is eager to please Who likes to be liked Who needs to improve Is it all of the above Is it none of the above Is it someone I know very well Or don’t know at all, because I try to be someone else Just be, just do Don’t overthink Don’t analyse Free myself from myself And don’t forget to laugh
Words Find words for your thoughts Find words for your troubles Your fears, your doubts Without words to describe them You don’t know what they are Or why they assail you Or hold you back Or even cripple you Without words They are nebulous, elusive, out of reach Problems Need words to define them, describe them Words to find solutions Try words They pull you from the clouds Plant you on solid ground
Marriage Equality Come on, Government of Australia Why do you heed the bigots? Marriage equality for all Female-male Female-female Male-male Objections are rooted in bigotry Even when The Bible is quoted Make no mistake Scripture can be cherry picked to support anything Rise above the “Them and Us” mentality Step out of the comfort zone of Them and Us Get to know a gay man or woman Recognise that their love is normal, worthy Become acquainted with a transgendered person See, feel their humanity Admire their courage The power of marriage equality Is its rejection of bigotry And its recognition that GBLTIQ is normal Part of a rich, diverse fabric of sexuality That characterises our species.
Life Journey Life is a journey A work in progress, like it or not The path behind you is strewn with Your rejections Your failures Your disappointments Your missed opportunities Criticism of your efforts Discouragement Disparagement Don’t look back Don’t wallow in them Mired in bitterness and regret Leave them there Move on Take up the cudgels Roll up your sleeves The present beckons Replete with Excitement Opportunities The chance to fail again, true But the chance to progress Move forward, even by a millimetre Improve Achieve Learn What are you waiting for?
Something You Love Is there something you love A compulsion, an addiction You cannot live without It fires your passion You glow inside It engulfs Sometimes overwhelms Your feet leave the ground You float, wrapped in its clouds You dive into its waters Willingly swept by its currents Your life is better for it It gives you abundant joy Extreme pleasure Never let it go Pursue it, develop it Luxuriate in it Let it light you up Let your love of it be seen For miles around. Baggage accumulates over the years The contents now stale and out of date But still fertiliser for doubts and fears Burning resentment and virulent hate Open your shoulders, fling with power One after the other, till nothing remains
Bigots Rule The bigots are running the show With Abbott their spiritual lead Watch out Christopher They have not put their dummies back in They might still want your blood split Face up to it, they don’t like you They have Malcolm’s balls Willingly swapped for the top job Your support of the PM Will get you nowhere Your prominence in the government Tenuous at best But now you’ve done it Shown that a moderate heart Is gathering strength To stick it up the right-wing cretins You are a pain in their backsides
Piano Magic The sound of a piano Stops me in my tracks Compelled to listen Even Chopsticks does if for me, briefly Quality appreciated but not essential Honky-tonk can rock by boat, sometimes But it’s the masters I worship Those creative minds That extracted every drop of life sustaining juice From the grinning, toothy monster
Perceptual Veil How do I see the world Through glasses coloured To turn everything rosy and cheerful Or glasses tinted To darken even the brightest day Is the world I see Distorted by my morality, my beliefs My perception clouded By my biases, my prejudices, my hatreds The lives of others Judged by my version of right and wrong Can I lift the veil And see the world as it really is A planet teeming with life Dominated by a species Capable of eternal survival But also instant extinction It’s in our hands We are the architects of our own destiny
Nature Nature cannot be tamed It always wins in the end Respect it, understand it Don’t push against it Use it, not abuse it Nature is a gift to us Bountiful, eternal But remember It controls us It determines our ultimate fate We ignore the signs at our peril Submit to nature Accept its truths Be in step with its beat Heed it when it falters Our survival depends on it
Just Be Is all the world a stage As the great bard proclaimed Do we play act throughout our lives From the moment cognition sets in Different roles For different audiences, different situations Power differentials Bringing out in different proportions The good and the bad in us The weak and the strong in us Dominating some Submissive before others Can’t we just be Without pretence Affected neither by audience nor circumstance I know I want to just be No mystery No deep, murky water No dark side Always crystalline Transparent An open book Predictable What you see is what you get Surprises always pleasant A good way to live
