Author: Ian Hunter

I retired from the energy business in 2014 and started writing poetry. At first I shared my writing with family and friends. Then I set myself a challenge to write a poem every day for a year. After meeting that goal I just kept going and started this blog in 2021. I hope you enjoy reading my poems. Remember happiness is just a state of mind and poetry is great nourishment.

The fourth dimension – Part 4

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There was no sign of life in the desert surrounding his building

He went back inside and turned on the TV

All the stations were in Arabic with no subtitles

Hunger pains led him to the kitchen

None of his usual bland stuff in the fridge and pantry

It had all been magically replaced by middle eastern delights

He settled for Turkish coffee and baklava

All his jeans and T shirts were missing from the closet

He tried on the Arabic robe and headgear

Admiring himself in the mirror and noticing his new long beard

He tugged hard on the beard to verify it was not fake

Intense pain proved it was real but how did it grow so fast he wondered

He walked all round his apartment talking out loud to himself

Asking if he was going mad or could this all be another dream

He even got in and out of bed to simulate waking up

But the dessert was still there and his beard was growing longer

Another futile ride in the elevator kept returning him to his own floor

The stairwells up and down went nowhere either 

He knocked on all the doors on his floor

Patiently waiting for somebody to answer before moving to the next 

On the fifth attempt he heard a voice inside and the door opened

It was his neighbor Kevin wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt

Kevin did not recognize him at first with the beard and robes

Hey Kevin something really weird is happening to me he said

Keven replied No shit man, you gotta come in and see this

He followed Kevin through his apartment and onto the balcony

The desert was no longer there having been replaced by a bustling island

Palm trees were swaying in the wind and the beach was crowded

He started yelling down to the people below

You are wasting your time said Kevin, they cannot hear or see you

Kevin showed him the massive HELP sign hung over his balcony railing

Nobody looks up or responds to this he shrugged

He led Kevin back to his apartment to show him the desert outside

A place where your imagination completely takes over your mind

Kevin was speechless looking out over the featureless desert

They went back inside trying to unravel what was happening to them

Amazingly they had both had the exact same dream about the giant and falling 

Kevin concluded that they were both stuck in the fourth dimension

So how do we escape from this fourth dimension? he asked Kevin

We will have to kill each other replied Kevin who then pulled out a gun

The fourth dimension – Part 3

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He felt no pain as he lay on the ground motionless

Vividly remembering his traumatic fall

He felt his spirit was leaving his body

A bright white light shone above him but it was blurry

He tried to reach out towards the light but he could not move

After blinking a few times the white light slowly came into focus

Angels were nowhere to be seen sadly

He was looking up at his bedroom ceiling

A quick check of his limbs confirmed no injuries

He realized it was all a dream and that he has simply fallen out of bed

His pajamas were drenched in sweat so he took a shower

Recalling all the details of his dream as the water streamed over him

Trying to determine the significance of such weird events

Why was he ripping up buildings before being thrown from a roof

Was there something traumatic he saw on TV to trigger that dream

He could not find the answers and decided to shrug it off

Morning coffee was a welcome back to realty

Flicking on the TV as he made breakfast

The news was showing the city in disarray 

Rubble blocking streets and cars piled high on parking garage roofs 

Surely this dream cannot be continuing he asked himself

He picked up his phone to make a call but he had no service

No WIFI either but strangely the TV still worked

He needed to get out of the building to see for himself

Leaving his apartment and walking to the elevator he passed no other residents

The elevator doors closed and he pressed the button for the lobby

He sensed the elevator moving before the doors reopened 

No lobby area to be seen as he was still on his floor

It was time to abandon the elevator and take the stairs

Walking down from the 20th floor would be good exercise anyway

After descending a few flights he noticed that every floor was marked 20

He walked up and down the stairwell searching for an exit

Every door he entered took him back to his own floor

He was beginning to think this was all another dream

It was futile trying to exit via the stairs so went back to his apartment

The TV was no longer working so he decided to go on his balcony

Expecting to see his normal views of the bay and the city

He froze at what his eyes were seeing and kept blinking slowly

There was no bay and no city at all

Just an empty featureless desert as far as the eye could see in every direction

The fourth dimension – Part 2

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The giant’s hand gripped him tightly

Lifting him to the top of the highest building

The giant was standing on the roof

He felt the grip on him loosen and he fell onto the roof with a bump

The giant loomed over him menacingly

Who said you could move the buildings in my city?

