there is still an urgency
for unqualified confidence
and bullish bravado
at the top
still a place for
recklessness
and ongoing denial
without reservation
caution
deliberation
ongoing opportunity
for
sustained uncompromised attacks on truth
that is welcomed
cheered
and honoured
as if carelessness
is our anointed
blessed
chosen pathway
until one sees the horror
in the mirror

of so much undigested History

First published by, ‘Militant Thistles’
http://militantthistles.moonfruit.com/geoffrey-aitken-poem/4594956897
edited by Alan Morrison, May 2020

it’s unaware of its value
my coffee maker
can’t comprehend its worth
or even know
its capability,
unable therefore
to recognize my gratitude
after its ministration
doesn’t have a life
beyond that current surge
empowering duty’s call
doesn’t understand
the physical world
that contributed so much
to allow functionality

at least that’s what i deduced
after it rudely ignored
my attempts to converse

First published by ‘The Daily Drunk Mag’,
edited by Shawn (anon) June 2020,
‘artificial unintelligence’
https://thedailydrunk.com/f/artificial-unintelligence

conversations
about board riders
in the surf
during working hours
fetch snide remarks
about connections with ‘hand-outs’
drugs, inappropriate behaviours
but it is necessary
to accept and understand
we ride the waves
we do not create them

First published in TAMBA, Issue 66, 2020
by Goulburn Valley Writers edited by Pat Patt

the universe
remains unread
by earth’s great minds
though its music
and elusive songs
mesmerize from remote corners
seducing scientific entrepreneurs
to continue lifelong searches
for undiscovered quotients
while the poet
awaits that chance meeting
with eternal fire
to summon word spell baptismals
for aching readers
conjuring possibility
to unlock ancestral human delight
while weaving dreams and rhapsody
to fill the cosmos

so that astronomers may never rest

First published by ‘Nine Muses Poetry’,
edited by Annest Gwilym, June ‘20
‘reciprocity’
https://ninemusespoetry.com/2020/06/25/one-poem-by-geoffrey-aitken/

anger
is frowned upon
unless morphed
into articulations
for interpretation
by lawyers
weighed
valued
returned
for implementation
almost unrecognizable
and impotent
and so
some aren’t waiting

until it becomes metaphysical

First published by the ‘New Verse News’,
edited by James Penha, Tuesday, June 09, 2020
‘rock art’,
https://newversenews.blogspot.com/

i have begun my time
in early older age
writing recklessly
but stubbornly
from my memory
often three times weekly
sharing obligatorily
with close friends
who regularly confirm links
with those times:
today i sojourned across
the range to Strath
carrying papers for edit
and realised
these country roads
once the principal domain
of our primary producers
and sometime Sunday adventurers
are now the property
of truckies, couriers and
the mobile aged:
mixed observations from
the interior of my vehicle
witnessed local folk
battening down and sheltering
as numbers of tree-changers
increase exponentially,
suburbanizing Meadows

First published in Frances Poetry Anthology 2019, edited by Edie Eicas and David Harris a coproduction with Friendly Street Poets