"tui" poems
As I lay beside my darling
On an early Sunday morn,
I could feel her rounded softness
Sleeping under blankets warm.
My mind caroused the memories
And loitered on it's way
And found itself deliciously,
Immersed in golden play.
I remembered something special
In the way my little boy would look
As his eyes rose up in wonderment
When I read his favorite book.
And the joy involved in feeding
A hungry little mouth
When the porridge spooned all over
From the eyebrows heading south.
A tantalizing moment
On the beach down by the sea,
In the warm December sunshine
With my happy family.
We were running in the black sand
Drawing circles with a stick
As the surging waves approached them
Laughing little boys were quick.
Laughing, happy moments
And some sad ones like the day
When dear old Meg, our Labrador,
Got sick and passed away.
Young Boaz in his sadness
Climbed the big tree to it's crown
And it took a lot of pleading
To persuade him to come down.
And young Solly played the taniwha
At the Cornwall Park school play
And a better taniwha has yet
To grace the stage today.
A natural in his element
This young comedian
So hilariously funny
As he drew the audience in.
The tender, loving moments
As we both strolled arm in arm
Through the verdant Ferntree Gully
With it's sunlit grace and charm.
And the towering eucalyptus,
Hanging wood smoke in the air
And the whiplash resonation
Of the lyrebird hidden there.
Of Buttercup's wild parties
When fancy dress was king,
When everyone would whoop it up
And laugh and dance and sing.
When mum's and dad's and little kids
All joined the happy throng
With spud mashing as a ceremony
And a night of fun and song.
Of sitting in the garden
With your feet up and a book
And a cold beer at your elbow
And a barbecue to cook.
With the easy feel of family
As they go about their day
And the joyous sound of summer
When two noisy tui's play.
Memories of yesterday
Moments in the life
Of ecstasy and agony
And wonderment and plight.
And the ordinary ness of everything
And the magic everywhere,
Like the auburn in the sunlight
As it strikes my darling's hair.
Marshalg
Mangere Bridge
10 October 2009
May 8, 2010
May 8, 2010 at 7:36 PM UTC
my eyes, too blind from the light of hell to see
pray for you to choke the blasphemy out of me
ave maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum. benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, iesus. sancta maria, mater dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae
you misread my plea and loosen your holy grip
and more sins spill from my ****** lips
ave maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum. benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, iesus. sancta maria, mater dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae
my tongue is heavy with heresy
but still i babble hypocrisy
ave maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum. benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, iesus. sancta maria, mater dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae
amen
Apr 13, 2015
Apr 13, 2015 at 12:40 AM UTC
"O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis;
obumbrata
et velata
mihi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!"
Apr 17, 2015
Apr 17, 2015 at 6:41 PM UTC
Daydreaming of quality time, alone.
Diving into bush pools and rivers,
sun-soaked,
wet rocks under-bum,
hair slick down back,
drip on shoulders;
stronger now there’s nothing
holding me down.
Down I dive,
further- deep into peace.
I’ll eat air and drink my own laughter in gulps until I’m drunk
and fall off my rock
right back in the water-fallen ripples
again.
Let the tui talk and the fantails walk
behind me,
as I make my own naked trail
through fairy-forest vines,
over moss-mounds and thick roots.
With no cars, I can climb,
every tree is my castle,
every branch a limb
to protect me.
I’ll barefoot tumble down a Pinetree slope,
carve my poems into soft-bark trunks,
let the wind fuel my fire.
Aug 16, 2019
Aug 16, 2019 at 9:04 PM UTC
Old friend, that shot is picture perfect. Your place (The Gebbie Compound)
is indeed heaven on a hill. You did a fine job in planning and execution. I'm
so happy for you and your lovely wife, you guys deserve what you have created.
Old son, I think we both have found what we have looked for all our lives.
**** good on us! They say; "Good things do come to those that wait".
(Sure, as long as we work ****** hard to get it while we wait.) What we have
earned and our kids make old age bearable.
Steve
A perfect, cold and frosty mid-winters day. Air is biting crisp, sun, warm on my back. Old Egmont towers behind the house gleaming with pristine snow and ice. The tui’s are cavorting in the trees ******* nectar from the early fuchia flowers with their long curved beaks, a flash of green iridescence as they fluff their neck feathers. Mother is cooking something great in the kitchen, she is about to call me in for hot coffee and cake….Life is great Stevo, could not be better.
Like minds-different hemispheres-same world.
Regards M
But for starlight, the night is black, no moon
on the rise. My porch a stage to the music of
crickets and frogs in the summer grass. A gentle
breeze touches me like a lover in the dark, caressingly
cool in my July heat of peaceful repose.
The scents of gardenias and honeysuckle drift
in on the currents and far off up the hill a Coyote
calls to his friends. Cooing night birds mummer.
The barn cats come to join me, silent and careful.
One onto my lap, the other to lay down beside my
chair. Soon the purring of a feline mixes with the
music of the grass and the air. Together we all peer
out into the peaceful void, perhaps thinking the same
thoughts, living fine, being in the moment.
These small perfect bits of time come and go. If only
I could string them all together, like rubies on a chain,
what a priceless necklace they would make and yet,
they cost me nothing and once collected, are not for sale.
© 2012 Marshal Gebbie
Author's Note
Exchange between two old codgers situated in opposite hemispheres, in opposite seasons, but with a remarkably similar take on the quality of their individual lot in life.