Self-Acceptance Accept yourself, unconditionally Not just to a degree, but totally No one can give it to you No one can take it from you It‘s your supreme power, use it Feel it, breathe it, assume it Take it for granted The seed once its planted Will grow as you grow You will flourish as though You are no longer aware That you languished down there A timid, tentative soul Trapped in a deepening hole You were digging with all your might Energised by your fright Fuelled by your fear of people People just like you
Have Your Say (Twice) Better to be called a showoff Than a shrinking wallflower Better to be disliked, scorned, ridiculed For parading your humble skills For insisting on having your say For demanding to be heard Than staying quiet Forever ignored and overlooked When, in your opinion, the only important opinion, You have something worthwhile to share To show, to remind, to inform, to entertain Stand up, grab the spotlight Turn it on yourself Shout to be heard If necessary You have nothing to lose Not your dignity You can rise above the fray Loud and clear With your dignity intact Put it out there You cannot make a difference If you don’t speak out If you are not heard ------ Call me showoff, I care not a jot I have something to say, like it or not I don’t mind dislike, ridicule, scorn If I voice my opinion, for this I was born My skills may be humble and My opinions considered bland To some Just ho hum I will have my say Rising above the fray If I have to, loud and clear Dignity intact, no fear How on earth do I make A difference if I do not take The spotlight, turn it on myself And be heard
Macedon Ranges Walking Trail The Macedon Ranges, lush rainforest it is not Harsh, unfriendly, unwelcoming scrub, not quite But hospitality is not laid out Vivid green welcome, you have to do without No low hanging fruit or rivers or streams Or frolicking wildlife, just a few wombat holes But the spectacle of a bushland’s struggle to survive In conditions that often conspire to defeat it Is laid before me in scenic splendour Commanding respect and awe, an opportunity To experience something mightier than me
Mental Wellbeing Always, always, always ask for help You know when you need it We all need help At some time in our lives Seeking help is natural For us, social animals that we are It is a hard-wired social contract Inherited from our collective humanity Self-sufficiency is an illusion, A mask to project the misconception That to seek help is weakness Unmanly, needy, lazy Ungrateful in this affluent environment in which we live They are judgements we impose on ourselves Reach out to seek help Reach out to help It is a natural expression of our humanity
Self-Sufficiency Sanity is not a narrow mental state It is a large canvas On which I apply the brush strokes of My individuality My eccentricity My special likes and tastes My fashion My loves and my hatreds My activity and my idleness My happiness and my sorrow My sleep and my wakefulness I often approach the edges But find the resources to move back towards the centre Sometimes I cannot do it alone I need assistance to be pulled back Or I could fall off Knowing when to seek help Knowing what help to seek Is the secret to self-sufficiency
The Brown Dog Down we go Driven by meaningless impulses Illogical, senseless Powerful, compelling Resistance is draining Difficult to sustain Overcome by fatigue, my focus wavers for a second Darkness enters again Not deep and penetrating But enough to keep me down Each time the melancholy lifts I see light I bounce back I chide myself For my self-indulgent moping Whatever, I manage The story of my life Head down, coping, no worries Everyone has difficulties Most far greater, much graver So I’m told, in roundabout ways So I tell myself, directly Get over them You are living the dream
My Enemy Who is my enemy Do I know him He is in my head Telling me I’m no good Inadequate Unworthy Look at him, look at her, look at them Look up at the height of their achievements Now look down at yours Insignificant by comparison You are a fraud Know your place Get back in your box Accept your mediocrity Your only escape is to be as good as them I accept my mediocrity I think I am an imposter With no right to claim anything good for myself I desperately want to escape Become as good as them Show all the people Who I imagine are scornful and dismissive towards me My true ability Prove them wrong The ultimate revenge Who then is that enemy Whom I given permission to do this to me He is my damaged ego Preventing me from accepting myself Why don’t I shove him out of the way And get on with life.
