It’s all Political

We’re collectively scared

because it suits politicians

and newspaper proprietors

for us to feel that way.

A happy life

does no one in charge

any good,

is what they say.

Climate Change

What can I say about climate change?

I hope it doesn’t hurt too much,

and I hope I am with the people I love,

when the end comes.

Mediocrity

I'm nothing much,

I've never been considered exceptional

by anyone, really.

It only hurts, though,

when I think of the few people

who have thought I was special.

HR Haiku

Heffer's repose

Horrible reactionaries

Harlot's response

Once It Was Lest We Forget

It is interesting

that the pomp and ceremony

of Anzac Day celebrations

has increased in exact relation

to the death of the actual diggers.

Private School

Boys will be boys

testing out their prowess

on their female teachers

with clichés of sexism

upholding ideas of misogyny

because they are young

and inexperienced.

What happens when gay

is normal and mainstream?

Will those boys be boys

testing out their prowess

on their male teachers

with clichés of sexual behaviour

upholding uncomfortable ideas

because they are young

and inexperienced?

Will the men handle it

better than the women?

Will the male teachers dismiss it

as boys being boys?

Brave

Once you remove labels, 

all that is left 

are matters of the heart!

Be brave.

Golden Rule

It’s the Golden Rule,

you fool,

you don’t have to like them,

or their kids.

But it is do unto others

as you’d have them do unto you,

then we’re all safe

no matter how we really feel.

Truce, for a good life.

Smile.

Nobody Speaks To God These Days

Nobody speaks to god these days

Because there are so many gods anyway

And if you think they are all inside of us

That would make quite a fuss.

Nobody speaks to god these days

That’s because he went away

With all the education we all got

We’ve all realised he is not

Nobody speaks to god these days

That’s because we all have a lot to say

So many ideas come into play

And we’re all going to die without him anyway.

Nobody speaks to god these days

Because evil happens, is he looking away?

People die, even those who pray

And if he is omnipotent, he’s a fake.

Happy

Can you remember

The happiest moment

Of your life?

The feeling

This is it,

This is delight.

The smell of puppies

Your first chocolate cake

Feelings so right

Breathing fresh air

First love

Success in sight

I made it

I can support myself

I have this life

Presents under the Xmas tree

Driving yourself

Leaving school and being free

A great view

From a tropical island

Flying above the clouds.

Dancing under the stars

Talking all night

Getting high.

Lying on lush grass

Staring at an azure sky

Holding a kite

Can you

Still feel it

Tonight?

30 Year Plan

I’m not sure I am ready for this

It seems like my youth is behind me,

Under that bridge gurgling,

And while I am not old,

Nobody would think that,

Plenty of life in the old boy yet,

I can no longer, really, say my 30 year plan,

Which is quite a realisation,

Makes you think.

Not that I ever really had a 30 year plan,

But I could have.

Everybody Hates Politicians

The rich look after the rich

The politicians are their bitch

To donations they get hitched

And the public they are stitched.

Early Morning

I wake up with a poem in my head.

My cat rubs his fur about my face,

As soon as I open my eyes,

Soft and firm.

I get up, not quite ready

The early morning light

licks at the edges of the room.

I want to make coffee

And get that poem written down

Before I forget

What I am doing in the dark,

Outside the rain falls

It is melancholy on the roof.

The air is warm,

The coffee is bitter on my lips,

Good bitter,

Like sarcasm,

Or winter rain.

Dot my i’s and cross my t’s.

The day is grey,

Subdued and embracing,

Like a hug from a dear friend.

The light is brittle

I don’t turn on a lamp,

It would only spoilt it.

Misanthrope

I’m a misanthrope

But I smile at strangers in the street

I believe that most of the world’s population is a waste of space

But that doesn’t mean I have to act like a disgrace.

Oblivious

A girl stepped in front of me

On Collins Street

Oblivious, on her phone,

She didn’t care about me,

And, I didn’t expect it.

I walked into her

And she stumbled sideways

And dropped her coffee,

She cared then.

She insisted I buy her a new drink

I apologised to her and kept walking

I wasn’t even sure I had to do that much,

But, be generous, I thought, it doesn't cost.

Delightful

Too gaze upon someone unnoticed

As they have a moment of unguarded joy

Is one of life’s great delights

Racist

From where did these ideas of colour come?

