ELSINORE

I became a stranger here

Before I knew it for sure.

I speak in a language forgotten

And I remember a history forsaken.

My eyes see ghosts in every doorway

And my ears hear words of the dead;

But my voice must have been discarded,

As my shabby shrivelled body was shed.

Acquiescence is met with indifference.

Protests draw sneering black scorn.

And it's best to expect more of nothing,

While praying that nothing will come of it.

Merchants and state see me as revenue

But they no longer value my labour.
At times I'm their temple's scapegoat,
Cruelly bled white for sins of my neighbour.

Mostly it seems sleep is my only true friend,

So I spend these ghastly winters in Elsinore:

Perhaps it's death's noxious dreaded nightmare

That bids me choose heartbreak instead of the horror.

STATUE

You stand straight up like a statue,
So I expect a state like stone;
But I touch texture unworldly -
Precious as if it were only on loan.

You speak with a sparkle,
Rippling with rhythms so strange;
My ears can hear your soft songs
And I revel in reading your range.

You veer into my vision
And I see your beauty so clearly;
Yet my feeble old eyes must blink
To take in your splendour so nearly.

You come to me so fragrant
With a perfume like pleasant patchouli;
And I swoon to its enchantment
Lost in a lair so wild and unruly.

You always draw my famished mouth
To a precocious point where I can savour
Luxurious lips and petal-scaped skin
Rewarding my love, my lust and favour.

ABOUT BLAGGARD AVENUE

The following is the author's note which prefaces David Morisset's new novel.

When I was an economist I was always making forecasts. I was seldom sure about them. One prediction I can make with reasonable certainty is that there will be some people who will conclude that this novel is an account of the plight of Trio Capital Limited. That conclusion might be regarded as understandable; but it will still be wrong.

The first draft of this work was completed in the early months of 2010. It was inspired by a comment made by a financial journalist about the shady origins of some of the people associated with the Trio case. Taking the reporter’s lead, my story was based on a simple premise of explaining the murder of an unscrupulous fund manager. My first draft was finished well before any of the criminal realities underlying the Trio affair became known to me or to any other member of the general public.

In turning my first draft into a more coherent story over the past year or so, I tried at all times to ignore the facts that emerged as the extent of the Trio fraud was gradually exposed in the courts. My aim was to run with the story I had invented in my own mind. In my view, I succeeded.

For the sake of the investors and others who suffered because of that fraud, I hope that the whole truth about Trio will one day emerge. At this time much of it still remains a mystery to all of its victims, including me.

So this novel is fiction – nothing more but, of course, nothing less. Likewise the characters are my own creations and they live only in the pages of ‘Blaggard Avenue’.

BLAGGARD AVENUE

David Morisset's new novel, "Blaggard Avenue", can now be obtained via CreateSpace at https://www.createspace.com/3671233 and is also available through Amazon.

"Blaggard Avenue" is a simple yarn set against the complex backdrop of Australia's huge funds management industry and the country's ambitions to become Asia's premier financial hub. The plot pits the naive, the gullible and the opportunistic against the ruthless, the efficient and the powerful. Fund managers, commercial lawyers, financial regulators and criminal gangs match wits in a contest that will produce more losers than winners. The author draws on his first-hand knowledge of the financial services sector to create a fictional world where risk and return take on extreme dimensions.

NAHAL*

"Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love."
(Song of Solomon 5:1b ESV)

When all the poets are dead
And none can write of love,
Then the crows in black robes
Will have their victory.

But no man can stop
The sun from shining
Nor can they stop its children,
The flowers, from blooming.

More poets will spring up
From the dust of the earth
To sing and dance and laugh.
Couples will always fall in love
And know that it is good -
As God intended it to be.

* Payvand News of Iran reported in September 2011 that Nahal Sahabi had died at her own hands not long after her lover, Behnam Ganji, had also committed suicide. Both had been arrested in July 2011 and treated harshly in Tehran's Evin prison. Nahal was a kindergarten teacher and an accomplished poet. Her only crime - apart from touching upon political themes in some of her poetry - was that she was a friend of Kouyahr Goudarzi, a political activist accused falsely of being a member of the Iranian Mojahedin (MEK). Mr Goudarzi later fled Iran to continue his human rights advocacy in exile. Just before her death, Nahal wrote on her blog: ‘So it’s Thursday again ... come, Behnam ... let’s dance together on Thursday once more.’ Iran's regime frowns on dancing. Nahal's name means 'a young plant'.

RIVO CURRIED SAUSAGES

Just for a change ... a recipe for those cold rainy nights ... and the reason that Rivo is in the name of the dish is that when the curry powder and the cayenne pepper are added at the same time they look like just the maroon and gold colours of Riverstone's rubgy league club ... so, although the cayenne pepper is optional, it is strongly recommended ... just adjust the amount to your taste (or use a mild curry powder and spice it up with the cayenne pepper) ... 

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1 tablespoon of dried basil
1 tablespoon of dried coriander
2 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 dollop of tomato sauce*
1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
1 cup of water
500 grams of cooked penne pasta
500 grams of cooked sausages (pork or beef or both) sliced
1 can (800 grams) of chopped tomatoes in juice
2 large red onions coarsely chopped
1 large green capsicum chopped
2 green chilli peppers sliced and diced (optional)

Pour oil into deep 13 inch frypan on high heat.
Reduce heat slightly and add onions, chilli peppers, capsicum, oregano, basil and coriander.
Cook with pyrex lid on frypan, stirring occasionally, until onions and capsicum start to become tender (about 5 minutes).
Add the sausages and continue cooking the mixture with lid on for another 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
Add the curry and cayenne pepper and stir into the mixture with water.
Add the tomatoes (with their juice), worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce and stir into the mixture.
Heat the mixture until it is just boiling.
Immediately turn down heat and let the mixture simmer gently with lid on for about 5 minutes.
Stir the mixture and lay the pasta on top of the mix.
Simmer gently with lid on for another 5 minutes.
Stir in the pasta and continue to simmer gently with lid on until the excess liquid has evaporated.
Keep warm until you're ready to serve it (tastes even better reheated the next day after a night in the refrigerator!).

Generous servings for 2 to 4 people depending on the appetites involved!

* "for sweetness and that extra tang" (to quote Paul Kelly's 'How to Make Gravy')

SENSES AND SEASONS

We saw under the sun

And looked through the dusk.

We watched in the dark

And made our own sight.

We woke to birds’ cries

And heard as leaves browned.

We listened in the rain

And recorded all the sounds.

We treasured scents of summer

And enjoyed them in autumn.

We played in winter’s perfume

And saved it as our pleasure.

We touched in searing heat

And caressed its fresh sequel.

We made love in cold air

And warmed its chill with us.

We tasted sweet sun’s skin

And savoured it in shadows.

We coiled in coldest night

And cuddled in crisp light.

Note: The painting is by Aldo Luongo, an Argentinian artist.