In the here and now

Waiting for no one
Lost and not found
The wisest counsellor
Equal to pounds

Extravagant expense
Unending relief
Bringing to pass
A robber, a thief

While quietly ticking
It takes us all
But a moment to say
As a sand grain falls

Naught to control
A gift freely given
A constant of change
The fourth dimension

The one who mistook

Their wife for a hat
A child for a cat
A lover for a bat
A friend for a mat

Sensibilities
Surrounded by
Seratonin
Someday fades

Why not instead
See streets of gold
Homes of gingerbread
Chocolate rivers

Smooth sailing comes
When you find your crew
Will you take me
As I am?

*The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, a book by Oliver Sacks.
Sandy Bay, lutruwita/ Tasmania, Australia

Love like

A waratah
My favourite
By far
Opening fingers
Delicious red
Planted firmly
Sandy bed
No need
For nurture
Spoil or fuss
No matter how
She tempted us
Hardy yet
Delicate
Glorious
Display
To rival
A rose
In her own
Stunning way

Happiest endings

Not until absence
Impresses
Cold and dark
Faint light
Stark
Silent weight
Until morn
Happiest endings
Followed by
Glorious dawn
Never knowing
In still life
Sun's direction
Setting or rising
Only known
By watching
Flowers closing
People settling
Creatures stirring
Streetlights shining
In the dark
A spotlight shines
Replacing sun's rays
Reminding of what
Lies instore

The impossible girl

Seven score and fifteen
Since the day
Dared to reclaim
Blindfold fell away

The world is a scarier place
Yet wide, vast as the sky
When pulling opinions
Down from on high

Meeting all the faces
Damp lit street and dark
Being one with them
Hitting the mark

All the things refrain
Are real for us
All of life
Abounds in us

Are we alone
Divided by love
Of mythical tree
A new year's eve

Glorious garden grows
Its beauty renewed
Breathtaking view
for Lili

Bravehearts

In the land of Oz 
I've walked these streets 
Paved with gold
Priceless wares

Federation facades 
Heritage shades
Inked pinked bodies
Stand out boldly

A heart grows fearless
Sitting in places
Undeserving spaces
Unfamiliar faces

Speaking into the chasm
People's lives unfolding
In one moment 
Tones waves uniting

That heroic soul
So rare and pure
Timid and unsure
Held open the door




Carnival

“Well, I’ve walked these streets
A virtual stage, it seemed to me
Makeup on their faces
Actors took their places next to me

Well, I’ve walked these streets
In a carnival, of sights to see
All the cheap thrill seekers vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me

Have I been blind have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?

Well, I’ve walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets the scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me

And I’ve walked these streets
In the madhouse asylum they can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped and he raved of saving me

Have I been blind, have I been lost
Have I been wrong
Have I been wise
Have I been strong
Inside myself and my own mind…?”

‘Carnival’ – Natalie Merchant

Songwriters: Peter Anders Svensson / Magnus Sveningsson / Nina Persson

Carnival lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing