Pages

Tuesday 31 July 2018

Meditation

If I had ever been to Tibet
I would be in Tibet right now
If I ever sat by the Japanese monk
I would sit by the Japanese monk right now
If I had ever been with the Buddha
I would be with the Buddha right now
If I ever reached enlightenment
I would be in enlightenment right now

Instead I am with the Dutch artist Volbeda
In his studio by the beach in Uist
Instead I am with Brother Daniel
At Vespers in Buckfast Abbey
Instead I am in the public-house in Dublin
With the guy who was good for society
Instead I am with my darling one
On a beautiful birthday vacation

If I, instead
Just bathed in the meditation
Listened to the Om
Chanted it, as my silent mantra
Waited, mindful
That the bells would ring
If I did all of that
Would I have been anywhere less at all


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Monday 30 July 2018

I Did It Because

This is the role I play
And I cannot remake it
Those are the words I say
And I do not, cannot, fake it

Even with the cake
Left out in the rain
I have to move on
I must forsake it

The presence is no longer
There to give me pain
There is a light, a light
And I know that I can make it

No more the sad romance
Waiting to dictate it
No more nostalgic thoughts
No more to placate it

But don’t you forget
Those days running on the sand
Don’t you go forget
Rejoice, remember, o yes, how grand

To skip, and to laugh
And to make love upon this land
To skip, to laugh, and to dance
To make love upon this land


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Sunday 29 July 2018

You Did It Because

I too stole pears
As you say Augustine did
I too was a thief after dark
In the western tradition

That I say this gives me pleasure
For the memories are the truth
They are the power and the glory
To make me as I am, from my youth

With means to fill the whole page
With other ignominious deeds
Also, to mention the monastics
Here, by the river, here, beside the reeds

I too stole life
Has many more had before me
I too was a thief in the park
In the northern tradition

That I say this gives me witness
For the memories are the truth
They are the hope in my truth
To make me, make me as I already am


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Saturday 28 July 2018

First One Here, Only One Here

There is a stillness
A peace, a quiet, a calm
A future to invest in

An opportunity
Not to take the world by storm
But, but to peacefully be there

Where there is light
Where there is shadow
Where last night is now gone

Where there are bare branches
Where there is rooftop moss
Where none of that displeases

There was a morning letter
Or rather morning words written
Written, what could be better

Than to celebrate the page
Age not being such a bad thing
With a wholeness to the ring

Sing then; there is a stillness
A peace, a quiet, a calm
So bring on the future to invest in


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Friday 27 July 2018

Blue, Big Blue

The seventh wave roars in
As the first wave hobbles out
The huge crash
Breaks onto the impenetrable rock
The rising, and falling spray does it
And does it again the whole of the day
Water charging into stone
Stone standing solid, resolute

Beneath the surface, out in the deep
Shoals and predators
Dolphins, whales and sharks
All the known colours of the world
With the music of communication
All the stillness of the depths of solitude
With the deft touch of survival
Among the beautified breadths of love


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Thursday 26 July 2018

Drift, As In Wave

Only fragments now
No more to write of the papyrus
Or of those poets in the valley below

Only apathetic now
No more to be plagued by passions
Nor to wait for early morning letters

Only lost for words now
Yet not lost for those past words
Which passed by without reflection

Only time for oneself now
Yet not with time at the crucial moment
When attachment needs to be released

Only insecurity of security now
Uncertainty being the partner of trust
When doubters take over the asylum

Then to fall back on exaggeration
Amplification of what is and isn’t true
As a means of saying nothing at all


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Wednesday 25 July 2018

Objective

In this way
Of drawing endless small circles
I find a peace, a calm

As one might come across
With a walking meditation
Or by reciting a poem

Poetry of paths and journeys
Poetry of skies and streams
Poetry of love, yes, poetry of deep love

In this way
You might discover yourself
To be in a new place

Filled with optimism
Tranquillity, and intensity
Of being in the moment

Where another verse
Of hope may wander along
To take you by the hand

And once together
You and your one other
May venture at your leisure


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Tuesday 24 July 2018

Objective One

Hollow out the history
Revert to the core
The kernel, the nucleus
Before corruption
Moved in, and took hold

Take it right back
To the one, and the other one
Or to the one all alone
Alone then to contemplate
To speak, or to scribe

That is to have the one thought
Or the one thought with one other
As if the weighing scales might balance
Or tip heavily
Towards the one most wordy

Yes, take yourself right back
Prior to any contamination
Such that innocence was abroad
For one thought to follow one other
With no predetermined forces in play

That is to have a clear thought
A clean thought
A thought not tainted by baggage
That baggage of your past, or your future
That baggage of your desire, or your lust

