book – Thundercloud Repairian

book, ecosystems, Life lessons, poetry, writing

Happy Memories and Non-violence

July 19, 2021July 19, 2021 James Arthur Warren AKA Thundercloud Repairian

Some memories last a lifetime. Like happy memories. My childhood was blessed and I was surrounded with happy people. My parents, grandparents and my parents’ friends. We used to go bushwalking in the Grampians in Victoria. I was only 2 or 3 years old and I would run off up ahead along the track alone. I would watch the birds flitting in and out of the small shrubs and admire all the wild flowers that blossomed everywhere. Then I would run back to where the walking party was coming. Sometimes I would crouch down behind a tree and jump out and surprise everyone who was walking towards me. They would all act surprised and I would laugh because I thought that it was funny. I knew not to stray from the path because I could get lost. I never did get lost and I have never lost these happy memories.

I am the little boy in the photo below and holding me is a friend of my parents’, Laurie O’Brien. I always remember Laurie as a happy man and he still is. Today is his birthday and I couldn’t think of a better way to thank him for the memories than to write a happy birthday poem for him.

Happy Birthday it is true, Happy Birthday just for you

Happy Birthday, you are great. We love the way that you act 8.

Happy Birthday with lots of money. You know I’m just being funny

Wishing you this birthday wish, I hope you get a sloppy kiss

From your darling loving wife. Who has stuck with you all your life

Happy Birthday dear Laurie. You never seem to ever worry

I wrote this poem just for you. Read it when you’re in the loo

Happy Birthday Laurence O’Brien. I hope you have a wonderful time.

Another fond memory that has never left me is that of my grandfather. He was killed in a car accident when I was only 4 years old. However the memories that I have of him are only positive. While my parents were working I would go a stay with my grandmother for the day. I used to arrive early and watch him shave before work. He would put shaving soap on my face and then pretend to shave it off. We would drive to the airport sometimes and as we would approach and overpassing bridge he say, “no more bridges” then as we went under the bridge he would tap me on the head with a rolled up newspaper and I would laugh. He would laugh. We’d both laugh together. I loved him and he loved me.

I have been fortunate in my life to have had happy and kind men around me when I was young. My father is one of those men. He never hit or smacked me and was always measured in his discipline preferring to use his words than any form of violence. For this I am grateful and this has been reflected in my peaceful non-violent attitude to life. I have never attacked anyone and only ever stepped in between people who were about to fight in order to protect them.

One year I was in West End in Brisbane and there was a drunk guy who was causing trouble. Five other guys were ushering him away and he was getting increasingly aggressive and agitated and starting to swing punches at them. I didn’t want to see him or them get hurt so I walked over, took off my shirt held up my arms and said, “if you want to hit someone hit me.” He punched into my stomach which was tensed and I felt his wrist crack. He then took a swing at my head and I ducked backwards. He just grazed my forehead and then stopped. I looked him square in the eye and said, “Is that it? Have you had enough?” His friend walked over and said to him, “I think you’d better go” He left. Nobody was hurt, except perhaps for his pride and fractured wrist.”

After I studied Environmental Science at university I worked for Greenpeace. The Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and then the START-Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on the 31st of July 1991 and the break up of the USSR 26th of December 1991. So by the time I worked for Greenpeace the Cold War was over. The only problem was that the USA had so much money invested in the war machine and arms production that they were addicted to profits and then had to create conflicts in through lies and deceit by dehumanising muslim people.

Now in 2021 we are in one of the most peaceful times in human history. If we get rid of armies and weapons we can truely create abundance, wealth, security and peace on Earth for all people.

We can finally thrive together, care for on another and live in peace on Earth. I wrote the “Legend of the Bombagun” as a post war vision of the world that I would like to see in the future. Below is Part 1 and the rest is available in the second of my “in Nimbin” books, Lust in Nimbin available on Amazon.

