Tag: life

WORDS RISE UP

Poetry

The highest calling of the mind

Is to choose the words that free or bind.

Without choice words  in true design

Human beings will be quite blind

 
York Minster,home of sacred song and word
 

 

After writing about maps I began to write about words.Words are very powerful in any kind of society but more so in a highly literate one.Words can be sacred or mundane.They can be loving or heartbreaking.And in English we have so many of them because English was developed from several other languages….Anglo-Saxon,French,Latin,Greek,Celtic…..so more than one word for some things.Here in this poem I compare words to birds [ geese ] flocking into the sky like words flock into our minds

 

Words rise up like geese at dawn

When with pale sun new day is born

The words approach and dance in line

The choice of words is mine

 

 

Words spelled here by sense and sound

In clause and sentence weave around.

Which tempting words shall I now use

And which shall I refuse?

 

 

The fire lights up inside my heart

So now my writing hand can start/

I sit down at my desk and say

“This is the way I spend my day.

With words I sing and play!

The promised land

England’s green and pleasant Land

England's green and pleasant Land [from Jerusalem,by William Blake]

Note: This was a surprise to me when I was writing the last part .I will try to explain.At first I started off wanting to write a poem about nature,And evening falling as the sun set.However something else seemed to take over for the last few verses.I was especially surprised by the end….”.at last we have reached the promised land”

That is the best thing about writing poetry,that it can surprise the writer as much as if it were written by someone else.Also it is very absorbing so that the time seems to very quickly.Sometimes a serious poem has turned into a funny one and I laugh out loud.So it saves having to buy funny books….I can amuse myself.Writing  is even better than reading.

Just think of anything at all for the first line,then make a second line,then all of a sudden …you are off.Some days are better than others and you need an hour or two to do it.Or come  backto it later to edit it and knock into shape.It is a bit like sculpture,I imagine.

Joy sings out loud in golden light

Yet after day comes black of night.

New moon is rising by gray trees

This earth is where I want to be.

I want the day,I want the night

I want the darkI want the light.

I want to see and to be seen,

And not to lose myself in dreams.

The sun has set ,gray clouds turn black,

The day just gone will not come back.

I’ll rest in quiet reverie

Until the Reapers’s scythe takes me.

And then I drop and mix with dust,

And worms and beetles sate their lust.

I fall into ten thousand motes

And in sunlight ,dance music’s notes.

No more striving.no more ambition,

No more fighting,nor competition.

Every particle’s the same,

Without even a personal name.

And side by side,we all are one.

The lusts of life have been and gone.

We dwell with dirt and grain and sand

At last we’ve reached the Promised Land,

The inarticulate

Beware of people who talk a great deal of their religion,their supposed holiness and their wonderful deeds.For this may be a trap for the innocent.Satan is reputed to have a smooth tongue and an eye for our weaknesses

The poor in spirit, the in articulate,the wounded may he kinder guides to living your life well.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,for they shall see God.

The skylark

Freed from her trap
Bird soared into air,and hovered
And floated, resting;
And flew higher, singing as she flew,
And higher again,
Till there was only her song,
Left in the silence,
Trembling.

Up on the wide,stump topped hill,
I felt the lark inside my heart
And heard her singing.
And flying up with her,
I saw gold sun and silver moon,
Moors of heather ,and sheep grazing
Green hills,
And shimmering lakes,
Clouds ,sun and sky in watery mirrors.
And sang ,and dipped,and dropped,
And curled
Up the blue
Bright heaven, and rested
On the wind.
All that day
I was a lark singing.

I shall always have a vision of
A bird
That flew upwards,
Rejoicing and free
Into a deep blue sky, and high
And higher
Beyond high
Into a place, beyond eye even,
But music still sending.

