31 August 2012

Equity

warmth

Letting winter run its course suggests
amorphous powerlessness – or merely
wisdom less vaguely based than one’s
feeling warm; comfort of a fire and a
good text asks few questions, poses
no mysteries excepting who gets the
next log – rare deliberation in fact as
the current log burns without haste

It is a leisurely pace which intrigues,
no need to up the ante when layers
of warmth shelter a decision of no
contest – letting it happen in its own
way has majesty bearing witness to
unassailable impressions of equity
© 29 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

30 August 2012

Facile Grin

Palmer

If I had to agree with Clive Palmer
it could only be in seeing the same
anomaly he describes as leader of
the opposition; seldom do Clive’s
views tone familiar of unity or of
altruism, but you can see where
he stands – a like view of Tony
Abbott is really unattainable

Tho’ it adds to belief of a fable in
making; you know of Clive’s views
on how greater good operates – in
Tony’s case it’s a mystery, there’s
a blank page of unstated promises
waiting in space of a facile grin
© 28 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

29 August 2012

Ageing Precedent




Is this the irony? Were we
better informed or less
perplexed before the internet?


Probably a question left best
to ageing precedents whose
memories aren’t too clear


But a good guess would be a
bit of each articulated in the
degree of literate inheritance


Claiming on its own you read
okay sustains belief in most
recurring fairy tales


Or in being one who acclaims
legitimacy in seeking benefit by
parading unclear differences


Until concupiscence scams
that read like failed grade III
education set the scenes


And that’s the irony – we
need be less to claim more of
what we already have anyway 


© 27 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

28 August 2012

Let It Rest

let it rest

Complain to whom (or is it ‘who’, you
might digress) to get its cast iron grip
beset with angst release its feral hold;
and where does one appeal for peace
from boldly broken promises

Its rash of nervous energy repressed
retreats beyond a point where sense
conspires in views of wrong disjointed
too obscurely to be set to rights – and
all for crudely wooed imbalances

Seeking succour from a Bank of vogue
intransigence will find you’re stranded
in a cell-like dream with less restraint
than walls of clay – although in bricks
displayed as bogus faith

Answers blink belatedly, a wraith-like
figurine who signals in a semaphore
too simply read; behold you’re author
of your subtle fate alone it says –
best let it rest in peace...
© 25 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

27 August 2012

Mind The Fire




On dismal grey and colder days
you couldn’t guess I’m pleased
to be a minder (who’s been left
appeased) to tend the fire –


With no affected wish to go on
shopping sprees and less desire
for crowded trains complete
with semi-urgent body-press


Or airiness in tête-à-tête of
homey chats where terms are
interspersed with epithets I
can’t aspire to understand;


It’s not for me – I’m better set
at rest by freedom to be best a
hermit less the consequence of
wholly captive space;


If yesterday became a vision 
of a fête ideal with harmony the
cause célèbre we’d dread but
never need distractions sought


From bleak, mind-numbing sorts
of incidents expressed as plainly
ordinary happenstance; and yet
today we’re off to feast instead


Upon a smorgasbord of dreams
because we know they’re there;
whose dreams are these – ask
whom you will, it is a fest to fill


Your emptiness they say, so first
confess a need and reach with
eager hands, do not renege,
you made the grade in seeing


What’s beyond command – and
yet I must appeal, I feel I am
fulfilled apace by staying here
instead to mind the fire
© 23 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

26 August 2012

Left Unsaid



No closer to the state of grace
one assumed marked passage
from a bedevilled locality – no
flash of revelation too brilliant
to stare in the face; it is all so
ho-hum abuzz, so ordinary we
see nothing to gaze at except
our own disparate reflections 


But they pale into drab & grey
too far gone to stand out from
the rest; it is true as they say
we grow alike, merge without
features for the right reasons
into words better left unsaid
© 22 June 2012, I. D. Carswell



25 August 2012

Self Service


self service

It may have been the third coffee
after a rash of mundane cleaning
chores or the sun rising in a good
cheer but I’m less inclined now to
bash m’ mate Camo (aka Gollum)
for his brash announcement he’ll
launch legislation queering ALP’s
source of Union financial support


And I will not – except to observe
that Camo’s tort is an art-form of
deceit; whingeing at its duplicity
won’t make him come clean – his
plan serves NLP agendas just as
indecently as those of the ALP
© 21 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

24 August 2012

What Is left

chloe-raw

You’d swear it was benign
until it ate what was left of
raw bluster buoying a sad
state; and as such despair
queries even lucid plans,
discouraging attempts at
pretence, wearing nerves
stretched way too thin


