Peter Elliott

Peter Elliott Poems

Take a picture,
Hanging to a wall
In a restful symmetric frame.
...

Maths
Chalk and pens scratch in concert
On paper and board.
...

Have you seen my Burmese kitten?
I came home and found her missing

She wears a collar blue and white
...

It's been a while now
Since I owned a camera
I mean a real camera.
...

ON CARS

Seated in a tram Through a window
One can feast one's eyes On a passing show
...

Fine was the weather
Few were the clouds
And not much wind.
...

You brought your Casio to Coreys again
The first time
Since I escaped your net
Or rather the net that is you
...

I don't want to know A car's make or breed
I'm not really concerned About its maximum speed
Just so long As the windows are clean
And the duco is smooth As silken sheen
...

It's just gone nine o' clock in the morning
And that must be the start of practice
For the Grand Prix
Because into the air
...

In the past few weeks
(1995, I think)
A whole field of music
Has knocked on my door.
...

The tram is hot
The tram is full
It is a while
Before I secure a seat.
...

The enemy they've got sticks of wood They hit against our head
Our morale is falling fast Let us make peace instead

-Refrain-
...

On the beach
Like many other couples they sat
Listening to the Black Sorrows
Playing for free
...

You're wearing That perfume
As I enter Your living room
The same Perfume you wore
When we first kissed On the dance floor
...

The mother watched with wonder
Was it really true?
Her little boy was walking
In his shirt of blue.
...

The Big Issue is turning out interesting these days.
Take the 'Elvis Lives' issue
Featuring a look at how pop stars live on
After dying.
...

Freedom is

A cheap-wine
Emotional
...

Lingering stillness
A concentrated silence of concentrating minds
Contemplating
Pondering
...

Just because I stand still in one place
And don't threaten to jump out at you
You think you can take me for granted.
...

IMAGINE

Imagine blindly
You and I
...

Peter Elliott Biography

Lives in Melbourne, Australia. Has his own web-site on vicnet.net.au (google 'Vicnet' then search for 'Peter Elliott'))

The Best Poem Of Peter Elliott

Art Gallery Poem Ii

Take a picture,
Hanging to a wall
In a restful symmetric frame.

Place carefully,
So as not to over-balance
Very gently
One, Or two, Human Beings,

It is their first time at this exhibition

They gape
Like butterfilies leaving their cocoon
Like playing first time a CD tune

With eyes focused
On the painting they stand,
Gazing rigidly, intently.

Or staring faraway through infinity.

They are trying to understand the painting.
Trying to clarify and classify
A foreign experience
Into their store
Of known experience.

Like a zen novice in the hands of a zen master
Doubts arising in a pastor

They will never understand
Paintings.

And nor do I!

(Sept 1970, Cape Town, South Africa)

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