Evil Devastation A portrait of utter despair Deep knowledge that the deed is a line in the sand Ensuring it will never be the same again Innocence once tainted by wilful bigotry By ignorance worn like a badge of honour Is lost forever A new paradigm rises from the morass Clothed in suspicion, caution, anger, injustice, hatred Lost with the innocence is open, unbridled affection The freedom to love curtailed, approached with caution The eyes of hostility, of jealousy, of revenge, of the thirst to destroy Always looking, waiting, waiting, waiting Why don’t I turn around Walk away forever I cannot walk away from the deep love of my family So I face it, a demon, lurking, slinking Amidst the love, the goodwill that I trust will keep the evil suppressed
Despair I have sunk to the bottom, in speechless agony I know what it’s like to feel utter despair To be grabbed by the throat and immobilised by blackness around me Not knowing how I will overcome the unbearable pain Of the end of my world, the end of my future A future in which he occupied the foreground Suspecting, knowing that I was absent from his future So it was, from the beginning A sense of foreboding hovered over us Gnawing at my guts, but I welcomed him into my world Gave him everything, held nothing back Entrusted my heart to him Foolish and blind, against better judgement Shut out of much of his world Love is not at the end of a logical progression Not at the end of a process of trimmed dangling threads and tied up loose ends It strikes when the tapestry is still a jumble of incoherent patterns There’s no saying what it will look like complete I gave him control of the loom He fashioned our tapestry, his tapestry And left me out of it.
Treble Clef The treble clef Where singers find their song Where birdsong leaves its print And pianists slave day long With finger-twisting pain To conquer waves and waves Of hemi demi semi quavers Jamming up the staves
Soulmate When your soulmate is not beside you When they are on a journey without you Their absence is a sharp reminder Of what you have Of your privilege To have someone in your life Who wants to be with you Who will come back at journeys end To the foreground of your life As you regain your position in the foreground of theirs
Puppets Religious bigots are puppets The puppet master pulls their strings Manipulating, twisting this way and that Telling them what to believe Warning them against reason and argument Appealing to their faith, such as it is, to condemn others on spurious grounds Exploiting their fear of eternal damnation, turning their faith into superstition Encouraging their greed, not seen for the obscene acquisitiveness it is But a reward for righteousness If this is the image of God, for wasn’t humankind made in His image? What sort of a god do they worship?
Commonality What can divide us What can stop us from reaching out If we our welded together by our common humanity Every person I see is just like me I may not know their name They may be Muslim or atheist for all I know Partnered or single, a ring can mean many things I might suspect their ethnicity Laotian or maybe Cambodian, I could be wrong But they are smiling, I know they are happy They are crying, I recognise distress They are running, I run too when I am in a hurry I hear them talk, I cannot understand what they are saying But I recognise a greeting in any language They smile down at a baby How universal is that They yell at their scampering children I am suddenly multi-lingual They are telling the young ones to be careful on the busy street The gulf between races, religions, cultures Exists only in our minds Nurtured by fear or ignorance or bigotry
My Purpose? What am I doing here, is there a purpose for my existence Pre-ordained by someone or something That mapped out my life from conception Determined who my parents would be Where I would be born Every moment pre-determined If that were so, I must have existed before I was conceived Even in the creator’s mind What was my blueprint What was I earmarked for What is a stillborn baby earmarked for Or the Syrian child washed up on a lonely beach Or Somalians starving to death Are we so powerless, so lacking in intelligence That we cannot see that accountability stops with us There is no divine superpower to save us from ourselves
Dream Of Near Death Hurtling in inky blackness Through a winding tunnel, not touching the sides A force unknown propels me I don’t taste fear, just a puzzled curiosity About where I am going, where it will end As I pass the next bend, suddenly a white light I cannon out, land on my belly on soft, green meadow Looking ahead, at stream just beyond Who’s that on the other side My father, my brother, what are they doing here With a pair of long gone beloved cats Lovingly side swiping their legs They see me, they wave, even the cats I get up to run to them And stop They are waving me back What are they saying I hear words, you are needed, go back, go back The inky blackness engulfs me once more As I hurtle away from the light I wake up, a paramedic is looking at me He’s conscious, he shouts, then addresses me Hmmm, for a while we thought you were gone.
