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A play.
A monologue for radio.
Listen.
Listen. It is dark now.
Listen to the silence.
Listen to your heart.
Listen to the silence of your heart. Beating.
Your heart. Silently beating.
Hear it now. See the silence.
See the silence of your heart. Beating.
Hear the waves. Crashing on the shore. Outside. In the dark.
Here the waves. Crashing.
Too
And Fro
Too
And Fro.
Hear the crashing of the waves.
Breathe.
Listen to your breath.
Hear the dark.
See the moon rising above the waves crashing.
Listen to the light landing on the sea spray crashing.
It is night.
The town is sleeping.
All is quiet.
Bathed in the white light of the silvery moon the town is sleeping.
In silence.
The cemetery is empty. All is quiet.
Shadows flit through the silvery light.
Land. Wait. Whisper.
Echoes of the past enter.
Fade. Fall into the silence whilst the waves continue.
Rising and falling the sound is within you.
The energy flows. Within, without, around you.
A flow though flowers.
Trees.
The river. Carries the voices tinkling in the distance separating the past from the present.
Energy flows on the same path.
See a figure climbing. Dressed in white looking. Searching. Seeking. Far from the path.
Rescuing. Saving with a staff. Walking. Higher. Rising with the pathway.
Listening.
Listen.
Hear the voice within you heard.
The figure searching is you.
You are found. You have found. Yourself. Coming back to the path. Climbing.
Listening.
1
Listen
Hear the town sleeping in the hollow between the hills.
Listen to the water flowing, dancing, hurtling through the hills
Lift up thine eyes to the stars and listen to the echo of the music flowing
Dancing through the silence of the trees waiving in the breeze
For in the continuing of the dance the music flows through the glance
Between lovers walking on the shore in the instant of yore
Choosing memory soothing grace removing the weight one bore
To lift the burden to help those around one hear the music flowing
Dancing with the river hurtling through the hillsides sheltering
The dwellings congregating around the steeple beneath the cock
Crowing with the dawn breaking with the daylight spreading
Shadows shortening and turning, lengthening with the lore.
Listen
Listen to the silence surrounding
The stars
Spinning
Specks of light
Glimmering hope
Indicating
A pathway
To beyond
Our earthbound existence
Beyond time
Spinning
A web of words woven
In vain
Attempting to reveal
The hidden
Behind a veil
Which only Death may cross
To no avail.
2
Listen
Hear the earth crying out in the silence
Hear the earth crying out in the silence before the storm
Waiting
Waiting for the rains to come
Waiting for the clouds to billow and blow
New life into the dryness
Parched emptiness, crackling brittleness, skeletal remains of life
Dust blown ashes
Burnt cinders
Waiting
Forevermore for billowing clouds blowing life bearing gifts from afar
Off land or sea, ocean or forest,
Blow no more
3
The beauty of the Verb
Believes
In one
Greater
Beyond mortal man
Of one greater
In heaven above
The trees
The eye
In silence
Sees.
4
The wanderer
Sees the green buds in winter
Waiting to become leaves
Surrounded
By tall towers
Blank windows
Rectangular blocks
Of cemented ugliness
Where a surreal beauty pervades
In its abstract nature
Wind-blown
The epitome of industrial deprivation
Alienation
De-classification
Exploitation
Misery hand in hand with poverty
Where alcohol is a cheap escape
Into oblivion
Annihilation
Deprivation
Destitution
Prostitution
To pay the ticket home
5
Yet here
In this wasteland
Human happiness reigns
Defiant
Proud
Protective
Of the soul
Of the heart which beats
Throbs with generosity
Giving
Hope
To those in the same
Boat
Crossing the sea
From Africa
To escape starvation
Desertification
Destitution
Yet helping
Loving
Giving
Happiness and laugher
In the midst of material misery
Non-consumption
In a society
Where the consumer is
King
Whilst having the cash
O make the credit card fling
On the latest
“made in China”
created
need
to feed
the masses
with five loaves
and two fishes.