Jul 3, 2012
Jul 3, 2012 at 1:14 AM UTC
Hey Mr Tui Bird where do you go?
I wish I was like you.
Able to fly away across a sky so blue.
Maybe then she'd smile at me too.
The way she smiles at you.
Apr 3, 2018
Apr 3, 2018 at 6:02 PM UTC
Push and pull
Yin and yang
How is this
The only song I sang
Close and far
Wrong and right
How can it be
We always fight
Ups and downs
Mistakes and remorse
Why do we always
Make things worse
Human nature
Wish we were greater.
Push and pull
Love and hate
How is this
My forever mate
Close and far
Pity and war
Why is it always
An ending with a scar.
Ups and downs.
Depression and joy
Oh why do I miss
Being with that boy
Human nature
Wish we were greater
Why don't we begin
Appreciate what's within.
Aug 1, 2019
Aug 1, 2019 at 5:54 PM UTC
Sanctus satanas, sanctus Dominus diabolus sabaoth satanas-venire satanas venire Ave, satanas, Ave satanas Tui sunt caeli Ave satanas.
Oct 14, 2014
Oct 14, 2014 at 2:29 PM UTC
Light and deep shade dancing
As I stride the mountain pass
My fascination prancing
As appreciations bask.
There's a tui in the cherry
And a magic song he sings
As he annoints the morning air
With the joy a summer brings.
There's a vibrancy a-hovering
And a crispness to the feel
A clarity so scintillating
One might, actually, doubt it's real.
A sky, so blue to be azure,
Extends across, on high,
Cloudless with a baking sun
Impaling you and I.
These old volcanoes soar aloft
They, now quiescent, stand,
Clad thick in stands of Kamahi
And towering Rimu, grand.
Great Egmont with her snowy crown
Rears high above it all
To dominate the beautious-ness
Of slope and waterfall.
A tiny fantail flits about
And so entrances me
With aerial bombardments, flung,
In near impossibility.
The song of rivers plummeting
Down ferny glades and stone-
Causing me to laugh aloud
In serenade of home.
And sauntering through this wonderous-ness
Of magnificence in green,
This glory of New Zealand,
Is, indeed, the very best ...I've seen.
M.
Midsummer Taranaki, NZ
30 January 2021
Jan 30, 2021
Jan 30, 2021 at 6:00 PM UTC
It was only a couple months ago,
Nothing could be better,
I met a young lady that you may know,
By the name of Heather.
Was broken before by another man,
Still seemed rather clever,
Instantly, there was no way I could stand,
The beauty of Heather.
I fell for her hard and she drew me in,
My attentions center,
My first time loving the touch of ones skin,
Only thought of Heather.
Over dreadful times she pushed me away,
Less time spent together,
She's soon to be gone and to my dismay,
That's the loss of Heather.
I also have a friend that's quite pervy,
Needs a punch or shake-up,
Easily gets lost amidst a bevy,
Goes by the name of Jacob.
I have another friend that knows my pain,
He knows how she ******* me,
Together we will slowly go insane,
Me and my friend Tui.
I only have one colleague of color,
Might feel my agony,
Go as far as to say he's my brother,
Goes by DeAnthony.
I have another friend that's very strange,
Would've been a farmer,
Back in the day because he's very plain,
My dear old friend Carter.
Another crazy friend that thinks like me,
Life force leaking resin,
Very nice but absolutely crazy,
Hawaiian friend Aeson.
Another friend that is nice and quiet,
She is quite the fella,
On the inside, she seems to be crying,
My good-souled friend, Ella.
I had talked about the one I love more,
Cause love is not friendship,
Even though she is considered a *****
Love forever endless.
Friendship is selfish, cure your own boredom,
Therefore, it's not like love,
Love wants to make you solve other's problems,
Any problems thereof.
Oct 31, 2018
Oct 31, 2018 at 3:42 PM UTC
adde me vobis summo futurum varius tui, animam tuam in respirare
Sep 26, 2018
Sep 26, 2018 at 3:06 PM UTC
A heart is still caged from the chapter before.
Trained to distrust, taught to ignore.
A heart is released but shields are raised.
Ever so fearful of a chapter replayed.
A spark in their soul, a heart on the wire.
The light in her eyes fills a heart with desire.
A new trust is earned, a faith reinspired.
A heart opens up, a soul is caressed,
Agreed in a future for both that seems best.
Looks to her eyes to hear out a voice,
Eyes have gone dull, not by his choice.
Looks to the ground to come to the horror,
Heart’s been ripped out, bloods on the floor.
Light fades away and nothing but silence.
Without a heart there can be no more violence.
With no more lights, guidance only internal,
A heart clenches on, forever eternal.
May 5, 2019
May 5, 2019 at 4:22 PM UTC
this poets soul
is sowing seeds
for loved ones lost
for unseen deeds
in the quiet times
dappled with sighs
dusted in pale light
are pre dawn skies
Mr Tui sings
he spreads wide
his wings
in upward flight
to the Puriri tree
I think of you
I dream you are free
toes mulled
in a turning tide
undertow pulled
the tears we cried
for you
I glimpse your eyes
crystalline blue
so briefly seen
caught in sea foam
sands washed
renewed pristine
I let go like the sun
& long for home
J.C.
Aug 7, 2020
Aug 7, 2020 at 1:26 PM UTC