# Poems from down under



## gumbud (Jun 22, 2018)

Memories that never fade

I thought I heard you whisper me one day
How is my former lover by the way?
Do you still recall that captured smile?
That spoke a thousand meanings for a while

Do you remember when we didn't have a care?
Would walk through rain and laughter share?
Would find those moments in between
Where wasted times just grey and mean?

How are you now my greying, long lost friend?
I often think of you when eve descends
You were my life, my all back then
How did we part, how did it end?

It's hard sometimes to think you're still around
Across some ocean but can't be found
But I still have the book of memories close
They still remind me of your loving ghost!

© gumbud


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

Tender and poignant, thanks so much, gumbud. From one poet to another.


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## Kadee (Jun 23, 2018)

Thanks Dave ... gum bud ( what a good UN for a Aussie ) 

Im a freezing South Aussie , hubby and I are  heading up to Coolangatta ( Qld)  for a month, real soon to lap up,some of their beautiful winter sunshine


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

thanks ladies - that came from the heart and was effortless to write because it was of course true and when I sit at eventide and watch the sunset and muse - it still  hurts after all those years!!


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

gumbud said:


> thanks ladies - that came from the heart and was effortless to write because it was of course true and when I sit at eventide and watch the sunset and muse - it still  hurts after all those years!!


 Hugs


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

thanks


Forget Me Nots

The clock stood on the mantlepiece
where it had always chimed
But the batteries long had wilted
Stopped in between the time

Canary lay on sandpaper floor
No water or no seed
There was an air of quiet neglect
It had missed its final feed

No newspapers in the hallway
She must have cancelled these
As her world closed in to no more din
Of tradesmen she had no need

Some ashes in the fireplace
White and cold and grey
Poker lay across the fender
left to poke another day

We'd found her resting on her arm
Sat at velvet tabled cloth
Her hankie tucked within her sleeve
A vase of "Forget Me Nots"

No letter, explanation
Of those final lonely hours
As she sat and waited for the call
Of heavenly chorused choirs

We had all been to busy
Said we'd call another day
She seemed to manage fine alone
And so we did not stay

Something about that final hour
That beholds us all to choose
To take our final farewell calls
And not to miss the cues

© gumbud


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

That made me cry, so evocative.


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

Here is one I wrote, hope you like it, gumbud, sorry if I  hijacked your thread.

Half-Song For The Luminous Lady

Every time I look at you
I feel the brush of wings, 
Angels in the morning
And the silent bird that sings.
Dancing in my gypsy-blue
On the burning green of light,
I twist the flaming feathers 
Which your smile has set alight.


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

that was about an old great aunt of mine and it WAS true! - very sad - she was the last link and we broke it!


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

very lovely Shalimar and evocative too! - you're very welcome to hijack - let's hijack together - now there's a theme for another poem??


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

gumbud said:


> that was about an old great aunt of mine and it WAS true! - very sad - she was the last link and we broke it!


Sometimes we don’t understand until after the fact. Hard lessons.


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

gumbud said:


> very lovely Shalimar and evocative too! - you're very welcome to hijack - let's hijack together - now there's a theme for another poem??


Thanks, you are generous.


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## Shalimar (Jun 23, 2018)

Still, all things considered, your great aunt was able to die peacefully in her own home rather than drugged up in a nursing home, or hooked up to machines in a hospital. That would have been the ultimate loneliness.


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## Olivia (Jun 23, 2018)

Well, that is a talent you have there, Dave. It's more than just words, but really evoke the feelings and situations. I hope you have a published book of your poetry. You should.

That vision of the canary dead in it's cage really affected me because I used to have nightmares about how I would forget to feed my birds and I remembered them just in time to save them. I've had birds for over 30 years. But no more because I definitely don't want to outlive them and maybe be in the same condition as the canary in your poem was. So, that really caught my attention and made me understand what happened.


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

yes and the home she died in was were I was brought up as a kid - God it's creepy! but I think our best thoughts come from our heart and memories - my strongest and easiest poems come from that direction and I don't even have to work on them - they just 'pop' out as if a gift from God!


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

thanks Olivia - had given some thoughts to publishing - I know it's much easier these days.


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## gumbud (Jun 23, 2018)

here's another about a dear friend - we trained together in our youth and he helped me re-integrate into oz - his father used to write gags for Morecombe and Wise. He died from severe alcoholism in the end but I loved him!

The Laugh Still Lingers On

The first time that I met you
You impressed me with your smile
It started off your laughter
That still echoes in my mind

But it wasn’t just the laughter
Nor the smile that held my gaze
It was the sparkle in your eyes
That said “these may be crazy days”

Your laughing gaze could penetrate
The coldest of our stares
And you challenged us to see the fun
Hinting “he will win who dares”

Just for that briefest moment
Before commitment comes
You shared ‘genetic humor’
From the father to the son

And then you’d gone; departed
Marriage, family, kids and wife
Perhaps your dreams got buried
In the career, mortgage, life?

