Penance and Peace
Learning the art of self forgiveness, letting go and moving on
Category: Tolerance and The Human Condition
What is the gender of a soul?
Strip off all the clothing Now take off all the skin Beneath the outer layer You’ll find that we’re all kin Cut out the messy genitals And now you’re deeper in There’s not much left to go ….but souls What’s the argument again? Oh yes you think it is your business To separate beating […]
Queue the Stress Bitches
Here you come a creeping Tightening bands around my head Flowing down my shoulders Restricting Constricting Ravaging My chest And there I go sending Sending you away Breathing deep And dusting all your clingy fingers away The tendrils still crawl towards me But I stamp upon their fronds I’m aware that you’re a channel Switch […]
Past bothering
You sit across from me There are two here and another one just there But they don’t hear you ask “what is it you eat?” with that half bored expression of not really being interested in your own question And I blink Start to think Come – with – me No I don’t want to […]
The Fleece and the Flock
Darkness is loose upon the world in the form of a white skinned man Light left the world in the form of a dark skinned man Does this not say For once and for all to those that have the eyes to see it that it is not about skin colour at all But what […]
The Silver Lining on a Shiny Cheap Suit
My Mother taught me to always look for the silver lining or the good in a situation rather than focussing on the bad. It is a powerful technique for instilling hope in the heart. Which is just what it needs to survive turbulent times with courage. I hope this post offers some hope to my […]
Fight like a girl but think like a woman
It’s holidays – I’m reading more than writing. I read this book in one great big five hour feast which left me so fired up that I had to take a long walk to think, I’m still thinking. I had never heard of Clementine Ford although a quick search around the internet soon had me […]
Songs of a War Boy – A Timely and Important Book
Holidays. Reading and reflection – time out of the real world. This book (pictured above) is the deeply moving story of Deng Thiak Adut written in collaboration with Ben McKelvey. Perhaps you recognise Dengs face. His compelling portrait (by Nick Stathopoulos) was part of the 2016 Archibald prize line up. The story of Dengs life […]
Everyday People
Remaining silent Stoic What a challenge One I have been facing And largely failing Since birth Or rather since I learnt Response And words How to use them It was my Mother who preached Turn the other cheek She got it from that pacifist Jesus Later I would respect other leaders Like Gandhi Who sat […]
Happy New Year
I have just come back from breakfast. A cacophony of sound as people gathered to eat and talk in groups. I could hardly hear myself think – which was nice for a change. Instead I sat back and let the discordinant orchestra play around me. The standout performance was from a lady on our right […]