city lights dazzle...

Notre Dame's organ...

time's a fragile thread...

a garden's secret...

a steamy affair...

how's and who's and why's...

the poet in me...

The poet in me constantly seeks to eke out the poetry even in unexpected subjects...

Nature's rage may spark fear, but also spins us into an awareness that only her power has beauty that demands respect.  She will not allow any form of human power over-ride her right to command. Sometimes, humanity needs to learn that lesson the hard way when Mother Nature lashes out with a return serve: when she feels threatened with human disrespect.

autumn wind's passion...

Autumn trees dressed in autumn leaves seem ready for an autumn ball featuring wild colour...before time chimes the moment when those same leaves must return as the Cinderella of earth...And their trees sleep in long dreams... 

 

half a century...

So much meaning in so few words...Read and think carefully...

Is the world combusting? Imploding? Or are social media's far reaching touch downs simply magnifying, verifying what has always been...at least in waves...over a long long time...

Hot spots are not just bubbling beneath the Earth's crust...
 

magic moonlight threads...

The above photo was taken in 2015.

It is a view of Port Phillip Bay by night as from my home part way up Arthurs Seat.

It fascinates me how all sense of horizon and vanishing point visible by day simply becomes invisible.

The world becomes a sea of silhouettes.

Strangely, I find such a scene soothing for weary eyes.

 

spills from the cloud line...

I feel the world is cautiously living in what feels like a global, radioactive state...

The innocent and the guilty are both prey to the entitled arrogance of blind greed...

I feel Mother Nature has plans for us...

was and still will be...

today marks the end of your days...

Today, 6 years ago, my partner, riddled with cancer, passed on to other worlds...It sounds sad...but on the flip side, there was another story...many other stories...When I met him, he said he had cancer and could not work...he didn't have cancer...He lied constantly about his identity, his background...He stole money from my bank account regularly...by gambling online daily...(How did he get access?)... He liked to buy the groceries, and constantly they cost more...His children did not contact him except the eldest daughter on a couple of occasions...He was moody and would be enraged if I did not photograph him in poses he wanted...Other times, he was angry if I did photograph him...He would get especially angry if I questioned his statements of innocence and behaviour. We rarely went out together, and on the few times we did, suddenly he would wish to go to the toilet...We would have to go home because he refused to use a public toilet...Then sometimes, we would try the outing again...sometimes...

So, when he was dying, with real cancer...and I learnt more lies when his eldest daughter appeared, I had to make a decision...Still stay with him?  Or just leave?...His eldest daughter told me that she didn't blame me if I chose the latter...

I stayed with him...He really had no one...I stayed with him right to the moment he passed away...In fact, I was the one who called that he had passed...The nurse had only just turned her back after shaving his face...

So I remember this date with a strange kind of sadness...A man gifted with musical talent and imaginative ideas, totally wasting the life he was given...Often he said I gave him the only peace he had known in his life. That could be translated in so many ways. 

I am not sorry I stayed with him at the end...But I am sorry that I tolerated so much, for so long, knowing that something was not right...I guess I was determined to keep going...or was I stubborn...

Hopefully, I think I have learnt a lesson or two now...

mindless invasion...

 

Watched a programme on SBS regarding so many indigenous 'trophies' in overseas museums or galleries and the current push to get them returned to their homeland. 

This poem emerged from my response to the programme. 

soulmate's eyes...

Soulmates are precious beings that break down age barriers...Sometimes both beings may in fact be old soul mates...

Sometimes a soulmate may transform into a life partner...But there are others...

There's the soulmate in the work place...but not really suitable for daily life outside the workplace...

Meeting in common interest areas can cultivate a soulmate...

It is possible to meet more than one soulmate in a single lifetime...often appearing to spark a momentary sense of creative connection beyond earthly realms...

Sometimes, soulmates just meet for a flicker of time...and then move on...separately...

red-crowned cranes...

https://t.co/4wbKAMBln7

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) March 16, 2025

I began a cooler Monday morning with music...accompanied by the dance of some red-crowned cranes...

and some coffee...

Bliss...

NOTE: This crane is China's national bird, but it is also to be found in Japan and Korea. Their dancing appears to confirm and strengthen a lifetime partnership.

a synchronised March...

child's inspection...

a piece of road...

Today, using my walker, I wandered across the railway line to a part of Temora I had hardly explored. The morning was hot ..30 degrees and climbing. 

But I was on a mission...beyond exploring. I wanted to to visit one venue on the Temora Art Trail scheduled for this weekend.

Without a car, that made life challenging. Crossing a railway line with a walker via a dirt track, was ultra challenging. (And don't forget the heat revving up its engines by this time.)

But with a number of stops in the welcome shade of trees along the way, I made it in one piece to my venue. The 15 minute walk took me half an hour, but I made use of the stops. I used this cooling down time to repress heat discomfort and quietly take photos; to appreciate the glorious silence.

artefacts...

loose and playful watercolour...

The process is as magical as the product...

Loose and Playful Watercolour: Wet-on-Wet Magic and Rich Granulation Eff... https://t.co/wW6GPkmsRi via @YouTube

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Wiradjuri land (@AuraGem) March 14, 2025

obstreperous crow...

bushy not bristly...

a wall of words...

my loved old worn scarf...

involution coils...

in the arms of dusk...

superglue season...

calm light and shadow...

pools of old wisdom...

trampoline minstrel...

emporium archive...

I am an outlier tree...