So, staying at Port Broughton, Yorke Peninsula South Australia, for a while, so some extra time and updating my blog seemed a good idea.
Recent months haven’t been my most productive and there have been some down times, reflected in my poetry:
The light sought
The spirits so low
Yet nothing to cause this
How long before the joy in life returns?
My default seems now to be
Very like a curmudgeon
All seen through distorted windows.
“Shake yourself from the mire
Reach toward the abundant brightness”
I say to myself loudly.
But from myself I turn away
Tunneling into the blackness of my soul
Reaching for a key to turn.
The key that opens the door
Behind which lurks the vacuum cleaner
To suck all the dark clouds away.
But my reach comes up empty
And in panic I turn away toward the light
Knowing I can not reach it yet.
Brian Matthews, 8/10/23
I read a lot and came across an interesting book on mindfulness and grief: Grieving Mindfully… by Sameet Kumar that resonated strongly with me. A psychotherapist strongly influenced by Buddhism, Sameet helped me to see my grief, over multiple personal losses, in a more relaxed manner – ‘This too shall pass’ and, I guess, this is reflected in the following poem:
Life Continues
The fog lifts
the light leaks through
Hope and joy beckon.
Plans begin to emerge
Things to look forward to
Where before all was dark.
Is this resilience?
The noblest attribute
Allowing recovery from pain.
“Don’t question it”
I hear myself think,
Or the dark may again prevail.
Accept your mind recovering
Your soul filling
With the potential ahead.
And so life goes on
A journey with one destination
But with love and joy aplenty.
Brian Matthews, 14-10-23
My more positive mood was cast asunder, as it was for 40% of Australians, including most First Nations people (contrary to Conservative fake news), when our referendum to include Australia’s first inhabitants in our Constitution and set up an advisory committee to Parliament was voted down.
As a result I wrote the following:
A Nation Speaks
Scratch the surface
And you will see
How racist most can be.
Powered by arguments
That are not credible
Marking our nation deeply.
A simple concept
Made into something it wasn’t
Calls for detail so obtuse.
Our nation will move on
But the stain will remain
Our First People ignored again.
Brian Matthews, 15/10/23
I have been criticised for using the term ‘racist’ and I rewrote the poem replacing this with ‘intolerant’ but it didn’t work for me.
Unsurprisingly, the lies spread by the No campaign have become apparent but I am ashamed that so many Australians were misled by politicians and public figures with duplicitous backgrounds, and so I wrote this:
A Voice
A simple concept
Muddied by the powerful
Such leaders to follow
With no ideas for change.
Divided us they did
Not by the referendum
But by negativity
Created by those with much to lose.
For change may have had some impact
May have asked us to confront
That which drags our first inhabitants down
Asked the difficult questions of us all.
What amazes me most is this
That people formed a line behind
The most detestable leaders,
Dutton, Hanson, and Palmer.
How could these be the ones
Who shaped our future?
It seems to me
Australia has dropped the ball.
Brian Matthews, 16-10-23
Brian’s Reflections 