When we are all on the spectrum

with every shade represented.

Who decided which colour should be resented?

Rhymes

Something that rhymes

is not a crime

it is what makes the world turn

that we all know,

even if we don't say so

it is a truth

we've known since we were young,

since life begun.

The sax plays

the guitar strums.

the piano tinkles

as only it can.

The triangle

The glockenspiel

Coconut halves

Galloping away.

Ole.

USA

Meanwhile, in America

Author of, 'How to Murder Your Husband', 

Charged with murdering her husband

 

The Problem with The World

Slow the traffic,

Slow the traffic,

Slow the traffic,

Slow the traffic,

Until the traffic no longer moves,

Never addressing the real problem

Of pedestrians being fools.

 

Good Bye My Lover

Sandy hair, blue eyes

Round face, school boy grace

We travelled New Zealand together

Were sitting next to one another

When it was announced

The king was dead,

I don't think either of us

Knew who he was in our head.

Craig's Hotel, Ballarat

We were choosing room buddies

Your voice came from the back,

When it was asked,

Who'd share with me,

"Me sir." I didn't have to turn

I knew it was you

And a flutter went through me.

School camp, in the dark,

What a lark, what goings on.

You had to battle for my attention

You could cut the tension

Between Craig and me,

And you did, cut through

Instead, and I was yours,

From that moment, it would seem.

Year 11, nearly men

In form assembly, in front of everyone

You said we should be lovers,

You just came out with it,

You wanted it, so should I?

You didn't believe me when I said no.

You do, you said,

You will, you said.

How could you have known?

All those years I'd been in love

with you, I tried not to shake,

I tried not to lose my mind,

Right there in front of you.

You stared at me, through me,

I stared back at you

Everything else just stopped.

A freeze, all faded away,

We both knew, despite denying it

My big, strapping footy player.

"Mr Robertson? Mr G?

"You with us today, or are you

Just making googly eyes at each other?"

That snapped us back to life.

You punched my arm and said,

Under your breath, "You will."

The next day, in the hallway,

All the boys were checking in,

What a din, the smell of testosterone

And the anticipation of success.

What a mess. Muscles and

Long hair, and cheap vinyl

school bags, and books,

I looked at you and said, "Yes."

You smiled that smile that

One day would make you

millions in real estate, tilted you head,

"Good," you said. "I hoped you would."

We were surrounded by boys

And none of them knew,

Lovers became lovers right there

In their view.

You headed off to class,

Just like that. Left me standing there,

Like I had nothing to wear.

Your head reappeared. Smile.

"Don't go home after school."

I must have been dumbfounded

By what I had just agreed to.

"Come on," you said, "Class is on."

And then it was on, like

Donkey Kong, sometimes in bed,

Sometimes standing on our heads.

Athletic and fearless, despite all

The queerness, sometimes soft,

Sometimes brutal, often tender

Romantic, funny, lovely, gentle, rough

The same gender suited us.

Sometimes with snot and shit as the result

Exhausted on the floor, and in pain

Sandy's mother's face cream took a battering,

Crushed velvet lounge suits getting scrubbed down,

Snatching every opportunity

Given to us by the universe,

School holidays, "The olds are

down the beach house, come over. NOW!"

Two years, and then some,

We were queers and nobody knew.

You were Vice Captain of the school,

And I got to fool around with you,

Between footy games for you

Hockey games for me, you watched

Me play, as I did you, and then we'd screw.

Trinity Grammar never had any queer kids

I heard one head master say.

Times were against us, and it was a bust

Our last day, you went away.

I got a girlfriend, and you got a wife,

Three boys you had, I wondered if

They looked like you? I thought I'd

See you again. One day we'd meet up.

"Remember the old days," I'd whisper

In your ear. Out of the blue, see that smile

One more time,

Then one day, unexpectedly, reading

the old boy's school magazine, in my kitchen,

coffee in hand, there you were, In Memoriam,

The words said people were shocked,

I was shocked, standing there alone

my coffee cup slid around my finger, nearly,

Bought me back to the day, catching it,

It didn't say how, I still don't know how.

 

A Moment In Time

Poems

Are ideas

I snatch

From the air

As they

Float by,

I don’t know why,

I just always

Have.

