Views in Verse on springtime in the city

Springtime weather returned to Sydney this week.  What a delight it is around town to feel the warm sun on your skin.

And to sense a real vibrancy about you that makes you feel like just being out there ...amongst it!

I wandered about many times at lunch this week

    


       (Major Mitchell Cockatoos - a colourful part of the Sydney scene)

Feed the Birds

I awoke early today

the new season lit the spark...

All of the senses were

touched as one

As spring ...brought life 

...back to the park

Fields of green 

are the first things seen

Where late last week was brown

It's a very warm day 

for early spring

Short sleeves on show all around

A flight of parrot

cause quite a stir

as they squark in the morning's heat

A cheeky field mouse  

scuttles about

seems wheels upon his feet 

Two ruddy old guys 

They laugh as one

just why to me unknown

While a stripling lad 

eyes the water's edge

fingering a stone

Overhead a plane sweeps by

lazily out to the sea

While a mother feeds an infant 

just along from me;

As I mark out a comfy patch

Where I won't be disturbed

Where I ...feed the birds

Canoes on the river are 

rolling on by 

As a couple on a blanket sip wine

Two chatty ladies 

have a place all set...

wicker baskets well charged to dine

Three young boys bring

a kite in with them

 hopes high for a virgin flight

Beyond them walks 

a weary old pastor

Trapped in his grounded plight

Young lovers 

gaze into each others eyes

Channelling open minds

A private view 

on a future for two

Prospects look just fine

A mother bends down

to help her lad

Free his little pink feet

As a uni-cyclist passes on by

well safe 

from the busy street

Meantime

an open-top tourist bus

Rocks by to a beating churn

The merry throng 

seem to wave as one

The ladies wave back in return

A young group kick a ball about

with unbridled glee

A 'cute little miss' eyes a butterfly 

...nonchalantly;

Meanwhile a gent with a telescope

considers a far off world

While I ...feed the birds

One of the players

his shirt now off

banks like a passing plane

A colorful lad

To say the least

Anything but mundane

A young busker 

on the bandstand

pleases one and all

As he lets go with

a guitar riff

worthy of Les Paul

Her child now fed 

one mother walks back

into her waiting world

A red faced boy 

makes a further pass 

with a kite that won't unfurl

With that he hears 

'Greensleeves' play

Mr Whippy comes into view

From all parts

 ...kids rush about

Save missing a place in the queue

Two well dressed friends

march off towards town

All done with their noon day sun

Crossing them 

a businessman walks

Pulling his tie undone;

Without a need for words...

While I ...feed the birds

Forwarded from my Iphone - Grahame J Flynn

Views in verse on 'my new offshore home'

Pssst don't tell anybody...

but the word is getting out that

Retiring Aussies are leaving by their thousands

to attractive places all around South East Asia to live

...and taking their pensions with them

And who can blame them?




Sydney (where I live) is now the fifth most expensive place to live in the world and to anyone that lives here, this is no secret. $100 plus for a taxi ride across town, $50 an hour to park your car in the city. Weekly food bills through the roof... power bills!!! Rent !!!!!! And all we seem to hear to complement this is ...more public sector cuts to services to come.

Well it seems that some of us are a little smarter than others and are starting to 'think with their feet' according to a number of news stories this week. Stories on 'Baby Boomers -moving offshore' into entirely desirable destinations. Thailand was extremely popular in having a much lower cost of living also they claim. Getting a lot more 'bang for the buck' for their pensions. 

Apparently Thailand is inward processing >$2 million per day ex Australia into the pockets of thrifty ex pats. One couple I saw interviewed on television claimed the cost of living to be only 25% of what it was in Australia. They also claimed a near parity in services received!

Big decisions just the same. But who can challenge this as a worthy solution to people now free to make a few selfish decisions.

Why the hell not?



The island

Take me off to an island
Where I can live the rest of my life
No kids, no grand kids nor crusty old mates
Just the pension, me and the wife

The time has come to dump the expense
of living in olde Sydney town
The food, the rent, the parking
Twice the price of elsewhere around

The experts say 'Penang'
From a survey of all of the field
They've weighed it up from all the angles
There's no better place they feel

There's the 'my second home' visa
The Malays have cleverly crafted
Get a nice place among ex-pats
I should really get this thing started

Great food, resorts and beaches
First founded way back by the Brits 

friendly people too I'm told
We must consider this...

The only thing that's got me stumped
As I fashion this getaway plan
Is how well I could support my teams
From this remote far off land

I'd miss my Swans, my troubled Eels
And the wobbly Wallabies
And catching the Aussie cricketers
Is just mandatory to me

Can't miss my 'Tahs
Now they're on top
I watch the young Socceroos
But as I weigh this up
over many months
I'm now ready to choose

It's often said
there's a placebo
In every difficult choice...
I mentioned it casually to my wife...
Dashed...
Without even raising a voice


Sent from my iPhone

Views in verse on political pragmatism

One year this week and 'the meter is running' on Tony Abbott. So how is he faring?