My grandfather served in the ADF in WWII and I have always honoured him and the ANZACS for the sacrifices that they made. My belief is that one day the only armies that exist will be responsible for planting trees and vegetable gardens so we can all have freely available healthy nourishing food world wide and live in peace and war will only be a memory. Thank you to all the peaceful men in my life.

Legend of the Bombagund Part 1

Henceforth the sloothan warp was hest.

No more warp kiel est.

Legend of the Bombagund.

Peace now reigns but the rivs were blud.

Over there in future Earth,

Father tells his son a story.

“Long ago the rivs were blud”

“This story will be gory.”

Henceforth the sloothan warp was hest.

No more warp kiel est.

Legend of the Bombagund.

Peace now reigns but the rivs were blud.

Warrender came in a gust of whoosh.

Against no warp did he push,

The Pushers and their rivs a blud.

All lay down the bombagun.

The bombagun henceforth no gotten

But the rivs a blud are not forgotten.

The peace now rigns not the bombagund

Warps rivs a blud no longer run.

Henceforth the sloothan warp will never.

Warp kiel est no more ever.

Legend of the bombagund.

Peace now reigns and the rivs are love.

Warrender stood between the others.

He said, “Hey warps, kiel me yor brutha”

The Warps they answered, “Why? But no.”

“There’s rivs a blud upon the snow”

“ These bombagund no need have gotten

but the rivs a blud are not forgotten”

Warrender came to heal the Earth

And the rivs now run clear rainbow birth.

Henceforth they stopped the rivs a blud.

And the rivs now flowing rivs a love.

Warrender stopped the Bombagund

And the rivs a blud no longer run.

“ Tell me dad. What’s a Bombagund?”

“Twas a machine to make the rivs a blud run son”

Henceforth the sloothan warp was hest.

No more warp kiel est.

Legend of the Bombagund.

The rivs now flow clear rainbow love.

Legend of the Bombagund Illustrated on YouTube.

If you enjoyed this to can support me at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thundercloud

or you can Become a Patron! at Patreon or just make a once off donation at Paypal

animals, book, change, Life lessons, poetry, writing

Taking the bully by the horns

July 18, 2021July 18, 2021 James Arthur Warren AKA Thundercloud Repairian

A teacher once asked a preschool student what job do you want to do when you grow up. The preschool student replied, “an artist.”

The teacher laughed and said, “you’ll never be rich.”

The student replied, “No, you’ve been to university, studied hard and know everything that you’ve ever been taught, you’ll never be rich.”

Many years later the teacher was invited to a children’s book launch written and illustrated by the student. Original paintings of the illustrations were for sale for thousands of dollars and this was the student’s 6th book and the student was now an internationally recognised children’s book author and illustrator.

The following is a copy of my first published book “The flea and the dinosaur.” It is currently out of print but the story and illustrations were all done by me. I will republish it again in the future.

Many millions of years ago, way before you and me, Tyrannosaurus Rex was born, he was bigger than a tree. About the same time flea was born, rainbow fairy flea but small and super powerful filled with joy and glee. Tyrannosaur grey and brown strong and forcefully went around tearing things down like a big bully

Today I saw a dinosaur laughing at a flea, it looked down and said, “you’re not as strong as me”…………

Rainbow fairy flea was born — Rainbow fairy flea by Thundercloud Repairian aka James Arthur Warren

The flea said to the dinosaur, “do you want to pick a fight?”

“One thousand times my height I jump. you can’t jump with all your might.”

The flea said to the dinosaur, “I have a super skin and I can bite you anywhere my teeth will sink right in.”

The flea said to tyrannosaur, “I can be a little snitch and I will bite you on the bum and I will make you itch”

The flea said to the dinosaur, “you can move about but I’m 100 times as fast as you that’s without a doubt.”

The flea jumped on the dinosaur and bit him on the knee. “I’m so much more than you think don’t you mess with me.”

The flea jumped on the dinosaur and bit him in the eye. The dinosaur shed a tear and then began to cry.