This is my playground and you just ruined it

He stood up and dusted himself off

Looking up at the giant defiantly

Its my playground too and I am not scared of you

The giant roared with laughter at the little mans defiance

Picking him up by the legs and dangling over the side of the building

He froze in terror as he looked down at the streets far below

The giant shook him violently and threatened to drop him

Before throwing him roughly back onto the roof

He dusted himself off again and stood up

The giant insisted that he moved to another playground

He resisted saying this was his home and his own playground

The giant started to get really angry and started shoving him to the edge of the roof

Leave me alone you big bully he screamed

I will if you promise to fix all the damage you caused and then leave town

Not happening was his reply

The giant was furious now and picked him up roughly

Have a nice ride down to street level he grinned

Before dropping him over the side of the building

He was hurtling down fast towards the ground

Buildings flashed by him like speeding trains

Time slowed down as his falling continued 

His whole life flashed before his eyes

Wondering why it had to end this way

He knew the impact would be severe and he braced himself

Hitting the ground with a thud

Then total blackness

The fourth dimension – Part 1

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He stepped out onto his high rise balcony

A breathtaking view of the bay

Sailboats moored down below resembled little toys

A sailing regatta was in full swing on the water

Each boat searching for some extra wind to beat the others

He looked inland across the city

Most buildings were shorter than his 

Looking over flat rooftops brimming with vents and fans

Extracting the heat to keep their occupants cool in this sun drenched city

Cars rolled slowly through the busy streets below

They also resembled small toys

A metro train went by in the distance completing the array of toys below him

He felt like a giant in a three dimensional playground

His vivid imagination took him into the fourth dimension

Making a list of buildings he felt were ugly and out of place

Before bending down and plucking each one from its foundations

Smoothing away the dirt and planting a few trees

Them moving some fine architectural structures to fill the gaps

He then proceeded to crumble some of the removed buildings

Creating road blocks all over the city

Stranded cars could no longer move through the gridlock

He plucked the cars up one by one

Posting them gently into high rise parking garages 

Until all the streets were completely devoid of vehicles

People now walked merrily along empty streets 

Next he turned his attention to the regatta on the bay

Leaning over and blowing swirling winds towards them

Tiny sail boats were tossed about with each breath

Sailors were having so much fun with the new winds

Noisy helicopters and planes buzzed through the skies

They were all scooped up in his giant butterfly net

Each one being safely parked at the airport and told to stay grounded

He proudly looked out over his toy city with no more noisy cars and planes

Suddenly a giant hand came down from above and grabbed him

Pulling him off the balcony and lifting him skyward

I think we just had a baby

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We just completed a major home renovation project

It occurred to me that its just like having a baby

First of all you need to fall in love

Then comes the honeymoon phase

You enjoy every moment with your home

Until you and your spouse agree that something is missing

A new addition would make your home complete

Its a fun time exploring ideas on what it might look like

This is the beautiful phase of conception

You eventually draw up plans and engage a contractor

Once the contact is signed you are pregnant

The first few weeks of the pregnancy are easy

Then you hit a few snags

Its going to cost a lot more than you budgeted

You have no choice but to press on

Meetings with the contractor are like pre-natal doctor visits

He assures you that its all going to come out great in the end

Tells you not to worry about the bumps along the road

Your home starts to grow fat with construction mess

It looks ugly and almost unrecognizable

Dust and dirt make you feel sick every morning

The baby starts to grow and kicks you frequently

You have to make decisions on so many things

Many surprises along the way have to be managed

It becomes a 24/7 activity that needs constant attention

You get fearful and anxious towards the end

Like a passenger on a run away train

You can see where its going but you cannot get off

As the completion deadline approaches more pain and suffering are endured

The punch list of things left to do keeps growing

Then the miracle of birth occurs

The contractor hands over your newly completed renovation 

Your new baby is just perfect in every way

Everybody is happy and full of joy

Friends come round to congratulate you on your new addition

You rapidly forget about all the pain and worry over the last nine months

Its so much fun waking up every day with your new baby

Within a short period of time

You start to dream about another big addition

Wine cooler party raves

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He put a few bottles in the wine cooler

As soon as he shut the door they started talking

Who is that new chardonnay in he white section?

Rumor has it there is a new burgundy with the reds

The white section decided to party

The reds looked on bemused

Prosecco’s popped open and fizzed

Somebody played music

Eventually the reds joined in

A Beaujolais nouveaux popped his cork

And climbed up into the whites section

The party was in full swing

A few white ladies climbed down to join the reds

The wine cooler was rocking and clinking

A couple of reds opened and started to share

They were all dancing ad jumping around happily

Then a red tipped over and pushed the door open

He spilled red wine all over the floor

Everybody froze in horror

The music stopped abruptly

What are we going to go cried the chardonnay

Cabernet took control of the wine cooler

Pushing the scantily clad white ladies back upstairs

Commanding everybody to lie flat and still

The owner’s pet dog approached sniffing

He started to lap up the spilled wine

The owner came to investigate the commotion

Blame was immediately placed on the dog

All the white wines started to giggle

The dog returned later and opened the door

Before peeing all over the wine bottles

That put a damper on the wine cooler party raves

Full steam ahead!

