Ultimate Sacrifice

A haunting look, shadows his eyes,
He doesn't see the summer skies.
He doesn't see the children play,
There are no words that he can say.
For like the darkness of the night,
They have taken away the burning light.
His soul destroyed his tears are dry,
There is nothing more for him to cry.
When night falls they haunt his dreams,
But no one is there to hear his screams.
Like forgotten memories they are cast aside,
Not wishing to know those who died.
But he shall not forget them they were his friends,
And he will remember them until the end.
So light a candle and remember the price,
These men for you, made the sacrifice!

 

© Jan Macleod

 

Just a Poem

Words strung together,
Untangled by the hand,
Deepest thoughts strewn,
Like the wind across the sand.
An open window to the soul,
A look through a child's eyes,
It doesn't matter how it sounds,
A poem never lies.
Twisted feelings burning,
A desire to set them free,
A scribble on some paper,
For everyone to see.

 

© Jan Macleod

Alone we cry

Shame on you, shame on me,

Shame on us, to blind to see.

Close your mind, don’t want to know,

The secret world, the news won’t show.

We take your dreams, burn your soul.

Our twisted minds reach their Goal.

We read the news, shake our head.

Been a long day, we go to bed.

A silent tear, don’t share the pain,

Life a reminder, nothing to gain.

The darkness comes, a note goodbye,

The time has come, we should ask why?

 

©Jan Macleod

Something out of Nothing….

How on earth have l managed to accumulate so many sausages. For those with one track minds, l mean the one’s you put on the Barbie.

I decided to tackle my freezer the other day, which in hindsight was a mistake to start with.  I think, l have things in my freezer that you can no longer even get in the shops.

Why do we put things in there, with the assumption that we won’t waste another ounce of food? We proudly put the remnants of last night’s dinner in a container and squash it in with the other foodstuffs that will never again see the dining room table. Not that we use the table, because its covered with other stuff and quite frankly l am not prepared to try and find a spot.

Back to the sausages. They are not packs of sausages that I can dream up a wondrous meal with, but are the stragglers that didn’t quite meet the requirements at the time. They were on every shelf!

Maybe l only started with two and they have been secretly multiplying.

There are different breeds… from exotic to the everyday Joe. Some hid behind a frozen unidentifiable object and some had snuck in with a burger.  The more l looked the more there were. On the last count, l had removed seven individuals with severe frostbite that there was just no hope of revival.  Another five, l could probably put together and people could guess what they have, and as for the other 20 odd sausages, my family is going to have fun deciding how they want them cooked, because very soon it’s going to be sausage week.

 The dining room table will probably stay in the same state because that only gets tidied when we invite people around……anyone for sausages!  

Not a Luxury

So the sun is shining, and just sitting makes you sweat. Not to worry that's why you bought a house with a pool.
If only it was that easy. A pool has more mood swings than a woman. What appeared to be a clear sparkling oasis of joy, can turn mean and green (no pun intended) within one day. Well not quite but unless lovingly cleaned, preened and balanced to the inch of your life, you will pay dearly.
That winter that you ignored it, because it hid under a pool cover.... expect pay back to hit you tenfold.
Because you see, those who are envious of us, who decided it was such a brilliant idea, will spend as much money as it takes to adopt 3 kids, 2 dogs and a goldfish.
 I can just see the pool shop owner  rubbing their hands with glee, as you meekly take your sample bottle to the counter and they run it through their state of the art technology.
With the shaking of the head and peering over glasses, you brace yourself for the reprimand that follows the glare, of how have you let this happen. Or it could be a look of, "Oh boy this is going cost you a packet!"
After the lecture and strict instructions, you not only walk out the shop, feeling like you have just been called to the headmasters office. You are now armed to the teeth, to kill every germ known to man kind and probably anything that so much as touches the water in the next 8 hours.
Now comes the science part. If you are a man... ignore all instructions and just tip any amount that seems close enough to create the given effect, don't worry to much about the fact that the water seems to have turned a funny shade of white and a mist of poisonous gasses seem to be rolling across the surface like a mysterious fog. Somehow this will dissipate and you will be able to see the bottom of the pool again.
If you are a woman..... read instructions carefully, put containers out of reach of any small children, animals and including husband. Go and dress in clothes that won't disintegrate on contact, wear gloves, mask, and goggles. Read instructions again and go into melt down. After discovering that the chemicals that you are about to expose your family to, were the same kind used as mass destruction. Go and make a cup of tea and weigh up the odds of how really bad it would be for family to change the pool into a pond for carp. Whinging from family out weighs the odds on pool being a pond. Re access the dangers and come to the conclusion that pool company wouldn't be a secret weapon from the government, to keep down the population. Follow instructions carefully, holding breath in case of being overcome by fumes and not being able to cook dinner that night. Mission accomplished, pool becomes part of the family entertainment again. Quick note to self.... look up in yellow pages how much a pool man will cost, might be worth giving up a few real luxuries.

