Departure

Departure

The time is going fast now 

before I have to catch the train.

let us not forget 

the sun rising in the morning

beyond the pier,

and the colours of soft light 

In the evening

on the green and 

yellow heights

of snowdonia.

Avie.

You Asked Me

You Asked Me

You asked me 

to drink tea with you

in the early hours

of another sleepless night.

We looked  across 

the Menai Straits

and followed the narrow 

road of lights

through the dark trees 

rising up from the stilted pier

high above the

fisherman's cottages

along Siliwen Road to

the potting shed gardens

of Menai Fron 

now long gone 

from a serving of 

the apprenticeship years.

The immaculate 

ford escort van

with speakers and 

soft cushions 

in the back.

The long curly locks 

and the red checked

lumberjack jacket,

back then 

it was all about Dylan

playing music on the 

brow of the hill

a long time ago,

but seemingly 

not far from 

here now 

close to the

blue bell woods.

Avie.

Dad

Dad

I carried the final 

weight of you

as the organ piped up 

somewhere over the rainbow.

I listened to the psalm readings

from bilingual bibles

and you 

my Father 

embellished with lilacs and daffodils 

in deaths oblivious cessation 

took the final bow on the

commanding stage.

Avie.

To My Father

To My Father

I'm just wondering 

of the actual time

when all of the rage

will cease,

and you will 

let yourself see 

all the tricks of light 

that remain in the

delirious shafts of dreams 

are momentous sparks 

of your celebrated life,

and the absence now

between us 

will only be a brief

parting

in the presence of the

serene sun.

Avie.

Angels

Angels 

It's going to be a beautiful sunny day 

today girls

I'm just waiting for the washing machine to stop 

so I can 

hang out your clothes to dry.

Dad 

there's no time to hang around

 we've got to go shopping 

now

or we'll scream,

and I will pinch and thump

my little sister 

until her arm turns red,

and afterwards

deny everything. 

Dad you know 

It's all about us 

making you angry 

putting you in a bad mood

until we get 

what we want,

and when we get

what we want

we get bored 

and start to annoy you

all over again.

We know you

 love us 

that's why 

We both have

Ph.Ds in manipulation,

and Dad

by the way

you have a very

embarrassing

grey hair

It's like a spiders leg

and it's dangling out

of your nose.

Dad

don't you get it?

clearly not

You're not getting it

are you?

that's what we do best.

Avie.

The Accident

The Accident 

Today the sky cracked open 

and it started to rain

you told me 

a girl had drowned

diving off the rocks

no one knew 

what had happened

until the sirens 

came closer.

They tried 

to revive her,

but could only

silence

the cicadas

to melancholy whispers 

under the jacaranda tree.

Avie.

Pohutukawa

Pohutukawa 

When I should think

 of a summers day

what else is there to compare

to a flower that

no other can resemble 

that fills the abundant sky 

with triumphant offerings.

Only nature could conjure up

such splendent design 

shooting candles of blossom for

the bee to dance on

the fragile blossom

too busy to slow down 

for the Crimson  sun.

Avie

Reflections on a hot summers night

Reflections On A Hot Summers Night

The ebony snake 

shark and turtle are

from the Solomon's 

where I was born

they are 30 years old mate.

Wooden skinned 

fading in the sun

on the window sill

a preservation from

a time and place.

Avie.