Saturday, July 31, 2010

a white desire

growing wild and welcomed in my back garden




her body is not so white as
anemony petals nor so smooth—nor
so remote a thing. it is a field
of the wild carrot taking
the field by force; the grass
does not raise above it.
here is no question of whiteness,
white as can be, with a purple mole
at the center of each flower.
each flower is a hand’s span
of her whiteness. wherever
his hand has lain there is
a tiny purple blemish. each part
is a blossom under his touch
to which the fibres of her being
stem one by one, each to its end,
until the whole field is a
white desire, empty, a single stem,
a cluster, flower by flower,
a pious wish to whiteness gone over—
or not

Friday, July 30, 2010

cloud fish


cloud fish
jumps clear
of the sea

Thursday, July 29, 2010

up in the sky


pan playing a reed flute
or a cloud
huffing the biggest blunt ever

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

waiting for the rain

when i saw these leafless trees
and these billowing evening clouds
i was brought to think of people
reaching
for rain


perhaps a warm, gentle rain


perhaps a kind cooling rain


or perhaps they were wishing
for the simple touch
of a bead of water
tumbling
softly
from branch to branch
earthwards
onto their bodies

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

all that you give

i love music with colour.
music with colour - well it's about the feeling that comes from inside

that indescribable element
that some music carries when it is more than itself.

the cinematic orchestra can do this.

here they are with fontella bass.

sweet music and a sweet day to you all!

Monday, July 26, 2010

small red beacon


the far and between
distances
crossed
star crossed

well they beckon like beacons
misty
blurred
a space of dying
in-between me and them

a space of becoming
in-between me and them

and at the end
a light
a coloured light
posted on a promontory

as much a warning
as a place of entry

a warm reminder

this awaits you all
this begins
where you end
this is the ending
of your beginning

Sunday, July 25, 2010

the long cold rainy day remembering


on this memory
of a rainy day
when all the powers
that be
and have been created
are hovering side-by-side
by side
in my remembering

and there's so little to redeem
the deep-seated hopelessness

no hope for changing
the feeling
of cold within
and without
my body

i find solace and release
in the music of riceboy sleeps
as it reminds me
of the moment
of promise
contained
within each raindrop


stokkseyri

Saturday, July 24, 2010

the great loom

the keen edge

the sharpened edge


wires carrying clouds of information

clouds carrying threads of rain

dancing against each other

the weft and warp
of the great loom


i'm leaving again for a week or so.
a family vacation to prince edward island on canada's east coast!
i'll be bringing back fresh memories, fresh stories and fresh photographs.
see you.

steven

Friday, July 23, 2010

golden descriptors

each wordless
wind waving existence
its own golden descriptor

a waystation
on the journey
from earth to animal
and back again

Thursday, July 22, 2010

cler achel

some music
i feel in my head
some in my tummy
some in my chest
and some in my hips

this piece - cler achel -
carries its presence in all four

from tinariwen who were also featured last month right here

the words:

cler achel

jklerh achel udwer ehadh
i spent the day and still the following night,

jklerh achel udwer ehadh
I spent the day and still the following night,

lerh azaman iglaerh
i spent a whole day travelling

lerh azaman iglaerh
i spent a whole day travelling

tigila mela tigilat har takanarh am nounou
you've gone mila you've already gone and i've plunged deeper into my dreams

anizdjoum djerh atat diktoh ihal falas oulhin
whatever my thoughts, she occupies them all and my heart cries out still.

chorus
kay ebedhoun de amarhanak erhik tarhet
it's a time that separates the beloved from those they love

warhak dakhim sel inizdjam ed tid tekted
and when you think of them, painful obsessive thoughts are all that come.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

landlocked

someone
dreamt of you

saw you
in a magazine

brought you home

and in their hands
you cut the waves
tasted the spray
not knowing
that really truly
your sculpted pure form
would someday become
a problem
for someone cutting
their grass


~


sometimes your body drags you down.
holds you back.
barry flew away from his yesterday.

thanks for all that you brought into this world buddy!

steven

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

dexter, ny


it was the hopeful
hopelessness in their eyes
that stayed with me

'just passing through'
i answered
as they nursed cold drafts

these three -
him paunchy and too loud
her rough-edged and sadly happy
and the barkeep
holding on too tightly to the waist of a glass of ice-water
(if you let her go she's gone)
were too happy as i asked
if i could use their washroom
and fill my bottle with water

and i wanted to stay
to show them a good time
but the arrogance of that thought
caught me squarely
as i washed my face
in their bathroom
and saw my eyes
looking back at me
in the tarnished mirror
spotted with the soapy
water splashings
of patrons long gone
and never to return

knowing i'd never return
i walked past the bar
gave soft-voiced thanks
holding the door handle
to make sure the door shut quietly behind me

and i listened to their voices echoing in my head
as i walked past the boarded up shops
and peeling paint houses
crossed the crumbling road
and biked out of town

