Livelihood If you were a beast and it was May, I would say Listen to me, you golden beauty, we must walk through those flames. Do not fear. Shhh, calm, calm your hooves. Calm your trample, trampling. Look at me. With my hands to the muzzle I lead the prosperity of my summer yield, garlandedContinue reading “Listen to me, you golden beauty”
Tag Archives: career
Restore order, with its low rumble
Today I present two poems from the archive – Now here is something to marvel at… (posted in 2012) and Is it worth it? (posted in 2013) Both poems tackle the theme of worldly aspirations and success. In “Now here…” the concerns of juggling a shoestring budget are interrupted by observations of life’s ordinary marvelsContinue reading “Restore order, with its low rumble”
People ask questions they have no right to pose
November marks an anniversary month for this blog for it was in November 2012 that I started posting regularly. Looking back at the poems posted last year (Nov. 2013), I’m pleased to report that the month’s archive crop is a particularly good one. November seems to be a good month. Perhaps it’s an echo ofContinue reading “People ask questions they have no right to pose”
blushed apricots, green-skinned Hasses
Can you believe two years have passed since the London Olympics? I was fortunate enough to attend an evening of paralympic events. It feels as though it was only last year that I was sitting in the massive stadium, with an enormous lion emblazoned across my t-shirt and yelling encouragement at the athletes. Clearly, it wasn’t. ThatContinue reading “blushed apricots, green-skinned Hasses”
Ask the Poet
In response to the questions often posed to me about my writing, I have decided to introduce a new feature on my blog: Please explain… Send in your questions about a particular poem, a running theme or even a line that puzzles you. If you’re curious about the creative process behind a poem’s existence, you mayContinue reading “Ask the Poet”
Dying is probably easier than this
It’s Thursday, 06:15 You wake up to the alarm knowing you will never win an Olympic medal publish a novel that would win the Man Booker, finish your degree or even pay the last R150 you owe Woolworths. Your first grandchild will die before you and each of those candles you lit in the caveContinue reading “Dying is probably easier than this”
Five Consequences of Repeated Actions
This month I once again neglect to pay into a pension, fertilize a good egg at ovulation or further my career. Untoward outcomes will result! In twenty years it will not matter that I didn’t write this poem today. — Not to fear. Come the end of next week, I plan to be on aContinue reading “Five Consequences of Repeated Actions”
At the right age
People start to ask questions they really have no right to pose At a point, they expect you to be studying. Let it be known: a non-graduate works shifts and packs plastic bags. Since 2008, so do graduates with four degrees. But people will still ask, What do you do? They mean areContinue reading “At the right age”
Beaded Quill 