The next time that I saw your smile
Some ten years down the track
It looked the same; just aged a bit
Wrinkled, waned and waxed

The laughter still hung in the air
Punctured with a cough
But heh! That twinkled eye was there
You could still pull it off

I can’t tell when the fire burnt out
It must have been one spring
The twinkle in the eyes grown dull
But the laughter still could sing

I put it down to just old age
It catches up with all
What I hadn’t realized this time
Was you’d given it your all

The show goes on; the lights must burn
Regardless of the soul
We watched your lights keep shining
Even though your heart was cold

Who knows when we’ve had enough
It’s just hard to say goodbye
Especially when your master card
Was that twinkle in your eye

We stood around your grave that day
Confused, withdrawn and mad
You’d smiled and grinned and laughed a lot
But we’d never seen you sad

They say that memories fade with time
Well maybe yours; but sure not mine
When people say your name out loud
I see your face in any crowd

You may have left this mortal coil
But you’ve left some remnants of your toil
A laugh from generations down
Can still be heard when guards are down

From father, Son and Holy Ghost
The laughter echoes through our hosts
You still are missed at special times
I hope you smile and laugh sometimes.

© gumbud


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## gumbud (Jun 25, 2018)

For Us old Sages

I must have reached the biblical score
When she walked through that sparkling door
She looked and smiled and I smiled back
It was then I knew I had been ‘hacked’

She asked me if we’d met before
And I fell hook, line, sinker on the floor
I offered her champagne on ice
With tears she said ‘ you’re very nice’

The room just vanished in a haze
I’d become a man half crazed – half crazed
We talked of places we’d both seen
Yet had never met through lovers screen

We lightly dined and talked so briefly
And then she said so very neatly
‘I think it’s time to talk some more
Perhaps behind a firm closed door?’

I gulped and thought this can’t be true
As we stepped in the ‘rising box’
She gently nuzzled up real close
And I could hear the ‘time bomb’ clock

The key seemed to appear as from nowhere
And it wasn’t in my hand for sure
There was a rose scented glow that built up from real slow
And I knew that I was through heavens door

She beckoned me sit on the chaise lounge
As she poured out more champagne on ice
Then she pushed me real slow and I went with the flow
And lay back thinking this could be nice!

I must have closed both my eyes for a minute
But it seemed hours had passed
When I came to I was nude and felt that was plain rude
To continue without being asked!

But as she hovered around and behind me
Her eyes had a way of making small talk
Then she said time for bed, and like a lamb I was led
To the slaughter I was religiously brought
I lay on the bed like the 'bismark'
all sails had been fully unfurled
as I prepared to up anchor, she said " oh what a w....r"
and flew atop of me with an 'albatross whirl'

I confess I have tried many positions
but never an 'albatross whirl'
her arms turned to wings-I could hear angels sing
as she nibbled my neck - what a girl

she purred "be still my darling -I'll fix you"
soon get back the wind in ya sails
I must truly confess I was not feeling my best
and my reasoning power had failed

and then if struck by some lightning
a thunderbolt pursed through my veins
my eyeballs did spin - I felt like 'heavenly sin'
I thought is this pleasure or pain?

I closed up my eyes in exhaustion
it seemed for a minute or two
but when I awoke the morning had broke
and the 'albatross' flown the coup

© gumbud


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## gumbud (Jun 28, 2018)

Properly Poorly

I went to see the doctor
He only had bad news
Said me heart had lost some sparkplugs
And me head had lost some screws!

I said ‘well me legs have gawn all wobbly’
What do you make of that?
He asked ‘can ya wobbly in bare feet
Or do ya have the shoes attached?

I said me waters running funny
Sporadic and in spurts
So he squeezed me balls real tightly
And asked ‘tell me where it hurts’

Well me eyes had started running
And he said ‘it’s ya lacrimal ducts;
They’ve seized up behind ya eyeballs
Has ya reading all been fooked?’

By this time I was fuming
And I swung me birchwood stick
It missed his head by inches
And he nearly had a fit

Well what do you expect I said
You abused the patient trust
You’ve conducted me examination
In front of six of us

In front of six of you he said
Miss Birch what have you done
These are not my own bifocals
They’re my dark ones for the sun

Give Gumbud a small discharge
For any pain he felt
This man has been disgraced enough
And unfair hand been dealt

He’ll never hold his head up high
With C 1and 2 removed
And please remove the thumb screws
So he can lace up his own shoes

Goodbye Dear Gumbud
it’s really been so nice
To hear you’re feeling fine today
Let’s put it all on ice!

© gumbud


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## Olivia (Jun 28, 2018)

Dave, you are really good. You have an amazing mind.


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## gumbud (Jun 28, 2018)

my avatar name on another forum was "mindbender" - people use to accuse me of bending their minds but my reply was "NO I just helped you to change it!"


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## gumbud (Jun 28, 2018)

here's something I used to see a lot of once!


A Lonely Valentine

I used to visit once a week
From "community friends who care"
they said that her need for love
was as longing as her stare

so I just sat and chatted
as she looked through wooded gloom
she seemed to be oblivious
of the din around her room

I told her of my childhood
my loves and lost ones too
what the world was up to
and how the years just flew

then one week out of the blue
I mentioned Valentine
Said 'I wonder how I'll do this year'?
just to pass the time

the muscles in her cheeks grew taut
and her eyes closed narrower still
"I've never had a valentine-
And guess I never will"

the words hung in the moment
and the silence deafened me
I think I fumbled some response
and took my leave to flee

I thought about those words all night
they burrowed in my head
a lost soul had just cried out
and all I'd done was fled

my visits ceased for several weeks
as I went about my life
and then one frosty snow clad day
I returned, my step was light

as I entered through the hall that day
I was called aside to hear
'your lady passed away last night -
no pain - no longer cared'

I walked across to where she'd sat
a card lay on the ground
I picked it up and read the verse
it spoke of loves lost and found

but underneath in shaky hand
a message had been left
you always were my valentine
and always were the best!

© gumbud


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