ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

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.

Good one, Marty...atmospheric!

Cheers
David

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nuthin wrong with just "till"