#CBF16 Joseph’s List

Joseph’s List

In memory of Joseph Patrick Falk 1956-87

Here it is

With those long, looping letters

R

U

N

N

I

N

G

Down the page and

Over

The other side.

Testimony to times spent

Reading the hours away.

Doorways into homes from

Other eras and vistas.

Witness also to

A brother’s love

For a brother.

Gathered at the kitchen table

Blessed interruption

To “homework time”

Two pens it took him yet

Finish it he did.

Sharing his joys

Of narrative and verse

With his younger sibling.

Now, he is gone.

Many years have past

Since he penned that page.

Fifteen I was

When he was tragically taken.

Yet his words remain

Penned on a page

Cherished by me

Among the true treasures

Of words and life.

I look upon that list,

That you prepared that day.

At times as my gaze sits,

Tears get in the way.

If only you were still here,

To read these faltering lines.

Knowing what a gift you gave,

When we had those times.

I still cherish some of those authors,

That you revealed to me.

As you showed love for brothers,

In a way so literary.

 

---

This was posted as part of the Cherished Blogfest 2016.  To see my post from last year look here.

---

Simon C.J. Falk 29 July 2016

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Martha – From a Word Prompt

Martha – From a Word Prompt

All thanks go to our fellow blogger A Little Me Apparently with her post Why Did I Make This Writing Prompt?   She said to start with ‘Martha’.  This is what I came up with.

Martha – From a Word Prompt

Martha, Martha!

Do not fret,

We will get your groceries yet.

True, they are strewn in the aisles,

Some are rolling, some in piles.

Martha, Martha!

Wait a tick!

The manager’s coming to show a trick.

With that big wide broom right there,

He’ll sweep up all without a care.

Martha, Martha!

Let’s go to the bus,

Then we’ll be home and no more fuss.

 

Simon C.J. Falk 20 July 2016

Rain

Rain

The steady, soft rain during last night was pretty special to experience.

Rain

Running

   Along

      Into

       Night

 

Simon C.J. Falk 20 July 2016

Peace

Peace

 

   Perseverance

     Embraced

       And

     Compassion

   Entwined.

 

                                    Simon C.J. Falk 16 July 2016

We Are More

We Are More

Another response to reading a very good post on depression from Inside the Life of Moi yesterday.  There may be times we feel unwell, having a bad day, or, are beset by maladies or pathologies.  But we are more than our symptoms or our passing circumstances.

 

We Are More

(i)

He sits on the kerbside

With a cardboard sign,

“Please help,” inscribed

on its pulpy surface,

and, in the lines around

his eyes, and in them too,

darting side to side,

“Need more money”,

continued the message.

For while he medicated

His ‘voices’

With cheap plonk,

A desperate user took

His last dollars.

His schizophrenia controls

His happiness and habits,

Yet

We are more

Than the pathologies

That pin us.

 

(ii)

She shares half her sandwich

With him,

Then hears

TOOT!

An idling car awaits,

In readiness to take

Her where

She will ‘work’

This night.

Later she breathes in,

As the barby point

Of the syringe

Also enters in.

Morning sees

The ambulance there

To take her away.

“Another overdose”,

we overhear

someone say.

Yet

We are more

Than some

Of our habits.

 

(iii)

He takes his “Please help” sign,

Turns it round,

And with

A texta he found,

Begins

To sketch,

Feebly at first,

Then

With gusto,

A portrait

Of her,

That Toulouse-Lautrec

Would be proud of.

Yes

We are more

Than the symptoms seem.

 

 

 

 

 

Simon C.J. Falk 13/14 July 2016

Down Days of Darkness

Down Days of Darkness

It is more fun to write of cheerful or fanciful things. However, on reading a very good post on depression from Inside the Life of Moi yesterday,  I was drawn to write a poem by way of backing up what Amanda had shared.  You may also like to see The Rage Rages On.

Down Days of Darkness

For those who’ve walked the streets,

Down the days of darkness,

Know the shuffling of the feet,

And the foreboding tristesse.

In those dim, drizzly days,

Where all is hard to see,

Even the tears struggle to flow,

In the depression melee.

I scrawl as one who’s been there,

And for those who are there now,

To remind them another avenue waits,

And they will reach it somehow.

The cloud will lift, and the rain will dry,

Another avenue will come into view,

And the sun will beam down from the sky,

To warm the way for you.

 

 

Simon C.J Falk 13 July 2016

Lagoon Linger

Lagoon Linger

Coaxed by warm sun

And chirps, chirrups and

Quacks,

I lingered by

The lagoon a while.

Where parents let the waters

And hungry critters

Help the holiday babysitting.

Plump geese puffed out

Their damp down

Of fluffy feathers

Under solar rays.

A pair of Mallard drakes

Flapped and fought for territory

O’er the murky waters.

All parted ways

As a majestic pair

Of pelicans cruised,

Framed a moment,

Between the trees,

As they passed

My line of vision.

As I walked,

Raven was startled

By my nearing gait,

And coyly strode

Behind some brush,

Gathering sticks

For a nesting –

Promise of a new clutch

Of cawing, carrion chasers.

Yet Raven, like the others,

Each have their own majesty,

On a stunning winter’s day,

As they each parade

Their daily life,

In a beautifully simple array.

Simon C.J. Falk  11 July 2016

No Stranger to Songs of Life

No Stranger to Songs of Life

I’m loving Paul Simon’s album ‘Stranger to Stranger’.

No Stranger to Songs of Life

Beautiful ballads

Rollicking riffs

The song entrances within

When you are with

‘Stranger to Stranger’

in sync.

Simon sends us spinning

Around NYC

With stories and fables

And rhymes of free

People, in an expensive world.

As I listened

I felt

We circled Central Park

Moseyed Manhattan

And headed along the Hudson.

For story and sound together

‘Stranger to Stranger’

Befriends us in soul.

 

Simon C.J Falk 10 July 2016

Flight UB181/182 or IC777

Flight UB181/182 or IC777

It is sad to see destruction in our beautiful world.  This biting verse uses imagery to grapple with how some people pillage their ‘conquered land’ and others, by the bombings and other attacks, create a ‘Hades’ or place of underworld and death.  The final words seek a ray of hope.

 

Flight UB181/182 or IC777

Paging

Paging

Customers for flight

UB181 and UB182

Can you come through.

Flight UB181

Will land first

On ‘Conquered Land’.

Flight UB182

Will descend to

‘Hades’.

You will arrive

On your ‘dead-line’

If you choose UB flights

On ‘Death Culture Airlines’

For those

Who wish to indulge

Their fetish

Of fury.

 

Those interested in ‘Horizons of Hope’

Are called to board

Flight IC777

To land at ‘New Dawn’.

No return flight

From there

Will be

Desired.

 

Simon C.J Falk 10 July 2016

Democratic Rite – Australia Votes #auspol

Democratic Rite

 

We round the corner and

There they are!

Volunteers of friendly

And hawking type

Handing out glossy sheets that

Later, will line the paths

And roads and blow

Into people’s yards.

Arm’s length senate papers stare,

With a stunning list of names,

At the hapless voter.

Yes, shards of cynicism

Dot across our way:

“Will the winner lead?”

“Or is another spill going to topple

us again

s-l-o-w-i-n-g the country

d

o

w

n.

But, we can vote and hold elections.

For this:

We give thanks.

Our polling booths

Are not guarded by

Uniformed militia.

For this:

We are grateful.

We can exercise a right

For free and reasonable speech.

For this:

We have a responsibility.

 

Simon C.J Falk 4 July 2016