What if?
Life could be
Peaceful
The road not yet taken
The formula gone
Creating beauty
From a seed
Watching it grow
Leaving only what life needs
Nothing more
What if?
Hope conquered fear
And joy was for all
A better world, for sure
Moving past what has had its day
No perfection, please
Just free
~ Camille
No one’s property
It took generations
Without scratching the surface
I know of three,
I know there was more
Many came and went
Many had their names erased
My strength built over centuries
Waiting patiently
I have learnt I am the past
How arrogant I have been
Knowing nothing of waiting
I took it, as if it was mine
Although alone we never stand
Generations pulsing through my veins
I am not myself today
I am the collective yesterday
Loudly crashing in
Undeterred
I’m here
And I can declare I belong to none
A woman built from the scars of history
~ Camille
The social experiment
Take away the scales
Add a boy and a girl
Place one in front of the other
Blind the boy with sugar
Tie the girls hands
Bake the boy in golden sunshine
Beat the girl down and leave to rise
Measure only the material
Add judgement to the girl
Add praise to the boy
Discard cause and effect
Walk away from the results
~ Camille
The gratitude poem
Thankful I am
For a thoughtful mind
A beating heart
And a searching soul
Even when the heart has bled
When hate whispers goodbye
The heart will not die
Mindfulness of the wider world transcends
From one life to another
Inscribing the human condition
When we share in life’s blessings
Abandoning the pain
The sun comes out again
~ Camille
Playing my last card
The deck was stacked
I have played fast and fearless
Nonetheless
The game is coming to an end
Holding tightly to one last card
Not a winning card
Perhaps only an opening
A new game would be nice
This game has taken a toll
Should the card be played
Or held instead as hope?
Hope without action ...
A fool’s platitude
~ Camille
Instant noodles ruined the world
Everything is faster now
Time at the two-minute mark
Knowledge sits on a shelf, collecting dust
While we restlessly delay
Scrolling through life
Bellies bloated; souls empty
Labour scorned for taking too long
Ageing held in contempt
Are we there yet?
Where are we going again
Too late, time’s up
~ Camille
More please?
Why must it always be more?
More of me
More of you
A push for more
Why do you want more?
More of the same
More for less
More to digest
When did the simple
Slip away for more
Make way for more
A traffic congestion of more
More time for waiting
Less time for doing more
More often I crave less
Strip it down to less
Do with less
Make more with less
More is an overcrowded room
Where I do not belong anymore
~ Camille
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Our debt comes due
All will know the cost
Add it up, tally the toll
Deadly silence in a barren land
Money in a dust storm, all that is left
Death to life
Counting down
Till the penny drops
No more… more, the echo sounds
As the last window closes
We are locked in
And so the night begins
~ Camille
Australian summer
Well sunned and salted
My heart beats to
The rhythm of the sea
The breeze kisses gently
Heavy eyelids give way
Summer siesta’s bliss
These childhood memories
Ingrained in my senses
Australian life by the coastline
Was once wild and free
~ Camille
Female voices
My voice
Sounds female
My mind
Is of the humankind
Female voices
Misogyny denied
Tried to hush
Built a barricade
Female voices
Rise
Unapologetic
For this disruption
My voice is not alone
It has been raised by the past
Connected to the present
Spoken for the future
Imagining a peaceful world
Women’s voices are heard
~ Camille