Life Hacks, Novels and Creative Writing, Uncategorised, Uncategorized

Marriage, a Poem

This is a reply to the MTB: Two by Two prompt on dVerse Poet’s Pub

It’s not strictly couplets, but it’s my take on the subject matter.

Hope you enjoy!

Marriage

I know which one is my husband’s breathing

As I listen at the top of the stairs

He arrives, smiling, on the third floor chest heaving

We have a kiss—my fingers in his hair

My husband knows the difference between discretion and valour

He thinks I don’t—but I’m not sure if that’s true.

I watch him when he’s sick—his pain; his pallor;

Stroking his head, and rubbing his shoulders, too.

The daily cares we soothe each other,

Discuss the hours we’ve spent in other’s lives

Talking about philosophy and science,

I hold him close and comfort when he cries.

I married a man of integrated kindness,

Though neither one of us can cope with too much pain,

We slip into the ocean ‘never mind us!’

Or walk the forest paths for inner gains.

Thanks for visiting my blog, feel free to click around and read the other entries.

Thank you.

Beauty
Novels and Creative Writing, Uncategorised, Uncategorized

d’Verse Poets Octelle

This is a response to the d’Verse poetry prompt ‘Octelle’

It’s not a perfect example, but I had fun doing it, and I thank Grace very much for posting.

Grey skies meld into purple light

Mottled, marbled but piercing bright

The edges move, stir and shift,

Illuminate rain that banks and drifts

Coursing, creating living souls

Growth of plants, creatures, life, and mould

Grey skies meld into purple light

Mottled, marbled but piercing bright

Thanks for reading!

https://dversepoets.com/author/somethingm/

Novels and Creative Writing, Uncategorised, Uncategorized

dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille #156 Wrap

This is a response to the prompt Quadrille #156 by dVerse Poets Pub

Write a 44 word poem containing the word “wrap”.

Holy azaleas and fat crickets

I’m watching how beauty feeds

Multiple creatures in different ways

The beauty feeds me, too.

Novotel Twin Waters

Kids picking hibiscus flowers,

Discovering ants.

Learning:

Feast with your eyes

Don’t wrap beauty around your fingers.

As I watch, I breathe in awe.  

Wow.

South Sydney Uniting Church

It’s 45 words! Hope you liked it!

F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, Novels and Creative Writing, politics

Labour Day: Three poems about corporate life

Poem 1:

Late in the evening, I lean against the window of the train, 

Warmed by the glancing bands of sunset.

The train is cold, full of suited prospectors on their phones

Panning for a better tomorrow.


The clean thought lines of my day stretch behind me.

This evening? Hungry managers have eaten my time,

I know I’ll be working.


I can taste the freedom that the gold I am earning will give me.

I can hear the music of my portfolio growing. 

I can sense the shining nuggets hidden in the shallow stream, 

The pyrite turning up in my pan just spurs me on.

Just one more step. Just one more push. Just one more day.

Tomorrow.

Poem 2:

I’m proud of my life. Hard work is a challenge

Accepted and met.

But my body, my creativity–the tiny joyfilled child my soul recognises,

My companions, my capacity for bliss,

Are waiting.

They live in an imaginary future.

Filled with time.

Sunday afternoon the sun slants across the surface of the desk.

Bound by duty, responsibilities call out to me.

I’m caught, trapped, in a net of obligations.

Time my most precious asset, spent devoted to financing

Someone else’s children.

Poem 3:

This night is deep and full of strange noises–

Bats crying out, the creak of a branch scraping

Against the balcony railing, soft murmers of sleep.

Spirit rises up within as my relaxed body awakens–

Joyfull, alert, alive, vibrating with life force,

Almost– not quite– time for my alarm.


Later, dressed and ready, coffeed, combed, and smoothed,

I trundle my body towards the 9am meeting,

Glad when my bosses look at me and say

That’s right, Gill. 40 hours per week.

