From ocean's wave a Wanderer came,
With visage tanned and dun:
His Mother, when he told his name,
Scarce knew her long-lost son;
So altered was his face and frame
By the ill course he had run.
There was hot fever in his blood,
And dark thoughts in his brain;
And oh! to turn his heart to good
......
QUEEN GULNAAR sat on her ivory bed,
Around her countless treasures were spread;
Her chamber walls were richly inlaid
With agate, porphory, onyx and jade;
The tissues that veiled her delicate breast,
Glowed with the hues of a lapwing's crest;
But still she gazed in her mirror and sighed
......
Today I opened wide my eyes,
And stared with wonder and surprise,
To see beneath November skies
An apple blossom peer;
Upon a branch as bleak as night
It gleamed exultant on my sight,
A fairy beacon burning bright
Of hope and cheer.
'Alas! ' said I, 'poor foolish thing,
......
'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;
He turned away the good old horse that served him many days;
He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen;
He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine;
And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly pride,
The grinning shop assistant said, "Excuse me, can you ride?"
"See here, young man," said Mulga Bill, "from Walgett to the sea,
From Conroy's Gap to Castlereagh, there's none can ride like me.
I'm good all round at everything, as everybody knows,
Although I'm not the one to talk - I hate a man that blows.
......
It seemed that out of the battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which Titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall;
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.
......
Winter’s Retreat
Iron winds fall still,
frost loosens the emerald earth —
sun spills golden fire.
Spring’s Arrival
Blossoms crown the boughs,
......
burgundy and cream
and orange blossoms she wore
crowned in hues and lore
fresh naturally
like deep green, minty morning
sweet scent trails forming
queen of nature crowned
in myriad blooms daily
......
Sweet snowdrop bells ring!
The violets are coming
Days are chanting spring.
Crimson camelias call
from dreams near the garden wall.
Gold sun fields await
rich tulips of tomorrow!
Lily's never late.
Then pansies' pink faces greet
......
alive like rainbows
buds bluebirds wild ecstasy ~
cherry sun gone down
I relapsed today. Not in a drug way!
No!
Stop— it’s more complicated than that.
It’s okay, I’m fine,
I mean; why wouldn’t I be?
......