Happenstance in Heptonstall

Emptiness, said the Tibetan philosopher Tsong-Khan in 1397, is the track where the centred person moves. The word he uses for track is Shul. This term is defined as an impression: a mark that remains after that which made it has passed; by a footprint for example.
- Stephen Batchelor: Buddhism Without Beliefs

The surprisingly big stones, on the footpath at the top of the woods, have been hollowed out, the sandstone worn away by millions of mill workers feet, treading there, on their way to and from their place of work.
- Christopher Sanderson: Arvon, Lumb Bank, August 2018

Shul
In the wrong place
At the wrong time
With incomplete skills
And out of sorts motivation

Shul
Ineffective communicator
Inhibited, introverted personality
Of course others are better, others do better
Neither do others suffer, not as I suffer

Shul
Yes, of course the teachers have their favourites
Those who are so so often encouraged to glow
Meanwhile you rail against the establishment
Standing up for yourself, also for others

Shul
You take yourself off, into Mother Nature
Sit awhile, beside the stream
Photograph the effects of your predecessors
Say after me: I will not be beaten, I am who I am

Happenstance in Heptonstall

Poems Started at Lumb Bank

Arvon 2018

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