Mad Sky

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

the fool on the hill

we walked among the market stalls hand in glove the sky above the soft green hills all circling around the pretty little market town all the world displayed there! at prices low for those who know the value of those things for sale in that prosperous little vale we came seeking something rare a new idea life without fear we looked among the things for sale searched high and low to no avail we stopped and looked out to the hills where someone danced their life’s romance their music held us in a spell as they danced around their wishing well but haggling over bread and wine the price was high for you and I how the market vendors laughed we simply did not have enough you came here seeking magic? you sought in vain was their refrain we do not deal in such a trade that stuff from which your dreams are made better seek it far from here your innocence is no defence go discover what you will and join the fool out on the hill

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

the high queen

I was a lonely shepherd boy before I met the high queen wandering on the steep green hills before I met the high queen dark nights in rocky shelters cold I laboured in my master's fold until I could see my face grown old before I met the high queen I lived alone in a bee hive cell before I met the high queen high above the shepherd's well before I met the high queen long days and nights in silent prayer the cries of seagulls filled the air I searched for god, he was not there before I met the high queen I was a soldier rude and grim before I met the high queen a coarse red beard upon my chin before I met the high queen I did what I was paid to do I found the monk and ran him through I took my coin and pleasure too before I met the high queen I did not love her at first sight when I met the high queen but something stirred in me that night when I met the high queen her grace and wisdom I declare her well of sadness I despair to love her madly fate has dared to risk all for the high queen

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

ned kelly's big idea

it's so much work banging history into shape over winter fires so hot their embers split the sky each star a souvenir of your avenging blows reigning down hard upon life's gallery of symbols the fire wrought images the psyche keeps repeating the boar the bull… that strutting thief sad elephants a circus theme you laughed and smote the ploughshare forming on fate's jealous flame so curious your costume, an errant knight in armour your kaleidescopic humour born peripheral in dream you willed that hopeless fracas nailed it to the door with a horshoe nail and thumbprint ! you took that lethal invite to labour at life's mythic forge out in the devil's basin you fanned creation's flame and up it rose the hybrid beast no minotaur but wholly made with croppies tools and noble's suit a monster of your own design to stalk the labyrinth of time

[mad-sky]

doubt

old dogs bark and plovers cry strange night’s creatures cling to shadows gum tops morph to rorsache blots inking splashes on the sky insinuating silently doubt slips into our settlers camp a phantom whispering questions and threatening peace of mind are we really masters here as men or servants to yet higher beings secure on distant stars, perhaps they’re watching in their cups, amused while we here vulnerable are compelled to watch their endless scheming in the clouds

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

first man - carrajung

I am the first man I gather and hunt and I look and see that the colours before my eyes are shaped like birds bright parrots and wild ducks and the colours before my eyes take the form of beasts wallabies and wild dogs and the sky and trees and sea horizon are bold stripes of blues and greens at night my eyes see not so many things but my mind is filled with deepness and the sky becomes a nest of diamonds I am warmed by the sun and cooled by rainwater I am the first man and the colours before my eyes take the form of birds and beasts and the sea in the distance

[mad-sky]

country drifting

float easy in the bend turn the wheel just right edge the roadside bank of sand spray the gravel low fish tail sashay rights itself straightens for the next big curve no purpose and no place to be known roads hold no distraction no risk to life and limb unlike the trails through unknown scrub the accidental route map the topography of challenge off the grid, unreachable unknowable out here where no roads be no signposts to the final destination

[mad-sky]

[mad-sky]

old rabbiter

he takes the razor sharp knife and cuts away the skin down along the back legs and breaks them at the shin he draws the warm skin up and pulls out the gut his fingers have a blood smell his mind’s as ever shut his dog drips its saliva onto the earth gets heart and liver for obedience and worth man legs it through the wire fence, hand on the muzzle dog and man walk off again into the landscape puzzle