John Bennett #1 - November musings

birds not pets

‘Australia has provided the world with a remarkable range of pets, including budgerigars, cockatiels and other parrots, various finches, bearded dragons, bluetongue lizards and even the spiny leaf insect (Extatosoma tiaratum).’ Tim Low in this morning’s Australian Geographic ezine.

Birds in cages !!  Last week out west . . .

Silk scarves flying as the sun slips, jewelled wings

spinning colour, a Turquoise Parrot beating overhead,

brighter than Rainbow Bee-eaters, Rainbow Lorikeets

or rainbow. Brilliant blue wings charged by electric

current, golden belly, red flash and green shimmer

reaching the limit of colour. I felt naked.

And hundreds of Musk Lorikeets (a rarity here in Valla, we get Rainbows and Scaly-breasted). Here are two:

Chris Mansell quad #21 do not have

P.S. Cottier #5 Poetry like wine

Poetry like wine

To be swigged from a brown paper bag

To be squeezed from silver

To be smelt like a dog’s bum

To be spat out like bad seafood

To be introduced at great length

To be poured into a carafe of crystal

To be poured into a Vegemite jar

To be expensively housed in a collection

To be given for free at a party

To be savoured by bores

To be described on an easy label

To make a reader drunk with joy

To render the reader hungover with excess

To tingle with airy bubbles

To swamp with the lees of past glory

To become overly familiar through repetition

To become overly familiar through repetition

P.S. Cottier

I seem to be swinging between weather and wine on this blog so far.  Who'd have thunk it, at least so far as the weather is concerned?  By the way, I have already stuffed up the numbering of my poems, having two called #4.  So this is actually #6.  Rather than rename them all, I will call tomorrow's #7.

Cheers.