Days Volume Two

* And I know you like your boys to take their medicine From the bowl with a silver spoon Who run away with the dish and scale the fish by the silvery light of the moon Who were taught from the womb to believe till the tomb That as far as their bleeding eyes see Is a pleasure pen, meant for them, builded and rent for them Not for the likes of me Not for the like of you and me And for one crowded hour, you were the only one in the room And I sailed around all those bumps in the night to your beacon in the gloom I thought I had found my golden September in the middle of that purple June But one crowded hour would lead to my wreck and ruin Oh but the green-eyed harpy of the salt land She takes into hers my hand She says, "Boy I know you're lying Oh but then, so am I," And to this I said "Oh well." Well put me in a cage full of lions, I learned to speak lion In fact I know the language well I picked it up while I was versing myself in the languages they speak in hell

* http://1.bp.blogspot.comhttp://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/national-assessments/bondi-beach/pubs/bondi-beach.pdf Bondi Beach is one of the world's most famous beaches and is of important social value to both the Australian community and to visitors. Bondi Beach is significant because of its special associations for Australians as a central place in the development of beach culture in Australia. It embodies a powerful sense of place and way of life. It is where Australians meet nature's challenge in the surf and is strongly associated with the Bronzed Aussie myth of easygoing hedonism and endeavour balanced with relaxation. A place full of Australian spirit, synonymous with Australian beach culture, it is recognised internationally... Egalitarian in nature, the beach and surfing had a profound effect in changing our way of life, and developing our sense of national identity. The central role of beaches, and Bondi Beach in particular, in Australia’s self image is reflec

* Backyard The God of Smoke listens idly in the heat to the barbecue sausages speaking the language of rain deceitfully as their fat dances. Azure, hazed, the huge drifting sky shelters its threatening weather. A screen door slams, and the kids come tumbling out of their arguments, and the barrage of shouting begins, concerning young Sandra and Scott and the broken badminton racquet and net and the burning meat. Is that a fifties home movie, or the real thing? Heavens, how a child and a beach ball in natural colour can break your heart. And the brown dog worries the khaki grass to stop it from growing in place of his worship, the burying bone. The bone that stinks. Turn now to the God of this tattered arena watching over the rites of passage - marriage, separation; adolescence and troubled maturity: having served under that bright sky you may look up but don't ask too much: some cold beer, a few old friends in the afternoon, a Southerly Buster at dusk. John Tranter In Afghanistan m

* Now should you expect to see something that you hadn't seen In somebody you'd known since you were sixteen; if love is a bolt from the blue, then what is that bolt but a glorified screw? and that doesn't hold nothing together Far from these nonsense bars and their nowhere music it's making me sick And I know it's making you sick There's nothing there, it's like eating air It's like drinking gin with nothing else in And that doesn't hold me together. But for one crowded hour, you were the only one in the room And I sailed around all those bumps in the night to your beacon in the gloom I thought I had found my golden September in the middle of that purple June But one crowded hour would lead to my wreck and ruin Augie March The Australian Open is slowly winding to an end. One Crowded Hour. You Were The Only Person in the room. And everything dissembled. Everything fell apart. He was brought together and brought apart; and if only these final days wer

* The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19. If there was no other cause, then he no longer belonged. He was astonished, disturbed, at once wondering pointless through the back streets weaving from the city to the beach, walking, walking; entirely disengaged. He looked with envy at the well formed lives of those around him. They could sneer, he knew that, there was no love or affection or sense of belonging. He had been betrayed on every level, by the place, by himself

* When the lamp is shattered The light in the dust lies dead - When the cloud is scattered, The rainbow's glory is shed. When the lute is broken, Sweet tones are remembered not; When the lips have spoken, Loved accents are soon forgot. As music and splendour Survive not the lamp and the lute, The heart's echoes render No song when the spirit is mute - No song but sad dirges, Like the wind through a ruined cell, Or the mournful surges That ring the dead seaman's knell. When hearts have once mingled, Love first leaves the well-built nest; The weak one is singled To endure what it once possessed. O Love! who bewailest The frailty of all things here, Why choose you the frailest For your cradle, your home, and your bier? Its passions will rock thee, As the storms rock the ravens on high; Bright reason will mock thee, Like the sun from a wintry sky. From thy nest every rafter Will rot, and thine eagle home Leave thee naked to laughter, When leaves fall and cold winds come. Percy

* http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1618196.htm Father Ted Kennedy (archival): I remember one cold night about 3am being called out of my warm bed by a man called Hughie who was drinking at that time. But he had a friend and he was really concerned the friend didn�t understand Christianity, and he asked me to do down and tell him about Christ. That was one of the turning points of my life. I realised that it would be an affront to Christ himself if I were to go back to that warm bed having given a class in Christian doctrine in a place like this. I decided very strongly at that time I had to open my home to the homeless and that I had to fight for social justice. Rebel Cooper BBC archive: If I knew God, I reckon he�d be the same, Father Ted is powerful, he�s just, he�s understanding, people say they mightn�t like me or something like that, but Fr Ted accepts me for what I am, a person. Narr: It was here in Redfern that Ted Kennedy carried out the first act that branded hi