Finally,
I’m moving through life at my very own pace
instead of trying to win someone else’s race.
I am
just what I am, not what I’ve been asked to be.
I’ve said many farewells – but not one to “me”.
Finally,
I’m moving through life at my very own pace
instead of trying to win someone else’s race.
I am
just what I am, not what I’ve been asked to be.
I’ve said many farewells – but not one to “me”.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
When the grasshoppers hum, close the day.
When there’s a chance, there is hope.
Even grasshoppers learn how to cope.
Little by little, I’ve started again
with a sparrow, a crow and a fairywren.
Through the woodlands we go, out and up past the sky
happy to watch the world
flit and twitter on by.
Grasshoppers,
slippers shuffling,
fridge doors opening,
dogs tippy-tapping,
cigarette burning,
water running,
neighbours chatting,
cars humming,
warm summer night.
A sombre silence echoes around the silver staircase,
spiralling from stained glass down through the decades of steps and stone
to brown brick floors, walls batting every humbled sigh back and forth, above, below –
sombre silence echoes the mood of the church bell ringer –
the rope has broken.
God, you make us laugh –
four little paws in the air,
little white belly round as the sun.
Your tongue flops to one side,
dangling unhinged beside your head,
eyes full of manic energy,
left leg twitching with anticipation.
“Do you wanna go…for a….”
ZOOM.
Yellow, orange, shades of grey
unravel to swallow “yesterday”.
Ashes to embers, embers to ash.
You can ruin a picture by using the flash.
—
Note: I live in Australia and today we received our first bushfire alert of the season.
Take a seat, the cushion’s warm.
I sat on it as I watched the storm.
You missed it, but only just.
Where were you while I nursed our trust?
At their worst, the flames can burn away all traces of what you knew – the past, the present and the future vanish into violent, or sometimes therapeutic amber hues.
At their best, they can light up the darkness so you can see the outline of the path you’re meant to take.
It all depends on who strikes the match, and when – and why.
Change your sheets and change your hair,
change your clothes and underwear,
change your attitude, change the scope,
try to find other ways to cope.