There’s no antidote for an
out-dated state of mind,
conciliatory phrases don’t
soothe aches staled in old
memories repressed by
the debris of what is left
© 3 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

23 August 2012

Silence Blest


silence blessed

It wasn’t just the things you said;
for sure, they were enough to earn
a roar of righteous discontent – and
there’s the irony, it meant the barbs
impacted gentle flesh and bled with
agonies you saw no valid reason for:
now you’re sore of heart and soul,
disgraced before apologies arraign


It’s worse if words were left unsaid
that could explain why foolishness
expressed itself at such a toll; to fail
a silence blest apology attests a case
wherein ‘I’m Sorry’ read aloud
forestalls the wearing of a veil
© 19 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

22 August 2012

Marinated Mullet


marinated

Obviously didn’t pay attention
should’ve seen the conspiracy
long before the last pizza with
pepperoni disappeared; I had
guessed three slices weren’t a
third of the offering or proper
share that day but even then
won’t say it wasn’t fair


Pizza hits the plate to a rare
consensus here – gustatory
angst dissipates, kind juices
flow and my gullet scored OK
in pure epicure mode of most
venerated marinated mullet
© 18 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

21 August 2012

More-Or-Less




Must’ve missed something along
the track – compared with other
blokes I’m backed with a similar
tally in arms and legs & a bit of
brawny tissue to pose with but,
& get it ‘straight’ poseurs, not a
single tat*, which wouldn’t make
me more-or-less all or anything


Let me guess, the tats a symbol
of manhood beset by girly visions
of making one look better; then 

you’d agree it’s a waste if worn
to
attest something in place of
an already missing character
© 14 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

* Tattoo

20 August 2012

Hedging

logo

What does it mean to owe no-
one and own nothing; for some
an infinite refuge from abuse by
events beyond their control, so
was it chance, do you wonder if
it could have been another way:
causes exist for outcomes which
aren’t unfailingly even credible

But obligations are currency, a
reliable exchange for affective
interrelations, so I’m broke and
rationally protest your hedging
bets against another punter’s
emotional speculation
© 10 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

19 August 2012

Roast Macs


macademia
It is one of those thorny dilemmas
driven by taste appreciation – not
pretentiousness tweaked in public
posturing but an intuitive logic on
how macadamias should & should
not taste; the belief is they ought
to be first gathered furtively when
out walking the dogs next door


The scent of adventure heightens
hunter-gatherer anticipation in a
savour of sweetly roasted-in-the-
nut kernels one willingly risks the
fireside admonition of neighbours
waiting anxiously for their share
© 8 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

18 August 2012

N9 Tales


Can’t say its effort wasted
clearing a vast email backlog
meant the phone receives and
sends without antsy server
hysteria; that’s what it says –
four figure inbox counts are
expressed as the epitome of
blasé, vague laziness
   

Nokia’s design technocracy
didn’t plan for a guy whose
idea was to leave all emails
alone – a clutter-free event
on a laptop but not PC* for
mobile phones!
©7 June 2012, I. D. Carswell
* politically correct

17 August 2012

Residue

handwipe

A consummate sense of ownership
has gone, not out of future calamity
or lack of adventure; it was inclined
to be less long-suffering anyway –
unable to ease dialectic obligations
deigned contractual. Disparities that
sucked you observed and packed
without a backward glance

There’s little left of the original idea
though amazing vestiges cling, they
cohere in logic, reflecting passage
of time without tarnishing – it’s like
it still wields the polishing rags or
in some way guide hands that will
© 6 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

16 August 2012

Space You Tend

secluded space

Be a mug to claim you ain’t had
words that made less sense
than anger’s measurement of
mordancy; it’s in that aching gap
you fell to wedge yourself afore
the bell was finally dinged – and
welcome as it might have been
it didn’t really end the round

On silent days you hear their
sound – they’re words which ring
less rancour now, but still absurd
and shameful vows that earned
the space you tend alone as
yours to waste seclusion in
© 16 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

15 August 2012

Throwaway

Seeds of a jackfruit. Jackfruit. Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. Moraceae. Jackfruit is the largest tree_borne fruit in the world, reaching 80 pounds in weight and up to 36 inches long and 20 inches in diameter. Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Jackfruit seeds, not an ordinary
fare; more a meal indeed with
flair you’d liken if you’re crude
enough to Bunya nut, or freed
taxonomies of what you really
like, decide comparisons that
smack of weirdly taciturn and
rare or unexplained restraint

They’re baked or boiled – try
both ways, in the end it is your
palate which discerns the better
recipe; no substitute compares
as such for seeds that most of
us would sadly throw away
© 20 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