Today I heard a dinosaur say, “sorry” to a flea, “without a doubt you are so much more powerful than me.”

The flea said to the dinosaur, ”don’t laugh at others too because little guys are much more powerful than forceful ones like you.”

The flea said to the Dinosaur, “you can’t run away, nowhere to run nowhere to hide have a lovely day.”

The flea bit tyrannosaur and the dinosaurs all died and great big bullies fade away and get fried by little guys

Today I saw a dinosaur get beaten by a flea. Big mean bullies disappeared but loving joyful fleas dance free.

I finished writing this poem at 1:33, dinosaurs became extinct but fleas still live free.

Great big bullies fade away — The flea he bit tyrannosaur illustration by Thundercloud Repairian aka James Arthur Warren for The Flea and the Dinosaur.

I too was like the teacher once. I was a teacher and happy to take an hourly wage/salary with annual leave, sick days, superannuation of 17% and all the perks that come with a government teaching job. By the time I was 44 I had had over 50 different jobs. Then one November day in 2014 I returned home to find the roof had blown off my home. I decided to buy a double decker bus named Atlantis and go travelling and giving away free books. I lived on the smell of an oily rag, collecting and giving away free books for over 2 years until the bus broke down in Nimbin. I had started writing and my drawing skills had developed while I was living in Atlantis.

Nimbin had a great poetry scene and while I was living there I decided to illustrate and publish “The Flea and the Dinosaur.” I also published two volumes of poetry “Love in Nimbin” and “Lust in Nimbin” more recently I also published “Poetry to End Prohibition 420 2020” They are all available by following the links to Amazon.

In February 2020 I passed through Guyra on the way back to Nimbin. I had been to the Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Competition in Orange. Here in Guyra I stopped for a walk and found an amazing empty theatre. A month later I returned to open the Australian Poetry Hall of Fame on the 24th of March 2020 which was Australia’s first day of COVID19 lockdown. It was a surreal experience moving to a new town to open business and suddenly finding the town deserted. However, 16 months later I am still here and I have just got around to opening “Seahorse Medicine Cafe here to serve vegetarian and vegan food as well as tea, coffee, soup and juices. People ask where I got the name “Seahorse Medicine” from. I have 3 unpublished volumes of children’s animal poetry by the same title.

I was told by a friend in 2016 that I have Seahorse Medicine in me. I had no idea what she was talking about at the time but now I do. I haven’t set a timeline to publish the Seahorse Medicine poetry but I have opened the cafe. Running/setting up the Australian Poetry Hall of Fame, a cafe, writing and publishing keeps me extremely occupied but they are all things that I enjoy doing.

That is what creatives do. They open their heart and do what they love. Create. Create some more and create even more. We use our creative abilities to bring joy, love and colour to the world, even when everything seems like it is going down the toilet, we will paint the toilet in bright colours. I wrote the following piece of poetry for my son’s birthday because I love him and also wanted to inspire him as well as other people. After he read it he thanked me and said “dad, that’s a good poem because it can be applied to different situations.”

I replied, “Yep.”

There may be times when the world seems mad

There will be times when you are feeling sad

But you’re strong, courageous, and in control

You can dig yourself out of any deep hole

Relax and breathe deep for a start

Let go and breathe into your heart

The toughest times might be a test

To center your self, become your best

Version of you that you can fashion

Make unconditional love your passion

From adversity we all can grow

Compassionate when cold winds blow

After cold windy winter the sun will shine

Flowers will bloom in the warm Spring time

With long warm days in the summer my friends

Winter might be cold but it always ends.

Thundercloud bring torrential rains

Rainbows shine after all our pains

Storms only ever last a few hours

New growth happens after showers

When it’s wet you can still have fun

Jumping in puddles and going for a run

When you’re cold and wet please don’t cry

Water and tears will always dry

When winds blow, and rain falls from above

We can all still smile in unconditional love

Regardless of the madness and fear

You’ll be the one to shine your light this year.

