Day in town

Driving around Collingwood
retracing your time spent
as a young man
we found ourselves at
Studley Park Boathouse

we both had memories
of the place
with thirty years
between us

row boats     still
along Yarra's edge
sunlight
catching
in the afternoon

I wonder how many people
have sat there
opening their hearts
sharing stories

Magnolia Tree

After a year of making changes
I've thrown out old clothes
  crockery
   and judgements

screamed at my reflection
in the mirror
sat with myself
for the first time
and had a conversation
realised I'm not bad
to talk to

contemplated
getting older
accepted mortality
understood
what it means to die

reclaimed my sexuality
revisited my younger self
who never really left

watched the wind pass through
the magnolia tree
witnessed their flowers scorch
in the summer sun
only to rebloom again

(Poem from Passion in Verses)