THE PROJECT

Rohan James Mendis, an unique Aussie concept

designed, manufactured and delivered on time

Michelle and Karl who constructed this award winner

have got to keep sucking the odd lemon or lime

In my life I've laboured on many a  project

wearin a blue,white, old or gold collar

but on comparing his progress on a bar chart 

he's zooming ahead like the almighty dollar

His critical path, realistically scheduled, lies directly ahead

for now it's the activity nodes that matter

have we enough float to bring him in on time

the former's as important as the latter

His parents will direct him, firm targets in mind

charting his progress with pictures and reports

and as he moves with the seasons and his mind expands ...

into the music and arts I hope, not bloody sports

He'll grow up to be what fate will decree

with a nudge here, a push there, a recovery plan

we want to be around to see the project complete 

when the boy is father to the man

Rohan James Mendis, a tough project to follow

unique, specific, one-time and never to be repeated

his scope and development plotted with inputs

and us cheering him on standing, unable to remain seated

As he achieves each stage in his life's project

we'll be watching with trepidation and joy

each target met will be celebrated with our cries

"What a ripper, a beauty, a bobby-dazzler ... he's our boy!"

COULD I BE LIKE HARRY?

They've been married over sixty five years

their spirits remain unbroken

lately life has thrown them some mean breaks

their love remains unshaken

Harry is her bulwark against the buffets of the future

and cares for her without condition

Pix gives him the will  to go on

she's with him to and from perdition

Like scones and cream they go together, together

their lives being entwined

Pix depends more on Harry these days

to Harry she is love defined

Six decades or more since they were wed

experienced highs and lows

their humour, fidelity and values intact

honouring their wedding vows

My fortune in being their friend began recently

when we met out in the sticks

I've thought long and often .. could I be like Harry

if you were my Pix?

EPONYMOUSLY YOURS

Many familiar English words are derived 

from the name of a person

pavlova, sandwich,  stroganoff

or bowler, cardigan or wellington

Plants, even fish get a mention

begonia, dahlia, astor or guppy

ampere, joule, ohm or watt

science has contributed many

A ball-point's known universally

as a biro after its Hungarian inventor

even proctology has taken on a new meaning

these days we refer to it as a hopoate

don't plagiarise it, do a demidenko

they aren't yobbos, they're philistines

and sexually ....  you can roger someone

the eponymous ain't anonymous, just a sign of the times

EQUALITY

"All men are created equal"

said Voltaire (or was it Ben Franklin)

"But are everywhere in chains"

a mans arrival is miraculous and joyous

his departure mundane and dolorous

changing mores and over-crowding

brings a pragmatic, populist propaganda

exhorting us to depart in flames

and not selfishly repose in dead centres

of increasing tackiness and size.

To those alive, give them the living space

and to others who follow the inevitable path

we come to the crux of this fact of death

that all men are cremated equal

DROUGHT PROOF AUSTRALIA

It's a catch-phrase insidiously grabbing our attention

entering the lingo, a mantra for the decade

intoned by the PM and the equally egregious 'meeja'

until it rains.

Truth is ... Oz is waterproof

and we're in this Todd River regatta together

striving for footholds in sand and salt

and talking mightily through our freckles in euphemisms about 'challenges' and 'strategies'.

But together, we can start putting a few holes in that waterproofing

over the long-term and in many ways ... let's count 'em

educate the population about becoming water misers and mini-misers

offer big users of water incentives for more thought and less use

encourage and reward designers, planners and architects with awards ...

for washing machines or dishwashers with a save-cycle

or water-storage systems that recycle run-off into the ocean

it's a legacy worth striving for in this ... the driest continent on the planet

Pusillanimous politicians will postulate, prevaricate, procrastinate and pettifrog

about who pays what and when and where or why

on a positive note though ....

it's never too late for it will rain

Meanwhile, let's not be cargo-cultists

today, we can start to gather the manna that falls tomorrow ..

that will sustain the well from which we all drink

but only if we do it well and wisely

THE DEBT WISH

To save the world from what ails it, it seems

Americans must first save themselves from themselves

it's a nation that buys everything and anything at a manic pace

while producing Himalayas of debt

apparently it's a crazy place to instill thrift in the young

that they can have what they can afford

for no one around them can afford anything they have

high school students drive new BMWs to school

purchased on credit so they don't have to arrive in a used car

parental priorities go up in smoke or noses on dope

or a new set of breasts, not for feeding but for showing-off

cosmetic surgeons have finance companies of call

for uplifting those downcast or flagging or envious

offering low introductory interest rates ... buy now, pay later

in the 50th anniversary of the American Express card

financial institutions obsessively corral new business

'growing the bottom line' and filling executive pockets

today everybody wins while future generations lose

this house of cards has tumbled for the irresponsible and envious bought houses

they couldn't afford from banks who knew they couldn't afford 'em

but who lent them the money anyway

the US government operates much the same way

their blue-print is to manufacture more greenbacks on presses

thanks to Tricky Dicky who moved 'em off the gold standard in '71

how is the US any different from Zimbabwe or Argentina

or the British Empire that died the day the US threatened to sell off

its vast holdings of British pounds unless they gave the Suez 

back to the Egyptians in '56

what if Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, China, India decided to sell off 

the trillions they hold in US currency and treasury notes ... Goodbye, US Empire

Rome fell because of declining morality and political incivility

an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands

fiscal irresponsibility and inability to control its borders

familiar isn't it?

