There's beauty in the silver singin' river

Some of Us

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

Some of us turned to politics
Others crafted poems
some of us ran out of things to say
but continue to say them anyway

The trail through the forest

2011-08-17T20:43:00.001-04:00

If others have trodden and worn down this path
who am I to disagree with where it wants to take me?

In Your Final Days

2011-08-17T20:26:00.003-04:00

Had you the choice to write
without the choice to carry on
would you think back to the poems you have written
or would you write new verse from your dying bed?
What are you writing for,
The past or the future?

If you really think

2011-08-17T20:26:00.001-04:00

If you really think you are frozen in time
study that willow tree
how the branches gently bow

If I could be a writer

2011-08-17T20:23:00.002-04:00

Sitting at this kitchen table
top, etched with knives
circle stained with cups
Like swords and shields left on some ancient battle field
I would not think about history
other than what I have missed
Love could be lighter, light the lover, the beam that shines
all through my history
A poet reaching that age
when poetry is the only romance

Eagles

2011-08-17T20:22:00.004-04:00

This morning
the farmer cut the field of hay
now
the eagles come down to survey

There are so many un-necessary sounds, then there are necessary sounds
such as the farmer cutting hay

Death is Ordinary

2011-08-17T20:22:00.001-04:00

Its life that is quite extraordinary

Chickens

2011-07-16T18:48:00.001-04:00

The black rooster
and the brown hen
clockwork heads
huddled together on the rafters
no more

White Cat

2011-07-16T18:46:00.004-04:00

The white cat
stalks through the un-cut summer grass
too late
the toad is long gone

The River Bed

2011-07-09T14:49:00.002-04:00

Stones brushed by crystals of ice for millenia
now washed by rushing water
they do not fear sheets of rain that fall from the mountain clouds

From where I Sit

2011-07-04T11:23:00.004-04:00

Over the dry fields to the east, there is perfect blue until a white cloud over the water
but over the mountain dark clouds begin to build and roll
I look directly over my head
I am at the border of tumult and calm

The Deer in the Valley

2011-07-04T11:21:00.005-04:00

The skies over the valley pale blue
clouds are gathering around the mountain
the deer in the field over there
continues to look down
and eats purposefully

A Robin Builds Its Nest

2011-07-03T17:42:00.003-04:00

You sit there
comparing everything to everything else
the past with the present
the present with some imagined future;
the robin is happy with its piece of straw

Landslide

2011-07-01T12:19:00.004-04:00

Heavy winter snows followed by a wet spring
the small mountain stream re-locates its banks
earth on the highway
no one is hurt
the traffic moves on

Poetry versus Haiku

2011-07-01T12:17:00.001-04:00

Poems speak to God
Haiku speaks to Nature
Both are loved

Valley

2011-07-01T12:16:00.002-04:00

The warm air from the valley
rises to touch the cool breeze from the mountain
the vultures slowly spiral in increasing circles

Beaches

2011-07-01T12:15:00.003-04:00

One beach of damp rippled sand
The other pebbled grey and brown
The waves caress them both

Boy on the beach

2011-06-25T14:22:00.001-04:00

Total concentration
Dig a channel
fill a bucket
pour the water
watch the physics and the wonder
and do it again
the eternal fascination of children with rivulets and streams

These two notes

2011-06-22T19:45:00.002-04:00

These two notes
played together
may just stop me from crying

I don't mind the rain. Anymore.

2011-05-16T16:06:00.000-04:00

Flood

2011-05-06T21:35:00.000-04:00

We lost everything in the flood of 63
Thwle ice jammed up on the assiniboine river
Photos of.
Washed in a pan.

Standing at the Window of the 27th floor

2011-03-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

Like a Lawen Harris painting, the snow piled as an iceberg, blackend
march sunlight, the promise, the hope of spring..

