Ever rub your eyes and think is this really happening?

Views in Verse - on 'fact or fantasy'.


Ever rub your eyes and think is this really happening?
- and find - yes it is - but is it...really?

More to the point how does history deal with storylines ...I spoke with someone last week who was convinced of the historical accuracy of 'Camelot'



The Passing  of Ol' Salt

It was a very long night
at the Drunken Prawn
After the best catch
for many-a-year
They arrived late at the dock that day
to find what only 'fisho's' fear...

Red eyes were agog
in amazement...
to see the olde girl slipping from view
Ol' Salt was 'past her use by date'
But their only real 'earner' too

In the 'fisho's' eyes
She was the 'pride-o-the fleet'
since before my Pop was alive;
the barnacles all got up
and danced that day...
the day that Ol' Salt died"

Oh the barnacles all got up
and danced that day...
the day that Ol' Salt died
And the song they sang
to a cloudless sky could be
Heard for many a mile:

"Ol' Salt she's done her bit...
the catch is in plain sight"
"There's nothing like
some mighty hard work
for building an appetite"
"Heave her to the left"
heave her to the right...."
"We'll bring her back
Full of fish today
so we all eat well tonite!"

It was said:
"She served seven sad masters
...a nastier bunch couldn't be!"
The lads had not a good word
for any-o-them
Except for their skipper - McGee

The barnacles were singing
'Captain's Call'
McGee sang it loud every day
But whatever could inspire
Mere crustaceans
to so warble away?

As she tossed and rolled
The crew were shocked
For what they couldn't ignore
was the barnacle choir
in a fevered pitch
singing Skip's own song once more!

When that was done
They paled as one
with something horrid forming
For the captain it seemed
was last thing seen, below, drunk...
and snoring...?

They found no sign of the Captain that day
They all left that same Fall
But not before each of them telling
different stories one and all
And me...
I stood on the dockside too
But I was way too young to recall

And so
the legend lives on
In story and song
Of whatever happened that day
Was it the whiskey talking,
a crew in mourning...
Or seagulls attempting Bizet?



Sent from my iPad - Grahame J Flynn

Ah love lost - many stories written - too often laced with vitriol!

Views in Verse - on relationships.


Our key influences stay with us through life

 There is a silver lining in most experiences in life, if we look hard enough for it? Are we not enriched in some way by every relationship we have?

Certainly some impact the remainder of our lives

First Love

A hint, a trace, some words...?
What is it of her
that I can really say?
I remember well our first meeting
way back, at school, a summer's day

And then...
the two of us together
Memory has it
always holding hands
Giving time to each other
and just wandering...
around the streets, the beach, the bands

But now...
the best part of a lifetime
Her presence...
I still do so often find
comes to me
ever easy
from a quiet corner of my mind

She lives there deep inside of me
So deep inside of me
Sweet memory from a simpler day
They say your first love never leaves you
But comforts you and leads you
Never leaves you, never leaves you
Come what may

I travelled quite soon
after my schooling
That year in the city
it came at quite a price
We drifted time would tell
too far from the well
and then just ...got on ...with our lives

But thru the years
she's been there like a beacon;
life since then
hasn't always been that kind
A thought; a shot sublime
she'll cross my troubled mind
Like a trusty top that must unwind

She lives there deep inside of me
So deep inside of me
Sweet memory from a simpler day
They say your first love never leaves you
Just comforts you and leads you
Never leaves you, never leaves you
Come what may

Our fledgling years they
held such fears for each of us it seems
A time of just not knowing what to do
But when touched by a sign
Of these early times
It takes me ....to this private world ...we knew

A friend of mine a while back
said that he'd seen her
Couldn't wait to say :
 "she remembers you"!
I was happy at the time
just to hear that she was fine
...her welcome touch would
keep on coming through...

She lives there deep inside of me
So deep inside of me
Sweet memory from a simpler day
They say your first love never leaves you
But comforts you and leads you
Never leaves you, never leaves you...
Come what may...

We drifted time would tell
Too far from the well
And then ...just ...got on ...with our lives



Sent from my iPhone - Grahame J Flynn

Views in verse on marriage

Views in Verse - on marriage.

A former Australian Prime Minister once quipped that "life wasn't meant to be easy". It sounded outwardly arrogant at the time however for most marriages it can be a bit closer to home though than they would outwardly like to admit. The marital bond only develops over a long period as two people go about building a meaningful relationship, and with it, a necessary resilience.

Marriage is a strategic liaison bounded in trust ...the good times in the long run naturally far outweigh the many challenges along the way. Loyalty to each other at all times is the only key ingredient mandated from the get-go, and beyond, into a complete bond...


Rings around the moon

I give you my solace
You deflect my pain
You rebuff my feelings
Again and again

You look back 'stony'
I revisit my words
You insist upon leading
I shout to be heard

Two steps forward
Then one back
A loud tumultuous dance
It needs intervention
That's for sure
Yet little will happen by chance

Choice is a given
Throughout our lives
The actions our own
For want or for try
To step out of time
A very fine line

Running rings around the moon
Yes ...rings around the moon
We've more chance
To be one day seen
Running rings around the moon

Our best behavior's
on show a while
It was good last May or June
But going astray
Is not ok
not even in coming Junes

We came together
not by chance
We both came knowingly
a fledgling thing...
a lifetime ring...
a bold ship tossed at sea

some days aren't easy
some days surprise
to hold it together
...to realize
...to give  up the dance
...to forfeit the prize

Running rings around the moon
Yes rings around the moon
We've a chance
To be one day seen
Running rings around the moon

As a pair
we are well matched
so people seem to say
I guess this view
Comes right from 'us'
A view we both portray...

I speak your thoughts
You speak mine too
The words come out one way
Two different lives
transformed as one
and gifted to this day

The die is thrown
The thread is hewn
We won't release it
now or soon...
...this vice like grip
...this binding tune

Running rings around the moon
Yes ...rings around the moon
Locked in time
On a one time path
Running rings around the moon

Running rings around the moon
Yes ...rings around the moon
For better or worse
On a one time path
Running rings around the moon

Sent from my I-phone - 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

Who says when a relationship is actually over?

Views in Verse - on closure.


Who says when a relationship is actually over?

Who says when a relationship is actually over? Sometimes running the risk of becoming dysfunctional perhaps toxic ...before closure is indeed remotely possible.


Forbidden Fruit

When incompatibility
breeds denial
A strange new desire arrives
A tawdry lust settling in
that defies all logic and thrives

Every hour
of such abuse
brings days and days of pain
Bitter sweet the self indulgence
week on week again

Two magnets
pressing hard
Strong signals in deep disarray
Bent emotion out of control
In keeping resolve at bay

Forbidden fruit
is damaging;
regression is it's tool
A tempest of weary obsession
that confounds a toxic fool

All advice
from all involved
shouts a clear conclusion
Even my car
has a mind of its own
Routine feeds delusion

Déjà vu ...I'm back again
I've called
but she's not at home
Frustrated, lost, ...appalled
I wander off ...alone

Getting on with life
makes such good sense
We made that decision together
Yet we hurt each other
at every turn
We must move on ...whatever!

Forwarded from my Iphone - Grahame J Flynn