In response to a surreal painting of Nathan Mohinsky, a talented artist from Melbourne


An evocative and compelling piece!

Imaginative creatures conceived by the subconscious are many times more tantalising than the real--
this is the might of the mind!

Into life I am
I must live
and not abandon
despite its downsides
and its every pain

for choice
is to none open
'the do or die'
is in every vein

how many diverse
and thorny paths
I've trodden
my feet
how they bleed
but I can't return
to where I began

into the labyrinth
of life I am
the present
and future in-between
my best
I've to stage
every fear
I must shed
or die in vain!

It's you
being tired
of life
not the latter
which has
no say-

you create
or destroy
you succeed
or fail
you're happy
or sad
you thrive
or give up
you dare
or despair
ahead you forge
or move not-
all this lies
within yourself-

yours is Weltschmerz
life is blameless!

This is your trouble:
because you know too much
sadly you can't digest
and fail badly as such

Too much self-motivation
could be symptomatic
that one is still far from reaching
one's desired destination

Grant me
freedom
and the rest
of my life is set-
wisdom
if there were
to be
I can wait
to celebrate

to many
life is tyranny
holding them
by the throat-
they live helplessly

no Ubermensch
am I--only human
struggling to become
never Promethean
striving for the best
of humanly possible outcome

I brush away time
with it I've no business
my life it will not encroach
I create my own happiness

even when
the last call
should come
I'll accept
in gladness-

in the freedom
that I've inherited-

I'll have no fear
nor regret
what I've desired
myself I've made
there's sweet peace ahead
nothing, nothing at all
have I lost nor surrendered

I never tire  
of this most travelled land
there a million times I've travelled
still I long to return-

  in the remote I live alone
to others unknown:
this is my heart and home
all that I call my own

I'm the perhaps
the maybe of life
things are never determinate
I struggle and strive

yet, all else aside
my strategies I devise
despite storms and stresses
I've managed to survive

life might not like
to dance with me--I don't mind
I'll play the game of living solo
and aim at the height

my perhaps and maybe
has never been a blight
I'm my own destiny
I need no other guide

I'm a word
you're a phrase
and when I'm the latter
you become a sentence proper-

I'm a paragraph
you're a chapter
and when I'm the latter
you become a
book entire-

I'm just words
you're the word-master

what more
can I say
my most
esteemed mentor?

Another day-
what shall I do
at work or play
find what words
to say?

Coalesced
into the moment
driven
to thinking
doing
people-mixing
and interpreting
decision-making
perhaps doubting-
with time
in watching
with life
waiting and expecting-

another day
testing
challenging
frail though
I am
my best game
I will play-
there shall be
no walking away
nor failing!

Me you should forget
better now than late-
I'd not have you
sigh in sad regret-

'twas written long ago
cast in the stone of fate:
our path would never meet
love shall not ingratiate

The woods they whisper to me
don't you be afraid
though here it's dark
there'll be light ahead-

  your promises faithfully keep
   you should trust your own heart
  sweet dreams will visit in your peaceful sleep
all your sorrows will be set apart

I've never liked
the word 'clever'
it smacks of someone
who is a schemer

My greatest teacher
is not wisdom
it's silence

This is easy-- knowing
but what really counts
is understanding

Intimacy
is a matter
of degree:
it's not exclusively
sexuality

This is the heart
of the matter:
reason will not save me-
only humour

the former confuses
the latter is that which nourishes:
life has many a dimension
reason is to humour subservient

We don't live
to give
away ourselves
to life
rather
it should
give way
to our uniqueness
individuality
our expression
and freedom
as long as
we still see
the light
of every day-

it shall not
silence our voice
nor stay
in our way

we're the larger
on this score-
life has no say!

How many
of us can escape
the tyranny
of society
in its various disguises?

Too surreptitious
like a hidden snake
under the innocent grass
even in brightest
of  sunshine
more deadly
at night

who are those
behind the screen
orchestrating
every devious scheme?

Insidious lies
machinations
insinuations
manipulations
traps, webs
intrigues
poisons
and before we realise
we've fallen
into moral demise-

such shameless tyranny
even for a moment
when we shut our eyes!

Memory
     is necessary
     whether sad
      or happy

    we're shaped
    by the past
    what has happened
     will ,until the end, last

     if it were done with
     where would there be sanity?
      We'd each be like a zombie
      living in no-man's country

     memory is necessary:
     time, people, images, places
     all come together to remind
      we are human,  not just faces

Melancholy-
not sadness
the vagueness
of mood
and feeling
a sudden sense
of personal loss
beyond understanding
life is held in suspension
nostalgia presses -
the voice
of the past reminding
of times past
in loving and sharing
in joyfulness and suffering


it’s beyond midnight
no moon or star
in the clouded sky-
a soprano is singing
a sentimental serenade
strains of a flute drifting
in the chilly air
the heart breaks
the forlorn heart sighs
a bitter storm shakes
the trees by the shore
a strange bird sings nearby
but nothing
is felt by the indifferent night.

Say nothing-
    let your life
    speak of
    and defend yourself-
    
    words are futile-
    they beguile
    let your silence
    be your unfailing
   guiding light
  
   there's no comfort
   only confusion outside
   all that's authentic
   is in your inside

   be calm
  stay with yourself-
  let your trust abide

Honesty is relative--
we can't be honest all the time!

If I needed
to be reminded
by any person-
I'd have been
someone who's half-dead!

I'm a leader
  with only one follower-
  who's the latter
  but the one I see in the mirror?