14 August 2012

Welcome James

James looking cool

James, wee man, as yet we have
not met, but you are miles away
and new to our extended clan; it
will be weird at first, you’ll need
to form ideas of comforts blessed
‘tween naps & feeds & cuddles to
express those kindly things that
later words will readily explain

Vocabulary will flow from these
events, precedents entrained by
sibling’s magnanimity, teachers
to taxonomies you’ll be assured
apace by heart and hand to be
the gracefulness of family
© 9 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

James joins Charlotte and Oliver

13 August 2012

What Is left

debris

You’d swear it was benign
until it ate what was left of
raw bluster buoying a sad
state; and as such despair
queries even lucid plans,
discouraging attempts at
pretence, wearing nerves
stretched way too thin

There’s no antidote for an
out-dated state of mind,
conciliatory phrases don’t
soothe aches staled in old
memories repressed by
the debris of what is left
© 3 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

12 August 2012

James Lucas

James Lucas carswell

Great beginning to the day,
news that’s been awaited
came and weight is lifted
off an open expectation in
an SMS which raised the
siege – it reads:

Welcome to the world, james
lucas carswell, born today 7th
june @ 2.17am, w 4.32 kg,
length 52cm! mum & bub r
well, dad needs coffee, c & o
excited to have brother

Salutations James Lucas
Carswell, joining sister
Charlotte and brother
Oliver; congratulations to
Angela and Aaron on this
grand 7th day of July
© 7 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

Who Pays

who pays

We live in Paradise – QLD Premier
says so unequivocally, and who is
better to know than Gollum! He is
nearly right for sure but probably
doesn’t get foreign-accent blurred
calls from IT gurus said to be with
your Service provider. S
omething’s
wrong with your PC, they slur

Not according to me (who’s a fair
understanding on things PC), why
are you speaking on the phone; it
doesn’t elicit workable insight into
said computer malfunction except
as pretentious techno-babble – so
you need my current bank account
details to save me future trouble?

Obviously things ain’t kosher; so
we play along just to see how far
they’ll go – a bizarre conversation
about beliefs & trust in providing
for complex needs. But, and like
Gollum, I suppose, a promise to
fix all those pernickety problems
pretty much in the same way

But Gollum doesn’t need account
details to effect his reforms; he’s
off away & round the bend in an
astute revenue-stream-assured
badinage which in hindsight may
include a few tax hikes, increased
prices and a host of double-take
spams about who actually pays
© 14 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

11 August 2012

Test Of Relevance

carbon price benefit
The Government Department of Human
Services
is my saviour; okay, it means
Centrelink by any other name ‘tho let’s
be fair, it wears aberrant mud-slinging
on what dole is really about, too easily
infiltrated by views of those denied, for
reasons misconstrued on why or how
it is applied; yet it’s Heaven sent


So carbon price benefit – a household
assistance payment preparing me for
change on 1 July arrived; a week late
advisory letter didn’t provide insight
either: perhaps a test of relevance or
largesse for pensioners indemnified?
© 15 June 2012, I. D. Carswell

10 August 2012

The Navy Way

Navy Way

Seldom have I read such pooh, the man contends
to represent ‘constituents’ – all ex-Defence, who
have retired on benefits they duly earned: DFRB/
DFRDB Superannuants to a man; it stands for

Defence Force Retirements Benefits/Defence
Force Retirement and Death Benefits schemes a
serviceman has little choice about per se, must
contribute part of pay towards until retirement

The claim begins to state a case which ordinarily
deserves review but then exceeds the bounds of
commonsense, spews invective one construes as
angry self-defence for deeply wounded pride

Whether we abide within the frame of benefit to
earn an indexed rise has nought to do with rules
applied to Old Age Pension and its precedents,
but Governments can duly change that view

Swain’s ‘why’ is clear as passages progress with
graphic threats to Ministers whose views do not
enshrine our Service vows; pariahs soon to
Opposition’s Bench for languishing he jibes

If he’s right his claim just might be great for all
of us who want a fair, unbiased Government to
care for good – but to suggest we all agree with
him is neither true or real and never could

The letter clearly is a rally call to all he claims to
represent – and he’s declared we’ll vote his way;
well mate, you represent the Navy, the feckless
mob whose love of grog is frankly legendary

So we’d suggest a tot of rum or scratch your bum
or dance a jig – best leave the job to them who
never knew what Politics dispensed until your sad
not quite pusillanimous attempt to teach
© 27 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

For:

Commander Ken Swain AM RAN Rtd
President, Federation of Naval Ship Assns

Copy of Swains letter available at:

http://www.rancba.org.au/FNSA_DFRDB.htm

09 August 2012

Rechargeable




You could say life’s rather like the
reality of a rechargeable cell – no
need elaborate, without doubt at
some stage we’ve all been there


When no energy is left to spark up
zest the bureau drawer contains a
panacea, insert run-down cells,
wait until the light turns green


That burst of replenished energy
comes sweet, vigour returns and
indefatigable enthusiasm sweeps
away the debris of despair


Life’s worth living although vague
suspicion filters discretely into an
enhanced view of the new reality –
so, how long will this really last?


