Vasilios Theodorakis – An Online Author

Brisbane today looks like any other western city – tall skyscrapers, few public spaces and no character. This wasn’t always the case, back in the mid 1980s it was still an interesting town with many of its older buildings intact. It also had some very quirky personalties wandering its streets and train stations but these too have long ago been replaced by a population that now takes itself far too seriously.

This week’s poem: The Jolly Bunch – was written back in 1987 as a compilation of various experiences I had while catching late night trains at Dutton Park station. In all instances, I was on may way home from university – a place which I hated from the start because of its impersonal nature. I never seemed to tire of observing people’s behaviour however and was often more interested in the personalities on campus as well as the train passengers to and from home. What I was formally studying took a distant second place to my people studies. :) The poem’s structure also pays homage to the essay read out loud in English class by John Cusack’s character in the Rob Reiner film “The Sure Thing”. The piece is very much tongue and cheek and was never intended to be taken seriously.

This week’s highlighted author is: Mem Fox.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – March 2009

The poem for this week is: He Made Her Cry…

This piece is another recent poem and falls into the ungrouped category. Its central theme covers how insensitive many men are in regards to their wives’s feelings. It’s based on an amalgam of marriages I’ve observed over the years and includes some of my own marriage’s experiences.

This week’s highlighted author is: Arthur Conan Doyle.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – March 2009

The poem for this week is: Imaginary? Playmates.

This piece belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written in February 1989 – the exact date of writing is unknown. The poem is a juxtaposition on last week’s verse which highlighted how I no longer enjoyed returning to the memories of my childhood. I think enough time has past for me to accept that my childhood wasn’t all “it was cracked up to be”.

In regards to this week’s poem – it explores how our imaginary playmates, hang around even when we choose to ignore them and/or no longer need them. As in the lyrics to “Puff The Magic Dragon“, I think these friends are probably an extension of our human psyche. Who knows, they may even have their own self awareness.

And finally, I’m starting to regret that I didn’t publicly release these poems much sooner – some pieces may have been of use to others during the course of the last 20 years. I suppose releasing them now, ensures its still better late than never, plus, I tend to forget that I didn’t have the luxuary of the World Wide Web back in 1989 (to digitally publish this material). ;)

This week’s highlighted author is: Mark Twain.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – March 2009

The poem for this week is: Everything Is OK.

This piece is a recent ungrouped poem and captures a sense of well being that occurred while stumbling around outside our house. Such moments of grace tend to be few and far in between – especially for individuals like me. One can only hope that their frequency increases, but then again, without life’s little disappointments and emotional tortures, one’s fountain of verse does have a tendancy to dry up. ;)

This week’s highlighted author is: Ray Bradbury.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – March 2009

The freshest air,
Arrived this morning, with welcomed relief.
Facing east
And climbing our doorstep,
I allowed it to weave back and forth over my face,
Brush away my hair,
And tug incessantly at my gardener’s shirt.
This simple event
Returned me,
Though momentarily,
To the innocence of childhood.
I knew
It could not last,
But even if it could,
Would I really want it to?
The mind of the child
Only sees the good in everything,
Even if its playground
Is a field of weeds,
Generated by the Spawn of Satan.

I now understand,
That all I saw
Were the multitudes
Of colourful flowers,
Produced by the weeds.
Never realising,
That the weeds themselves
Could rise up
And strangle the admirer,
Whose back was turned.

Yet that was then.
Today, with graying stubble
My sandy lot is cleared,
Made ready
For the growing of food.
And I finally know,
That everything is OK
As I carry my hoe upright,
Into the crisp warmth
Of the Bay’s glassy sunlight.

Audio Version (To Be Added)
Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2009

The poem for this week is: The Old Child

This piece of verse also belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written in June 1988. It was my attempt to document what had happened to a work mate’s friend in the welfare sector. As a warning to readers, its quite a depressing piece, exploring the suicide of an individual who refused to seek clinical treatment for their mental illness.

I had thought this poem had been lost during one of the many “house moves” in my 20’s. Hopefully other missing pieces will now surface from the depths of my files.

Been a difficult seven days, so there’s no highlighted author for this week.

Kind regards – Vasilios Theodorakis – February 2009

The poem for this week is: Meeting.

This piece belongs to the “Growing Up” anthology and was written on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1988 – 17/03/88. The theme is fairly obvious i.e. wanting to talk to, and get to know someone (I had a crush on) but being too scared to do so. For better or worse, the poem highlights my naivety about women and relationships (even though I was already 21). Like many people of my generation, I had received no guidance or advice as to what a healthy and genuine relationship might entail. Unfortunately, I had also grown up with no useful adult role models and as a consequence, frantically read far too many autobiographies and biographies to compensate.

Readers will find that a number of my poems, from 1988 to 1998, follow a similar theme but the period thankfully ends in identifying what a lasting relationship isn’t i.e. that the warm fuzzy infatuation has nothing to do with finding a long term companion for oneself. It also took a while to understand that good relationships were reciprocal and based on gentleness, kindness and affection. My wife Helen, who epitomises all these traits, proved that it pays to persist with one’s search for a life partner.

This week’s highlighted author is: Brian Greene – in particular his novel “The Elegant Universe“.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – February 2009

The poem for this week is: The Realisation.

This piece comes from a series of poems written in 1987 for the “Growing Up” anthology. Like many of these early poems, the exact date of writing was not recorded. The posted date is therefore an approximate – I do know, that the poem was written close to Christmas 1987 and was a response to a female shop assistant I worked with at the time.

As usual, I’ve also added a link to another author I greatly admire: Isaac Asimov.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – February 2009

Tears falling,
Besotted with memories
Of things that could have been,
She knew
She had done nothing wrong;
Just stepped outside the line work
Brushed in pastel – that was all.
The movement of her hand
Coloured the moment,
And all rationality
Understood it was innocent enough;
But there was no sanity
In his actions.
Responses were based on triggers
Cocked by adrenaline,
Fired by falling feathers,
And forged by experiences
In a life non-disclosed.

Hope had filled
The dingy of marriage;
Cedar solid,
It pushed off from uncertainty,
Travelling north
And sometimes finding,
All it had
Between its sails,
Were her sobs
In the laundry,
His shame
At his ways.

Still, their stubbornness
Kept them afloat,
Minimising each other’s distress
And capturing each other’s strength.
Eyes locked on the horizon,
The direction
Of their negotiated compass,
Often corrected for life’s turbulence.
While the deviation
Of the field’s flickering,
Was deemed acceptable
In spite of each other’s shortcomings.

Audio Version (To Be Added)
Copyright © Vasilios Theodorakis 2009

The poem for this week is: Unknown Sage.

This piece comes from a series of ungrouped poems written in 2001.

I’ve also added a link to another author I greatly admire: Greg Bear.

Cheers – Vasilios Theodorakis – February 2009