I share the food shopping rituals with my wife. I take the opportunity to gather and hunt for our needs and because I enjoy cooking. I get the opportuntiy to purchase fresh produce from markets, supermarkets and greengrocers. Greengrocers are a diminishing commodity these days given the stranglehold of the giant supermarket corporations. I support them when I can. Every Wednesday, there is a produce market in the main street of my town. It attracts huge crowds, so the desire for fresh fruit and vegetables has not waned. I consciously avoid processed food items and their questionable additives. The opportunity to create a meal with fresh ingredients is a strong motivating factor. It emanates from my father's passion for maintaining an extensive fruit and vegetable garden when I was growing up. Money was scarce, but we always ate healthy meals.  I adopted the mantra is 'Don't buy something your grandmother wouldn't recognize.' This poem jumped into my trolley as I w...

Solvitur ambulando is a Latin phrase that means 'it is solved by walking.'  The phrase is used to describe how a complex issue can often be resolved through practical action and experience. The term is often attributed to the philosopher Diogenes.  More generally, it means that a problem can be solved by taking action, getting a new perspective, or simply clearing your mind through physical activity like walking.  So, I find walking is perfect for resolving outstanding matters and determining future action, as well as its health benefits. This was the harvest of my poet's walk... Solvitur Ambulando My brisk morning walk Came with some minor revelations Not life changing, Nor, earth-shattering, Merely noteworthy.   While spangin There was a singular encounter with a lone jogger A woman, small in stature Who passed with a laboured gait And a strained face Reminiscent of a failed bowel movement.   Two young women  Passed by jauntil...

 I recall an advertising jingle for toothpaste that was frequently broadcast during my childhood. It went- 'You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.'   Naturally, as kids do, we amended the wording to, 'You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with wet cement.' I am sharing this little memory because one day last week my wife Vicki remarked on the spring weather and mentioned its frustrating variability. The day before had delivered welcoming sunshine and a bright blue sky. This new day  had quickly morphed into a drab grey sky with clouds packing the promise of rain. The wind was slicing through the garden.  Sun lover Vicki, remarked, 'I wonder where the sun went.' It was at this point that old jingle sparked to life in my mind. It was an ideal poetic provocation. So I scooped it up and words began romping around in my head. A little while later, a poem began to reveal itself in my notebook. I fu...

 I have had a most productive week of writing. -Some great publishing news on two projects and a couple of school visits where I got to work with several classes of early years writers who blew me away with their brave writing efforts. I also launched a brand  new website  . These events put me in a bouyant mood, so I decided to have a little fun with words and today I am sharing this cheeky, playful poem... Poets need to indulge in wordplay and this poem  goes to that place.  Hideaway Poem I had intended sharing A poem with you But it lost its nerve And has shut itself away Inside a book of poems Refusing to come out. Maybe it’s hoping William Wordsworth Will offer it some daffodils Maybe it secretly longed to be a sonnet Or part of Tennyson's Light brigade.   There’s no rhyme or reason For this… The stanzas stand up The imagery is intact The alliteration aligned   In the meantime Here’s some white space To cast your ...

Today I'm going wild. Wild animal that is...  T he crocodile and the warthog might not rate highly on a most popular animal list, but they do possess some fascinating traits, and so I am sharing poems about these wild things, these far from mild things.  Crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. I have made a point of visiting them in Kakadu National Park, from a safe viewing distance. I wanted to obtain some snaps without getting snapped myself.  The Warthog is  a wild, somewhat unsociable member of the pig family found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. The world of poetry is no stranger to poems about animals, but I doubt these two are overly represented. ..    Warthogs Warthog, wide jawboned face With dangerous tusks Struts across the open plain All warty and snorty Its tail pointing up Like an aerial.   Warthog, too lazy to hunt munches on the ...

 Often we celebrate the shape of a poem or the patterns it presents. This poem is all about the sounds of the words, in particular the sounds of a host of towns and suburbs in Australia. These rich and varied places owe their names to our first peoples, our indigenous Australians. The names have meaning attached.  Yackandandah for example, means, ' one boulder on top of another at the junction of two creeks.'  The town I grew up in, Monbulk, means  'hiding place in the hills.' The names of these places possess a musicality  unique to Australia. Proud to say I've visited many of them. Come with me now and get your mouth ready to dance with delight. I’ve Never Been to Tumbarumba Australian towns Have memorable names Some of them astounding They dance upon my tongue Delightful in their sounding I’ve always known in Yarrawonga That I should try to linger longer But should I try to chitter-chatter If I find myself in Cabramatta? All the kind folk ...

 I became aware of the incredible achievements of Charles Blondin watching a  television progam a little while back and was prompted to go in search of more information concerning this fabulously talented funambulist. What an amazing life Charles Blondin lived... As someone who has always struggled with heights I found myself in awe of this man's incredible mastery of tight rope walking, his superb balancing capabilities. He crossed Niagara Falls numerous times. I've been there once. I was happy to view the falls from a safe position.  Anyway, my curiosity was sparked and the subsequent research has resulted in another docupoem. I shall be adding it to my ever expanding collection of these poems.  Docupoems are reliant on realism, written from an observer’s standpoint, and shaped with a desire for revelation. They share truth in collaboration with the poet's voice. Readers, I present The Mighty Blondin!   The Mighty Blondin Famous French funambulist Charle...