Bringin' it on 'ome One minute, We're jokin' with, The next, Pokin', One another. Sendin' silly Sunflowers, Exchangin' banal banter, Fixin' up homesteads, In Farmville; On Facebook. Then in a 'shanty town' , On a mud-strewn hillside, In Brazil. Or down on the Delta, In the bayous and levees, On the Mexican Gulf. In the centre of Brisbane, 'The Sunken City', In the Sunshine State. Out in the suburbs, And the surroundin' countryside, In the vast areas of deluge, Of Queensland. In Pakistan, And Haiti. 'Friends', are fightin', For their very lives; Through no fault of their own. Dusti Rodes (2012)
The Illustrated Man Some called him, 'freak', For openly inviting public critique, Of his fabulously illustrated physique. But he is not so unique. Merely a strutting peacock, Soaking up the summer sun On some far distant shore. Nothing more. Dusti Rodes (2010)
In a Japanese Vein Koi Fisherman, Solitary, seated, Beside the endless water. Wherein the single specimen Silently swims. Casting a line that leaves No trace on the still surface. Bonsai In Japan, it is Bonsai, In England, it is August. It will soon be the Fall. In both. Dusti Rodes (2011)
In fields of Barley If I tried to tell you truthfully You probably wouldn't understand Just how good it feels right now To be trespassing in the fields Of the Farmer's fertile land. Watchin' the Hawk huntin' Field mice, voles and the odd rabbit or two, Who in turn are out in the morning sun. Foraging for food to keep their families fed. Feeding on the filling green ears of barley Growing gracefully in a swaying breeze. Maybe she'll end up catching A dozing dormouse Taking forty well-earned winks From the furore and frantic frenzy Of activity that fills the field. Walkin' with my four-legged friend, Teachin' him of fetch and catch. While all the time, the real lesson is Learnin' to like the lead. Dusti Rodes (2013)
BALLOON (From 'Whittlin' Wood' My Heart is like A big Red balloon. My love for you, The air that fills it. If I had anymore, I would surely burst. Dusti Rodes (2014)