Time and Motion Study

A love song to my husband

Note: If anyone should think this poem is a strange way to express one's love for one's husband, please be reassured. It reflects our sense of humour. And its essence is truthful.


To start at the beginning:
What force transcribes our lives?
What planets collide to change
the course of ants?
What casual occurrence aeons ago
determines our path?

My mother had plenty to say:
“You could have had anyone, if you’d
only wear make-up.”
She had a list—descending, of course:
• A doctor, not in Obstetrics
• A lawyer, not Jewish
• A rich American, not Mormon
• A nice man in middle management.

My husband failed the grade.
But I, desperate and dateless at 39,
took him on.
He told his mother we had met
on Perfect Match, where I was Number 3.
He told me he had money.
He told me the planets had collided
and our fate forged in the fires within.
So be it.

If dogs at airports were trained
to sniff out losers
they would stop at John and bark.
I look at the Milky Way and question
the arbitrariness of life:
distant, indifferent planets colliding away,
making of us what they will.
Down here, off-course as usual,
we toast the kindness of stars.




Cathy McCallum

And The Band Played On

A true story.


Grandpa Jimmy, my Grandpa Jimmy -
Quick as a flash he would shimmy
Up rope ladders and along wet planks
To slam white hot rivets in the cold steel flanks
Of the massive hull held in the slip -
The fastest, biggest ever ship.
Grandpa Jimmy, toughest of men.
Plater. Belfast. 1910.

Grandpa Jack, my Grandpa Jack -
Full speed ahead, on course, on tack
He upped anchor to explore the world
Wherever the Union Jack unfurled.
A merchant sailor born to roam -
Rarely, hardly ever, home.
Grandpa Jack, no man's fool.
1912. Liverpool.

One built the ship, one joined the crew,
Though neither man the other knew.
But not for Grandpa Jack the thrill
Of her maiden voyage – he called in ill.
With pomp and cheers she sailed away -
And though he thought he'd rue the day
There came the ice, the fear, the panic:
The ship Jimmy built was named Titanic.



John McCallum 2009

Happenstance

Driving home from Weldborough
Taking the back road at the top of the Pass,
The air was thick with moisture
Misty rain was delicate, but didn't last.

The mist started to clear on descent
Past the quarry and over Crystal Creek,
The trees were glistening with raindrops
As the low cloud clung to the peaks.

Then suddenly I was startled by an Emu
That shot out from the old Liberator mine,
It charged off in front of the car
Its legs strutting long and in perfect time.

But the Tasmanian Emu is extinct
What was it doing up here.
No camera to record the incident
No one will believe me, I swear.

The Emu legged it at break neck pace
Forty kilometers as I descended downhill,
Glancing its head I caught its eye
But it run on with an Emu's will.

Crossing over the swift running Groom
It skidded right into the old bridge track,
Then doubled back up the hill behind me
It stood to catch its breath as I walked back.

As I moved closer it crossed the river
Into the bush from whence it came,
An escaped pet I wagered as I got into the car
Continuing home as it started to rain.


Ian Matthews.

Happenstance

All of life is a happenstance
From the first day of breath
We meet and mingle, fall in and out
Of contacts, til our death.

A birthday celebration seals the fate
A troubled call to triple 0 -
Dealing with other families
Bloomsday cheerios.

Births, deaths, divorce and marriage
Act as the humanist glue -
Humans, like atoms, buzzing about
Upon the planet so blue.

The world revolves in chaotic theory
No order with a God.
Divine providence and destiny here?
Just too many peas in a pod!

Kym Matthews
14th August 2009.

A couple of contributions from Bill Guy on the theme of 'Shopping' from the last session of the Aldinga group:




SHOPPING, ANCIENT AND MODERN

Once were hunter-gatherers,
Sliding through the bush with spear,
Stalking prey in cautious silence,
Taking aim while quelling fear.

Now we’re merely tame consumers,
Trundling down the aisles with trolley,
Snatching pre-packed meat or fish,
Scooping sprouts to go with cauli.

Once were eagle-eyed, fleet-footed,
Risking danger at every stride,
Leaping, striking for the kill,
Bringing back the food with pride.

Now flat-footed and dull-eyed,
Waiting in line at check-out till,
Wishing there was more to life,
Whingeing when we get the bill.

Once were campfire cooks and diners,
Eating what was caught that day,
Drifting towards a peaceful night,
Finding joy in work and play.

Now we are convenience cooks,
Plucking meals from microwave,
Thinking with self-deceptive grin,
‘This sure beats living in a cave.’



THEN AND NOW


They did heroic things together,
defying all the odds;
went mountain climbing, kayaking,
smiled on by the gods.

Adventure days are now long past,
distant lands are off their map;
the local shopping centre
has become their tourist trap.

Still they have their memories,
still together, they explore,
though now it’s for exotic foods
at their super gourmet store


Bill Guy, Adelaide, July 2009

Fickle Word

Did happenstance just make me wait
By Cupid’s partly open gate?
Wherein I spied a comely maid,
As upon loves harp she sweetly played

A touching tune with words divine
That at once I vowed she would be mine.
She glanced at me with eyes demure
And a smile that said ‘be mine monsieur’.

With joyful step I strolled away,
Planning on another game to play.
Then crafty time came swirling by
And she looked at me with saddened eye.

In my garret cold I now pine away
That happenstance destroyed my day
And left me a sad but wiser swain,
To not trust that fickle word again.

Happenstance Humour

Does happenstance come by each day,
when someone says, ‘oh by the way’?
Is happenstance a state of mind,
That happens to put you in a bind?

Does happenstance crop up too much
When someone says, ‘oh such and such’?
Then happenstance will have a slap
At some other unsuspecting chap.

Does happenstance control the flow,
So no poor sod can have a go?
But happenstance will loose control
When some smart alec is on a roll.

Does happenstance make your day go bad,
So everyone will say, ‘oh dear me, how sad’?
Then happenstance will have had its way
To collar us on this happenstance day.

So now you see what I‘ve been at,
Putting happenstance in to bat,
So we can all bowl true and straight
And smash happenstance right out the gate.

What fun to watch its slow demise,
So that we can now with ease surmise,
What the world it would be like
When happenstance must take a hike

And disappears o’er yonder hill,
Because it had to take a pill
And leave us here the better off
So that we don’t have to snout the trough

And find a way to cast a line
On words of rhyming now to dine,
Why make such a hullaballo
About happenstance’s bally hoo.

This verseing thing gives me such a pain
Trying to rhyme these silly lines again
So I’m off to try out something new
And leave happenstance to each of you.

I surrender to the trial of it
And bury happenstance in the pit,
Of rubbish verse or doggerel stuff
And I will disappear like a magic puff

Of clearing wind from out the blue
That’s scattered happenstance for all of you.
So good bye from it and me. I say
It’s been a happenstance sort of day.

No more we’ll hear this nasty word
I hope you have all been truly cured
From using it to make a verse
Cause trying it is such a curse

To finally put the thing away
And let the others have their say
On what it’s really all about,
Giving happenstance some real clout

This stanza is the last from me,
I done my best you can surely see
I’ve laid to rest the beast that true,
So now the afternoon is up to you.