I wish I were back on that heathery moor,
With the nibbling sheep and the bees sweetly humming,
Hearing again
The poignant song
Of the skylark,
A prisoner,freed by a magician,
From her trap,
So happy to be free,
So wonderful to see.
Do it again,
For me,

Inside and outside and our risky life

 

Windows are a way of viewing the outside from the inside and the inside  from the outside.Of course we don’tt think of our windows as being for others to look into our private rooms but most of us have looked through the window of a house at some time.Also there is a danger of thieves getting in,so windows and doors are vulnerable points in the fabric of a house not  nlike the orifices in the body  of which some receive and others expel matter.These places give us pain too or pleasure.And life

We may live alone and if very shy not have close relationships but even so the air comes into our noses and breath comes back out from the lungs.If we can’t do that we will die quickly.And our insides are full of bacteria and other organisms..~So we cannot shut ourselves off completely from any interaction.You are only totally secure if you are dead.

Life is inherently risky.Trees live for hundreds of years.Some insects only for a few months.

These people live………….Ansel Adams

These people live again in print as intensely as when their images were captured on old dry plates of sixty years ago… I am walking in their alleys, standing in their rooms and sheds and workshops, looking in and out of their windows. Any they in turn seem to be aware of me.
Ansel Adams

Windows by Charles Baudelaire

Looking from outside into an open window one never sees as much as when one looks through a closed window. There is nothing more profound, more mysterious, more pregnant, more insidious, more dazzling than a window lighted by a single candle. What one can see out in the sunlight is always less interesting than what goes on behind a windowpane. In that black or luminous square life lives, life dreams, life suffers.

Across the ocean of roofs I can see a middle-aged woman, her face already lined, who is forever bending over something and who never goes out. Out of her face, her dress, and her gestures, our of practically nothing at all, I have made up this woman’s story, or rather legend, and sometimes I tell it to myself and weep.

If it had been and old man I could have made up his just as well.

And I go to bed proud to have lived and to have suffered in some one besides myself.

Perhaps you will say “Are you sure that your story is the really one?” But what does it matter what reality is outside myself, so long as it has helped me to live, to feel that I am, and what I am?

Charles Baudelaire

Wearing glasses

I never thought before about the fact that some of us are “behind a glass” all the time since we need spectacles.I have had them so long I can’t imagine seeing in another way.When I was a child there was a saying
Men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses
In the current situation men won’t be making  passes at any girls  if the fear of being accused of harassment gets worse.
Anyway,in my experience men don’t mind if you wear glasses.Maybe more men would have chased me but I had  sufficient.I didn’t want too many  I had my own life to lead. and  I feel sorry sometimes when I reject them.. it’s hard for some men but they have to realize that is life and they will find a nicer  more beautiful woman elsewhere.
I must admit I hated wearing glasses at first.I wonder of it does affect one always looking through glass or plastic?Still the hands and face are free to feel the air on them.

People can stand what is true

Image

Eugene T. Gendlin quotes

From Goodreads site

“What is true is already so. Owning up to it doesn’t make it worse. Not being open about it doesn’t make it go away. And because it’s true, it is what is there to be interacted with. Anything untrue isn’t there to be lived. People can stand what is true, for they are already enduring it.”
― Eugene T. Gendlin, Focusing

whisky and tea | “Yes, of course we were pretentious — what else is youth for?” – Julian Barnes

whisky and tea | “Yes, of course we were pretentious — what else is youth for?” – Julian Barnes.

I have found this blog which is giving me  pleasure and knowledge … the Sylvia Plath post is very touching…I can’t see anywhere to comment thouigh.

Take a look… wonderful post on the Anglican Church

Lonely even with people in one’s life?

“Lonely people can have others in their life in some fashion, including many acquaintances. What they lack is a true connection with someone. For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to forge a bond with someone who will be there for them for the long-term. The inability to share their greatest joys and fears with someone who cares about them is what makes people feel lonely.”

Read more here

Into summer
Into summer

I was joking about staring into windows

The talk  of me staring into windows may have given a bad impression.I only stare into a window if the light is on and the curtains are open… and my main interest is the decor.If a person was there I wouldn’t stare.I’d just give a quick glance to see if they were ironing their trousers without taking them off .. it happens…so I have heard but not seen it yet.

Which leads me to tonight’s aphorism:

If you never wash your trousers you will never have to iron them

Which brings to my mind an interview with a well know star who was discussing her life with a journalist.She said she never washes her knickers because she throws them out every night and wears a brand new pair in the morning… what a waste.Has she never hears of the laundrette or even a washing machine?I wonder of she only wears a dress once?No doubt they can be dry cleaned …unlike underwear.

