Kristinmoore writer

06/04/2025

Seems so long ago - I wrote this in 2009 when Oscar was 5 and I was just emerging from baby-mama land, I was occasionally missing my old life.
'Teenage kicks and factor X'

Teenage kicks and Factor X by KM | Aug 7, 2009 | getting older, musicAlways my constant companion, music of all kinds has sustained me when people and life in general have fallen short. Live music, at its best, can be transforming and life affirming but with a child, work, study and other people’s...

22/03/2025

THE WOMAN ON THE STAIR

Desperation seemed to hang over her,

imbuing every smile and joke with the stain of falsity.

People wondered about her sanity, so did she

You could see she was trying, to stop dying

But life on the edge must be tiring

The street is no place for a person like her

But there she sat, on the stair, over there

Was it a series of unlucky events

That made her lose her way?

Did she have love? Back in the day

Before she went astray.

There’s no one else here - does anyone care

I feel a rising sense of despair

At the world,,at myself, at whatever brought her here

To be buried in haste on this cold day

With nothing left to give away.

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28/02/2025

The dreaded machine

It’s dark, quiet and still, I’m alone
where am I? I feel around me, touch hard walls and ceiling
Oh god I’m still in the machine, I can’t move, I scream,
I wake in a sweat –
Thank god, it’s a dream
But today it’s real,
I’ll quietly submit to the needles and tubes
I’ll appear chatty and cheerful and easy to handle
Time to take my pill
I lie on the hard bed, it hurts my back, my heart starts to race
They eyepads and earplugs are put into place
They fasten my head down.. I I want to break free
OK, breathe – the pill’s kicking in
My heart slows down the noises begin
loud, concussive, incessant – no rhythm just sound
I remember my dream and shiver in fear
It’s cold in here

21/02/2025

Dare to build castles in the air
But beware
The taller they are, the harder they fall
Until Nothing at all
Remains
But despair
………………………
Resign yourself to your situation
Give up on feeling elation
The train has reached the station
Termination
Your journey ends here.

What happened to me
I just wanted to be free
But now no mark is left, no goal is met, no stone turned or door opened
Just shades of beige and grey
Another day

08/02/2025

Undone, untold, underground
possibly unsound
Unheard, unseen, unfound
drifting on the undertow
Unable to row
Against the tide

Underestimated, underwater, under pressure
hang onto pride, resist the tide
undertake to undo the damage
Savage

06/02/2025

Writing with ADD

The kitchen is clean, the dog’s had her run
The washing is on, no more work to be done
Open the laptop, start a new file,
Extract the first sentence from deep in my brain
The rest of the chapter is still in my head
I’m ready to write … Hang on …
I really should
Check my emails quickly before I start
Then go straight back to the task
WHAT?!!! Oh is that what she said? Hell no!
My angry reply takes time .. what a cow
I need a coffee right now
I’ll hang out the clothes in case I forget
Oh, and pull those weeds while I’m there,
Ah That’s better
Now what was I doing before I came out?

06/02/2025

Ah Newtown

You still have your charm, and some of your grunge
Your walls hold the echoes
Of the crooks and the grifters that once dwelt in your lanes
Of the proud Gadigal people who still own the land
When the streets are dark .. you might hear ghosts talk
Of holdups and muggings and murders and plans
you might hear wisps of Language, or the cries of a child
in your head
as you walk above the dead
faint echoes of Newtown drift on the breeze
Gentrify if you must
but remember who came first.
When you’re dead and gone, Newtown will still live on.

29/07/2024

Hello?
Is it me you’re looking for?
Did you knock on the wrong door?
Have you tried the neighbour
He’s a right old raver
He might think you’re an alien
Or else invite you in - I’ve never been
Maybe it might be better
To just write a general letter

26/06/2024

Dirty Three – Enmore Theatre 20.6.24
As you know, I’m rarely at a loss for words – but last week I had an experience that is almost
indescribable. I’ll try
The Dirty Three strolled onto the Enmore Theatre stage to the sound of Boz Scagg’s Lido. What followed was a tour de force by 3 musicians at the top of their game - supremely
talented, wielding their instruments with a confidence born of experience and sheer talent.
The magnificent Jim White – technically brilliant but so creative behind the drum kit. The seemingly emotionless and incredibly skilful Mick Turner, letting rip on his guitar with an air of insouciance. Warren Ellis all hair and beard, his extraordinary mastery of the violin emphasised by perpetual motion - leaping, running, climbing like a slightly demented gnome.
Instrumental music - sometimes strident and urgently loud, sometimes quiet and almost meditative. Music punctuated by the expletive laden ‘chats’ Ellis conducted with audience members, and his rambling funny stories.
They creating a whirlpool sucking me in to it’s centre, and spitting me out after over two blistering hours. I walked onto the footpath feeling elated, exhausted, inspired and discombobulated.

Please let’s not have to wait another 5 years for their return, they’re like a cocktail of drugs and I feel the need to see and hear them again as soon as I can.

25/06/2024

Doggerel

Ode to bobbi
I love the warmth of your body on my bed
How you wait patiently to be fed
Your silky ears one up, one down
Always happy, never a frown
Cuddly, loving - sometimes a clown
Speed and agility
Uncanny ability
To understand me
You’re my kelpie
You keep me sound

25/06/2024

Alone
A momentary frisson of naughtiness accompanied my cavalier ignorance of the sink full of washing up last night. I went to bed while it was still light, eating my Ubered dinner in bed, a teatowel serving
as a napkin, watching silly comedies on streaming services, firmly pushing down twinges of empty longing for someone to laugh with and eat with. The joys of living alone …..
This morning as I woke, the familiar wave of loneliness and despair about the future sent me into a black hole. Coffee and playing the morning word games with old and dear friends on the internet
lifted me, the act of communication is cheering. My dark mood beginning to shift, I turned to the socials – my twitter tribe was ablaze with witty memes and salty comments, facebook yielded some happy news from very old friends. Posters on Instagram were in particularly good form this morning.
News services delivered good news from the US, home and Ukraine. An email from my cancer team delivered encouraging news – prompting another twinge of longing for a companion
to share it with. I settled for messaging my son, across the world in the US.
Maybe the world isn’t so bad after all I thought as I climbed out of bed, ignoring the dirty dishes in favour of watering the garden - because I can.

I enjoyed the meditative movement of the water as I slowly moved around my tiny garden, talking to the plants and my dog, sadly they didn’t talk back, but I live in hope. As I moved the hose back and
forth, I mused on the propensity of some media commentators to disparage social media – ‘a cesspit, a sewer’ they call it ‘it’s destroying our society’. Where would I be without it? Probably still at the bottom of that black hole. I can’t be the only one to feel like this?
Later today I’ll seek out some human real-life contact – maybe go to the pub for dinner, or to the dog park. It’s not my old life with family, but It’s not so bad, better than it was at the beginning. Ienjoy the freedom …I think… maybe… sometimes. I’ll probably wash the dishes and cook a meal for
myself this evening - if I feel like it that is

30/05/2024

Sirens

I hear the sirens coming
Who are they coming for

Is it a brawl or a car smash
Maybe someone stole some cash

Or Is someone lying on the floor?
While their child screams for help
Suburban streets hide mayhem
Behind closed doors

Did he beat her black and blue?
Did the cops come through?
Or did they wait?
‘He’s a good bloke, he’s a mate…
‘….. oh f**k we’re too late’

Anyway
I’m OK - today
Close the door and stay
It’s safer here …