"Destined Minds"

Dad rested his back into the sofa weary from working in the garden
his little girl climbs into his lap and grants him three wishes

Dad clearly amused by the little girl dressed in pink holding the
wand he so diligently fixed wishing he didn't have to wash dishes

she raises the wand high above his head
and lets it fall heavily nearly killing him dead

for dad had forgotton the star he had afixed
was to a steel rod and not a small stick

aghast at the pain and lump he now wore
opened his mouth and nearly swore

but he looked at his little girl with eyes so bright
and realised she had no idea she'd given him a painful fright

so he hugged her warmly and got up from his chair
and thanked the pink fairy trying not to glare

Maree Long
(c) Maree Long 2010

when they run around in early morn
Do cats really add years to my life
and you wake to find they tear up the house
causing mayhem and strife

do they really add longevity
when they rule us human few
when they snuggle up in bed
where normally there is room for two?

so you lie awake at night
as they knead you with their paws
and then just to make sure
your still awake the knead you with their claws

so I ask you do cats really
add quality to our years?
as they whisper all night purring
so loudly like buzzards in your ears

but where would any of us cat lovers be
without our sooky 'furballs'
that stare us down at tea time
and like tigers seem instantly tall

they weild their furry wiles
as they weave between our legs
and remind us that they are the masters
and bring us down a peg

and when you least expect it
they jump up on your lap
and beg you stroke their chin
and cuddle them during their nap

you forget about the cat hair
that accumulates round the house
for you know they keep the vermin down
as they play with their toy mouse

and now these furry angels
you forget about their wrongs
and love their furry faces
as they purr their night time song

Maree Long
(c) Maree Long 2010

the many heads of Olga jut out
amidst the plains
thirty six rounded domes
Australias outback fame

for I am Kata Tjuta (Kata Joota),
with my granite and basalt
of cobbles and large bolders
my beauty that none can fault

as legends of Wanambi
of mythology the great snake king
who lives upon my summit
and visits in the dry season the valley of the wings

rising from the plains
like islands from the ground
inspiring and unique
no better beauty found

my narrow valley gorge
lies on my northern mount
and if a beautiful storm has passed
you will see the water trickling that rivals a roman fount

steep sided my monoliths
impressive at sunrise and sunset
call it dream time spirits, call it what you like
I am the deserts beautous that few have ever met

for I am Kata Tjuta (Kata Joota),
with my granite and basalt
of cobbles and large bolders
my beauty that none can fault


Maree Long
(c) Dedicated to my parents who afforded me the trip of a lifetime
lying and dreaming and full of imagination as I lie upon the red red rock

the sun burns down
drizzling over hot dusty plains
and waves of heat give rise
begging the heavens to open up
and pour out the liquid drops
the long awaited rains

but no help comes to the farmer on the land
the crops are burnt and fried
harvest empty as tractors lie dormant
the cattle are rotting
and now all the sheep have died

the season is now past
failed crops ploughed back in the ground
forsaken and forgotten
the farmers heart is broken
as dirt dust and death lay all around

the land our culture and our heritage
but how we dishonored it though
through poor practice and now salination
and how we miss used the Murray Darling Basin
that causes our rich land such contamination

hope no longer, the cry of the rural heart
silent and as desolate whether cultivating land
or raising cattle stock
the farmer presses forward
despite the earths irreverant mock

so when you blame the farmer
for their cruelty to our land
and while policy makers sit in ivory towers
planting a weekend tree
and thinking they are so grand

think of Australian farmers
who dare to walk the walk
investing in their carbon sequestrian
unlike you an I the urbanite
who do no more than talk the talk

Maree Long
(c) Maree Long May 2010

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/rooted/2008/10/08/australian-farmers-walking-the-walk-not-talking-the-talk/

WILD POPPY

nodding buds, crumpling petals
capsules that dehisce through terminal pores
how we remember thee

your vivacious bloom that sticks
its head above the field vulnerable
sacrificed and heed the call to set us free

vivid red of blood soaking ground
power to move and inspire
lie helpless dying

rich soil, costly to cultivate
hands clutching at the ground
grow quieter the whispers and sighing

artillary shell and shrapnel
all around it flew
incapciatated and bereft

and now all that's left are the
widows and childless mothers
crying on the doorsteps and simply left

Maree Long
(c) Maree Long April 2010

Dedicated to the men and women, mothers and fathers
brothers and sisters husbands and wives that
sacrifice their all...