Author Archive
Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue…
Jenny quotes to herself
And knows then what to do.
She searches through drawers
High and low, all over the house
Until at last in a little wooden box
Sits the beautiful blue coral necklace
She had borrowed from her grandma
The night of her Deb’s Ball.
Granny had passed on a year ago
Without her favourite possession.
Today Granny would be pleased.
Jenny smiles.
Jenny is expecting again…
Five girls in ten years.
A pair of twins- Lottie and Dottie,
Pearl, Lily and Molly.
All preciously pretty
And crazy about pink.
She loves them dearly
And knows she is lucky…
But it would be nice
To have a boy she thinks
Patting her swollen belly.
Two days later she rings
Her best friend Belle…
“Bring something blue.”
Jenny walks into the
Flamingo Bar, head down.
Sits on a stool and orders
A Bicardi and coke.
Lottie and Dottie, Pearl,
Lily, Molly and Luke are
All grown now and
Johnny… Johnny is gone
How dare he die!
She slurps her drink
And tears drip
Steadily into her glass.
“Hey piano man,” she calls
Play something blue.”
Crumpled face weathered and worn,
Crinkly features and skin like crepe,
Holding the crumpled photo in your
Wrinkly-lined knobbly hands.
You look up at her with misty eyes;
A momentary memory flickers there,
While a smile plays on your lips.
You look back to the wedding photo
Creased with time and touch,
Smoothing it gently with your fingers,
“A lovely couple,” you say.
“That’s you and me” she replies softly,
And looks back at me … Crumpled.
Look through my spectacles and you will see
The way the world is looking to me…
There’s a pink rosy hue lighting all around
From the far horizon to the grass on the ground.
The sun is shining as I walk along my way
People are waving and saying, “Good day!”
A young man guides a woman across the road
And as he does, helps with her load.
A loving couple stop by a flower stall;
The flower-seller winks and gives them all
His best red roses bound with a band,
Placing them gently in the lady’s hand.
She blushes and kisses him on the cheek.
He pinches hers and gives her a tweak.
Her partner stands aside with a frown
Looking the flower-seller up and down.
Then he pushes him in the chest
And I gather by now that you know the rest.
The young man runs off with the woman’s bag,
And my eternal optimism begins to sag.
The sky has turned a very angry grey…
What has happened to my magical day?
Oh dear what am I going to do?
Oh yes, I gave my rose-tinted spectacles to you!
Looking back with older eyes
You can see with perspective
What once was agony and pain.
When your heart broke
And you called out,
Answers came in hidden parcels
To bring glimpses of hope.
You learnt what true love was,
That there is nothing more
Powerful than birth and death.
Love can never truly die
As it is the strongest force in the world.
It had been ten years now. Ursula stood under the old stone bridge that stood on the edge of town. A gurgling stream flowed under the bridge and an occasional train would clatter over the bridge momentarily disturbing the peace of the place. She had scrambled down the grass bank trying not to get too muddy. Then she had walked a short distance along the remains of the asphalt footpath that ran by the stream and under the bridge. Now Ursula stood there looking out from the sanctuary of her shelter at the raindrops that were just starting. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and waited.
Ursula waited for half-an-hour wondering would he come. Just when she thought she had given him every chance and was convincing herself it had been a stupid idea, she heard someone approaching. She held her breath and felt her heart thudding in her thin frame. Sam popped his head in first and just looked at Ursula and then slowly walked towards her. He looked older, fatter, and balding but still had those dreamy blue eyes and the best smile in the world. They didn’t say anything but held each other tightly.
“Oh Ursula it’s so good to see you after all this time,” Sam said holding her away from him and studying her intently. “I never thought I would see you again.”
“I didn’t think you were coming, I was just about to go. I can’t believe you are actually here,” Ursula whispered and wiped away a tear. Sam bent down and cupping her face in his strong course hands kissed her gently at first and then more urgently. Ursula responded hungrily. All caution was discarded and they were lost in a profound connecting space that only they knew. Nothing else mattered.
Ursula rested her head on Sam’s shoulder as they sat on his coat liked they used to. He took some peppermints out of his pocket and offered her one. She took two and popped them both in her mouth and smiled impishly. Sam laughed. They started talking and telling each other of all that had happened since they had last seen each other.
Sam told Ursula about the death of his wife, the success of his children and the joy brought by his new grandson. She told Sam about her divorce, her children moving abroad, and the recent birth of twin girls for her daughter in Australia. After listening carefully to each other their eyes met and they suddenly realised the enormity of their situation.
“We are free,” they said in unison.
“All those years of lying, hiding, dodging and…cheating…are over. I hated myself, I fought with my emotions all the time, and that is why I decided to move away. But I thought of you every single day,” Ursula sobbed.
“I know, I loved…love you so much Ursula. I hated you but admired you for leaving I want to thank you for doing that, as I was too weak to make a decision,” Sam said huskily and kissed her wet cheeks.
They clamberd up the bank together and walked to the coffee shop hand in hand. A couple of teenagers giggled at the middle-aged couple being so ‘lovey-dovey’.
New horizons and faraway places
Calling me, calling me over the oceans
From the mountains and the forests
To the deep gushing streams
That flow into the mighty seas.
I dream in my bed of plans and schemes
To achieve my goals and live my life
With joy, love and passion
As time passes quickly
And there is so much to do.
I want to travel, to experience
The world, its people and places
To lose myself in a moment
To feel shivers of excitement
And be totally mellowed.
So I must be up and away
To catch what is coming
But mind that the flurry
Of activity doesn’t hinder
That which calms the soul.
New horizons and faraway places
Calling me, calling me over the oceans
From the mountains and the forests
To the deep gushing streams
That flow into the mighty seas
People make promises in optimism and hope
Then in fulfilling them just about cope.
People put faith into a pledge
Trust and believe what others allege.
Politicians are famous for the false word
To actually do it would be seen as absurd.
And yet we promise time and again
Bringing in our wake happiness and pain.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep
To a child whose little heart does leap
With the expectation and the thrill,
Or else a sense of magic you will kill.
Broken promises and shattered dreams;
Nothing ever appears as it seems.
