When the sun is high and bright and strong
We feel that it will always be the same
But when we live on earth we know we’re wrong
And for that darkness we have got a name
Now in England we have lights and screens
We do not fear the dark,the devils’ night
But often in the winter we will dream
Of summer heat and places full of light
The steps at Aldeburgh where we saw the sea
The cliffs at Lyme and Charmouth in the spring
But from such places I dread memory
The pain of loss is hard and no child brings
Now the sky is lilac in the dusk
In creation I find what I trust
Oh, lidded kettle boil me water fast I cannot live without your heated blast Your spout is small but perfect for its use And, as your lid is hinged. it can’t get lost
An electric kettle made by Russell Hobbs A teapot with a spout and lid with knob Are what the Britons need in times of storm If crisis comes, we need tea hot,not warm
I don’t object to diverse kettle brands. We had a coal fire once with kettle stand. Its metal black from soot and burned by coke We made our neighbours tea which seemed to smoke.
Ah,kettle ,instrument of civil life We cannot boil our water on a knife
Autumn rust,red,gold,so gay.
Drystone walls edging fields,
Apples gathered,holly berries
Flash so brightly
Look like flowers
Sun shines sideways,shadows long
Of trees appear I dwell among
Woods of gentle beeches sing
Swaying with the sideward wind.
See their roots, all intertwined.
Feel their geometry in the mind.
Look up now into the sky,
See the V formation high.
Geese fly home at end of day.
My heart is moved by patterned dance
In this peace and great silence
My mind widens like the sky
And in this moment I would die,
So I would stay with this still vision
Of geese set out on autumn mission.
Snails in rain pools slither near
My feet upon the terrace here
And look,upon their whorled backs
All the sense of life is packed.
And yet so easily Life’s destroyed,
When blind foot steps into the void.
The myriad random movements, words and signs Inanimate, cold blooded,hot or warm In mystery make the world, complete, designed
From the stars at night, to needles’ eyes Every size is present eye to horn The myriad random movements, words and signs
Yet, not robotic, shivering, alive Like a human baby when new born In mystery the world is fresh, designed
So every morning we awake surprised The dreams we had afflict us like flung stones The random movements, words and latent signs
Are dreams the truth or can the unknown lie? Are we subject to their nightly roams? The mystery is the world makes its designs
As the wild geese land at one in storms The murmurations of the starlings charm The myriad random movements, words and signs In mystery make the world, replete,divine
Oh,Alfred,my beloved,do not go Do not leave, but warmth to me bestow, Lie beside me in my bed all night Succour me when stormy dreams affright.
Oh,Alfred,-’tis your eyes that turn me on The green and golden light is never gone. Affection constant, touch and feeling shared. I am not embarrassed when you stare.
For you , the gallant male, have often seen My naked form well lit by Jove’s sunbeams And if I wear a gown of wincyette You love it as it’s nice for paws of cat.
Alfred ,we can’t marry yet I fear. Cats can’t read the Book of Common Prayer.
Too old for cold,I stand, now ,against the hedge, Watching the snowflakes in the glare of neon street lights. Darkness has come early,and I think of country uplands and huddled sheep. On Salisbury Plain,shepherds watched their flocks Just as in Bethlehem two thousand years before, And then,exactly when? “Between the wars”,it stopped. Now we know there is no “Between the wars”. And who decided To cull the sheep and shepherds and the space for kindness ? Now that same Plain still exists,but banned And closed to human-kind, For bombs ,not wombs Nor for birth of lamb ,nor gypsy child ,nor Saviour Where would He go today?
All the number of words which is used to determine
The middle of a sentence? 1
How accurate
does it have to be?
I’m not sure what this has got to do with a prisons crisis but believe me if I write a very very long sentence or a very short sentence I did not really believe it’s going to make the slices difference to the 500 people put into prison after the orb was riots last summer in Southport and another areas mainly in the north of England.
I spent my life with books on how to live Then when death was near I really did I saw the little smile on my friend’s face I saw the shining eyes, the lost embrace I gathered up these books and threw them out I wasted time in thought and curious doubt Let’s leave our heads alone and use our sense To hear a bird sing to enthrall his spouse To see a swallow dip and fly away\ To see a little orange butterfly Sailing like a flower across the sky The silken skin of children and their gl
What did all those sermons do? Did they say he was a Jew? Oh, Jesus. Did he want the First Crusade It is his blood the priest creates Lord Jesus. I don’t like the way things are I am getting tired of war Kill Jesus. What has human wisdom done From Wittgenstein to Abraham? Cripes, Jesus! Does research improve our lives As for grants, the scholars strive? Ask Jesus. We may have chemotherapy Radiation, history. Where’s Jesus? You’d think that after all the years We’d have used up all our tears Sweet Jesus. Love your neighbour as yourself Give 10 % of all your wealth Aye, Jesus .Do what’s better, not what’s worse I see another fragrant hearse. It’s Jesus. See the plastic Crucifix See him dying with dry lips Bend your knees, confess your sins Otherwise, the Devil wins Not Jesus .We destroy the good we hate Envy writhes and with pride mates. The progeny will wreck the earth Eden’s burning as drones pass. No, Jesus.No Jesus. Know Jesus.
