A Common Complaint

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Life of Brian, Monty Python, poem, poetry, Positive social impacts, Spenserian sonnet, Technology transfer, What do we owe the Romans?, Wilful blindness

What have the bloody Romans done for us?
And don’t dare say the roads and aqueducts.
Don’t cite the sanitation – make no fuss
About their Roman law – I think it sucks.
And sure we’ve better health and full stomachs;
Our fortunes increase and we all grow fat,
But we owe nothing to those Roman schmucks.
The Roman Peace! – I knew you’d mention that!
So what if they have peace-making down pat!
What have they done for us? I’d like to know!
Oh irrigation? – sure, they’re quite good at
Making the desert bloom – we now can grow
Such bumper crops. But answer me you clot!
What do we owe the Romans?…Well…a lot.

Monty Python – What have the Romans done for us?

A Warmer Canada would be Cool

Tags

Anthropogenic Global Warming, Australian poet, Global warming to benefit Canada, limerick, Limerick poem, Limerick poetry, Manmade climate change, poem, poetry, Spenserian sonnet

Oh Canada, you’ve so much cold to spare!
Your winters last so long, with snow and ice.
Could it be possible to warm the air?
A few degrees – that surely would suffice.
Would not some warmer winter winds be nice?
The summers longer, and the winters short?
A milder climate – would it not entice
More visitors? You’d still have winter sport;
It wouldn’t suffer – ships, to every port
Would still bring tourists bound for the snow-slopes.
So wouldn’t warming measures have support?
Here’s an Aussie suggestion – don’t be dopes;
Burn coal and gas at an increasing pace
And make cold Canada a warmer place.

Global warming to benefit Canada

War of the Words

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, CNN fake news, Fake news, MSNBC, poem, poetry, Spenserian sonnet, Trump's tweets, Trump's war with the media

Trump grabs his gun and loads a telling tweet;
Takes careful aim and fires – another hit!
The media return fire – then retreat,
Regroup – once shining armour scorched and split;
It could not hold before Trump’s cutting wit.
They count their wounded – warning sirens sound!
Incoming tweet! – will Donald ever quit?
He’s got the scent – an Internet bloodhound
Who’ll keep on tweeting till they’re run to ground.
But they are not yet beaten – they’ll resist;
With fake news his positions they will pound.
They’re wounded so they’re dangerous – they’re pissed!
Their words are more explosive every day;
And they won’t let the truth get in their way.

Anti-Gun Culture (an ANZAC Day sonnet)

Tags

Anti-gun movement, ANZAC Day, australian formal poetry, Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Gun culture, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

“So you have guns – my god, you must be nuts!
I couldn’t bring myself to hunt and kill,
For I’m allergic to all blood and guts,
And when I see it, down my spine a chill
It travels, and I have to take a pill.
I think all senseless shooting should be banned.
I’ll campaign for disarmament until
There’s not a single gun throughout the land.
If necessary, from your cold dead hand
I’ll take your gun if you will not comply.
This is my cause – I hope you understand.”
“Your threat is clear – and yes, I’d rather die;
My life and liberty I owe to guns
Once wielded by my country’s bravest sons.”

An Axe Attack

Tags

australian formal poetry, Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Bashar Assad, ISIS, Islamic State, islamic Terrorism, jihad, poem, poetry, Spenserian sonnet, Syria, Syrian attack, Tomahawk missile attack

Assad it seems has been cut down to size;
With tomahawks they’ve given him the chop.
And only time will tell if this was wise
And whether further limbs they’ll have to lop.
(Once pruning starts it can be hard to stop)
Will weakening Assad pay dividends? –
America’s now playing the world’s cop –
But backing crazies? – Oops! I mean our friends!
Well was this justified? Well it depends:
The Russians say the rebels were the cause,
But Trump’s attack the White House now defends.
Miscalculations sometimes lead to wars;
It’s best to know the truth before one acts –
Let’s hope Trump’s in possession of the facts.

Who Done It?

Tags

australian formal poetry, Australian traditional poetry, islamic Terrorism, Islamization, jihad, Jihadists, limerick, Limerick poem, Limerick poetry, London terror attack, poem, poetry, Spenserian sonnet

A terrorist attack! – who could it be?
The Seventh Day Adventists spring to mind,
But there are lots of others – let me see –
The Buddhists? No, I doubt that they’re inclined
To knife or shoot – they’re really much too kind.
But what about the Mormons? – maybe they
Are angry. (in the past they’ve been maligned)
The Hindus? – they could rise up any day,
And so too could the Catholics – how they pray!
Are Protestants more likely to rebel?
Perhaps, but it’s too early yet to say.
It may be Hari Krishnans – who can tell?
I’m running out of suspects – Sikhs perhaps?
Or could it be Confucians – Chinese chaps?

Vale Bill Leak

Tags

australian formal poetry, Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Bill Leak cartoonist, Bill Leak dies, Bill Leak persecuted, poem, poetry, Spenserian sonnet

His weapons were his satire and his art,
Fused brilliantly with intellect and skill.
Against all those who would drive us apart
He laboured on with an unwavering will.
Unleashed his wit with words and brush and quill,
Creating scenes that only he could draw.
Into a picture Bill Leak could distil
A statement that would strike right at the core
Of issues that the mainstream would ignore.
Entered the left, who saw him as a threat –
Free speech? No! We must stop him – this is war!
Socialist warriors! – your daggers whet!
But no racist was he – there was no crime;
Just works of a great artist of our time.

{Bill Leak 1956 – 10/03/2017 – RIP}

Death of Bill Leak

Hidden World

Tags

australian formal poetry, Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, manipulation by the media, Media agenda, Media propaganda, Misinformation, Official secrets, poem, poetry, Real world versus the perceived world, Spenserian sonnet, The secret world

There isn’t just one world, for there are two.
One is the world that most of us may see.
The other world is seen by just a few,
And hidden from the likes of you and me.
But there was once a man who held a key
That opened doors into that other sphere.
Then he could see the real reality,
So different to the daily fog and fear
That issues from the media – the queer
Obsession with replacing facts with lies;
That’s what we read and each day what we hear:
Racism rages, homophobes and spies
Abound, the Russians hack and pull the strings;
Yet in his world he saw quite different things.

Boundless Energy

Tags

America's new energy policy, Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

Unlock the energy that’s stored below.
Use nature’s gifts – the gas and oil and coal.
Banish stagnation – let the nation grow;
Grease all the wheels – and watch the big rigs roll.
Energy independence is our goal;
We won’t let Arabs, sitting on their oil,
Compel us to pay them – we’ll take control;
For OPEC’s oligopoly we’ll spoil,
As riches are won from the homeland’s soil.
No longer hostage to corrupt cartels,
We’ll bring black gold to light with skill and toil.
Explore! – sink deep the shafts, and drill the wells!
Ignore the naysayers – their doom and gloom;
Cheap energy will drive the coming boom!

Whitehouse Energy Policy

Post Truth

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, DNC hacks, Julian Assange, poem, poetry, Spenserian sonnet, Wikileaks

Assange says that the Russians weren’t the source
Of those hacked emails of the DNC.
The Democrats ignore this claim of course,
And all the rotten media agree
That Putin was the one to oversee
These hacks – to give Republicans a pump.
But Vladimir knows Barack to a T;
Knows he is just a puppet and a chump;
The Democrats irrelevant – a rump.
The Russian President is quite amused
By tactics meant to tarnish Donald Trump.
How in the West, truth is with lies confused.
That he who but the facts on matters seeks,
Is forced to put his trust in Wikileaks.