“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Andre Gide
A tanka for Moonwashed Weekly Prompt – Bittersweet
Inspired by a David Elikwu newsletter
18th Apr 2025 – Shared with Poets and Storytellers United – this poem is tangentially connected with the theme of ‘youth has no age’.
The following is a letter from January 8th, 2024, delivered today from the past
Dear FutureMe,
It’s now 30 years since leaving the UK. Now it seems like it doesn’t make much difference. After ten years it was still quite a novelty and being in Australia was still filled with wild emotions. But since then it felt like the UK was no longer something I understood or was a part of.
Though I count Thailand as my home now it is still a little tenuous to stay here and if I leave here in the future it definitely won’t be back to the UK but most likely Australia (unless Amy and I end up somewhere else).
You didn’t write much about this at the time but Amy and her family are going through a typical Thai-style drama at the moment and I wonder if it is all settled by the time of receiving this letter.
Amy’s man-child useless brother and his girlfriend are due to get married. Whilst that should be a cause for celebration we can see that this is not anything to do with love but purely circumstance. When quizzed on his reasons for marriage her brother purely said it was because he was getting old. He said this in front of his bride-to-be.
And so why has she agreed to this?
Part of the condition of marriage is that Amy’s mum will pay off their debts with her newly acquired money from selling her apartments. She will also have to pay a dowry to the bride’s family. So the bride and her family do get some benefit from this arrangement. And what the future might bring for them, who knows?
She now lives in Chiang Rai whilst he is in Bangkok. They don’t talk about anything they are doing and they have no plans for the future. Everything looks like it is just a short-term plan to get out of debt.
Amy’s brother contributes nothing to their family and is selfish beyond belief except for his one or two friends who he treats to food and drink every time they meet. Essentially, he is buying their friendship. His mum and dad treat him like a prince, forgiving him for any wrong he commits.
He’s drunk every day and can’t even piss in the bowl. If he comes to our house again I will instruct him to go piss in the garden.
Amy is obviously upset at the treatment he receives in comparison to the way she is expected to behave. It is a stereotypical patriarchal behaviour that is perpetuated by her parents but not something Amy will stand for. But she also has to bide her time and play the game, so to speak, to make sure that she gets her fair share of inheritance in the future. Otherwise, he is likely to receive everything and even so, he might already end up pissing away the inheritance money before they even expire. We’ve seen it happen in other aunties’ families.
It surely is a frustrating situation though it doesn’t impact me directly at this stage. I just have to be supportive of Amy and listen to her troubles when she needs me.
It’s the start of another year and I’m not much into resolutions or planning for the year, just taking it as it comes. I’m still very happy with my place in the world on an individual basis and hope it can stay that way for the foreseeable future.
I hope this letter finds me still happy and content and maybe even a little wiser.
Take it easy
PastMe
My heart still speaks kindness
Gianni Crow
after everything my eyes have witnessed,
echo this compassion to your generation.
Your blood is in my blood,
this same blood lived in the rivers of your ancestors’ hearts.
“Grandson remain strong, this life is just a dream.”
I’m mixing Native American ideas in this poem, and I probably show a lack of understanding of different myths and stories. I was initially pulled in by the quoted lines of Gianni Crow.
Then, looking through different myths, I found the story of the titular Great Fisher – Gotchi Odjig and then, looking for related art to accompany this piece, discovered Daphne Odjig’s fascinating work. The attached piece is suitably titled ‘Listening (Homage to Grandfather series)’. Daphne Odjig’s prints are available here at the Bearclaw Gallery.
17th Jan 2025 – Shared with dVerse OLN #376
Shared with Reena’s Xploration Challenge #361 – taking this couplet from Mirza Ghalib as inspiration
Whose crafty creation am I; the image implores –
Every image stands enrobed – but in paper robes
You can read more about it here.
Image courtesy of Web Urbanist highlighting Rob Mulholland‘s art installation Vestige.
Inspired and paraphrased from the second part of Authenticity & Absurdity at Philosophy Now.
Where to go when everyone has run to the same place to relax?
Inspired and paraphrased from the first part of Authenticity & Absurdity at Philosophy Now
Inspired by Existential Comics #572
Inspired by Existential Comics #570
The following poems were inspired by the Outcast and Other Words anthology which I came across sometime in 2024. I decided to take all the prompts from that anthology and see what I could come up with myself.
17th Sep 2025 – Shared with dVerse – reflections
Inspired by Dennis Bovell
Inspired by a young friend of a friend who was suddenly killed by a drunk driver
Title taken from and poem inspired by The Stoa Letter email
*https://tinyhearts.uk/2024/09/16/mowing/
1994ever 