Repented Leisure

I had known Jack most of my life, sharing my time with him in Primary school,high school and later at college.He was a very confident boy whose ability was well recignized both academically as much as on the sporting field. His family were successful farmers who had invested well, and as a consequence he had become accustomed to enjoying the good life to the point that he had become self centered and self indulgent as well. His care free attitude was reflected in the company that he kept and in the manner that he treated them. He married quite early in life and by the time he was in his mid twenties he had three delightful daughters. It was about this time that his personality became more aggressive towards the family and especially his wife as his demands became more self centered. This trend continued for some time as his inability to cope with life and the responsibilities of parenthood began to strangle the marriage. The offer of counselling had no real appeal to him at all as everything that was wrong was all attributed to the failings of his wife. It became clear to her that the marriage was in real trouble , so she sort professional help, but still he refused to participate only intensifing his gile towards her at every point.Finially after many attempts she decided that a trial separation was the only way that she could gain some peace. Even then he continued to accuse her of the most outrageous offences that had dinted his much inflated ego, and his ability to rely on her , and to dominate her was fast deminishing before his very eyes. His situation became much worse when it became evident that he been having a relationship with one of his wives old girl friends as well. This brought a quick reply from his wife in the form of a request for a formal divorce, which he had no option but to conceed. It was some considerable time later after the marriage had well and truly ended that he stated to one of his last remaining friends , "that a good woman is worth more than her weight in gold ".

Reflections of a Poet.

The raging river flows from left to right,

Seasonal reflections run on the wet street-

Sadem Hussain,.....is dead.

Young hotel maid is repositionong the blossom jar

While the sound of new born rain,

before, it leaves the cloud....

Summer in the Bush.

A dingo circles the homestead,
by the dusty cattle yard -
as dusk rapidly approaches,...

While my old overhead fan
actively circulates tired air,
and,terrorises the mosquitoes,...

Since its so humid at night
and the kookaburras cry
as the tourists energise their flashlights,....

The Family.

The big family
with lots of noise
high on energy -

Ah, the pecking order
not enough chairs
pressure on space,

struggling to keep ones sanity
daily routine sorely tested

Home-work not completed
who"s turn for the ....remote,

what about the garbage,
while night-time falls....

Rain.

The steady rain seeps into my gutters,
while pigeons screech in the dusty bush,

as doves feed at the crumbling edge -
of the path down to the lake....

The rain drops collide with the surface
of the water, as ripples radiate towards its banks.

The warmth of the sun is now gone,
as my mobile is calling me long -distance,

while the line crackles with low level static
and heavy dark storm clouds suggest....more havic,...?

Admiration

He was just 16yrs old when I first met him down at the soccer club, with jet black eyes , and curly hair to match , and with an infectious smile that could light up any room. A quiet but pleasant boy, who enjoyed his sport as much as all the other boys. Until that day when, out of the blue, while at training he just fell over. At first no one took any notice, but when he got up and started to run again his back was bent over slightly .Over the next few months the bend in his back became more pronounced, and his left leg started to become Paralysised. After several doctors visits it was discovered that he had contracted low level MS. No one knows how he got it, but he"s made the most of it, and now as a 20yr old, he watches every game, from the comfort of his motorised wheelchair.