Valé ...another victim of the unforgiving society we embrace with as much fervour as we can possibly muster

    Philip Seymour Hoffman

Views in Verse on tragedy

Valé!

The race is done.You are at rest.

Is God in ...?

I drove off today in search of the

day I lost

Somewhere the night before

Fifty miles on I stop...

Fifty miles from my door

I carry too a passenger 

who is eating me alive

Running from yourself 

Sure isn't easy...

all I could do was drive

I get out by a picket fence

Reflecting lives lived once within

Little to say but

Front door open ...back door too

Spirits left cold therein

Cross after cross pock this town

outnumbered 

only by stray dogs

Precious little life

in this park here either

Save the crumpled 'wino' logs

A preacher calls

 "there's comfort here"!

Hard to believe by his grin

Everyone playing on

something special on

evil, guilt or sin.

How desperate am I

to tackle this state...?

I gotta lead with my chin

But before I enter...

I can't help but ask

"...is god (really) in?"

"In fact...

Why not take me to him now?

He must be aware of my state

I have some issues

That we must address

best handled face to face"

"I'll tell him true of my own view

that all the world's in pain

Bent, broken,

and disconnected and

lost in personal gain"

I ask the thoughts

of a nearby woman

Just to get me back on track

She confides: 

"fact is man ...I only come here 

for the soup that's out the back" 

As I join the queue 

a guy demands

"First we need to know

where you're from...?"

"And look son...for a 'fair price' too

we can send some product along"

Then he says:

 "trust in God

and you will never ever fear"

To this I reply:

"I feel your hype my friend

but if salvation's really near..."

"My maker must have a halo bright

Something I can aspire to...

I've been searching...

Yeh, I've been searching...but

There's nought like that round here"

And to what avail... 

I challenge myself

To find someone who'll listen...?

Intervention must start with me

To free me from this prison

Cold stone arches 

Hold little appeal

in taming an untamed head

And taking the easy road 

is...'easy '

Time after time instead...

I slip into a strip bar

two doors up

to find a smile for the road

Didn't find a smile...no...

Not at all

But I sure enough dropped my load

Not much left of this goddam day 

Dusk dim 

the falling sun's rays

I ask a street kid 

for directions

He manfully shows me the way

Forwarded from my Ipad - Grahame J Flynn

 

Views on Verse - on addiction.

It's easy to look away...

But who doesn't?

What is the solution to our burgeoning drug problem?

Have we all just given up?






I was joined on the bench seat in my morning bus into the city during last week by a young man who was in a tragically difficult place.

As he flopped down next to me, dressed in a truly macabre manner, I could only but keep my eyes fixed on my 'handheld' and read my mail for as long as remotely possible. For within minutes he had begun to display an acute anxiety just from being there on the bus or so it seemed.

Given that this is a 40 minute trip into the city , it was always going to be a trial for him. I still have no idea of why he was on the bus at all to be very honest despite his wild chatter over the duration. He looked as though bus travel was new to him. Very odd.

After a while, as I was the closest person to him, he just started talking 'at me' ...probably in an attempt to reduce his anxiety. I soon joined his stilted conversation and gradually tried to calm him as our journey spilled into its last ten minutes. At this point, given the disturbing content of the conversation, I then could not wait for the journey to end ...given my now 'implied ownership' of his problem at that time.

As I got up to get off and said my goodbye, his conversation took on a surprising level of clarity as he shouted to my turned back "thank you very much sir for helping me ...god bless you!" I looked back and smiled ...as did he.


It is easy when faced with such confronting situations as these, to forget that you are dealing with real human beings and when you live in a big city like Sydney it is easy to de-program yourself from your own feelings and reactions. However, as I think back over it, I wonder: where he was going, who could help him to get on with life and how on earth he ever got into the situation he was in.


Addiction - when is enough ...enough?

...resistance can usually stall till tomorrow ...reform can take a lifetime. But not without a lot of help.




Subjugation


Draw me in
familiar sin
Take me to the gate
Fold me in hungering
My ways
my days my fate

Don't look down
Or move about
The purchase is so thin
Our time is lent
My lot's near spent
To the edge
I go again

Send me down now
Laughing loud
My pain, my truth
My glee
Ready to go
The clouds are low
My weight
is strangely free

The steps are there
Advice... 'take care'
Ignore another warning
The fog is thick
I go to it
Leave me now
...I'm falling

Learn from me
Transcend me
My story's there to tell
But ...let me be
to find the key
to end
this journey well

Forwarded from my I-pad Grahame J Flynn

Views in Verse - on 'instant gratification'

Our faced paced society today holds many solutions to our needs - all highly personalised - some legal - some ...not so. All highly available ...on demand. But how much is enough? And where does one go when you've had enough? Community based support systems offer solutions ...but are they accessible at all when instant gratification is today's norm? Where to then...?

Is God in ...?

I drove off today in search of the

day I lost

Somewhere the night before

Fifty miles on I stop...

Fifty miles from my door

  

I carry too a passenger 

who is eating me alive

Running from yourself 

Sure isn't easy...

all I could do was drive

  

I get out by a picket fence

Reflecting lives lived once within

Little to say but

Front door open ...back door too

Spirits left cold therein

  

Cross after cross pock this town

outnumbered 

only by stray dogs

Precious little life

in this park here either

Save the crumpled 'wino' logs

  

A preacher calls

 "there's comfort here"!

Hard to believe by his grin

Everyone playing on

something special on

evil, guilt or sin.

  

How desperate am I

to tackle this state...?

I gotta lead with my chin

But before I enter...

I can't help but ask

"...is god (really) in?"

  

"In fact...

Why not take me to him now?

He must be aware of my state

I have some issues

That we must address

best handled face to face"

  

"I'll tell him true of my own view

that all the world's in pain

Bent, broken,

and disconnected and

bent in personal gain"

  

I ask the thoughts then

of a nearby woman

Just to get me back on track

She confides: 

"fact is man ...I only come here 

for the soup that's out the back" 

  

As I join the queue 

a guy demands

"First we need to know

where you're from...?"

"And look ...for a 'fair price' son

we can send some product along"

  

Then he says:

 "trust in God

and you will never ever fear"

To this I reply:

"I feel your hype my friend

but if salvation's really near..."

  

"My maker must have a halo bright

Something I can aspire to...

I've been searching...

Yeh I've been searching...but

There's nought like that round here"

  

And to what avail? 

I challenge myself...

To find someone who'll listen...?

Intervention must start with me

To free me from this prison

  

Cold stone arches 

Hold little appeal

in taming an untamed head

And taking the easy road 

is...'easy '

Time after time instead...

  

I slip into a strip bar

two doors up

to find a smile for the road

Didn't find a smile...no...

Not at all

But I sure enough dropped my load

  

Not much left of this goddam day 

Dusk dim 

the falling sun's rays

I ask a street kid 

for directions

He manfully shows me the way

  

Forwarded from my Ipad - Grahame J Flynn