Requiem for a dead mallard

Consider the mallard:

as common as grass or trees

or rivers, streams and clouds

and treasures such as these,

so common we scarcely see them!

Consider his webbed feet!

They paddle gently to and fro

or part the water fast and neat

as from the air, so accurate,

he makes the change from flight to swim.

Consider this barred wing:

the marvel that he tucks way

in water world, that when unfurled

commands the air and makes it sing

as it gives its magic lift to him.

Consider now he's stilled by death

who comes to claim the holy breath

that gave this life?

Truly, the Lord of Life loves even these,

as common as grass and streams and trees.

So, passing by as dust returns to dust,

Let death await new birth

and leave his body

in the gentle earth.

And what of God? by Sally

And what of god

Your childhood friend

Long ago sent packing?

When the tested much-tried

Remedy, the self-help guide

With careful steps

Or packet mix repellent

But weight-loss guaranteed

And fast

The serious exercise regime

Rowing for your life

Breathe in, stay calm

Repeat this mantra daily

Above all keep the faith

Another bottle, glass of red?

Or mindless televisual

Crap, always a store

Saved, to be replayed

Numbing, hypnotic

Charm of babble and of noise

Prattle, a tale told

Neatly, sweetly

Organised to soothe

Imbibe ingest the drug

Of fiction and escape

Marian Keyes I

Swallow you, devour you

Or is that in reverse

Me, lost gone obliterated

In the pages and the verse?

And what of god

Your childhood friend

Long ago sent packing?

When all and none

Of the above

Will do the trick

Still the rats who gnaw

And bite, not pretty sight

Gruesome, reeking havoc

Then do you yearn

For mum and dad

For black and white TV

Before the F word everywhere

For good behaviour sure

To be rewarded

And are you tempted to your knees

Arthritic now and painful

To call upon him

Childhood friend

Long ago sent packing?

Where is my voice?

I’ve heard the angry woman cry,
“Where is my voice in this Book of yours?”
She wants to know why her concerns,
her sorrows and her joys
and her pain at male injustices
are not privileged
in sacred script.

But hush, dear sister mine and hear.
When you were small,
did I not say,
“All bullies are cowards –
and they lie”?
The book itself bears witness to their fear.

For, cowards still,
they dared not cover all the truth
when writing for their god
and so they told the truth
in hazy outlines
making excuses
as bullies always do,
but
believe me, it’s there for all to see.

Try reading as a human being,
bringing all you know,
from life,
profession,
friendship,
scholarship
and, dare I say, the Holy Spirit’s prompting,
and then say what you see.

To me it says,
“He did abuse her! She spoke the truth.”
It says,
“He did murder my children!”
So all those unheard, disbelieved
victims in our very own
godless patriarchy
are given a voice that clearly says,
“She doesn’t lie!”
and
“For pity’s sake listen, listen, listen to your children!”

And didn’t you know
the last and worst injustice
is not to be believed?

Clear as Stars by Sally

Clear as Stars

You write

So poignantly

Clear as stars

Bright message

From eternity

Of love, life blood

Pulsing, of

Fire in the veins

A perfect pairing

Two halves made whole

Dire separation’s purest pain

Your taste forbidden fruit fantastical

Of heaven and of hell

You paint a passion

Sharp as steel

Stiletto slicing skin

Bleeding crimson

Drop by drop

Each other’s drug and need

Completion

Clear as stars

Bright message

From eternity

Of love

6th November 2009, Brighton, for J with love

Redemption by Mario Gandolfo

My head slung low, blood dripping from the wound that is my soul

i’ve fought many a battle, enough to slake an army's thirst

i’ve seen mercy's tender, i’ve seen satan's deepest, darkest worst

but through it all, 5 score and more

i'll walk that high road that leads me to Heaven's merciful, untainted door

i’ve earned my place here now among the harrowed, hallowed, chosen few

i'll sit here beside you and once again my heavenly father

the one shall be as two...

Autumn's Fall by Mario Gandolfo

The chill in the air,the decaying scent all round that is the falling,dying leaves last refrain,

eternal cleansing of the old

summer into fall,the noreaster wind so cold

the tread mark heavy, left on the soul

brutal the breath that bites so deep

visions of life's grandeur, fallen now forever the frosty ground to keep

to savor the feel,to remember,no regret

for it is the doom of all mankind that he shall forever forget

Metamorphosis by Sally

Metamorphosis

Day by day the world is shifting, turning

Tilt, sun now angled in the Autumn sky,

The annual miracle is under way

Earth begins its glorious transformation

First scarlet berries, ochre leaves

Claret and orange, burnt sienna vines

Thick the textures umber on the fields

Ploughed and furrowed, line by line

And all beneath a cornflower sky
Luminescent

As if the season’s artists

Commissioned perhaps

Had drunk too deep of the gathered grape

Heady, bibulous, tumbled in the harvest trucks

And swaggered, staggered, bold brush in hand

Brash, clashing, brazen palette mixed

To dress the landscape,

Summer parched

Bleached pale, in richest velvet

Royal sumptuous robes

All subtlety eschewed

To sing full-throated song

Season exuberant

Over-indulged

Filling the senses

Sating and drowsing the land

Paean of praise for perfection

Loud and proud, October hymn

October 16th 2009, Hounoux