I do trust people
as I would they do the same
but over-trusting
could hurt or maim

for human nature
does have a dark side:
you look back and will realise
that such is the currency of life

If I were to rewrite my life
that would be blight
much have I learnt
of my past-- I've set things right

I no longer need
any overhauling
myself fully I've accepted  
I've come to my being

Perhaps I'm not a poet
only a poetic writer-
how could I compare myself
with Byron, Keats, Shelley or Shakespeare?

Melancholy
is not the same
as sadness:
it's vague
and less definable -
somewhat
like a lingering
or hangover
a sense
of nameless loss
a stupor
a memory's stopover
of time past
to return never--

melancholy -
the finest material
for the poet
any writer
the artist
the composer-
the creator
of life's bittersweet
and timeless phenomena.

Is the will stronger
or the feeling and sentiment?

In being defensive
     the person reduces
     their self-  they are
     self-enclosed as in a cage

     locked-in,  looking only within
     all life's wonders and challenges
     to them are no longer open
     all before them is mist and haze

     no friend knocks on their door
     in stealth and isolation they hide
     shut are all their windows
     their fears and anxieties multiply

     to nothingness
     they shrink
     in their cry
     for solace
      none is nigh
     and in dire loneliness
     they fade away and die

If what you say

is not clear

nobody would want

to draw near

Don't be too eager
knowledge to acquire
it will cause mental constipation
your feelings and intuition will expire-

open your heart fully
live in free spontaneity
flow with the tide of life--gently-
cling to nothing too tightly

I can't be you
and you can't be me
if we could
that would be total misery!

Whatever,  let's be happy
as we both are as we are
though we each have our shortcomings
we'll maintain our individuality
are totally unencumbered
and joyously free!

When looking away
is to be preferred
to looking at-
the latter could be a plague

to the eye and mind
and have your reason severed:
a life wisely lived always lies
in looking into one's inward

Nay
no day
is the same
nor any moment
for that matter-

something
new will
itself present-

the scene will change
in an eye's twinkle:
the unfamiliar
the never thought-of
even the mysterious
or the most strange

new faces met
unexpected
voices heard-
words uttered
or exchanged
as though
life has shifted

tempus fugit
whether
we stand or sit
not in the same way
do we breathe
each second is felt
a different heart-beat
this is life
in each flow
dynamic
never static-
nothing, nothing at all
can be anticipated.

Be a public-fountain
such that therefrom
every one can quench
their thirst--and return
knowing there's always sufficient

a meeting=place
for the weary and tired
especially those
who have travelled
from other lands
and need helping hands

how divided is mankind
each in their pursuits individual
let us each our door open
our meals to share
with every stranger and friend

let us all be a public fountain
in fullness of  spirit and heart
pave the way for the dawning
of a new world without suffering and pain

They are fearful
of the day---its light-
they wait for escape
into the darkness of night-

the truth they will not face
it will stir up the worst of memory
the past has taken hold
of their life---they can't rid of such tyranny

their running away
adds to the plight
they shadows follow them
there's no place to hide

there's no cure
unless this they recognise
the self is their greatest burden
only letting go would set them right

You aren't for me
     I don't regard you
     an enemy

    
    you're bold and upright-
    your own person
    standing unflinchingly
    by your opinion

    even if you've taken
   the side of my foe
   no anger would I show

   life is the true democracy
   no one can force another to agree
   though you aren't on my side
   I admire you --immeasurably !

We tend
to look forward
when it's better
to turn backward

Some say
you are good
others shout
you are bad

by neither
am I moved-
because
I'm a Stoic
what is
I accept-
anyhow
I can cope

my strength lies
in diminishing
my very self-
as such
nothing will hurt-

some might like me
more might be
the opposite-
the same indifference
I'll keep

I'll continue
to be myself
every night
I'll soundly sleep

I trust others

this makes me

trust more in myself-

they are two sides

of the same coin--verily!

I prefer -heartily
(above everything)
being silly
to witty -
the latter
is so very boring!

Love is not a commodity
it has no shelf-life
not any merchandise
to be consumed
and cast aside

love is the imperishable
like the sea overflowing
the eternal earth and the endless sky

the most noble invisible
the  universe encompassing entire
the sublime that will never die

ah,  my beloved
my most blessed
the dream we've built
will forever survive-

time will take its stride
but we'll heed not-
come, in fullness of heart
come, come, my beloved
  draw nigh, I'm waiting
lean tenderly on me
oh,  I'm swooning
tarry not--this is the hour-
gladden me- do draw nigh!

Don't look elsewhere:
      your best blueprint
      is within

Love is a stranger
to some---they fear
it for reasons
they know not
so away they hide
to wake up some day
disillusioned, alone
and regret
they lacked
the courage
but sadly
love has fled!

Can you smell life
like a flower that's alive?

Can you feel its pulse
in whatever guise?

Can you hold its hand
its every message you understand?

Can you gauge its temperament
whether it's impatient or patient?

Can you be assured of its even temper
time and time over?

Can you trust its promise
and hope for the peace it gives?

Can you count on its fairness
its encouragement and praise?

Can you be sure of it being a friend
when all has fallen at the end?

There's always beauty
but we turn away
we don't care to see
and inherit a dull and dismal day-

so ugly is the word 'busy'
it keeps wonders at bay:
life is lived in dreadful monotony
and all is but debris and decay

but my doubt gives me courage--
I venture to do better

Life is just this:
in favour
or not in favour-
which does more matter?