ASF Poetry Thread

[2020hindsight]

SCREWED TO A CROSS

I used to loan to addicts on some
never-never plan
they never paid me back because
they never stayed but ran -
I don't enjoy financial loss
and I don't like being crude
but I've never not been nailed to a cross
and I've never not been screwed.

 

[2020hindsight]

IF ABE LINCOLN WAS STILL AROUND
Gone with the Wind - the Sequel

I guess you need to understand
how modern pollies think
it’s less about the cards in hand
it’s more how rare they blink
it’s less about the morals
and/or whether "they" believe
it’s less about the truth per se
it’s more what “we” perceive.

Abe Lincoln would be lost today
he wouldn’t stand a chance
the man who healed a nation
after civil warring rants
the man who held a nation
and who preached equality
and took his land to war so that
some slaves could all go free.

He took it to the people
in a civil rights campaign
the sort of moral steeple
you’ll unlikely see again -
these days the pollies are political wh-ores
in a “state of aggressive war”
but the state we're all in - when the war is o’er?
….
he’d have asked – “what’s this fighting for ?”

 

[drillinto]

Hand Shadows

Mary Cornish

My father put his hands in the white light
of the lantern, and his palms became a horse
that flicked its ears and bucked; an alligator
feigning sleep along the canvas wall leapt up
and snapped its jaws in silhouette, or else
a swan would turn its perfect neck and drop
a fingered beak toward that shadowed head
to lightly preen my father's feathered hair.
Outside our tent, skunks shuffled in the woods
beneath a star that died a little every day,
and from a nebula of light diffused
inside Orion's sword, new stars were born.
My father's hands became two birds, linked
by a thumb, they flew one following the other.

From "Red Studio", 2007
Oberlin College Press, USA

 

[2020hindsight]

Hand Shadows
..... or else
a swan would turn its perfect neck and drop
a fingered beak toward that shadowed head
to lightly preen my father's feathered hair.
....

gotta feelin this was on Spiks and Speks last wednesday
Hand shadows No FAKE!!

Raymond Crowe an interview.

 

[2020hindsight]

Speaking of ABC shows - Denton interviewed Terri Irwin last Monday, "one year on"

She's writing a book btw.

TERRI IRWIN ONE YEAR ON

heard Terri Irwin interviewed
on Denton’s show last week,
a humourous exchange between
a heroine and geek,
but touching on some touchy ones
like how close is that cloud
where Steve sits smiling watching
in his khaki coloured shroud.

an easy going mother
and perceptive eyes as well,
protective of the balance
with a wildlife call to sell,
her husband and their father,
did they feel his helping hand?
and she answered in a way I thought
particularly grand.

his toothbrush hangs upon the wall,
his shirts "just there" and neat
his tramping boots are empty
(and there’s none to fill his feet)
their marriage vows omitted words
“till death’s jaws do us part”
she recounts with a smile, that they walk back that aisle,
“as long as we BOTH shall live”

I grin at the optional grammar,
(I admire her oh so much)
this brave adoptive Aussie,
with the master wildlife touch,
when she stands with young Bob and young Bindi,
all I see are four khaki quins
and I pray to Gods Christian and Hindi
that the good guy (and gal and kids) "win".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/29/2072726.htm
Terri Irwin: one year on
Posted Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:18am AEDT

Steve Irwin's wife Terri says the late Crocodile Hunter always believed he would die young.

Mrs Irwin was speaking to interviewer Andrew Denton on ABC TV's Enough Rope which goes to air tonight.

Mrs Irwin, who is writing a memoir about her life with Steve, says her husband often did not think he would live much beyond 40-years-old.

Steve Irwin was 44 when he was killed by a stingray in September 2006.

"He wasn't morbid about it, or awful about it, he was open and earnest about it. We've got to accomplish everything we can," she said.

"I would always say either a sense of humour response or I would defuse it, I would say 'don't say that', because the secret to being a great conservationist is simply living a long time.

"Steve had a real sixth sense about so many things, he had an odd connection with wildlife, he was extraordinarily intuitive with people, I found it all very, I don't know if 'eerie' is the word, but remarkable, certainly."

