The First Time – 15th August 2024

Cloth cut and gathered
Then stitched and sown
I rented the suit and tie
She made the dress her own

A true story, my first wedding. Submitted to Weekend Writing Prompt #376 – Handmade


Today I’m feeling:

A little down with a headache behind the eyes.

I didn’t sleep particularly well and woke up at one point with a disconcerting dream where I was trying to find my friends in an AFL stadium but ended up outside, around a car parking area and went through a fire exit door that led into a dank dark wide stairwell and off to the side, a cavernous tunnel dug through the concrete, dirt and rock, the pathway littered with old beer bottles.  Obviously, a place for nefarious folks to gather. 

As I stepped through, a dodgy youngster stepped out of the shadow, saying, ‘Well, well, what have we here?  Welcome to The Pricks.’  I replied with a ‘What?’ And attempted to get back to the fire door to exit, somehow knowing and submitting to the fact that I wasn’t going to make it and my legs were as if stuck in treacle.

Unable to face my fate, I woke myself up, wondering who won the football and scared to go back to sleep.

Health:

Physical: 6
Mental: 8

Today I’m grateful for:

My old student Cake, who is in grade 10 now, is in the Science Program and aiming to be a doctor.  She took me to the stand where she was demonstrating what worms are made up of and how they work.

She looks and behaves so grown up now that last Thursday, when students don’t need to wear a uniform, I mistook her for a teacher!

Also, Jet, who showed me a little about how Instagram works and Tonaor, who showed me how to follow everyone in their class.

The best thing about today was:

Watching some of my students perform a dance routine that I had seen them practising for the last few weeks. I thought that they were just doing it for fun but I was amazed at how professional they were when they were on stage today.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I arrived back at school at 10:20 to discover that today is Science Day and many of my 10:30 grade 12 class were taking part in it and those that weren’t wanted to go and watch them.  Well, ok, I guess. 

I didn’t know anything about this (though I do know that tomorrow is another event that disrupts my classes) but I rolled with it and went to check it out for a little while too. It was pretty fun, though I’m not sure how the sexy dancing competition fit into the theme of the event but everyone seemed to be having a good time. 

After an hour, I headed back for more coffee and reading and writing ( and my final grade 8) class, asking to skip today to go to the event, but we all knew that it would be finished by then and they were just trying it on. 

I took it easy with them, though and we had a fun class practising what we did yesterday, introductions and asking conversational questions and I came up with an interesting idea for them to try next week. Basically, getting each of my grade 8 classes to go and record themselves interacting with each other, having the same type of conversations. It will push them a little and will show me who is motivated.

Something I learned today?

In the Middle Ages, what we now call a hedgehog was called an urchin. That’s a fairly useless piece of information.

I also heard about a Palestinian man who went to register the birth of his three-day-old twins and came home to find that Israel had bombed the apartment where they were staying (as they had been displaced) killing the babies, their mother (who was a well-liked doctor) and grandmother. 

Sickeningly, some Israeli online commenters said that they were happy to have taken away everything from this man.

This is how terrorists are made.

I took this picture because we had a visitor again when I got home. Uncle cowman had already chased him out one time today but there must be something good with our grass. I didn’t chase him out, hoping to get some free lawn mowing. Our cats looked on, slightly bemused.

Dead Daffodil – 16th March 2024

Time marches on, each golden dawn
The love call in lingerie wears thin
Beautiful eyes now weep forlorn
As the devil burns at Narcissus‘ skin

With the white lion tete-a-tete
Thalia laughed in comedic grace
Ice follies not quite melted yet
Double smiles across Merlin’s face

A sovereign, a sentinel of silver smiles
Once orange progress or pink pride
February gold fades as June defiles
The Dutch master‘s lemon beauty died

Submitted to dVerse’s Daffodil prompt. Naturally, my mind wanted to turn around the joys of spring and to already mourn its end before it even begins.


Today I’m feeling:

Grotty. Getting up at 4am for Oh and Aun’s wedding has knocked me sideways. In between things that I need to partake in I lay down and dizzily dozed. Each time getting up gingerly worried about fainting.

Today I’m grateful for:

Being able to grab a four-hour afternoon catch-up sleep. I could’ve gone through until tomorrow if I didn’t have to attend this evenings reception, where I’m sitting now wondering if I have vertigo.

The best thing about today was:

Sleep.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Not enough sleep and too much sleep! I also didn’t manage to study any Thai today.

I took this picture because I liked the juxtaposition between the two sides. The facade all looking beautiful and behind the scenes the wood and nails holding it in place.
Fatman report

Love I Feel – 15th March 2024

This is not love I feel
Salty sweat drips off my cheek
And falls onto your neck

Make a pillow of your shirt
That got this thing started!
Let’s rest here a while
Pretending that this is love I feel

Submitted to Friday Writings #117 – Sensual Clothing


Today I’m feeling:

Not as good as yesterday.  Woke up with a chest full of phlegm that was keen to be expelled.  

A little dizzy and unclear though I’m very happy that my teeth feel more normal again and I’m getting used to being able to eat on both sides of my mouth (for a while at least) and not flinch when drinking cold drinks, though I am still mentally preparing for it.

