Wednesday, 31 December 2014

Happy 2015!

Happy 2015! Happy New Year!
She says, filling me up
With dirty washing.
Same old, same old
Washy washy, 
Year in, year out
Willy nilly 
I churn round and round
My rusty old faithful tumbler
Getting two scoops of washing powder
That I have to turn into lather
I dream of letting it escape,
One day before I collapse
From endless exhaustion,
To explore the world 
Infusing each bubble
To return to me
Showing me the world out there
Outside the laundry.
Happy New Year to all and sundry!

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved 

Saturday, 15 November 2014

The bush spirit

The powerful loneliness of the bush
Overwhelms you as soon as you step in it
Time loses its meaning
You are simply confronted to eons
Man has no history there
He is but a transient visitor
For the bush is old 
Semi desertic, arid
Seemingly empty to humanity senses
Closed to scrutiny, it has to be won, 
It is not welcoming
Its stark beauty has to be discovered
Many have dreamt of wealth
Many have died in this quest
The bush spirit is everywhere
Surrounding you
You may be lucky to see it
Even to hear its heart beating
So many are blind and deaf to it.

 Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Rogue nation

We are the rogue nation
Posed on the edge of the world
When the planet is greenIng
We keep dragging our feet
And dig deeper, dig larger
Destroying our land, our world
Soon our offering won't be worth
The dust disturbed

We are the rogue nation
The treaties we sign
We don't intend to respect
We pledge our help
Keeping our doctors home
And our borders close
Detaining refugees in camps overseas
Sending war planes instead.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved 

Friday, 10 October 2014

Twenty-three

You've turned twenty three
Have a great birthday!
There is no doubt about it
You turned into a young lady
Despite my lousy motherly skills.
I thank you for teaching me
How to be a better person
A carer in the first place
I am grateful to you
For having shared with me
Your infancy and childhood 
Full of dreams and fantasy
For giving me a second go
On being a teenager
It was easier this time around
I didn't have to go through
The angst of daily life 
And acceptance
Age was the buffer I needed
I enjoyed every minute
So I'm grateful to you.
And don't forget
Have a great birthday!

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Tuesday, 7 October 2014

Call me

Like the moon in an eclipse
You hide your face and disappear
Though you are still there, I know,
You do not answer my calls
What have I done to deserve this?
I've been patient, so patient
I've given in all your demands
So why the cold treatment?
You can't fix this?
A few words would help
To clarify it all,
Be it the end or not,
I need to know, call me.

Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

The roof crier

In his newly acquired silver coat
Soaking up the heat
Of a luminous spring day
Impervious to the blaring rays
Sir Raven rests on the tiled roof 
Before delivering a high and loud banter
A few  rodomontades are heard 
To attract our attention
Followed by a keen message 
That everyone hears
But none understands
Disgusted by our apathetic behaviour
To this rousing speech
Sir Raven flies away with a last comment 
Flapping his wings in a disparaging way
To the next set of neighbourly roofs
To repeat the process. 

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Saturday, 27 September 2014

Storm

The rain cries with me 
Hot tears rollIng on the roof
Falling onto my cheeks
The heavy sky is closed 
A black and purple buffer 
Of indifference pulsing
With my state of mind
Solitude, loneliness,
Safety reigns there
No one to hurt me 
Hopelessness, certainty
The end will come surely
Another bolt screams
Its immanent death 
The blustery wind 
Blowing in my empty skull.


Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved





Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Two years in the making... Feeling happy!


Flame

Still and silent night lighted by
True candle flame
Grey projected shadow on the ceiling
Peacefulness, loneliness 
Emptiness, disconnection
Impermanence dimension
Thought travel through eons
Time and space disappear
So do I, projected consciousness
Against which wall by which light
Do I burn as true as the candle?
Do I waver along unseen currents?
Am I the candle reflection?
Have I found my twin soulmate?
Flame I can so simply blow out 
Who will blow me out?

L. C. Bailliet
All rights reserved


Sunday, 7 September 2014

The hunt

Oblivious of the world around
The long legged heron,
Strutting slowly the river bed
So intent on catching any prey
Within reach of its sharp beak,
Has not seen the quiet intensity
Of the immobile master hunter
That is the cat over fed
It does not need to hunt
It can wait at pleasure,
On the creek bank
Sunning itself in the warmth
Of a late winter ray,
The ideal prey venturing
Inadvertently in its domain
The passerby that I am
Do not seem to disturb 
The impeding drama
Of the dog making its mind 
To go after the bird or the cat. 

Lucette C. Bailliet 
All rights reserved

Saturday, 30 August 2014

Across the page

Across death final frontier
Across the silent years
Across the page
Exists an intangible link
Between us two
Scribbling some notes down
Suddenly your handwriting 
Peeks at me from the page blankness
Hiding in my own jottings
You are there, now
The same pulse, rhythm and tension
A certain impermanence
Across death final frontier
Across the silent years
Across the page
Your presence is undeniable
You and I are together forever.


Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved





Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Waiting Acrostic

Waiting the return of the eternal
Absent, moaning and mopping 
I am useless 
The loss is never ending
I still miss you
No doubt about it
Grieving is the right word. 

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved 

Monday, 25 August 2014

Riddle 3

Humble they are not
Extravagant and ostentatious 
Generous if fussy
Fragile and irresistible 
Exquisite, over the top
Such is their nature
Waxy and delicate is their complexion
Demanding and theatrical
They are not above artifice
To increase their appeal
Whatever their makeup
They can't be ignored
Basking in adoration 
Of hordes of humans
What are they? You've guessed it?
It's not about women
Who can be all of the above too,
If given the chance
So! What do you think?

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Black Dog

It is summer in the north, winter in the south
Whatever the season, its toll is a heavy one
Lives are disappearing right, left and centre
The Black Dog, the last egalitarian, is unleashed
Whatever their country, colour, faith, sex or age
All are prey to its ravenous appetite
There is no shelter against bombs
There is no refuge against Ebola
There is no sanctuary against holy fanatics
There is no cover against racism
There is no asylum against invading armies
Where is the magic whistle
To bring it to heel and under control?

L. C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Monday, 11 August 2014

Full moon

Tonight the night has a guest,
So the place has been spruced up
Every star is in place and scintillating
In the background softly playing
The symphony of the spheres
Lifts the dark ardent mood
The night in his black tuxedo is pacing
When suddenly the crispness of the air
Warns him of her arrival on the scene
Blushing divesting herself 
Of her enveloping crimson cape
She appears silvery white and frosty
Rising slowly to meet him
He embraces her 
Leading her in the full moon waltz
That will take her across the sky 
To leave her alone, pale and exhausted
In the morning of a new day.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Tuesday, 5 August 2014

Evanescence

I am but a shadow on this world
Long shadow, short shadow
It does not matter
I am but a shadow on this world

Evanescence tonight
The night is moonless,there is no shadow
But the tail of a shooting star
Evanescence tonight

Deliquescence of the moment
Footprints on wet sand 
To be erased by the next wave
Deliquescence of the moment

Transience of the salty tear
Born and evaporated 
By the heat of your cheek
Transience of the salty tear

Shallow breath
Insufficient to sustain 
Replaced by the next one
Shallow breath ending life.

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved



 

Friday, 1 August 2014

Sad to be human

My heart is sad tonight
The world is wounded
My soul is in mourning
People are dying today
With no rhyme nor reason
Wanton destruction is reigning now
I wish to go and hide my face
'Tis too painful and heart rendering 
To see it all 
What am I doing to stop it all?
My heart weighs me down
My soul can't soar
I'm ashamed of my weakness
To be human tonight 
Is not enough today!

Lucette C. Bailliet
All Rights Reserved

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Red Gumtree 2

Like me you've taken roots 
In a foreign soil
We are migrants

Like me you've been pushed aside
On the nature strip
We are ostracized

Like me you are left behind
Watching the world go by
We are marginalised

Like me you are invisible
To the rushing world
We are vulnerable

Like me you are silenced
In the mundane whirlwind
We are made precarious 

Like me you are ignored
By the everyday crowd 
We are disposable

Like me in winter you lit up
People take pause
We made their day.


 Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Saturday, 26 July 2014

Homeless


In open contrast to the continuous brouhaha 
Of the opposite river bank of festive atmosphere
By the Yarra River near Flinders Station
An eerie silence reigns over the uneasy slumber
Of a crowd rendered invisible
Under the open arches of the railways line
There's no distinction between them
Each of them isolated seeking solace 
Protected only by the sheer force of their numbers
Their oblivious respite will be only too short 

I don't know your story
I don't know who you were
I don't how you died
If the homeless have hung a banner
Laid flowers in your memory
You have my respect
Homeless but not heartless. 


Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Thursday, 24 July 2014

Humanity 2014

Men, women and children
Are tortured and killed
In the name of war
For everything is fair.

Men, women and children
Are tortured and killed
In the name of religion
For everything is just.

Men, women and children
Are tortured and killed
In the name of ideology
For everything has a price.

When but when 
Will Men, women and children 
Learn to simply be human
And stop this carnage?


Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Love

Am I gifted with or am I cursed with you
Love, the unplanned master?
Freely minding my own business
Trying to survive in troubled times
I found you by the foot of a gumtree
Miserable and starving
I took you in for a quick feed
Fed you have and still feeding
You always demand more of me
As a daughter, as a mother, as a lover
Sacrifices made in your name 
May they be small or big
For ever contain pleasure mixed with pain
So explain to me how come you are so bewitching
That I cannot live without you?

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved
 

Saturday, 19 July 2014

Red Gumtree

Red Gumtree
You bring solace on a grey winter day
 To the poor bee in search of nectar

Red Gumtree 
You bring solace on a grey winter day
To my poor eyes in search of colour

Red Gumtree
You bring joy on a grey winter day
To my poor soul in search of happiness

Red Gumtree
You bring joy on a grey winter day
By just being what nature intended you to be

Red Gumtree
I am grateful to you for sharing your bounty
On a grey winter day.