Just stay with the whiff of perfume
With ample room for estrangement
Clear of the danger which arises
With the crisis of those thoughts
Hollowed out from the core


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Monday 23 July 2018

Invisible, Indivisible

Where is the calm
Where are the spaces
Along the lines

Where are the mines
Where are the faces
Committing the crimes

Where are the signs
For the calming traces
Charmed by indefinite designs


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Sunday 22 July 2018

Determined, Or Not

A long view
From a long time ago
So long that you would not believe
The road would still be blocked by snow

A longer view
From a longer time ago
So long that you would not believe
The workmen’s bus made it through the snow


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Saturday 21 July 2018

Ascendant

I was there
In the moment
Transported
By sublime music

I was beyond myself
Transcendent, thanks
To sheep’s intestines
And real horse hair


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Friday 20 July 2018

Mr Reliable

Right after noon
I brew the coffee
Plug the computer
Back into the power supply
Turn on the stereo
Select the Flower Duet playlist
The morning's work is done in my world

And by that
I mean poems drafted
Poems typed up
Poems edited
Poems posted on the blog
That, and a short reading
From How Great Poems Transform The World

And I watched a video
Posted on Facebook
By my friend Graham Juggins
The video is of good guy Roger Waters
Making an impassioned plea
For young musicians and composers
To be given a fair chance in this world


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Thursday 19 July 2018

Round, Round Again

The table
And its shadow
Could be an introduction
To a work by MC Escher

The vase
And the photograph
Each have their own reflection
Thanks to Pilkington glass

I, on the other hand
Read of ‘Otherness’
Where I am led
By Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings

All the while
The black and orange twigs
In the cream and black, enamel jug
Simply, silently, serenely watch on


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Wednesday 18 July 2018

Now, In Now Time

The book of dreams laid on the bed
In front of the sea-view window
The bed had a plain, pale blue cover
The outlook was of a calm, pale blue sea

It could have been by Edward Hopper
But it was by Jim Holland
It could have been by Vilhelm Hammershoi
But it was by Jim Holland

I might have seen it on another day
But I saw it on a Sunday morning
I might have laid there some other time
But I lay there, on a Sunday morning

Afterwards, I took a flight back to England
I left Rod McKuen’s poems behind with you
Alone; they were of love, lost love, and loss
But belonged to an altogether future time


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Tuesday 17 July 2018

Place Of Solitary Occupation

Ninety minutes of playtime
Thankful
That no writers turned up
No one here
To distract me
Other than myself

And o boy what a distraction
Thousands of memories
Zillions of thoughts
A few spontaneous movements
Before I brought out the camera
And the iPhone video recorder


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Monday 16 July 2018

In Place Of Occupation

One more cup of coffee
One more to bring intensity to thought
To strengthen, to enrich, to magnify
To beautify, to endorse, to probe

One more shout out to the future
One more to bring indemnity to the scope
To elongate, to extrapolate, to mimic
To lose the cynic, to endorse, to probe

I photograph the stillness of the room
I record the calmness of the room

One more moment of now thus captured
One more time of being here in the present
To witness, to experience, to elucidate
To realise, to endorse, to probe

One more cup of coffee
One more final piece of action
To highlight, to dim, to radiate
To be within, to endorse, to probe


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Sunday 15 July 2018

Occupational Health

If I was a stamp collector
I would find one for this morning
All blue skies and frosted grass
All peace and tranquillity
All mindful time for the writing

If I was a sculptor
I would take out the plaster of Paris
All brilliant white and tactile
All solid mass and inner soul
All mindful time, for chiselling and filing

A stamp collector, a sculptor?
No, I am not any of these
Though of course I dabbled
What with friends at play, and on schooldays
Isn’t it just what we did


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Saturday 14 July 2018

The Choice

Books change peoples destinies
What did I see
What did I notice
What did I feel
What did I say or do
What didn’t I say or do

Those five small prints by Joe Tilson
What did he see
What did he notice
What did he feel
What did he say or do
What didn’t he say or do

Those ten small shelves of books
Might I choose one at random
That you might retire to a quiet place
There to read it
How does Hesse’s Siddhartha sound
Yes, let’s go with that; or no, maybe not


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Friday 13 July 2018

The Paper House

Within a month of your gift we had parted

Thirteen years on
Can I measure the loss
Can I measure the grief
Can I explain away the obsession

The feet and the inches of loss
Never again to be close enough to touch
The kilometres and the miles of loss
Never again to bridge the inevitable distance

The pounds and the ounces of grief
Always to be in fear of the tears
The kilograms and the tonnes of grief
Never again to weigh in with a lover’s words