Still it shows you what the wealthy spend their money on!No wonder bankers want ten grand a month in bonuses… it’s KNICKERS!

 

 

 

I found it interesting what my mind was thinking about

I never realized I was interested in windows and mirrors until I wrote this blog.I know that the mirror is a very potent symbol and enjoyed reading,Alice through the looking glass.And I only look into windows because I am curious to see how people design the interior of their home,Maybe we are too secretive.Not that I’d want people peering in at my untidy home.

I know some men used to like watching women open their powder compact and put lipstick on while looking into the mirror…I have seen them smiling as they watch.I rarely wear lipstick because after a few minutes it has gone….I often wonder how others keep it.Maybe I bought it too cheaply.But also I don’t often think of myself as the object of the gaze of another.I almost feel as if I am invisible in a way.Life is strange

Vocation
vo·ca·tion  (v-kshn)

n.

1. A regular occupation, especially one for which a person is particularly suited or qualified.
2. An inclination, as if in response to a summons, to undertake a certain kind of work, especially a religious career; a calling.
[Middle English vocacioun, divine call to a religious life, from Old French vocation, from Latin vocti, voctin-, a calling, from voctus, past participle of vocre, to call; see wekw- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

vocation [vəʊˈkeɪʃən]

n

1. a specified occupation, profession, or trade
2.

a.  a special urge, inclination, or predisposition to a particular calling or career, esp a religious one
b.  such a calling or career

[from Latin vocātiō a calling, from vocāre to call]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. vocation - the particular occupation for which you are trainedvocation – the particular occupation for which you are trained

job, line of work, occupation, business, line – the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money; “he’s not in my line of business”
specialism, specialization, specialty, speciality, specialisation – the special line of work you have adopted as your career; “his specialization is gastroenterology”
lifework – the principal work of your career
walk of life, walk – careers in general; “it happens in all walks of life”
business life, professional life – a career in industrial or commercial or professional activities
2. vocation – a body of people doing the same kind of work

body – a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity; “the whole body filed out of the auditorium”; “the student body”; “administrative body”
profession – the body of people in a learned occupation; “the news spread rapidly through the medical profession”; “they formed a community of scientists”
press corps – a group of journalists representing different publications who all cover the same topics; “the White House press corps”

The Storyteller Online – Dr. Mike Lockett

The Storyteller Online – Dr. Mike Lockett.

frog15-2

This story of what happened to the frog that fell into the milk pail is so important that everyone should read it.I believe it is one of Aesop’s fables.It has an important message…never give up even if you feel hopeless.

We used to have a saying,”While there is life there is hope” and sometimes you can help yourself and achieve something of immense value to you….namely that you have persevered and worked hard and something has changed.Often we need the help of honest friends too when we are in trouble.

Anthropomorphic ideas and further thoughts about living

From here
An·thro·po·morph·ic /ˌænθrəpəˈmoɚfɪk/ adjective
1 : described or thought of as being like human beings in appearance, behavior, etc.
▪ a story in which the characters are anthropomorphic animals

2 : considering animals, objects, etc., as having human qualities
▪ anthropomorphic beliefs about nature

The reason I have posted this is that I know as a child I saw chairs and tables and houses a living beings.And the windows were eyes,the door a mouth.When I was looking up where the word “door” originated it came  a thousand years ago from the word for mouth.So human beings did see the way I used to see….and no doubt further back that’s why they saw trees inhabited by living spirits for example.Everything was alive and had a personal quality.That could be frightening if you saw storms and gales that way.Maybe at some level we do still think that way and ascribe motives to the beings in the storm who want to harm us

Some people still believe in demons but I don’t.Epileptics were regarded ad possessed by demons until quite recently.

I prefer different language…. it’s a way  of attacking other people saying they are possessed by demons, which I object to.

And it creates problems .by saying that you push afflicted people away.Some folk say that because demons are mentioned in the Bible they must exist.Well,remember much of what was written was explained in ways accepted then as they knew nothing of the medical science we know now.Even great prophets can only use the concepts which exist  in the era in which they live.And also translations alter the meaning inadvertently.The Bible was not written originally in English.

