- Published on
The heat
Strangely nostalgic
Reminds me of childhood summers
Dripping icy poles
Lemonade sticky on the pavement
Memories of going to school
In the height of summer
No hat, no play
Between 11 and 3 stay under a tree
Sunscreen on the teacher's desk
Later. New year's eve. Sitting by the harbour in the shade and still turning the shade of cooked lobster.
Aloe vera in the fridge
The intense HOT
Like living in an oven
I expect the air to explode at any moment
Wait for the air to be thick and hazy red with smoke
To see small delicate wispy ash float through the air
Evidence of burning somethings in the near distance
Abuela burning strawberry oil
To mask the smokey smell
Years later
The same oil
Giving me nightmares
Of fleeing
Of homes being burnt to the ground
Of the world I know being reduced to
Hazy hot red
But in Connecticut
It's just hot
I'm promised that forest fires are rare here
It rains too often for the world to combust
Every 4th July
I watch the bonfire
And nervously trace glowing embers
Dancing in the air
And pray they won't set the trees alight
Summers in Australia
Mean total fire bans
Because raging bush fires
Destroy entire communities
My year 8 teacher lost everything
Except the clothes on his back
And I always wondered
How does one start from scratch
But like
Phoenix rising
The heat rejuvinates
Replenishes
The Australian bush
Designed to explode
In order for new growth
I thrive in the heat
Cold makes me shrivel
Shake
And feel down
In the heat
I feel expansive
Free
Shorts, singlets, and flip flops
("Thongs" where I come from
Five American summers have drilled
The colloquialism from my head)
Walking and working in the heat
Is tiring
And wonderful
The end.
Strangely nostalgic
Reminds me of childhood summers
Dripping icy poles
Lemonade sticky on the pavement
Memories of going to school
In the height of summer
No hat, no play
Between 11 and 3 stay under a tree
Sunscreen on the teacher's desk
Later. New year's eve. Sitting by the harbour in the shade and still turning the shade of cooked lobster.
Aloe vera in the fridge
The intense HOT
Like living in an oven
I expect the air to explode at any moment
Wait for the air to be thick and hazy red with smoke
To see small delicate wispy ash float through the air
Evidence of burning somethings in the near distance
Abuela burning strawberry oil
To mask the smokey smell
Years later
The same oil
Giving me nightmares
Of fleeing
Of homes being burnt to the ground
Of the world I know being reduced to
Hazy hot red
But in Connecticut
It's just hot
I'm promised that forest fires are rare here
It rains too often for the world to combust
Every 4th July
I watch the bonfire
And nervously trace glowing embers
Dancing in the air
And pray they won't set the trees alight
Summers in Australia
Mean total fire bans
Because raging bush fires
Destroy entire communities
My year 8 teacher lost everything
Except the clothes on his back
And I always wondered
How does one start from scratch
But like
Phoenix rising
The heat rejuvinates
Replenishes
The Australian bush
Designed to explode
In order for new growth
I thrive in the heat
Cold makes me shrivel
Shake
And feel down
In the heat
I feel expansive
Free
Shorts, singlets, and flip flops
("Thongs" where I come from
Five American summers have drilled
The colloquialism from my head)
Walking and working in the heat
Is tiring
And wonderful
The end.
- Published on
View from the Pyrenees
You slog uphill
Drill notes
Please memorize
Count
Project!
Energize to the end of the line
Trying to get a long and tricky piece together
With limited rehearsal
And you think it could never come together
Was it this hard last year?
You just about give up
And then suddenly
"Suddenly"
The day before the show
There it is!
Harmonies rich and full
Soaring and lovely
And before you even realize it
The performance is over
And the relief
The weight off your shoulders
The view of
The shining happy faces of kids who have felt the spotlight
Known what it is to rehearse
And stand before other people
And sing/dance/act/play
(Often at the same time!)
Is worth
The uphill climb it took
To get there
The end.
Drill notes
Please memorize
Count
Project!
Energize to the end of the line
Trying to get a long and tricky piece together
With limited rehearsal
And you think it could never come together
Was it this hard last year?
You just about give up
And then suddenly
"Suddenly"
The day before the show
There it is!
