Defender

I take pleasure
Doing what some, or many others
Would see as a waste of time

My spirits are uplifted
By the images of Tumblr
Or the short quotations on Twitter

Of course I do agree
That this is not a full engagement with society
Not at least in the old sense of the words

Yet, if after a year or more of communal posting
Someone, who you have never met
And whose real name you do not know

Wishes you
A merry Christmas Christopher
Isn’t that a good thing

And so I do return to the well
As often as  to my meditation
Even more so on some days

Take yesterday for instance
A dark, dull, wet December day in my locality
But, on the web
White sands, blue skies, inspiring words

The activity is also a means of avoidance
I let the news (which I’m told is mostly bad)
Pass me by
I do bypass my physiotherapy exercises
Reasonably often

I am doing that right now
By talking out in defence of social media
As I might easily have talked
Of other means of escape

But come summer I will walk in the meadows
I will find beaches to stroll upon
And I will take photographs

Pictures to post to my followers
All images entitled never a day…
I might even post a photograph of this poem

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Christopher's Collected Works

Critique Oarsman

Into the darkness of the day
Came the light of grace
That is, whatever for you defines grace
I said that if your intention is to say that
Then there must be no ambiguity

Your words need to be sure, secure, and clear
For only with absolute clarity
Can your voice be passed on
To meet with the next man

I could see and sense the unease
Your brow ruffled
Your lips quivered
Being tied down is not your kind of thing
Always desirous of space in which to move

Nevertheless your desire, or hope
For your words to be understood
Perhaps even widely transmitted to boot
Ensures some level of acceptance
As other's guidance becomes palpable

In the lightness of the mood
There was a casual consensus
About how the previous four poets
Had all placed themselves
At the very beginning of their poems
(As if all had been students of Fred D'Aguiar)

And they had all introduced
Something ever so slightly
Out of the ordinary
In such a way as to turn
An ordinary phrase
Into a poetic utterance

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Christopher's Collected Works

The Meditators Alternative Songbook

It didn’t happen that way the next day
Then I was observing the meditation
As opposed to being in the meditation
I was wanting to confirm my experience
As opposed to allowing
The experience to flow into me

I had said, a couple of nights ago
That if we each took time
To concentrate deeply
On a period from our past
Then we would uncover
Many well-shrouded memories

And music may well help that
Especially if happenstance or choice
Might provide comforting
And inspiring sounds
Or if chance and doubtfulness
Find another pathway to follow

I had spent quite some time enabling the iPod
Such that now I feel obliged
To listen to the songwriter’s sad song
Yet I feel for him
That it is a recollection of beauty
Or for the seeker
Who seeks a purpose for his life

And meditation, or surrender, may help that
Especially if the mind’s silence
Becomes present in the moment such that
I can follow the strands of the story
Just as occurred with The Lark Ascending

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Christopher's Collected Works

The Good, The Bad and The...

From Spring Vale to Cutting Edge

From Jiving K Boots to Percy Sledge

On Tuesday nights and Thursday nights

Following the mobile discotheque

Young girls losing their cares

Young boys saying what the heck

Tuesday and Thursday at the discotheque 

Spring Vale to Cutting Edge and what the heck

Would you dance with my friend

She fancies you a lot

I’m only asking because she is quite shy

Would you dance with my friend

Go on give her a shot

I’m only asking because

I don’t want to see her cry

Tuesday and Thursday at the discotheque 

Spring Vale to Cutting Edge and what the heck

So we danced and we danced

And I walked her home

I was smitten

Truly I fancied her quite somewhat

So we danced and we danced

And we were no more alone

I should have asked for her number

But I forgot

From Spring Vale to Cutting Edge

From Jiving K Boots to Percy Sledge

Dance with my friend?

Not a chance, not one jot

Dance with me you inexperienced youth

I can show you

How to taste and sense the sweeter spot

Dance with me

I want you to be wild and uncouth

Tuesday and Thursday at the discotheque 

Spring Vale to Cutting Edge and what the heck

So we danced and we danced

And we didn’t go home

We were rampant together

Were we not

So we danced and we danced

And we clung to the bone

I should have asked for her number

I know that was the plot

Tuesday and Thursday at the discotheque 

Spring Vale to Cutting Edge and what the heck

No one to dance with

All to do is stand and stare

They are both with boys

Of more than equal to your size

No one to dance with

So try to look as if you don’t care

Let them know they’ve missed

Their greatest prize

From Spring Vale to Cutting Edge

From Jiving K Boots to Percy Sledge

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Collected Works

A Reflected Poem

Now I understand the spectrum
Yes, the colours of the rainbows
Yes, the tones of love
Yes, the care in those eyes
If only to follow

To follow without thought
To follow without hope
Taking on board not one thing
Yet overwhelmed by the beauty

Confounded by oneself
Without reason
A life otherwise dictated
Caught in a vague recollection
Of once before
Being subject
To a seasonal fallout

A harsh sentence
No more to it than that
So, as Chumbawamba sang:
I get knocked down
But I get up again

I can see
I can breathe
I can move
I can rest
I can do anything I want
Well, almost

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Christopher's Collected Works Website