The problem of evil and whether there is an evil principle as an opponent of God is very complex  and wondering about does not to my mind help me to live better .I trust in God whatever that means.

Unshakable Hope | “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

Unshakable Hope | “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13).

This is really heart warming and moving

Friendly fire?

Image from the Reverie Sanctuary  11 March 2012
:
This joke is from here.It reminds me of a saying  which is common here,in fact it is hackneyed ..with friends like these,who needs enemies?I suppose we expect more from friends so feel more hurt if they betray us or toss us  aside like an old dish rag when they meet someone they believe is superior to us..but beware.The Ides of March are approaching and remember what happened then?
If a person in YOUR life has more problems than a math book, more drama than a screenplay, and more game plays than a football playbook, then before you are driven to tears like in the movie The Notebook, let them go.

 Eugene Nathaniel Butler quotes  |

Knock on the windows of opportunity or break the glass

The phrase “the window of opportunity” seems not wholly   satisfactory

.Admittedly you can see through a window unless you have thick net curtains but how many of us would be able to leap out of the window and seize the opportunity by the throat,if you see what I mean? And  if you were in the attic you’d be dead before you got  there…so what we need are “doors of opportunity”

The problem with that is you can’s see through a door unless it’s either got a window or is a glass door..So if you want success try living outside in a transparent tent where nothing will get in your way if anything passes by and your will get free publicity

I expect the phrase was made up by someone who writes speeches for politicians.

If you want a to  succeed you must  grasp the windows of opportunity as they go by and squeeze every last drop of rum out of them [try the tygers of wrath too]

She was only a little window but she was the window for me

Do not ask what your windows can do for you but what you can do for your windows.

Look through the windows and seize the day.Unless it’s  a dark night in which case visit a brothel  if they have windows

And one day all our children will be able to choose their own windows..red,yellow  ,……………..mix your own…..free windows ..

Windows are the eyes of the house

Don’t be shy if opportunity peeks into your window.Peek right back at it…

Ich bin ein Window! Moi aussi.Ma femme!

Where is she now, the  rich widow of my opportunity?

To look or not to look.Out of a selection

Never close the door in case someone wealthy passes by on the other side.and merely glances at your window.

Now is the Window of our discontent made gloriously plumper with our sunny walk

One good window deserves another.

I’ll be your window, if you open your door

Windows,they ought to be taxed I say.

Windows.. they give you an illusion of being in the sun but did you know we can see  in…and we saw you and the mirror on your ceiling…anything to say in  your pretense?

I think being curious is better than not being interested

Photo0261 2

A canal

Maybe this is a rationalization but I believe it’s a good thing to look into other people’s houses,after all that’s why windows were invented.. so people could see in.That’s what  my mother told me and who am I to contradict her?

Yes,who am I?Someone who looks into windows.Once I had a boyfriend who was very handsome.. only once,but there we go.As we were out walking by a canal.. so romantic.. we passed the back of some houses and he told me it was a crime to look into a woman’s bedroom and watch her undressing.

But unless you were very tall,how could you look into her bedroom and anyway how would  you know which one it was

Would you ring the bell and say,

Excuse me,.madam,which room do you sleep in?

And she might say.

Who are you,the KGB?

And pour a pan of water over his head or maybe some ink….

..come to think of it,that would explain a  lot. about his appearance!

I guess,reading between the lines, he wanted to watch me undress but I kept quiet.Another time we got caught in heavy rain riding our bikes [yes,no cars thenm] When we got back to his place,he was so kind.He said,

Your trousers look wet.I don’t mind if you take them off.

. but a little bird warned me not to…I only had the one pair and maybe he wanted them for himself!

He never took me out for a meal  but he was extremely good looking.. dark hair,brown eyes and  pale creamy skin… on his face.. I never saw his body as we broke up before long and I was a virgin in those days although I did use Tampax which was forbidden by the Bishop..

Can you believe it?A  Bishop  should never have heard of Tampax.. they were all celibate then.I thought before it meant celebrate but I realised later it was nothing to celebrate.

Anyway,I guess after using those super large ones I was not a virgin and it was easier than finding another handsome boyfriend..no point sleeping with an ugly one unless you are extremely kind which I am not….I’m just fairly kind and selfish in the usual way..I want my own way.