I could be your lover

2010-10-05T17:28:00.002-04:00

I could be your friend
Lets get together
lets see how this could end

Don't let the world fall down on your shoulder
da da, da da da
markets will fall
markets will rise
your love walks out and another will rise
its the cyle of things
its the internet of things

The Internet of Things

2010-10-05T17:27:00.001-04:00

Remembering because you were there

Trying to Understand The Universe

2010-10-05T17:26:00.000-04:00

One star at a time
breaking down love, one moment
not understanding the whole chaotic pattern of wh
summer and Venus
Winter and Mars
the winter oak the summer bush

Car Bombs In The Market Place

2010-10-05T17:24:00.001-04:00

So many worlds from here
I cannot comprehend
I just look at the winter oak
The olive tree

The Homeless

2010-10-05T17:23:00.000-04:00

Perched like birds on the branches
not knowing the weather
ruffled coats and red faces

The Music Is Still The Music

2010-10-05T17:22:00.000-04:00

The feelings still prevail

Lost Inside

2010-10-05T17:16:00.002-04:00

Walking through this new town
I'm on the outside looking in
I'm on the bottom looking u[
pretty fine houses and all the families
pretty fine spouses

When you're walking down the street

2010-10-05T17:14:00.002-04:00

You see that child
That chiild was you
walking down the street

I can imagine you for ever

2010-10-05T17:13:00.003-04:00

The Front Stalled Over The Eastern Coast

2010-10-05T17:13:00.000-04:00

The front stalled over Baltimore
snow piled up in the streets of
Somwehere
It was a time of
There a big storm coming in

I should have flown in yesterday
I should have been with you by now
but I am stuck in

Like A Dream

2010-09-22T19:07:00.000-04:00

When the sun breaks
on your pillow
Golden ring just like a halo

When the peace takes over the mrning
and dream breaks with longing
breaks
I can "eeem"
Like a dream, like a dream

I am wanting
you are waiting
We keep our thoughts so still within us

I can tell you
you can tell meiting
rhymes with "muss..."

you are

Its much more complicated than

2010-09-13T15:44:00.001-04:00

I love you.
Nothing can be as simple in the beginning and end as simple.
Look to the future end
Nothing can be as cold as the beginning of a spring. Our time together not as long as it was short.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Such a long while ago

2010-06-01T16:32:00.001-04:00

Such a long long while ago
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

How could there not be lovers

2010-05-26T16:27:00.001-04:00

On a wide high blue day like today
When the avenue opens
to adventure
And you want to
Stroll together hand in hand linking your mind
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

The things I must learn in Provence

2010-03-31T16:31:00.001-04:00

French. Speaking it
Slow, slow down
BA outline
Do I do a different contract for the next year
Flawless Bach
Playing out.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Stars Shine Despite The Moonlight

2010-03-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

Stars Shine Despite the Moonlight
Jan 29 2010

Chord C
Capo 7th

Midi
Synth – Warm Pad

Stars are broken
Thru the branches
Stars over the moon
Light of old times over the moon

Bring my time

Star light
Over the moon
Are we waiting for
Are you longing for..

Summers gone now

We are any way some how..

If you cant hld it for me
Ican hold it for you..

Summers gone
Falls over light

Bring our stars
Stars tonght

Where are you now

Your light ,and mine

Such a thin line

2010-02-10T12:32:00.001-05:00

Between what we want and what ww need
B what we are and what we were
Where we are and where wwe might be
Between me and you
Between what wew have and being have not
Between my money and the purse
Between love and no love
Between sadness and madness
Between being sorry and being stupid.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Its not the final curtain

2010-01-28T19:58:00.003-05:00

its not the final curtain
its just the end of the act,
you still have time to take a bow
the audience will clap

encore
Lets do it again
encore
lets try to remain
with each other

We may have weathered all the storms
theres still a break in the clounds
we can take cover
the though the rain will be loud

encore
lets keep together
encore
lets laugh at the weather
encorea
again and again a
in love
with each

I was waiting waiting and waiting

2010-01-17T10:19:00.002-05:00

I was waiting
waiting and waiting
for what I just can't remember now?

I was pacing
and pacing and pacing
around the the streets of the town

Like some sort of lost soul
Looking in windows
beliving they were better of than me

What I now understand
what you must know from me
Just go looking

I was lying
on top of the wall
looking up at the spinning blue sky
I was hoping
hoping and hoping
for what I can't remember why?

