
Autumn Haiku #01 (revisited)
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I went down to see the majority in action gathering in the square
the surging crowd the chanting voice of many people was there
yet I missed the referring whisper of others from the crowd
the minority of a democracy was absent / quiet as a shroud
and whither was their point of view drowned by slogans and revile
the future of inclusiveness dominated by slurs that defile
I looked for the different colours here the different sounds and where
I found such difference I did recoil at its oppressed nature there
then cans were rattled the songs were long about victory and strength
but for those lost and weak who did not belong there was to be no defence
as push came to shove and drama spilled onto this public stage
the large protest became a test of where the power is really laid
how it would be used to push a point of view not clear to absolutely everyone
unless to power they were already connected or held the butt of a gun
there is apparently no place for everyone under our glowing democratic sun
for those left out it was time to think and maybe time to run
















Half an hour
one forty eighth of each day
should be consistently allocated to the following practice
should be consistently adhered to at the expense of all other things
the undertaking of regular exercise
no matter what your age
this is a good use of your time
such that the time that is left to you
may well be longer

Tonight I accepted this Award for the Walking and Rolling Together Project I led for Victoria Walks. It has been a privilege working with the awesome Victoria Walks team and recently retired EO Ben Rossiter. It has been a privilege to co-design and co-audit with so many people living with disability, their families and carers. Collaborating with Scope Australia, DSRV, RSV, RSAs GippSport, Sport North East and Valley Sport made all the necessary statewide connections possible. To the State Government of Victoria and Department of Sport and Recreation thank you for recognising our vision and funding it not once, but twice.
A closing statement: there are still many good people out there doing many very good things. Join them.
I am going to tell you a story about what began, thus .,,,,
our underused garage became a room for rumpus.
Little did we anticipate the rowdiness it would encompass,
when rowdy young children began to rumpus plus plus!
Discuss the matter further we must.
This week Kim challenged we poets to craft a quadrille around the word “rumpus”. This is an almost true story. Only the children have changed. https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/25/quadrille-230-lets-kick-up-a-rumpus/