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I woke up at dark o’thirty

My mind was racing after a vivid dream

Which was rapidly fading from my memory

It must have been a bad dream

Because my mind forbid me to go back to sleep

Lest I revisit the same dream

I dragged my reluctant body out of bed

Made a cup of tea and stepped outside

The morning air felt fresh and cool

Hardly a sound emerging from the blackness

The birds were all sleeping

Hot tea woke up my body

There was no going back to bed now

Sunrise was more than an hour away

This was to be my solitude time

A period of self reflection and a quick debate

What should I do with this gifted hour

I rejected the temptation to go on line

The virtual world would survive another hour without me

Likewise the TV news was shunned

I decided to set myself some goals for the day

Prioritize what must get done by when

It was easy to shake hands in that deal

The next goals were harder to agree on

Things I wished to achieve over the coming months and years

The longer the timeframe the harder it was to commit

Plenty of excuses were lining up for not achieving them  

I waited for them all to say their piece

Then I gave them a stiff lecture on their bad attitude

They mostly slunk away in dejection 

Apart from one persistent excuse who refused to leave

He had a smug look on his face

His point was blunt and brutal

How do you know you will be well enough or even alive to finish those long term goals?

I looked him straight in the eye and told him

I am the captain of this ship and if she goes down

Then you go down with her too

I thanked him for strengthening my resolve and dismissed him

He walked away and turned to me with a smile

Good luck captain he said

I called down to the engine room with the command

Full steam ahead!

partying on the horizon sandbar

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I look out over the water daily

Marveling at the ever changing sea and sky

They meet on the horizon 

A distant place where boats fall off the edge

And planes pop up from below the water

Something strange happened this morning

The horizon had completely vanished

The sky had melted into the sea

No longer any distinction between water and air

I imagined the boaters there suddenly floating into the sky

Aviators letting their planes sit on the water

Boats and planes hanging out together

Partying on the horizon sandbar

All stuck in a time warp vortex

Unable to escape the clutches of the melted horizon

Doomed to a never ending life of floating aimlessly 

While listening to cool music and sipping cocktails

Chatting with friends who never grow old

Every day being a groundhog horizon party day

A one way ticket to paradise

Where only the chosen few get to go

I am chartering an imaginary boat to join them

I will never get there but I can dream about it

Movie memories

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I just watched the latest Avatar movie

The theatre had reclining seats and a button to order food and drinks

A wide selection of hot and cold food, cocktails and wine

Special effects and 3D make the movie stand out as ultra modern

But the story line was not new

Bad guys chasing good guys

The Avator forest people rode flying dragons

Families under threat

Kids disobeying parents to join the fight

Plenty of modern weapons in the fight scenes

Interestingly the animated forest people also used bows and arrows

When the main characters ran out of machine gun ammunition

They resorted to an old fashioned fist fight

It reminded me of the first movies I went to see as a child

Saturday morning matinees in the local cinema

We called it the flea pit

Crackly projection movies

With Indians chasing cowboys

There was no 3D back then

Nor could you order food and drink from your seat

You had to buy snacks from a lady holding a big tray near the front

You could buy either chocolates or orange juice

But the story line was the same

The Indians rode horses back then

Arrows flew into bad guys

The heroes had a good fist fight to win

The story lines have never changed much over time

The movie theatre menus have evolved though

Merry Regiftmas

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He woke up early

It was Christmas morning

The city was quiet

After a long night of partying

Loud music and fireworks

He was dreading the Christmas gift exchanges

Giving regifts to reduce his clutter

But getting more regifted gifts

To sit in a drawer

Until next year’s regifting period

The problem is how to remember

Which regift was regifted by who

For it is fine to regift anything

To the regifter except their own regift

That would not be in the spirit of regiftmas

He considered his options

Maybe a regifting spreadsheet

To track the regift origins

Or simply donate them all

And break the regifting regift gift cycle

It really is a first world problem

When you have no need for anything

To be burdened with unwanted stuff 

From folks who also need for nothing

But receive more unwanted stuff in return

There are so many in this world in dire need

Undernourished children

Neglected elderly

Homeless people

They do need stuff more than him

So better to give his friends and family

The ultimate ever lasting gift

Of friendship and unconditional love

And receive the same in return

Just wrap these gifts with sincerity

Gift your spare money to charities

Donate your time to help others

Do this all year round

To make a difference and leave a legacy

Wishing you all a very merry nomoreregiftmas