Evoking the beauty, the stars so far away, I like to watch geese at the end of day. Patterns and poems disclose other worlds. Feel the hand of a baby with the fingers all curled
See the trust and the smile when the mother is home, To create entire worlds for the one she has borne. For chaos and panic or not far away Even in adults who don’t care to say.
The little hands touch me so deeply, so well; How come the world is diving to hell? How can we kill little wains by the score Was it for this that I opened your door?
Was it for this that love electrified us, And we were lost in each other, in the holy white dove. Was it for war that we gave love our wombs Making more soldiers and filling more tombs?
The bombs are a-loading they’re having parades. It’s not North Korea, it’s Washington, dude. Let the tanks roll on Corrie and the Bedouin tribes. Let the allies laugh blindly as the Lord Jesus dies.
O take me, dear mother.Please take me away I can’t see no point in saying my prayers. The leaders’ religions are making God frown. The desert is empty, the tents all dragged down.
The centuries of living so free , so mobile; The holy land blessing as they pause for while. The little black tents like wombs of the night Are all gone to shredders as we sing, Silent Night.
A strange flawed beauty caught my naked eye As if some monstrous beast is hiding near Where deep rose clouds hang from a darker sky
Now the rose has gone and all is grey The night will fall and sorrow is our fare A shattered beauty caught by mirrored eye
Yet underneath night sorrow there is joy The wisdom of the ages does not stare Though deep rose clouds hang from a darker sky
Now I see some gold spread unalloyed The artist we can worship ,love, revere Beauty, fearless, caught in mirrored eye
Nature in her way will never lie Yet she can kill what humans hold most dear While deep rose clouds hang from a near night sky
In the clouds of sadness faces leer Hallucinations look but cannot jeer Such beauty ,numinous ,affects my eye While deep rose clouds sing from a darkening sky
I’m frequently impressed when I remember sayings adages, things my mother used to say which are often related to bodily states
When I couldn’t find my glasses I was searching nervously or frantically and only found them when I gave up…..
I remembered my mother saying
You can’t see, for looking.
This is very interesting because like language itself and the developments from it these are coming from the lips of ordinary People. And they’re recognisinhg something which is only in the last hundred years been scientifically described I believe.
There are two kinds of seeing
Very focussed seeing.. narrow purposive vision… This is when we’ve got some thing which our mind is pinned on to and we ignore everything else apart from that very narrow bit of the world that we see very intently. We can also switch into this when we’re under stress, severe stress sometimes.
Then there is the way that the owl must look when it is looking from the tree for something to eat
Wide vision where you’re not focusing sharply on any individual spot in the landscape but your eyes widened and you’re scanning the whole at once. When the owl sees something then he or she must switch into the sharply focused mode and swoop down to catch the little beast that was spotted so the owl could have something to eat
I think artists also will be familiar with this. The eye muscles have to be relaxed which will happen spontaneously when necessary or sometimes you can do it deliberately. There are breathing techniques and relaxation techniques which can switch into this mode
Going back to the adage
You can’t see for looking.
See refers to broad vision with the eye muscles relaxed
And ,cleverly, looking refers to sharply focused vision
So if you’re looking too hard you can’t see
Well it took me 48 hours to find my glasses
I had taken them off in my bedroom to put some sunscreen on my face and then I couldn’t find them
I was looking in the bedroom for them
But when I found them they were downstairs in the sitting room
I wasn’t even trying to find them them and I’d given up completely
My old ones are adequate for most purposes but nevertheless if you if you wear glasses you know that having the ones you’re used to especially for reading is really very important and some of us feel incomplete without them.
I’m always grateful when I find something and I often look up at the sky and say
Thank you.
And thank you to all those human beings that came before us and left us wisdom in these sayings. And this was long before they were schools and universities and other learning organizations.
I sometimes think that we are getting less intelligence as time goes on.
The tragedy in germany has brought home just fragile life might be I know it could end is any moment
We must make the most of what we have left every minute,every every day every week
The beauty of flowers and people’s faces
The love we have for our friends
Let’s not waste it especially in ways which actually make life less than it should be like reading too much social media conversations which are mainly grumbling and moaning
It is very difficult for some people like the poor to enjoy life but there are few of us who could enjoy it more if we decided to do so and yes you can decide by changing the direction and focus of your attention
People were happy before washing machines were invented before microwaves before motor cars and ensuite bathrooms. n fact doing the washing in a river with the other women of your tribe would have been hard work but also companionship and help modern conveniences can make us more lonely while we’re using them at home and also we may have to work longer hours in order to pay for all these things
In fact doing the washing in a river with the other women of your tribe would have been hard work but also companionship and help modern conveniences can make us more lonely while we’re using them at home and also we may have to work longer hours in order to pay for all these things
I know what my new year resolutions are going to be
It’s Autumn weather, geese fly by;
How my heart speaks 