6
On the surface of the land
Cones lie
Amongst leaves
Being
The horizon of time
“Which route?”
the mountaineer wondered
7
To feed
The masses
With a daily froth
Of fear
That the disaster
Could be here
Whilst the white swan stands
And waits
On the frozen surface
Of the lake
The Chinese temple warms
As a new epoch is born
China awakes
Opens its factory gates
To the West
Capitalism shifts
At the masses request
For more
Needs
To be done
To help the poor
And dispossessed
Survive
While the fat cat parachutists
Thrive
The masses
Dive
For cover
As the suicide
Bomber blows
Himself up
In the name of
A Mountain
Pathway’s woes
For the Chinese
Temple has two
Flights of stairs
Enrance and Exit
With a circular view
Of the world
Within and without
Reflected in the water
Frozen fast
In the present
To last
Spanning time
Projecting its perfection
In unwritten rhyme
Sublime
The roof curves upwards
8
Towards the stars
Which spin
Illuminating the present
With the past they bring
To light
The wanderer’s way
Through the night
Archways, columns
Geometric patterns
Bells dragons
A golden orb
A roof like a boat
To travel the space between stars
Suspended above
Its own reflection
On the frozen lake
Of love.
9
Through dragons’ mouths
To quench
The thirst
To drink from the lake
Of love.
10
With the present
Instant
Froze.
11
For to climb to the summit had he striven finding resources within
Allowing him to go beyond where others had trod, beyond himself
He explored as he wandered climbing ever higher
Accompanied by angels guarding his step he rose to the call
Of an inner voice once heard before the fall
From a garden beneath a tree
He rose on the spirit within
Which lifted his body as he strode
As on a donkey he rode to be crowned king
Betrayed by a kiss, a kingdom to win
Climbing higher, to be tempted by the fire
Of love
Of a spiritual kind, seen by the blind leading the way
To the wailing which fills the dawning break of day.
Flight
12
Since to fly further cabin crew have been reduced
To twelve though there might well be
The odd stow-away who slipped on board, unnoticed,
The ghost in the machine, Frankenstein and friends who came along
Just for the ride
Round the block and were taken by surprise
When they looked down to see their little town
Disappearing in the distance
On the horizon keep an eye on the length of shadows
Force and direction of the wind
Swept coast
Line
Crossed
Check altitude on a regular basis
Avoid alcohol and other substances which can confuse
The radar
Trap
Watch your speed
Take a compass
And point of access
To your childhood
Dreams
In the luggage compartment
Carry a load
Since you never know
What the future will hold
Weather forecasts, especially those early morning shipping
“Dogger,Viking, Fischer, German bight” type
“Rockwall, Malin Head, Cromerty”
“fastnet” and the like
should be listened to attentively
carry a swiss
roll and army
knife
Be Prepared
To whistle under all circumstances
Even if you do
Get the rhyme wrong
& bon vent & bon voyage
13
Listen.
You’re flying now.
Flying high over roof tops, high over houses.
You can hear the city sleep
You can hear all cities sleep.
All
Except one.
For hear there is no sleep.
The city never sleeps.
It can not sleep.
For sleep is a luxury it can not afford
For in this sleepless city death is prepared.
Plans drawn
In sand
To send in the drones
Spy
Who goes where, does watt, why
Is the driver of that car turning
Up the volume
Of the local
Radio
Listening
To V.O.A.
Say
345 found
dead
shot through with shrapnel wounds to the head arms and body parts blowing
in the wind,
blowing in the windless city, the sleepless city of endless night
you are over it now
looking
looking down
looking down on the horrors
of war
torn faces
crying
babies
crying
children
screaming
women wailing
14
soldiers
pointing
weapons
of mass
destruction
at one another
launching missiles
like snowballs
at one another
snowballs which smash
through houses
cities
disappear
beneath the plumes
of black acrid smoke billowing upwards carrying the scent
of rotting corpses
remains
of human flesh
death
hangs over this land
of promise
which promised
to be
the new Eden
for those in flight
like you
fleeing
another city of endless night
where huge granite blocks were towed
positioned into place
winched, levered and pulled
upwards
towards the stars
creating
tombs to outlast time
to store
gold
frankincense
and myrrh
with the mummified remains
and body
parts
of gods
who ruled as pharaohs should
live humbly with humility
with their neighbours whom they
love
to annihilate
conquering
new lands,
15
even the moon
shed
light
tears which fell
in the form
of snowball rocket attacks
in a desert storm
of mass
destruction
planned
financed
from afar
off land
lit by a star
spangled banner
raised
from the dead
lying
in 345 ruined dwellings
which were
not
passed over
in the wake
of the blast
shattering
time
into fragments
each to last
over
you see
the screaming city
hear the wailing
word
rippling wave spreading creation as the screaming rockets fall piercing the air with a thin
whistle announcing the end of time
Being
Love
Being
Giving
16
Love
long
at the crossroads
where camels trekked
over the shifting
slipping
silent
sand
flowing
through the hour
glass of despair
reflecting the horror
in the acrid air
blowing
in
the
wind
Nuclear
Might
Becomes a possibility
Towards a
Final solution
Drunk
To the dregs
Of the earth
To the last
Drop
Creating conditions appropriate
For a seed
Of a shattered shard
Of the mirror
To fall
Casting light
Back towards the pinnacle
Of the pyramid
Beside Babylon
In a fertile land
17
Drained
To the lees
Marsh arabs wandered
Into the city
Which never sleeps
A wink
Nor dreams
For in this city
The Night Mare has foaled
A million shards of shattered glass
Each cutting time into seconds which count
The dead and dieing
Wailing piercing the air
The word
Is not
Heard
If there is
No air
Gives birth
To breath
18
Over which you fly
By night
With a cabin
Crew
Reduced
To twelve
Or thereabouts.
A bargain
At half
Past mid-night
Strikes twelve strokes on the church
Tower
Whilst you lie
Lost
Slumbering
In dreams
Of Night
Mares
Riding
Through
Seas
Washing
Words
Cleansing them of meaning
Anaesthetising
See
N
N
Listen.
Listen
19
It is dark.
Hear the darkness
Inside your heart
Listen
To the waves
Gently rocking
Rising and falling
In the silent dark
Hour before dawn
Breaks
A liquid of light
Upon the horizon
Of sand
Falling
Rising
With the waves
Washing
Upon the shore
Line of innocence
Crossed
In your dreams
The boat is the earth
travelling
Through the waves
Of light
Spreading
In the breeze
Blowing
Through the silence
Flowing
Through the seas
Surface
Splashing
Upon the bow
But listen
20
Walls crumbling
Beneath the waves
Rising
And falling
With the day’s
Lengthening shadow stretching across the waters, mingling, of the waves, rising and falling
Stars appear
In the silence
Of your heart
Beating
With the waves
Listen
To the shadows
Falling
Upon the surface
Of waves
Gently rocking
The silent emptiness
Of days
Breaking
Upon the bows
Rising
Falling
Gently rocking
On the frontier
Of time
Slipping by
In the instant
Of the horizon
Rising
And falling
With the waves
Appearing
Disappearing
Days
And nights
Stretched into Being
Aware
Of the rhythm
Of the rise and fall of your chest
Breathing
In the instant
Listening
To your heart
Beating with the waves
Unfurling days
Of light
In the darkness
Of your heart
Stars lead the way
21
Across the oceans
Of love
Whilst the boat
Rises
And falls
With the waves.
Cascading coincidence
Coming
Together
In the rhythm
Of motion
Moving
With time
Flowing
With the river
Towards the ocean
Where sea-gulls wheel
And cry
Beside a lake
A man walks
Alone
Seeing in the reflection
Time
Unfold
Images to come
Past
In the reflection of the present
To last
A diamond
With an infinite number of sides
Each reflecting
Tides
And time
Which wait
Together
At the starting gate
Ready to run
With the rising
Begin
To last
In the present
Past
22
Discoveries made
Within
Oneself
Touch the boundaries
Of peace
23
Matter
Which attracts
Birds of the same feather
Which flock
Together
To survive the journey
Through a timeless dimension where memory
Plays tricks on the mind
Selecting, piecing together a puzzle
Seen by the blind
Who wait
By the starting gate
Which could be
Tomorrow
Or yesterday
Betrayed
By a kiss
Leading to the fall
From a garden
Where an ear was cut
And the Word
Heard
No more
Except within
The mind’s
Eye
Aye
I
See
24
The fruit of the tree
Bears the seeds
Of time
To be
Masked
Cloaked in shame
Men become gods
God has no name
Being
Omnipresent
Infinite yet the same
Ocean of love
Mountain track
Open door
Way back
Home
To begin
Anew
Day due
On the hour
To last
The present
Past
To step back
From the edge
Of time
On the brink
Of space
To fall
Into adulthood
And see
What was is
No longer
But his and her story
Board
Drawn
In the mirrored reflection
Of the soul in the sea
Of life which wells from the source
Of the ocean of love which flows through Being
Alive.