Monday, July 19, 2010

beast of burden


i'm feeling lazy today,
listening to some big city in the summer jazz
from back in the day when the two were intertwined,
told stories about each other
and were all over the grey scale
in a colourful sort of way.

this is music to listen to
while you're sitting back in a big old chair
with your feet on the window-ledge
or leaning out the window
with the tunes as a soundtrack
for the stories unfolding below.

near at hand - lemonade, beer from the fridge perhaps,
or a jug of californian wine.



donald byrd (t), mobley (ts), best (vib), burrrell (g), hancock (p), warren (b), humphries (d), perkinson (vcl).

Sunday, July 18, 2010

weave little webs to catch one tiny fly

some weave careful webs


some form clouds


we all weave webs to catch one tiny fly

Saturday, July 17, 2010

don't sleep

a sleepy green
curving morning
sweeping 'round the field
of awareness
yuo could stop and watch
or head off
into the fog
you see . . .



the breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
don't go back to sleep.

you must ask for what you really want.
don't go back to sleep.

people are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.

the door is round and open.
don't go back to sleep.

from "essential rumi" translated by coleman barks

Friday, July 16, 2010

the land of evermore neverwas


looking across the soft morning fields
words
get lost in the blur
of waking
and seeing in a day
across the wildplants
and the distant fogbound trees
that float in shades of grey
beyond which lies
the land of evermore neverwas


Thursday, July 15, 2010

the green cathedral

the entrance to the woods


i love these three wise trees
and always say hello when i pass them
on my way

deeper into the woods



and i love when i enter the deep space which feels like a green cathedral



even the air is green

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

the fence line

fence lines divide
separate


i like to know all sides to a story
so i cross the line


because it is very worth it





Tuesday, July 13, 2010

the foggy fields

waking early on a foggy morning.
light floats inside each droplet.


everything holds its own patina of moisture.

come on, let's follow this path.


once past its welcoming opening, you enter the foggy fields.


the brighter edges of birdsong are softened in the cool wet air
the crows welcoming calls lose their raspy edge


colours are gentler


thoughts are kinder

Monday, July 12, 2010

subtle tesselations


the fencewire's form
a dance of sorts

no longer the perfect
repetition
of taut diamonds

it finds itself moving
in the subtle tesselations
of nature's contours



Sunday, July 11, 2010

in the floating world



in the simple smear
of night-time clouds on water
pink visions arrive



Saturday, July 10, 2010

each day

i come here
each day
to reclaim
and then create
a space
a place where you and i can think about something
of the human condition as i understand it


i haven't been sent by anyone or anything
but i do feel an imperative
a sort of sense of purpose that has less
to do with telling you stories
about my daily experience
as much as it has
to do with saying
that this is one way of knowing
and perhaps being
in relation to this extraordinary place

outside of the constraints of time
sometimes outside of the constraints of place


a very big thankyou to sid smith for pointing me in the direction of this music.

Friday, July 9, 2010

angels and shadows

angels and shadows


walk down sky street


holding hands


"sing me a song"


"tell me a story"


"tell me no lies"

Thursday, July 8, 2010

i wish for wonder

i pull the curtains

i draw them shut

hold out the dark sky
no stars tonight

morning comes
all shy and bright
little girl eyes


soft and clear


a
wish
for wonder

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

perhaps on such a day

the morning
emerges
from behind
curtain clouds

i'm lost inside a tiny story.

listen to your voice as you
read it out loud . . . .




a heavenly woman's imprisoned in the palace at penglai hill,
all are silent as she sleeps by day in the painted hall.
her glossy hair is spread like a cloud on the pillow,
her embroidered clothes bear a wondrous fragrance.
i secretly come and slide the pearl lock back,
she's startled from her dream behind the silver screen.
her smiling face is overflowing with bliss,
we gaze at each other with unbounded love.


breathe out
and let the evening
pull the curtains closed


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

iceland, eyjafjallajökull

in peaceful times . . . .



here is a beautiful film (made by sean steigemeier) of the icelandic volcano that has brought the realization back into the travelling world that we really do borrow air space when it's available and sometimes - well it simply is already occupied by nature!

the film features the music of one of my favourite musicians - jonsi.



Monday, July 5, 2010

slow passage

a blue evening over the grande briere marsh ferdinand loyen du puigaudeau


in the early evening
a rich solitude

the light gurgling of water
against our hulls
signals another day passing


briere la nuit ferdinand loyen du puigaudeau