7am... Monday

Walking out the door

Above I see the last remnant of sunrise

Gently staining the clouds

A broken fluffy blanket

Strewn loosely overhead

Down the steps again

The car awaits, the day begins

The weekend just a memory

The week ahead, ideas

Potential and promise

Driving in silence

Through the not quite sparse traffic

An old familiar routine

The mind wanders, lulled

By the easy repetition

Into the office

Coffee, a ritual oft repeated

A tabletop reflection

The glass gives a glimpse

The trees outside

The morning brightens

In this most mundane of moments

With a happy realisation

That even here and now

Life is beautiful

Pursuit of happiness

This is a topic that I've given some thought to recently. I'm very unsure where it's leading me but I wanted to share these thoughts. I was musing on my FaceBook page recently and that gave rise to this:

The pursuit of happiness

A thought for the self

An inward focus

Where’s my happiness?

Do I deserve to be happy?

Is it something I want?

Is it something I need?

Is it all about me?

Yes I do deserve to be happy

I want it, I need it

I am deserving… yes

It’s all about me

And… yet…

It’s all so empty

Devoid of meaning

But it doesn’t matter. I deserve it

Still… nothing… inside

Why can’t… why don’t…

I feel good… feel happy…

It’s all about… me…?

What if it’s not?

What if it’s not all about me?

What if I look outside me?

What if… what if…?

I'd love to know what other think about this. What is happiness? How do you achieve it? Should you even worry about it at all?

Guitars... again...

Experiments in poetry

I've recently thought that it would be great to be able to write about some of the less profound moments that happen in life every day. Sunday thoughts was my first attempt at that.

This is another experiment. But I'm not sure that less profound is an appropriate description. It's beginning to seem that the depth and meaning of something may simply depend on our perspective. Or perhaps it's really just our perception that changes. That there is always meaning, waiting to be perceived. Yet our limitations, perhaps self imposed, perhaps not, hold us back.

Anyway... enough rambling...

Guitars

A glance around the room

Guitars standing in the corners

Mutely gathering dust

Awaiting their muse

A feeling touches my fingers

Desire, yearning awakens

To feel the strings again

To hear, to feel the sound

My hands caress the curves

The wood glossy and smooth

Of their own volition

My hands find their place

A single strum slowly brushed

Oh dear… not so tuneful

A wry smile… a thought

“Play more often”

The old familiar routine

A reassuring ritual

Tuning is quickly done

The strum more tuneful now

My fingers know their places

Music starts to fill the air

A little hesitation

Brief… then banished

Once again I feel inside

The swelling feeling

Of peace and harmony

That always brings peace

Creating… playing… making

A sound… unique… a first

A moment worth living for

Fleeting yet forever

One thing I do know is that I'm enjoying this process very much. It feels like a realisation that there is inspiration all around, all the time. I just need to take the time and see it.

Sunday thoughts

Gazing out the window on a sunny Sunday morning

A dragonfly’s random flight catches my eye

A glint of sunlight on the blurring wings

A moment’s hesitation… then madly off again

A young magpie strides sharply across the grass

Eyes peeled and ever watchful for a morsel

Grey plumage still, a youthful promise of what’s to come

The sharp blacks and whites just around the corner

The blue of the sky through the swaying treetops

Scudding clouds suggest some later rain

Autumn is in not quite in the air

The last vestige of the passing season clings on

The final heat of summer seeps into the day

The afternoon drags listlessly by

As the hot air slowly drains the dregs of energy

The pool an inviting respite from the easy lethargy

Amazing Lyrics

I've already posted something of mine this morning but I came across this song and just had to post the lyrics here. It's a Leonard Cohen song... Heart rendingly beautiful... If I can ever write anything remotely as good as this I'll die a happy man.


A Thousand Kisses Deep

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done –
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it’s real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the Masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet –
And then consented to be wrecked,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
I guess they won’t exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat . . .

Inner Paths

Sometimes I feel nothing but bewilderment at where things come from. As I drove home from work last night a line came to me in the car. "The night enfolds us in her gentle embrace". By the time I got home I completely forgot about it. Later when I remembered, all I could do was remember that I had thought of a line but not what is was.

This is something that's happened before and I've tried to get in the habit of writing them down on the spot. I once stopped by the side of the road and scribbled hurriedly on an old serviette. So, I didn't give it any more thought until a few minutes ago, thinking it was gone. Then out of nowhere it reemerged along with a few more lines.

As with Away from the dark I'm unsure of the meaning as yet, maybe even more so this time. I'd love to know what you think it means, and perhaps more relevantly I'd love to know what it means to you, if anything



Inner Paths

The night enfolds us in her gentle embrace
Her darkly soft arms, her caress
Her touch calming our fears
The cares of the day melt away

Closing our eyes we drift slowly away
To a place not here, not now
Our deepest thoughts and feelings
Rise slowly to meld with our minds

Mind, body, spirit… meditating
On the slowly rising tide of being
Gazing at last deep into ourselves
Wondering… wondering

What secrets lie beneath the veils of self?
What treasures yet to be unearthed?
The journey at last begun
Toward the life within

Many steps, many paths, many roads
Lie ahead, untrodden, uncharted
They await a footfall to make them real
As they call to us endlessly

The gentle echo of their whisper urging
Us onward, deeper into… where?
Is this our self buried deep within
Unseen, unheard, unknown

Yet for all the dark mystery within
Perhaps this is where we need to live
To exist… to be…
Within our deepest self… always

Musing on a gloomy afternoon

This came to me as I looked out of my office window. 

Musing on a gloomy afternoon

A gentle breeze stirs the leaves

The branches sway languidly

The humid air thick and heavy

A crisp, subtle rustling

Ripples across the morning

Autumn creeping slowly in

The grey aftermath of the rain

Hangs overhead, gloomy, pregnant

With promise and threat

Yet a simple glance around

Reveals exquisite grace

In a simple drop of rain

Clinging gracefully to a leaf

A puddle reflects the life above

A sense of wonder once again renewed

I think the gloom I initially saw was not only not there then, it's never there. It simply our limited perceptions that create the illusion of gloom. The weather, like so many other is never gloomy, or happy or anything else of that nature. It just is. It might be dangerous, hot cold windy etc but the emotions are ours.

Perhaps a simple insight is always there to be gained when we look out at a rainy day. Our perceptions of it may be a reflection of something that exists inside us. Could this be a useful tool for increased self awareness?

I'm not sure but I'm going to try it and see.