Reflections of the Yarra River

Reflections of the Yarra River, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

You've been travelling forever for how long god only know?
Long before black man first saw you sixty thousand years ago
And from tribe of 'Yarra Yarra' came your indigenous name
And your name of Yarra river ever with you will remain.

If you could talk Yarra river you'd go down the centuries
Long before the white man's coming when this Land was full of trees
And you'd tell about the white man how he cut the tall gums down
And he sacrificed the forest for to build a concrete town

And you could go back much further way back down the centuries long
On your banks the black tribes gathered for to party and sing song
You have known so many changes as the centuries come and go
But through droughts and long hot summers you have never ceased to flow.

From To The Yarra River by Francis Duggan

Best Viewed Large On Black - Yarra River, Melbourne, Australia [?]

My Fathers Boots

My Fathers Boots, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

I left my fathers boots at the foot of a Buddha in Canberra
I've walked a thousand miles in those old boots, and he many more before me

Half a century I've been walking in my fathers footsteps
A decade and a half since he's been gone, passed on before me

...as it should be

I left my fathers boots in a land he never walked upon
An irony he would enjoy as I move on, into my own later life

After half a century it's time to step into my own footsteps
My son has been walking now for over two decades, beyond me

...as it should be

Tom Raven - 03.02.2009 - Canberra

Best Viewed Large On Black - Buddhist Centre, Narrabundah, Canberra [?]

Kapiti Island: In The Stillness of its Solitude

Kapiti Island: In The Stillness of its Solitude, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

It overlooked in its serenity
The dark earth, and the bending vault of stars.
It was a tranquil spot, that seemed to smile
Even in the lap of horror.
~
'Tis the haunt
Of every gentle wind, whose breath can teach
The wilds to love tranquillity. One step,
One human step alone, has ever broken
The stillness of its solitude

From The Spirit of Solitude by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Best Viewed Large On Black - Kapiti Island from Otaki Beach, New Zealand [?]

Following The Full Crow Moon

Following The Full Crow Moon, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

Crow Moon, tonight you fly
at the balance of the year,
half light, half dark, tipping
your wing toward spring.

Crow Moon, caw away
this winter, gnaw the last
crusts of snow from the
frozen garden. Shine

the earthworms up to
the surface. Worm Moon,
Crow Moon, Full Sap Moon,
wake us up once more.

From Worm Moon, Crow Moon by Sharon Brogan from the blog WaterMark

Best Viewed Large On Black - Full Crow Moon over the Tararuas [?]

In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the birds. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full moon of the spring season.

A Budding Flirt Put Forth Its Leaves!

A Budding Flirt Put Forth Its Leaves!, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

And sooth to say, I little doubt
(Some azure day, the truth will out!)
That certain baits in certain eyes
Caught many an unsuspecting prize;
And somewhere underneath these eaves
A budding flirt put forth its leaves!

From Katie by Henry Timrod (1828 - 1867)

Best Viewed Large On Black - View On Black

Bullrushes In The Mist

Bullrushes In The Mist, originally uploaded by TomRaven (On The Road).

Thare the bullrushes growed, and the cattails so tall,
And the sunshine and shadder fell over it all;
And it mottled the worter with amber and gold
Tel the glad lilies rocked in the ripples that rolled;
And the snake-feeder's four gauzy wings fluttered by
Like the ghost of a daisy dropped out of the sky,
Or a wownded apple-blossom in the breeze's controle
As it cut acrost some orchard to'rds the old swimmin'-hole.

From The Old Swimmin' Hole by James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916)

Best Viewed Large On Black - Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra, Australia [?]

Victoria - After The Fire

Victoria - After The Fire, originally uploaded by TomRaven (On The Road).

Fall after the bush fire
The trembling of the earth.
Memories etch
The stalled step, and
The mute moment
Death turned out during a night of yearning
Except for him the consolation.

From Suburban Memories by Nguyễn Đạt

Six months on from Black Saturday the worst bush fires in Victoria's history, the green shoots of growth are returning. I met a couple out in the Bush walking their dogs... they had lost their house and their neighbours and were busy rebuilding. "It's a natural cycle, mate!" he said "burns from the top so it can regrow from the bottom". This is a tribute to all Victorians who suffered in the fires and continue to come to grips with the changes it brought to their lives.

Best Viewed Large On Black - Clonbinane, Victoria, Australia [?]