6 hour drive
We peel back the layers
Comfortable in forced conversation
We discover ourselves
We share intimate details
Of scenarios we endured
How we felt and what it meant
When we were our younger selves
Best stop for fuel and an iced coffee
Holding hands going 113ks
Have you read the lyrics to this song
Music tastes and kid problems
The trials and tribulations
We share
Our personalities spark and caress
As the landscapes slide past
No need for a mask with the wife
On a 6 hour drive
Destination
She got her nails done
I bought a T-shirt
We drive home... 3 hours to go
Predictions and speculation
Wonderment and ecstatic ideas
Sporadic rains from skies with pictures
Caravans and trucks... B - triples
Jewels fall from our lips as we talk
A conversation we've never had
A depth new to us both
Wondering how the other will react
In stride the banter dances
Flowing and ebbing on cruise control
Finally arrive and we sit in the drive
To conclude our newly made memory
We embrace like new friends
We fall in love again
Having the moment only we know
Only we will ever experience
6 hour drive
4d ago
May 30, 2026 at 7:23 AM UTC
She got the job
7 days on
7 days off
7 nights on
7 days off.
She is small in stature
But enormous in heart
She is trying to learn
What it's all about.
Studious and engaged
Lost in the valves and processes
Compressed air and science
Hosing acidic mud.
She comes home in tears
Feeling stupid and angry
Belittled and exhausted
All I can do is hold her.
She does not give up
She does extra shifts
Walks the line
Figures out the complexities.
Night shifts are the worst
I leave the heater on in the morning
She spends all her time
With these people.
I feel a distance come between us
All she does is work
It's all she talks about
The extra shifts... I miss her.
The pennies drop
She understands the process
She recieves the benefits
The admiration and applause.
I envy her efforts
As I plod along in the background
I see her tired and weary
Falling asleep as I watch TV.
I become a side quest
When she has time
Her crew need her
I try to understand and smile.
She does dinners with them
I don't want to go
I don't understand their conversation
But still, I arrive and put on a show.
I am so proud
Yet, so jealous
Of her unwavering dedication
And continual efforts.
I hope, as a background noun
She appreciates my toil
I planted this seed
Now I must lay in the soil.
I will continue to support
This weapon of a woman
And hope she comes home to me
And the end of each shift.
I will stand and applaud
With the rest of her crew
At her tenacity and strength
Like a good husband should do.
May 25
May 25, 2026 at 8:59 PM UTC
Find the words
After each sip
Fumble sentences
End up upset
Say it wrong
Perhaps a tone
**** the buzz
Drink alone.
Speak your mind
Place and time
Without thought
Nor compromise
Empathy gone
Tough and mean
This world will ****
What it used to mean.
Another shot
Another round
Toxic traits
Of this town
If this is us
Then who are we
Trapped in the dance
Of the drunk and free.
As evening fades
And morning creeps
We make love
Or so it seems
Push aside
All that was said
Awake loveless
And broken head.
Arise to coffee
Kisses and embrace
Avoid the subject
Swallow the distaste
Push it away
Bottle the angst
Whatever was said
It was said in haste.
May 16
May 16, 2026 at 1:11 PM UTC
The edge, it's steepening
This toxicity within
Taking over
Drop a K without thought.
Idiot.
Bully myself
But, I've heard it all before
I can handle my own abuse.
Action has to be taken
Idle hands are the devils plaything thing
I am alone too often.
Seeking self control
As I can see
The bottom of this hole
From where I am now.
Let it go
It all must cease
Do I have the strength?
We'll see.
No more compromise
No more self taught lies
They all know
It's the poison I decide.
This terrible habit
I've had for decades
Now an addiction
I cannot shake.
I cannot win
Without losing
I must decide
To live a life.
My beautiful wife
She sits with me
We share the losses
We share the wins.
I hope she understands
I have to walk away
From this poison
Forever.
There is no moderation
This must be finite
Please let me find the strength
To win.
May 10
May 10, 2026 at 12:50 AM UTC
She doesn't know
How horribly broken I get
When alone
She doesn't understand
How lost and forgotten
I feel that I am
I dont belong
Im not strong
Everything is wrong
She laughs when I tell her
Because I make it humorous
Because I dont want to worry her
But I am bleeding
The demons are feeding
Everything is fleeting
She tells me
This is every time
That is a sign
She is letting go
Of me and my ways
She is learning of me
I feel it wont be long
Before she says
Goodluck with your future endeavours
I am a mess
A terrible futile waste
A familiar bitter taste
I take all fault
To embrace and make love
All of the ******* above
Maybe she does know
But she cant say
Just in case
Shes the same way...
Apr 13
Apr 13, 2026 at 7:06 AM UTC
She doesn't know
How horribly broken I get
When alone
She doesn't understand
How lost and forgotten
I feel that I am
I dont belong
Im not strong
Everything is wrong
She laughs when I tell her
Because I make it humorous
Because I dont want to worry her
But I am bleeding
The demons are feeding
Everything is fleeting
She tells me
This is every time
That is a sign
She is letting go
Of me and my ways
She is learning of me
I feel it wont be long
Before she says
Goodluck with your future endeavours
I am a mess
A terrible futile waste
A familiar bitter taste
I take all fault
To embrace and make love
All of the ******* above
Maybe she does know
But she cant say
Just in case
Shes the same way...
Apr 13
Apr 13, 2026 at 7:06 AM UTC
Gotta keep it to myself
These aches and frustrations
Don't mention the angst
She doesn't want to hear it.
Just like I was taught,
**** it up.
Expressing my disinterest
And my emotional frailty
Falls on deaf ears
And is met with only twisted words.