If you were to call
I would come right now
If you were to fall
I would come right

Just
waiting and waiting
waiting and waiting
for something

Miscellaneous Thoughts

2010-01-16T10:14:00.001-05:00

Who gave him the gun
who made him king
who appointed you the judge and jury

All my life has been leading down to this

The things that mattered that now don't matter

Listening to you from the other room

2010-01-06T11:41:00.001-05:00

I'm listening to you from the other room
can't here what you're saying
but the fall of your voice
tells me that its another time
another place
that is keeping you interested

Its not your show any more

2010-01-01T12:02:00.002-05:00

It used to be so simple
When every flash would shine
And every one a winner
What have you done
when did you win
The things you have won and lost
but its not your show anymore

This is not where it used to be
so simple and so free
The sky was not a limit
The mountains not a boundary
Rivers a means of getting to the other side

But its not your show anymore
Its time to share the wealth

You Stayed With Me

2009-12-30T20:05:00.003-05:00

You stayed with me
through all the dark times
there was no thought that you would leave

I just assumed
I did not wonder
now that I know
you know it too

That windswept winter
the fields of brown

I should have stayed (the night is long)

2009-12-29T13:37:00.002-05:00

I should have gone
you should have stayed
no much remains
nothing was wrong

So this is the space
here is the floor
once more again
nothing was wrong

Tell me the stories from long ago
Let the wine filter the way it was so
Some how we hold all that was
some how nothing was wrong

The light through the window

Silence

2009-12-19T06:52:00.002-05:00

Without silence, music cannot exist
Silence is there at the beginning, the end and at
the most expressive points in between
It separates what we know and what we want to know

Cliches to avoid

2009-12-13T09:09:00.002-05:00

Retire early
Drink wine
the garden
the lottery ticket
the medical conditions
travel
Making the same mistakes over and over because you can
Spending money without thinking
Buying just for the sake of buying

The rock is the same

2009-11-20T10:32:00.001-05:00

The beer. The worn wood counter top. The grain revealed.
The tvs flicker and change scene in unison.
The gang at the bar all know each other. I know no one.
I could do this every day of my life. Or not.
There is no thread.
Just waiting for something to fall out of the sky other than rain.
Not a good day for relationship building but I will win.
I am in control. One bad manager does not.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

November

2009-11-18T09:13:00.001-05:00

All through that November
the fields swept of leaves by the winds
the milky sky
the trees with bare arms outstretched and shivering

Notes

2009-11-11T19:22:00.001-05:00

She had a dolls house when she was small
You can touch the inside and place the furniture you can feel the outside and the walls.
Its just a blur.
Not eveeything u are going to see is pretty
But it is so wonderful to see u smile
And everyrthing looks just fine
If the world is forcing you to change
Then change the world
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Nothing Has Changed

2009-10-31T16:49:00.001-04:00

How can we begin to trust
when we said that trust was just another word for love and that was all
and look what happened to our love
we're just picking up the pieces now and letting them fall

Nothing has changed
nothing remains the same

The Rain Boston International Airport Lounge

2009-10-18T12:51:00.002-04:00

Drops cascade down the tinted window
like a meteor shower leaving disappearing trails.
The river beyond the grey runway tarmac and the clouds just darker shades on the grey scale.
Lakes of water and green islands in between.

Blue into Blues

2009-09-13T10:27:00.002-04:00

Take them down

2009-09-07T19:44:00.008-04:00

Build no more high walls between us
no more barbed wire rusting on the iron fence
no more shards of glass embedded in the concrete walls
just take them down, take them down

Give no more medals to the soldiers
just because they did not die
and all the statues of the generals on their horses
in the centre of the town
bring them down, bring them down

through the power of the written word
through the symbol of the broken sword
Lets show we can teach the difference
Between what we want and what we believe

Name no more highways after fallen heroes
just because they never came home
and all the cenotaphs of marble
Outside the buildings in the capitol
That we visit just once a year and then ignore
Take them down, take them down

Let remembrance day be every day
but the veterans march grow shorter
old soldiers always die,

carve no names in gold on black granite
build no more museums about war
and all those green painted tanks and guns
that stand in the parks in the centre of the town
take them down, taken them down

no more cololured ribbons tied to trees
no more flags attached to xxx

tie no more coloured ribbons on to trees
no more parties for the onew that
all the scretss and the xx and thexx and the xxx
lets us see them , let us see them
let us see

in pictures and ind words that
xxxxx
s bring
we can stand upon the

lets stand upon a granite plinth
tell the crowds that we
lets tell the crowd that we ....
let the the art implies
that we are free
thatwe remember

the strength of the people watching
we shall over come..

