Skip to main content

Always Right and Always Wrong

 Always Right and Always Wrong

Met on a bridge one day

They stopped for a while each watching the view

Then Always Wrong went on his way.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go there,”

Said Always Right, 

“I’ve just come from over there

There are terrible things like lions and bears

And monsters that catch you unawares,

You should turn around now while you still have the time and go back the way you came.”


Said Always Wrong, “Mm, I was wondering, as I looked through the trees and beyond

That one never can see quite far enough to decide what is right or wrong

Maybe I should sit on this bench and watch the world for a bit and dream

Maybe watch the birds who are watching the fish and 

Wriggle my toes in the stream 

“Oh I wouldn’t do that,”

Always Right replied, “just think of the ecoli and what if you slipped and hit your head or got shat on by a bird flying by?”

“You could be right, “Always Wrong said” 

“But what if today you were wrong? It’s not all that bad to be Wrong you know, it’s actually quite fun sometimes

I make a mistake but I don’t get upset, I just say, “Oops, that didn’t work ... like this poem, I’m going right out of rhyme, but who’s keeping score?

“Oh, I am!” Said Always Right

“I am ... “


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Granny's Hands Granny’s Hands           Hold my hand Granny Tell me again How many times is seventy times seven And what does forgive mean Tell me again.   Granny’s hands have spots all over Tell me again Why does the sun make everything better When tomorrow comes Tell me again.   Granny picks Rosemary and Lemon Verbena Everything smells Of Lemon Verbena Teach me again Granny Those easy lessons Of making things better With Lemon Verbena   Children can live on ripe pomegranates Pork crackling snacks  fresh Apple Pie Two late husbands and burying two children and yet, I only once saw her cry.   The way to fix things was to Unpack your cupboards “Sadness will go,” Granny would say. “Sadness can’t live in nice tidy cupboards,” But what do you do with it? Pack it away?   Granny’s hands were soft and gentle Rough and wrinkly At the same time   Hold my hand Granny Tell me again How many times is seventy times seven times seventy times...
  The Sapling So long we waited  And the time is here  At last A southern wind has blown  The sapling from the vast and distant shore And has returned it full and grown  Home to its root once more The soil rejoices as it feels the quiver of his tread The soil where once he fed Which bled when long ago the little seed took flight And had to fight to grow in foreign land And learn to understand another way But for today  The sapling will drink thirstily and long  And for today he’ll grow Where he belongs 

Naked Africa

 There are days when I feel quite challenged by things that happen in my life or don’t happen or those unexpected out-of-left-field happenings or those people we all sometimes wish we didn’t have to run into (excepting of course if we were driving a steam roller) but living in Africa keeps me real.  So when people ask me why I moved back to Africa from Australia, I say this:  For love  And beyond that Maybe living elsewhere for a while helped me understand this place in a different way It’s not for sissies  It’s not for naysayers  There is nothing easy about living here  It is confronting and it is hard at best and it’s getting harder especially for those who already have so much need I keep reminding myself always to be kind and not judge the next person because I have not worn their shoes Nor have I walked barefoot on the scorched earth of Africa I have not carried water miles from a dirty water point In two hours time, I will have electricity  ...