Muse wanted

Blank page, don't panic

Write along 

The words by themselves will align

In organized lines

My muse is on a break

Vexed I did not have time

To spare earlier on

We do have our tiffs

Resulting in tit for tat

Ugly days when I become deaf

Lost without a guide in an alien realm

The words lay in trap for me 

Causing me to trip

Into an absurd world

But this time it went too far

And I post this notice 

'Muse wanted, please apply

Immediate start'

That should do the trick

Don't you think?

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Keep the dice rolling

Keep the dice rolling

Blow on them

Shake them

But whatever you do 

Keep the dice rolling

The board is here

To guide you on 

Be it Monopoly

Snakes and Ladders

Or le Jeu de l'Oie

Each square is a step onwards

Of course sometimes 

You'll get stuck,

Fall down, roll backwards

Or even take a short cut

But the rules still apply

Keep the dice rolling

On your way

You may get rich or poor

Healthy or sickly

It does not matter

Keep the dice rolling

In the end life is but a game.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Carpe Diem 2

Carpe diem has long resonated

Down the centuries

But nature does it continuously

Teaching us all a lesson 

We tend to easily forget

It rained hard last night

I found this morning 

The shadowed arabesques

Of the humble garden hose

Rain's creative workmanship

Being such a pleasant pattern

I couldn't resist taking a picture.

It has just rained, 

Nature's work has disappeared

Dissolved in the transience of this world 

I'm so happy to have plucked the moment

And not to trust the future!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Quandary

It was a mighty fight of

Vanity versus sanity

When in the utmost quandary

To stop a serious addiction

To social networking

I deleted the app

To find myself once again.

I found myself that's true,

Sanity had won the round,

But there I was

Stuck in no man's land

With my own lonely thoughts

Infinitely churning around 

Without a way out

And a generous ear to share with.

So it looks like vanity 

Is winning the second round.

I don't want to be there 

Being a slave to a gismo

Eating away my time

It has to be fettered

Restrained and confined

To let me live my life.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

De profundis

On the horizon of sixty

Stands waiting silent solitude

Life is slowly retreating

Leaving us on the shore

Of an unfathomable lake

Amongst the mist of indifference

And bodily suffering due 

To the constant leaking 

Of our vital energy

We have to learn to accept

Our recent corporal limitations 

Shedding tear by tear

Specks of one's identity 

Every new day

Moored is the boat to cross 

The dark unknown waters

Ultimate transport

We are to take 

Not knowing if we will ever reach 

The distant veiled shore waiting

Patiently in utter stillness for us

To travel its way.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Spleenitude

When plenitude per se 

Becomes spleenitude 

Too many messages 

From perfect strangers 

Dumping their angst

Filling my inbox

With their frenzied claims to my time

In less than a month I went

From few but well known friends

To too many unknown acquaintances

So called Web friends 

It was soul destroying 

For my poor distracted mind

To be continuously invaded

By their polite and respectful 

Incessant demands

I needed my mental space

I could no longer focus

I had to delete the app.

Of course I already miss

Their unstinted support

But what a freedom

It is to find again 

One's untainted voice.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Evilation

(In the spirit of : marquise, vos beaux yeux ...... Moliere, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme)

Evilation

Here, Evil rejoice, 

Even the flowers 

Have black hearts.

Evil rejoice

In this godforsaken place

Even the flowers 

Have black hearts.

Evil rejoice

You found your spot

In this godforsaken country

You'll be able to sport 

Even the flowers

Have a black heart.

In this godforsaken place

Evil rejoice

You'll be able to sport

For even the flowers 

Sport a blackened heart.

In this godforsaken place

Evil, rejoice at last,

You found your spot

Where even the flowers

Sport a blackened heart.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Driving at night

Night driving is intimate

As the landscape disappears

Shrinking even the night sky

Car lights unveil a world

Each time they pass

In narrow light bands

That quickly flash and die.

Against the dark somber clouds

The blinking arrows of the planes

Drive us towards the megapolis

Waiting crouched to swallow us again.

While stuck in the passenger seat

Searching the lonely mirror of my mind

I remember cities and places a world away.

Night has condensed space,

Night has suppressed time,

This was yesterday, this is today.

The night is a finite bridge

Leading to my younger selves

Welcome back, 

I thought I had lost you.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Hot spring

Spring is here 

Already firmly established

The azaleas splashing

Their riotous colours

With the first roses 

Opened and withered away

All within a day

But it turns out 

It might be short one

As on its flowering heels

The first bush-fires have 

Claimed their first properties

Beware, be prepared

The spring is to be hot

Already Brisbane is expecting

To hit the forties

But hey relax

Chill bro, don't worry

Climate change does not exist

Said so our new prime minister!