A fair days work for a fair days pay.

Happy Labour Day Everyone

…………………………………………………………………

By reading this blog, you agree that you read it under your own risk, and Gill’s Practical Bookkeeping is in no way responsible for any harm or prejudice to yourself, your business, or any fictional examples above.

I am not a financial advisor. I do not have an AFSL. I am a chick who likes to read, think, write, and has access to google. You should treat this blog with the same seriousness that you would treat anyone whose main qualification is access to google. This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It’s a little like watching The Good Place for nerds or artists.

Anything you take from this blog is your responsibility. Nothing in this blog, even if you are mentioned by name, address, and telephone number, pertains to your personal situation. Anything you agree with, or disagree with, you are welcome to comment on, but your opinions belong to you. You are responsible for your comments. If they are offensive, I will remove them.

F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, politics, Uncategorised

Free speech in Australia.

I was having a conversation with the adonis who I train with recently. He was talking about how we have freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Australia, and how that was great.

I was interested in this because I disagree that we currently have those freedoms.

Change is possible

Yes, I’m aware of the irony of sitting in a comfortable Sydney home, on the internet, writing that we don’t have freedom of speech or freedom of the press in Australia.

This week Australia’s High Court made a decision that means that any company in Australia that has an internet presence, is liable for the comments on their social media accounts or website.  

One of the consequences of this is that ordinary people who do try to speak out about things going wrong may well be moderated out of the discourse.

Australia updated secrecy laws in 2018, making it illegal to talk about certain things, either in Australia or overseas (if you’re interested, read part 5.6 of the federal Criminal Code (1995)).

This year Australia appointed a High Court judge Justice Simon Steward who stated that freedom of speech and freedom of political communication are not “settled law”.

This is part of a long term trend in Australia to pass laws that punish or criminalize people for having opinions, exposing government wrongdoing, and speaking out in the public interest.

So? What can you do?

Here’s the problems, what are the solutions?

  • Write to your local member, asking for more political freedoms and asking them to uphold your right to political communication and freedom of speech
  • Write a blog post about your thoughts
  • Write something on social media about freedom of speech in Australia, tag your local member, the Attorney General’s Department and the federal parliament
  • Write to the editor of your favourite newspaper
  • Read and share blog posts like this one
  • Participate in public discourse– bring it up at dinner, bring it up at a public forum, talk about what’s going on
  • Start or sign a petition asking for change asking for the right to protest.
  • Start a T-shirt Campaign
  • Make Art about it
  • Write a story about it
  • Express yourself through poetry
  • Make some rocking music
  • Put your thoughts into photos
  • Meditate on healing the world
  • Send good wishes into the lives of other people
  • Connect with people in your community so that we can lift the cohort
  • Get a qualification or do a short course to keep yourself fresh and keep your brain working
  • Meditate on having love in your heart
  • Learn a language
  • Become F.I.R.E so you’re not a slave to a job any more.

It might not think that these will change things politically, but every time you lift yourself out of fatalistic, nihilistic depression, you remind yourself of the truth:

You have power. You have creativity. You can do something. Change is possible.

Remember: Always be kind.

…………………………………………………………………

This blog is fiction. By reading this blog, you agree that you read it under your own risk, and Gill’s Practical Bookkeeping is in no way responsible for any harm or prejudice to yourself, your business, or any fictional examples above.

I am not a financial advisor. I do not have an AFSL. I am a chick who likes to read, think, write, and has access to google. You should treat this blog with the same seriousness that you would treat anyone whose main qualification is access to google. This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It’s a little like watching The Good Place for nerds or artists.

Anything you take from this blog is your responsibility. Nothing in this blog, even if you are mentioned by name, address, and telephone number, pertains to your personal situation. Anything you agree with, or disagree with, you are welcome to comment on, but your opinions belong to you. You are responsible for your comments. If they are offensive, I will remove them.