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

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David Horton

Tag: family

Fresh air

August 16, 2020 by David Horton, posted in cancer, History, literature, poetry

I was not
aware of
taking my
first breath and
I will not
be aware
of my last,
but all the
others were
precious.

Tagged anxiety, cancer, family, History, literature, old age, poetryLeave a comment

Pointless

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 by David Horton, posted in History, media, poetry, politics

We all spend

our lives now

trying not

to become

data points

on a graph.

Tagged anxiety, coronavirus, covid-19, family, History, media, poetry, politics, scienceLeave a comment

Lifting veils

July 26, 2020 by David Horton, posted in History, media, poetry, politics, science

The process

of ageing

is one of

lifting the

veils, one by

one, that hide

the number

of stupid

people

in the world,

until you

see clearly

the horror,

then you die.

Tagged family, History, media, poetry, politics, religion, science, warLeave a comment

Excavations

July 25, 2020 by David Horton, posted in History, poetry

Fragments of

time just keep

emerging

from my brain

like finds from

archaeo-

logical

digs brought to

the surface

for study.

I turn them

over in

my mind’s eye

but they seem

to form no

pattern, no

clues to a

lost dark age.

Tagged family, genealogy, History, 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

Philatelic thoughts

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

Sometimes,

when I am

sorting my old

English

postage

stamps,

I wonder if

this one or

that one was

a stamp my

great great

grandfather

might have

used.

Tagged family, genealogy, History, philately, poetryLeave a comment

Vanishing perspective

March 19, 2020 by David Horton, posted in Bon mots, History, poetry

Once upon a

time I used to

say “Oh, if only

I was twenty

years younger”.

Now, suddenly

it seems, I

have to say

”Oh, if only

I was fifty

years younger.”

Tagged family, genealogy, History, old age, poetryLeave a comment

Robotics

February 22, 2020 by David Horton, posted in atheism, evolution, guns, History, literature, poetry, politics, science

Religious

Robots is a

better name for

fundamentalists

of all

religions

Tagged atheism, evolution, family, guns, History, literature, media, poetry, politics, racism, religion, science, warLeave a comment

Last orders please

February 22, 2020 by David Horton, posted in cancer, History, literature, poetry

Last school day,

last work day,

last drive,

last sex,

last walk,

last outdoors,

last room,

last meal,

last breath.

Tagged anxiety, atheism, cancer, family, History, literature, poetryLeave a comment

Dem bones, dem bones

February 22, 2020February 22, 2020 by David Horton, posted in Bon mots, History, literature, poetry

Every

family

has closets

packed full of

skeletons,

but some rattle

more loudly

than others

Tagged family, genealogy, History, literature, poetryLeave a comment

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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

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  • Round ’em up, rawhide
  • I hear you need a gardener
  • Lily white
  • The frog god

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