October

[warooa]

It’s that time of the year up in The Wet Tropics - it's a harsh and challenging time for all living things, but it's all part of the magical cycle. I broke the lines up a bit and thought it suited; disjointed, irregular, a defiance - a bit like the subject matter.

Building
(c) M. Pattie 2014

It’s way too early;
dusted corrugations start to form,
for pomp and wild abandon underneath an early storm.
From winter cool;
eighteen to twenty-five, when reds were quaffed,
to twenty-three to thirty-two, to sort out those too soft.
As curlew’s call and dingo’s moan,
It’s peace but under-pinned.
as early Mangoes set, but only stayers ride the wind.

The bush fires; ever present,
as they lick the jungle’s fringe,
and sunset sees a cirrus sky alive with crimson tinge.
The Kapok gets all skeletal,
but tough Gondwanan stock;
our blink of eye existence pales to their primeval clock.
And just like littered jewels
around the partly hidden Bower,
like gem-stones in the dust; the fallen Frangipani flower.

The Poplar Gum stands sentinel,
blanched bark now runs to rust,
and cattle ribs are telling through the swirling driveway dust.
The Cockatoos; the Blacks
are back and lighten up the dawn,
the bore pump’s got its back up, just to green a bit of lawn.
The march flies start to rouse at dusk;
a late, light lusty lunch,
as all the grass gives off a crisp and tinder kind of crunch.

And high above;
The Tableland that all us hold in awe,
it keeps its cards close to its chest where strangers went before.
But when that whip from violent skies
cracks up a mighty surge,
a roar will fill the Valley as the plateau starts to purge.
But til that mighty Zenith –
at the climax of the dry
there’s pleasure in discomfort in the knowing that it’s nigh.

[David Campbell]

Good one, Marty...atmospheric!

Cheers
David

[alongtimegone]

as early Mangoes set, but only stayers ride the wind

Buggar ... my avocados are definitely not stayers and my lawn is chronically dry ... buggar.

Enjoyed Marty.
Wazza

[Neville Briggs]

I am sure it makes very expressive poetry when we use concrete images, specific detail, naming things rather than just broad statements or abstract ideas. I think you have done a great job here Marty, using precise detail ( mangoes, cockatoos, kapok, frangipani, etc ) and the figurative such as the tableland keeping cards close to its chest .
Good work, vivid images from lively details.


p.s. I gotcha !! typo in third last line

[Bob Pacey]

Just never know if it will always stay that way Marty after seeing what hit Sydney the other day.



A good read and I reckon it would look good centred on a page .


Cheers Bob

[Ron]

That's a ripper Marty, well done!
Won't begin to tell you about our 'October' after the past week!
'onya mate
Ron

[Heather]

October always brings out the poetry in you Marty. I'd love a bit of that tropical heat right now - wet and freezing here today - and yesterday, and the day before

As always you paint a telling picture of the tropics. My favourite lines being:

like gem-stones in the dust; the fallen Frangipani flower.


blanched bark now runs to rust,
and cattle ribs are telling through the swirling driveway dust.

Much enjoyed,

Heather

[warooa]

Thanks David, any feedback from you is welcomed.
Good on ya Wazza, I find the Avos can hang on a bit better than Mangoes. Cheers mate.
Thank you Neville, I'm surprised there isn't more than one typo I'm guessing (not many to choose from ) it is "til" should be 'til?
Appreciate you reply Bob, I've actually tried previously to centre poems - have cut and pasted them centred but they still stick to the left hand margin. Must be gravity . . .
Yes, Ron I see you've been snowed in down there, after bushfires last October. Cheers

Marty

[warooa]

You snuck in there Heather.

Thanks, I think what October brings out in me is simply more free time

I'm reading three books, planting lettuce, servicing a couple of machines, even watching some DVD's (up to season 3 of Breaking Bad) and of course juggling kids, a couple of dogs and a geriatric horse (oh, and writing a bit )

Cheers, Marty

[Neville Briggs]

Nuthin wrong with just "till"