Author: Cassa Bassa

🇦🇺🇨🇳 inquisitive, observant, witty, a thinker, was a misfit child 😊

Impression of a couple books

To be honest, I haven’t read a book that left an impression for quite some time. Most books I have read in the last few years have been just for passing time. Once I had read them, I almost could not recall much detail.

There are two books are like gems. They are in different genres and presented in independent brilliance. I consider myself a serious reader, not in a widely read way, but in a focus on serious topics way.

l’insoutenable légèreté de l’être (The Unbearable Lightness of Being) by Milan Kundera.

amazon link cling here

It is a novel depicts characters we may despise according to our moral codes and yet they are us in the everyday mental struggle. It left me thinking long after I finished reading.

Notches by Mike Ennenbach.

amazon link click here

It is a short story collection filled with humour, heartaches, beauty and love. I have not been a short stories reader since secondary school. After reading Notches, I felt it was like a tasting tour in an ingenious writer’s mind.

Blurry past

some memories are a haze
no recollection of the first kiss
nor school graduations
it was like a tasteless fog

breakups used to taste like sour wines
hurtful words once felt like poisons
friendships were full of giggles
fun time used to be like sunshine

some memories are like sharks
they are capable of swallowing you alive

Pop covered Nan’s head with a tin bucket
dented it all over with a hammer

Ma attacked Pa full force
left fingernail scratches

some things once seen
cannot be unseen
I wish they were blurry

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I wonder

we don’t see people
we see our opinions
through people

she looks so thin
she is an anorexic

he has no front teeth
he is an addict

she has been diagnosed with
nasal cavity cancer
what do you expect
she is a chain smoker

he lost the custody of
his children
why are you so surprised
he is a drunk

when we are confronted with matters
beyond our own experience
or understanding
it is easier to
pose judgement or
be clinical about it

but
is that being helpful

wouldn’t it be more logical
to take it at face value
and empathise with the person

Cusp (Capricorn – Aquarius)

standing in the gap
and looking between
Saturn’s and Uranus’ rings
how does the goat reach the water bearer

does he follow the rocky path
and tread through the water ice
but only to discover
it is all just shimmering dust

isn’t it ironic
being on a cusp
does’t necessary give you
the benefit of both states
it often gives you false hopes
destined to disappoint

Sydney Homelessness

I am reposting this as the Sydney street count is fast approaching this month (August 2019).

 

373 people sleeping rough around the inner city on the night of February 19.

I was there counting…

Their faces rushing to me like the dying souls swallowing by the swamp
Their stories I had heard playing like vinyl records

I ain’t got mama ain’t got nothing, papa’ s punches driving me scatty…
If you licked it and you liked it, a couple pearly dewdrops will get you high and die in ecstasy…
I was raised crooked in a dungeon, the city street lights are bright and shiny, it’s so much safer…
Not going back that sty, slave to two pigs from a mode. God I hate them sweet Jesus…
I am a failure as the financial crisis. I have sold my soul to the grog, 10 seconds sober to see my princess walking in school…
When Mama died she prayed God would take me. Now I am here and I don’t know why. Where is my Mommy…
My Dad needs help, he is all schizoed out. My mates can’t help, the weed can’t help…

I was there counting…

One by one the forgotten in our city
The stories were told
None has changed

373 people sleeping rough around the inner city on the night of February 19.

Homelessness

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Mr Scribble came with his blue staffy
He hadn’t eaten for two days
Bluey was well fed though

I told him I missed his devil’s horns tatts along his temples
He grinned and said he would ban his children having tatts
cos the laser removal hurt like hell

Mr Scribble would be homeless for the night
Mrs kicked them out cos coming down from a bad trip
They escaped before taking her punches for the 26th times this year
and it’s only April

He knew I offered them no shelter
He knew I offered them the staff shower facilities
so he would be clean and human again after a day’s work
and back again the next day to demolish more buildings
He called that going to anger management therapy

They stayed for a bit
He told me some more tales of his 5 brothers
except the one visited his room too often

He told me God bless me and my family
like every time before they left my office
I watched their backs to see them off like every time
I prayed for a safe and cosy corner on the street for the night

Mr Scribble and his blue staffy
He was hungry and Bluey was happy

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Over promised, under delivered

came across an old diary entry

‘You are always on my mind’

truth be told

I haven’t thought about you

for years