Poems by DrKeith Speaks

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Horse breaker, fisherman, boxer, bricklayer, builder and businessman. Keith Bostock has travelled far and observed much of life and people, becoming a student learning from the vast university around him, till the time has come to give back some of the pleasures he has taken by way of his books, poems and lectures.

NEW AGE DAWNING I’ve got to say I’m excited That the age of Aquarius is here Perhaps because I’m an Aquarian But it means the ending of fear. It was written so very long ago That man would finally burn With a quest for knowledge about himself A consuming fire to learn. Now if you look about you An emergence from all over the world From thousands of tiny splinter groups The flag of truth unfurled. The last great frontier of man Since now he’s conquered the stars To emerge himself from dark ages And tear down his own prison bars.

A SON’S HERITAGE I love you Dad, I whispered Making sure he didn’t hear As he leaves for work or rests himself In the lounge chair sipping beer. He tells me not to ever cry Or say those soppy things So I’ll do it though he’ll never know The kind of pain it brings. I love my Dad, so I won’t cry Or say the words aloud And then I know I’ll be like him And he’ll be really proud. Some day I’ll have a boy as well And I’ll teach him how to be And he’ll grow up and do it ‘Cause he’ll want to be like me.

SOME PARENTS ARE WRONG Are you trying to mould your child? Make him a replica of you? Are you so happy with what you’ve become You’d like him to suffer yours too? They’ll probably handle life better If you just feed their body not mind Allow them to sculpture their person Don’t try to clone two of a kind. Like you if they’re all stiff and rigid You’ll make them unable to bend But leave them alone to feel good about them And they’ll always be able to fend. It’s not so important what they are today It's important they’re able to change So they’ll have what they want from life’s smorgasbord When they finally discover life’s range. Consider yourself for a moment Were you like a fresh rose unfolded? Or were you battered with fear, doubt and worry Into what your parents have moulded?

DEVELOP YOUR SHARE OF INTEREST If you can invest just $10 a week, That’s $520 a year, Add interest from the bank at 15%, Some amazing figures will appear. Five years from now you will find to your joy You’re not on your own anymore, The bank now contributes more than you do, And you’re using the financial law. Your excitement will grow with each passing year, As the increase gets faster and faster, Providing your discipline’s “NEVER WITHDRAW”, You’re no longer victim but master. Over thirty odd years as you enjoy life, Toward old age you never need care, For you will contribute some 15 odd grand, But with bank’s help you become MILLIONAIRE. This is the story of all life’s success, It’s how anyone anywhere is achieving, If you don’t display discipline through all of your life, You will fail and eventually die grieving.

ARE YOU A SALESMAN I’ve hear it said we’re salesmen, We have to sell to survive, Our skills of communication, Actually keep us alive. Your plaintive cry as you entered this world, Demanding their attention, Set a pattern of speaking up, For a timely intervention. I’ve watched with a smile as Mother said No, No more ice cream for you today, But three feet high with a toothy grin, And you know he’ll have his way. You sold yourself to friends at school, And your first job interview, Then a hard sell on the girl next door, And she’s got a crush on you. But there’s one sale that you must make, More important than the rest, Your very future depends on it, You’re put here to the test. If you’re rich or poor or short or tall, And no matter what you do, No matter how you look at life, You must be sold on you. Continued over ..

It’s called self image and you have no choice, It affects everything you do, And if yours is poor I’m sorry friend, But you’re in real deep poo. We all have an equal number of arms, And twenty-‐four hours in a day, Yet some see success and others don’t, Self image is a choice either way. I’ve seen someone with salesmanship, Who won’t take no for an answer, Sell themselves on a long life of joy, And refuse death from terminal cancer. There’s a way called auto suggestion, Been used for thousands of years, To have anything you want in life, To create happiness out of your tears. The dominant thought you desire, Held in your mind through the day, Will automatically come to you, But don’t let your thoughts start to stray. Make up a simple sentence, Of exactly what you see, Repeat it two hundred times daily, Suddenly it will just be. “I’m ten stone, good looking and wealthy”, Whatever you strongly desire, Say it enough, it becomes you, I challenge you … Go, “light your fire”.

ANSWERS If we search for answers all of our life, In all of the places we know, Like so many people we can’t find a thing, Denied all of life’s chances to grow. If I had the job of creating all this, And wanted my children to look, I’d not hide the truth in an obvious place, Or set it all down in a book. I’d disguise the truth then it’s easy to hide, Just like I’ve seen Ellery Queen, He hides the truth right under our nose, But never in some place we’ve been. I’ve been down the beach on Mardigras Day, Been part of a huge treasure hunt, But never a prize was dug by the man, Who hung around looking up front. If we look for our truth and answers to life, And desperately search through the system, We will find to our sorrow we’re looking up front, No wonder somehow we missed ‘em. This treasure hunt’s on for meaning of life, Search where you’ve not looked before, Don’t just scratch the surface but look deeper within, And you’ll find you know more and more. Continued over ..

See, you are both teacher and pupil at once, The truth is under your nose, Your own intuition will guide you along, Just listen to your teacher who knows. The simplicity of life is easy to find, The path is not very steep, Stand still and listen to your voice from within, Understanding is then yours to keep. Truth is disguised in confusion and pain, Noisy babble and strife, Step back and listen to the voices within, And observe the flowing of life. Look inside, not outside, for answers to life, And answers will definitely come, See peace and love and forgiveness of all, See wisdom’s in happy not glum. Step one is to realise the conscious mind’s lacking, And hasn’t the power to solve. Step two there’s a giant lurking within you, Whose wisdom off problems resolve. Step three is to give up your noise and your haste, Talk to the giant within, Have faith and he’ll answer all of your questions, And you will face life with a grin.

I WISH I WAS A PUSSY CAT My mum and dad are perfect, I’ve known it all along, My mum and dad don’t make mistakes, They tell me all day long. My mum and dad don’t make mistakes, And after all they’re kin, So I’ll love them while they’re perfect, And never ever sin. And I know I can rely on them, To never do me wrong, ‘Cause after all I’d die inside, And hate me all day long. See they made me and I’m like them, And if they ever stumble, I’d feel so bad ‘cause I’m like them, My little world would crumble. But if I were like my pussy cat, Sometimes naughty we could be, Then I’d know we were just human, And I’d breathe easily.

BETTER OR BITTER So you’re unhappy with life and you find it a pain, And you’d like to give it away, So I offer you choice and suggest that you change, And suggest you can do it today. You want the good things that I tell you about, You’d like to swap old for the new, But you can’t, you’re afraid that you’d have to let go, And you’d find it just too hard to do. Then sit with your hurt and whine and cry, And hope that it’ll all go away, Your ideas alone got you into this mess, Your ideas alone make you stay. If you changed your town, your home and your car, And changed your job and your friends, You could start anew except for one thing, It’s only your mind that mends. Perhaps if you’re not yet ready to quit, In your rut you’ve chosen to stay, Then obviously you’re needing to experience more pain, Frustration, despair and decay. I’ll offer you hope before I depart, It’s a path we all have to tread, When despair grows enough it dwarfs everything else, Even the things that we dread. Now at this point you are ready to change, To look in the mirror anew, Like Leonardo Da Vinci you take some rough clay, And sculpture a beautiful new you.

I AM MY PARENT’S CHILD I played with toys on the kitchen floor, And from my position there, I studied two giant people above, And fixed them with my stare. I knew they were God or Superman, And whatever they did was right, I copied their every move and thought, And knew that my future was bright. Then as I aged I got confused, By some of the things I saw, They made mistakes and seemed confused, And knew less that they did before. Now in my teens a terrible thought, Has just occurred to me, If I’ve copied them then I must have, All of their failings you see. I hate the wrong that I see in them, And know that I have the same, If only I could find the good in them, Maybe I’d stop this self blame. I know that what I have to learn, Is that they are children too, And if I can ever forgive them and me, I can start life anew.

RELIGIONS A failing of many religions, Is not the freedom it brings, But rather a constriction of thinking, By all the old hymns that one sings. The moment one’s sure that he’s always right, And nobody else has a say, He immediately stops his exploring, In a box is where he will stay. In men of success of achieving, I’ve noticed a similar style, They say a lot less than others, They’d rather just nod and smile. Self-‐opinionated, righteous and narrow, Are the hallmarks of failure’s habit, Speaking half truths from his tunnel, Hiding from light like a rabbit. There’s a wonderful world of exploring, There’s no need to box yourself in, Discover the real joy of learning, That learning is never a sin.

CRITICISM What do we do when we criticise? How does that help us in life? Does everyone jump to attention? Or lead us with more burdens and strife? What did you do the very last time, Somebody criticised you? Did it make you more eager to please Or angry, frustrated and blue? If you judge by your own reactions, You’ll see what happens to them, And next time you feel your acid tongue wag, You’ll encourage instead of condemn. Let’s take for example an untidy son, There’s two ways you can employ, Praise and respect the man he’ll become, Or tell him he’s an untidy boy. The difference you’ll see is fantastic, One’s proud of the man he’ll become, The other hates you for condemning, Knows he’ll always be untidy and glum. See, tell somebody over and over, How you want them to be, And they hold that thought then forever, And that thought is all they can see. As parents we are creators, We create their opinion of them, They’re good if we learn to encourage, They’re bad if we learn to condemn.

JUST LEAVE ME BE Oh for the feeling of nothing, Of peace and harmony, Oh for the joy of being left alone, To fail more gracefully. Oh for the lack of life’s challenges, Not to be shaken awake, Oh to avoid the fear of the new, No turmoil to make me quake. Why do decisions press me, Continually to make change? Why do I constantly battle, My ideas on such a large range? Is it that life is a class room? Is that why the lessons go on? Is it for complete understanding, Till that final exam gong has gone?

ONE HUNDRED PER CENT THERE Lest ye become like little children, Ye haven’t got a prayer, That means wherever you happen to be, Be 100% there. Have you ever stopped to consider, The difference between big and little? Children see joy in everything they do, While grown-‐ups hate and belittle. When children fight and squabble, In five minutes it’s completely forgotten, While grown-‐ups dread their tomorrow, And anything new makes them quake. Don’t stuff your rot on your chidren, Better to reverse the role, They will teach you all the lessons in life, Now go back and start your parole.

WHY NEW THINGS Why should I try something new? Why not be content with my lot? Why do I feel out of touch, With a life that is going to pot? The joys of the challenges, The risk of the dare, Used to be exciting, With never a care. Remember the first day, Newly at school, The tingle of fear, Unafraid of the fool. I remember those old days, A thrill or pain, But never a dull moment, Can I find them again? Do I have the courage, To try it once more, Climb out of this rut, Of miseries galore? If around the next bend, I ventured to see, Find old excitement, Would I recapture me?

SELF-TALK I wonder are we so hard on ourselves, So no-‐one else can say, That we are bad or ugly or dumb, We’ve already said that today. When we get in first their words lose their sting, So we beat them to the punch, And take comfort in the fact that theirs is old news, And won’t hurt when it comes to the crunch. If only we didn’t believe all our words, But I’m afraid that’s just what we do, We’ve said it so often it’s part of us now, And the lie that we told is now true. We think at 800 words every minute, And tomorrow is just today’s thought, Think of love and success and enjoy all our life, Or imprisoned for life in our court. Learn to forgive everybody we meet, And ourselves in the wrong that we do, And build your future on positive self-‐talk, The future holds joy now for you.

WILL ALL THIS END So you’d like to know about the eighties, And how it’s going to be, With all the world strife at the moment, You’ll be glad you brought this to me. I’m knowledgeable on our history, And I can save you all that pain, For six thousand years it’s been written so, And it will be so again. Go back into all old stories, And see that the end was nigh, Yet with all the stories of doom and gloom, The world has always got by. We make problems and then we fix them, And the earth has always stayed green, So friend I’ll predict for the future, It’ll be like it’s always been. This is man’s evolution, To learn from our mistakes, If you don’t like that I’m sorry, It’s just life and ‘Them’s the breaks”.

GROW OR CRY People tell me of troubles, vexations and pain, How nobody suffers their lot, But they simply can’t see the wood for the trees, And what they are saying is rot. Is there a purpose in all of this strife? Why are we all tested so? I personally enjoy those challenges I meet, For they are my chance to grow. The prizes of life are not easily won, And sooner or later we find, That the man who wins is the man who has grown, And learned to have strength of mind.

LOVE WHAT? You could love money, And use people to acquire. Or you could love people, And use money to inspire. You could love the power, Of position and wealth. Or you could love the spreading, Of happiness and health.

ARE YOU REALLY A TEACHER A long line of teachers have trodden this earth, Some for the thrills of acclaim, Some for the genuine upliftment of all, Some wish a monument to their name. The only teacher that’s worthy of praise, The teacher whose motive for sharing, Is to lift his pupils to far greater heights, Than himself, his reward is caring.

INSIGHT The joy of seeing the happiness shared, The growth of the people we meet, Is like the blossoming of a precious rose, A privileged glimpse of life’s beat

WHAT REALLY IS FREEDOM Discipline is a terrible thing, It means you can’t do what you like, It means on Sunday you’re mowing the lawn, Instead of away on your bike. You become your own jailer and imprison yourself, Behind bars of your own creation, We impose on ourselves all the rules and the laws, And endless limitation. For freedom’s sake I bucked it all, And fought at every turn, Till now at last I stop and think, And now at last I learn. I chose to live in sleepy towns, No parking meters or stop lights, Then they would come and I’d move on, Just so I could keep my rights. Then it dawned on me if I kept this up, And kept on moving about, There’s only one place for a hermit like me, To keep moving further out. So out in the centre I’d be forced to flee, The Simpson Desert would become my home, And I’d lose the very thing I prized, I’d lose my freedom to roam. Continued over ..

So I accepted the rules and learned anew, The ease of the whole operation, And now my stop lights have all turned green, And I revel in co-‐operation. The parking meters are all on my side, Creating spaces by the minute, ‘Cause now everyone’s afraid of the MAN, And they stick to the 1 hour limit. Discipline now riddles my life, Giving me peace to just be, Now I’ve the freedom to live where I want, At last I can live by the sea.

MEND OR MOAN I find it simply incredible, The simplicity of it all, The ebb and flow of life’s forces, The rising and the fall. My pleasure can only be equal, To my ability to feel sorrow, My debt is to my yesterday, It gives me my tomorrow. My struggles can only be joyful, As I’m learning not to complain, My struggles no longer pointless, My gain equal to my pain. If it weren’t for cold I’d not know hot, Or see beauty everywhere, It’s because I’ve fought with my dark side, That I’ve conquered my despair. I’ve heard it said that the end is nigh, And all about is gloom, I’m sorry, friend, I see naught but good, And for good I’ll always have room. I once was caught in battle with hordes, Of my foes and the enemy, But now I acknowledge they just don’t exist, And friends are all that I see. Continued over ..

See I’ve been learning it’s all in the mind, It’s just how you perceive life, It’s pleasure, it’s beauty, it’s endless joy, Or you choose to see nothing but strife. Choice is the real challenge in life, That’s the universal plan, You are what you choose to be right now, It’s God’s precious gift for man.

ACCEPT ME OR NOT No matter if it’s dog or cat, Or snake or chimpanzee, For having him you’re lucky, And your joy comes easily. His love you never question, His loyalty’s complete, Your feelings always tender, As he lays there at your feet. You share your table with him, And place him in your heart, Your concern is for his welfare, To the end and from the start. But what about our loved ones? Why is it so hard to be, As caring and sharing and loving, As I can with my chimpanzee? Is it because they’re critical, And have caused me at times to groan, With pain and anger and frustration, My laughter turned into a moan? Why is it so hard with people? How can I get them to see, That all I want is to love and be loved, Without changing what I happen to be? If they’ve got to change me to love me, Then I’m sorry but you see, I’d rather find peace and contentment, In the arms of my chimpanzee.

YOU GET TO KEEP IT EITHER WAY I’ve listened to people defending a truth, While others will justify lies, The first with deep seated conviction of right, The second all reason defies. The difference I’ve found is a matter of pride, Pride justifies lies to the end, So we won’t feel bad in admitting defeat, We choose to hand on and defend. It’s no big deal to admit that you’re wrong, It’s a part of becoming a man, Sometimes we’re right and sometimes we’re wrong, You just do the best you can. The danger in fighting to hang on to a lie, Is that we own the things we defend, So if that be a lie you’re fighting to hold, It’s yours then to keep to the end.

A GRUDGE Do you hold a grudge for anyone, And hold it very dear? Dwell on painful resentment, As if it was a career. Have you ever stopped to consider, You’ve probably kept grudges before? And while you keep to your method, You know you’re going to have more. Have you even paused to remember, How eventually sooner or late, They run out of steam and importance? Here common sense doesn’t equate. You start each one with intentions, Of keeping it right to the end, But every time you’ve harboured ill will, In the past, you eventually bend. So how long do you want the one you’ve got now, To punish you till you let go, Is a week long enough or you’d rather a year, To feel pain instead of life’s flow? I’d suggest to you, friend, that you give it up now, And feel joy instead of resentment, It’s your choice to make when you meet them again, In forgiving you’ll find true contentment.

ANN’S WEDDING It could have been fate, But the wedding was late, And the guests by now were all tight, I couldn’t describe it, I couldn’t believe it, I’ve never beheld such a sight. The bridegroom was swaying, The priest was just praying, The bride looked ready to fall, Bridesmaid’s very pregnant, The best man is ignorant, He’s forgotten the ring “Can we stall”. The blue dog was barking, The children skylarking, But our good priest takes the cake, As propped up on crutches, To save them from clutches, Of devils, he caused them to quake. A ring was produced, A sermon induced, Commitment for ever and more, But the bridegroom’s not singing, He has trouble aligning, And his concentration is poor. Continued over ..

I know on the morrow, They’re all going to feel sorrow, A hangover like that’s hard to beat, They just won’t remember, The moment so tender, They declared love through rain, hail and sleet. The story’s not over, There’s no sign of clover, As the guests then all started to fight, His and her ‘lations, Ruined all celebrations, By hating each other on sight. To see nice old ladies, Belt each other to Hades, The whole scene looked just like World War II, Now his are inside, While the rest with bride, Claim all lands out the back and the loo. It seems man’s intention, To find bones of contention, And separate rather than mix, No one knows the reason, That started the freezin’, But it’s why our old world’s in a fix.

WHO AM I REALLY I pretend I’m God and I strut around, And I snarl so you can’t see my tears, I refuse to change ‘cause I don’t know how, And I live in fear of your jeers. I’m drunk on pride and I’ll take no guff, For I live for admiration, If I can’t have that I’d shrivel up, And die of recrimination. I behave the way my mates expect, With brave talk I’m very knowing, But I’m hiding my fear from the rest of the world, ‘Cause deep down I fear where I’m going. I know I’m strong I suspect I’m weak, And confused between the two, And don’t know when I should be which, And I’m bewildered at the things I do. Sometimes I’ve got it all worked out, And me life is free of confusion, Then for no reason it all goes smash, Yet any advice is intrusion. If only others had troubles like me, And we could talk quite freely, Then I could be proud to be part of this race, And I’d want to meet them sincerely. If anyone’s there who’s relating to me, Would you walk up and tell me your name, Together we’ll bury the scars that we hide, And stop this pretending game.

THOUGHTS I think and the thoughts keep coming, Appearing as thought by themselves, Quietly, forcefully stealing, Like age old Gremlins and Elves. But I don’t understand where they come from, Are my thoughts not mine to control, Are they out of “The wild blue yonder”, Or do they rise from the depths of my soul? It’s interesting that thoughts keep appearing, No matter awake or asleep, My choice is not if I’ll have them, But only which ones I might keep. When I was 4, I had thoughts of sandpits, And driving a bulldozer or train, At 14 my thoughts were of teenage love, Overflowing with pleasure and pain. At thirty my thoughts were responsible, Of children and how not to shirk, And at 40, how to stay healthy, While thoughts of philosophy lurk. Imagine if when I was 4 years old, I had thoughts of philosophy grand, And at 40 I just wanted a bulldozer, And was happy to play in the sand. Continued over ..

But the thoughts that constantly keep coming, Are always right for just now, They keep abreast with our ages, They never get unsynchronized somehow. Do you think our knowledge awaits us, And till we’re ready, it’s just kept in store, Like the dawn slowly pushing back darkness, Our awareness, the key to its door?