If you enjoyed this to can support me at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thundercloud

or you can Become a Patron! at Patreon or just make a once off donation at Paypal

Atlantis Leyland Atlantean 1971 — Atlantis Rainbow Art by Seb Humphreys

biography, book, change, Life lessons, poetry, writing

Overcoming Writer’s Block

January 24, 2021January 24, 2021 James Arthur Warren AKA Thundercloud Repairian

“Writing only happens when thoughts are written down” Herb Wharton

Are you a writer with writer’s block?

There is a solution to writer’s block and it is easy.

Write and give yourself opportunities to write. This can be done anywhere, anyhow, anytime? Carry a notepad and pen with you and when you get a smell moment scribble your thoughts down.

Why? Because writing is about transferring the inner talk of the mind’s thoughts into written words on a page, whether it be a paper page or digital file. It doesn’t matter as long as you write and it doesn’t even matter what you write about.

You may be two thirds through writing a potentially award winning book and get writer’s block. Then it’s best to stop and write something else or just step away. It could be any style or topic but what matters is that you continue the practice of writing your thoughts because when you get your next big idea for your novel could come at anytime and if you aren’t ready then you may miss the opportunity being presented.

So right now I sat down at my computer and thought, “I ought to write something… but Ive got nothing to write about sooooo….. I’ll write about writers block”

And now, here we are standing in water up to our knees.

As a creative, I don’t just write. I draw, sing, dance and play music and if I don’t have the inspiration to write then there are many other creative outlets. I guess this is why as a single man, I don’t get bored with my own company. Instead of using other people’s creative content to entertain myself, which is not super productive, I would rather create something in which the process of creation brings me joy but which I can also sell as an artist to enable me to keep creating and doing what I love.

I also enjoy drawing and exercise as well as writing poetry but there are times when I might not draw for months and other times where I will draw for weeks. However when I am not drawing, I don’t consider myself as having artist’s block because I will be creating something else like a poster, piece of furniture, T-shirt design, publishing a book or organising an event.

Back to topic….. In 2019 there were days where I would write 3 or more poems everyday but now I might only write one every day or so. But I don’t consider it as writers block. because I am doing other things.

If any thing, I suffer from procrastination as well as poor planning and execution which is the current focus of my personal development. That’s what I am working on and I’ll let you know how it is going in another blog post titled something like:

“Stop scrolling and get to work.”

The other option that I like to use in addressing writers block is the recording app on my phone. This is especially useful in a car driving and you can dictate what you want to write and then use a transcription voice to text app to put your spoken word into written form at a later time.

(It’s now 4 hours later) I got writers block writing about writers block so I got up went for a walk, had some dinner, chatted with friends, generally took myself far away from the computer. I went did something else totally different, fully trusting that when I came back to write that I would know what to write.

I recently read a great little book by the English comedian John Cleese “creativity: A short and cheerful guide” in which he wrote about trusting your subconscious to foment the words and thoughts in your down time. I find for me it is when my thoughts become unfocused away from what I am writing, especially when I am tired, then it is the best time to step away. Some days stepping away involves walking outside and standing in the sun for 10 minutes, then I will stretch a little and return to the task. Other days I will go on a longer break then sit down and continue.

The main reason that I love writing poetry is that it enables a deftness and succinctness in that it can express profound ideas with a variety of vocabulary , syntax and form. Plus it can often be written in one sitting and finished. However editing is often required to make a good poem fantastic.

Last week I wrote a quick poem of six lines and it was only the next day when I decided to publish it as an 8 page children’s book that I added the final two lines. That poem is titled: Johno the Cool Cat and was originally written on a piece of paper with a calligraphy pen and ink. I then took the poem, made a collage and printed it. (Each A3 coloured sheet cost me $1 to print and I sell them for $3 of which $1 profit comes to me and $1 profit goes to the Thundercloud Repairian Forest Fund to assist in forest regeneration and everyone benefits)

This is why I began the post by suggesting giving yourself opportunities to write. An opportunity to write can be a desk top, laptop, phone, notepad, or a piece of plain paper with a pencil or the back of a toilet door and photographed and posted on instagram. The point is, just write your thoughts down as Herb Wharton said in the quote at the top of this post.