Harmonies rich and full
Soaring and lovely
And before you even realize it
The performance is over
And the relief
The weight off your shoulders
The view of
The shining happy faces of kids who have felt the spotlight
Known what it is to rehearse
And stand before other people
And sing/dance/act/play
(Often at the same time!)
Is worth
The uphill climb it took
To get there
The end.
- Published on
by Woolley World
Year 5 or year 6
At school we learnt to play the recorder
I loved learning an instrument
Loved learning to read music
Teaching myself out of a book
The logic of it making sense
The order of dots and lines
A kind of reading that translated into something heard
I wanted to play a “proper” instrument
Aware that the other kids had lessons
And instruments
Later, year 8.
Our music teacher took us into a room
Filled with instruments
Choose one
She said
I wasn’t drawn to percussion
Or strings
(My sister had played violin
Popcorn and candy
The learnt sounds of experts
Betraying the difficulty of starting out)
I could make a noise
On all the wind instruments
I was worried about the reed instruments
They would require ongoing purchases
You needed to prepare the reed so it didn’t crack
I felt it was a level of difficulty beyond me
But really
I chose the flute
Because it was the lightest instrument
Back then
I commuted to school
By bus and train
And was worried about schleping my instrument to school
Or being able to practise at home
I hired the flute for six months
Or a year
The way time and space merge
Become blurred in memory
Then I moved schools
And my friend who also played the flute
Recommended her teacher
And suddenly
Some fourteen or fifteen years later
I’m standing with three other flautists
And we’re playing a quartet
Written by one of the players
And it feels strange
And lovely
To be part of this
Shared knowledge
Understanding how the dots on the page
Correlate to the placement of fingertips
To create synchronized sound
Started in another lifetime
The end.
At school we learnt to play the recorder
I loved learning an instrument
Loved learning to read music
Teaching myself out of a book
The logic of it making sense
The order of dots and lines
A kind of reading that translated into something heard
I wanted to play a “proper” instrument
Aware that the other kids had lessons
And instruments
Later, year 8.
Our music teacher took us into a room
Filled with instruments
Choose one
She said
I wasn’t drawn to percussion
Or strings
(My sister had played violin
Popcorn and candy
The learnt sounds of experts
Betraying the difficulty of starting out)
I could make a noise
On all the wind instruments
I was worried about the reed instruments
They would require ongoing purchases
You needed to prepare the reed so it didn’t crack
I felt it was a level of difficulty beyond me
But really
I chose the flute
Because it was the lightest instrument
Back then
I commuted to school
By bus and train
And was worried about schleping my instrument to school
Or being able to practise at home
I hired the flute for six months
Or a year
The way time and space merge
Become blurred in memory
Then I moved schools
And my friend who also played the flute
Recommended her teacher
And suddenly
Some fourteen or fifteen years later
I’m standing with three other flautists
And we’re playing a quartet
Written by one of the players
And it feels strange
And lovely
To be part of this
Shared knowledge
Understanding how the dots on the page
Correlate to the placement of fingertips
To create synchronized sound
Started in another lifetime
The end.
- Published on
Red Dragon Goodness
One moment you are working in London
And feeling frustrated
And miserable
And you blink
And you are walking across northern rural Spain
And you blink
And you are back in London
And riding on the tube
And it is always winter
And cold
And you are always wearing a thousand layers
And you feel you could never be warm again
And twenty-four hours without sleep
And two plane trips later
You are back in America
And it is June
And it is summer!
Oh summertime
I have missed you!
To walk outside
Without endless layers
Scarves and beannies and gloves
Just shorts and a t-shirt
And flip flops
Is bliss
To be back with my love
And to have returned to the cabin in the woods
Sitting on the porch
Watching a storm swirl by
The way the leaves flutter
The way the tall trees bend and wave with the whirling wind
To see lightning flash the sky
And hear thunder crashing
Feeling its rumble in the earth
And in the evening
To sit on the same porch
And smell earth and trees
Blessed by rain
And watch fireflies flicker in the forest
The sparkle of their little luminescents
Like tiny twinkling fairy lights
Feels like a delicious dream
And you’re glad you’re here
The end.