But Mrs Irwin says she was not often worried about the sort of risks Steve took with wildlife.

"I think that's an interesting angle - the risks that he took. I would analyse that through our whole married life and I have to tell you I very infrequently worried about Steve with wildlife because he was that good," she said.

"For him the risks really in my mind were more the places he would travel, the modes of transportation, political unrest, disease risk, these sorts of things where he was filming.

"Wildlife was not my number one concern with him, but certainly after having children he was much more aware of his own mortality and considerate of it because he wanted to be here for the kids, and yet he always had that feeling something was going to happen early on."

Grief
Over the last year Mrs Irwin says she has been taking some time to "let go" and and truly grieve, but has tried to shield some of her distress from her children.

"I do let go and grieve and I do try to take on the best advice," she said.

"Some of the advice I'd gotten was how important it was for the children to see me grieve. [But] for me personally, my learning process is that it's not, it's quite frightening for my children.

"So for them to lose their father and then see their mother falling apart wasn't working. So for me personally I have a fine time talking to the kids about Steve, we watch Steve videos, we have a tear or two together, but I really weep on my own.

She says daughter Bindi coped better than she expected, while son Robert coped worse, though she says he is now getting better.

"[Robert was] much more emotional and distraught, talks about him more," she said.

"Bindi grieves more quietly, Bindi has the advantage of some age, she was eight years old, and I think from the time Bindi could talk she would say 'I want to be just like my daddy'.

"So to have that continuation of everything that we did with Steve, we've been on another croc research trip, we're still filming, the zoo's going strong.

"I think that really helped give Bindi that continuing foundation that her life hasn't changed.

"But for Robert, who spent so much time with Steve and with such a clean slate, I think it was more of an abrupt wait a minute, I'm two years old, I have ownership of my name, I know I'm a boy, I like dinosaurs, I have my mum and dad and my sister, and to take that out of the equation seemed to be more traumatic for Robert.

"He's talking more now instead of crying as much.

"He's getting there. I am a very spiritual person, I don't believe that life ends. We talk about where heaven is and what daddy might be up to.

"He was such a frightening force of nature here on Earth, I'm sure he's out on his way to sink some Japanese whaling ships right now."

The full interview with Terri Irwin will be shown on ABC TV's Enough Rope With Andrew Denton 9:35pm AEDT tonight.

there's a photo there...
personally I've never cuddled a koala (as per that photo), though I did move one off a road once - he was sitting there in the middle watching the semitrailers go past - I grabbed him as gently as I could, but he put on one right royal hissing fit - whatever - I put him back in the bush, and felt better for my efforts.

 

[2020hindsight]

she recounts with a smile, that they walk back that aisle,
“as long as we BOTH shall live”

I grin at the optional grammar ...

PS ..

I believe she implied
joking real or aside
as a young groom and bride,
he "knot-tied" her

I believe she implied
that he's STILL by her side
(neither here nor there but..)
"both"
here means
"either"
.....

(neither here nor there but..)
"both here"
means
"either"

when she stands with young Bob and young Bindi,
all I see are four khaki quins...***
and I pray to Gods Christian and Hindi
that the good guy (and gal and kids) "win".

**
ok ok should be quads - (cept that didn't ryhme with "win")

 

[2020hindsight]

MY MATE, THE WOMBAT, AND THE BUSY ROAD

My mate was driving home one rainy day,
and saw a wombat with wet and weary load,
he stank of mud (and stuff I’d rather not say) ,
and appeared to want to run across the road,
my mate was quite alarmed – on many levels,
the risk of trucks! to run exceeding rash!,
and yet this wombat lined up like a dare devil ,
about to race a hundred metre dash.

He parked beside the road and walked (now soaking),
and closed his eyes and wished he’d pegged his nose,
and picked the wombat up (the stench was choking),
to hell with suit and tie and business clothes,
he waited till the traffic had a gap there,
and ran across with heffalump in tow,
and placed it down, and gave himself a clap there,
believing that his sainthood was on show.