Blimey,what was I going to say?

Oh,yes,don’t draw the curtains as I am painting them tomorrow..And then I shall draw them or was it the other way round?

Where has Sunday gone?

Sunday evening is a time when in the UK those who have jobs get ready to go into work [unless they are on shifts].Children prepare their school bags… the weekkend is coming to an end

How different though is the earlier part of Sunday from what is was in my youth.In those days the shops were closed and we would visit relatives after we had been to Church in the morning.We would have the traditional English breakfast of eggs and bacon with delicious fried bread.. [after Mass if we had fasted in order to receive Holy Communion]

In the summer during the afternoon we were often taken out by bus into the countryside.Sometimes relatives would come.Otherwise we had no phone and  would just go round unannounced and be given tea.There was a special quiet calm feeling on Sunday.

After the  special Sunday dinner,mothers would do little cooking later on..So it was a bit of a rest for them.Men would relax,smoke a cigarette and discuss politics or football.Women would knit as they chatted and children roamed free  in the streets and parks.

Now,Sunday is almost like any other day.Many people work to keep shops open..Instead of Church it’s Starbucks or Costa Coffee.Children even of secondary school age are supervised all the time and roaming free is no longer possible.There is a feeling of fear in the air..there were always paedophiles and  fear has escalated.We have too many news programmes so if someome in Florida dies in a fire we hear it here in the UK…we need boundaries,

And the most important fact is we cannot now call in on anyone because now Sunday is not a day when everyone will be at home.Indeed a roast Sunday dinner is a rare event… more likely it will be horsemeat burgers abd frozen chips.The fridge is full and each person can pick a meal and heat it in the microwave.Some children come to school who have never eaten at a table or used cutlery.Some are not toilet trained at five!

A free day for personal and social life,as well as the time for religious activities,mediation or conversation… that has almost gone…and what a loss it is.We could drive  out to visit friends as  it was the only day traffic was low… but now we just can’t do that.Every day we have delivery lorries and other heavy traffic.

Mostly the loss is that day when apart from religious sevices there was the freedom to socialise and meet people knowing they were not in a hurry.We were allowed to play but women did not do washing,ironing or heavy work..so they could be with their husband and enjoy watching their children play

The one advantage is that now many old people live alone and so to have the shops and Library open is very nice for them…but the loss is something irreparable.

Some write,some have rites and some have OCD

Photo0274

I may have put a jokey title but I know OCD is nothing to joke about…… it is  hard for sufferers and their families

Yet all rites and rituals are cousins to OCD.I suppose the distinction may  come  if you find that you grow fearful and distraught when, by some chance, you cannot carry out your usual rites and rituals like washing your hands ten times or avoiding cracks in the sidewalk or pavement……many children fear that but most forget as they grow more confident

I certainly hate to see my early morning tea if it’s in the wrong cup but not enough to stop me from drinking 5 mugfuls of it.I am a tea lady ..one drink I cannot live without

Religion has, as one important aspect, a way of attempting to create order in a frightening world.We make offerings to placate the gods who cause storms and fires and epidemic diseases.Though by now we ourselves  have created even worse darker gods, like nuclear bombs

I think the value of rellgion is the coming together and getting strength through that.

It unites people in a helpful way [ except for the other people who have different rites.]

People with OCD often have rituals which are private… and if they can’t do them they are agitated  almost beyond endurance…But if they can do them they feel safer… And sometimes they can  take  over  a life and then the person needs help or courage to face the hidden fear and outface it.

The same way,if your religion takes over your life  I think you need help.Religion is to encourage you live a better life not cause you excessive misery and pain… or not too much…we all do wrong,we all make mistakes… we do penance.We are forgiven,we forgive….  some people don’t, so avoid such people if you can.They even frighten God!

Whatever God is. he accepts us…. that’s my firm belief.. and ….if He won’t accept me then I won’t accept Him or Her

Does God have a body…does he have a mind?

I guess we cannot conceive what God may be or not in discursive language at any rate

Do you mind,Lord?

No,not at all.. I am listening

Thank  you,God

My pleasure.

We are here, waiting patiently, despite all the trials.and the troubles..ready to listen