The Girls on the High Street

2009-09-07T19:37:00.012-04:00

The girls on the high street
are like shimmering diamonds
but the boys on the corner
are just panning for gold

You know love can be fleeting
or love ever lasting
here we go, over and over again

If by chance I could meet yhou
I am sure we are xxx we could meet
I could tell you xxx (rhymes with diamond)

we can dream through thhe night
we must never grow old

You know I could love you
You know we could marry
Here we go over and over and over and over and over again

Our plane crosses borders, and cities and mountains
and lands in a desert thats as cold as the moon
Billy and Stephen and Jennifer Wellesley
we just sit in the canteen and talk about home
And curse all the generals and the paid politicians
who send us here over and over and over again

We patrol through the streets and stare at the people
are we the enemey are we the friend
theres no way of knowing we just have to hope that we can
we can come home again home again over again
come home again over again

Luck plays its part
though we know what we're doing
but just by chance we might drive the wrong road

life can be fleeting
life can be lasting
here we come over, and over and over
here we come over again

Now as he morning clouds over
the shop doors are closing
then the sky starts to cry
just like the tears of rain

the procession winds slowly
the morning xxx
Here we go over an over and over

the crowd o nthe high streetr
standing like soldiers
the boys finally sober
the girls look away\
are we still waitin are waitingforsomeone
or some one has returned home
Here we go over and over agin
I wait for your answer
I wait for your question
herer we go over and over and over and over and over and over again

and
we shall over come

We play cards, we doze an we sing silly rhymes liek
here we go over and over and over again

W
the crowd in the high street
stand still just like soldiers
the men finall sober
the girls look away

the procession drives slow
thru the rain

we hope all are wtaching
we hope all are caring
we hope to return

Beautiful

2009-08-09T17:39:00.001-04:00

There is no beauty of style
No beauty of design
No colour, line
Just the beauty of truth
In
The truth that is
Revealed
In your words.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

The Things I Did Before

2008-09-01T09:28:00.001-04:00

The things i did before
are the things I will do now
like standing on the corner just to see you walk by
searching for that smile in your eye

The songs we sang before
are the songs that live right now
singing do wa diddy all the live long day
s....
hey hey hey

In my places, In my world

2008-04-25T20:40:00.004-04:00

There will be some
who I remember
so closely
as if it were yesterday

Just as
there are others who do not recall me
from the moment before the moment now

And yet
the swallow
will fly from from tree to tree
now
This is spring
This is the way to be
There is a world
There is a home
There is a nest

And I will always
remember you
in my spring
and in my fall
from this moment
to the other

The digital age

2008-03-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

Taking up room on the end table
next to the couch
That old clock ticking
The digital age has swept on by
No surely not?

I can see the flickering hockey game on the TV
Or maybe its some dance show, or MTV

Its all the same, its all the same

Poem while walking down the street in Richmond BC

2008-02-23T11:06:00.002-05:00

Its just a momentary lapse
between the comic and the tragic
Its just a thin line beteween the the mundane and the magic

One day you are working on your bike in the driveway
Next thing you know you are flying down the highway
to
LA
And so it goes
And so it should
There is no connection
Why should you be any different from me

With the same abandon

2007-08-02T23:18:00.002-04:00

Yes
lets move
remember
no restrictions
twisting and turning
with the same abandon
some call it
dance

These Are The Night Lovers

2007-08-02T23:13:00.002-04:00

Let us swing our arms unbound
then
let us entwine
then
let us hold
then
let us resume walking
together
although
we will swing
our arms
unbound

We all fall

2007-07-30T15:44:00.002-04:00

And we all land
some where

there is nothing
really nothing
more to say
beyond
help... oh please help

Now...
what
And...
I love you
help.. oh please help

And
then we come back
and there is nothing more to say
other than
thank you for helping me
and
I love you

And we have landed

We dream about the future

2007-07-30T15:37:00.002-04:00

We make up stories about the past
Thats what lovers do
To maintain the precious
Present
That can slip so quickly to
Infinite end

sitting, waiting for the light to change

2007-07-27T17:10:00.001-04:00

in the garden
between supper
and
dusk
it will occur
the light from the north west
will filter through the pine trees
and
then the artifical lights will activate

