The courage season
The days. You try to settle them in diaries, but they can’t be
Herded, tamed. They’re here to counter, perhaps best
Each chess move, your ability to push out from dead corners.
Curiosity, action and laughter are contagious as are their
Opposites. At crucial times you’ll need to go out on a limb to
Understand the landscape, to see the outlines of false paths.
Risk being a tightrope walker rather than a pedestrian. It’s
A case of attitude over altitude.
Go beyond data, dithering, staring at photographs of dead
Explorers. Today awaits your focus, imprint and bold steps.
Some self-examination is what the moral doctor ordered.
Excuses are crutches. Let them clatter to the ground.
A balance is sought but there are tremors, shifts, seizures.
Solutions come to the alert, the open-minded, excited by
Obstacles rather than dismayed. Perhaps right now there’s
No-one more in need of surprising than yourself.
. . .
Observations in Café Camelot, Krakow
for Tadeusz Rozewicz
Some thoughts take years to make room for others.
More than the letter “t” separates the twit from the wit.
Sometimes balloons elect a porcupine to lead them.
Kick out the heels so you can kick up your heels.
If you don’t give a damn, the dam may give.
I can’t name a country where ease is widespread.
The truth has nine lives.
The last straw may be radioactive.
. . .
Observations in the Café Tortoni, Buenos Aires
– for Antonio Porchia
Part of seeking is to question your seeking.
Halfway there is halfway not there.
Some ideas travel faster than the speed of thought.
The eraser can’t erase its shadow.
The enemy of the candle is its flame.
An intention one has for too long becomes a regret.
Each moment is a petal torn from the head of a flower.
What the heart keeps may not keep the heart.
Less would stare at the horizon if it were nearby.
. . .
© Peter Bakowski
Peter Bakowski is a Melbourne-born poet who writes clear, accessible poems, uses ordinary words to say extraordinary things. His poems have appeared in literary magazines worldwide and have been translated into nine languages. Peter has been writer-in-residence in Italy, France, China, Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. His philosophy is to be alert to the world and to continue. For more information visit Peter’s blog.
© Bareknuckle Poet ~ Journal of Letters & Individual Authors 2016. Edited by Brentley Frazer, A. G. Pettet & Guests. All works published by Bareknuckle Poet ISSN 2204 – 0420 are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Published by Bareknuckle Books ABN 23 626 812 677 PO Box 5009, West End, Brisbane, Australia 4101 FOUNDED – BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA 2014