Skip to content

Random thoughts and poems (and photographs) written in the grammatical tense "Future Imperfect".

nomdeplume

nomdeplume

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog

David Horton

Tag: Australia

Point of view

July 24, 2020 by David Horton, posted in ecology, gardens, poetry

I hate the

sound of a

rabbit, at

night, screaming

in the jaws

of a fox.

But I can’t

hear the fox

cubs crying

with hunger.

Tagged animals, Australia, ecology, gardens, poetryLeave a comment

Payment due

June 25, 2020 by David Horton, posted in History, literature, poetry

Writing a

memoir is

a life’s work.

It has to

be earned

by the lines

of your face,

the wrinkles

of your hands,

the night fears

of your sleep,

the weariness

of your brain,

the failing of

your body,

and finished

just in time.

Tagged anxiety, archaeology, Australia, family, genealogy, History, memoir, old age, poetryLeave a comment

Happy to see you

June 25, 2020June 25, 2020 by David Horton, posted in ecology, gardens, poetry

The Choughs

are back

doing some

gardening for

me, and the

sight of their

ungainly walk

and their happy

family warms

the cockles of

my cold winter

heart.

Tagged animals, Australia, birds, Chough, ecology, gardens, poetryLeave a comment

Seasons

June 7, 2020 by David Horton, posted in climate change, ecology, gardens, History, poetry

Plumes of smoke

on a cold

Winter’s day

bring thoughts

of warmth and

community

and human

busyness and

achievement.

Plumes of smoke

on a hot

Summer’s day

bring thoughts

of destruction

and terror

and loss and

anger and

failure.

Tagged animals, anxiety, Australia, bushfire, ecology, fire, History, poetryLeave a comment

Mine

June 7, 2020June 7, 2020 by David Horton, posted in History, media, poetry

I wonder what

he was thinking,

that first man

who chewed a

mouthful of

pigment and

then blew it

over his hand

pressed tight

against the wall

of a cave?

Tagged archaeology, art, Australia, History, media, poetry, religion, rock art, scienceLeave a comment

Blissful

March 29, 2020 by David Horton, posted in gardens, poetry

The Butcher Bird

singing,

beautifully,

from the old

dead tree

this morning,

doesn’t know about

coronavirus.

Tagged animals, anxiety, Australia, coronavirus, gardens, poetryLeave a comment

Absent friends

March 24, 2020 by David Horton, posted in poetry

The road

outside my farm,

always busy

with commuter

traffic, is

empty, this

morning, as

far as the

eye can see.

Tagged Australia, coronavirus, poetryLeave a comment

Family ties

February 22, 2020 by David Horton, posted in ecology, evolution, gardens, poetry

One lonely

Wedgetail

Eagle

in a tree,

along came two

more and then

there were three.

Tagged animals, Australia, ecology, literature, poetryLeave a comment

Morning greetings

February 22, 2020February 22, 2020 by David Horton, posted in ecology, gardens, poetry

Three eagles on

a windy morning

circling circling

low above

my head and

calling, calling:

“Here we are”

“Here we are”

“We love wind”

“We love wind”

“Our domain”

“Our domain”.

And then they

slide away

slide away

to another hill.

“Here we are”.

Tagged animals, Australia, eagles, ecology, poetryLeave a comment

Raindrops keep failing

February 7, 2020February 7, 2020 by David Horton, posted in climate change, ecology, gardens, poetry

I weep

bitter tears

when drought

breaking rain

is forecast

and I get

just a little

bit less than

bugger all

Tagged anxiety, Australia, climate change, ecology, gardens, poetryLeave a comment

Posts navigation

Older posts

Search

Categories

  • atheism
  • Bon mots
  • cancer
  • climate change
  • ecology
  • evolution
  • farm
  • gardens
  • guns
  • History
  • literature
  • media
  • poetry
  • politics
  • Pratchett
  • science
  • tax
  • Uncategorized

Tags

age Amazon animals anxiety archaeology astrology atheism Australia autobiography birds Bolsonaro bushfire cancer Central America chance chickens Christchurch Civil War climate change Clive James coronavirus covid-19 cultural burning dogs Donald Trump eagles ecology Egernia cunninghami evolution family family history farm fascism fire flat earth fossils frog gardens genealogy guns haiku health heart History iran Jane Fonda Jonathan Miller koalas literature May media Murdoch nuclear power Ogden Nash old age philately poetry politics Pratchett racism refugees religion royalty Samuel Pepys science Sedaris snake spiders tax Tina Turner Trump vaccination war Weatherwax Xmas

Search

Follow nomdeplume on WordPress.com

Memoir

Hammering on the mind’s door

“I think we are well-advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were.” Joan Didion

A few of the themes

Consequences

Two cultures

Repeating patterns

Nature and nurture

Catcher in the Rye

Doorways

Prophet not without honour

Blood

Deaf

Smell

Building reserves in good times

Recent Posts

  • Among the poets
  • Home, home on the lounge
  • This little piggy
  • Got to see a new moon
  • Room with a view

Navigation

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • nomdeplume
    • Join 211 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • nomdeplume
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...