And feeling frustrated
And miserable
And you blink
And you are walking across northern rural Spain
And you blink
And you are back in London
And riding on the tube
And it is always winter
And cold
And you are always wearing a thousand layers
And you feel you could never be warm again
And twenty-four hours without sleep
And two plane trips later
You are back in America
And it is June
And it is summer!
Oh summertime
I have missed you!
To walk outside
Without endless layers
Scarves and beannies and gloves
Just shorts and a t-shirt
And flip flops
Is bliss
To be back with my love
And to have returned to the cabin in the woods
Sitting on the porch
Watching a storm swirl by
The way the leaves flutter
The way the tall trees bend and wave with the whirling wind
To see lightning flash the sky
And hear thunder crashing
Feeling its rumble in the earth
And in the evening
To sit on the same porch
And smell earth and trees
Blessed by rain
And watch fireflies flicker in the forest
The sparkle of their little luminescents
Like tiny twinkling fairy lights
Feels like a delicious dream
And you’re glad you’re here
The end.
- Published on
Someone is waiting
Two someones actually
My love
And I
Waiting
For my visa to come through
So I can move to America
And we can be together
It's partly why I'm walking 780km across northern Spain
"Pacing in a straight line"
As Aaron's dad put it
Waiting in London I was going stir crazy
My life
Just a game of waiting
Filling time
We had optimistically booked a ticket for March
The visa didn't arrive
The plane left without me
And I sobbed in frustration
London stayed miserably cold and bleak
I worked hard
I spent time with friends
I tried to embrace London
I hoped to land an acting job
Nothing came
I felt lonely and frustrated
Dispirited, disinterested, and disenchanted
I got the idea to do the Camino again
This time solo
This was for me
It would fill the time
In a positive and productive way
I'm walking
My feet are sore
I'm meeting wonderful people
I'm breathing in the Spanish landscape
It's so beautiful
Every step
An affirmation that
I'm here
And a step closer
To my love
Hurry visa
I'll wait
I'll pace across Spain until you arrive
And give thanks to the universe
That I can be here
Buen camino
Don't stop walking
The journey
Is the destination
Is life
Is love and joy and heartbreak and beauty
And being
The end.
Two someones actually
My love
And I
Waiting
For my visa to come through
So I can move to America
And we can be together
It's partly why I'm walking 780km across northern Spain
"Pacing in a straight line"
As Aaron's dad put it
Waiting in London I was going stir crazy
My life
Just a game of waiting
Filling time
We had optimistically booked a ticket for March
The visa didn't arrive
The plane left without me
And I sobbed in frustration
London stayed miserably cold and bleak
I worked hard
I spent time with friends
I tried to embrace London
I hoped to land an acting job
Nothing came
I felt lonely and frustrated
Dispirited, disinterested, and disenchanted
I got the idea to do the Camino again
This time solo
This was for me
It would fill the time
In a positive and productive way
I'm walking
My feet are sore
I'm meeting wonderful people
I'm breathing in the Spanish landscape
It's so beautiful
Every step
An affirmation that
I'm here
And a step closer
To my love
Hurry visa
I'll wait
I'll pace across Spain until you arrive
And give thanks to the universe
That I can be here
Buen camino
Don't stop walking
The journey
Is the destination
Is life
Is love and joy and heartbreak and beauty
And being
The end.
- Published on
El Camino de Santiago
If there is something that you want to do
GO TO IT
You are not too old
It is not too late
You ARE more capable than you think
You have everything you need to start TODAY.
Stop making excuses and
Just. Go. To. It.
GO TO IT
You are not too old
It is not too late
You ARE more capable than you think
You have everything you need to start TODAY.
Stop making excuses and
Just. Go. To. It.
- Published on
Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie
Mary Wollstonecraft
Wrote 'A Vindication on the Rights of Woman'
In 1792
And stated that
That the low status of women
And the way in which
Society, and women themselves,
Perceived women
As individuals, and as a sex,
As weak and inferior
Would be done away with
If women received a decent
Education
But today we find
In 2013
That even educated women
Are still relegated secondary status
Are still perceived as weak and inferior
Because the society in which we live
Says that women
Are mere sex objects
And things for looking upon
We live in a time where educated women
Choose
To be viewed and judged
By their looks and sexiness
Appear spread eagled and naked in magazines and videos and online
Use sex
As a way to pay for their education
We live in a time
Where even if you have a college degree
You have to stand up and say
No.
