It's sad to see the big increase in

mental health troubles lately.

Nature therapy may give a quick

benefit with no side effects.

However, some sufferers might 

need a lot more help.

 

   Confusion

Big beasts fight

in the forest -

can we still

find paths

for you and me?

Like some other writers, 

I like to be rather incognito.

The photo is of me as a 

happy and popular toddler.

Some might say that's still

the main side of me! 

I had a very long illness

in very early childhood.  

Ukraine's President Zelensky is a great example of leadership, courage and decency. His cause is vital to the future of civilization.

                                                                      

   Another way?

grandpa was a pastor -

moderate, imaginative,

a good man;

can being a bard be

a bit like that

but with more

of the fun parts?

  Healthy humour helps in 

various ways. Some folk

don't understand that. For

example Plato is controversial,

partly because he was very

wary of humour and poetry.

  Did you get the joke in the

November blog post about

English? I didn't at first.

   Court jester

Centuries ago

that job was tough -

query and amuse,

but carefully!

Democracy is better.

                                                                                    

English is an odd language.

It has some strange spelling,

some words have two very

different meanings, etc.

In spite of such things, it is

the world's main language.

Is there symbolism in that?

                                                                    

    Maxims for living

Understand and persist.

Enjoy being useful.

    Good walks

in a big city

on a bus route

some lucky passengers:

an oval,

a corner near

a river,

a median strip

wide, with greenery -

way to go! 

    Democracy 

we sing 

different songs 

from the same

big page; 

the tunes 

aren't perfect 

but other pages 

may bring horrors

   Environment

earth, air and water

they seem so vast

and us so small

much have they changed

without us

yet now the pace

is so much faster

and ours

the onus

lest dreams

become nightmares

Some things are always important.


    Journey
she and I
together so long
giving things meaning
by sharing                                                     

                                                   
Small children and good poets
have a lot of questions.
Beware of those who claim
to know all of the answers.

                                    
The scenic photos on this blog
are from various countries.
I didn't take them. I hope
you find them enjoyable
and inspiring, as I do.

                                            
In these tough times, we need
inspiration from various arts
more than usual.
This might work in some places
(outside, with social distancing):

     Poetry reading
bards and triers
a venerable tradition
the audience listens
looking for magic

                                                                                                                                                            

I'm lucky enough to be living in
a place where the management
of COVID-19 is going very well.
Of course, our ancestors also
faced huge challenges including
wars and plagues.

    Other heroes
doctors in pandemics
firefighters in bushfires
whistleblowers in corruption
mothers who manage much

The human mind is the
most complicated and
mysterious thing
known to science.

     Humanity
bring the band
and sing great songs
armies of robots
can't kill poetry

   Teeth treatment
braver than usual
and more repentant?
memories flow
and time passes

Samuel Johnson opined:


"No man but a blockhead ever
wrote except for money."


I beg to differ.

I had polio for eighteen months.
Here's the story:

    Not all bad
when a toddler, illness forced
a fearsome confinement -
hours of therapy daily,
no contact with other kids;
the compensation has been
that restriction reluctance
kept me out
of jail and hospital!

 Some universities have
Confucius institutes. There's
a lot of postmodernism and
identity politics around. Maybe
more should be taught about
Shakespeare, the ancient Greeks
and Western civilization generally.
What do you think?

Here's a new poem of mine
which might apply to various
times and places:

    Political fog
tread carefully
and know who to follow
horrors may be near
but light should come

   Manual for poets
See like a child,
yet be a useful adult.
Love language.
Seek sagacity.
Enjoy the marvel of creativity.

A newspaper with about 600,000
readers likes that poem of mine.

My poem below is in two print magazines - the usual one and a church one.

    Hope?    
so many adrift, endangered -
can they lift their horizons?
to see something bigger and better,
to help themselves and others

I hope you enjoy my blog. That seems more likely if you don't like most modern poetry and do like good photos.
Poems favored by the poetry "establishment" would seldom be popular with most folk.

Rhyming poetry isn't fashionable,
but sometimes draws big crowds.
Each to his own!

My recent poem below is
also in "Positive Words".
It's a good magazine!

    Campfire yarns
memories and stories flow
as the flames fly;
an ancient way
to grander dreams

Below is one of my earlier poems. It's in the internet magazine.

    Dreams of a poet
will the storms clear
and the warblers sing?
can the love of wisdom
bring the wisdom of love?

Here's another poem of mine from the print magazine:

    What could help?
well, said the bard -
I can't stop wars
or build good cities
or clean the air
but perhaps my words
will make your heart sing

Of course, visual art goes back a
very long way in human history.
So does poetry. In every culture,
there was oral poetry before
writing was invented.

Here's one of my poems from the internet magazine:

    Mystery
who can explain life?
don't try too hard
logic should be
a servant of love

Good humor is wonderful. Here are a couple of quotes:
Victor Borge: "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."
Anonymous: "Dogs have masters. Cats have staff."

Some of my poems are in print magazines; others are easy to find via google search. It seems to me that people with a wide range of political opinions tend to like my poems (not being biased, of course!). Comments on blog posts are welcome; perhaps some people are mistakenly reluctant to comment because they don't want to act like poetry critics. The blog is the less common, non-commercial type. I try to enjoy being useful.

A few generations ago, there was little or no alternative to coal as a source of fuel for many things. Coal miners worked long hours, got coal dust in their lungs, and died young. Hence this poem:

    Coal miner
grandpa's ancestor
seems to say
see my story
and count your choices

Greetings
Do you think that most modern poetry is too obscure and/or gloomy and/or self-absorbed? If so, you might like the poems below.
You may find them a bit offbeat, but that should be okay.
By the way:
(1) Re the first one, I don't mean to imply that one group is better than the other.
(2) The last poem is particularly for those (like me) who are a bit technologically challenged.
Here they are:

    Country relatives
parallel worlds
theirs and ours?
crossover sometimes
but only the nimblest
can dance in both

    Persistence
forests have paths
and birds still sing
rainbows may be few
but sunshine comes again

    Hi-tech
strange new
languages and mysteries;
how to blend
old dreams with new?