Taking Time to Share

 

 A sunset splashed across a canvas,

Clouds scattered like strewn paper across a floor.

Waves racing to grasp at escaping sand,

Before the night swallows everything in its path.

But don’t sigh and turn away, for now the magic begins,

For like a theatre, the lights will dim and a hush greets the crowd.

A distant song that has no words, serenades for those who care,

To stop their laborious work and listen for awhile.

It’s not a song about money, or paying for your way,

But a call to join together, and unite for peace and love.

Just thinking how funny life is.....

I was just thinking to myself today, how on earth have l let the wildlife of Australia manipulate me. So far l have been conned by two Australian Wood ducks and a magpie (which in a short period of time turned into a flock.)
Let me explain! Last year, l took pity on a lonely squawking wood duck which was precariously balanced on my back fence whilst eye balling our swimming pool. Little to my knowledge once she had established a firm connection with my softer side and could guarantee a daily feed and me withdrawing all chlorine from the pool, with the weak excuse that we were going to empty it as it needed repainting, did this little ducky decided it was good enough to introduce her mate. Not such a bad deal, you might think. All l can say is several loaves of bread later and constant clearing up of duck poop, l definitely need to establish some rules about what moves into my garden.
 Now l think my husband is a patient man ( he lives with me for a start) but lets just say, a repaint got done a lot sooner than anticipated. Neverless to say the ducks were not impressed by an empty pool and without  so much as a goodbye squawk, never returned. Happy hubby, repainted pool and no more scrubbing duck poop.
Then somewhere in the animal kingdom, the word got round that there was this person, who was kinda soft in the head and if you look pitiful enough,  she will provide all year round and even make sure that your favourite kind of food is available. This is where l got involved with the magpie. OK so fair enough, she was only a baby and been kicked out of home and l doubt if nature would have let her survive. That's why mother nature has mugs like me.
This was about six months ago and our relationship is going strong as ever. Even the dog comes to get me when Trouble (yes l named her)  thuds like a baby elephant on our patio roof and squawks her little head off. More disconcerning that she has picked up the ability to bark like a high pitched throttled dog, followed by a continuous broken screech. More to the point, other magpies mysteriously appeared and it can be quite a shock to hear the approach  of flapping wings, only to be confronted by a dozen beady eyes. All was well amongst these feathered friends and all got fed. The household joke was that if all else failed, l could always become like the bird lady, always surrounded by birds in a park. Sounds like a scene from Home Alone 2.

 l do believe nature looks after its own, but somehow when my little maggie came one day with battle scars on her head and had reverted back to baby squawks, l became her vicious defender and the free ride was over, other magpies were banished from the garden of Eden and would have to find other ways to get free hand outs.
As winter becomes a distant memory, maggie still comes for her treats, but now there are two more baby maggies that shyly look over the patio roof and watch how  daintily she plays my heart strings. These two new ones are totally uncouth and need serious reprimanding on their table manners, but its nice to see maggie with company for a while. With her battle scars, l doubt very much she will be attracting a mate any day soon, unless he likes them rough around the edges.

That was Interesting....