The Wake After the funeral, the Wake Sombre colours, but an occasional bright splash A scarf or maybe someone’s hair Breaking up the blacks and browns and greyish blues The dark hues belie the mood Gentle, friendly, appreciative, always welcoming Our grief is lighter because you are here to share it Handshakes, hugs, kisses, well wishes Everyone spontaneously giving of their better selves In solidarity with the bereaved Food and drink in copious supply To enhance and uplift the sense of coming together To celebrate the life of the dearly departed Lamented but also remembered with joy
Despondency I went down, down, down To the bottom of the well of despair The walls, high, high, high, and sheer I could not see a foothold to help me clamber out I could not see anything Darkness enveloped me I existed there For who knows how long Going through the motions of everyday life Working, eating, reading, listlessly, without enthusiasm Sleep only begrudging, sporadic Thinking, thinking, thinking Constantly afraid of the unbearable pain Of knowing the love I shared The love now denied me Was being shared with someone else A weight on my chest kept me down Unable to rise
The Boys Club Physical strength, might, power Symbols of male dominance that tower Over everything else humanity can achieve If you don’t like it, you are welcome to leave They say with derision and scorn Go back to your wishy-washy life, you don’t belong With the men, unless you get yourself a pair If you dare Or if you prefer Go wallow in your fear Bring out your feminine side Amongst the women, wearing it with pride A hero to them, making a name To us, the men, it is nothing but a badge of shame A denial of your manhood, your gender Maybe you are a homosexual bender Taking it up the rear While the fillies stand and cheer At your courage to be yourself, have your say Stand up to the bullies they tell you, come what may Well, this is the boys club, bullying is our game We eat red meat and smoke cigars, we’ll never die of shame We’ll drink you under the table, at our bravado you’ll recoil in shock We are proud of our arteries, all hard as rock We dominate, we tell you what is good for you We kill and maim to defend what we think is true Go ahead, challenge us if you dare You’ll come a cropper, more than you can bear Much more than egg on your face, you’ll be sure to wear.
Look Beyond Deformity Pounding the pavement, head always cast down He seems unhappy, bet he's wearing a frown Is he studying his shoes on a bright joyful day When The world is so lit up, so bathed in sun's ray Look closely my friend, and you will see why He always looks downwards away from the sky Engage him, go greet him, say how do you do He'll return your greeting, a bit shyly too But if you persist, he will ask you something He will issue no words, but it will be the one thing That stops all people dead in their tracks That shows up humanity for something it lacks Can we look at disfigurement square in the face Resist the impulse to turn round and race Away from the hideous, horrible sight Instead look beyond the scourges of blight At a person no different from you or from me If fate decreed different, how would I be
Respectable Bigotry Respectability is only a facade Just pleasantries exchanged on a promenade Or a rugged-up couple walking their dog Seen at church on Sunday, come rain or fog Never a swear word heard from their lips For adventure, it’s take-away fish and chips What’s behind the façade, what do we find What are their attitudes, to what are they blind Are they deaf to the heart-rending cries of the poor Are they scornful of refugees who knock on our door About equality and fairness, what is their call For only the respectable, or for us one and all Manners do not a person make Without substance, without compassion, respectability is fake
Self-Perception Caught in a perceptual maelstrom Currents and undercurrents, pushing and pulling An entanglement of interdependencies Influences stacked one on top of the other Interfering, colouring, distorting Affecting how we see the world and its inhabitants Influencing our attitudes, stoking our fears, Fuelling our desires, entrenching our hatreds At the core, the primary fuel rod Self-perception The driver of every other perception Strive for healthy, unfettered self-perception It lets you see yourself as you are It reveals your ever-changing purpose It brings to you the world as it is A world you no long fear A world to which you want to belong
Sunday What is it about a Sunday morning Has it something to do with the only work-free morning after a work-free day for most of us Double restfulness doubles appreciation, doubles optimism, doubles happiness A matchless, sunny, cloudless Sunday morning Nature’s compassion for bustling humans Caught up in their unrelenting, frenzied lives Moving single-mindedly from one thing to another On Sunday morning nature beckons Trees sway invitingly, flowers raise their heads in welcome The footpaths lay down the red carpet What are you waiting for
My Shame I loved him from a distance Unable to get closer Than the edge of the chasm that separated us He lived his life to the fullest Aware of my existence Loving that part of me that connected with him Never once looking toward the chasm Never seeing my yearning gaze from the other side Unaware that a part of me was in agony The two parts of me On either side of the chasm Never coming together Separated by my shame For loving in a forbidden way
Poison There is no justification for jealousy and hatred Don’t carry them with you, don’t take them to bed Your environment they poison Tormenting each and every loved one Harmful and destructive, so often targeted at those who wish you well Meaningless, irrational rage intent on creating hell For them. But the ultimate victim is you The carrier of the evil, the nurturer of the malevolence that eats into Your very soul, gobbling your energy, stifling your freedom Leaving you languishing in your very own venom Eroding your health, why channel your intelligence, your creativity Into wreaking chaos, destruction, calamity In a world moving forward there is no place for it You’ll be left behind, thrashing around in the snake pit Of your own creation Sad, pitiful, a worthless dissipation Of a life
No Fools Here Are you known to not suffer fools gladly Then I have something to say, sadly For you, that no one is a fool Maybe a statement that’s not cool For you, coz it shatters your idle boast You may think you have them on toast Seriously, all you have to do is look Leave your ego and arrogance on the hook If you can, for you will find That even the simplest mind Contains the wisdom you seek Clothed in the humility of the meek Be attentive, get the message Or forever carry the baggage Of empty-headed arrogance, egotistic and fake Of unlearned wisdom lying in your wake
We Are One At what point in our lives Does a human difference A difference that should be celebrated Become something to fear Or treated with suspicion Or dammed as deviant Or regarded with disdain Or classified as sub-human When does the barrier go up To shut out a black child from her white friend When do the curtains come down To block out the humanity of those Who cry out for your acceptance For your compassion When does bigotry set in And prevent you from seeing the good in people Because of spurious, venomous notions Instilled by nurture and religion and environment That rob you of your innocence Block out what is real And replace it with poisonous perceptions Not founded in reality Not based in truth What is the purpose of education If not to equip you To question what was instilled into you And become complete accountable For everything you think and say and do
Burqa Cabaret About Pauline’s burqa cabaret What is there to say What is she pushing What step forward is she trying to make Can bigotry promote harmony Can racism give rise to a peaceful community Can suspicion of difference result in unity What lies underneath attitudes like hers And those of her ilk Who inhabit our community Who can be seen in the corridors of parliament Or pop up inside the fourth estate Or even live next door It must be a raging furnace of anger That distorts the graceful shape of love, kindness and inclusion And produces a twisted sculpture of bigotry and hate and suspicion
Marriage Inequality The naysayers to marriage equality are out of the woodwork Opposition on religious grounds has lost its potency Diminished in influence, wanting in credibility Churches are in richly deserved disgrace Their hypocrisy paraded for all to see It is not now about religion It is scaremongering with fallacious argument Threatening breakouts of boys in frocks Forecasting rivers of gender fluidity in primary schools Spurious things, the products of bigoted, homophobic minds Burning the candle at both ends, scouring the internet To twist and distort isolated incidents To turn them into hell and damnation Wrought on societies where marriage equality is now law Where the sun still shines, where marriage has not been diluted Where it has only been extended to welcome into the fold more people who love each other And who seek not only the protection of the law But also official recognition of the equality of their relationships
