By each passing hour

By each hour passing

The list lengthens :

Kabul, Baghdad, Manchester, Kashmir ...

A new terror attack has taken place

The number of victims increases

Lives have been taken again .

Have you noticed

How red is the blood

Spilled on the pavement?

Can you honestly tell me 

There is a difference in the victims?

It looks all the same to me

No justification whatsoever 

In lives arbitrarily taken.

The shock value is no longer stirred

The weather report is more tangible 

While Blood runs red .

Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved 

The fall

They are all baying after you

Fame is so fickle

One day you're elected

You're adored, you're venerated

The world is yours to play with 

But the day of impeachment is near

You're despised, execrated

Even hated by some

You can't do anything right

What have you done to deserve it?

Who knows? 

Love of power, greed and fame at any cost 

Perpetual  fawning from your entourage

Allied to ignorance and blustering

And let's call it for what it is

Lack of sincerity and integrity

On a weak mind drove you 

To many faux pas dispersing the illusion

Of a strong successful leader 

Caring for your people

You just proved to be an empty windbag

Too dangerous for democracy

Your days are counted

You've been too long on the scene!

Lucette C.Bailliet

All rights reserved

The slug

Oh, what is it with you?

If the Mexicans can drink 

Tequila with a worm

Can you tell me what's wrong

With a slug in your beet root juice?

Granted, that it was unplanned

And was still alive,

But you have to admit

You're so fussy. 

All this noise about 

A tiny little slug!

You're never going

To let me forget, are you? 

Just for your education

Two centuries ago

Tuberculosis patients

Would go at dawn in the garden

And feast on freshly picked slugs.

What do you mean, 

You don't have tuberculosis?

Really, there is no way to please you!

Lucette C. Bailliet

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The forest fights back

Like a town in continual decay

So is the forest

Death and Time its guardians never rest 

Enforcers, judges and executioners,

Ever vigilant, ever righteous 

Death and Decay always present, forever invisible!

Still one can track them, the signs are visible:

Like serpents, dead branches litter the ground.

Curling bark drapes over lower bushes

Falling in long twisted ribbons.

The arches from the spent wattles 

Redefine the undergrowth 

As a derelict camping site.

Some dead trees still stand up

Pared down to their inner chore

By armies of sucking borers 

Living behind them only empty shells.

Others lay flat on the ground helpless 

Slowly decaying into dust,

Death is the first to attend

Followed by its twin companion,

Time is no object here in the forest

There is always plenty of it.

Then there are the trees cut down by

Men driven by their insatiable greed 

Destroying the peace with screeching chainsaws

Hacking relentlessly seedlings 

Or giants that have stood there for centuries

They don't care, some trees once down

Are even left to waste! 

Time and death the eternal gatekeepers

Hover in the limbo between realms of realities.

On the edge of perpetual collapse the forest resists

Somehow finds energy for regrowth 

Swears to never give up, and fights back.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved 

The games we play

I received the following text

On Mothers' Day 

"For a surprise get the Riddle book"

So I went to the bookshelf 

And retrieved the riddle book

Riddle was its tittle

I opened it and found this riddle

" three children there were:

One orphan,

One of seven, 

One only child"

No mention at all of children

Be them orphan, 

One of seven 

Or only child for that matter

So I sent back a "?"

The answer was immediate

Think of characters

Harry Potter was of course 

My immediate thought

Back to the bookshelf 

Which book though

Let's be methodological 

And start at the beginning

Luckily when I flicked the pages

A second riddle fell to the floor

I was hot on the track 

 "If I were the queen of murder

I'd write a book

One with names no longer used

One with animals eaten

One with letters to write 

One with trains to travel

And murder in sport

But hidden in her memoires"

The clue was obvious

Agatha Christie's autobiography 

Was to be found in the bookshelf.

Once located and the book flicked

A third riddle was discovered

" if I were a hobbit

I wouldn't want to find a ring

But if I were..."

Once again I stood in front of the book case

And searched The Hobbit pictorial book

I flicked it, nothing

The case ran cold , I was so sure

I pictured the book and sent it back

That's not the one, find the text one

By the side of The Lord of the ring trilogy

Stood a small novel, The hobbit

Flicked it and a new riddle flew to the floor

" Five sisters they were

All of the same name

One kind, 

one proud, 

one dogmatic, 

one sheep, 

one child in a woman's body"

 That one could only  refer to Pride and Prejudice

Once again I stood in front of the bookcase

Got the book out and flicked it

There stood stuck in the middle of the book

A pink envelop with the words

" to the best mum"!

Lucette Bailliet/ Alexandra Bailliet-Joly 

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Pongo

 Our mighty ferret with his masked avenger's face

Had determination inscribed on each of his bones

He simply couldn't let go, it drove him to frenzy.