My body is my own
And not yours to oggle and coddle
Please listen to what I have to say
Not how I look as I say it
Where does this leave
A Vindication on the Rights of Woman?
Yes, we must educate girls and women
We must learn maths and science
And drama and music
And history and English
And languages and sport
We must be equipped with knowledge and skills
We must go out into the world
But we also must educate boys and men
To treat women with respect
To not fear women with power
To learn how to speak with women
(And about women)
With terminology that doesn't involve sex or beauty or derogatory statements
Women are still weak and inferior
Because the misogynistic system
That has been in place
For millenia
Has not yet been replaced
With a system
Of education
That teaches compassion, and respect, and humanity
Above looks and impressions and sex
So yes
Teach girls and women to be strong
But teach boys and men
To be okay with the shift
That says women are no longer inferior
But equal
That is the vindication I seek.
The end.
Wrote 'A Vindication on the Rights of Woman'
In 1792
And stated that
That the low status of women
And the way in which
Society, and women themselves,
Perceived women
As individuals, and as a sex,
As weak and inferior
Would be done away with
If women received a decent
Education
But today we find
In 2013
That even educated women
Are still relegated secondary status
Are still perceived as weak and inferior
Because the society in which we live
Says that women
Are mere sex objects
And things for looking upon
We live in a time where educated women
Choose
To be viewed and judged
By their looks and sexiness
Appear spread eagled and naked in magazines and videos and online
Use sex
As a way to pay for their education
We live in a time
Where even if you have a college degree
You have to stand up and say
No.
My body is my own
And not yours to oggle and coddle
Please listen to what I have to say
Not how I look as I say it
Where does this leave
A Vindication on the Rights of Woman?
Yes, we must educate girls and women
We must learn maths and science
And drama and music
And history and English
And languages and sport
We must be equipped with knowledge and skills
We must go out into the world
But we also must educate boys and men
To treat women with respect
To not fear women with power
To learn how to speak with women
(And about women)
With terminology that doesn't involve sex or beauty or derogatory statements
Women are still weak and inferior
Because the misogynistic system
That has been in place
For millenia
Has not yet been replaced
With a system
Of education
That teaches compassion, and respect, and humanity
Above looks and impressions and sex
So yes
Teach girls and women to be strong
But teach boys and men
To be okay with the shift
That says women are no longer inferior
But equal
That is the vindication I seek.
The end.
- Published on
vegetarian spaghetti
I distinctly remember
As a teenager
Eating a chicken leg
Actually gnawing on the gristle
And declaring to my vegetarian step-mum
"I could NEVER be a vegetarian.
I LOVE meat!"
Nom nom nom.
And then
When I was twenty-something
I got sick
Really sick
I was sick for a year
I had everything
Laryngitis
Bronchitis
Influenza
I got sick of being sick
I did a bit of research
And decided what was making me ill
Was my diet
I cut out meat
And boosted my intake
Of fresh leafy greens
Became friends with farmers' markets
And devoured
All colours of the rainbow
In fruit and vegetable form
I did it slowly over time
To get used to new flavours
New ways of cooking
And you know what?
I stopped getting sick
I started appreciating
Food
I learnt how to cook
With what was available
And seasonal and fresh
If you had told my teenage self
That one night
For fun
I would whip together
Raw courgette and carrot noodles
With a red pepper and pine nut sauce
And meatless eggplant balls
Because those were what she had in the fridge
She would have laughed
And said
"GROSS! Where's the MEAT?!
That meal has NOTHING in it!"
But my present-day-self
Offers thanks
To the farmers who grew all the veggies
The people that delivered them
And the recipes that inspired their ultimate
Delicious consumption
The end.
As a teenager
Eating a chicken leg
Actually gnawing on the gristle
And declaring to my vegetarian step-mum
"I could NEVER be a vegetarian.
I LOVE meat!"
Nom nom nom.
