An audio recording of my readings on the Words to Share segment with Jan Potter on Happy FM, https://www.radio901.com.au/ and the details of my readings.
To Sarah
To Sarah I say
Get on with your day
Avoid nagging your man
Just because you can.
A tipple or two
Makes sure you’re not blue
A joke could be included
Unless totally deluded.
Spread that smile around
Helping others to ground
Always there to help another
While others just don’t bother.
Brian Matthews, 30-8-22
Time with My Son
Some time with my son, Todd
Sharing of feelings and ideas
Positive energy transferred.
A feeling of fire in my belly
Admiring his grasp of life
Hoping some of this came from me.
So rare these times
When we share freely
Memories bounce around.
It will live long with me
And I think with him
A special, special time.
Brian Matthews, 11/9/22
Haiku
I can’t do haiku
It’s really difficult
Think I shall give up
Original, Author Unknown
Amended to fit the 5-7-5 by
Brian Matthews, 7-10-22
Around wattles bloom
While still green surrounds us all
Reminding me of my son
See the stringy trees
The smells of nature so rich
Birds ever present
The long dead tree leans
Branches reaching to the sky
And yet it still stands
A gentle breeze blows
The insects play in the dam
I sit and reflect
Tiny blueish flowers
Such small stars dotted around
Stating we are here
The roo bounds slowly
In no hurry to arrive
Seeking who knows what
The bee floats along
From one flower to the next
Nothing else required
Sitting on a log
Surrounded by nature’s sounds –
Subtle fragrances
Standing by a tree
Enjoying a quiet wee-
Yet hidden I hope
The colours flit by
Disappearing into trees-
But not the blue wren
The sun is warming
The heat shared by everyone-
Then the cool wind blows
How often I felt
The need to grieve suppressed-
So, for what purpose?
Brian Matthews, 29/9/22
And the rain comes down
Over an inch each day now –
The tent overwhelmed again
Brian Matthews, 13-10-22
The sun emerges
Ah, the sun at last
After so much rain
Even experienced campers
With good equipment
Come undone when the skies open.
Part of the problem
Setting up in heavy rain
Tent pegs poorly placed
Interior of the tent saturated
And still the tempest continued
Once the rain reduced
The structures tweaked
Excess liquid mopped up
A heater happily enlisted
And calm and comfort achieved.
And now with some sunshine
A relaxing walk is possible
Riley, our dog, snuffling smells
Bounding around with joy
Absorbing nature’s changes.
A metaphor for life in general
As we delight in the pleasures
After challenges and hardship
Always knowing deep in our hearts
To experience happiness we need pain.
Brian Matthews, 7-10-22.
Variety
Miles and miles of gums
Misshapen and straggly
Rolling fields of grain
And bright canola crops.
Such a vast country
The road unfurling
The space between towns
Taking hours to travel.
Silos painted skilfully
A huge stick house
Built for grain storage
The size just unbelievable
All this interspersed
By regional centres
Both big and small
The rich earth abundant.
And areas so often beset
By the long, long dry
Now experiencing the opposite
A time of flooding rains.
Such variety our country has
To both displace and feed its fauna
To give hope then despair
Reminding people of their limited control.
But after rain there is always sun
After despair hope lingers still
As long as we can cling on
Better times will appear.
Brian Matthews, 13-10-22
A quote from a recently read book
“Of all the exams that she had sat over the years, her A levels had been the most stressful. She had truly believed that her entire life was on the line, that if she failed to get the grades to take the next step then everything would be ruined and her life would be over. How naïve and over-dramatic that felt now, but at the time she had been convinced it was right.”
— Impossible To Forget by Imogen Clark
Brian’s Reflections 