I became a writer by writing and allowing the words in my head to flow out my hands and that’s pretty much it so being able to publish and sell my writing helps me to be able to continue writing.

I like writing because my writing makes me smile just like my dancing and playing music makes me smile and that also make other people smile. In my opinion there should be more smiling in the world, with dancing and giggles and tickles and wiggles and hugs.

One last thing. This blog post was not written in one go. It was written and honed in 6 different sessions over a period of one an a half days and Johno the Cool Cat was written over two days and the book took another day so in total there are about 12 hours of work to get this blog post to completion. I began Johno on Wednesday and will hit the publish button on Sunday……. Here goes (and I just reedited it for spelling and punctuation once again)

Johno the cool cat

Johno was a cool cat who like to have fun.

In the middle of the night he’d go for a run,

All around town, on the fences, in the parks.

Johno was a cool cat who loved wearing Clarks,

Desert boots and shorts with cool Hawaiian shirts.

Johno would go dancing until his feet hurt.

He’d sneak home in the dawn and the morning light

Then he’d sleep all day and go dancing all night

book, change, health, Humour, poetry, poetry, politics, prohibition

My new Book Check this out at Amazon

January 4, 2021 James Arthur Warren AKA Thundercloud Repairian

Poetry To End Prohibition: Thundercloud Repairian (3) https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0648346889/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_fabc_3jV8Fb8D9PBY6

book, health, poetry, writing

Do what you love but with a plan

May 16, 2020 James Arthur Warren AKA Thundercloud Repairian

I love writing poetry, exercise and constantly challenging myself to change and grow. I am currently doing my final edit of my 2018 poetry anthology, “Djanbung’s Peaceful Protest in Nimbin” At the same time I have opened The Australian Poetry Hall of Fame in Guyra and planning for the “Greatest Poetry Show on Earth” at the grand opening on the 20th of September 2020.

Why has it take so long to get this book edited? Because there are many things that I love doing and I sometimes get distracted from the multitude of goals that I have for my life. Thank you Covid19 for allowing myself to become more focused on what new healthy habits that I need to adopt. I wrote the following piece of poetry titled, “Do what you love” in 2018. However, I would like to add, “with a plan.” That is my learning from this current busy phase of my life.

Schedule, plan, implement and review plan and goals daily.

“Do what you love”

Do what you love
Do what you love
What makes you happy
Why do you complain
When your choice is free

Do what you love
What improves your life
Why do you stay
with your abusive wife

Do what you love
What is your passion
Why do you harm yourself
Not show self compassion

Do what you love
Take control of your health
Why do you eat poison food
Your health is your wealth

Do what you love
Dance paint draw do art
You’ll get a belly ache
if you hold in your fart

Do what you love
It’s my philosophy
Singing dance laughing
Write my poetry

Do what you love
Regardless of fear
If you don’t then your dreams
Will all disappear

Do what you love
You will be happy
When you do what you love
Creating freely

Do what you love
Get rid of the poo
Create a sensation
Amazing and New

Do what you love
Take a walk outside
Look at the clouds
Watch the sunrise

Do what you love
Stop moping alone
Reliving the past
Locked in your home

Do what you love
Don’t make your life hell
Take responsibility
To make your life well

Do what you love
Walk in the rain
Please stop saying things
That cause yourself pain

Do what you love
Or you’ll never know
How wonderful life is
When you constantly grow

Do what you love
Stop the trouble and strife
What self abusive habits
Will you drop from your life?

If you like this then you can purchase my first three books in the Love and Lust in Nimbin Series on Kindle and Amazon.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: