Poems and Pictures

Beautiful aidan!

Thanks Angelique

Haiku (Up on the Mendips)

A whispered cadence
Lyric of root, limb and sky
Windswept moon ascends

Endings (for Uncle Dale)

You said goodbye a long time ago.
And even as you spoke
you knew it would be for the last time-
fate could never allow that kind of happiness
to be anything other than fleeting.

She never grew older.
Her quick smile and red fingernails
and lips are all you will
ever know of her.
She took her other selves with her
when she left.

You loitered for years, waiting
and now the sky weeps over you-
the sky sweeps over you in waves.
Dense and comforting as a vise-
as welcome as the weight of a
lover's body on your own-
it closes in on you.

your writing grows ever more sophisticated and beautiful.

Haiku (Beginnings)

Celestial design
Darkened blankness becoming
Lifted and alight.

Dark winter solstice
endured and now forgotten.
Earth travels toward Spring.

Horizon

I dreamt I walked across a sea of green
and fell - laughing -
into the waiting sky.
I loved its blue hope
and willing air-
transparent and forgiving
as grace.

It felt like mine-
we fit together as if
sewn along a seam.
Vast emptiness and
worshiper of wind and space-
gift of wings to flight-
it is what saved me.

A very grand style and some very fine images and a superb theme. Great to read.

Robert Davidson.

Edit: Moderator: Link Removed

Frost

I was always looking for light
eyes scanning a loden sky
disconsolate and burdened by clouds,
dark layers of air meeting
brooding and dissatisfied-
A hovering landmass floating
above frozen earth.

But I learned early that darkness
could bring its own relief.
An absence of light and thought
tired eyes closing
a falling and flowing inward
a mind safe in its own home-
surrendering to sleep and dreaming
of an alien and loved landscape.

The night sky's song is a lullabye-
sung in a voice clear and cold as diamonds
in a space where stars lie scattered like
frost on black air.
Lamenting the vanished sun
they shine and they sing in tones
luminous and silver-
remembering sorrow.

How very beautiful

Thanks Endy. You're always so nice to me.
I don't even know how to respond to such niceness anymore (from someone on the internet, anyway - people are almost always nice to me in my real life-but my experience on the internet has been different).

As a matter of fact that'd be a good topic for a thread - how different one's perception of the world is in real life vs. cyber space. My perceptions differ wildly. When I'm out and about in the real world, I always feel encouraged by how kind and polite people are (especially children- if you were to believe the media - you'd think they were all violent, nasty little yobs over here or murdering psychopaths who fantasize about shooting up their schools in the US- I find them to be delightful, in general). But on the internet - I'll be honest - half the time I literally have no idea what someone is saying (although I have a good command of the English language - I find internet-speak to be deliberately opaque and confusing) and the other half, I do get what the person is saying and trying to communicate, but I find it to be insinuating and tiresome and ultimately cowardly, because the only conclusion I can come to is that these same people are acting entirely differently when they're out in public than they do when they're under the cover of anonymity on the internet.

I guess what I'm saying is that I get so tired of all the irony and cleverness and lack of earnestness and sincerity in our culture as a whole - but on the internet especially. I don't know how to play that game - and I don't want to play that game.

It makes me sad that I can't just take your compliment without suspicion- I didn't used to be like that. But if you're sincere - I sincerely thank you And if you're not - shame on you - but what else is new?

You know - I've decided that I'm just going to pretend that everyone is sincere - as the quote in my profile says - "Be careful how you view the world- that's how it will be." Well I want my world to be full of kind and sincere people - so that's how I'm gonna view it.

I'd love to know who you are (mostly because I like to know who I'm talking to), but also because you seem to have a similar outlook to mine - and believe me - that has been a rare occurrence in my internet life (but not in my real life - Thank God!). If you feel like it - tell me about yourself. (I'm saying that because that's what I'd say if we met in real life - I'm not that good on internet etiquette- if I'm being intrusive - just ignore me).

Finally - I posted this picture of the trees because the last poem you posted in your people thread describes exactly where I go everyday. Though I don't go alone - I take my dog.

Whatever else we end up saying to each other - I do want to tell you that I love your country. I really like the people (as a rule I'd say they're much nicer than those from my own country- it makes me sad to say that too - but I'm just one of those people who feels compelled to be honest - no matter how much trouble it gets me in) and I love the landscape, especially in the countryside. I like to tell myself I I belong here, because it is my ancestral home. I'm just glad I've had the opportunity to find that out. This thread is kind of my love letter to England - and the Mendip Hills in particular. I've never been anywhere that I found so beautiful - and I've done a fair amount of traveling - so that's saying something.


Hope you enjoy your day - Aidan

Hi Aidan

I appreciate what you are saying
I too am very nervous every time I post on this forum (the only forum I have anything to do with)
I worry that people will take me wrong or that I'll offend someone because I can be morose, flippant, pissed off my head, or even suicidal when I post.

One thing I don't do is flatter people in order to gain something.
I do think your work is powerful, beautiful and brave.
I'm not saying that to make a friend - I'm saying that because it's true.

I too find it hard to take compliments, am suspicious of people, all of that.
But right now, I feel suffocated by nazi attitude, corruption, greed, callousness, apathy, ignorance.
When I come across someone who sees the world in a way I can relate to - i'm drawn to them.
Somehow it's a relief just to talk about these things.

I don't get much feed back, and yes, I admit that I am lonely.
But I'm no stalker. Just someone trying to figure out a purpose in all this.

Sorry, Aidan
I didn't mean to worry you.
I just wanted to encourage you. To let you know that these pictures and your poetry make me hopeful - just to know that my sensitivity isn't an illness, but something to be shared...

Sincerely E


ps
I'm not being 'nice' when I respond to your work
That last picture, of the trees...thats an antidote of some kind to me.

**** I don't know what else to say.

You don't have to say anything else Endy - I get where you're coming from. Like I said - I'm not a suspicious person in real life - only on here - and even that is a "learned" suspiciousness- not something I am naturally prone to or came onto this forum with.

For better or worse, I'm a trusting and optimistic person - and I refuse to be any different. I really do. Because I like living my life with an open mind toward people and experiences. I don't want to be angry, suspicious, cynical and/or bitter, simple as that. And I might end up feeling like I've been hit over the head with a two by four (figuratively- hopefully) but for the most part, I've been lucky enough that my experiences have taught me that people are good in general - and it's usually worth the risk connecting.

So thank you for your compliments on my work. I really do appreciate them - because I think you have quite a talent yourself. As for how you're perceived on this forum, my opinion is that you're awfully good at expressing yourself in a very clear and decisive, but calming way. I think I could learn something from you in that regard .

Sorry to hear you're lonely sometimes. If you need a friend or an ear - I'm here (not literally on this forum all the time - but I do check my e-mail once or twice a day - I communicate a lot with my friends and family at home via e-mail). I am better at conducting friendships face to face and eye to eye though - just a product of my times. But who knows - maybe if they have a London A2K meeting - we could actually meet each other. I'd be game - I think it would help the trust factor in terms of any real friendship- I just need to see and know who I'm talking to before I put a lot of weight into what they're saying. Take Care - Aidan

PS - Sorry, sorry, sorry if I made you feel like a stalker. I never thought that. I just wanted you to know where my head is at.

Stonehenge

stones
ancient and majestic
calling me back home
to their beginning


just wanted to share this with you Aidan
it's my first real haiku (not great, but inspired)
Hope you don't mind me sending it to you here.

Hope you haven't had enough of our countryside yet!


best, Endy

by the way - i can't pm anyone yet - not sure when that facility kicks in?

Wow! How beautiful. That's one thing I love about living and taking pictures over here. The light is always changing and can make the same scene look totally different depending on what time of day you take the picture. I guess that's true everywhere - but I find the sky to be more dramatic here than in the US (at least in the places I've lived)- it just appears denser and more layered and sometimes I even feel like it's closer (or at least the clouds seem to be). Scientifically, I have no idea what I'm talking about or if that's even possible - so don't mind me- what I'm saying is I just really love the sky over here.

I was so enthralled with the picture - I had to go back to look at the poem. Not a haiku (which is three lines with syllable counts 5-7-5) but I liked it. This little island has so many mysterious and ancient treasures to see (which have endured for thousands of years specifically because they are stone). I remember the first time I saw an intact mosaic floor in a house from the roman era in Dorchester. I just couldn't even believe what I was looking at given how old it was and what amazing condition it was in.

Still loving the countryside, and I still feel that I have so much left to see. I've been here l8 months and have traveled around a lot - but I couldn't even face the possibility of leaving yet because there is still so much I haven't seen - and some of the stuff I have seen, I want to go back and see again. My visa is for four years and is renewable - the kids love it - so do I - so we'll be here a good while. I'd like to stay at least five years, so I can apply for citizenship - and then the whole EU would be open to live and work in.

That's another thing I like about living here. I feel so much more a part of the rest of the world here because I am much more aware of what's going on everywhere else (the news you get here is so much more internationally focused) and also feel more responsible as a citizen of the entire world instead of just my own country (or the country I'm living in). In the US, I was much less aware of anything but national news and seldom thought about how what I did, or we as a country did, affected the rest of the world. It's very easy to feel isolated and unaffected in the US. Some of that is understandable due to geography, but I also think that attitude is cultivated by Americans - "we don't want to worry about it and we don't have to worry about it, so don't tell us to worry about it".

Yeah, in a lot of ways on a lot of levels, coming to another country to live has been the best thing I've ever done. If you ever have the opportunity, grab it, you'll learn alot about yourself.

As far as pm goes, I'm not sure when that kicks in. You could ask one of the powers that be though and I'm sure they could give you a more accurate answer than I could. Nice talking to you here though. Thanks again for posting that picture and your poem.

Thanks for the Haiku tip, Aidan (slaps forehead)
What an idiot!

hows this -

Star struck stones of man
Gathered in an ancient land
Calling me back home


If you're interested in ancient...
I recommend (if you haven't already) driving up the west coast of Scotland sometime. Castles, mountains and light so mysterious, you'll feel a connection with nature straight away. I can guaranty that you'll find a hospitable place to sleep every night and if you want to camp out, the rangers are very accommodating.
I took some photographs around there in '98 - I'll see if I can dig them out.
If you can take evening midges - go in the first couple of weeks in August. They have Highland Games around then and the weather can be really hot.
(Take about 8 reels of film with you- you'll use them)


best, Endy

Funny you should say that Endy - I did go to Edinburgh last August and then drove up and over to Inverness. I ended up driving all the way back to Somerset in one day, but it was down the west coast and I was really impressed by the scenery and sorry that I didn't have more time to spend.

When I was traveling up, I stopped at a shop and this elderly gentleman asked me where I was from - where I was going and when I told him he said to me, "Whenever I go to Scotland, I drive over the border and turn left - that's the most beautiful part." So I had planned on going back and spending more time along the west coast and maybe traveling out to some of the islands. Maybe in August.

I'd love to see more of your pictures.