I am still sitting
waiting
for
the light

Sometimes

2007-07-25T16:47:00.001-04:00

Sometimes its the feeling
Sometimes the movement
That spark
or that non spark
You
sink

we used to live on the edge of the earth

2007-06-28T06:23:00.000-04:00

so close to the edge

we could see the universe

all we have together is our lonliness

2007-06-22T14:30:00.000-04:00

You have given everything

2007-05-16T19:45:00.001-04:00

You have given everything
and I have taken all
You have wanted nothing
I have wanted more

Vein of Gold

What got me to here

2007-03-27T19:16:00.000-04:00

How many random events
Can they be listed
A shy childhood
A failed marriage
Lots of joy
Music
Friends
A random approach
No planning
A curiosity
A desire to learn more
A fascination with many things
An ability for very little
A willingness to listen and listen
A fear of speaking
A joy
A love
A tear
A hope
Tomorrow

Notes from my notebook

2007-03-27T19:02:00.000-04:00

Its the little happenstance
The minor occurrances
Around the main event
Like the
Bottle of wine shared
Beside the
Grand canal in Venice

Eternity

2007-03-27T18:52:00.000-04:00

A day
Is just a nano second
In the eternity of love
But still
That nuclear clock will tick

The woman

2007-03-27T18:48:00.000-04:00

In the next booth
Is a writer
I
Of course
Am not
Just a listener.

Going back

2007-03-27T18:47:00.000-04:00

There's not much more to say
Other than
I returned
Walked around
Looked around
Tried to remember
Did remember
Thought
And moved along
The houses were in good repair
They faces different
Now from different countries
Intriguing accents
So
What was learned
Not much
What was remembered
Not a lot
What was gained
An appreciation of today
Right now

Colin M.Crawford
Consultant
Cell: 416 464 8556
colin.crawford@sympatico.ca

Here I am

2007-03-23T21:16:00.000-04:00

In a bus station
But they have changed a lot since my first overnight bus ride from Toronto to Montreal.
They come, they go
People still run
But the schedules are all LED
The announcements are clear, they are pre-recorded. The clientele are hooded, decorated, colourful.
A good place so sober up
A good place to watch the people go by
There are the seat hoggers there are now the cell phoners. They ones who continually push buttons.

The bus departs on time.
The downtown core.
A great descriptive term. Core. It means a heart, it means something that can be discarded after being consumed.
The bus follows the prescribed route until it reaches the hi way. Short turns. Short ramps. The parking lots. The codominiums. The ribbon of lights. The ink lake water. The single bulbs on top of the cranes. Like what? Not beacons. Just wiinking eyes.

March

2007-03-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

The feeling
the sky, the scent of rain on rotten snow
the trigger
from millenia passed
that speaks to millenia in the future

March

2007-03-08T18:54:00.000-05:00

The March rains
coax the fields to life
the morbid clouds
is just a temporary rage
against what must be

There is too much music

2007-01-17T19:15:00.000-05:00

So much
so much music
No one can hear it all
So be selective,
be so selective
listen

Kickstart

2007-01-17T19:13:00.000-05:00

The idea that is pushed
or promoted
the thought
that starts
momentum.
But the origin is fabricated
Push start
Better. But still contrived
Start
Implies a reason to start
Seed
Much better
Assumes there was before
something
that passed on life to this opportunity

Fighting in an inter-planetary war

2006-12-11T08:09:00.000-05:00

We have not yet started
to move the bigger weapons into place
but already the moon appears to be a logical choice
to settle in
its surface empty, cratered like the fields of Passchendale or Vimy Ridge
the same surface with the teams of soldiers hunkered against the steep sides of a ridge

We then did reconnaissance set our sights on Mars
something about the dust, the ochre, the mountains, the flat plains
very much like Afghanistan
where we had, of course,

What about some humid planet
with fields of green, and thick vegetation..
Vietnam?

