Poisson d'avril

Poetic month to be

Odes to versify aplenty!

I don't know I'm up to your challenge:

Systematic poems

Sans rhyme nor reason

On order to be delivered

Night or day.

D'you need a ballad

April so badly ? Some 

Villanelle maybe? A Celtic 

Rune would cast a spell of

Love, eternal love to May.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Four letter word

Funny, how we talk

About four letter words

Love is one always mentioned

But rarely to we suggest lustful lust

Why is it so? Is desire not a part of love?

Is passion not one either?

I get it that love can be sublimated

Most many poets sing its pure merits

But lust can't be constrained

And has to be hidden

We are so proud of controlling our instincts

And lust is judged as a base one

As far as I'm concerned

It's a case of please explain

For lust can be a healthy part of love

Granted that rampant lust

Might not be everybody's cup of tea

It is but a stage in life

But no need to avoid it in conversation.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Easter break

Easter has gone

Thanks be given

Peace can return

To the paddocks

The towny crowd

Has crawled back 

To the senseless

Concrete warrens

It usually haunts

No more arrays

Of empty cans

Thrown by an open window

Will mar the lanes

No more kangaroos

Carcasses strewn across

The roads in result

Of a contest between

Animal and machine

No more mindless

Roaring motorbikes

Down and up the tracks

Day and night

Disturbing all but themselves

The ducks can return

To the now quiet billabongs

From their hiding bushes

The mad hunters are gone

Thanks be given

For even Easter 

Has a happy ending.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Red belly black snake

There was the snake

A sinowy red belly black snake

To be precise

Holding its head a few centimetres

Above the grass as if ready to strike

There I was picking up

Some mint by the solar shed

Minding my own business 

So to speak

Glancing at the snake

Now and then

Making sure it was keeping still

Having in mind

That these are shy

Which might not have been true

As it did not slither away

Just seemed frozen on the spot

When I had gathered enough

For my teapot I made sure

To walk by the other side of the shed

No need to tease it.

The next morning

By the same shed

There it was furled around

A young chestnut sapling

Hugging it tightly in its rings

Not moving, not breathing

Had given up living

Still lethal to my eyes

But definitely off this world

Resting in peace.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Lonely heart

A massive, reinforced wall

An impregnable one

Built long ago 

Stops me to write

From the heart

My mind willing

Tries, tries again

To breach it, sap it

My heart beats a mad tattoo

Dissociated behind it

Lonely heart, wishing to escape

Self-imposed prisoner 

Boredom reigns for sure

But safety first

No one is hurting 

Behind it, in the breathing silence

Watching others bleeding their words

Glorifying their lust,

Singing their love,  

Screaming their suffering

Sharing their most intimate innards

I stand alone , lofty , indifferent

Or so it seems, to the unhappiness

Injustice that is dealt to us 

On a daily basis

Knowing no one can touch me

Should I blow up this wall, now?

Maybe tomorrow.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

What a year

Already a year has flown away

Gone to never reappear

A year of challenges

Upheavals and ordeals

Didn't have a moment

To catch our breath

What a year it was

Year of discoveries

New experiences

Expending our household 

Dog, cat, chickens

To make it a home

Building, renovating

Steep learning of survival skills

Meeting new friends

Moving goals on the go

New places

Didn't have time to settle in

Go, go,go,go, all the way

Never been so busy

Projects galore in the wings

To prioritise or kill instantly

Bubbling as they came to mind

More, more they seem to claim

Slowed down by lack of resources

What a year it was

Clicking away in the distance.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Lady of the night

As soon as the sky was black

There she was creeping out

In her most resplendent outfit

Strutting her way across the night

Proud, insolent and defiant 

Insouciant , she was back, 

Didn't care about who knew it

Or the lewd gossip extemporising

About the reason of her absence

Whatever the cause

Her rest had been beneficial 

Wholesome, blooming she was 

None of that dark humour

Seeping from her was to be found

Tonight the poets would sing

Her praise, finding solace

Respite and consolation 

In her distant embrace

For loneliness was again 

As well as love and lust

A virtue to be lauded.

Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved

Alice revisited

Alice ran for her life

With the screams of the queen

Ringing in her ears

When Alice tried to tell the truth

The monarch stated

I don't want to hear it 

"Off with her head" 

When Alice defended the unfairness

Of such a judgement

The queen answered by

I don't want to know about justice

"Off with her head" 

When Alice logically represented 

The absurdity of the case

The queen responded by

Your appeal to reason failed

"Off with her head"

Then Alice remembered

The white rabbit advice

Forget your head

Feel with your heart

"Tell the queen you love her"

As soon as she mouthed the words

The monarch smiled

"What a charming girl she is!

Come and partake tea with me"

Truly the queen of hearts

She showed to be.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All Rights reserved

Missing a beat

Heart misses a beat

Flutter, flutter

It's out of kilter

Is it love yet?

Reason as usual

Holds a cold bucket ready

Although for once 

It's unsure

After all there's been a drought

One small missing beat

It can cope with

A whirlwind it might not 

And now it's its turn

To be all in a flutter 

Trying to be logical about it

But there it goes again

 Another missing beat

It feels like an habit

There it goes again

Hard to hold the line 

Lust, desire and passion

Are all ganging together

Better give up now

Otherwise resistance will win

Every thing is out of kilter

When you are in love!

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Ubu is king!

I don't know, the world is upside down

Wherever one turns

It seems we are regressing

Ubu is king!

On all fronts

Africa is on fire 

Not only caused by the conflicts

Burned of colonialism

To which religious beliefs

Added to racial prejudices 

Fuelled by rampant corruption

People suffer, the world is poorer

Ubu is king!

One wonders why it is

When mankind has now the means

To feed, educate and live in peace

We have this meaningless and wanton destruction? 

I don't know , the world is imploding

I don't even wish to speak 

Of the middle east quagmire

Spreading its senseless rotten frenzy

On the back of an outdated oil industry

It only leads to a daily bloody explosion 

Adding death and misery to millions

Ubu is King!

I don't know, the world is in fear

Locked behind our fortresses

The rest of us are watching

Be America planning a wall,

Or  Europe closing its borders

And Australia stopping the boats 

All claiming they will not pass! 

Ubu is king!

Even Asia the quiet one

Is getting the bug of unrest

Its dragons are awakening

Arm race is a serious business

I don't know, I don't have answers

But i'm sure we took a wrong turn somewhere

From prosperity and peace for all

We are seemingly bent on utter destruction 

As if climate change was not 

To do this for us

I don't know 

All sense and reason are gone

The greed of some phagocyte 

The lives of the multitudes

Ubu is king !

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

La chanson de l'été

Soleil, Soleil, tu tapes trop fort

Soleil, Soleil, tu devrais te coucher

Soleil, Soleil , laisse moi rêver 

Des petits matins brumeux

Pleins de fraîcheur des pays du nord.

Soleil, Soleil , ne force pas le sort

Soleil, Soleil, ton temps est passé 

Soleil, Soleil, ton charme trop aisé

S'est révélé factice

Ton ardeur n'est plus de mode.

Soleil, Soleil, tu peux te cacher

Soleil, Soleil, prétendre que tu dors

Soleil, Soleil, que tu joues au mort

Mais je sais que tu mens 

Et cela sans remords.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Misty?

Golden eyes in the sun

Inky eyes in the night 

Your eyes reflect the light

Where is your soul

Mysterious one?

You walk my dreams

In your grey coat 

Without any qualms

You came to us

We recognised each other, immediately

But the question remains: what to call you?

What is your name my purring friend?

Will you answer to Mistigris?

Will Mitsou resonate with you?

Or let's try the more exotic Mistuko?

Or a shortest version Mysty, maybe? 

For the moment you answer,

I'm quite happy to say,

To the more mundane: Puss, puss!

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved 

Pitti-patter

Oh sweetie, come with me

Listen to the rain song

Falling on the billabong 

Pitti, pitti-patter

Please don't cry with her

She's the nurturer, the healer

You see her sharp drops

Like millions of knives 

Lashing the surface

But look they glide 

On the silvery shield

Pitti, pitti-patter

They can't get to her

Ending up in ever

Increasing rings

To join with her

Oh sweetie, now you cry again

Of joy this time,  you say

To the lovely song of the rain

Let them rest together.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Night time walk

The evening is still, not a leaf is stirring

Even the night crickets keep silent

The heat is all overpowering 

The indifferent stars are twinkling 

Lost in the spiralling Milky Way 

The moon hides beyond the horizon

Cooling herself surely, wise lady of the night

Back here trying to catch any freshness

On my left my busy dog is randomly sniffing 

Leaving his mark on the low bushes 

To let the world know of his existential being

Who's to say he's wrong?