As always in political commentary there is much ado about election 'promises' made

Fourteen promises broken already according to one AFR scribe this week. But let's get 'back to basics' here ...in the spirit of Abbott's oft' mentioned mentor John Howard:

Maybe so but ..."were they 'core promises' or not?"

And ultimately "does it matter" given that strategic objectives are achieved




I must say despite some of the bizarre matters that surfaced in the budget (which were mostly not part of the election diatribe) Tony Abbott has been 'every bit' the 'leader' one would have hoped to see ...although it may not appear that way at times. Why is that?

We were coming off the Kevin Rudd/Gillard period where the leader always craved the spotlight - good leaders do not do this - they empower the operatives who then must be seen to perform and they support them by allowing them to manage their own portfolio. Accountability then comes further down the track. The modus operandi we see reflected in this now is a stable front bench (unlike the previous two Labour governments). As a result we are seeing 'the best' of his key ministers.

With Joe Hockey even though he has fumbled from one situation to another (until gaining some traction this week) Abbott has allowed him to solve his own problems without 'running into the burning house'. There is no doubt that Hockey's smiling face this week was testimony to this 'effective leadership'

We have seen Julie Bishop and Scott Morrison shine under this leadership first in the recent handling of the Russian involvement in the loss of the Malaysian Airline and (Morrison) who accepted Abbott's 'poison chalice' of 'boat people out of control' and has managed to tick one of the pre-election promises there.

Whenever he has stepped onto the big stage Abbott has always managed to carry out his role to the level most Aussie voters would have expected. There were unjustified concerns about this pre-election.

So what of the original promises made...is anyone really counting (apart from this diligent journo)? Perhaps we (and Abbott) himself should instead return to his five pillars that he came into office on - 'core promises'? Surely these would be the best criteria upon which to judge:

1. Fixing the economy (voter comfort perspective) 2. Balancing the budget 3. Scrap the carbon tax 4. Improve small business's lot 5. Improve the greater economy (with diversity in industry)

In the end we need to 'win wars' not 'battles'  in life.

If Abbott were to reposition himself with those pillars now going forward to the next election, he should be able to account for what in the long run may appear as unrelated 'pre-election' promises given he makes the required level of progress towards each pillar.

All this is achievable, but there is a joker card amongst all of this. If he continues to bring, what I earlier referred to as 'bizarre matters', to the table eg: paid parental leave, knighthoods returning, loosening financial advice guidelines ...things that the voting community hasn't demanded, he won't succeed. He usually seems to speak up himself on policy issues but this all needs to be relevant and interlocking with the greater programmes.

People are more than capable of assessing progress towards big goals over time and should reward effort on this basis of that. But if mixed with trivialities and 'I can't see the forest for the trees' items, then Abbott may find himself as a one term 'leader'. I somehow think he is a little smarter than that!

As a leader, Abbott is indeed impressive ...as he usually was in opposition. His team will now need to step up to the many challenges that we face in the world economy today and show that they have solutions ...without empty promises.

All this assumes that the voter is willing to entrust our leaders to deliver the big picture items as their pledge - we got there ...does it matter how? Or, do we as voters wish to (and have every right to) hold them to every word they utter along the way (leader and team).

Perhaps the politicians themselves need to be more outward in their use of 'political pragmatism' and somehow convey this to the media ...thereby "leave us alone ...we're doing our job!"

Promises

Turn away from the window

Come back over here...
try to see hope and not fears
Tomorrow's a stranger
that we should embrace
Why revisit yesterday's tears?

Today's promises
Aren't tangible things
In the way that most things are real
But they carry a cost
if forgotten or lost...
the very heart of what you feel

Who knows why
A matter of trust
Can be broken so easily?
What to do...
When things don't turn out
The way that you
thought they would be?

Yesterday's promises
Aren't tangible things
In the way that most things are real
But they carry a cost
when forgotten or lost...
the very heart of what you feel


Sent from my iPhone - Grahame J Flynn

Views in Verse on mindfulness

Mindfulness

The new corporate 'must have'

Delivering Buddhist 'be in the now' composure 

to the better known 'I thought you did this yesterday' culture

No doubting the power of personal mindfulness; but can it be deployed in the manner in which we usually see corporate projects deployed? There is only one answer to that. Yet it won't stop us from trying.

Mindlessness

The Buddhist monks have given their all

A panacea, a corporate call

A silver bullet to be precise

To transform our culture to warm and nice

It’s a state of mind we’ll all be showing
When the pressure's white hot glowing

You'll zone in with all your thinking

Into ‘the now’ …key factors linking

It starts out with the CEO

Who declares it as the ‘way to go’
Drilling into where it’s needed

Right to ‘the floor’ to be seeded

But it can’t be just a 'softly' code

Where the ‘rubber hits the road'

For this to get up we’ll need to try

To marry up key KPI’s

With line of sight we’ll execute

Focussed mindsets to really suit

While the unions shouldn't interfere

To kick it back that extra gear

Yet lip service will clearly not be enough

When the going gets real tough

The odd angry shout we'll understand

It’s rough out there in corporate land

And being sure it’s HR’s stand

Should resonate in budget land

Can’t see ‘the beanies’ really caring
Given they like that 'something daring'

And don't be concerned that proof is lacking

to warrant this scheme deserves our backing

Innovation demands ‘the smart ones’ bring

The new ‘must have’ …the next big thing!


They've tried it at the Aussie Rules
'Roosy' says "hey...the boys are cool"
"The coaches say they'll fall into line"
"Malthouse may take a little time!"




From the desktop of Grahame J Flynn

Views in Verse on Aussie democracy! (or is it?)

We like to think that life in 'the olde penal colony' is about as 'liberated' as it gets these days.

And, I guess, no-one is complaining either. But perhaps we just don't. Complain, I mean. We make the decisions these days ...don't we? We have 'personal rights'...





I say this after mulling over this weeks debate on ABC's Q&A program. (No, not bloody Clive - that was the week before!).

The subjects debated were as many and varied as always ...given they are 'thrown into the ring' by the crowd.

A few common threads did come together however around the opening and the closing topics: 'assisted suicide' and 'abortion'. It was clear to all and sundry in the studio that the very 'personal' nature of these matters really called for 'personal' decisions.

Paul Kelly (the revered journalist & feature guest on the program) very soberly reminded the passionate throng in closing that these matters are not 'personal' but are matters that have to be decided by 'society'; interesting choice of word as this gathering appeared to me to represent a very good cross section of 'society'.

What he meant of course was that such social mutterings indeed need to be ratified by our government and the processes that underpin it. Thereby the influences that control it - policy, strategy, media, churches, conservatism, vested interests, lobbyists, short term thinking, Eddie Obeid, Clive Palmer, or ...indeed, failure to make that "courageous decision, minister" (ex 'Yes Minister' BBC TV series).

The subject didn't come up. But I can't help but throw 'gay marriage' into this mix as well. Being supplementary to these matters in that 'we - persons in society' would love to change the 'status quo' of this matter as well. However we cannot influence it at all either, as our politicians are too busy 'rabbiting on' about matters that quite frankly no-one should really need care about at all (eg: a budget - due process - duh!).

Kevin Rudd campaigned in 2007 on a 'for gay marriage platform' and yet then lost interest as soon as he was elected. Julia Gillard, in going forward with it, dismissed it summarily as "not happening on her watch".

So, it kind of takes me back to where we started with the convicts and the imperial masters way back in our colonial days. There is only one group making decisions and it sure isn't the convicts. But hey we 'convicts' make our own decisions these days ...don't we?

Is this democracy? Perhaps, I'd better start this again. I don't think it is.

What the hell is wrong with our political system? More to the point ...what is right with it? All this current comment re '24x7' media is becoming increasingly pertinent - no one is game to make a decision as someone out there mightn't like it.

There is a new factor here we bring - 'social media'. We can influence, but we can't change. Maybe we just have to try a little harder. Our regimental cigar smoking 'masters' also need to find a way to deal with it (other than the ostrich approach) as it isn't going away soon.

This current senate stand-off with the budget is relevant in only one real way; we elect these people and give them a mandate to make decisions. They need to be able to make them or we really will have a society in crisis and everyone will have to just make their own 'personal' decisions.

But somehow I think that is what is happening anyhow! So why the hell should people feel guilty over making their own personal decisions then worry about getting thrown into jail for doing so?

Bloody stupid eh? But what would I know ...and what right have I got? ...my forefathers were convicts. I've paid taxes for forty years though. Mmm ...perhaps I'd better start over.

Might start a senate party campaigning on 'personal rights'.

PS: Clive, you'd better stop watching the headlights soon 'laughing boy' or you'll get run over by a mighty big truck (perhaps you feel you are bathing in a spotlight!) You should know Aussies don't suffer fools for too long mate!

Right of Passage

It's your time 

Lovely boy

your hard work's almost done

Acceptance wasn't easy

in a school designed for some

Your progression has been honest

Your plans so well thought through

Adulthood came quickly 

from your trials

Yet it'll take time

Lovely boy

to see a fairer state

In a society
designed just for some

Why do politicians we elect

hide so well from truth?

Can we allow this 

mere 'opinion on the run' ?

Own the space

Lovely boy

look to those who lead

Accept things that can't be changed

yet fight for what you need

Equal rights are there for all

no matter how it sometimes seems...
Don't let anybody
keep you

from your dreams!!!

Forwarded from my iPhone - Grahame J Flynn