And then
When I was twenty-something
I got sick
Really sick
I was sick for a year
I had everything
Laryngitis
Bronchitis
Influenza
I got sick of being sick
I did a bit of research
And decided what was making me ill
Was my diet
I cut out meat
And boosted my intake
Of fresh leafy greens
Became friends with farmers' markets
And devoured
All colours of the rainbow
In fruit and vegetable form
I did it slowly over time
To get used to new flavours
New ways of cooking
And you know what?
I stopped getting sick
I started appreciating
Food
I learnt how to cook
With what was available
And seasonal and fresh
If you had told my teenage self
That one night
For fun
I would whip together
Raw courgette and carrot noodles
With a red pepper and pine nut sauce
And meatless eggplant balls
Because those were what she had in the fridge
She would have laughed
And said
"GROSS! Where's the MEAT?!
That meal has NOTHING in it!"
But my present-day-self
Offers thanks
To the farmers who grew all the veggies
The people that delivered them
And the recipes that inspired their ultimate
Delicious consumption
The end.
- Published on
photo by David Dairey
The world is full
It seems
Of such awful things
People being awful
To the other people
Destruction
Pain and chaos
Hate comes from a place
Of sorrow and anger
Mistrust and mistreatment
All the people who hate
And are filled with violent thoughts
And carry out violent actions
Are reacting to something
Injustices done to them
Or their loved ones
And it doesn't in any way
Justify horrific acts
But they didn't fall out of the sky
Hating and perpetrating awfulness
What if we turned to every being
And said
You are loved
You are worthy
You are allowed to be here
Not because religion
Or because long gone gurus said so
But just because
Would it change anything?
Years of abuse of injustice and pain
Would probably retaliate
Untrusting
Imagine
All the people
Living life in peace
Yoo hoo-ooo
Stop imagining
Do it
Live life in peace
And as once was said
Be the change
Be nice to one another
Say please and thank you
Because we can all imagine
If only's
And the possibility of futures
Far away
We can wish
Forever
But if wishes were fishes...
We'd deplete the sea
Until there was nothing left
Instead of waiting for the future to happen
Instead of waiting for a day of peace
Down the track
Let's live it right now
Today I watched the London marathon
On a (rare) bright blue sky London day
All the people running past
In shorts and leggings and brightly coloured wigs
And smiles through the pain
The cheers from the crowds watching on
In everyone's minds
This was Boston on Monday
The sea of humanity
The celebration of health
And togetherness
Of fun
And festivity
Of challenge
And achievement
Was at once beautiful
And overwhelming
And the world seemed
For a moment, at least,
Less awful
The end.
It seems
Of such awful things
People being awful
To the other people
Destruction
Pain and chaos
Hate comes from a place
Of sorrow and anger
Mistrust and mistreatment
All the people who hate
And are filled with violent thoughts
And carry out violent actions
Are reacting to something
Injustices done to them
Or their loved ones
And it doesn't in any way
Justify horrific acts
But they didn't fall out of the sky
Hating and perpetrating awfulness
What if we turned to every being
And said
You are loved
You are worthy
You are allowed to be here
Not because religion
Or because long gone gurus said so
But just because
Would it change anything?
Years of abuse of injustice and pain
Would probably retaliate
Untrusting
Imagine
All the people
Living life in peace
Yoo hoo-ooo
Stop imagining
Do it
Live life in peace
And as once was said
Be the change
Be nice to one another
Say please and thank you
Because we can all imagine
If only's
And the possibility of futures
Far away
We can wish
Forever
But if wishes were fishes...
We'd deplete the sea
Until there was nothing left
Instead of waiting for the future to happen
Instead of waiting for a day of peace
Down the track
Let's live it right now
Today I watched the London marathon
On a (rare) bright blue sky London day
All the people running past
In shorts and leggings and brightly coloured wigs
And smiles through the pain
The cheers from the crowds watching on
In everyone's minds
This was Boston on Monday
The sea of humanity
The celebration of health
And togetherness
Of fun
And festivity
Of challenge
And achievement
Was at once beautiful
And overwhelming
And the world seemed
For a moment, at least,
Less awful
The end.