since the American legacy really started in the '80s when they became debt addicts

and consumerism went up and savings went down

before that Americans took on debt in times of war or national disaster

but on Wall St, Pennsylvania Avenue and the Mid-West Mall

spending is out of control

right now what are they leaving their children and their children's children

is about half a million dollars each... debt that is

if Americans want to save their Empire they could start by

cutting up those credit cards

and if your breasts aren't big enough, try a padded bra

A HIATUS IN THE GAME

Paul's gone and left us 

for a busman's holiday in the PRC

the Scrabble tourney is in limbo

for four months or more there'll be no entry

unopened in the company of its mates

tiles hibernating in their bag, battered and brown

tile holders, the carousel perched atop ...

the good book (the bible) forlorn and weighed down

the real story is to be found in  the Victory exercise book

recalling times and places through the ages

games played with humour or intensity 

from '04 to '08  neatly recorded in its pages

the present score stands in my favour

159 to 143 in the short and long version

but who's counting ... it's a game we play 

more for pleasure and relaxation than diversion

this game and competition has been waged 

in many a location ... two islands, four states and a territory

from the South Alligator to Kakadu to Albany in WA

or Wilson's Prom to Darwin,  Norfolk Island's a story

Melbourne, Kingaroy, Bendigo, Cowaramup, Walpole

Bunbury, Apollo Bay, Marcoola, Coochie and Mallacoota

Roma,Carnarvon, Sydney .. many a beautiful place

we hope to play at a few more before we say ta ta

the expectation of the game in the evening is gone

instead I slip into the grip of the grape and guitar

ruminating about games played in competition intense 

with my opponent who's away and very, very far

THIS DESIGNING WORLD

Now it's designer this and it's designer that

clothes, cars, toys, appliances, food

there's more and I've mentioned but a few

the majority of them bad, not good

most of all and worst of all

is the phenomenon of the hybridised name

with thousands of monikers to choose from 

parents with egos to blame with no shame

who saddle their kids with the albatross of time

no consideration of the burden we place

unsuspecting babies will soon be subjected

to jibes and sniggers of the rest of the race

River, Skie, Brie, Symantha, Jaidon, Rebekkah

easy to spell if you how

but spelling is now disdained as anachronistic

the language of 'texting' is the now

eternally condemned to spelling their name

kindergarten, school, work and in every place

every teachers nightmare at the daily roll call

everybody caught between a rock and a hard place

Mums and Dads,  do think about your kids future

it's bemusing, confusing as to what it all means

if you feel the urge to inflict something unique .. desist

keep it simple ... how's about johns, joans, or jeans?

WHO ARE YOU?

WO ARE YOU?

 a bloke said to me the other day

who are you?

a homo sapien, homo erectus, just like you said I

Nah mate, where you from ay?

ah! I'm one of those migrants you might see on the TV

arriving in their tens, even hundreds 

some of us even arrived thousands of years ago

we used to be called foreign types like .... 

wogs, reffos, chinks, slopes, coons, kanakas, black bastards

in the last century, we used to arrive in thousands

disgorged from great big streamlined ocean liners

or small, grungy, leaky boats with faltering engines

and yes, from the sky we descended to the sunlit plains extended

in squadrons of gleaming, red-tailed marsupial liveried humpbacked 747s

many of us equally desperate, denied, deprived, dehumanised

seeking a land of opportunity

as migrants do today

but you ask ... 

what about these illegals, queue-jumpers, asylum-seekers

or 'students' ostensibly granted leave to become hair-dressers or chefs in Oz

or fanatical fundamentalists hirsutely adorned or chador-clad

slyly inviting sympathy from a humanitarian, compassionate, generous majority

aren't they the thin edge-of-the-wedge, a threat to our way of life

mate, was it always like this? the xenophobia? the race thing? black or white?

a reminder to you 

the great majority of Australia, Anglo-Saxon or European-born

your birth as Australians is through evolution

we migrants are Australian by choice .... and proud

so I said to this bloke the other day 

who are you?

MERCEDES BENZ

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz

My friends all drive Porsches I must make amends

Worked hard all my lifetime

No help from my friends

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz