Chains

They crush
and bind
within

- no cruel
bands of
iron
these chains,

but heat
- sapping
- robbing
from within, 

leaving all
listless ...
dreary ...
too tired
to not endure
till the cool change come.

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

The finishing line

There!
It's just ...
right there
- moved closer
by the doc's orders. 

Retirement.
My time
- an end
of
striving
for others' will
- and permission
to do what I will. 

I had
my dreams
my goals and
my long deferred plans 

But
I feel ...
Nil
Nothing
- no pain,
no hope,
neither good nor bad. 

I am
a rock
rolling to
its last rest.

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

An attempt at writing a poem in Wiradjuri: "A Mystery"

I have been trying to learn Wiradjuri. As part of that, I decided I would try writing a poem - of sorts. The text is below - I've been trying to speak it with appropriate story telling flair, but I'll spare you that. 

Dharran guganha
Creek creeps
Nguranbalbang ngunhadarguwur
Deep beneath
Ganginmarra galinginbanga
The lying desert
Dabuyarra muran
The Gift of Life
Gunuga mayilgan
Hiding inside death 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

Gresswell - Spring, 2022

I took a few photos when at Gresswell Park this morning - mostly nothing remarkable, but I like them enough to post.

I particularly appreciate that someone has installed native bee/insect hotels.

I also decided to try recording the spring bird song. These are not the best quality - low volume in some cases, and background noise (which I knew about at the time) and wind noise (which I didn't twig to this time - I will in future 😊 ). Owing to Blogger limitations, I had to create a movie to insert the audio. You will probably have to turn the volume up. 

 

 

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

From ...

From the ancient forests of Europe
came my people
to be
here.

From the hills and dales and mines
of lands green and lands braw and wild
came my people
to be
here.

And to my people already here
my people joined
to pass to me
the braid of many threads
that is I.

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

The booming pressure, and the distant light

Heaving
straining
bursting
in the dark
- like a galley slave
of yore 

No sign of hope
nor reprieve
nor
even
change
in the moaning
despair
- fearing
the sudden burst
and noise
and sorrow
of a ram
bursting the hull
to leave one drowning
in sight of light

But when the ram
bursts asunder
plank and beam and all
and under one goes
the shackle slides free
and the distant light
shows the way.

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

Trails of my tears

 

PS - NOT a self portrait! 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

How healthy is ...

How healthy
and caring
is
… a company
… a “profession”
… a culture
that leaves employees
spending
half an hour
to
half a day
debating:

that suicide
is a valid form
of resignation … 

 

 In that spirt, I also offer the following explanation of the acronym "STUFFED": 

Severely Traumatised Under Fiercely Frantic Engagement Deadlines ...

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

The winter night

The winter night
pauses ...
and moon emerges
to light hills
and dales
of cloud
- white and grey
over silvery land
backed
by dark night sky.

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

The long and ...

The long and ...
unwinding
unbending
unyielding
road
that society sets
for us to follow
to determine
what we may be. 

Where
can I
leave it?

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

Autumn dawns (photographs)

 

 

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

A Meditation

The Sun
reaches through
the living leaves
and caresses
the dark forest floor
chaotic with organic litter
- and the discipline of life
stirs.

Sun sextile Saturn

 

The quicksilver thoughts
of the pleasure that is life
stir the forest
from the ground up
- and down

Mercury sextile Venus

 

And the pleasure of life
stirs anew
the joy of originality
which thunders through
and electrifies
the grove

Venus sextile Uranus

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

Photographs: full moon nightscapes

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

Photographs: domestic pre-dawn nightscape, and more Gresswell Reserve

I'll begin with a pre-dawn nightscape from our backyard . . . 

 . . . and continue with more from Gresswell Flora and Fauna Reserve, which I have been to for the first time in a loooooong time (I'm quite pleased with the 2^nd last one):

 

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)

Was it worth it?

Across more than six decades
I look back,
and wonder:
was it worth it? 

No. 

Too much pain
too much suffering
Came from
   Stupidity
   Selfishness
      and greed
      and "my rights first"
   And that hate born of 
      insecurity 

All my lessons could have come more easily;
All others lessons have yet to be heeded. 

No,
this life
was not
worth the pain.

Copyright © Kayleen White, 2022 (where this date is different to the year of publication, it is because I did the post some time ago and then used the scheduling feature to delay publication) I take these photographs and undertake these writings – and the sharing of them – for the sake of my self expression. I am under no particular illusions as to their literary or artistic merit, and ask only that any readers do not have any undue expectations. If you consider me wrong, then publish me – with full credit and due financial recompense, of course :)