News Breakfast - 26th October

Jetlagged, I watch Down Under News:

Sport prevails – I don’t enthuse;

Queensland now beset by floods

Roads badly blocked by river sludge!

 

As I have often said before

The climate here is rough and raw

From teeming rain to lengthy drought

Extremes of all kinds catch us out!

 

Drive-by shootings on the rise;*

New Western Sydney airport flies

Its first international flight

A press sensation overnight!

 

High cost of living causes grief

So, foodbanks help provide relief.

But Europe’s riots – here unknown

Make Adelaide a gentler home.

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

* 4 people shot near Logan, S.E. Queensland

Western Sydney International Airport - just opened!

 

A Flit through Fiji

We journeyed through Pacific skies

While Fiji staff in turquoise guise

Passed down the aisles with food trays hot

But was it meal-time? I think not!

 

Tired of Britain’s sludge and snow

My loved ones went South long ago

To land of mangoes and good wine;

Australia’s lifestyle suits them fine!

 

Post touch-screen films seen through a haze

I’m grounded now in twilight phase!

My body - rhythms new must make;

Though dark outside - I’m wide awake!

 

Named for William’s* barren queen,

Adelaide has come to mean

 A haven from life’s Sturm und Drang;

Whose festivals have worldwide span!

 

My roots, alas, have grown too deep;

Wee Belgium gives me happy feet

But every winter I take flight

To swop dull grey for bright sunlight! 

(C) Poet in the woods 2026

* Adelaide was founded in 1836 in the reign of King William IV and Queen Adelaide (1830-1837)

Dawn Delights!

I wake up on a brand-new day

With the world I know asleep;

Dawn breaks across the misty bay

Pink glow makes life complete.

 

Wide estuary* sees ships go by

Small fishing smacks accost

I’m lucky as it’s warm and dry

Though mountain views** are lost.

 

Framed weeping willows offer shade

A squirrel shoots straight past

Much varied wild life on parade

Small insects hide in grass…

 

Blue numberplates of local cars

Enhance B.C.’s bold claim;

It merits certainly five stars

This Autumn without rain!

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

* Fraser River

** Grouse Mountain - 1,231 metres/ 4,100 ft.

Iona Beach - Sea Island

To take a back seat, far from care

Allows the soul to breathe pure air;

A stroll invites along the dyke:

Sea Island sees large planes take flight!*

 

Geese huddle in a long white line

Breezes dip and whip up brine

A fluffy cloud the skyline dulls…

The silence broken by the gulls.

 

Jutting out to choppy waves

A promenade arrests my gaze

Where ant-like people walk the line;

Beneath their feet – a city’s grime…

 

As here vast sewers reach the sea

Where offshore winds chase out debris...

Iona Beach is quiet, discrete

Rough gravel paths for sandalled feet.

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

* Site of Vancouver airport

A Peace-Full Reflection

Deep down, it’s peace that we all crave

But Fortune is a tricky Knave

Who tempts and pleads, so we succumb

To silliness, and sense stays dumb.

 

We chase chimeras and fool’s gold

Materialism leaves me cold

We work our socks off for more pay

Then fritter all our gains away.

 

But we only have one life,

One chance at happiness; so, strife

It seems, is our soul’s loss

Choose even keel not turn and toss.

 

That life’s a game is often said

But it depends how rules are read!

We’re all on journeys of our own

Each move we make – new stepping stone!

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

Knaves take many forms!

The Life Force

Time’s like a river; on it flows

How it meanders, no one knows;

Rocks may cause it to slow down,

Or form deep pools where fish are found.

 

It starts, like life, from mountain spring

High in the clouds where no birds sing

Acquiring strength past cliffs and screes

Perhaps reflecting lofty trees…

 

It picks up debris in its wake;

Which new direction will it take?

Watch it wend round crops and hedges

While friendly reeds skirt outer edges.

 

Its pace slows down in middle age

Gone forever youth’s wild rage

Its power harvested, it yields

Its flow to irrigating fields...

 

 Then the mighty sea lies straight ahead

Where it will slowly lose its head

And mingle with the salty waves;

Just so is life, from birth to graves …

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

Thomson River - Canada

 

 

 

Excursion to London Farm - Steveston

New impressions make life full

As links with home exert less pull;

Our thoughts escape, float on long-lease;

Without routines, souls are at peace.

 

In the stillness of Vancouver dawn

Where shadows play on curtains drawn

This stolen, jet-lagged, hour is real

Hot coffee has a sharp appeal!

 

This Autumn season overseas

Arrives with unexpected breeze;

Though skies are clear and sapphire blue

Windcheaters are in constant view!

 

On edge of Steveston - London* Farm

Once private homestead full of charm

Where passers-by, though we saw none,

Can learn how fruit farms once were run.

 

Threshing machine, hoes, rakes and scythes

In open barn, arrest our eyes;

While in allotments dahlias bloom

And herbs and veggies fight for room!

 

Vast ditches dug to stave off flood

Recall past times when silted mud

Birthed cranberries in a big way

We know this crop as “Ocean Spray”!

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

* Built and worked by the 'London' family in the 1890s.

London Farm Barn

Ye olde threshing Machine