Thursday, September 30, 2010

willow's annual ball

it's willow's annual ball this evening so of course i am very excited.

knowing what to wear is really secondary to having someone to take.
i think last year i went solo and ended up in a bathtub (or so i am told) with an ouija board
and a small crowd of enthralled onlookers
who helped the little oracle tap out the words "time to go home".

this year i thought i'd aim higher so i got in touch through the usual channellers with someone i had a little to do with in my youth - the lady of shalott. happily she was in the mood for getting out and about and with the promise of a new gown to replace her somewhat damp and threadbare attire as well as a basket of hair care products and a primo hair straightener, she was entirely convinced that i was the man she would cut the rug with while hoovering back a few dozen canapes and chasing down a jug or two of veuve-clicquot
on september 30th.

here she is caught almost unawares as she rises from her cushion of ease to give me the first hug we've enjoyed in each others company in over thirty years!


"ah my girl", i warbled in her ear as we clasped each other about the upper back,
"you haven't aged a bit"
(although there was something of a musty odor about her that a little spritz of
chanel no. 5 would quickly put to bed).

oh by the way don't tell her - that's going to be my "going to the ball" gift (to both of us!)

now, as my well-armoured buddy lancelot once mused "she has a lovely face" and when you get her past her slightly melancholy and wary nature, she has an equally lovely personality.
while i'm thinking about it,
she does have a bit of a problem with mirrors so whatever you do make sure to stand between her and anything that she might catch her reflection in!

here's my date warming up her dainty but eye-catching dance moves in preparation for the big night!!!


it looks like it'll be a bare foot night - just like the one she and i last spent together up on bald mountain,
or was it blueberry hill.
not to worry.

i'll see you at the ball!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

september evening rain

standing
under a sky
a monochromatic grey-blue
from foreground to background

lost in thoughts


rain sliding down the neighbour's roof
softens the brown tiles through the grey scale to mocha

not as soft

not as sweet

but holding
the warmth inside

everything growing
on the little bit of earth i live on
is slowing down
pulling inwards

muted colours
are blurred
in the half light
in the way that looking through
soft curtains
gentles the edge of sunlight

my thoughts
wriggle skywards
like fingers of smoke
from a fire
hidden well inside


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

big decisions

as one small feature of a one hundred and twenty kilometre bicycle ride,
a decision had to be made by five riders - do we take the easier way that we had already taken to get to our midpoint, or take a route that has a hard climb with a really incredible view at the top and a steep descent with a very sharp stop at the bottom because of the very sketchy railway crossing?
then a really steep, thigh burning climb out of the valley.

oh, and there's a beautiful swimming hole - too cool at this time of year for swimming but still beautiful.....

my answer?

"i'm happy no matter what we choose because i'm right here right now."

top of the hill . . .


bottom of the hill . . .



sometimes grace just shines on a place, on a moment.

Monday, September 27, 2010

the dance inside


let yourself


be silently drawn


by the stronger pull


of what you really love.


all words by rumi translated by coleman barks

Sunday, September 26, 2010

simple abundance

there's a simple abundance
in ferns


grasses





and little flowers


that
captivates me
in their
feathered
and dappled repetition

Saturday, September 25, 2010

nothing. and then everything


i sat at the picnic table
with the door
right there
within metres

and the stars
above my head
frozen in place

yet dancing
(i could feel the movement)

and all around me
people
sat eating
at their own picnic tables

set on the grass

and all the while
with my back to the door
i was wondering
what's behind that door?

and i
(as has often been my experience)
came up with several
possibilities

because i saw the entirety
of the experience
as so much like
the trajectory of my existence

sitting on a stage
wondering

and i decided
that really
were i to open that door
there'd be nothing

nothing at all

not a hallway
or a landscape beyond compare

not a mirror
revealing me to my self

not a wish fulfilled

not a wormhole
to the next stage of my soul's existence

there'd be nothing.

and then
everything


Friday, September 24, 2010

late september

it's colder at night now
upstairs i can hear my son coughing

his september cold


everything returns
to itself
and waits


light glows
and then passes through

the softer colours

Thursday, September 23, 2010

rainwebs

early morning
autumn rain
gathers on the webs
of countless
little spiders



a silk sky
filled with
water stars



and jewelled clouds



a deep field view
back to the beginning

again


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

so late

oh my little golden friend
how brave to appear
so late in the summer
when the nights are so chill

your children will give me purpose
and cause to remember you
when i walk through my gardens next year

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

the tattered flags

the tattered flags of a day

in the air
the songs of the tired
all-day birds

i saw in the light
and wish it well on its chariot journey
across the sky and back again



as it leaves behind
the salmon and bible-black clouds
of its passing


Monday, September 20, 2010

the slow drift in and away

a cloud
drifted over
hovered still
and held fast


the wind
blew through my garden
and the grasses
took it in and
waved golden fingers
that tugged and pulled
at the deep blue sheets of sky



and of course the russian sage
drew pale purple fingers
across the scattering clouds

scattering

oh yes

for all the while the sky
was crowding full


of stories
waiting to break



each beginning with the word
"evening"

Sunday, September 19, 2010

waymarker


this beach is always a special place for me to walk

my father walked it


i find it interesting
that we both have tried to decode its mysteries
to understand and share
something of its cultivated rawness

to the degree that is possible it has been tamed -
if it is possible to tame water and rock

i think you can contain their mystery
perhaps even restrain some of their larger actions for a little while

but the subtle purpose and detail of their existence
carries on without concern
for those little interventions

for that's what they are
and what they will be






Saturday, September 18, 2010

soft striations

imagine

on a warm summer's day
running your hands
over rock surfaces
such as these


feel the cool
hardness
of the shadowy
striations


the splash
of waves
spraying
small cold
exclamation marks of themselves
against your own
warm skin


Friday, September 17, 2010

inner glow




today i have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that i was looking for.

i am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

my heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.

your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden

your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant
for me
the earth and sky.

words excerpted from "looking for your face" by rumi

Thursday, September 16, 2010

softly gilded


the muted
unlikeliness
of early evening light





Wednesday, September 15, 2010

in their gardens

flowers
are so much like
the lingering kiss
of lips
that
touch
without touching


a formless space
inside and around which
the depths
of eternity
form


stories
from seed
to flower


of sun and rain
and wind
and little visitors


and the unconditional care
of the gardener
whose soft voice
and kind hands
nurtures
the astonishing beauty
that is a flower
into
the fullness
of its presence



a heartfelt thankyou to my mum (ruth) and my aunt (margaret) who in so many ways bring beauty and goodness into my life, these flowers being among the many gifts they share with the world.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

darkest dreaming

stay tonight
we'll watch the full moon rising
hold on tight
the sky is breaking
i don't ever want to be alone
with all my darkest dreaming
hold me close
the sky is breaking

i don't ever want to be alone
with all my darkest dreaming
hold me close
the sky is breaking

david sylvian

Monday, September 13, 2010

the gift from the manor (in summer)


not long before christmas of 2009
a gift arrived


an oleg cassini crystal paperweight!

in my letter of thanks to her
i included a commitment -
to photograph the crystal through the seasons.

here then
is summer.


cradled in the arms of the extravagantly scented and abundant russian sage.



my blessings and gratitude willow!!

to see the crystal in winter go here.
to see the crystal in spring go here.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

as summer's end is nigh


when summer's end is nighing
and skies at evening cloud
i muse on change and fortune


from hill and cloud and heaven
night welled through lane and hollow
and hushed the countryside



and i with earth and nightfall -
they came and were and are not


all words excerpted from a. e. housman's poem: when summer's end is nighing