Juliet is all slick and wet her long hair in her eyes she has been hit by an idiot drunk driving by ……………. bye bye
Romeo roams idly past he sees the girl on the ground he looks at her - quizzically then he realises what he has found
Juliet breathes in gasps as blood pools under her back she looks up, sees Romeo last look, last love as her limbs go slack
Romeo’s not much you know but this time things are different He wipes the hair from her glazed eyes and wonders where her life went
Juliet rises above the scene she watches Romeo He cradles her head gently in his lap he whimpers out a moan
Romeo struck by love’s full fist his only love has gone he whines, he weeps at his loss death into his soul is born
Juliet bears final witness to Romeo’s last testament “Did my heart truly love till now?” he whispers
------------------------------------------ For the first time he knows of true love and grace “Good night, good night” “Thus with a kiss I too die” He declares to her still and pallid face
Romeo bends his head down and tenderly brushes her cold blue lips with his own
he softly places her head on the ground a final look to the only love he has known he lies quietly beside her he takes her right hand in his left
Romeo retrieves a switchblade knife from his trouser ‘s pocket meant for rivals never his life and yet, he eases the blade into his chest dividing his ribs apart the sharp-edged steel slides smoothly it finds his broken heart
As blood pools under his back he has nothing more to say onto the cold hard tarmac his life also leaks away
Juliet utters one last cry of grief before she disappears forever or was that one last plea for relief in hope somewhere they will reappear together
for never was there a story that reeks of more woe than this tragic tale of Juliet and her Romeo
What is it the forest says to me? It says, “Dive in deep and gleefully!” and oh I do so like to take that advice because diving into a forest is oh so nice
I approach the edge excited each time because when forest bathing the time is all mine nearing the forest the world changes scale and shape new dimensions appear: from 2D to 3D, into 4D I leap
as the colours of tree thin lands fade out behind me the colours of the forest grow ever richer to see and time seems to stop while immersed in this place as the harshness of cities is quickly replaced by the soft light of beauty and amazing grace
the smells of the flora the anticipation of wildlife the moisture in the air the freedom the relief where I walk in peace awestruck and at my own pace where I find so many reasons to pause and marvel in this space
I belong in the forest it puts smiles on my face it slows me it soothes me it relieves me of haste
it gives me adventures I would never otherwise find it welcomes and embraces me and I return all in kind I embrace the ground cover the mid story and canopy I welcome every insect bird and animal I see I soak up the sights of mosses lichen and fungi the waterways the water aquatic life and algae
and I think if this is heaven in heaven I want to be because then heaven is on earth to revere joyfully
Today’s d’Verse prompt is from Lillian: write a poem that somehow mentions, is set in, or is motivated by the woods / forest. As I hope you can see, I like nothing better than to spend time walking in forests.
Another edition of the very local newsletter I edit each month. Apologies for the lack of other material in recent months. Other things going on, but I am hoping to be back for more publishing soon!
There is a room in a house on a hill without doors nobody knows what it was put there for because nobody knows that it has no doors
the room in the house is alone and forlorn trapped by its emptiness without any doors never able to hope for better or more ne’er an open door through which to explore
In the Valley there are few trees now since white settlement the river gums have bled steadily back into ever depleting soil the dehydrating sap bleeding red
some majestic sentinels remain on final watch across the floodplain of gritty dust and cropped introduced grasses as the parade of indigenous extinction passes withdrawing from the flats retreating across the hills ascending to heaven after suffering grave ills
and the broken remnains of centuries of trees stand skeletal or lie shattered on the ground as if awaiting a last chance for redemption after each falling whoosh and final thump of sound in atonement for overseeing the loss of forest they crave to protect their young who escape the cut of plough or chainsaw or grazing teeth they
enfold survivors in fractured parental branches fostering the roots beneath attempting nurture of trunk and leaf but they have nothing left to bequeath to young individuals left standing exposed to sadly age in grief witness to a parasitic human occupation a relentless quest by the future’s thief
The idea of Australia going nuclear galls me Mr Dutton with a finger on any nuclear button appals me This land of sunshine vast spaces and mineral wealth locked into a future of power hazardous to health with effective contribution to the grid decades away when we can scale up renewables here today
I am in a state of dismay at nuclear plants throughout the land of nuclear waste dumps / come contraband of huge ongoing costs already astronomical compared with falling costs efficient and economical
of obsolete technology by the time it is in place when an ever improving tech is already here its a disgrace it’s sensible to consider it and review the outcomes but not to legitimise it without proper data and sums this is not a neutral decision and should not be it is populist electoral baiting for a fait accompli
The nuclear legacy window is closing ready to be dismantled
It makes pleasurable sense to live in the country but I am apprehensive about what it means when the blistering sun and a searing north wind are set to scorch the earth when they rise again
I am scared of the new summer on days like these marked for worsening catastrophes where shimmering heat on the horizon it seems prefaces the burning of landscapes by fire destined to scour every countryside rise and glen I feel the new summer fear rise again
I am scared of the new summer as you should be when severe climate change dictates choice and activity
I introduce the 60 year old interrobang the question mark as an exclamation cue the bang originated as printer’s slang a punctuation mark infrequently used
query and emphasis are from whence it came for the enhancement of modern writing gives use of an interrobang strong claim a sting in the tail for subjects disquieting
I hear the rasping caw of the mortuary bird alone at the top of a single skeletal tree black feathered reaper scavenger and restorer observer for signs of frailty failure and futility
calling to others announcing death as imminent there at the carrion end of the cycle of life crow presence at death's arrival is prescient beak and claw ready to tear and cut like a knife
the murderous flock train beady eyes on their prey awaiting the moment they can safely descend they utter hexes for stillness at the meat of the day aware their role is to share in marking the end
enter Melbourne on a bright yellow footbridge under which the slow brown river flows
cross the river pass Flinders St station walk your way to the parliamentary ridge
you will pass the most diverse of nations every ethnicity, every colour and language
and generally we live harmoniously although some would have it otherwise I swear they would have us live in catastrophe but I refuse to cooperate with their lies
poetography.ink 