Pull out the troops now
before the universe is embroiled

Music

2006-12-06T13:16:00.001-05:00

Music, on the train
both with some velocity, and
a chosen destination

and when both arrive

we stop, get out and look around

Help me understand how a zen buddist boards the plan

2006-11-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

The left, well
the left is definitely on the aisle
the right takes a window seat
this is how we conform
the buddist philosopher
moves down the aisle
and looks from side to side
waiting for a seat but
not wanting a seat

I must wear my national costume
which is
a cloth worn around the waist
a loungi

I came to breath
you came to take my breath away
and use it for some other purpose
And so this is how love begins
with a stolen breath

Notes From My Notebook

2006-11-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

Seven Geese
all landing at the very same time
spaced in close formation
flapping their wings
Like feathered dancers
In a Busby Berkly movie

Yellow leaves
Have settled around the trunk
On the white snow
Like a laurel wreath
Over the head of some
Emperor

Is it fall or spring when death arrives?
Old lady
Taking a photograph
Of a ruined barn
On a clear fall day
But what about the spring
Will the barn be there
Without her
Will she remember the composition?

Notes From My Note Book

2006-11-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

Never noticing the war
until its right there at your door
and you find your hands are bloody

Stop me if you've heard this before
I don't want to repeat myself
But things were different
those were the days
they were golden
or so we thought
Where have you heard this before
I will never understand

I am confused my lord
I can see the hills so clear in the distance
but why must I walk so far
to climb the hills
where we are
we are here

The atom
precious life
the shape
a swirl
the light
the views
stay with who you have
you know I've always treasured life
a precious gift indeed
how can it turn
so tragically

Nothing has changed
stillnothing remains the same
Isn't it strange
how nothing remains the same
We're just picking up the pieces now
but then letting them fall again
Isn't it strange
that nothing remains the same

We're putting on airs
just to hide the lie
that we are where we are
and thats all
Isn't it strange
nothing has changed

There just one lonely chair
left at the end of the garden
sitting underneath the trees
just as the leaves start to fall around
and theres one lonely voice
at the end of this conversation
hes waiting to be heard
and hes waiting for the call
to say hello
nothing has changed and I still love you
hello
well everythings changed but I still love you

Loving you is what I believe in
beliving you is what I love
about you
without the trust
we have not succeeded to love

Walking through my home town
Its the same children's swing
left behind
the mothers no longer bring
the child
the same playground roundabout
that turned us
made us giddy
what more can you show me
what more can we do
can you?

Sometimes

2006-10-25T19:43:00.000-04:00

I can hear a chord strummed slowly
over a bass line
sometimes I can sense a single note
played so low and long

The music comes
the music moves through
the music evaporates

How do we make the music sublime
on the brain cell

Spreading

2006-08-27T10:36:00.000-04:00

Vines
cover the old wall
spreading time over stone
natures disguises
for what?
It might be ugly or exquisitely
beautiful

What I want

2006-08-20T17:34:00.000-04:00

Is what you have
Some time to listen
Some words to sing
Some strength to cry

The words mean a lot
The music means more

Clouds

2006-07-24T16:58:00.000-04:00

Like motes in your eye
Filmy, un-focused
Divided dark, and darker
Greyscale
Like detergent bubbles flowing down the river
Like patterned murano glass
Like soworofski crystal sharp and featured
A lazy, hologram
Three-D
Roiling to the horizon

What is and what is not

2006-07-18T19:55:00.000-04:00

Only the present is.
The past is just stories we colour in what we can't
remember.
Present pain or pleasure
Is always forgotten
Colour it blue.

Zen and the art of screen door installation

2006-07-18T14:51:00.000-04:00

A journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step
so too
the installation of a screen door starts with the first cut
both tasks have an ending so remote, so un-fathomable
the outcome nervously anticipated

But now it must be, it must happen
A fear of blistered feet
or a fear of a crooked screw or bent frame
equally omniscent
A future failure considered and dreaded

So
to approach the installation.
First meditate
Consider that it is done.
Read the rules then meditate on the rules
Until they disappear only to re-appear again as is

Think about each step but only complete them when the mind and body is ready.
The right tools and the right frame of mind.
Do not consider failure
Only consider a satisfactory end.
And then do it.