- Published on
An ad came out recently. It talks about "real beauty". I hate it. The cheesy music. The soft lighting. The way we are so judgemental of ourselves. The way our society venerates looks. The way the video is re-posted all over the place. Right now, our society says BEAUTY is:
Boobs (they must be big and round and on display. They are not appropriate when feeding babies)
Eyes (blue is preferable)
Ass (must be swished and jiggled and worn with shorts)
Unattainable (a "beautiful" person must be aloof, not part of the real world, on a pedastal, photoshopped)
Thin (because "plus" size models start at a size12)
Young (old = wrinkles, saggy, skin spots = ugly)
I'm sick of the beautiful/ugly dichotomy. I'm sick of "beauty" being only about snap-judgements and labels of "hot or not". I'm sick of discussions that ask if feminism is being feminist if it asks women to love how they look no matter what and not buy into consumerist culture notions of beauty. What if "beauty" meant something else entirely?
Brains (use them. Learn an instrument, learn a language, study astronomy, do math problems, read widely, learn about history and science... I'm into humanities. I love reading. I love writing. But I'm not so fussed what you do, just use your brain to LEARN! There is so much in this world! Infinitesimal things to learn and explore! GO TO IT!)
Ethics (is what you do harmful to others, or to the planet?)
Attitude (anything is possible. People who are naysayers are awful to be around. I don't advocate positivity 100% of the time. It's not human. BUT! Oh, what we could change if people had a nicer attitude toward the world around them.)
Understanding (having empathy for the people around you. Walking in someone else's shoes. Investigating a situation in order to have more knowledge about it.)
Tenacity (having an inner strength)
Y? (as in "why?" I realize I am cheating a little here. But it's my poem and I'll bend the rules if I want to. Question everything around you. Why is beauty about image? Why are women controlled through the media? Why are women subjucated and treated as mere physical objects? Why does the porn industry have such a stronghold over what "beauty" is, encouraging us to wax and preen and value ourselves purely on looks?)
To me, a "beautiful" person is someone with intelligence, integrity, and vivacity. That is the beauty I seek. That is the beauty I crave. And as for THAT ad. Their "beauty" is only skin deep. And no amount of face cream, soap, or shiny advertising, will scrub away the hypocrisy of a global conglomerate selling "beauty" products in the name of empowerment.
Boobs (they must be big and round and on display. They are not appropriate when feeding babies)
Eyes (blue is preferable)
Ass (must be swished and jiggled and worn with shorts)
Unattainable (a "beautiful" person must be aloof, not part of the real world, on a pedastal, photoshopped)
Thin (because "plus" size models start at a size12)
Young (old = wrinkles, saggy, skin spots = ugly)
I'm sick of the beautiful/ugly dichotomy. I'm sick of "beauty" being only about snap-judgements and labels of "hot or not". I'm sick of discussions that ask if feminism is being feminist if it asks women to love how they look no matter what and not buy into consumerist culture notions of beauty. What if "beauty" meant something else entirely?
Brains (use them. Learn an instrument, learn a language, study astronomy, do math problems, read widely, learn about history and science... I'm into humanities. I love reading. I love writing. But I'm not so fussed what you do, just use your brain to LEARN! There is so much in this world! Infinitesimal things to learn and explore! GO TO IT!)
Ethics (is what you do harmful to others, or to the planet?)
Attitude (anything is possible. People who are naysayers are awful to be around. I don't advocate positivity 100% of the time. It's not human. BUT! Oh, what we could change if people had a nicer attitude toward the world around them.)
Understanding (having empathy for the people around you. Walking in someone else's shoes. Investigating a situation in order to have more knowledge about it.)
Tenacity (having an inner strength)
Y? (as in "why?" I realize I am cheating a little here. But it's my poem and I'll bend the rules if I want to. Question everything around you. Why is beauty about image? Why are women controlled through the media? Why are women subjucated and treated as mere physical objects? Why does the porn industry have such a stronghold over what "beauty" is, encouraging us to wax and preen and value ourselves purely on looks?)
To me, a "beautiful" person is someone with intelligence, integrity, and vivacity. That is the beauty I seek. That is the beauty I crave. And as for THAT ad. Their "beauty" is only skin deep. And no amount of face cream, soap, or shiny advertising, will scrub away the hypocrisy of a global conglomerate selling "beauty" products in the name of empowerment.