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved




Friday, 18 July 2014

Sometimes

Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before the typhoon hit
Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before the plane crash
Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before the war invasion
Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before the repeal of carbon price
Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before violation of refugees law
Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before committing crimes
Sometimes I would like
The world to pause
Before mass kidnapping 
Sometimes I would simply like
The world to pause.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All right reserved

Thursday, 17 July 2014

A sweet tooth

Protected by the window bay
I sip my morning coffee 
While outside 
The gutsy wind rattles
The garden Gumtree
Sitting on the fence 
The magpie warbles 
Flies away only to return with
A blade of grass as an offering
Strutting up and down the concrete path
Laying it, picking it up,
Before carefully resting it 
Disappears behind the bush 
Only to reappear with 
The biscuits we thought were not fit 
To be eaten and threw in disgust.
Wait a minute magpies feed on meat
I knew something was wrong with these.
So it turns out magpies 
Are not always thieving, are polite
And can have a sweet tooth too!

Lucette C. Bailliet

All right reserved

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Arvo walk

A ray of sunshine amidst the bleak hazed sky 
And we are out to chase 
The long shadows of an early arvo
In the dominant icy winds of winter
Under their frozen breath 
The grey river gums shudder
The walk is brisk and to the point
No easy pleasant leisurely detour 
Just a quick glance
Admiring flora and fauna
Checking the black swans, ducks
And the moorhens community
Rushing uselessly to meet us for a feed
Soon the need for shelter is pressing
As the ears are tingling 
And the nose tip freezing.

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Questions to a politician

For sure you can push
Your weight around
There is enough to go beyond
Power is alluring
It can be short or lasting.
In your case
Will it be a footnote 
In history or a major chapter?
The choice is yours
One lolly now or two in an undefined period.
Will it be your insatiable greed
Or your emotional intelligence
In control to deliver
A future with Australia as a leader
Or a meteorite fizzling away 
Adding dust to the hazy and crowded
Corridors of time? 
It seems you have chosen
Enjoy your five minutes then!

L.C. Bailliet
All rights reserved



Sunday, 13 July 2014

Riddle 2

The power of a four letter word
Unlike love, it's of all seasons 
Alike hate, it goes for all storms
Either soft as a baby's kiss,
It can caress your cheek
Or lash one in icy shards
Refreshing and life saving
Some pray for it to come 
While some dance to call it
Its destructive power is so awesome
You need shelter
Some pray for it to stop
Moods are as varying as the winds
When wild, it has no limits
It will admit no control
What is it?
I let you guess. 
 
Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Winter season

Bare and denuded beauty is part of it
The abundance of life has been cut back
To the essential minimum
Even light is shaded
So are deep sleep and death
Winter is here, installing itself
Without any invitation
Even undesirable
With no relief to see it go
The storms are harsh and unforgettable 
The weather is unrelenting
Finding shelter is aleatoric at best
Its icy fingers crush my heart and soul
If there is a spring
I won't see it
Cold and miserable 
Tired and painful
It is harder everyday 
To get going
It's time to say good bye.

L.C. Bailliet
All rights reserved



Saturday, 12 July 2014

Do you hear?

Do you hear?
They are singing
How beautiful love is.

Do you hear?
They are chanting
How life is rough and tough.

Do you hear?
They are marching
For a fairer world.

Do you hear? 
The screams of fury
They are the marginalised:
The young, the old
The unemployed 
The sick and troubled.

Do you hear ?
The cries of the homeless
And left to die
Of the aborigines
Who are denied their rights.

But you are not listening
Are you? 
For entitlements are yours
Not to be shared with that mob
That don't bring in taxes.
Not worth listening are they?

Still they sing,
Still they chant,
Still they march,
Still they scream,
Still they cry for your fall!

Lucette C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Friday, 11 July 2014

Winter rose

Tentatively by the fading 
Of a grey winter morning light
The pale rose bud slowly opens
To the cold misty dew.
Shyly unfurling itself
Denuding its heart to the cold teeth of the wind
Against which its thorns are no defence
At this time of the year
No heavy perfume wavers in the air
Its display will last only a few hours at most 
Long enough it's true
To receive compliments and admiration
For its own determination
To share its own beauty
Before burning from the heavy frost
Curious to see such a marvel
A rose in winter.

 L. C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Thursday, 10 July 2014

Winter boredom

Winter is outside
Winter is inside
Its icy thorns pierce my heart
Its icy thorns pour cold in my bones
Snow hides the ground
Snow hides every thought
My mind goes deep in hiding 
My mind is dormant
I can't get warm, passion has left me 
I can't think it through
Procrastination is all round
Procrastination makes all fizz out
No goal is challenging
No goal is in view
Waiting for what?
Waiting to kick again
Cul de sac is where I am
Cul de sac is what I see
Motivation is missing
Motivation is gone  AWOL
Hello boredom!

L.C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Wednesday, 9 July 2014

Australian Winter 2014

Winter is gripping Australia
Its heart is frozen deep
Indifferent to the misery 
It spreads around
Under a dubious ideology
Of nothing but empty words
And high moral ground
It has become a land 
Of righteous bastards!
Orwell move over
We have the mighty Abbott
To lead us into Kafka's land
We have become the kings
Of the " langue de bois"
Where compassion morphs into torture!
Not in my name
That is what I say!

L.C. Bailliet
All rights reserved





Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Winter

Cold and freezing
Time stands frozen
This is winter.
Wet and muddy,
Black puddles are deep
This is winter.
Greys and silver shade
Muted is the landscape
This is winter.
Gardens lack colours,
Denuded trunks show their scars
This is winter.
Breathing is painful 
Discovering new depth to lungs
This is winter.
Cozily ensconced in bed 
Hidden during the long nights
This is winter.
Dreams are still possible 
Dangerously short is life
This is winter.
Light is short even by the fireplace
Waiting for spring
This is winter.

