Be naked but don't take off your clothes
I don't mean literarily
only that you should open up
to be your real self and not be an ambiguity

The more people quote
they negate their own thought
little merit it shows
there's no light--only shadows!

If be
what's that to you?
if not-be
what would be the issue?

Be a public-fountain
such that therefrom
every one can quench
their thirst--and return
knowing there's always sufficient

a meeting=place
for the weary and tired
especially those
who have travelled
from other lands
and need helping hands

how divided is mankind
each in their pursuits individual
let us each our door open
our meals to share
with every stranger and friend

let us all be a public fountain
in fullness of  spirit and heart
pave the way for the dawning
of a new world without suffering and pain

Be the common grass
not the blowing flower
both are greeted by the breezes that drift past
also the sunshine, the blast of the storm and the drench of the shower

Betrayal
should not be
in our vocabulary

done to others
is ignominy
of self---a tragedy

such would
an imprisonment be
the betrayer would never be free

the life worthwhile
embraces humanity
in its true authenticity

You got it all wrong thinking
betrayal belongs to the enemy
through life's bitter experiencing
the worst is from friends-- that's the grim reality!

Within a single day
how many contrived words
you have employed
others to betray?

Not for me, it would be a pity
'better late than never'
it smacks of indifference or being lazy
the prize would have been claimed by another!

Life to many
is purposeless action
and so little of
meaningful reflection

Life is all about
between moments
a chain of discrete parts
of hopes and sentiments--

the inter-weaving of events
the self ****** into actions
a sea of expectations
of outcomes in different dimensions-

the decision-making
the planning ---movements
forward or thrown-back
encounters and contentions

for nothing stops or ends
ceaseless coping with time and predicaments
but that which always gives me joys in abundance
is waiting for love's wondrous revelations.

I don't wish
to be wiser
only to be
gentler
kinder
warmer
humbler
calmer
and quieter

I could bend
it'd be harder to relent

Beware
when the voice
of the crowd
is loudest

The louder the 'I'

the more you would attract

a malign eye

Nothing said by others

should be taken too seriously

let me say here candidly:

this applies principally to me

Lend me your ear
but not your consent:
I'm just a voice of my own
and might be empty of content

Beware of this guy
named 'I' !

What is 'better'? Beware of this word
it could land in situations painful and absurd

Beware
of saying 'Yes'
it's the mother
of the greatest distress

Life the unknowable, the struggle, every step forward I take is uncertain, as though I'm staring at the blankness of night, the feeling of bewilderment-- hush, what is my heart saying?

The lacuna, the conundrum, a sense of loss and desolation,
where is love and comfort to be found?

A dense mist hangs in the cold night...I am lost, totally lost.....the hours deepen, I shiver....is this but a dream?

in response to a piece of flute music composed by Alex Ford.

Love and hate

a subject we over debate-



of other themes

let us talk--such as dreams



where silent joys abound

without having to make a sound



of days of youthful delight

under the brightest sunlight



it will then be a life of endless thanks

when our life has done with every angst



my heart would be in peace perfect

all is calm and rest-- nothing more should I expect.

Beyond self
a reaching out
to life and further
to the unknown
the universe
is the poet's home--

each poem
bears marks
less of joy
much more of sorrow
scars that heal not
the heart that is torn

let love be
the light
in life's darkness
let it be
the anthem--

if love abounds
wouldn't a new world
be born?

Beyond the furthest stretch of time
the wildest longing of the dream
beyond the last harvest of the roses
the dying rays of the evening gleam--

there's still the unaddressed and the unrest
that dimension of the infinite that could not be grasped
the heart searches for what's not there
the absolute looks away and the wonder and beauty they don't last.

A world

beyond a world

beyond a world

it leaves me over-curled

There's no arriving
even if thought so
by the traveller
the journey is just beginning

the mind deceives
a sticking-point seeking
and speaks: 'all is resolved'-
but it's illusive thinking!

life is a process stretching
to future unknown dimensions
there is no fixed destination
every step is but a crossing

beyond the bounds of the now
mankind is born to sad desiring
the exploring into time but manifests
the heart is still in wanting.

