Exactly how it is

This is a post ‘from the bottom drawer!’ and I previously shared on my old website:

In 1983 I was invited to go to Noosa with a ‘group’ of new acquaintances for a weekend at no charge. Hmm, I thought, I wonder what the ‘catch’ is. I soon found out – the group of friends were there to camouflage an affair between an older married woman and younger man. We were all booked into two adjoining ‘family rooms’ and we HAD to get out of the room ASAP as the lovers raced into the main bedroom groaning and moaning for hours.  Stupid me.

The weekend was a nightmare and inadvertently to the grand plan this woman had, the lesser of us mortals formed a friendship that got us through the weekend – we were young, broke and reliant on accommodation and transport.

I sat out on the verandah on the first evening and to distract myself, I wrote this poem:

Exactly how it is

Still breeze, grey skies,

Swaying trees, birds fly.

Tar road, black as the sun,

I sit here and chew gum.

Pink Hotel, green shutters,

beach towels, girls tutter.

Plastic chair, plastic cup,

Man’s sexy, removal truck.

I.N.S.P.E.C.T. N.O.W. in red squares,

Mother screams, high-chair.

Kite flies, red train,

Picture stares, blank frame.

Music plays, skies still grey,

The bird flies, the tree still sways.

I still sit, the gums gone,

Cigarette alight, the coffee’s on.

New line, new song,

Hotel Pink now transformed.

Towel is dry, girls are gone,

sunset moon, brightly shone.

The cup is washed, man’s inside,

In the high-rise, babe is tired.

People sit, TV’s on,

Ten p.m. my pen is worn.

Tropical Fever

John Williamson sang the song ‘I wish I could explain how it feels when I’m headin’ up to Queensland. It hits me when I see the sign for Byron Bay’.

Well, that’s EXACTLY how I feel every time I head to Byron Bay …  Tropical Fever-er-er !

I headed up to Queensland in 1979 with my sister and we stopped over in Byron Bay. I have been going to Byron ever since … I should have purchased a beach shack when Byron Bay was not so popular !

Anyhow, I am in the sub-tropics, resting, exploring and of course, checking out the art scenes. I hope to be inspired and when I return home, I hope to create some fantastic art … that is, if I can get myself out of the water to actually do some research.

I do know that Jungle and Tropical Fever will be featuring in my art and blog this year.

I will catch  up with you sometime soon, when I am out of the surf 🙂