20220902

Julia Vaughan


Ophichus

Babylonian astronomers
Created the Western Zodiac
Didn’t want to divide by 13

Wasn’t easy
Didn’t look pretty

Many say I’m a typical Virgo
Pedantic to a fault, curious
Opiniated, generous
Practical and kind

Set in the Middle Ages
To the direction of the sun.

Precession of equinoxes
Shifted constellations.

Astrologers insist
Our Sun travels through
Thirteen, not twelve

Ophiuchus is there.

I am a Leo now
Not a Virgo
Did my traits change?

Did my traits change
With the precession of the equinoxes
Or the insertion of Ophiuchus?

When a Virgo
I married a Pisces
We scored 10 out of 10 in love

He’s an Ox
I’m a Snake
Chinese Zodiac
We score 10 out of 10 in love

He’s a new Aquarius
I’m a Leo now
Polar opposites, hot and cold
Our own idiosyncrasies

Lots of compromises
For long lasting love

My grandfather wrote me a poem
“Julia, Julia quite peculiar.”

Maybe that’s all anyone needs to know



Choices Artius had his brand new toilet stolen installed the day before He’d come to work with a smile twice around his face He’d worked so hard to save He’d felt like a king, for just one day He was destroyed We couldn’t help 20 million people Tried to help one by one Bought Patrick a brand new bicycle Found jobs for 4 young men Created a university scholarship for one We couldn’t get ahead So we left Flew home, to not home The Immigration Officer Asked Why did you leave? Nothing to do with our visa All our papers in order We stumbled to answer He called us traitors Won’t go back again. Won’t be cornered for treason. What are we now? Immigrants. Citizens born overseas Counted in the census. Paying taxes Speaking with funny accents Appreciated for our work Respected Home Not Here Reading good books, lost to reality Slipping, swirling into a deep rat hole In my own bubble, my cone of silence Snatched away from the gruelling real world Slipping, swirling into a deep rat hole Drama and intrigue, my heart beats faster Snatched away from the gruelling real world Mysteries, love and enduring friendships Drama and intrigue, my heart beats faster I am soaking in the deep bubble bath Mysteries, love and enduring friendships The Outback, Wild West, in a big city I am soaking in the deep bubble bath Feeling the warm condensation, reading The Outback, Wild West, in a big city I am in the car hurtling through the streets Feeling the warm condensation, reading Spellbound, oblivious to day or night I am in the car hurtling through the streets Fighting evil, showered with love, happy Spellbound, oblivious to day or night In my own bubble, my cone of silence Fighting evil, showered with love, happy Reading good books, lost to reality
(A “rat hole” is a non-technical term some industrial chemists use, for when powders/grains descend through a silo, and out from the bottom, and how the “current” swirls down from the top, into a a middle creating a funnel / whirl- pool effect. This is a picture I scribbled of a rat hole. J.V.)
Julia Vaughan moved to Australia with her husband in 1989, and began writing poetry after attending inspiring Victorian U3A Surf Coast “I just don’t get poetry” classes. Having poems dotted sparsely across the internet, she dreams of becoming an accomplished poet. When not dreaming, she can be found walking on the beach with her husband and two Vizsla dogs.
 
 
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