Strength in hatred What’s going on Is decency now a failing Is compassion a weakness Is kindness counter-productive What can hate and divisiveness achieve Apart from more hatred and more division What sort of lives do we want to lead What sort of lives do we want for others Do we wish failure, starvation, hopelessness on them Or worse, do we not care about them Are we only interested in increasing our own individual wealth Is it so difficult to be kind Why do you want to put up the shutters Show your goodness only to those You regard as your own Only those in your family Or neighbourhood Or town What about the rest Aren’t they human too Don’t they have needs Aren’t they innocent victims of forces beyond their control Don’t they need our help
Get Going Riding atop a wave crest I think I see neon ahead Emblazoning my next success The lights are so bright I cannot make out what they are saying Or what they are shining on The lights mesmerise me The lights are what I want I don’t know what I need to do So I blindly rush in their direction Not heeding the instructions on my left The warnings on my right I am celebrating success While it remains at best a remote hope My life is an illusion of instant success Celebrated in my fantasies And nowhere else I cannot let go For I will crash to earth with an almighty, soul-destroying thud Why don’t I take hold of the throttle Gently descend to the land of reality And start again Yes Roll up those sleeves It’s time to get dirty Feel the stark reality of life Seep between my fingers Lodge under my fingernails Soil and muddy my palms It is a part of the struggle To learn, to find out To grasp the substance To acquire knowledge Combined with creativity and imagination To produce dynamic, persuasive argument To illuminate and educate And impart what is special What is significant What matters
Sexuality My sexuality Like my race And my gender Defines me It says something about me It does not say everything about me And it says nothing at all About my worth as a human being It does not place a value on me It does not make me Less normal Or more normal Than anyone else Those who assign a value to someone On the basis of sexuality, race or gender Are bigots, pure and simple.
Wasting Potential What is my vision Do I have a dream For how we should live I know that goodness has to prevail Or the world is doomed But what does this mean Somehow, we have to stop A starving, cholera-ridden child in Yemen A potential Einstein wasting away Because not enough people care about her plight The world is being robbed of someone who could make a difference How many like them have perished, their potential unrealised Their places taken by lesser minds, able to seize opportunities because of good fortune Why is inequity allowed to rob humanity of its richest resources Minds bursting with brilliance Consigned to the scrapheap because power and greed Do not value human capital outside its enclaves
Tony's Back Please hand me a bucket The prince of the marriage equality naysayers Taking on Bill Shorten to prove to his party he has Bill’s measure (So please make me leader again) Is so bereft of convincing argument That he latched on limpet-like To the headbutt that wounded his lip Probably his bottom one By a wearer of a small “Yes” badge on his lapel He is now claiming the high moral ground Doing his utmost to taint the entire “Yes” campaign As an outfit driven and peopled by thugs When he himself has been accused of thuggery And was a moral vacuum when he led the opposition Seriously though, Can he not see that his political games are treating with disdain The welfare and sensibilities of thousands of his fellow Australians Come on Tony, you will never be PM again, your party will ensure it But respect for you amongst right-thinking Australians must be hanging by a thread Or do you not care about that either.
Moral Custodians The old moral custodians have had their day Their outdated morals Have no place in modern societies In which the powerful cannot hide any more In which they are accountable In which their hypocrisy is out on display The morality which they continue to stoutly defend Is instituted by religion, and has a lot to do with sexual practices Is centred on abstinence and procreation In the meantime Those people in power who, mind you, proclaim a compassionate, inclusive faith Also turn away those fleeing persecution Incarcerate innocents Pander to greed Are selective in their compassion Are divisive and exclusive And motivated by self-interest They are not the defenders of virtue As some of them like to depict themselves They just don’t like seeing the shrinking of their power base Cannot abide witnessing the overdue abandonment of their outdated so-called values As societies embrace knowledge and their own lived experience And discard old bigotries masquerading as tradition.
Getting Old? My mood fluctuates with the temperature Of Melbourne’s early spring A weather roller coaster which My mood is grabbing and taking me on an unpredictable ride Of joy and optimism and exuberant expectation Alternating with gloom and slight despondency When health and age rear their heads and make me wonder If the reality of my time of life requires me to slow down The concept of being old is alien to me May it continue to be so until I shuffle off this mortal coil But, my body is no respecter of my mind’s frolicsome attitudes It behaves like an organism that has existed on this planet for Well….a longish time
My Duty of Care I am grateful for my good fortune I never go hungry The water I drink is clean My home is warm and comfortable It shelters me from driving rain and bone chilling winds and searing heat I am safe at night I have way too many clothes I indulge my passions, my interests I live in a land of abundance There’s enough to go round To feed, clothe, house, educate all With plenty to spare Plenty to share There are those who have nothing Who live off urban and suburban garbage Children caught in poverty traps Denied even basic nutrition and education What is our duty of care to them Where does our duty of care end At our borders?
We Deserve Equality It is time for the law of the land To move in and remove bigotry’s sting Let the religions who want it Preserve their bigotry in defence of their faith Let their believers think they are going to heaven For their shameful antipathy towards other people When I think of faithful, loyal, devoted, loving men Who nursed and cared for their partners until their last moments And then were subjected to family invasions To claim the “loved one” they probably spurned throughout his life To grab his property and belongings And deny the partnership ever existed Not mentioned in eulogies How many suffered How many were denied How many were left without a rudder Without the roof over their heads Banished from homes lovingly built and crafted over many years This then was, still is, the result of bigotry in the law. Remove it And move on, as a better, more inclusive society To deal with the next inequity
Virtue Signalling What is virtue Is it morality Is it doing the right thing Is it fairness Is it trying to make people feel good about themselves It is all those things And more Feeling good is only a by-product of virtuous actions I dare say Those who deride virtue Those who besmirch the virtuous actions of others As self-serving “virtue signalling” Are opening a window To their discomfort when others’ virtue Forces them to hold up a mirror to themselves
Consequences From even the highest vantage point How far ahead can I see What will my actions deliver What will be my harvest From what I sow today I cannot know what lies ahead The future is just that, the future But I know one thing That what I do today will affect my future in some way A decision made today, a forward step taken At the only time it can be taken Will close some doors, open other doors Close a dark chapter, let the sunlight in Be mindful of the present It is where your life is happening Right there, under your nose Be aware, be awake Seize the opportunities that come your way Propel yourself into a productive tomorrow By what you do today
Stand Up Stand up for what you know to be true What you know to be right What viscerally nags at you What resides in your heart What your lived experience tells you with certainty What cannot be budged by either your politics or your religion What your personal ambition can mask only for a while The truth cannot be hidden behind “no go” zones Bigotry cannot be justified in the name of religion Don’t be afraid to question your beliefs Find solid reasons for having them If not, consign them to the scrap heap Saying someone or something tells you to believe in a certain way Is not good enough Examine the evidence impartially What does it look like to YOU Regardless of what the good book says Or the postulations of your favourite politician or shock jock You will never go to hell for being sincere, for heeding your heart
Asylum Seekers and Us Does the fate of the refugees on Manus Island not affect us Does it not cause us anguish To know that they are being abandoned Left to their own devices Outnumbered, vulnerable in a hostile community Our government has walked away from its duty of care Paranoia reigns within its ranks To never produce a good outcome for asylum seekers to our shores Hold them up as a deterrent That is the main game No matter that that live in squalor, in limbo Without a sliver of hope This callousness is being perpetrated by a government of Christians Some among them wearing it with pride What is their Christianity, come to think of it, After church, prayers and hymns And proud utterances of their faith Is it ever practised in their lives Does it feature in their treatment of others A self-serving form of Christianity for the affluent and the privileged Hypocrisy is what it really is A mockery of what is good and just
Hypocrisy of the Religious Right The refugees on Manus are squatters In the words of good Catholic Pyne Who with others in our lamentable government Persist with demonising souls who have fled persecution Who have craved our compassion, who have sought our outstretched hand For so long, to no avail With Dutton in charge It’s all about punishment For those of the wrong colour, race and religion Who dare to seek refuge in this country Which has wealth beyond measure Which has boundless plains to share But there is a sliver of light, a little brighter, a little broader each time I look Xenophobia is dwindling People are embracing things that matter A realisation is dawning That the rich and the powerful are self-serving Concerned only with amassing more wealth and more power Focussed on their obscenely extravagant lifestyles Contemptuous of the majority Unconcerned about poverty and disadvantage That electing leaders from their ranks That choosing role-models of their ilk Serve only to tighten their stranglehold on the rest of us Send them to the political scrapheap Bring down the institutions that entrench their privilege We have the power to do it We have Democracy
This Wasteful Plebiscite Did we need this plebiscite Do I need a tick, a nod of approval From people who do not know me That I can marry my partner of thirteen years I heard the arguments of those who said no All of them were founded on antipathy to homosexuality A determination to enshrine a difference A permanent reminder that same gender unions are not equal Lesser than, inferior to the union of a man and a woman The result was empowering, my heart swelled with pride But I don’t need a majority view That I am a normal member of the human race Because this is what the unnecessary plebiscite was all about
Liberation When you do something, anything What is your strongest influence What is your most compelling guide Is it a low opinion of your ability A self-imposed limitation Based on false modesty Or prevailing opinions Or conventional wisdom Let in through lack of confidence Accepted by paucity of self-belief In your ear all the time Telling your to set the bar low To not overreach To be satisfied with modest achievements Because that’s as far as you will go Or Do you throw away the bar Ignore convention So that the sky becomes your limit So that your striving becomes an adventure An exciting journey of discovery Of confidence and self-belief you thought you never had Of things your self-imposed limitations said you could never achieve
The War Against Normal People The struggle is over, finally The public and their elected representatives have endorsed marriage equality Left is only the procedural formality Required to become law, to be enshrined forever in the statute books There were no amendments, no hooks The naysayers craved to hang their hats on To be able to point to the difference, however little, however slight, place their fingers on And say, there, the law says you are not the same Not equal, the door is still open to discriminate even in the lame Pathetic refusal to bake you a wedding cake Others are fearful about what’s in the offing, the next take Religious institutions, for so long publicly funded hotbeds of bigotry and hateful Discrimination may be compelled to abide by the law if they want get their handful Can they represent their religions in their true spirit of love and compassion Without judgement and hate and division And become relevant to a progressive, united society That is naturally craved by the majority of our humanity Remember, the true champions of this change, this momentous breakthrough Are ordinary gay folk, no different from the public at large, who Turn up for work, love and care for their families, their friends Are reliable, honest, compassionate, have similar ends Walk their dogs, go to the movies, laugh, cry, think Dine out, eat at home, exercise, watch the box, have a drink It is they who have made the penny drop For the vast majority, influenced them to stop And review their beliefs in the light of their lived experience Recognise that people who love differently to them Are normal
The Triumph of Decency Our politicians should hang their heads in shame When they were supposed to lead they came up with lame Excuses that kicked marriage equality down the road Until the Labor Party saw the light and came on board They pledged to make it a reality, allow a conscience vote When they came into power. The Libs took note Of the massive public support, poll after poll But hard-headed bigots had them in a stranglehold Our PM too weak, too compromised to lead Unable to do the right thing despite what he could read Despite what he believed he bowed to the bigoted mob They came up with a non-binding plebiscite by letter, hoping to rob LGBTIQ people of their right to be regarded as equal in the law A prospect that would stick in their craw As well as the likes of power bigots like Pell and others of the church So, Australia was subjected to a campaign of hate, a lurch Into thinly veiled venom directed at very normality of LGBTIQ folk Hurtful, shameful, nasty stuff, the work Of those who wear their piety with pride Who parade as moral custodians but think nothing to deride Normal decent people.
Knowledge Knowledge is power, it has been said before Knowledge is also truth, the prevailing truth Not set in concrete, just a marker in a never ending quest Knowledge breeds compassion Knowledge drives out division Take responsibility for your knowledge Be sceptical, search for evidence Demand from the dispensers of truth evidence that satisfies you If you refuse to apply your education, your intelligence, Your wisdom, your lived experience in your search for knowledge If you blindly follow the edicts of others You are squandering your most precious resource You are selling your soul to someone else’s truth.
Gerry Roberts 