Saturday, July 31, 2010

Sew and Sew


 Cleaning shelves
recently at my Mother's house
In New Zealand



 I found her Elna Sewing machine handbook
 

 Bought before I was born


 The sewing machine
produced most of the garments
we wore as children


until we learned to sew
and made our own


 The sewing machine could even embroider


 In a back pocket of the handbook
I found the original guarantee
from the Robertson reversible Sewing Machine Co


My mother's three girls
dressed in their beautiful dresses
But my favourite dress 
was a red spotted summer number
with matching red piping,
hence the caption on the postcard above



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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Evening Bell For Barry

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Silent the old town
the scent of flowers
floating
and evening bell


Basho






Barry Fraser
The Explorer

April 3 1943 - July 20 2010



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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Red Pearls












Red Pearls

Here
red pearls
on a vine
once treasures from
South America
now riches of glowing
fire engine red - bright orbs
beckoning to be gently plucked
their pungent aroma and sweet taste
bringing my father's garden back to life

















An Etheree poem 
has 10 lines 
of 55 syllables
beginning with one syllable
and building with the addition 
of one syllable each line 
to a total of 10 syllables

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Saturday, July 10, 2010

Hell's Gates

I am back in Australia
for a few weeks
attending to chores...
it is wintry
but a good walk today
warmed me up...




Hell's Gates



My walk around the headland
each afternoon
takes me out to Hell's Gates
Here my friend says 
she has seen turtles
I think she confuses the black rocks
beneath the water
for turtle shells...



But wait
is that middle rock moving



Yes it is...
These turtles are Loggerheads
of which there are only 500 nesting females
in Australia



But here comes a set
of huge rolling waves



that crash through Hell's Gates



right up to the abyss


and another wave
rushes in



swirling the sand



and any little turtles



as I walk back
towards the shelter of the bay



The skies redden



and make me think



that on leaving Hell's Gates


I am passing through
Heaven's portals



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Friday, July 2, 2010

Long Summer Days


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Long the summer days
patterns on the ocean sand
our idle footprints


Shiki







Sanderlings on Hanalei Bay, Kauai


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