Garth Dutton

Spirit Of The Forest – A Song

This song is a collaboration with singer/songwriter Casey Finlay. One of these days I’ll put the music up online.

Spirit Of The Forest
© G. Dutton/C. Finlay 2007

Sunlight and shadow in a green forest tall.
I went into the woodlands for an afternoon stroll.
Down along a pathway into the forest deep,
all around a silence in the afternoon heat.

Dappled and dancing, oh the play of light.

The power of the silence casts its own spell.
The spirit of the forest lingers here still.

Dappled and dancing, oh the play of light.
The branches are waving, oh the play of light.

The silence is broken. It may never have been.
The sounds of clear water in a nearby stream.
And wings up in the tree tops and a soft bird call.
Sunlight and shadow in a green forest tall.

Dappled and dancing, oh the play of light.
The branches are waving, oh the play of light.
Ever, ever changing… Think I’ll stay awhile…

Tags: casey finlay, garth dutton, Lyrics, Music, song, songwriting

Spring Evening Walk – A Poem

Here is another poem about going for a good walk. Hope you like it

Spring Evening Walk
© Garth Dutton 2008

I go for a walk around the district
on a balmy spring evening.
The warm weather has caused weeds to grow tall.
Some lawns are neatly trimmed,
but others look overgrown.
The latter await a visit
from that artificial grazing animal,
the lawn mower.

Tags: adelaide, australia, garth dutton, poem, poet, Poetry, walk

Morning Walk – A Poem

I like to take walks every now and then. It clears my head and inspires me to write, like this poem for instance

Morning Walk
© Garth Dutton 2009

On my morning walk
I see that spring is on its way.
In the next street
an almond tree
is in bloom,
but as yet
bees and honeyeaters
seem in short supply.
Both days and nights
are getting a bit warmer,
but my flat still seems
like winter.

Tags: adelaide, australia, garth dutton, poem, poet, Poetry, walk

Night Without Moon, Then With Moon – A Poem

“Night Without Moon, Then With Moon” is the opening poem in “A Day In Melbourne” a book of poetry written in a 24 hour period while at a conference in Melbourne.

Night Without Moon, Then With Moon
© Garth Dutton 2004

Beyond Tailem Bend,
seen through the window of
the night bus to Melbourne,
stars hang suspended,
bright, clear,
in a very black sky.
If the stars were music,
they’d be up-front in the mix.
But at Bordertown,
a half-moon comes up,
its bright side
pointing east to the morning sun.
When I was a child,
it took years
to work that one out…
Before full moon
the lighted part points west
to the setting sun.
After full moon,
the lighted part points east
to the rising sun.
Weird, even now…
Like how,
at full moon,
as the sun goes down
the moon comes up.
As I say,
weird, even now…
The blackness of night has gone.
The half-moon
now fills the sky
with silvery-creamness.
Only the brightest stars
survive.

Tags: adelaide, garth dutton, melbourne, poem, poet, Poetry, verse

Cat On A Window Ledge – A Poem

This cute poem is in my book “The Apricot Tree” published in 2008

Cat On A Window Ledge
© Garth Dutton 2008

A cat sleeps on
in winter sun
unaware
that in Australia
cats have become
ideologically unsound

Tags: australia, cat, garth dutton, poem, poet, Poetry