Today I’m grateful for:

The chocolate almonds that have been sitting in the fridge and that I just opened.  I can’t remember who gave them to us now.  I had to stop myself from scoffing too many.

The best thing about today was:

Talking and playing with the last few students I knew that were hanging around at school this morning.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

My body is rebelling against the air pollution and the medicines to soothe my inflamed throat and stop my eyes from itching.  The day is a dark yellow pall, like a 14-hour twilight.  Not much I can do about it except wear a mask. Even that irritates my ears and gives me a headache.  Damn, this weather sucks.

Something I learned today?

Do you know why movies are called movies? It’s because the pictures move. Makes sense, right? And then you remember that movies were originally silent. And what we call movies today were originally called talkies, to distinguish them from silent movies. It’s a fun reminder that we live in a tiny branch of all the possible futures that could have existed.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I helped Amy pack the gift packs for the monks tomorrow.

I helped Auntie cut a couple of banana trees so that she could park her car on the land next door and I parked her hi-tech car for her, having needed to be shown how to lift off the handbrake because there was no handbrake, just a button.

I took this picture because tomorrow is Amy’s brother’s wedding and they’ve prettied up the living room and it looks nice.

This is an image that just won’t fade – 19th July 1994

Then up to Old Sarum, the old town of Salisbury in Roman times, with magnificent views, particularly of the Roman roads that met their 2000 years back. We sunbathed and slid down banks, climbed up them and avoided paying to get in. A way cool place – go see.

We videoed some wildflowers and wild insects and then headed home to Poole where Broni, Rob, John and I went down the pub for dinner and a couple of beers to celebrate/commiserate, before walking down to Kerry’s to watch a video. Unfortunately we picked Body of Evidence. What crap! Nuff said.

So’s, after watching a bit of the third-place play-off in the World Cup (Sweden well ahead though still don’t know the final score) we stumbled home drunkenly and guess what? I can’t remember anything else of that night. Ho-hum.

But Sunday, once again I woke wrapped in Broni and let’s just say we didn’t get up for an hour or two us being too interested in each other. But breakfasted on, then mad rushed us fab foul four again to the beach to meet Chrissy, Sharon (Steve’s sister), Amanda (Chrissy’s daughter), Luke (Sharon’s son – The maddest baddest little bastard ever! And of course exceptionally cute in his few years of age – totally lovable!) and Jennifer (Amanda and Luke’s friend). So for five hours, we played football, catch, volleyball, frisbee and Luke’s special game ‘knock you over and jump on top of you and throw sand in your face!’ We all spent most of the day laughing and playing and having good old-fashioned childish fun. You can’t begrudge that can you?

Exhausted we came home, Rob back up to Southampton, me and John to watch the football (sprawled out in the front room) and Broni upstairs to watch the film ‘She’ll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas’. The football, the World Cup final, was a slight disappointment though reasonably entertaining and a shame to be settled on penalties at the end, sparking the age-old debate of how to settle a stalemate match. It being late and us exhausted we still found some enthusiasm for an idea would come up with holding a party on the Saturday before we are evicted. The cunning bitch Julie left on Saturday afternoon, thankfully, which is an immense relief all round – the last we hear from her I hope though we may have to chase her up for bills sooner or later.

And so it came to Monday – the day of little occurrence of note, save John and I playing frisbee up at the park, in the most delicate beautiful rain and humidity, till darkness swamped the evening. When I got back me and Broni played silly buggers till bedtime recharging ourselves with each other’s love and closeness.

We also, over the weekend, decided that if Rob comes to Oz for the wedding, he’ll be our best man. Hey man, cool – will ask him soon. And everything will be mad frenzy now, packing, sorting, writing letters, changing addresses, closing bank accounts and fucking partying. Go dudes! Oh yes, good can come from bad – just watch us prove it.

(Later) Phew. It’s scorching hot, preparation for the coming summer in Australia (destiny – what the card!) Drove across some wide-open land today, fields upon fields of corn and crops, cows and the bull. Down dusty tired tracks by dung heaps, open space is like…it’s like….freedom. At the end of that journey was a farm with a pretty farmer’s daughter and her way cute two-year-old (I’m guessing) and a handsome farm boy who would charm the undies off a nun if maybe he wasn’t the village idiot, knowing nothing else but muck and chicken shit. (This is all in my mind of course – who knows what these people may do by night. I could see this guy at some nightclub bar with a queue of girls lined up to caress his rippling muscles – like I said, who knows?)

And I’m out in the sticks now, driving through some sleepy village that even has two names, like one had forgotten and another thought up – and imagine the village war between the farmers and the petrol pump attendant families over which name to use (out here they may still have a say – imagine us try to change the name of Bournemouth to Old Bastard or something).

And I gets to thinking, seeing some old dude bent over double with age, where I might be in 100 years time. Hmm? And I was thinking of something Rollins wrote which I’ll write ye down when I get home and maybe I’ll find a connection. Anyway, think about where you will be every year for the next 100 years okay – see what you come up with (go for it I say).