available in 'Selected' local stores....
or available here on line by sending money order to the value of $40. (inc postage and handling)
Home Gigs Book & CD Radio & TV Contact Bill Ambulance stories Ginja Roe
The following poetry is published in the limited
edition book... Sensible Shoes... which contains around 100 poems and includes
a CD of a few new songs plus tracks from past albums and live recordings...
with full versions of some of those you've heard on the web page.... and there's
only a few books left...
available in 'Selected' local stores....
or available here on line by sending money order to the value of $40. (inc postage
and handling)
to PO box 1481 Frankston 3199
Nature Life
Rust Wings The Wise Man Said
Poetry Freedom
In the Shadow of a Gum Tree Smile
A wind, as breath, comes.
Has a reason for life and
Dies far from its home.
Let your journey end
Though not without one thought for
Those who passed before.
Someone said that from the moment
We are born we begin to die.
I’d like to think that from the moment
I was born I began to live.
I’d like to think that
I will never stop living until the last.
The last breath. The last beat of my heart.
The last conscious thought.
The moment when my power just runs out
Like an old engine running out of petrol
The car left by the side of the road to enjoy the elements
To rust quietly away.
But then I am also a realist.
As that, I would like to think,
If I wasn’t able to enjoy life anymore,
If for some reason I was left without the ability
To live fast and furiously,
Enjoying the sounds and smells of life at it’s best,
That someone would have the decency to switch of my engine
Forget the believers, they’re fools.
Forget those who say we don’t have the right to end life
They’re unrealistic and stupid.
Life is short enough.
Too many mistakes are made on the way through
To make another at the end.
I will live my life.
With you.
But, when it’s not there, when I’m not there any more.
Have the strength to say goodbye and walk away.
It would make me happy.
Let me rust.
Let me go back to the elements from where I came.
My spirit to it’s next plane.
In peace.
Have you ever ?
Have you ?
I have
And more than once.
Well at least I like to think I have.
If you haven’t yet
Hold my hand.
Then
Let’s see if we can’t
Do it together.
If you all follow me you will be disappointed,
For I am only one man.
I can only give you one man’s vision and that may be cloudy,
Particularly if there have been tears in my eyes.
I can only give you one man’s reason and that may be misguided,
Certainly, if I have been limited in my learning
And I believe I have.
I can only give you one man’s history and that is such a small part
Of the universe available to us all,
No-one has seen it all in their lifetime, no-one ever will.
I can only listen to you for such a small time,
For there are others with important things to say and other sounds of life
And living which I do not wish to miss.
I will only let you touch me for a short while,
As I will only touch you momentarily.
We will grow tired of one anothers touch before long.
I will only walk with you for a brief spell.
Mine is not the path you have been given to walk,
It is only that our paths have crossed for now.
Soon, with the next fork in the road,
I will go left and you right, each of us to better things.
But I will let you take a small piece of me with you
And whether you allow me to or not,
I will take a small piece of you to carry with me all the rest of my days.
I will not forget you, you will not forget me.
Follow your own path.
Take in all you can.
Do not believe the fools who try to take you
With them along their track.
Do not give yourself completely to anyone, ever.
Most importantly, do not try to bend others to your will.
Like an animal caged, that one day turns on it’s feeder,
Those who follow you will one day discover wisdom
From other corners and bend to that new direction.
Go now. In happiness.
Live now and for always basking in the knowledge that
No matter how much you know, there is always more to learn.
Take what you can and give a little of yourself in return.
I saw it at once.
Though still, the movement within
Each perfect, live phrase.
Cats are free
They sleep
Eat
Play
Fuck
Miaow
Whenever they like
The only rules they have
Are
Rules for cats
1. Don’t scratch my stuff
2. Don’t throw up on my floor
3. Don’t fart
4. Don’t gobble your food
Sometimes I think
I’d like to be a cat.
Sometimes I am.
Wanna fuck.
IN THE SHADOW OF A GUM TREE
Aspiring gum,
Dripping leaves of yesterday
On tomorrow’s child.
Limbs reach upward, outward
To shadow the silent ruin
Of a past once progressive community.
Now sleeping, forgotten.
While the whip bird
Wakes screaming insects
And sends the cumbersome, curious wombat
To sleep.
Day begins for some, ends for others.
I love it when you smile
You don’t do it as often as I would like
You don’t do it perhaps as often as you would like
But you do do it
And
When you do
I love it.