No sooner down, and man and wombat parted,
It ran and found a culvert under foot,
and charged back to that point at which it started,
as if some game or joke was here afoot.
.....
My mate drove off, (the mammal still played dumb),
he looked back quickly swearing at the rain,
rear-visioned there, he saw another come,-
and driver run to help "dumb beast" again.

 

[2020hindsight]

terri irwin interview...(just for completeness)
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/video/default.htm?program=enoughrope&pres=20071029&story=1
parts 1 2 and (in particular ) part 3.

 

[noirua]

I worry each day about thermal
is it good for the country, Australia,
more importantly is it terminal
and encourages growth, Australia.

Without it the economy, it grows weaker
and with it our throats, in our Australia,
more importantly does it need a teacher
energy, defence, parched land, Australia.

Others provide it instead of our country
and be sure, the best, is in Australia,
the ports grow ever more crowded
as they grow and expand in Australia.

It's needed to grow economies and help them
China, Korea, Japan and benefits Australia,
they choke in the clouds of smoke and hate us,
well at least Greenpeace, Good olde Australia.

Thermal Coal expands the World - by noirua

 

[2020hindsight]

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=171298&highlight=manchurian#post171298

there are a few websites featuring academics who compare Bush to the Manchurian Candidate (sleeper politicians who play into the hands of the bad guys) ...
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=manchurian+candidate+bush&meta=

http://hnn.us/articles/32618.html by Mr. Buzzanco, Professor of History, University of Houston, is the author of several books and articles on Vietnam War
If enemies of the United States had gotten together a few years ago to devise a plan to damage America and undermine its global position–diminish its power and credibility, drag it into a stubborn war, harm its relations with allies, create international financial disarray, run up huge deficits, create political openings for the Europeans and China to exploit and become equals in global economic matters, motivate terrorists, bring the U.S. image in the Middle East to its nadir, restrict civil liberties at home, and so forth–they would have been hard-pressed to create a program that would be more effective than the Bush administration’s policies on these issues of war, terrorism, and global economics have.

Indeed, if one is an “enemy” of the U.S., then he/she would have to be heartened that Bush has pursued this agenda and would have to be elated that the war in Iraq continues today. Given enough rope, Bush may hang not only himself, but American influence and credibility, and the global economy. Like a “sleeper” agent, or Laurence Harvey’s famed character, Sgt. Raymond Shaw, in The Manchurian Candidate, George W. Bush, the ultimate insider, is doing more to damage America than Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Hassan Nasrallah, the Syrians, the Iranians, or any other enemy du jour, ever could.
.......

Even more frightening, Bush has actually increased the global threat of terrorism. In October 2002, well before the invasion of Iraq, the Central Intelligence Agency warned that military action in the Middle East would foment serious resistance and actually recruit more terrorists. By going after Iraq, the Agency warned, the U.S. would be ignoring the “root causes” of terror–such as continued crisis in Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and internal dissent in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries–while getting tied down in a peripheral area.

By 2004, that prediction had come true, with even the CIA Director Porter Goss admitting that Iraq had become a “cause for extremists” as daily attacks in Iraq had already more than doubled over the previous year. Just this past Spring, the State Department was more bleak, identifying over 11,000 terrorist incidents in 2005 which killed almost 15,000 people, a four-fold rise over 2004 and were mostly the work not of al-Qaeda but new, smaller and “difficult to detect” groups, which were able to exploit the war to entice new members.
.....

Given these conditions, there is now great reason for all Americans, including, if not especially, Republicans and conservatives, to demand an end to these policies in Iraq and at home that are making life more dangerous and costly. Some years ago, during the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon said that “Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.” It seems like George Bush has accomplished precisely that all these years later.

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/10/manchurian_cand.html
the longer President Bush occupies the White House the more it becomes clear that his big-government domestic policies, his preference for Republican and business cronies over talented administrators, his lack of a clear intellectual compass and his superficial and often wrong-headed grasp of international affairs – all have done more to destroy the legacy of Ronald Reagan, a President who halted then reversed America’s post-Vietnam decline, than any left-liberal Democrat or European America-hater could ever have dreamed of. As one astute American conservative commentator has already observed, President Bush has morphed into the Manchurian Candidate, behaving as if placed among Americans by their enemies to do them damage.

