Hearts and Minds
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
They come, they go, like the sands of time
Washing our soul, disturbing our mind
Relentless, provoking, rocking our boat
Like the ocean tide that ebbs and flows
Days go by, too busy to think our past
Days are full on and time is short
Our years mount seven score or more
Only time we have left will even the score
Thoughts of the past are hard to recall
But those around you prompt your thinking
We may be growing older but none the wiser
As the fog builds and clouds our minds
But some light gets through to our darkened thoughts
And in quite times, we reflect of pain and suffering
When our soul and heart were scarred so deeply
Then smothered by enlightened happiness of life
Those memories of your forgotten past, hard to recall
Etched deep and jumbled in a cluttered mind
But when they present through the fog and mist
Your heart and soul like a volcano awakens
Your thoughts and memories live within others
Your loved ones, your family and friends
They never die they are always passed on
To live within someone’s heart and mind
Big Potato..for limerick contest
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
Old Joe the potato grower
Was beside himself in sorrow
For down at his boots
Was a hole so darn deep
His potato’s now resided in China
Sugar Cane Blues
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
Sugar, Sugar it’s everywhere
From Proserpine to Cairns
The green fields of cane
Are in your face all the time
On the road I’m driving
The cane swaying on both sides
Radio blaring a Muslim invasion
Who cares when there is sugar everywhere
I’m feeling high with sugar on my mind
But deep down I feel no shame
I’m riding high there is no pain
That sweet smell I take it in again and again
A change of scenery is what I need
A different choice to smell and see
Maybe then I can forget I have
The sugar cane blues
Sugar, Sugar oh so sweet
Please give me some relief
Let it end this feeling
So full of sweetness
Need to come down off this high
Into the mountains I think I’ll go
Change the scenery breathe some fresh air
To take away my sugar cane blues
LIFE CHOICES
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
He sat in his rocking chair, willing time to pass
A stubby of beer in his hand and a *** in his mouth
Rocking to the country music blaring in the background
This man so alone, thinking about his last breath
Once a family man of great strength and character
Working days spent at the saw mill in the bush
Sucking on rollies through-out the working day
Never thinking that one day he would be short of breath
The ravages of life choices, booze and fags will shorten your time
For now his ravaged body is but a shadow of it self
Lacking in energy, can’t work, crippled with pain hard to walk
His body once full of life, now dying from life choices
Slowly the man lifts the beer to savior the nectar he needs
Time is suddenly frozen for he never gets his last drink
His body slumped he has succumbed, no pain now, just silence
The rocking chair now still, his body lifeless and growing cold
Life choices have taken this man too early, he was so young
He had the choice to not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco
He had the choice of living a long and productive life
But LIFE CHOICES ended his time on earth to soon
POST A VERSE
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
What is this obsession with writing verse?
Then posting it on the PoetrySoup site
Do we need recognition, do we need fame
Or is it our ego we need to boost every day
We write about the past, present and future
Our imagination of the unknown and the universe
Of love we feel now or have lost in the past
The funny side of life or the darkness within
The weather gets a mention in verse most days
And of the natural world we love to expound
Funny, sad, outrages or kinky it may be
For it comes from within our thoughts you see
We look for comments from our peers on Soup
We are like a family and have our moments
Of ups and downs and mind blowing ideas
For all of us are poets but we don’t know it
ELUSIVE SAPPHIRE
BY
Kevin L Fairbrother
The Willows west of Emerald
A place to relax and try your luck
For in the ground around the town
The elusive Sapphire lies hidden
Digging and sieving the wash
Specking the ground for color
Tons of dirt I’ve dug and shifted
And many miles I’ve walked
As yet the Sapphire remains elusive
But I’ll persevere and have a go
For you never know when color will appear
Rewarding your hard work and perseverance
Stories are told of finds by kicking the ground
Turning up Sapphires of a 100 karats plus
In diggings uncovering pockets filled with color
Of Sapphires in different shapes and size
The work is hard, hot and dusty
The sun blazes down the temperature
Hits the forty degree mark in the shade
You’re covered in sweat, dust and grime
Day after day you toil in the heat
Dig up a small color, spurs you on for more
You hope that luck will come your way
And turn up a Sapphire to make your day
A Dove, an Eagle or a Turkey, a symbol of a nation
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
What could be the symbol of a rich and powerful Nation?
Known as the United States of America
Could it be the bird of prey, or the dove of peace?
Maybe it’s the Turkey you have at a feast
For America is known as the land of the free
Free to kill and maim, free to downcast its people
Free to deny medical help or help the many homeless
Therefore the Dove won’t help until there is peace and harmony
A great country but sadly many of its people obese
Fast food, easy access to sugar and a fast life style
Means many eat and have big meals on the run
So my guess is that the Turkey is off the plate
Throughout history in wars, wild weather, fires and flood
There has been a powerful Eagle watching from above
So my choice for a bird symbol to unite America
Is the formidable Bald Eagle so powerful and yet so free
BLUE DAYS
….
A raw blue sapphire, cut to enhance the yellow spectrum
The sounds of trouble in the pink saloon down town
The scent of red roses wafted down the path to the mess
No sweets tonight, I can’t handle the taste of green jelly
Dark skies above feels like the black clouds are about to burst
Raw, yellow, sounds, pink, scent, red, taste, green, feels, black
Raw yellow cake from Rum Jungle
The sound of running water colored pink from acid
The smell so bad turns your face red from fumes
And the taste of the green oxide lingers in the air
Feels like things are not right with the mine in the eerie black ness
Tomorrow will be fine as the day unfolds with a cloudless sky, just another blue day
Kevin l Fairbrother 5/11/2015
Never Got the Chance
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
I’ve moved on for I never got the chance
To share the feelings I have deep down
My wounded heart bears the pain
For there is a chance we will never meet again
We shared the moments of our past
We conversed about our travels our hopes
For the future is unknown to us all
We live our days and our dreams untold
But a spark was born but failed to ignite
Moments of compassion, moments of care
Holding hands, bodies close and entwined
Together we felt as one with what was unfolding
Kissing and cuddling holding each other so tight
We could have reached the heights we so desired
But the pain and loss of the past tempered the flame
For it was not to be, for the past hurt was real
You became reserved went back in your shell
The time and place was not right for you
I understood, I could not bring myself to hurt you
I walked away saying goodnight sweet dreams
You left, you ran away with the past haunting you
We never got a moment or a chance to say goodbye
But I have the memory of those magic moments
Moments of chance that I will always remember
The Pebbles (Kunjarra)
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
The Pebbles a sacred site near Tennant Creek
A mass of granite boulders spewed from beneath
Surrounded by wind swept plains of red dirt
A relative of Karlu Karlu/ The Devils Marbles
…
A place of eerie dreamtime long time past
Aboriginal women and girls… Hairy Women
Dancing in the twilight… The Munga Munga
Sacred to Women, ritual rites, Mothering business
…
Sunrise and sunset a changing spectrum
Of red and purple on the Pebbles boulders
Intertwining beams filter and color the surrounds
Creating an experience of dreamtime long ago
…
No place for men, their spirit excluded
Only women and girls meet and greet at the Pebbles
For hidden within the boulders the spirits of old
Awake… eerie creepy moments that interrupt sleep
…
Visit and take away an experience of dreamtime
The Pebbles transport you back in time
Relive the vibrant Munga Munga dance
When the sunset intermingles with the Pebbles
BEAST OF FIRE
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
A sizzling lightning bolt
Spears towards earth
Contacts the ground
Scorches, sparks fly
…
Ignites the mass of fuel
On the forest floor
Flames flicker… burst into life
A deadly fire is born
…
Tentacles of flames spread
Consume fuel, generate heat and flame
The fires energy now a furnace
Likened to middle earth
…
Flames and smoke reach to the sky
Bursting the tree canopy alight
Fanned by internal winds
A cataclysm… a raging inferno
…
Out of control feeding on an abundance of fuel
The fire races consumes everything in its path
Spreading fear to inhabitants living in the hills
Unabated the fire an uncontrollable beast
…
The fire rages… turning days into nights
Leaving behind a desert of burned earth
Incinerated animals lay smouldering
Losses of immense proportions
…
The aftermath whence the beast was tamed
Will be felt for many years to come
Thankful there has been no loss of Human life
But we know the beast of fire will return
Another New Year
By
Kevin L Fairbrother
2014 done and dusted
I’ve welcomed in 2015
With a beer and a crayfish
Round a campfire with some friends
…
New resolutions, not for me old mate
Cause I won’t keep what I promised
So I’ll just open up the gate… and
Let fate decide what’s in store for 2015
…
Like the man in the barbed wire canoe
Spearing tadpoles with a crow bar
You can bet my year won’t be great
But I’ll tough it out and see it through
…
I’ll do a bit of travel in me Ute and Van
Probably round Australia and free camp
When I can
Catch up with some mates along the way
Have a chin wag and a beer or two
…
I don’t really give a rat’s ****
What goes on in this world of turmoil
As long as they pay me pension
I’ll just live my life as free as a bird
…
But I will say this old mate
That’s it’s your family and friends
That will get you through the gate
Should a little trouble strike
…
So enjoy your life one and all
Leave your troubles behind the gate
Love your family, friends and mates
Be kind to your heart, it has only so many beats
…
WELCOME 2015
Upon the Shelf
by
Kevin L Fairbrother
I spied it sitting on the shelf
A pretty shape and so smooth
It set my pulses racing
And my eyes bulged in my head
…
I picked it up with gentle touch
And caressed the smooth skin
My fingers explored the bottom
Then ran up to the head
…
I put my face against the skin
Was bowled over by the aroma
So I kissed it on the head
Then bit it on the shoulder
…
The juices flowed I sucked them up
And peeled the skin from the flesh
Caressed the body so round and smooth
Which made more juices flow
…
The flesh so sweet.. oh so sweet
I was drunk with ecstasy
All gone now.. just lingering sweet taste
Which makes me want to
Pick another Orange off the shelf
Inspired just now whilst eating an orange
I Had A Dream
by
Kevin L Fairbrother
My paid working life as come to a end
Not rich… Not Poor… On a pension
With a lifetime of memories to recall
I am rich in experience that I will pass on
…
I had a dream that when I retired
I would work less and enjoy life more
But that dream did not become reality
As I am working more and relaxing less
…
Maybe the cause is my management of time
With family and friends taking up my waking hours
Or it may be because I don’t get out of bed till 9am
And half the day has gone and I’m not even dressed
…
There is always something to do, or somewhere to go
And there is never enough hours to do what I’ve set myself
But deep down I don’t mind as it occupies my day
As I just cant recollect where my time was spent
…
The words above I just wrote in the last hour
After cutting and splitting 4 ton of firewood
I felt the need to justify my time by writing this poem
For my new dream is to become a writer of poetry
WORDS
by
Kevin L Fairbrother
Thoughts in mind
Words on paper
Message within
…
Digest and change
Topics and choices
Judge or refrain
…
Love… Hate
Religion…Praise
Natural…Un-natural
…
The sky… the earth
Family…Friends
Death…Destruction
…
Life…Death
Living…Dying
Animals…Types
…
Words…Together
Unique…Transformed
Insight… Mind
…
A poem is born
Read… Appreciated
Comment…Feedback
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Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.