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Final editing and minor changes to be completed ... Date of last update 2 August 2013

Link to Site Information

Link to Poem Index   or see below ...   and continuing ... Poetry from 2010


Chronological listing 2001 - 31 December 2009 ... with hot links to the Post that contains the poem text ...

Haiku 2009 ... 31 December 2009
A token life ... 24 December 2009
Green to Brown ... 28 November 2009
He was not superstitious ... 13 November 2009
Waiting for Justice ... 27 October 2009
Blood Hot Buses ... 22 September 2009
Bianca and Kate (two sonnets) ... 31 August 2009
Shadow to Shade ... 25 August 2009
Blessed by the Ordinary ... 15 August 2009
Winter Sea ... 10 July 2009
A Quiet at St Marks ... 4 July 2009
Selected Limericks ... 30 June 2009
Wind Farm Country ... 12 June 2009
Capital Seasons ... 24 May 2009
Canberra Can ... 9 May 2009
Mere Traffic Noise ... 24 April 2009
Obsessed ... 22 April 2009
Poetic Advice ... 22 April 2009
Foot Surgery ... 9 April 2009
Surgery Haiku ... 5 April 2009
Like Shoes ... 11 March 2009
Summer Ends ... 28 February 2009
Climatic Thoughts ... 11 February 2009
Animal Thoughts ... 4 February 2009
The Anonymous Poem ... 5 January 2009
Stopping One Day ... 3 January 2009

Led Astray ... 14 December 2008
One and Zero ... 10 December 2008
Rue on Rhubarb ... 10 December 2008
Backpain Tension ... 27 November 2008
Immutability ... 10 September 2008
Church Building ... 13 August 2008
Cycling Along ... 13 August 2008
Re-Birth ... 9 July 2008
Water, Water Everywhere 11 June 2008
On Wet Days ... 11 June 2008
Thunder ... 6 June 2008
Temptation ... 31 May 2008
Light My Fire ... 14 May 2008
This Flame ... 14 May 2008
The Maybe Words ... 7 May 2008
Autumn Air on Mt Painter ... 9 April 2008
A Breath of Air ... 9 April 2008
The Down to Earth Question ... 12 March 2008
An Unearthly Perspective ... 12 March 2008
Love and Music ... 13 February 2008
I Identified ... 11 February 2008
The IF Bedtime Story for a Grand-Daughter ... 9 January 2008
IF is ... 9 January 2008
If Dreaming ... 9 January 2008

As time goes by ... 12 December 2007
Tiger Tiger ... 30 November 2007
You and Me ... 14 November 2007
The Two of Us ... 14 November 2007
The Left and Right of It ... 13 November 2007
The Breaking of the Drought ... 11 November 2007
In Rememberance ... 27 October 2007
Metal Jazz at Moruya ... 20 October 2007
Fathers ... 10 October 2007
Fathers and Sons ... 15 September 2007
Memories ... 12 September 2007
Student Love ... 12 September 2007
Treadmill ... 8 August 2007
Regeneration ... 29 July 2007
Appropriate Closure ... 20 July 2007
Press Releases ... 15 July 2007
Special Day ... 15 July 2007
At the End of the Day ... 11 July 2007
The Mathematics of Marriage ... 18 June 2007
Words Waiting ... 13 June 2007
The Release Word ... 13 June 2007
Release Me ... 13 June 2007
A Rare Sighting ... 12 June 2007
Summer Dance ... 9 May 2007
Strip Trees ... 9 May 2007
Deception ... 20 April 2007
March of the Killer Crabs ... 11 April 2007
Mermaids Singing ... 11 April 2007
An Ode to Dora ... 14 March 2007
Ode: 2 B a Poet ... 14 March 2007
In Another Life ... 14 February 2007
Australia Day - 2007 ... 26 January 2007
The Ashes ... 10 January 2007
Something New ... 10 January 2007

Passing Time ... 12 December 2006
My Nothing God ... 12 November 2006
The Game of Life ... 8 November 2006
Your Cake ... 8 November 2006
Shaking it up ... 8 November 2006
Values ... 8 November 2006
Great Poetry ... 24 October 2006
Him Music ... 11 October 2006
Text of Note ... 11 October 2006
Your Song ... 11 October 2006 (not available on-line)
Our last visit to Mum ... 11 August 2006
Six of the Best ... 9 August 2006
The Healthy Worm ... 3 August 2006
Depot Beach Walk ... 30 July 2006
Haiku ... 21 July 2006
Some Creature ... 15 July 2006
Census Day ... 9 July 2006
America Beautiful ... 4 July 2006
Animal Accident ... 19 June 2006
Red Hat ... 14 June 2006
Ulladulla Fun Run ... 10 May 2006
Beauty ... 18 April 2006
England ... 12 April 2006
Home ... 12 April 2006
Beware the Ides Of March ... 8 March 2006
Genesis ... 11 January 2006

Celebrate ... 14 December 2005
Closing the Door ... 28 November 2005
Apostles Considered ... 25 October 2005
Sacred Ground ... 25 September 2005
Partnership Play ... 20 August 2005
The Peace on Terrorism ... 6 August 2005
Brain Surgery ... 15 June 2005
Sunday Church ... 19 May 2005
Edge Walk ... 21 April 2005
After Tsunami ... 13 January 2005

Sophie Says ... 25 December 2004
Wedding Clock ... 20 November 2004
A Lark Awakening ... 4 Septmeber 2004
Just Deserts ... 31 August 2004
Lily Remembered ... 26 June 2004
Sixty ... 7 June ... 2004
Autumn on Mount Painter ... 21 May 2004
Awake My Love ... 18 April 2004
Prostitute ... 30 March 2004
Deceptively Receptive ... 5 March 2004

Poetry ... 29 November 2003
Drought At Lake George ... 17 November 2003
Early Morning Run At Batehaven ... 10 October 2003
The Sun ... 26 July 2003
Waiting For ... 1 July 2003
Words Alone ... 23 March 2003
He Was ... 18 March 2003
Poets Are ... 20 February 2003
Pressing the Button ... 19 February 2003

After Sunday Lunch ... 17 February 2002
Today ... 10 December 2002
Birthday Bill ... 18 October 2002
Empathy ... 15 August 2002
Infinite Glory ... April 2002
Passing Love ... 15 March 2002
One Number Less ... 31 January 2002

Trash and Treasure ... 25 December 2001
Tessa ... 15 December 2001
In Gratitude ... 27 October 2001
Song of the Universe ... 30 September 2001

Note ...
Some early poems not included on this Site include ... That Call, Rejection, Words ...

Regeneration

the child is father of the woman

after the fall
and the cutting of trees

green evolution

tree of woman
standing tall and firm

deep searching roots
taking and giving

all the earth has to offer

Richard Scutter 29 July 2007

I Identified

I am I, I am
I am Ozie and a man
I am, I am, an Ozie am
King of Kings I am I am
I also am you man I am
I also am you woman am
I am the you, you see -
the I that is the you in me

© Richard Scutter 11 February 2008

A poetic response to Shelley’s famous poem Ozymandias.

The Left and Right of It

Left is no more right
than Right, right
though it may think itself right!
for it is blinkered sight
to think it right
to have but one-eyed sight!

come on the end is in sight! -
… left right, left right, left right …

Richard Scutter 17 November 2007

Footnote

Written in the lead up to the Kevin 07 election in Oz, in last days of the campaigning when the public was getting perhaps a little tired of the dominance of politics ... election year again this year (2010) I guess the same will happen.

Fathers and Sons

(based on the poem by David Campbell below)

the brash boys we dated
are in their forties,
their handsome sons
have stolen their strength;

and with arrogant stride
in cool contempt,
they flaunt their fathers’ wisdom
with their fathers’ features.

Richard Scutter


Mothers and Daughters

the cruel girls we loved
are over forty,
their subtle daughters
have stolen their beauty;

and with a blue stare
of cool surprise,
they mock their anxious mothers
with their mothers’ eyes.

David Campbell

Special Day

churinga red marked …
and the rain
do you remember the rain

reaching ‘The Steampacket’
late in the day
with that huge fire burning
and ‘Old Norm’
being part of the fixtures

but now embers reflective fly
sparking the daily mundane
with intensity magnified by the years
pokes at a certain perpetuity

while we pause a moment
share an internal smile
a quiet joy envelops

Richard Scutter15 July 2007

Press Releases ...

On 18 April 1945 …
into this world
an angel.

On 23 December 1946 …
into this world
unknowing, a total stranger.

On 15 July 1972 …
a serious collision
couple entangled.

Latest update …
both doing quite well
in the hospital of married life -

no parties pressing a release.

© Richard Scutter 13 June 2007

Bianca and Kate (2 sonnets)

Bianca, a summer’s day do I compare
thou art pure softness and so tender fair
as bilious clouds drift slow across the sky
while summer’s heat falls tepid to the eye
sometimes too soft your shallow nature seems
your life you swallow as in empty dreams
everything to everything sweet to sweet effect
there’s nothing such sponge being can deflect
as mist evaporates with each rising day
so everything in you fades it’s fading way
it is perhaps you act this way by choice
your choice to end in whisper of a voice
so long as man can breathe or eyes can see
your being is a total loss in me

Kate, completely winter’s day the same
thou art deepest black in all disdain
the violent rage of battering storm
the path you take as daily norm
and thy eternal winter does not fade
no passion lost or cheap parade
you shout and scream a constant yell
in all you meet you give pure hell
but beneath the scowling winter rain
there is a hidden quiet, a soft refrain
though never would thou give as choice
that whisper of your other voice
so long as man can breathe or eyes can see
your black being shines the white in me

© Richard Scutter  August 2009

based on two main characters from 'The Taming of the Shrew' by Shakespeare ... written for a U3A session

Metal Jazz at Moruya

(at the Golf Club)

razzle-dazzle swang box
the squeeze fat accordion
sends out swish notes
in black and white deference
to the club’s swinging swingers

strange shapes fire dance
the flash patchy floor
in a jam jamming frenzy

the spotlight switches
to the swash ring ding zither
of the silver washboard
shingling it’s slithers
in a swashbuckling zing

hovering notes hook waiting
as the brass breaks in low
with a fart blasting blow

dull clink of beer glasses
from the shadowy cave
are black background sound
at the back of the room

the circumscribed circle
of hidden eyes follow
all silly movement
with muted mirth –

while in a matter of hours
balls will skid skyward
in different directions

Richard Scutter 20 October 2007

A Mother In-law Problem

it is not a well-known fact
that Eve won the Miss Universe Contest
three years running

it was planned out from the beginning
the whole thing ribbed from above
stage-managed to perfection

nobody said ‘she was one in a million’
so she always took top honors
the decision a one-off personal affair

how could Adam vote for another
for he had magnetic affinity for dark hair
and he couldn’t vote for a blonde unseen

but the fourth year Adam simply had to abstain
it was all Eve’s doing in the cookery department
an unwise decision to make apple pie

for how could she emulate her Mother-in-law
when the recipe wasn’t God-given,
perhaps she just thought she could do better!

a bit unfair on poor old Adam though –
for he never ever looked at another woman
and always treated her as his very own body

so now we’re all eating Eve’s humble pie
and whether we realize we’re married or not
we can blame the Mother-in-law for dictating our lot

Richard Scutter 5 September 2009

Selected Limericks

On Jelly-Bean Poetry

jelly-bean poetry, I love you
jelly-bean poetry, yes I do
short and light
sweet and bright
although some days you make me spew

Against the Apologetic

I once knew a man from Macquarie
wherever he went he said ‘sorry’!
I’m sorry to say
he ended his day
with one very enormous apology

An Old Friend

I met an old friend I once knew
who had skin a vivid dark blue
I said ‘are you cold’
he said ‘no but old
for my blood don’t do what’s its told’

Nose Spray

I once met a man from Hong Kong
who had a nose exceedingly long
that when he did sneeze
there came a strong breeze
that shook all the trees into song

Brenda at Bridge

a Bridge player I know called Brenda
unfortunately swallowed her agenda
on every play
she lost her way
it was a clear case of a hidden agenda

A Hot Rani

My dog goes by the name of Rani
she gobbled a great hot salami
jumped into a jig
squealed like a pig
and drove all the family barmy

Richard Scutter 2 June 2009

Limerick definition …

noun - a type of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first and second lines rhyme with the fifth line, and the shorter third line rhymes with the shorter fourth.

[named after Limerick, Ireland; originally, a song with refrain, `Will you come up to Limerick?']

both a county and a town … a county in south-western Republic of Ireland, in Munster. its county town; a seaport at the head of the Shannon estuary

(from the Macquarie Dictionary)

Bianca and Kate

Bianca and Kate considering the two ladies from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ with apologies to Shakespeare 

Bianca

a summer’s day do I compare

thou art pure softness and so tender fair 

as billowing clouds drift slow across the sky 

while summer’s heat falls tepid to the eye 

sometimes too soft your shallow nature seems

your life you swallow as in empty dreams

everything to everything sweet to sweet effect

there’s nothing such sponge being can deflect 

as mist evaporates with each rising day

so everything in you fades its fading way 

it is perhaps you act this way by choice 

your choice to end in whisper of a voice 

so long as man can breathe or eyes can see

your being is a total loss in me

Kate

completely winter’s day the same 

thou art deepest black in all disdain 

the violent rage of battering storm 

the path you take as daily norm 

and thy eternal winter does not fade 

no passion lost or cheap parade 

you shout and scream a constant yell 

in all you meet you give pure hell 

but beneath the scowling winter rain 

there is a hidden quiet, a soft refrain 

though never would thou give as choice 

that whisper of your other voice 

so long as man can breathe or eyes can see 

your blackness shines reality in me 

Footnote The ‘Taming of the Shrew’ is a delightful play on the duality of the female character. This poem was written as a performance piece for a University of the Third Age Shakespeare appreciation course

A quiet at St Marks

(4 July 09 – Independence Day)

Nikolai presses the pause button
while the world moves on
the drone of a plane high above

the wind wrestles the trees
everyone taking time
the crunch of gravel underfoot

solitary figures seek communion
for a settling of the soul
while a lost name-tag dances the grass

the chill air disturbs
any attempted after lunch sleep
but warmth in the cut short sun

someone’s dropped programme
flaps across open ground
words whisked away by wind

the Carillon chimes the closing hour
a fat black crow waddles and laughs
unruffled by the occasion

now to press the restart
to place back Christ
in the context of the world

© Richard Scutter 4 July 2009