THE MANCHURIAN WHO INVENTED ME-TOO-ISM

like a cult of Manchurian candidates
who are sleepers to act on commands
who respond as if brain programmed mandates
and will go and attack foreign lands
who will play as if bad guy bidden
and dimwittingly into his hands
to agendas so blatant half hidden
to bolster the ranks of his bands

if Bin Laden has prayed for a blessing
in his best dreams he’d conjure Iraq
with three turkeys all ripe for the dressing
who’ll ensure him the soldiers he lacks
thanks to George-Tony-John (and to Allah)
what was “down and out”’s now “fighting back”
looking back it was “madness” not “valour”
(ah if only I had that vote back.)

like a cult of Manchurian candidates
who will dance in a hypnotised spin
who will cover their tracks with spun “bandaids”
and blame somebody else for their sin,
who will plunder incredibly dumbly
and the saddest thing, some are believed
you’ll be relieved when I tell you something
as of “soon”, you’ll all be relieved.

since Johnny you’re into namecalling
whether unions or scientist sceptics
praps you’ll find it a little heart warming
that we’re leaving behind moral septics,
Since Johnny you’re into namecalling
neither trick treat or trite but a truism
as your sun in the west is falling
you’re “the man who invented me-too-ism”
……..
“the manchurian who invented me-too-ism”

 

[2020hindsight]

Brilliant words - intertwining the stories of "Victor" and Billy - until they meet.

Billy Joel - Leningrad

LENINGRAD - Billy Joel

Viktor was born in the spring of '44
And never saw his father anymore
A child of sacrifice, a child of war
Another son who never had a father after Leningrad

Went off to school and learned to serve the state
Followed the rules and drank his vodka straight
The only way to live was drown the hate
A Russian life was very sad
And such was life in Leningrad

I was born in '49
A cold war kid in McCarthy time
Stop 'em all at the 38th Parallel
Blast those yellow reds to hell
And cold war kids were hard to kill
Under their desks in an air raid drill
Haven't they heard we won the war
What do they keep on fighting for?

Viktor was sent to some Red Army town
Served out his time, became a circus clown
The greatest happiness he'd ever found
Was making Russian children glad
And children lived in Leningrad

But children lived in Levittown
And hid in the shelters underground
Until the Soviets turned their ships around
And tore the Cuban missiles down
And in that bright October sun
We knew our childhood days were done
And I watched my friends go off to war
What do they keep on fighting for?

And so my child and I came to this place
To meet him eye to eye and face to face
He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced
We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Leningrad

 

[2020hindsight]

THE DEPARTMENT OF WHISTLE BLOWERS
(A new Dept to consider for the next departmental reshuffle, Federal or State )

I'd like some new departments both for federal and state
replace the one for tampa-ing with facts or fuelling hate
replace the rules permitting only ministers to speak
and redefine as "spring of truth" what's now called "nasty leak".

this new department’s name would be “the rights of whistle blowers”
where clerks and secretariats could flood the press like Noahs
or nurses could step up to bench and state the facts as eyeballed
without the threat – as now occurs – thereafter being blackballed

so long as it is more than ‘gos’, or fall-out with a mate
employees could dob in their boss and guaranteed no hate
and none found floating somewhere with thin wires through their lips
at times like this we must have truth, and loose lips might save ships

of course there’s things taboo out there, that might get to our foe
the trigger for an Abomb – (sheesh, as if they didn’t know)
let’s hear about corruption in the ranks of our police
and a “grassing” cop might win the day so that fights over “turf” might cease.

DoCS now has a case to answer - “Ombudsman to fix”
hey, what the !?! pass the buck to them to help deflect the bricks?
the Ombudsmen are doing work that others ought to do
and sweat for yet more sad reports when things go all askew

HEY - personally I'd love it if the Ombudsman was king !
the trouble is there’s too few saints to help to run the thing
and who would “watch the watcher” if it wasn’t you and I?
we need our whistle blowers! and protect them to the sky!.

these days a public servant signs to say his lips are sealed (?)
- it’s not commercial confidence if bad guys are revealed?!?
nor yet if he discloses that the minister’s a liar
the truth-he-says should not affect his chance of promotion higher.

don’t think of it as whistler blowers , call it warning bark
(if Hans Blitz had been listened to, we might have skipped Iraq)
with In-trays full of thistles and inaction stuck in park
take the eyepatch off one eye at least – and whistle at the dark. !!

 

[2020hindsight]

SOME ANTICS WITH SEMANTICS
(Background – Johnny Runs Over Maxine’s Dog - correction his shoe does)

Johnny said “Maxine, I was out for my jog
when – I’m Sorry - my running shoe skittled your dog” -
so she took him to court and maintained, cut and dried
he was guilty as sin, or else b) he had lied.

So he countered “No way there’s alternative c)
as my SHOE passed, the dog just appeared from a tree
an encounter just happened back there in the fog –
plus - you must have misheard - twas my SHOE killed your dog!

“Now the body has limits – I’m “up from the feet”
and you cannot incriminate “up with this beat”
and I needn’t say sorry, it’s the fault of these shoes!!
so in answer to that, Maxine – I win you lose.!

Now I’ll speak to the court on my shoe’s behalf
If you promise to listen (Maxine, please don’t laugh)
This sole’s a bit slippery, his tread's a bit worn,
cos my feet (and my reason) are riddled with corn.”

And the Beak said “aha – now the riddle is solved
with some antics I find there’s semantics involved
since you say that your shoes are what keeps YOU in shape
I imprison you too – just to keep THEM in shape".

………….
If you’d said all along there was fine print involved
and you’d sing the full song as the planet revolved
and each day we’d be given a hint and a clue
john we’d know who to trust. .... and


dear John,
not you.

 

[2020hindsight]

since the election season will soon give way to the cricket season
here's a website with some cricket humour. -

plus some definitions therefrom

plus a poem that is similar to something Banjo might write

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/MISC/HUMOUR/

Just a few definitions from "A Cricket Dictionary"--

APPEAL- A 250 decibel scream made to overcome the obvious congenital deafness so common in the umpiring profession.

AVAGOYAMUG- The mysterious, almost religious chant that comes out of the mouth of the cricket spectator.Sometimes it can be repeated by the one person 1200 times in an afternoon,especially if the Englishmen are batting.

BLOCK- Taking block, a slow painful ritual involving an incoming batsman, the umpire and a little pitch excavation.A means of postponing the fearful onslaught.

BRADMAN- See God.

BYE- A way of scoring a run or more by cleverly missing the ball.The umpire raises one arm as if he wants to leave the room.The wicketkeeper wishes he could.

CAUGHT BEHIND- Trapped in the turnstiles.

COMMENTATOR- He's venerable.His eyesight is not as good as it was in 1938 but it's remarkable how he can still pick an inswinger or an outswinger from 200 metres.Whats going on in the centre can be a wretched inconvevience when he's just recalling that marvellous incident on the fourth day of the Fifth Test in 1948.He is superb at describing seagulls and most graceful at 5pm when he refers to the long shadows moving across the ground.At 6pm during the sum- ming up he can usually cause a shock by actually referring to the days play.

ESKY- A trade device used for carting refreshments mostly into sports grounds. Many of them are made of plastic foam.In moments of extreme emotion during Test matches it is done to break up your esky and throw the pieces at.

EXTRAS- Or in politer circles,sundries.Here we have the collection of no balls and byes.Extras is quite a fellow.Sometimes he is so skillful he is the top scorer of the day.

FOOTBALL- A crude winter game played with an inflated pigskin. It provides much tedious talk in the newspapers,bars and on the airwaves.If particular care is not taken it will get worse and the desire will arise to play it all year round.

GOD- See Bradman.

HORSE RACING- A strange unecessary sport where horses are thrashed into competing against one another.It is used for the sole purpose of interrupting cricket descriptions on the radio.