I don’t know

Where they

Come from,

And,

If I don’t

Grab them,

I don’t know

Where they go.

There is

Just a moment,

A brief,

Brief moment,

When

I can

Take them

As mine,

Or they

Are gone.

Elvis Presley

America

was once cool,

and handsome,

and swung its hips.

With Trump,

it fell off the toilet dead,

with the ugly turd of racism

poking from its arse.

I Love Him, What Can I Say

He's only hit me once,

But, I said the wrong thing.

Oh yes, there was that other time,

But he'd just lost his job.

No, I wouldn't count that time,

He was drunk.

He loves me,

And he says he won't do it again.

I trust him.

He just gets so frustrated,

Times are tough,

It makes me cry for him.

I’ve got good with the concealer,

I've had a lot of practice, after all.

Maybe we'll have a baby,

That could fix things?

I love him,

What can I say?

Racism

The idea

That colours

Have value.

The Same Old Story

The problem with lying,

Even when you are

Excellent at it, like myself,

Is that

Everyone else can’t

Be relied upon

To hold their nerve.

Everyone

Our time upon this earth is short

Some of us are great,

And some of us are small,

But all of us are great.

Pray to be Gay

Religious types hate us

Because god made us so pretty,

Wealthy,

And happy without guilt.

A God-Awful Small Affair

Post Bowie,

now that he's passed,

there is no longer

any chance of finding

Life on Mars.

Difficult Times Indeed

You think life is hard

In this 24 hour news cycle

Cynical world

Led by criminal politicians

Facilitating a morally bereft

Corporate world.

Imagine being a meth smoking,

Transgender, lesbian, Muslim, refugee,

Living in poverty,

Just for a minute?

Tongues Out Queers

8am, Queen Street,

fittingly – laugh.

This guy,

let me tell you,

what a nice piece of arse,

as they say,

in his white tracky pants,

shall we say,

hi-lighting his "charms,"

first thing in the morning,

at the lights,

waiting for the green man.

Peak hour,

who'd have thought?

God bless

early gym,

I say.

There he was,

"all there,"

if you know what I mean.

Where to look?

It is hard to know,

in times such as these.

You can't just stare,

that isn't polite,

not quite right,

but my eyes

had different ideas,

not really

a surprise.

You should have seen,

"the head on that beer,"

as they say.

And my mind

was thinking,

thoughts of its own,

like me too, and,

I'd willingly

go under that bus

with my tongue out

queers.

Mind Control

People are anaesthetised by their mobile phones

The world passes them by and they don’t notice at all.

On the tram, everybody is glued to their glass screens.

Looking down, mesmerised, living the dream.

Values

What are these Western Values

of which you speak?

I’ve looked for them

Universally across the people

But they change all the time

Depending on those with the purse strings

and those who just complain,

and those who want to drag us back in time

and there is still the steeple

and the constant talk of evil,

despite nobody believing any more.

So, then we’re left with,

Money and footy and shopping,

Wars and those who fight in them

Bigger cars, bigger houses, and social climbing,

And those who are famous we hang off,

While we’re blaming the government for everything we got wrong.

Western Values

In Western Society

The biggest sin

Is being old.

Or is that cold, or bold, or told, or goaled, or wack?

Or female, or gay, or dumb, or ugly, or black?

Modern World

The world

Doesn’t want to think

About old men jerking off,

It only wants to think

About young bucks

With pretty cocks

and gorgeous feet.

A Sunbed Disaster, with Tiny Hands

I can’t care

About Trump

He’s just a cunt

That went bump

Into the world's sensibilities,

Before he gets dumped

Like shit being shunt

As his credibility slumps

And he’s relegated

To the setting sun.

Soon enough

It cannot come.

Post Contemporary Millennials

Laugh,

Those riotous jokes

Irreverent and hilarious,

Broad smile

Happy and disrespectful and funny,

Good times.

All gone.

Blink Blink

And then you are gone

And everybody you knew

And everybody they knew

And everybody else

Are gone.

That’s the way it goes

That is the way it ends

For everyone,

Funny to think,

Like infinity,

Blink, blink, …

Twinkle, Twinkle

The rise of the idiot,

Social media is to blame

Every fool now thinks

They have something to say,

And the ability to say it.

And when they don’t like the truth,

They deflect it away,

“That’s fake news.”

