The poet's art

The poet’s art

Take a stone
And given the choice, pick one any one
It’s opal every time
Found buried without its sparkle
Subterranean Cinders
Pre-transformation scene
Hone it, this stone
Patience and TLC
Craftsman’s skill in lieu of magic wand
But same gasp!
See the rainbow
Catch kingfisher caught fire, blue
Blood orange, turquoise
Released in laser light show
Personally I think
I’ll never grow immune
Always the heart-lift
A perfect poem
A little low heaven
Beauty held within

27th June 2010, Hounoux

Mantra

Mantra

Om
Na-ma
Shi-va-ya
Om
Na-ma
Shi-va-ya
Seek the god within
Silent in the mountain
Ringing in the bowl
Still, still, quiet, still
Listen, god within
Hear it rising, lark song rising
Dropping, pooling, golden spooling
Liquid in the comb
Om
Na-ma
Shi-va-ya
Still, still, quiet, still
Bliss the god within

22nd June 2010, Hounoux

Dancing with Cohen

Dancing with Cohen

Dance me in a circle
Dizzy whirling round about
Dance me as the sun sets
By the moonlight, beyond doubt
Move me to the drum beat
By the thick black lake of stars
Pounding as the waves break
Feet of thousands from afar
Cohen crooning softly
Through the bloodstream, head to heart
Eternal in a circle
Matisse women, never part
Dance me in the darkness
Passion ringing hear him singing
Dance me, without ceasing
To the end of love

19th June 2010, Hounoux

Grace in a moment

Grace in a moment

And yet he said, the suffering man
In spite of hellish horror
Fleeting rare, but still I’ve known
Grace, just for a moment
When mercifully I have been held
In a life and in a landscape riven with rain
Breath-taking pain
Red rain running gutters despair
Thanks to the loving the kindness of friends
A windbreak in tempest
Peace in the blast
Grace in a moment, just for a moment
When mercifully
I have been held

12th June 2010, Brighton, after ministry at Brighton Quaker Meeting about a man whose son was recently murdered

When days ahead were boundless

When days ahead were boundless

Look there, remember

First day, a party by the sea

Champagne and cake and laughter

Bondi blue sea view surf and sparkle then

First day, when those ahead were boundless

No need to count or dread their passing

Time slow running sand inexorable

Moon and turning tide

And so in shots, in photographs

( Reportage you say)

The sunny days recorded, these two smiling,

Or three, squinting in the glare the bright and cloudless

A glass a glint a ruby, rosé, cold white sauvignon

Sunset moonrise, sky suffused

Pink blush, reflected on the shore

The southern cross by night

A thousand snaps, the shutter's click

The day this place this hour

A small hand's trusting reach

A lilt and lift together, jump the waves

Freeze it in a photograph, hold it if you can

A memory of touching, breath and skin

The mischief in his eyes

Look there, remember

When days ahead were boundless

And we laughed into the sun

2nd June 2010, Bondi, for Dan and H and Z, with love