A MAD GUIDE TO CRICKET TERMINOLOGY
APPEAL - What is left in the fruit bowl after the lunch break.
BAIL - What a batsman does immediately after getting out cheaply.
BLOCK HOLE - Cured with a good Sri Lankan curry.
BOWL - Where APPEAL is kept.
BYE - Kim Hughes` last words.
CENTURY - Average length of a Boycott innings.
DELIVER - Italian body organ
DOUBLE CENTURY - Back to back Boycott innings.
GULLY - Adjective describing MCG outfield fauna.
LEG BREAK - Official team incentive for Sri Lankan batsman.
LEG BYE - Result of a particularly bad LEG BREAK.
LEG CUTTER - Utensil used in LEG BYE.
LEG STUMP - What`s left after a LEG BYE.
LONG OFF - Boonie`s jockstrap.
MCG - Chinese cooking ingredient.
MISFIELD - Daughter of Mr. Field.
NIGHT WATCHMAN - Swiss timekeeper on late shift.
NON STRIKER - Pacifist.
NOT OUT - A quiet night at home.
PLAY SAFE - To wear a condom while fielding.
POINT - Bill Lawry lack`s one.
RETIRE HURT - see Kim Hughes.
RUN BETWEEN THE WICKETS - The result of a Sri Lankan curry.
SILLY POINT - Bill Lawry`s commentary.
SQUARE CUT - Glenn McGrath`s hairstyle.
TOPSPINNER - Richie Benaud.

"HOW McDOUGALL TOPPED THE SCORE" - Thomas E. Spencer (1845-1910)
http://www.bushverse.com/contents.html

How McDougal Topped The Score

A peaceful spot is Pipers Flat. The fold that live around
They keep themselves by keeping sheep and turning up the ground
But the climate is erratic and the consequences are
The struggle with the elements is everlasting war
We plough and sow and harrow, then sit and pray for rain
And then we all get flooded out and have to start again
But the folk are now rejoicing as they ne'er rejoiced before
For we've played Molongo at cricket and McDougal topped the score

Molongo had a head on it and challenged us to play
A single innings match for lunch, the losing team to pay
We were not great guns at cricket, but we couldn't well say no
So we all began to practise and we let the reaping go
We scoured the Flat for ten miles round to muster up our men
But when the list was totaled we could only number ten
Then up spoke big Tim Brady, he was always slow to speak
And he said, "What price McDougal who lives down at Coopers Creek?"

So we sent for old McDougal and he stated in reply
That he'd never played at cricket, but he'd half a mind to try
He couldn't come to practice - he was getting in his hay
But he guessed he'd show the beggars from Molongo how to play
Now, McDougal was a Scotchman, and a canny one at that
So he started in to practise with a paling for a bat
He got Mrs Mac to bowl to him, but she couldn't run at all
So he trained his sheep dog Pincher how to scout and fetch the ball

Now, Pincher was no puppy, he was old and worn and grey
But he understood McDougal, and - accustomed to obey
When McDougal cried out "Fetch it!" he would fetch it in a trice
But, until the word was "Drop it!" he would grip it like a vice
And each succeeding night they played until the light grew dim
Sometimes McDougal struck the ball - sometimes the ball struck him
Each time he struck the ball would plough a furrow in the ground
And when he missed the impetus would turn him three times round

The fatal day at last arrived - the day that was to see
Molongo bite the dust or Pipers Flat knocked up a tree
Molongo's captain won the toss and sent his men to bat
And they gave some leather hunting to the men of Pipers Flat
When the ball sped where McDougal stood, firm planted in his track
He shut his eyes and turned him round and stopped it with his back!
The highest score was twenty two, the total sixty six
When Brady sent a Yorker down that scattered Johnson's sticks

The Pipers Flat went in to bat, for glory and renown
But, like the grass before the scythe, our wickets tumbled down
Nine wickets down for seventeen with fifty more to win
Our captain heaved a sigh, and sent McDougal in
"Ten pounds to one you'll lose it!" cried a barracker from the town
But McDougal said, "I'll take it mon!" and planted the money down
Then he girded up his moleskins in a self reliant style
Threw off his hat and boots and faced the bowler with a smile

He held the bat the wrong side out and Johnson with a grin
Stepped lightly to the bowling crease and sent a "wobbler" in
McDougal spponed it softly back and Johnson waited there
But McDougal crying "Fetch it!" started running like a hare
Molongo shouted "Victory!" He's out as sure as eggs
When Pincher started throught the crowd and ran through Johnson's legs
He seized the ball like lightening then he ran behind a log
And McDougal kept on running while Molongo chased the dog!

They chased him up, they chased him down, they chased him round and then
He darted through the slip-rail as the scorer shouted, "Ten!"
McDougal puffed, Molongo swore, excitement was intense
As the scorer marked down twenty, Pincher cleared a barbed wire fence
"Let us head him!" shrieked Molongo, "Brain the mongrel with a bat!"
"Run it out! Good old McDougal!" yelled the men from Pipers Flat
And McDougal kept on jogging and then Pincher doubled back
And the scorter counted "Forty" as they raced across the track

McDougal's legs were going fast, Molongo's breath was gone
But still Molongo chased the dog - McDougal struggled on
When the scorer shouted "Fifty!", then they knew the chase would cease
And McDougal gasged out "Drop it!" as he dropped within his crease
Then Pincher dropped the ball and as instinctively he knew
Discretion was the wiser plan, he disappeared from view
And as Molongo's beaten men exhausted lay around
We raised McDougal shoulder high and bore him from the ground

We bore him to McGinnis's where lunch was ready laid
And filled him up with whisky punch for which Molongo paid
We drank his health in bumpers and we cheered him three times three
And when Molongo got its breath Molongo joined the spree
And the critics say they never saw a cricket match like that
When McDougal broke the record in the game at Pipers Flat
And the folk are jubilating as they never did before
For we played Molongo cricket and McDougal topped the score!

 

[2020hindsight]

I SAW GOD ONE DAY

I saw god one dawn as the first sunbeams smiled
he was crossing the sky like a golden haired child
some gull heading seaward , some “call of life” heard
and he looked for all worlds like a parenting bird

I saw god one morn, he was leading a band
as they juggled some leaf to a blade of warm sand
not a word did he preach, neither brimstone nor rant
but he looked I beseech you – the tiniest ant.

I saw god one noon , a magnificent creature
as he arched for a breach – as the ultimate teacher
which? feminine? nature? or hairy old male?
no my friend, god was (that day) a frolicking whale

I saw god one afternoon high in a tree
with his beady black pupils reflecting on me
then he sprang to a branch where a blossom looked on
and he looked for all worlds like a wild possum’s son

I saw god one eve-ning as twilight turned grey
just a spider and web that was blocking my way
they were radiant spiralling splendid and splayed
and I bowed my head there and together we prayed

I saw god one night in a magic black sky
with a zillion small lights where eternities pry
and a cascade of light years like cheese in a cage
and I know I’m a speck and my sparkplug must age

and I give my respect - and I smile at this page.

 

[drillinto]

A New Poet

Linda Pastan

Finding a new poet
is like finding a new wildflower
out in the woods. You don't see

its name in the flower books, and
nobody you tell believes
in its odd color or the way

its leaves grow in splayed rows
down the whole length of the page. In fact
the very page smells of spilled

red wine and the mustiness of the sea
on a foggy day - the odor of truth
and of lying.

And the words are so familiar,
so strangely new, words
you almost wrote yourself, if only

in your dreams there had been a pencil
or a pen or even a paintbrush,
if only there had been a flower.