This is how a "do it yourself" zen master would approach.
With emphasis on each important word.
Do. (The movement, the action)
It. (The challenge ahead)
Yourself (no other soul, just your soul, completing the cycle in the universe).
The journey, the screen door,
transparent, functional, mysterious

Sunlight

2006-07-16T16:33:00.000-04:00

Silvery
crisp
tree shadowed
misty
milky as clouds
matted
muted

Buy String

2006-07-15T11:11:00.000-04:00

Checking out my "to do" list today
The most important item I see
Is to buy some twine
To tie up my hollyhocks
Beaten down by a recent storm

I wonder
What my list would contain
as "must do's"
If I lived with my wife and children
in a small apartment
in a high rise
In Beirut
Beaten down by a recent shelling

It might go something like this:

TO DO:
- Buy food supplies for family (only if available)
- Buy petrol (only if petrol stations are not burning)
- Leave the city (if possible but the roads and bridges are decimated)
- Leave the country (but only if accepted as a refugee in a neighouring country)
- Survive (if God permits)
- Try to understand (but fail ultimately)
- Look for any relief (and any reason to this madness)
- Continue to work the TO DO list tomorrow (if humanly possible)

And
All this to be continued,
again, and again, and again

Somewhere in South Africa there may be art

2006-07-15T11:04:00.000-04:00

Among the rubber tires
Dumped by the side of the road,
rusting corrugated iron roofs
And the winding gully sewer down the middle of the mud path that disappears into the ground beyond the fallen fence
Somehow, through the artifacts that make up this tin town
There may, or may not, be art hidden there
The people who live, eat, sleep and despair
may, or may not be influenced by beauty
and, given the circumstances
would you?

On a jewelled day in June

2006-06-25T07:28:00.002-04:00

You came to visit me
Red top shining against the
Summer sky
Making your presence felt so
I'll remember until the day I die

Notes from my Notebook

2006-06-25T07:28:00.001-04:00

Derek
Is flying to Cuba today
To put a little sun in his life
Drink your wine
Have your fun
Enjoy the time
The future is hard to read
Make mistakes

The tree out of the corner of your eye
Could be frozen in time
Empty playground
Full of sounds
From the Past
Children no more
He had a child

I tried hard not to think
But to be

A pledge
A promise
To always keep dreaming
To look for the music
On the sidewalk or subway station
To find patterns
Where there are none
Where there is no canvas
Other than the space in front of you
No sound
Other than the tree that speaks to you
No beauty
Other than the bird that sings for you
No hard metal just the
Soft touch
To shift from a thought to a dream but
With nothing in between
To switch as swiftly
As surf rushes onto the beach
And sinks and receeds
In anticipation of the end
To be the only eye
Observing

Notes from my Notebook

2006-06-25T07:28:00.000-04:00

I think we both of us
Must want the same thing
But the one goes searching in the wind
The other goes searching for the dream
And now
We need inspiration to see
Through the gaps

From Canada to Kandahar
We've been there before
We'll be there again
The time in between
Was a good thing
No war no misery
But here we go again

Its all in a day

2006-06-25T07:27:00.000-04:00

To sit in the silence in your room
and then, slowly, to hear everything around you;
or, to sit in a crowded sidewalk cafe
And hear nothing until
you pick out a single thread among the voices
and you follow the story;
This is not your life,
These are not your own words
They are stories you can leave behind
Or remember as your own;
its your choice

Its a rainy day

2006-06-22T09:40:00.000-04:00

Looking down
I can see the multi-coloured umbrellas
like petals floating down a rapid stream
Waiting for the sun to beam

Notes From my Notebook

2006-06-22T09:28:00.000-04:00

Why do I write? Why do I sing?
I am just trying to locate myself in the universe

Don't you see?
Everything will be fine now
we will always be free
the fury has passed us by
there is nothing left to prove
no point in running
we are where we are
and that is all

The Greeks had a word for everything
everything that they knew, felt, believed or hoped from
the world, the universe, the Gods they worshipped or feared

but now, we have moved far from beliefs
we hope only for sunny weather, a kitchen renovation
or our home team winning
and our words just reflect the shell, not the essence

What can you do with an old military base?
Things have changed a lot since the war moved underground
It will become a park
where the Pope will preach about peace
the Rolling Stones will sing about the Devil
and people will forget the
heavy artillery, the machinery of war
stored in the hanger