The one thing on top of another of obsession
Maybe, yes always, one last sprig of hope
The last time before the next time of obsession
With otherness, yes, worthy to carry the doubt


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Thursday 12 July 2018

Discuss; If You Must

How does one make sense
Of a watercolour painting
Or a contemplative pastel sketch

I look across the room
At my own work
From thirty years ago

I could say to you
That there is lightness
That there is love

Yet, if I move in closer
I would talk of frustration
I would talk of dismay

But, and I smile as I write this
I must speak today of satisfaction
I should talk well, of my minor achievements


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Wednesday 11 July 2018

Questions Of Ownership

Who but I
Yes, a good question
Or who but you
Yes, equally so

To sidestep
To foxtrot
To line dance
To hide away

Who but I
And where but here
O yes
Keep those questions coming

To intensify
To mystify
To be courageous
In the absence of love


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Tuesday 10 July 2018

Denial Of Ownership

Is there always impatience lurking
Always another occupation to go to
Is their always a form of recrimination
Always some other blame to lay


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Monday 9 July 2018

Self Ownership

This is what I hoped for
This is what I wished for
Outside of meditation
This is what I craved for
Or at least one of the things

I hoped this room would bring peace
I wished this room would bring joy
Outside of meditation
I craved for this room in which to crave
To be at least one, of those many things

Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Sunday 8 July 2018

Shared Ownership

If you came here
Or if someone else came here
To this room I have created
Would you, or they, look at the photographs
Would you, or they, read the books
Would you, or they, listen to the music
Would you, or they, sit around this table

If I offered you coffee
Or if I offered someone else coffee
In this room I have created
Would you, or they, make polite conversation
Would you, or they, shed their light, lightly
Would you, or they, smile, smile infectiously
Would you, or they, talk of our love, lovingly


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Saturday 7 July 2018

Ownership

I ought to be honest
Own up
To what I know about beauty

I ought to be clear
Own up, to myself
About where I discovered beauty

I ought to be sure
Find a certainty
Of feelings and time

I ought to be confident
Find a realisation
Of moments in time



Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Friday 6 July 2018

Be II

Alone, yet not alone
For feelings flood in
The body sizzles
The mind whistles on by

Alone, how good does it feel
The sizzling, the whistling
The whole of the ether
Turned out on its head


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Thursday 5 July 2018

Be I

I look into the old man's eyes
Will I become him
Will he become me
Will I reach the point of the point of wisdom

In the morning light
With the suns rays
Entering through the window
Will I one day be free to contemplate


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon



Wednesday 4 July 2018

Recovery Methodologies

In place of tears
Why not become the joker
In place of endless fears
Why not welcome in the passing clown

In place of freedom
Why not become the trapped
In place of lost kingdoms
Why not cast off the downbeat frown

In place of hope
Why not become with despair
In place of how to cope
Why not simply, surely, stand them down

In place of failure
Why not become belligerent
In place of derailed allure
Why not pose, as the talk of the town


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Tuesday 3 July 2018

One Life; Of All Of Those You Stole

O Penistone, o Penistone
You crushed me
And I never ever loved you
O grammar school, o grammar school
You broke me
And I never ever saw you coming

Your black and red striped tie
Your grey and black peaked cap
Your blazer and long grey trousers
Your uniform approach to individual life
No you did not seek out to encourage me
You didn’t even let me wear
My ice-blue jeans, and brothel creepers

O Penistone, o Penistone
You lost me
And I never ever loved you
O grammar school, o grammar school
You taunted me
And I never ever found you

Your parquet floor French classroom
Your physics lab with Bunsen burner
Your geography lessons all about the Tundra
Your buildings served as licence to demolish
You never did curtail that deputy headmaster
The bully, the evil one, the wretched bastard
He caned me, he slippered me, he lost me


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Monday 2 July 2018

I Lost The Way

All those times
I criticised the intellectuals
Yet continued to buy their books
And quoted from them incessantly

You see the real deal is
That I don’t cut it
As an intellectual
Nor as a renaissance man

And I could blame it all
On late childhood bedwetting
Or extended puberty
Or difficulty losing my virginity

But the truth of it is I know
That one year did it for me
Yes, that one year
And then one other


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Sunday 1 July 2018

A Gradual Movement

A new video*, not yet started
A germ of an idea
From our Bude vacation

We already have the photographs
A few poems
And maybe other writings

Kate has agreed to narrate
Aiming this time
For clarity to lead the dream

The process began
With thoughts of going to Finland
A slow film through the snow

To a cottage on its own island
Three hours drive
From Helsinki Airport

Of course that might still happen
But for now something more immediate
Without the need to trouble Sibelius


Buy for print or kindle on Amazon


Watch the video on youtube by clicking here