Of Droughts and Flooding Plains

(written on 11/1/11)

A country of extremes

Bushfires in WA

Floods over more than a third

Of Queensland

And rain still falling

And more to come

The drought was desiccating

-  As droughts are –

But now the plains will

Be flooded for many weeks

And peoples’ lives

Once filled with the heritage

Of drought

Are now torn emotionally

And physically as water

Speeds through countryside

And homes and towns

And families

As the rain continues

We, in the southern states,

Gasp in disbelief and awe

But knowing that

Hope and resilience

Will come to the fore.

©Peter Bean

Silence 2

Listening to the silence

   is difficult

   if not impossible

Because in the silence

   of my backyard

   noises abound

The birds, the traffic

   the toilet flushing

   the neighbourly hello

All intrude into

   any silence that

   may have existed

And in the silence

   of my mind

   there is a peak hour

Of thought and ideas

   jostling for attention

   disturbing my silence

However

   I will continue

   to focus

And appreciate

   the brief pauses

   of quiet

But even in the midst

   of interruptions

   to access

The revelations

   that occur

   in the (occasional) silence

©Peter Bean

Silence

Sitting in a cafe

filled with conversation

silence is a strange

thing to consider

yet there is silence

- or there could be –

in my brain

if I wasn’t writing

What is silence

but immersion

in your own

inner circle?

It is not

ignoring

but shutting out

the better to

focus

contemplate

relax

listen

©Peter Bean

The day continues

The day continues

warm and breezy

and the thoughts

languid and slow

roll from the brain

© Peter Bean

Summer Winds

But are they
these blustery
unpredictable
even occasionally
fresh and cool
movements of air
winds of summer?

Or are they
the remnants of
or perhaps
the continuation of
spring breezes
and storms?
For this

is what they
seem like
southeasterly
rather than
hot and dry
northerlies
moderating

is what they
do to the
temperature
rather than
pushing
ever higher.
But one day

soon when they
cease to blow
I will write
again about
the heat
the dust
the dry

in what they
or perhaps
you will
recognise
as a
summer lament

© Peter Bean

Reality

Reality hits home
when texts are received
and while we can reply
via impersonal media
we cannot speak
or visit
or see
except for planned excursions

Who will you be a human to?

(thanks to Primo Levi)

Who will you be a human to
this year?
Just one (or more) will do:
to remind him or her or them
of their humanity
by your humanity
One human being
being human to
another human being
so they can be human too

© Peter Bean