Just like I was taught,
Keep it bottled.
Find other ways
To express the pains
Splash it with colour
And words on page.
Just like I was taught
Nod and smile.
If I express too much
I will mess it all up
This is all I have left
This is all I want.
Just like I taught myself...
Take a breath, carry on.
Apr 12
Apr 12, 2026 at 9:02 PM UTC
Try
To fit in
So different
To them.
Quirks and memories
Cannot relate
Choose to vague out
Choose to sedate.
Try
To assist
With honey and fist
Push and twist.
Unfamiliar ethic
Alien world
Do it all
For the beautiful girl.
Try
To maintain
The sanity and pain
The ashes remain.
Calm and erratic
Try not to panic
One step at a time
The rest can be static.
Try
To be present
Aware and atune
To the needs of the wound.
Time will reveal
The love and intent
The moral and learnings
Of the words I have said.
Apr 10
Apr 10, 2026 at 11:56 PM UTC
Time is passing
I am aging
Like an old mattress
Soiled and uncomfortable.
I didn't set goals
Just floated through
School was no good
I just didn't want to.
Never bought a house
Just kept moving
From rental to rental
Dragging my **** with me.
I always worked
But never saved money
Just thought I'd be young forever
It'll work out, whatever.
Now I read emails
Too close to the screen
I never set out
To follow any dream.
I just wanted love
From a lovable person
Someone special
That understands me.
I have superannuation
For when I retire
Keep going to work
Sitting in my office on fire.
I have no intent
I don't remember a thing
Don't ask me to reiterate
I'll get it all wrong.
I got in trouble at work
They said "you're nearly 50"
You have to stop being this way
Have some consideration.
I am self medicated
Losing teeth and motivation
Spending my own time
Doing the same thing.
My wife understands me
But it frustrates her no end
But she too has her foibles
She is my bestest ever friend.
We gamble and drink and swear
Share secrets and make predictions
Make love like teenagers
High five on the little wins.
We have a blended family
But mine is far away
My kids I see when I can
I rent a house so they have somewhere to stay.
I cook Sheppard's pie
Spaghetti bog
Meat n veg
Weetbix.
I fly from the desert to the hills
From the heat to the cold
From the flies to the birds
From her to them.
I smoke and drink and think of her
She's working, so its hard to connect
We talk each night
About what we ate, what we did and how we are.
When I am back in the desert
I smoke and drink and think of them
They're busy with their lives
Getting older and dealing with it.
I miss my worlds when I am away
My home is a place, but hard to say
It's where I rest my weary heart
At the end of the busy day.
So much has happened
And I am still aging
Like an old mattress
Comfortable, warm and familiar.
Mar 28
Mar 28, 2026 at 8:28 PM UTC
An evening
A year or so ago
There was a post on Facebook
Regarding 2 cats
Give away.
2 brothers, both black and white
Tuxedo cats... whatever
Free company.
I jumped, knee **** "purchase"
I rocked up at the house
A young couple
They'd be split in 6 months.
I saw the disarray these poor felines
We're living in.
A matted tower
A kitty litter tray
Pyramid of ****
The stench was horribly exotic.
I rocked up
In a single cab ute.
By the scruff of the neck, I grabbed them both,
Chucked them into my ute,
I rocked up home, unorganised
I threw them inside my house.
These poor cats, they were obviously distraught,
But I needed somewhere for them to ****
And something for them to eat.
Then I let the misso know...
We have cats now,
I'm just duckin down to the shops...
She was still at work.
I named them Des and Troy.
Together, they were "DESTROY".
She accepted this (probably)... carry on.
They were inside cats
Never been outside
So they shat inside for quite a while
And we cleaned the tray, it was gross.
You'd walk down the hall
Of our quite nice home
And smell acrid **** and rank ****
From a cats **** hole.
Eventually we introduced them to outside,
They loved the freedom
They now shat outside
It was absolutely perfect.
Then, we saw them on the fence,
Venturing the boundaries
Getting brave
Des was home more often than Troy,
Des was more of a home body.
He would spend time with my wife
Purring and "making biscuits"
Clawing the furniture and meowing
Whenever anyone but me was home.
He would head **** shins for attention,
A softy, our sweet Des
While we wouldn't see Troy for days
Until he brought snakes and bugs inside.
They would playfully brawl
Like brothers
Hissing and growling
Kicking and biting, little *******
Des followed Troy for the adventures.
Recently, I don't know if they were together,
Des was crushed by a car,
Under the tires of some commodore
His face, bloodied and scarred,
Funny how his body ended up...
Curled in a sleeping ball.
We dug a hole in our backyard
A meter or so deep
We placed his corpse within
And we backfilled it.
We shared a moment
I had a shot of alcohol
My daughter, with her boyfriend
We shared some sweet words,
As brief as it was, it was enough
She drank milk, which I found poignant.
Now, there is only Troy
Des is dead.
There can be no DESTROY
Without Des.
The home is eerily quieter
Less movement, less commotion
I see Troy, just sitting
I wonder, if he misses Des...
We still have 2 bowls
A routine, to control the 2
But now, all has changed
I just sit, and Troy does too.
My daughter and wife cried
I do not
This does not affect me
Like it does them,
I express it differently.
I will miss Des, he was a good guy,
As sudden as his death was,
I feel he lived, he was free,
He died a free cat,
No longer in that gross house
With people that loved him
He was family
He had a cool collar
And cool things to play with...
He was a cool cat.
He was the 2nd cat I ever had,
And I will never forget him.
Goodbye Des,
You little ******
**
Mar 16
Mar 16, 2026 at 6:26 AM UTC