 Lucette C. Bailliet ©

There is no going back

Sometimes in life

You regret the heated words

Hastily said and realise

But too late

The damage has been done

There is no going back.

Life is not a game

Where you have

To try and win

Many times over

It gives you but one try

And that's finite for 

There is no going back.

So make your mind

And go for it

Give your best

Enjoy the ride

For you've guessed

There is no going back.

Why is life linear

Of which only two points 

Are known 

Birth and death?

I don't know

But for sure

Between them

There is no going back.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Tomorrow

More than a blank page

More than a virgin sandy beach

More than new fallen snow

Tomorrow is to be an important date

 Full of unexpected discoveries, 

Of unending possibilities,

Of future activities 

Of decisions waiting to be taken

To create a new world 

Tomorrow is made of dreams

Ready  to morph into new reality

Midnight is already here 

Catching up with us

Tomorrow has merged into today

Today is its usual humdrum day

Being that kind of day 

Tomorrow is about new beginnings

New places to visit

New passion and new loves

Tomorrow is never ending.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Phantasmoongoric

O coy lady of the night

How beautiful you were tonight 

When you woke up

With your tousled golden misty hair 

Rising draped in the black satin

Of stormy heavy clouds

Keeper of the gates standing

Between here and the netherworld

Your pale transient luminescent face

Calling to you the errant souls

Like a lighthouse warning

Lost ships of unknown but certain dangers

Yourself fighting the attack of a black dogged creature

From the netherworld trying to devour you

Later replaced by the combined press

Of two humongous etherals  crushing you

This was not a night of dancing 

Oh September moon

But was one of fights from which 

You gloriously triumphed.

 

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Fight with my text editor

It is so easy to confuse you!

I didn't write poke metrics

Neither did I sailed poem ethics

No you still don't have it

I wanted  poemetrics

You see it's not that hard

I know it does not exist

But give me poetic freedom

Poemetrics are different from pose matrix

Once again I have to repeat  poematrix 

You may check every word 

In the dictionary but you see

A poet does not have to accept its rules

You might like it or not

Poetic licence reigns supreme

Don't think that I'll submit to your dictatorial 

Programmed mind text editor 

It is so easy to confuse you!

 Lucette C. Bailliet ©

The furious rain

You've been at it all day

Washing away the stains

Down the proverbial drain.

You crash furiously on the roof

Making such a ruckus

Can't hear myself talking or thinking

Quiet rain! You're only a passing 

No need to bucket down so much

Respect the fragile mind of a poet

I feel a headache coming on

And I'm not in the mood

For you constant lashing

Against the windows. 

It won't give you

Access to the household

Now settled cozily 

Under thick blankets

Escaping in an imaginary world

Built from words upon words

Far beyond your grasp.

Rain you're welcome to stay now

I love your soothing pattering

Gentle rain.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Dream along

It's true I'm one of them

To dream is my nature

Always done it, still doing it

But life is a long dream

To be reviewed daily.

In youth it's best to dream large

To recreate the universe

Become its god and reign

You'll discover who you really are

By your dreams achievements.

Let your dream take you 

Away in the interstellar dust

Without limits expand your ego

To engulf all in eternity.

In old age dream as long you're alive

Limit your dreams

To a few years, a few months, a few days

For your name is already 

On the Honour Roll of Death

But never stop dreaming.

  Lucette C. Bailliet ©

A sign to move on

When humdrum kills wonder

Then it is a sign to move on

When contempt kills love

Then it is a sign to move on

When friendship turns into animosity

Then it is a sign to move on

When now becomes a perpetual tomorrow

Then it is time to move on

When the colour of life changes to grey 

Then it is a sign to move on

When all in all evolve into problems

Then it is a sign to move on

When sun becomes continuous rain

Then it is a sign to move on

When life drags you down

Then it is a sign to move on

When everyday is an excuse

Then it is time to start again.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

The drums of war

The rumblings of the drums of war 

Have sent far and wide 

Their booming roar 

To deeply rattle our bones.

Once again it seems

The gates of Janus are wide open

They won't be closed soon,

Peace is talked of but never seen.

The war industry is to reap

It's yearly tribute of indecent dead bodies

And is in hurry to bury them

As it is not a good look for profit.

The voice of the drums calling to war is heard 

Around the world in many places 

Business is good, business is booming

Making sure the drums of war won't be silent.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

The last post

It's one o'clock pm,

Time for the staring contest,

A blank stare I give it again,

This has become a daily ritual

For two weeks now

I anxiously go to my mailbox

To stare at its blank emptiness.

Blankly it stares back at me

Implying it's not its fault

If the mailman passes swiftly

And ignores its blank appeal daily.

Tomorrow it will try again

To gain his attention

To win the reward 

Of a parcel so long expected.

On a last shared blank stare

I turn my back and slam the door,

Hoping that tomorrow 

Will be the day!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Welcome to Australia 2013

Welcome to Australia 2013

Where carte blanche has been given

To the most ultra liberal party

And this is what you can expect.

Welcome to Australia 2013

The land where rampant xenophobia

Is to rear again its ugly face

And force multiculturalism to disappear.

Welcome to Australia 2013

Where profit  and greed

As well as workers exploitation

Are to be given free rein.

Welcome to Australia 2013

The land of sexism

Where a woman's achievement

Is to stand ironing and be sexy.

Welcome to Australia 2013

The land of bigotry

Where religious values

Are to be taught in secular schools.

Welcome to Australia 2013

The land of repression

Where marriage is to be used discriminatorily.

All to enter be warned, give up all hope!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Sushmita Banerjee

Sorry, I'm grieving tonight

For someone, I never knew

I never met, I never read.

I'm grieving for the death

Of a woman who became

A victim to barbaric insanity

As a symbol to be destroyed

By a pack of raving mad men.

The might of her pen

Must've been an awesome sight

To have caused such a fright

As it took them twenty bullets

To make sure she was dead.

A voice has been silenced

But immortality will carry

The murmur of her name

Defeating for ever her murderers. 

R.I.P. Sushmita Banerjee.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

Hilton Blues

"Level elven" announces 

A disembodied voice 

In the carriage elevator

 As the doors slowly open on

The long windowless corridor 

Carpeted wall to wall

By a checked grey carpet 

Which receives my on and off shadow

Projected from the low ceiling spotlights

In a psychedelic kaleidoscopic tempo 

Reverberating my sonorous footsteps 

Into an insane incarcerated inhuman world

Leading to a false sense of elegant luxury

Of grey, black and white entombment 

Ultimately leading to death's door.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

The cook's palette

The cook is often an unsung artist.

Despite the simple fare

In a greyish kind of day 

The palette of the cook

Made all the difference today.

First grated dragon carrots

Were served with green pepitas, 

On a white contrasting plate,

Followed by dark lentils du Puy

Accompanied by sautéed potatoes

In a savorous saffron sauce.

Dessert was pink strawberries 

Soaked in homemade limoncello liquor.

A black coffee and macaroons

Finished this delightful lunch.

This was a feast of colours and flavours

To celebrate the end of winter

And the coming of spring.

My compliments to the chef!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

The Kiss

Of course everybody knows that painting

I'm talking of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

You know the one with the guy embracing 

The swooning woman, or as 

I always thought the dying one.

Did he kill her for having refused him ?

Had she killed herself on his return?

Those were the questions 

I'd always asked myself,

When others only saw love.

Although a moving painting

It always disturbed me deeply.

I thought I was the only one to think so

Until today on 'Artists without Borders'

The work of Tamman Azzam was featured.

 And suddenly it all made sense.

It's a case of a picture 

Worth a thousand words.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

https://www.facebook.com/Artists.Without.Borders

"The Kiss" by Tamman Azzam

Syrian artist Pays Homages to Gustav Klimt's The Kiss.

A new photographic work was created by Ayyam Gallery artist Tammam Azzam has captured the imaginations of the world, going viral and being shared across social media as a symbol of love and human spirit in times of war.

The Syrian artist has superimposed Gustav Klimt's iconic work The Kiss on a war torn building in his native country in a powerful juxtaposition of beauty and devastation.   

Election 2013

No need to believe in polls

Officials or not

They are rigged to reflect

The opinion of their sponsors.

I've got my own system

That is as good as them

If it rains Labor wins

If it is hot the Liberals take the day.

Until this week rain lashed everyday

Winter had never been so wet

Labor was assured reelection.

This weekend saw the temperature soaring

The sun shining

The Liberals are set to win

The searing drought is coming.

To get the latest trend

One needs only to keep an eye 

On the weather forecast.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

South Australia experience

Tourism has taken on

A mean streak lately

When a sign tells you on arrival

'Welcome back to the real world

We mean you well

But we only accept cash'.

Is one to carry a few hundred dollars

To satisfy others' refusal of modern world facilities

Located a county away.

Shopping is such a positive experience

Or so one thinks until one is faced

By a sign found at the entrance

Of a famous shopping precinct

That reads like a list of no do

Just to enter the arcade.

One then does not wonders

If one does not wishes to spend

One's money there. 

It is not to be welcomed.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©