Not bright enough

To know when they are schooled.

The stupid are loud,

Aggressive and rude.

The smart are surprised,

Irritated, often bemused.

Enduring Values

When conservatives lie and cheat

It is all in the process of getting things done.

When a liberal dupes a conservative

They are “evil, exploitative and sick.”

Doomed

War, which leads to

Famine, which leads to

Refugees, which leads to

Nationalism, which leads to

Terrorism, which leads to

Conservatism, which leads to

Neoliberalism, which leads to

Corporatision, which leads to

Inequality, which leads to

War…

All the while

Everyone ignores

Global warming.

Blessed

I count my blessings every day

People love me

I love them the same way.

I've always had food

and money

and somewhere to sleep.

I am smart

and healthy,

I know how to be sweet.

The blue sky

and the green grass

makes me feel complete.

I am content

have a life well spent

In things, I'm still intent.

Poverty

Homeless.

Can any of us

Understand

The mess

Of that?

What does

The future

Then mean?

Nothing.

That is obscene.

Do any

Of us care,

Who have a future,

About those

Who don’t? 

No,

We walk away

Giving thanks

It is not us,

In the lucky country.

Seriously

What do you think

The future of the world

Looks like,

With a moron

In the Whitehouse,

A criminal

In the Kremlin,

And the Chinese

Wanting to

Take over the world?

Arrogance

The earth

Has always been

More amazing 

That the humans

On it,

And yet

The humans

So often think

They are

On what

The earth

depends.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé is

A symptom

Of the world’s problems,

As the queen’s

Mindless R&B

Suits her mindless glitterati

More interested in fame and wealth

Than creative health.

She Is designed to make the cash

Rather than further the human race

And she is what happens

When marketing companies

are dictating

what is meant to be good.

Misogyny

On what a lot of woman’s

Understanding should depend,

Is that you are just a hole

To a lot of men

This is a significant

Problem when,

Domestic violence

You’re trying to bring to an end

Go Figure

We all lead useless lives

Using up the world resources

All the time searching for meaning

When there is none to be found

Except for our own self importance

And some people think

The worst thing is

That we descended 

From monkeys?

Go figure?

Lift Etiquette

Don’t you hate it

When at the last minute

A hand comes around

The lift door 

and stops the process?

I freely admit

I am a lift nazi.

And it drives me to distraction!

‘WAIT AND CATCH THE NEXT LIFT YOU SELFISH BASTARD!”

My inner voice screams

Whenever I see that self-satisfied face,

Sliding into the lift with the rest of us,

As if it has achieved something,

Right there at the last minute, no fucken fuss.

No Longer A Fair Go in Australia

Australia used to be

The land of the fair go

But that's gone now

It drowned

In the sea of self focus.

I only agree

With a fair go for 'we'

If I get more

Than you,

Then it is a fair go

I can get into.

Fear has replaced hope

Because it suits the politicians

For us to all believe

the country is broke,

Then they can give the spoils

To the people

Who pay them

The most.

We are governing

For everyone,

Which is true,

If you understand

'Everyone' is them

And the rich

They are,

Or wanna be.

You got nothing

That's because you are lazy

And you just don't

Try hard enough.

A bad life

Full of strife

Is an inconvenient truth

For the silver spoons

In charge.

 

Real

Life isn't always fair

And the good don't always win

Sometimes the strong succeed

Not the worthy.

And sometimes it is the corrupt

And you have to suck it up

And proceed.

Karma is just an expression

To make us all feel better.

USA Today

Americans like racism, and gun violence

But they can’t abide nudity, or blood sausage.

And don’t say toilet, when you mean ‘bathroom’

They might accidentally picture something,

Presumably, who the fuck knows?

Like Americans generally,

A mystery, to us all.

 

Religious Freedom 003

The religious

Want freedoms,

In their heads

It can’t not

be about them,

because they have

god on their side.

You know its

worldwide,

this idea

of god

creating the world,

then 800 million

years later

creating man,

then 200 thousand

years later

God sent his son

to tell man

how it’s done.

Australian Prime Minister

Banker

Wanker

Canker

Harbourside mansioner

Bliss

Bliss

is a cuddle

and a kiss

close your eyes

hot breath

touch the hair

not a care

the world wouldn’t dare

to stop turning,

couldn't stop turning,

dribble and spit

you know

this is it. 

Next

You hear that

your children’s dreams

have come true.

You know

that Your life

is through.

Modern Times

Why does terrorism?

Inequality happened.

Jacqui's Father Died

Time doesn’t really heal, 

it just allows you to get used to the idea. 

It does get better, though, 

even if there is that place 

that is speechless that they have gone, 

that never quite goes away. 

But then, you wouldn’t want it 

to go completely, anyway.

The Truth

The Truth is 

where humanity lies

Joy

I am

Apricot jam,

That’s me.

On my face,

On my knees,

Watching the bees,

A feeling of glee.

Jar in my hand

Sticky fingers,

Isn’t it grand.

Wiped on my ears,

Smeared on my cheeks,

Sugary tears

Of joy.

Loved it since

I was a little boy.

The Best Years

Don’t waste time

These are the best years of our lives

I say sublime

One day we’ll look back

And wish we could have stopped time

To where did all of that slide away

Wish we could have another day.

Don’t waste time

We’ll see these were the best years

Of our lives,

One day,

We’ll say

We want more.

Finding Jesus

I wanted to contact Jesus

they say life is better with him in it.

I tried to find him in bible study,

but it was like a secret I hadn’t been let in on.

I couldn’t find him in the catholic church,

all their priests were defending themselves in court.

He wasn’t to be found in America

God does not help those who help themselves.

I looked amongst the homeless in Rome,

but the Vatican had closed its doors.

I looked amongst the Christians at home,

but they were too busy trying to stop people marrying,

or crying about abortion, with no answers to offer.

except the word of their sweet lord.

I tried to find him when I was old,

but I was tied to a chair and sat in my own urine instead,

and then I was dead.

Anzac Day

The day we are all

supposed to give thanks

to all those guys

who charged off to war

and got slaughtered

in a failed invasion 

on an obscure Turkish beach

100 years ago

that somehow created

modern Australia.

What Do I Do?

He told me

That he admired me

For all the things I do,

Just when I felt

I was the laziest

person on earth.

Encroaching On My Bliss

Slow down she called out

As I drove passed in my car

I think she even raised a fist

What did she think I was going to do?

Of what was she so scared?

Or was I just encroaching on her bliss?

 

Held From Breathing

I’ve never tried to hold someone from breathing

Cause there is nothing stronger than a dream shared

I’ve never been afraid of my lover thinking

There is love to be found in wants that are paired.

I Love You

I love you,

Sitting on the floor with your electrical wires

Concentration etched across your face

The latest project you are fascinated with

In your clever hands

And soon you will be done

And you will have a thing where there was no thing before

And you’ll be very pleased

That it works the way it should

You showing me just how,

And I’ll love you even more

Let’s Face It, It Is The Truth

Political Correctness

Is the smart people

Telling,

And the dumb people

Listening. 

Racism

I see the world

As every colour, 

And every hue,

That is the world.

To deny that

and you are a fool.

 

Fake News

Fake news

Why is everyone in tears?

The church has been

Spreading fake news for years.

SUV

SUV, says

Please don’t kill me

I’m scared,

Living in fear

Every day

Of the year.

Whatever

A burqa

Won’t hurt her

What does anyone else

Care anyway?

Strap a turkey

To your head

Point west

With your bed,

Eat wafers with wine

And pretend they are divine,

If that squares you off

With whatever chosen

God today.

Doorways

Doorways are

the portal to people’s souls,

the gateway to their lives,

the entrance to their hearts,

the access to their world.

Doorways fire the imagination,

entrance the mind

and expand our years,

if only we have the keys

to enter without fear,

with good cheer,

and perhaps

a little dance.

Jazz hands,

Step two, three,

Take a chance.

Forever

When you die

you are dead, the end,

for all of time,

it is the most difficult thing

to really understand.

How can you

ever really comprehend,

forever,

when you can't get it

into one thought?

(I heard it said that) Gay Is Confusing For Society

Boy sees boy

Boy sees boy has fine arse

Boy sees boy looking back

Boy smiles

It is that simple.

There is no confusion.

Story told

Nobody else is involved.

Distraction

An internet connection

is such a distraction 

from writing anything good,

writing anything at all.

The latest news,

stumble and fall,

just like that

it takes nothing at all.