From "Heroes In Disguise", 1991
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, NY

 

[2020hindsight]

as you say noi, one for Remembrance Day..
https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=222622&highlight=kipling#post222622

http://home.clara.net/stevebrown/html/expeience_of_war/kipling_my_boy_jack.htm

'My Boy Jack' (1916) Rudyard Kipling

'Have you news of my boy Jack?'
Not this tide.
'When d'you think that he'll come back?'
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Has any one else had word of him?'
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?'
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind -
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

Kipling's son, John, was lost in action during the Battle of Loos, September 1915. His body was never recovered until long after his father's death and the war's end. Kipling and his wife had to endure long years of uncertainty regarding their son's fate.
This poem was published to accompany some articles written on the Battle of Jutland, May 1916 - the largest naval engagement between British and German warships during the war. British losses - of men and ships - were heavier than that of the Germans, although the German High Fleet never attempted to come out of port again for the rest of the war.

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=85542&highlight=kipling#post85542

PS The church maintains (probably correctly ?) that "Thine ancient sacrifice" applies to JC and not to the fallen.
Incidentally Recessional = a hymn that accompanies the exit of clergy from church - everyone knows that lol - I've known that for oooh - 3 minutes

If you're real keen check also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recessional_(poem)

http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Po...g/Epitaphs.htm
Best Kipling you've ever read!!

A SON (An Epitaph - one of many he wrote)
My son was killed while laughing at some jest. I would I knew
What it was, and it might serve me in a time when jests are few.

AN ONLY SON
I have slain none except my Mother. She
(Blessing her slayer) died of grief for me.


http://www.anzacday.org.au/anzacserv...ice/hymns.html

LEST WE FORGET (Recessional)
Rudyard Kipling

God of our fathers known of old
Lord of our far flung battle line etc
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Po...ling/index.htm

 

[2020hindsight]

WAS IT WORTH IT BEN - NOW THAT YOU HAVE TO GIVE THE PREMIERSHIP BACK TO THE SWANS

was it worth it young marion jones
you’ve admitted your speed was imported
and your relay team medals were loans
and your teammates now reckon they’re rorted

was it worth it young junkie-joe-johns
that you whipped other teams when you captained
now the medals you won are all cons
let’s pretend that those wins never happened

hey benny was it worth it – respond!!
when you won and your foes were defeated
eagles’ medals returned to the Swans
cos where truth is concerned ben - you cheated.

Year Results Crowd
2007 Geelong 24. 19. (163) def. Port Adelaide 6. 8. (44) crowd 97,302
2006 West Coast 12. 13. (85) def. Sydney 12. 12. (84) crowd 97,431
2005 Sydney 8. 10. (58) def. West Coast 7. 12. (54) crowd 91,828*
2004 Port Adelaide 17. 11. (113) def. Brisbane Lions 10. 13. (73) crowd 77,671*
2003 Brisbane Lions 20. 14. (134) def. Collingwood 12. 12. (84) crowd 79,451*
2002 Brisbane Lions 10. 15. (75) def. Collingwood 9. 12. (66) crowd 91,817
2001 Brisbane Lions 15. 18. (108) def. Essendon 12. 10. (82) crowd 91,482
2000 Essendon 19. 21. (135) def. Melbourne 11. 9. (75) crowd 96,249

amended version

Year Results Crowd
2007 Geelong 24. 19. (163) def. Port Adelaide 6. 8. (44) crowd 97,302
2006 Sydney win on a drug-related forfeit, crowd 97,431 get their money back
2005 Sydney 8. 10. (58) def. West Coast 7. 12. (54) crowd 91,828*
2004 Port Adelaide 17. 11. (113) def. Brisbane Lions 10. 13. (73) crowd 77,671*
2003 Brisbane Lions 20. 14. (134) def. Collingwood 12. 12. (84) crowd 79,451*
2002 Brisbane Lions 10. 15. (75) def. Collingwood 9. 12. (66) crowd 91,817
2001 Brisbane Lions 15. 18. (108) def. Essendon 12. 10. (82) crowd 91,482
2000 Essendon 19. 21. (135) def. Melbourne 11. 9. (75) crowd 96,249

 

[priji]

Welcome Julia


Very interesting & lovely Poem.



thanku you very much

 

[2020hindsight]

priji
I hope you're not eating those mushrooms unsupervised lol

PS give a clue here
like
throw us a bone !!
which poem are you referring to lol