L.C. Bailliet 
All rights reserved 
 

Monday, 7 July 2014

Winter games

Friday morning and here it comes
The banging and booming of the bin truck
The wind observes quietly 
Looks fun though
Swish ,the truck stops
Bang, the prongs lift the bin
Pwish, the bin is lifted airily
Bim, bam, boom the bin is upside down
Emptying its guts in the waiting skip
Badaboom the bin is dropped on the nature strip
Still standing on its two wheels
Vroom the truck passes to the next bin.

In the tintitmarre wake of the bin truck
Disappearing around the corner
The wind gathers itself and let a magisterial Whoosh 
Just for the fun of it,
Loves that sound
Whoosh,silence,Whoosh 
Ffrush branches and dead leaves rustle
A sudden roar ends in a fracassing pang
The first bin hits the concrete on its side
The wind blows and gushes all around
While the trembling and shivering bins await 
They might stand upward and still like on parade
They know what's coming
Not one will be left standing
The wind is playing bowling alley today
Their empty carcass will be there to show
Its power and how rough it is,
It owes no favour, no mercy
It's a waste to long for clemency
For none will be given
Today the wind is having fun.



L. C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Saturday, 5 July 2014

Colours of the night

Against the inky sky
The acute vivid emerald light
Interrupted brutally by the strident orange
Turning to the blazing red
Passing starry light by starry light
Along the road following
The unending elongated double carmine trace
Of traffic in the distance in front of us.
The useless displayed competition 
Of the apple green sign of Woolworth 
Answering the firefighter red of Coles sign
Calling to putative shoppers
In the dread of a Sunday suburban evening.  
The blaring blue pumps of a petrol station at the crossroad
Only disturbed by the passing lights of the suburban train
Indifferent to all and sundry but its destination.
Those are the colours of the night .

 All rights reserved
L.C. Bailliet

Monday, 2 June 2014

A bit of rain



Patti patter,
Rain calls to me
Running down the window
Flip, flop
Won't you join me?
Bring your brolly
Swish, swash 
Don't be shy! Wind adds
It'll be fun
Splash and slide
In the puddles
And on the mud
You've got good boots
Drip, drop 
Gum leaves drumming tattoo 
Squall, sudden change
Squelch and mist
The world is wet
Deliquescence is global
Rain is singing
To frogs and ducks
Plic, Ploc, 
Ripples on the creek
With a last hurray wave,
Rain is leaving.

L.C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Saturday, 31 May 2014

I am the Nile

I am the Nile, Queen of Egypt
And far famed fabulous Sudan
I give you life along my miles
My bountiful floods are your ever survival
I am your shield against sure death
You used to built shrines to my might
With incense volutes to salute my being
Nowadays only dust swirls to me 
You dam me to keep my power
Feed me with the blood of your infidels
Contain me in every way
But I am the Nile, Queen of Egypt
And far famed fabulous Sudan.


L.C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Dedicated to Shi Ricks

Thursday, 29 May 2014

Milk and honey?

This is the land of milk and honey
 Of endless opportunities,
It might be for some
I don't know, I'm not one of them.
With this mob, came fear and misery
Unemployment and injustice
It has brought precariousness in its wake 
No one is safe from its greedy paws
For it is an ugly beast.
It has rejected to support 
The poor, lonely, old, 
Mentally or physically frail 
Or simply young.
Even families are to feel the pinch.
It does not care for the people.
It has no vision but  the next election
And to promise more of the same.

L.C. Bailliet
All rights reserved

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

Pen, cob and cygnets

Egg running slowly down on my face
Being silly is not glorious
But joy fills my heart
I want to share 
The black Swanee
Came back in company
With seven fluffy grey cygnets
The so called imperious Swany
Never far behind is a proud parent
The pen and the cob 
Brought us their brood to see
As soon as a water hen approaches
The cygnets move in as one 
Between the eager protection
Of the long necks and fierce wings
At first except for their size
Nothing distinguished the cygnets as such
But after two weeks the distinctive neck
Is surely growing and one cannot call them
Ugly ducklings any longer.


L.C. Bailliet 
All rights reserved




Monday, 26 May 2014

Riddle

Be they long or short, clear or distorted
They are the intangible, evanescent,
Incorporeal and elusive
Constant companions of your steps.
They are there with you
Day and night they follow you
Wherever you go, they go
Sometime they lead, sometime you do.
You can't get rid of them
You rarely give them any time 
Their lack of dimension does not appeal
Nor does their moodless hues 
They don't show wrinkles, they aren't sexy
Their silence is deep and comforting
On water they look more settled than in air
Who are they? This is a riddle for you.

Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved





Friday, 23 May 2014

The feather I

Resting on the front lawn 
A yellow crested cockatoo feather 
I swish it around dancing
A sudden tremor
Seizes my hand,  goes up my arm
As the volutes of the feather in the air increase
I feel the upsurge of air flows
The desire to open large my wings
To soar with the wind for the joyous freedom
To cross above the river, hunt for the horizon
To screech to the sky my loneliness 
Is the feather's magic strong enough
To carry me away on its flutters?
The pull is so strong
The feather escapes my grasp
Flies away on the breeze
And I find myself solidly grounded back
By my two feet on this base world
Where I belong.

