martin-challis
Australian
Father of 6 (now all adults) / Husband to the most beautiful person I know. / Lover of poetry that expands thinking, opens the heart and contributes to consciousness. Book of Poems title 'Boy Man World' - published June 2015. / http://martinchallis.com/?p=2297
In the quiet of an afternoon sea-change
we stand at the doorway, neither of us making the decision to leave or enter.
We’ve been at this for years now,
the ebb and the flow of tidal embrace.
Silence moves between us,
moves at the pace of feeling.
For so long we carried the bones of resentment,
for so long the shards of unspoken dreams.
How did having nothing left, bring us to this place?
To be empty, is not emptiness.
And so we move, we move at the pace of feeling,
towards the feeling, of feeling felt.
Martin © 2026
Jan 10
Jan 10, 2026 at 11:46 AM UTC
Had I been kinder
She thought of her love
Long passed
In the fading light of
Our last circadian rhythm
An epitaph might ask
Had we all
Martinos @ 2018
Mar 9, 2018
Mar 9, 2018 at 6:47 PM UTC
she said
of his passing
'You know
nothing is seen to change
and yet,
everything does’
Later at the window
She spoke with the wind
Sharing her invisible
Sweetly to the end
Martinos @ 2018
Feb 19, 2018
Feb 19, 2018 at 5:10 PM UTC
Our words were mesmerised, unable at
each attempt to describe the end of day
the sun took its story - the spectacle of hues and ribbons between gold fire and greyblack crimsons - beyond Wolumbin - reclining grandmother - crag head facing skyward - omniscient - pausing inbreath grandeur
Taking our gaze, the cloud hummers went westerly - tribal souls migrating in unison -
their mentor and guide a following breeze
and curiously the stars appeared above them
as if flying in formation against the trend
missiles or satellites - not afraid - in awe - we saluted the spectacle - swaying in silence and wonder
Martinos @ 2018
Jan 30, 2018
Jan 30, 2018 at 5:21 PM UTC
Clear skies are often coldest,
Tempests' temper seems subdued.
Sunlight skims the tiles of rooftops,
Stops.
Savours,
Admires the view.
The sky was never blue.
Obsidian haze and gunmetal days
Light the life we choose.
Blackened,
Slightly bruised.
Broken yet not dismayed.
Too long we have been walking,
Proud in our shroud of the grey.
My brother, my teacher,
My foe and my friend.
Our ghosts shall speak
Once more at the end.
Jan 20, 2018
Jan 20, 2018 at 10:18 PM UTC
I climbed down through coastal scrub
Sandstone nub and turkey scratch,
Purposefully counted into the hundreds
And then became distracted for caution
And for possible misstep. On safe arrival
The foreshore held its mysteries
Within the wash and cliff and ancient sands
I did not inquire or pause to study, yet committed and turned again to climb knowing afore each rise I would descend
Martinos @ 2018
Jan 20, 2018
Jan 20, 2018 at 9:59 PM UTC
Come as the silence of night,
to soothe waylaid hearts.
Let them hear...
The rhythm of
their own pounding.
Cradle them...
And carry them
through every deep breath...
And every heavy sigh.
Assure them that the lull
between such forlorn beats
will never be prolonged
as long as there is a want,
and need
to hear and feel the next.
Jan 20, 2018
Jan 20, 2018 at 3:34 PM UTC
Rarely as I recall, in truth,
Did she speak expansively of herself
Or tell us stories of her young adventure
She reserved the detail and the admiration for others,
others who were remote to me, in interest and in caring,
I never knew, and always assumed she thought them more compelling or entertaining or greater than herself
And now I wish I’d asked her
And told her that this was for me
Furthest from the truth
Martinos @ 2018
Jan 15, 2018
Jan 15, 2018 at 6:41 AM UTC
You have outstretched arms
You are on the beach
You are receiving the towel
That will wipe the sting of salt and glare away
You are relieved in the moment this occurs
And look back to the waves that have just released you
Later that day after bathing
You recall the moment
Your skin
Your nature
And what has washed away
Martinos @ 2018
Jan 13, 2018
Jan 13, 2018 at 4:35 PM UTC
in the sea
of night
each star
a flood
of light
and the
milky way
a riptide
of delight
Martinos @ 2018
Jan 9, 2018
Jan 9, 2018 at 4:21 PM UTC