On my right my shadowy cat

Bounds from bushes to bushes

Trying to jump on the dog unaware 

To each her own pleasures.

Impervious to these nocturnal activities

I keep to the wonders of the night 

Filling my heart and my soul

With the healing obscurity

For no one knows I am here

All is peaceful, let it last.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Star gazing

Walking slowly in the paddock

Under the Milky Way 

The wind is restless 

Rustling, frisking, blowing

Turning, twisting, howling,

Murmuring, dead quiet

Are you calling to me

Bright star among others?

All stuck in the velvet of the night

When I look at you

The others disappear 

You and I are alone , alive tonight

You glitter and your beauty is enough

To enable me to know I am alive

Illusion, megalomania

Who cares? not you, not me

For we know, across the eons

Of space and time

We are one and unique

Together linked  eternally.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved 

Gorgeous George

Gorgeous George

Gorgeous George

Is the darling of these dames

As soon he awake

He struts the stage 

Singing full voice

They are simply star struck

Annabelle plays coy

Beatrice is only too willing

Even shy Caroline is hoping

Emmeline teases him

Without mercy

But Frenegonde is his favourite 

Let's be honest

Gigi  is the perfect gigolo

He was brought there

For their pleasure

To service the ladies

Three weeks in

And he's ready 

To deliver his duty

Good luck to him

For his roster will keep him busy

From a simple rooster

He'll become king of the coop.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Alma mater

What a joke

My alma mater has become:

Teaching without a resident lecturer

All online programmes

Developed by lecturers

Of a previous generation .

Still the university is racking it in

I'm speaking of the fees

For it seems they are still at it

The rats eating the cheese.

Where is the personal touch

The direct support

The dedicated team offered

To each individual student

All gone I suppose?

That comes down

To invite visiting vice chancellors

More interested in their own careers

Than in the university life

Once they spot their next move

No need for a regional university

So let's empty the campus 

Start by the colleges

Who need them nowadays

They cost a fortune to maintain

We won't need lecturers any longer

Let's cut costs 

It will look better on the balance sheet

Are we not clever, are we not clever?

The town is empty, the shops are closing

Who cares, who cares

We are making profit

From the gullible , from the naive

Who enrol in our university

For we have institutionalised on line racketing!

We offer lovely brilliant ceremonies

With ponderous parades

Of old fools in gowns and hats,

A boring, out of touch speeches

Naturally,

A handshake with a photo opportunity

With the head crook and a degree,

Best wishes and good luck

Don't forget to stay in touch

We have a good alumni programme too

To bring some more needed funds.

Am I angry? You bet I am

University is not for profit

Knowledge and culture have no price tag

Attached to them 

Selling it in neat packaging

With a smart marketing

Is not what's all about.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

A night walk

As swift as a shadow in the night

Here there, gone over there

She follows us

Silent as the owl flight 

With her inky eyes

Never judging,

Just discovering,

Eternally inquiring

What drives us

To Stomp the grounds

In that manner?

From tree to tree,

Hiding in the bushes

She tracks us

And that silly, noisy dog

Bringing balls to be thrown

That way or this way.

You, laughing your head off

At its pirouettes;

Him waging proudly its tail

After chasing a kangaroo mob

Across the paddock

Ignoring her and her plan

To pounce upon and frighten him 

With such a joy.

This is a night walk

In company of my dog and cat.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Too hot

  Too hot to move

From one sofa to the bed

Even the buzzing flies

Are quiet under the verandah

Only the purring of the fans

Is heard in the lead silence

Of a mid afternoon

Siesta is officially 

The new sport

The dog and the cat

Are spread on the cool tiles

A few feet apart without quarrel 

Toys are thrown across the floor

Can't be bothered 

To pick them up

And put some order

The world has slowed down

Life goes on in this manner

All are waiting for the change

To speed up and catch up

Listening to "Baby it's cold outside"

One cool song to trick one's mind

For there isn't any refreshing thought

Powerful enough to counteract

When the cold water tap spews steaming water

Too hot to bother really

For the night will be restless

Tossing in a never ending spiral

On top of the bed.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved