Category Archives: Personal

Puff the Tragic Wagon

“Let’s take it for a whirl,” he said, |that rusty old ute behind the shed.    Its tyres were flat, its paint was all flaked –    but still, it roared when gently waked. We named it Puff, with dragon flair,      and drove it laughing everywhere.   (c) Dennis Ryle November 2025 dVerse challenge – compose a quadrille – a poem ofContinue reading “Puff the Tragic Wagon”

Desktop Dizain

Today’s dVerse invitation is to compose a dizain on any theme. The dizain is a 10-line French poetic form, traditionally composed of a single stanza. It follows a strict rhyme scheme of ABABBCCDCD and typically uses 10 syllables per line. Popularized by French poets in the 15th and 16th centuries, it has also been adaptedContinue reading “Desktop Dizain”

Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep

Today’s dVerse provides a list of well-known lines from horror movies, inviting poets to be creative and build alternative stories in a form of our own choosing. I’ve selected “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep” – Nancy Thompson, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep‘lest ways of mammon upon you creepStocks and profitsContinue reading “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep”

Halloween Haibun

https://dversepoets.com/ invites poets to write a haibun on Hallowe’en Today someone accused me of being a poet. A haibun is a Japanese literary form that blends prose with haiku, creating a meditative and evocative narrative. So here goes. Hallowe’en in an Australian suburb is mostly a commercial venture. The faux pumpkins, skeletons and witches haveContinue reading “Halloween Haibun”

Ode To Marjorie Isobel Ryle

Today the Ryle clan gathered on Kaurna Country at Mt Lofty overlooking Piccadilly Valley to scatter the ashes of our beloved matriarch, my mother. It would have been her 101st birthday. Not all could make it, but all were in some way present. Ode for Marjorie Isobel Ryle At Mt Lofty, overlooking Piccadilly ValleyHere, whereContinue reading “Ode To Marjorie Isobel Ryle”

Cob of Grace

We went because the call came –a need, a name, a dose to deliver.No invoice, no ledger,just the quiet urgency of breath. The growth economy would chart it:kilometers driven,time logged,value exchanged.It would ask:Was it efficient?Was it scalable? But then –quite unrelated,unasked,unearned –a cob of fruit sourdough,still warm,cradled in hands that had no partin the medicineContinue reading “Cob of Grace”

The Ten Outcasts – some Bush Poetry

“The Grateful One” (Luke 17:11-19) Out past the scrub where the mulga grows,And the cockatoos wheel in flight,Ten blokes camped by the river bend,Kept clear of towns by law and fright.Their skin was rough, their spirits worn,Marked by a curse they couldn’t shake,But word came down from a drover’s mouth:“There’s a healer near the Break.”Continue reading “The Ten Outcasts – some Bush Poetry”

The Jesters Stockmans Pie

This is one of my go-tos when I’m on the road and its time for a quick lunch between commitments – it’s light yet filling. Lately, it’s what I’m eating in my dreams. When I shared this yesterday with a group of friends who know me well, they laughed tellingly. “You are both a bitContinue reading “The Jesters Stockmans Pie”

Autism – a response

In anticipation of POTUS 47’s “big announcement”… The Unfixed FlameLet no decree declare the mind askew,Whose stars align in constellations rare.The world is wide, and thought has colours too –Not all must march in lockstep with greatest care. What some would mend, we name as sacred fire:A pulse of insight, fierce and uncontained.The diff’rent child, theContinue reading “Autism – a response”