Life wouldn't be
   a wasteland
    if the meaning
    of living
    you understand

   there's the green land-
   the pasture, the foliage
   the running stream
   the beaming sea
   the love, the joy
   the beauty and wonder-edge

   nurture and nourish
   your precious dream
   aim not for the froth
   but the very cream

  that's found within yourself
  unsullied and unblemished
   the innermost sacred kingdom
   that you alone can claim -

   in arrival
   you'd have turned
   the wasteland
   into Wonderland

Let not yourself
be the mirror of another

Bigger than life?
not me, oh no!
neither smaller
just what I am--not much to show

Mel Dare
​

Mel Dare is an Australian visual artist and educator based in Perth, Western Australia. Her work explores the construction of personal narrative specifically in regards to it's relationship with how meaning is created.  This has led her to investigate different but interrelated subjects such as subjectivity, psychology, neurology, biology, identity, time and perspective.
​
During the last 16 years the artist has produced 9 solos, 3 duos and her work has been selected for numerous group exhibitions including Steal (2016), Scene (2016), Pure Contemplation Without Knowledge (2015, 2016), Dot on the Run (2015, 2016), Bankwest Art Prize (2015), Painting as an Artform (2015), Albany Art Prize (2014), Midwest Art Prize (2014), Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize (2014) and Florid (2014, Turner Galleries and 45 Downstairs). It has been acquired by City of Joondalup, St John of God, Princess Margaret Hospital, Old Swan Brewery and many other national and international collections.

Dare lectures in drawing at Central Tafe and has taught art at Curtin University of Technology, Bandyup and Nyandi Prisons, Applecross Gifted & Talented Program, Nascha Inc (disabilities services) and various other private and public organisations. In addition she has undertaken various curatorial projects including Darlington Open Art Awards 2016, 12 Days and Gotham Returns (with Andrew Nicholls). Dare has been a resident artist at Gotham Studios since 2008.

Birds of a feather
don't flock together
they fight for food
bite and peck at one another

Bird-songs
bring back fond memories
we were scouts and we camped
in the forest-long ago--seems centuries

when friendship was strong and pure
when life was such a kind friend
amidst bird-songs we sang The Happy Wanderer
and many other melodies--hoping there would be no end

to our simple joys and the world we would continue
to dance with and embrace
under the bright stars and before the camp-fire
each of us wore a lovely moon-lit face

and now we meet fifty years hence
we have so little to say-- bird-songs bring no solace-
our hearts have hardened and the trials
of life have taken their toll---written on our every face

Self-isolation
the sharpening
of contemplation


not a rebuke
but humility
and transformation

nothing
is now the same
the hardest transition

the self
looks at itself
in revaluation

reaching out
in common humanity
and compassion

the past revisited
nostalgia
in recollection

pettiness and trivia
set aside
birth of a new vision

a strange unity
when differences are set aside
in common supplication

mankind
as family
one nation

when things
come together
the celebration

tried and purified
the human heart
reaches its highest dimension.

My friends quit too quickly
    my enemies hold on to last a century

This is the way to doing well
           just learn two words: I shall!

I should prefer being silent
  to being eloquent

Men man-age--it's true
     but women can too!

Trust
to what extent I must?

There or here
           my heart I should hear

It's not necessary to be clever
        if somehow you can do a job better

Someone you will remember
        by their voice, though long over

The real me
     I'll wait to see

It's hard for me to define
      that wisdom is not mine

From your self
         of yesterday
         take leave--go somewhere
         you could see life in a new way

I've never sought for conquest
quietly I work,  I do my best

We are all sellers*
      and buyers#
     in terms figurative
     there's no other way to live

I don't wish to be a flower
   being a blade of **** will suit me fine
   I'll embrace the beauty of every hour
   and still share in common the day's sunshine

Everyone claims to have their own case
no wonder there's chaos in every place

You should never regard yourself as failure
        if you don't care about any other's measure

Even the expert
    could sound absurd!