So the weekend has arrived.
64 hours of relaxation, (not that l count every hour) and not having to worry about the shrill screeching of an alarm to make me panic jump out of bed. Maybe l should stop hitting that snooze button.
 If only that was the case. For my peacefully Saturday is a pre booked first aid class. Not only do l have to contemplate giving up my precious "me" time, l am going to be enclosed in a room full of strangers who will pass around a dummy that somehow replicates a living, breathing person. Now don't get me wrong l have nothing against our fellow human beings whom l share this amazing world with, but do l really have to appear to be in full control as someone stimulates a car wreck and relies on me to calmly assess who needs my attention the most. Not having ever been put in that position and can safely say l hope l never do. How on earth do l know how l would react?  l could have a melt down on the spot and become a casualty myself, although l doubt the paramedic's would consider me a priority, unless of course l am the one who faints and becomes unresponsive.
Some might say that l am bit more worldly than most, as l have had the privilege of living in Africa, where l was constantly warned about the lurking dangers of creatures that just lie in wait to pounce and cripple me into a withering body of pain. Of course that lost its  image as l moved to the colder climate of UK. Then l was duly reminded that the bitter cold made up for lack of dangerous animals and at anytime l could be rendered helpless as l sat trapped in a freezing car with nothing more than my icy breath for company. l think that scared me more than finding a spitting Cobra wrapped around the toilet in Africa that l desperately needed to use (the cobra won).So l moved to the Sunnier climate of Australia and hey presto, l am now surrounded by some of the most dangerous creatures in the world again,  but that is another blog.
Our instructor has nothing but praise that we have taken the steps to voluntarily put ourselves on the front line. I vehemently deny the voluntary side of things quietly to my petrified looking companion whom unwittingly sat in the chair beside me.
There is not alot more the instructor can do to highlight how important our role is in society today and by the end of it, we will be armed to the teeth, with knowledge on how to respond to any catastrophe that crosses our paths.
Call me a sceptic but half my class look like they would have more pressing issues in their lives like who just left a message on their facebook and a random twitter brings a smirk to their inattentive faces. But we plough on valiantly through the precious hours of Saturday. There is something undignified about bending over a pretend unconscious person and yelling at imaginary bystanders to call emergency. Of course remembering the sacred rules of accessing your situation first. My instructor is openly enthusiastic with our attempts and only briefly raises an eyebrow as my phone scoots out of my pocket and makes its escape under the surrounding chairs to which l have to scrabble on my hands and knees to retrieve. Things go a bit more smoothly with the splints and bandages although l doubt l would normally have any of these to hand if l were in the street. l don't make it a habit to carry them in my handbag. The rest of the day was broken into different segments that would help a person in distress and lunch was an enjoyable interlude of sitting in the sun and watching the world scuttle pass. Our instructor left the best til last. The magical defibrillator. Now there is a thing that could come in handy. I could think of quite a few people who could use it as a kickstart in getting their good for nothing ass off the sofa and getting a life instead of sponging off the rest of society. Apparently it is only to be used as a life saver. Which l could have argued that in a certain way it would. A good conditioned defibrillator can pack a good 700 volts to a weakened heart muscle. Now that was interesting......

Oh Boy indeed....
Only a mad person will surf the net late into the evening and then decide that they just have to start a blog.
Maybe it started with the frustration of an earlier conversation with my son and trying to establish some sense from a million other mothers that l am not as crazy or demented as l appeared when l finally walked away from an open ended discussion which eventually made me feel like a cat that had been cornered, only to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and hoisted off to that dreaded place where they stick things in places they shouldn't go.
 OK so it's a personal view of what my cat must have felt, as l reassuringly snuggled her into my arms and she spitefully hissed and dug her claws through what l thought was enough padding to ward off any future scarring.
Teenagers are little people who suddenly spring into egocentric, self centred, food eating monsters who of course know absolutely everything, and a simple request inevitably turns into a one to one confrontation that can render you into a wild eyed, fist clenching monster to whom your son responds to with a lift of an eyebrow. Which loosely translates  into  bulls eye, got you hook line and sinker look.
I personally have always prided myself in the years gone by, to be a person to which very little can ruffle my feathers. l can safely say now that my record is completely tarnished, never to be redeemed.
It seems the only conclusion to late night surfing and  devouring pages and pages of wisdom, is that tomorrow will be another battle and all l have to do is ride the storm and pick up those socks which mysteriously never make it to the laundry. You never know, l might even get one of those sneaky hugs whilst l am cooking his favourite dinner and no one is around to be witness.
As for the cat, it long abandoned ship and was last seen scooting through my neighbours front door, no doubt to live a life that it deemed it was accustomed to.