A Plague On Both Your Houses.

A bicameral system?

A plague on both your houses

Canberra has become such

A nest of vipers

That no one leader

Can break free of the morass

Of social media commentary

And make decisions

In the best interest of this country

So we live with knee-jerk policy

And sound-bite diplomacy

While real people lose everything

All turned to ash

And real businesses fail

Suffocated by lack of cash

Future fund and Budget Surplus

Not withstanding

The people of this country

Are demanding

A political system ready to rise

To the challenges

Of Global Warming and Corona Virus

Instead of this paralysed

Top-heavy bureaucracy

Invested in self-interest

And maintaining power

The clock is ticking

Second by second

Hour by hour

While you white-ant each other

Wait for a new leader to be named

Time wasted cannot be regained

A plague on both your houses

© shaun patrick green 2020

The Moment.

In that place where you would heal

I found my friend deep in the forest

Knowing it to be her home

Her dog loping around

Worrying a chew toy

The wind in the trees like a voice

Whispering annunciation

As if an angel were to appear

At any given moment

And then it did:

We two deep in conversation

On subjects of art and film

Suddenly a honeyeater

Hovering between us

Like a sentinel

Wings furiously flapping

To keep it stationary

As it considered its options

A moment seeming like an hour

Its beating wings a sweet

Counterpoint to time's slow creep

Us transfixed

By its primal indecision

There is nothing to eat here

Then it was gone

Darting back into the forest

It's visitation over

Leaving us to stare at one another

Jaws agape, lost for words,

Perhaps for the first time

In our lives

© shaun patrick green 2020

Elegiac.

Feeling nascent

Like the first rain

Garden unattended

Must make plans

Life having its way

Unabridged

Always liked that word

Dishes to be washed

Child to school

Spiders in alcoves

Some memories

Are like that

Scuttling

Into dark places

Where the dirt hides

How does it migrate

No matter

Corn to gather

Harvest of hope

Children dancing

They used to, once

Now so quiet

A church

In miniature

Dinner to cook

Sun dropping

Stone heavy

No solace

Only this dark

And thoughts

Of melodies

Played

By merry-go-rounds


© shaun patrick green 2020

Midnight At The Broadway Cafe.

She held his hand in the Broadway Cafe

Rain outside falling in sheets

Her heart beating in her chest

So hard her ribs hurt

"I have done things," she said

Looking into his infatuated eyes

"I have been bad to people

Who have loved me..."

He felt her palm in his

The warmth of it genuine, firm

"I have done bad things too," he said

"We all make mistakes."

He could hear the rain outside

Like constant applause

"But I believe in second chances."

He held her gaze, continued without pause

"And this is a chance for both of us..."

A waitress sidled over

To see if they would order

"Two coffees," he said, "Black."

"You don't understand," she said

Watching the waitress move away

"I am poison."

He looked into her eyes

And knew it was true

But believed his love for her

Would be an inoculation

Not an invitation for dissolution

"It's nothing I can't handle," he said

Gangster bravado

She was up to her neck in debt

With an ice habit that would

Break his bank in a week

"But I'm weak, I know it," she said.

He took her words as a challenge

Could he keep her safe?

Could he keep his head above water

Could he avoid impending doom

The wars, diseases, the slaughter?

Her perfume wafted over him

Like the most magical of potions

They were young and in love

Failure was not an option

© shaun patrick green 2020

Water (to Michael Gunner)

How curious to hear the sound of rain

While the rest of the country burns

I feel a guilt that will not

Wither regardless of donations

Of clothing and fodder

What they need is water

Dum In Mirrie got 562ml in 24 hours

Where did that water go?

Into the ground or out to sea

Same with the Tiwis

Where does that water go?

We need to prepare for

Dryer Wet Seasons which means

More effective water storage

So why not build aquaducts

Like the Romans

To channel the excessive flows

From the Top End to those

Down South?

Of course, pipelines would do

But we cannot afford to waste a drop!

We need to be smarter

Think of ways to capture and store water

As a resource, like Iron or Copper

Forget fracking for gas

Water is the new powerhouse

The most valued commodity

Get it to where it's needed

And you could save the NT economy.

shaun patrick green ©2020

The Flower-Flop Interregnum.

Am I sick of the drama?

Do I want to dive back in?

The in-again, out-again

Can I see an opening?

You closed me up well enough

Sutured the wound against fester

Applied enough disinfectant

To let me know how much I wouldn't miss you

But the delusion lingers:

Do I still have love to give?

I guess it never ends,

While there's still a life to live

The fear lies in starting over,

Laying one's heart on the line

When it's so freshly broken

Chopped and steeped in brine

How do you give when you have nothing

How do you bring something to the table?

When the faith you put in life is gone?

You are willing but unable?

Hope seems a joke word

Charity far from the door

Strangers may look in

But they will be ignored

Can you start a heart up

That has been falsely stopped?

I guess its in the chest

Of the guest who knows best

As to whether love has flowered or flopped

© shaun patrick green 2019

the price of love

met you in a dive bar

should have known the odds

dealing with fucking junkies

not with living gods

why am I drawn to tragedy?

I ask myself that question

looking into the mirror

seeking someone else's reflection

love is never a guarantee

against unending sorrow

take a chance, have a dance

we'll be dead by tomorrow

warming earth, dying sea

take my hand in this dark hour

a world for you, a world for me

if only we had the power

i live to take it

you take it to live

money is the difference

and no one's willing to give

i hate conformity

you conform to hate

lick your lips, covet me

there's nothing left to save

on a dying earth, a flaming sea

we'll be a power couple

i know you'll bend to the cause

because you're so damn supple

you fuck me like a champion

suck cock like its meth

only thing between you and freedom

will be your untimely death

if I'd found you in a dumpster

I'd throw you right back in

but i didn't and i need you

so let the pain begin

(c) shaun patrick green 2019