 Lucette C. Bailliet


Wednesday, 21 May 2014

I'll be ever grateful

Despite everything
I think I'll have fond memories
Of this screwed up government
For it has brought the country together.
We might say whatever
It's a magical sight 
To see a people united.
In this ever sprawling suburbia
To bring the town centres to life
That is a real achievement!
Do you see it? Do you feel it?
The buzz, the vibe, the rage
It's there, contained, for the moment.
Everyone is speaking about it
The budget has been the talking point 
Better ratings on TV  for ages
Real entertainment value!
There's a spring to the protests songs 
Of a crowd marching to defend its rights
Taking charge of the political discourse
Forging the country's identity in the process.
So while ever grateful for this to this government,
Knowing now what we stand for, what we'll fight for:
A short tenure in power!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©
All rights reserved






Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Scriabin Improvisation

In a bleak concrete room an anachronistic
Old piano solidly sits there in the middle
With a stool covered in tartan cloth
We've come to hear
A musical improvisation
Lying down on the cold floor
The only light seeps from 
From the stark rectangle entrance
Slowly our eyes adapt to the ambient dimness 
And perceive above our heads an alien sky 
Of coloured bulbs, part of a canopy forest 
Of cables linking each to a piano key.
The improvisation is on Scriabin's
Inherent dissonance of synesthesia 
Awaking wonders with the arrhythmic lighting 
Innocent moments of naivety, softly lighted
Pop in and out of our vision field, 
Heavily followed by the loud thumping of
Brightly bleary greens lights 
Creating a raging aurora Australis 
Above the captive held audience on the floor 
Each of us a blade of grass
All partaking through the floor vibrations
Amplified by the tempo of the pianist
Of the rushing surrounding atmosphere
It is not a soft dreamy ambience 
It is a in your face music
Can't avoid it, 
Somewhat disturbing,
Powerfully sweeping us in a unknown dimension
Playing with our senses and minds
At the mercy of the flowing lights and notes
One is taken away in a roaring torrent
With a short respite for a pristine dawn
Leading us to an excruciating exquisite nostalgia
Of something that could have been 
But never was and the current
Drags us along to an eventual rest
Leaving us alone slowly grasping 
On the bank of reality.


Improvisation on Scriabin
Eli Simić-Prošić
On 18/05/2014
ACCA





Monday, 19 May 2014

Autumnal haiku

 
My thundering steps
In autumnal rain drive
Crickets in frenzy.


Lucette C. Bailliet ©




Sunday, 18 May 2014

#bustthebudget

We marched in March
We march in May
Oldies are there
So are the young
Everyone in the families

The songs have changed 
But we sing united

Medicare is not for sale
Welfare not warfare
Time to fight


Tony Abbott fuck you
We deserve a future too

Tony go to hell
Take your budget as well

Tony get out
We know what you're about:
Cuts, job losses
Money for the bosses

They say cutbacks
We stand to fight back

From the State Library
To Federation Square
Our voices are strong and clear
Bring it on Tony!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

From my blog:

echoingsteps.blogspot.com.au

 


Tuesday, 1 April 2014

The Black Swan

For some weeks now
The lonely black swan 
Sails down the creek 
Its partner has gone
In vain it searches
The thick reeds by the banks
Uselessly it looks
For her shadow by the bridge
Alone it sole reflection is found
In the flat dark waters
The symmetry of their necks 
Bending towards each other
Has been broken 
As the knot of their undying love
For only the wind answers
To its haunting cry
With rage and despair it flaps its wings
The night brings down on an empty day 
A dreamless void 
Going nowhere, for what's the point?

 Lucette C. Bailliet ©




Thursday, 27 March 2014

La grisaille de Paris

Bonjour Paris, bonjour l'ennui
Venez découvrir sa magie 
La grisaille environnante et régnante 
Du poids de l'infinie beauté symétrique
A toujours pareille et éternelle
Poésie morte des jours passés
Incapable de se renouveler
Regards des ombres sempiternelles
S'engouffrant dans les tunnels du métro 
Comme une marée de blattes noires puantes
Courant vers vers un nexus souterrain
A jamais défini par une mosaïque de latrines
Par un transport de masse où l'individu disparaît
Sans trace en faveur du volume du nombre
Des exilés de la banlieue proche ou lointaine
Qu'importe l'aliénation est maximale
Paris de tous les jours est sans faillir grisaille.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©




      

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

La soixantaine

La soixantaine frappe à ta porte
Bienvenue à la disparition
Bientôt les gens vont t'adresser
A la troisième personne
Et qu'est ce qu'elle veut la mémé ?
Tu auras beau te retourner
Pour laisser passer une personne âgée 
Ce sera de toi qu'il s'agira
Si tu te laisses aller.
Prends ta revanche dès maintenant
Après tout tu es bien conservée 
Je ne parle pas de cheveux blancs teintés
Raccourcis donc tes jupes étroites 
Utilise les faux imprimés de tigres
Et autres félins pour te vêtir 
Sois super sexy 
Utilise le parfum à outrance
Ne sors jamais sans maquillage
Il s'agit de ton arme suprême 
Sois à la limite de l' extrême 
Le but n'est pas la sophistication
Tu seras peut être ridicule
Mais tu ne seras pas invisible!


 Lucette C. Bailliet ©



My new gumboots


This is my story
Megalomania defines me
Dreams of a manor
Owns a shack open to the sky
Shelters birds and furry creatures
Dreams of a pool and deck
Owns a dam and turtles
Dreams of a domain
Owns a paddock
Where I can strut my stuff
Uninhibited in my new boots
Plastic they may be
But none of that black or green for me
Only spotted leopard will do me
I'll be the Dame of my paddock
Amongst ducks and roos
Followed majestically by my two chihuahuas.
Hahahahahaha!
 
Lucette C. Bailliet ©




Friday, 21 March 2014

Stormy weather

The wind hurls the Friday night traffic roar at us, 
Buffeting the tall gumtrees 
Willing but unable to get free
Whipping fiercely the bushes 
Digging their roots in the parched soil
The mighty storm front is above us
Rolling and hurling heavy purple clouds
The change is coming with thunder and lightning
Above the hills, light is fading,
Greyness is invading the world
The crows warn the fools that we are
To hurry up and turn back
To find shelter before it's too late
Battling against the whirling wind
Untouchable enemy surrounding us
The first drops hit us
Around our street corner
A few more steps and we are safe
The heavens open up and drop their evening ire
Who cares? Not us !
 

 Lucette C. Bailliet ©




Monday, 17 March 2014

To Labor

You know democracy is in trouble
When people are taking to the streets
Armed with their own agendas
Bypassing elected party lines
So Labor take care and beware
You thought to wait passively 
For the return of your plum job
Was a certainty
We want more from you than watch
On the side, move on, 
The people are calling, 
It won't last, before it's too late
Declare which side you're on
If you want your position back
You better work for it and join us
The greenies are on
On Saint Patrick's day
Where are you?

 Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Homage to Robbe-Grillet

Missed the train
Windy and cold
Pacing on the deserted platform
Graffiti on the walls
Cameras ever present
Ogling an infinity of no action
Speakers blaring
Mangled recorded message
Cleaner picking up trash
Train coming in, 
Stopping to rest 
End of the line
All passengers alighting
New passengers boarding
Earphones plugged in
Speakers blaring once again
Train now departing
I'm on my way to town!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Sunday, 16 March 2014

Melbourne's March in March 2014

It was awesome, let me tell you
The day of March in March in Melbourne
Called and managed through online media
Walking toddlers and in prams,
Oldies with and without dogs
Every one for a family outing
Gays and lesbians
Singles and couples
Aborigines and ex political refugees
Lovers and singles
Students and unionists
Greenies and public services
They all came
They all converged
Everyone singing 
Everyone marching
On a boogie rhythm:
'Shame, Abbott, Shame
Not in my name
Shame, Abbott, Shame'
Not in my name'
It went on and on
'Free, free the refugees
Free, free the refugees'
It went on and on
'People not profits
People not profits '
It went on and on
To be picked by a new group passing by
And I thought Australians
Didn't know how to sing
And I thought Australians
Didn't know how to march
I cried when I saw the crowd
I was no longer alone
The load was shared
It become lighter
The fight is on.


Lucette C. Bailliet ©






 

Thursday, 13 March 2014

Alienated

Fruit of a chance encounter
I was alienated from the beginning
Spent my early years with grandparents
Parents had to work.
Idyllic you may think 
Grandfather was an alcoholic 
Turning violent when in his cups
Home was not safe 
Had to learn quickly 
The rules of the street.
Hell broke loose I didn't fit in
Turning ten, moved in with the family
My days of roaming the streets at an end
I wagged school and discovered poetry
Grain of anarchy was seeded that day
In a rebellious terrain
Stayed with me and grew steadily
In that secret garden,
I've only opened the gates.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©

From my blog:

echoingsteps.blogspot.com.au

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Autumnal Haiku

Beautiful autumn
Some memorable days
So near is the end.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Tuesday, 11 March 2014

Drizzly Days

Walking in the rain
Brings back the shades of yesterday's drizzles
Long promenades in the pine forest
Jumping overflowing creeks
Landing in deep puddles up to our shins
Dogs bringing home muddy coats and paws
The hurried and fussed dry towelling 
Bringing joy and fun to them 
And a warm earl grey mug waiting for us.

Further back in time on a distant continent
An autumn walk hunting heady mushrooms
Caught in a persistent and dense drizzle
Ditches filled with wet leaves
Drenched and loaded with our crop
We turn back home
To a hot chocolate and cakes.
Lovely drizzly days!


Lucette C. Bailliet ©

From my blog:

echoingsteps.blogspot.com.au


Friday, 28 February 2014

Respite

The promised rain brings some respite
The gumtrees release a perfumed sigh 
The air shakes itself clear of ashes
Dogs and owners roam in the cool sunset
The crickets song fills the twilight zone
The grass shyly dresses in green again
Our walking pace gains in friskiness
The river is sparkling anew
The distant hill line is back 
Planted firmly on the edge of the horizon
Galas and parakeets graze together
The breeze is soft and light
 Autumn is on its way, what a relief!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Tears

Crystalline waters running free
From the deep waters 
Of an unconscious hidden spring
Your tears become the enchanted waters 
Brought by joy, guilt or sadness
Mirrors of your moods
Panted release
They taste the same to my heart.

They circumvolve without trouble
 My elaborated labyrinth heartstrings 
And leave me alone without recourse
On the silent shore of solitude
Inhabited by death
I cry to you but absence is the only echo
Slowly tears dissolve on my cheeks.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Invocation



Rain, rain come again

Spread yourself on the plain

Don't make us wait in vain

To fill the empty drain

Each drop will be a gain

To feed some grain!


L. C. Bailliet

Copyright 2014

All rights reserved

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Victorian Fires

By the window the grey mist
Lies low on the horizon
Erasing the low hills
Obliterating all landmarks 
The greyish gumtrees lining the street
Regain a sudden greenness 
Against this bleak backdrop
Their leaves hanging
Waiting for a breath of fresh air
That does not come
The smell of burning eucalyptus is prevalent
The taste of ashes fills one's mouth
For the greyness is smoke
From the summer fires 
Carried by the hot scorching winds
Roaring companions of the heat wave
Waiting is the name of the game
Waiting for the wind to change
Waiting for news 
Waiting for the weather change
Waiting for the temperature to drop
Waiting for the rain
Waiting for happenings outside our control!

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Saturday, 8 February 2014

Heat wave night

The night didn't offer any respite
Sleep escaped us 
Sweating on the bed

During its scorching hours
The parching howling wind 
Carried only restless exhaustion
And untold degrees to its bite

Hot it was, hot it stayed
By morning it was already
Too torrid for the dawn choir
Only Silence met the blazing sun.




Lucette C. Bailliet ©








Monday, 3 February 2014

Dragonfly

Dragonfly heedlessly darting across the path
Translucent wings
Long phosphorescent body
Shimmering in the sunset air
Tracing evanescent arabesques 
Angel of death.

Butterfly senselessly fluttering here and there
Opalescent scaly wings
Stout body carried on the wind
Frenzied visits of empty corollas
In the vain search of nectar
Carrier of lost souls.

Why do we, miserable beings that we are,
Imbue beautiful creatures with our angst?
Why can't we enjoy Nature for itself
Admit to the existence of beauty and ugliness 
Too often going  hand in hand,
The perpetual transience renewed for ever
Without loading it with dread?



Lucette C. Bailliet ©








Saturday, 1 February 2014

Love bridge

The bridge smoothes Love's path
 Linking the two arches together
Above Amour's fluid chasm 
Meeting half way 
Hand in hand looking 
The swift water underneath
Full of promises and threats
A love lock is bought
To make sure this moment stays eternal
Names are  written, chained to the rail
And the key thrown away
In the muddy waters of life
Tis a love never to be released
And such a burden for the bridge.
 
Lucette C. Bailliet ©




Picture Huffingtonpost.com


Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Built in obsolescence



Yes, it was only street art!
I gather transience
Is an intrinsic part of the medium
Contrary to the song telling us
'When the poet disappears
His songs are still sung
In the streets long afterwards'*
Art in our modern world
Suffers from obsolescence built in.
Turning into a small alley in Fitzroy
To see my favorite street art
I found it had been painted over
To give way to another one
But really, wasn't there another wall
That would have welcomed your work?
It's ironic to know I'm one of the few 
To possess a trace of an original painting
Destroyed forever in a mad rush
To cater for the latest trend.

* L'âme des poètes, Charles Trenet

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Saturday, 25 January 2014

And then

Homage to Lorca/ And then


Once the labyrinth of time disappears
Only deserts remain to be seen
The heart founts of desire have vanished
As well as the kisses of dawn
Only dust remain to be sieved
So many illusions dissolved in the air
Barely fragrant enough to trace
So many dreams never embodied
Fill the evanescent ether
Above the undulating deserts
We've been here
And gone nowhere.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Friday, 24 January 2014

Ode to my notebook

My square notebook
Pillow of my drafts
Repository of my dreams
Holder of my secrets
I have to thank thee
For your taking note
Of any ripple on my mind
Any flutterings of my heart
Of the most trifling transient thought
I may happen to articulate
Yes thank you, think not I ignore you
Despite the fact that you never 
See the end product recorded
For eternity on the iPad or PC
Whatever I may write, I trust 
It stays between you and me
Your smooth pages hold in place
By that large spiral along your spine
You, my faithful supportive companion
I couldn't do without you.

  Lucette C. Bailliet ©



 

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

On two rainy days

Tracing idly her name 
On the window pane 
By a lonely rainy day
Adding a love heart 
For everyone at home
Half a world away
Miserable in that ever melancholic rain
Missing home
Drops and tears rolling slowly down
Brought by dreaming 
Of her trip back home.



Another rainy day
In that grey country
Her thoughts heavy
Since the departure 
Of her grandchild
To that sunny country of hers
So far away
Looking at the steamed pane
Suddenly the child's name 
Appeared followed by a love heart
Drops and tears rolling slowly down
Her heart filled to the brim.




Lucette C. Bailliet ©






 

Sunday, 19 January 2014

Michael - chain poem and acrostic

More circumvolved than origami
I love how you let your academic
Celebrity run with a bash
However upon which criteria
Are you applying a backdate
Engineering such a harmful
Load of interline folds?
 
Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Saturday, 18 January 2014

Absence

An empty bench in the garden
Who was last sitting there? 
One loving couple
Oblivious of the world around,
Or a lone lover reading a letter, 
Alternatively hoping or despairing
At each crunching step approaching?
The absence of presence 
Does not signify lack of meaning.
A prolonged rest in music 
Is neither pure absence nor silence
But the focus of reality.
Absence becomes suggestion,
The unsaid screams in the silence
Then emerges poetry in motion
Joy, despair or serenity
Richer the poem becomes  
By discovering what is hidden
Therefore revealing the power of absence.


Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Heat wave haiku

Hot and sweltering
Five am, thirty three degrees
Slow start of day

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Heat Wave

Inexorably the temperature
Degree by degree
Creeps up and upwards
Towards the forty three predicted
Without any preamble
By Mid morning it's reached thirty
Within an hour it'll be thirty-six
It'll soon be too hot for the electronics
So reading and writing 
It's got to be today
Hot scorching wind is picking up
Fires will follow then
Keep inside, lots of fluids
Rest and sleep are recommended 
Cold showers will bring
Only short respite 
No need to be outside
Before the cooler side of midnight.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©




   

Monday, 13 January 2014

Salty tears

Slowly the rain drops seep
Along the walls of the cavern
Drip, drop, dripping
Pooling at the bottom
Into a mossy basin
Offering an easy drink
For you parched traveller
There you find a peaceful rest
However long your stay.

Slowly the tears run down
The cheeks of the child
Her world has disintegrated 
You collect her tears on 
The tip of your finger
It is salty to taste
Your thirst won't be sated here
Cruelty has to stop
Children are not to suffer.



   Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Friday, 10 January 2014

Cursed

Cursed


There's more to me

Than you fathom to see

Let me tell mate

You've screwed up badly there

Sending me the pic of your dick

I've seen bigger mushrooms.


For if most of time

I'm half angel, half devil

Now I'll be all evil .

It was the wrong move

For witch I am coming 

From a long way my roots

Are buried in Gaulish mayhem

And here comes the curse 

Your dick will drivel and fall in a week!

To add to this your pathetic member

Will be famous from Alberta to Arabia

From Arizona to Australia!

How do you feel now, 

Let it be known 

I won't put up with sexual harassment

Under any guises. 


 

Lucette C. Bailliet ©


From my blog:


echoingsteps.blogspot.com.au


Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Breakfast in bed

Hidden behind my heavy eyelids
The lion is ready to devour
The prey it has to catch first.

Life is filled of silent desires 
Needs are second 
When Morpheus visits us.

The tiger in me is pacing up and down
In its solitary cage knowing
If it waits long enough it will be fed.

Breakfast is served today
By a naked man
Desires and needs are well fed.


Lucette C. Bailliet ©





Monday, 6 January 2014

Headache

I've got a splitting headache
My head needs to rest
But the drumbeat of my heart
Sends frenetic relentless  tremors 
Through the cavern of my brain.

I've got a splitting headache
My head needs to rest
But my feathery pillow
Has developed sharp thorns
And sudden hard lumps.

I've got a splitting headache
My head cannot rest.


Lucette C. Bailliet ©

From my blog:

echoingsteps.blogspot.com.au

Saturday, 4 January 2014

Duet

A bouquet is the sum
Of individual flowers
Each with its own hue
Its distinct perfume
You and I are such 
Amidst others.

A duet is the sum 
Of two instruments
Be they string or wind
Musically intertwining 
Themes and responses
Offering support
Or leading solos.

You and I are such
We still resonate and sing together
Whether in harmony or contrapuntal 
It does not matter.

Lucette C. Bailliet ©



Thursday, 2 January 2014

Colour coded

If red is Monday
Therefore orange is Tuesday
Wednesday takes on dark blue
Thursday rules in yellow
Friday escapes with emerald green
Saturday dreams are azure
Sunday is obviously reserved to purple 
So say the elastic bands
Of my hubby's undies!
What kind of society
Allows this nonsense
To have colour coded garments?
What kind of insanity
Drives us to follow asinine diktats
In small details as such?
Profit, conformity and control 
Are the buzz words of today.
Anarchy and poetry are abhorred 
For no added value 
Can be derived from them.
If the pen is mightier than the sword
Overall gold reigns supreme .





Lucette C. Bailliet ©








Wednesday, 1 January 2014

La Belle Dame sans Merci

You bought your virgin wife
A jewel of child really offered to you
On her innocence you forced yourself
You corrupted her to become your pet
All above water and in all legality
You got yourself a slave
How powerful you were
Your status gained sudden impetus
Life was a dream come true
You gloated lyrically of eternal love
Driven by your insatiable lust
Happy to have moulded her 
To your darkest desires.
When reality bit you in the bum
Your love deity had become 
A twisted shrew, what to do?
She is what you asked her to be
No more no less a monster
Issued from your despicable mind
When you greedily sucked her soul 
Destroying all her inner being
To leave an empty shell 
To be filled with hate and contempt
So why be surprised?
You better work hard 
To get into repair mode
For trust is fragile!
Were I in her place
I would kill you to have destroyed it
For you don't deserve a second chance.
So says La Belle Dame sans merci!

 Lucette C. Bailliet ©