Sometimes destructive,

Couldn't pass a basic plastic glove

Without attacking and reducing it to pieces,

Don Quixote and his mill had nothing on him.

He obviously had a revenge wish

On those gloves which led him to be neutered 

Hurting him mentally as well as physically.

He loved indiscriminately every towel cloth

Wet or dry didn't matter, he had to have it

Even my bathrobe was not immune to his endeavours

I would find him attached to the belt 

Trying to pull and pull the robe through 

The tiny opening of the third drawer

Of my daughter's commode

Which he had claimed for residence.

We knew where to find  a missing sock.

When he loved, it was with a passion

He couldn't resist dry dog food,

How many times did we caught him

Trying to drag the food bag , 

Twenty times heavier than he was? 

How he pushed! How he dragged along the bag!

Give him enough time

The bag would have moved half way to the bedroom

The dogs totally ignored him

Just smart enough to move away 

Their food bowl from his reach

He was simply in everything , unstoppable

Until, until he tried rat poison left by our neighbour

And then he was stiff and restful.

Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved

Domesticity

So you're moving in

It's a big move

What advice should I give you?

Do things together seems obvious

Even the house chores 

I know he cooks

Does he clean too?

Bleach is the best 

Against mould and scum

Vinegar is good for windows

Salvo is good for silver pieces

Although super glue 

Is excellent for gluing back 

Pieces together again

Took me a life time 

To get it right! 

Lucette C. Bailliet

All right reserved

A four eggs day

You left without your breakfast egg

It turned out to be a four eggs day

It was a bad omen and truly

You got fired that day, never mind 

Someone got a fat bonus to their pay packet!

Until that day, you ignored the losers

We can't all be winners, it's logical, you said

Darwin natural selection!

Guess what, karma is a turning wheel

Your number is up, good luck to you

For you've got three children and a mortgage

You thought you were secure

You find yourself in precarious straights

Join the majority of us mere mortal

Scrounging and fighting for survival

You'll be in good company , do not worry!

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

Cup of tea

In the high country where tea is cultivated

The tea pickers are at work

To provide you with that cup of tea

One worker spot is filled without question

After a bomb has exploded

For it is a fact well known

That an exploded bomb does not hit twice

The hard breaking work continue

Unhindered all day long

Women and children are hard at work

The slaves, for what else are they,

Fill basket after basket

Of aromatic leaves

To be dried, packed and sent overseas

For your pleasurable cup of tea

Enjoy your special brew

That five minutes break

After all, it's not your fault

If workers were killed

Half a world away or is it? 

You can't be held responsible 

For every ill in the world

Keep drinking that golden brew

For it feeds families, that's true!

Lucette C. Bailliet

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Even the mighty are falling!

Even the mighty are falling!

As a child I stood in awe of you

You were such an athlete 

You could pick up any sport

And be proficient in a wink

I was clumsy, still am

You didn't understand it

You thought I was lazy

When you found me reading

A lecture and a beating followed

I was terrorised of you

I hated the clock announcing 

Your daily return

I didn't know where to hide

I kept silent, I was rendered dumb

You made my life hellish for five years

Thankfully you divorced my mother

You lived the dream life

You lied and forgot about me

I was not complaining

The years passed

You divorced a second time

Nowadays your mind is going

You need help, it's obvious

But your latest partner 

Has all the attributes of a widow maker 

She'll destroy you 

Good luck to you

Even the mighty are falling!

Lucette C. Bailliet 

All rights reserved

Do you care?

Do you care?

Are you even there?

When in need of comfort

I go to your tree

To empty out my heavy heart.

Do you care? 

Are you even there?

I know you are still alive 

In my mind and memory

I know I miss most

The laughs and gossips

I should come visit more often your tree, mum

For it's alive and strong 

Surrounded by fragrant wattles

But let's face it, I feel silly

Standing in front of a tree

Talking to your ashes

Do you care?

Are you even there? 

 Lucette C. Bailliet 

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Dolce ombre

Dolce ombre

Tinted sweet shadow

Of past times

Drama of shadow and light

Of the chiaroscuro 

Music and light

Melting into each other 

Making each moment 

Sweeter and precious

Laments and time

Pure meditations 

Easing pain and loss

Wild dances into happiness 

Your shadow reaches to us

Dolce ombre.

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved

 

Was it the moon?

Was it the moon

Who disrobed the tree

Its bark laying on the ground

Around the naked trunc?

Was it the moon 

Who let the clouds

Cry so much

The paddocks were flooded ?

Was it the moon 

That turned the billabong 

Waters from black to red

In protest of evil mankind? 

Was it the moon? 

Lucette C. Bailliet

All rights reserved