Rubble

I barely remember the wall coming down
Though tender renowned
Perestroika and glasnost
My Minsk pen pal
Whom I nearly visited
If not for that iron curtain
A downed air plane
VHS player was their request
For duty free on the plane
From a 10 year old
Broken wall boundaries
Parenting –
Though missed a trip
To America
With my swim club
Too young, they guffawed
Knotts Berry Farm
Apparently more dangerous than
Newly formed USSR.

This house I built

Decades saved, not wasted, this house I built
Devoted hands, gainful work, nights and weekends
Searched longingly up and down, high streets and low
Waiting for my heart to jump out, at the sight of her
Saved, invested, scrimped and pawned
Hoping one day, enter new dawn
Window closed, garden bare, I set upon the terrace stair
Knocked and waited, in the rain
Admiring abalone strewn along front wall
Evidence of inhabitants, though no one there
Someone lived inside once, absence inlaid in rainbow pearl
Me and view of quaint corner garden, sandstone steps
Panorama or paranormal, needn't matter
This house, I have built with hearts and hands
Love inhabits and dwells always, echoes in empty rooms
Filled with laughter, stories and poems
My life, I have built, a shelter from storms
Will water soil for one-day blooms.
Maria Island, Tasmania.

I didn’t make my bed

This morning
I was cleaning up instead
After my well fed children
While they rest their weary head
I didn't cook dinner this evening
It was the children's turn
They argued over whether to have
Snitzel, sausage or lamb
I didn't make the carnival
Athletics, swim, cross country
I had to work that day
That week, all year and couldn't come
I couldn't take a holiday
My leave was all used up
From tending to the snotty noses, headaches, wheeze and coughs.
But every day is fun around here, we laugh and listen and care
But lay a word of criticism to the mothers out there..
Do you dare?

The Secret Garden

For many years I pondered
What was behind ivy wall
Sandstone thick quarried
From ancient hill, the one
I gazed upon until my lids
Grew heavy with waiting
For dreams to come
Keys thrust upon me to open
Hulking oak door with bolt
Chamber rusted shut
Determined to make a home
Surrounded by eucalypts
For good cover from
The elements soaking into
My pores
Heaven scent aroma of cineol opens my eyes
Brighter to adore
Walled garden no secret anymore
For before me lies the vast
Hills and plains of freedom
And realise it was I who was contained in my own
Secret garden all this time
In Dorothy’s garden