Chris' Poetry

Today

July 21, 2025

poetry

A poem

Today, today, today I’m
repetitiously walking around the block
familiar fences
shield unfamiliar families, introvert
and extrovert alike,
today,
walking softly my footsteps remain unheard
no greeting words
today…

Today for some reason
there is not another soul out walking
no birds talking
doves obstinate in silence
refrain from cooing, sparrows only flit
in alarm at my stealth,
I am an apostle of apathy
advocate for none
following sad silent lines of lost souls
around the block, again…

Today, there is no life
in me, no God to rescue my soul
water tasted odd, today
perhaps decay my moral malaise
it is like that today, pointless
displays unseen, no witness to my
moody poet passing
silent sunglasses shield tired eyes
today.

Chris
Adelaide 2025

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I know

July 18, 2025

poetry

A poem of time.

I know time changes
carving mighty mountain rock
altering courses of ancient streams,
my rock it seems is worn
smoothed by swift currents of time
moving and tumbling
into the indifferent deep ocean,
where pebbles rest easy
in times enormous embrace.

Farewelling our loved ones
rends close curtains
that drape my memories rooms
where the hearts calculations
have their own arithmetic
adding or subtracting loss or gain
to the relentless refrain
of a ticking clock
on the stern wooden mantelpiece.

Chris 2025

Author’s own door

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Allow small joys

July 17, 2025

poetry

A poem

The times torment and test

showcasing the worst

diluting the best, we all feel

compressed

put to the test, fearful of civil unrest.

Today, sun shone

I took time for a coffee

in the busy place of commerce,

I gave permission

to allow myself small joys

guilt and shame

on hold for a few stolen seconds

for joy.

C

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At my window

July 11, 2025

poetry

A poem

I feel morose, lay myself down

I have no soul

that loves me, no soul at all!

at my window

ghosts, ancestors gather around

he is blind they sigh,

when the child is ready he may see

all the love

that surrounds him, poor child.

at my window

I saw a starling startled fly away

yet I had made no move

it was perfectly still outside that day.

C

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Shrinking world

July 10, 2025

poetry

My experience in hospice.

In the hospice, I noticed
how the world
around the dying had shrunk,
down to a bedside table,
some photographs, I recall
an ornate hairbrush
on a crocheted doily…

The head nurse said
their world shrinks down around them
as they dwindle down and away
to a skeletal frame,
the feet it seemed to me
stayed the same,

I said being new, what do they do
and how do they act?
They die as they lived Chris
she sagely said,
it is all in the order of things
this shrinking down,
discarding the belongings
of a crowded life,
until the time when the room
is filled with familiar faces
only they can see,
that was a comfort for most
well, it was for me.

C

To Sabrina, a very wise woman.

Author’s own

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Nowhere

July 7, 2025

poetry

A poem

Immerse yourself in art, read poetry from your shelf
try to coat your skin in beauty
pretend, if you can, that the universe has a plan
we must go with the flow!
try as you can to ignore the pleas of the poor
victims of war,
domestic violence and the epidemic of entitlement
that floods the globe,
I think you will find as the old song suggests
there’s nowhere to run
nowhere to hide.

C

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History

July 6, 2025

poetry

A poem

History has sent chapters, verse, entire books to read, yet they say you can find it on your feed, everything you need..

I am no Saint nor martyr to the human mind but when I see progress I pray to be left behind, to think slowly again and even hear my breath rising from my aged breast,

History has a soul to stir the very heart of us all, but “no thanks old man” they said, we can get what we need from our trusted news feed.

C

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Long Drive

July 3, 2025

Poetry, poetry

A poem

I just returned from a long long drive
grateful to survive
speeding behemoths, weaving wanderers
time squanderers,
cars with names I no longer recognise, not Hondas
or Holdens,

I cribbed notes from poetry podcasts
as we cruised, I used the time as best I could
past wood and leaf under blue sky
every now and then we would spy
a tree, though dead, had been painted entirely blue
we Googled it of course!
it was for men’s health, I felt remorse for my ignorance,

On we pushed as hours went slowly by
each kilometre a calculation in mind
signs with surety proclaim
the total distance to our destination!
until at last our driveway greets us, welcome home
to begin the routine over again.

Author’s own

Chris

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I know time

June 30, 2025

poetry

A poem

I know time changes, carving rock, altering streams,

My rock is smoothed in rivers, worn down,

In swift currents moving, tumbling to the ocean where pebbles rest easy in deep dark silent ocean waters.

Farewells to our loved ones final or temporary rend times curtain,

The heart has its own calculations adding or subtracting loss or gain beyond the rational.

I know time flows insistent and consistent, I would have it stop for a moment,

To breathe without the ticking clock on lifes stern mantle piece.

Chris

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Begin the dread

June 21, 2025

poetry

A poem for tomorrow

Ah yes, we have family coming!

begin the dread

start the anxiety motor

let the catastrophe unfold in your mind

while all are asleep

your lightest gauge string is wound tight

do we turn it one more time?

Ah yes, begin the dread by all means

then it will be over

you’ll smile and say “That went OK”

C25

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