Manufacturer guarantees exclude
effects of unusual application and
/or repeated usage beyond use-by-
date causing battery failure


Seems no pot of gold sits at this
rainbow’s end – just a discard pile
of rechargeable battery cells which
cruelled you in your hour of need
© 19 May 2012, I. D. Carswell

08 August 2012

Winning

Kudelka-carbon-cartoon

You could say I don’t work like
the rest – probably spending a
lot more time and gaining less
obvious rewards for the things
I do; but kitchen cleaned with
loaf of bread baking, the slow
lounge fire resurrected and all
weekend dishes cleaned

Achieved during debate on an
emissions trading scheme – a
carbon tax vision of ubiquitous
price increases out of kilter with
the habitual things we like to do
when we think we’re winning...
© 2 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

07 August 2012

Only Survivor

Survivor

Attempting to understand is a bigger
ask than accommodating its mess;
there’s nothing you can do about it –
being a bystander as it came to pass
does not confer culpability and nor is
witnessing prejudged a sign of guilt
or innocence – check airways, stem
bleeding then gracelessly faint

When measurement is made, and it
will be far removed from this reality,
you’ll be eulogised or slated for just
being there; what you do may save
a life but at the World’s end we say
try not to be the only survivor
© 22 May 2012, I. D. Carswell

06 August 2012

Reflections

empty

we may well disagree on origins
of alienation – and there are more
vagaries in fact than firm bases
for resolute stand; altercations
like that are crap whichever way
one takes offense, but a point not
seen meant less austere defence
gave in to antithetical attack

denial of sleep is not the foe nor
retributive genius; we all need
reflections of ourselves as much
as relief from one another’s raw
intensity – the enemy isn’t in
rogue similes but empty sheets
© 22 May 2012, I. D. Carswell

05 August 2012

Gnostic Sentence

gnostic

Whatever bliss came with dawn
stumbled in the sour light of day;
acid burns endure where softer
feelings took refuge an age ago,
now emptiness pervades space
like a caged animal unleashed –
nothing endures its primal fear,
reason flees that insane beast

Try listening, hear sounds other
than Gnostic sentence of death –
voices out of the wilderness you
were lost in did not deceive ‘tho
you might have misheard whom
you thought had screamed
© 23 May 2012, I. D. Carswell

04 August 2012

Arched Eyebrow




The ‘How to demonstrate something
I cannot say in words
’ jinni rears its
hoary head, brays garbled phrases –
they’re cryptograms less an evocative
context, ungracious flies buzzing a dish
of malcontent; remarking it isn’t what
you think
still fails to breach barriers
of an absolute, asymptotic silence


Asking ‘You in there?’ aggravates a
by now cruel state of denial; signs
suggest an imminent resumption of
hostility with recourse to retreat a
wiser defence – and reprieve to be
in awe of arched eyebrow power
© 26 May 2012, I. D. Carswell

03 August 2012

Work In progress

footprints

Sweeping the floors seems
to say you’re in touch with
unavoidable reality – or to
put it another way, driven
obsessively by deeds keyed
to feral feet tracking debris
more typically evident than
just the day’s usual grime

But when clean who’s to say
consigned feelings fade as a
consequence – an old adage
relates results to the eye of
a beholder who sees only an
impossible spotless state

Therein lies an irony, clean
for the sake of eyes obliged
to find a speck of mess also
denies who cares – but you
can always say in greeting,
this is a work in progress!
© 12 July 2012, I. D. Carswell

02 August 2012

Easier Accused

hearing-loss

Easier accused of biased hearing
than excused as lack of welcome
news; there is no subterfuge to
hearing loss, play it any way you
want but the nonstop susurration
competes for space dulcet tones
rightly assume they have already
unchallenged as a pride of place

Deeming no response affirmation
a listener disagrees goes beyond
thresholds of the hearing impaired
into tinnitus declarations, where it
may be true – but who’d want to
bear such an inscrutable witness
© 20 May 2012, I. D. Carswell