25
Listen
26
Searching in your heart you’ll find
The key to open the windows of the mind
Allowing the world to enter in
Communion with one another
To begin to be passed with the love which lasts
To feed the flame of desire
Which takes your love to a higher plane
To meet the maker who has no name
But Being the horizon of time
Sought in the quest for truth in rhyme
Caught in the space between the lines
On the palm of your hand
Which lead back to a long-forgotten land
Of childhood play
In a garden walled by the hour
Beneath the turning shadow of a tall black tower
Looking out to a sunlit sea
Mirrored in the instant of eternity
Smashed when travelling through the gates you passed
Coming of an age to reason and doubt
The existence of the truth
Locked in your heart
In the form of a flower
Opening with the warmth of love on the hour
Of your death before being born anew
In a garden without a wall
With many a path all leading to a summit hidden from view
Your heart will tell you the path to tread
As you listen to the voices inside your head
The pathway of love is the one to chose.
27
Listen
28
Listen
Listen
To the silence
Of your soul
Beating
In the dark
29
“Follow Me” a voice was heard
listening
to the echo
of the word
Wait ?
30
Listen
Unless
Taking your life
In your hands
You read the writing
On the sands
Of time
Understand the message
Between the lines
Writ
Of Sanskrit lore
Abounding mortal gods
And immortal men
Of yore
Choosing
To lose yourself
To re-cover
Your nakedness
Anew
With a fallen
Fig-leaf
Or apple blossom
31
Blowing
In the wind
Of the desert
Storm
Troopers
Advancing
To the sound of trumpets
Heralding
A new
Dawn
To dusk
Curfew
Until the mid-night hour
Strikes noon
And waves
Of wailing break tomorrow’s
New
Sea
N
N
Program
Broadcast
On the air
Waves
Live
Of
Love
Rolling
With the breakers
Swelling
Rising
Falling
Swelling
Rising
Falling
Sand
Through the hour
Glass
Reflecting
The image you have carved
Of your soul
Chance
To love
One
An other
Time
Warner
Movie
In which you star
Shining
32
Like a beacon of hope
To fellow travellers
In the train
Of camels
Rising
Falling
The dunes
Crossing
Time
In the telling
Tail
Untold
Since the plot has yet
To be writ
In Sanskrit
Runes
Or sand
For you are the author
The quill is in
Your
Hand
Some face
To forge.
33
Alone, far
From the madding
Crowd I wander
Seeking that which lies
Within
The silence
Of my heart
I hear
Whispered words of wisdom dear
Listen
34
The time which none may tether nor the tide
None may ride without one day breaking on the shore
The spider spins which becomes no more
Than a web of silvery thread to catch the imagination in flight
From the darkness of being without light
To lighten the load, carried on a donkey without a goad
But a vision to inspire, allowing the artist to fly ever higher
And a world to create, but which of the real is but a poor duplicate
Counterfeit copy of his soul wrought in the abstraction of all
Reflected on the still surface of the depths
He plunges to find within him the edge of infinity without
Which all counterfeited comes to nought!
Listen
Listen
Listen to the wind slipping through the silence of the starless night
Wonder at the beauty of the universe in flight through time
Through space
35
Leads to a pathway where all may share
The unbearable lightness of being given a choice
Of words to use with which tone of voice
To employ, create,
Whilst creating may destroy
Myths by memory past
In the present to last
The journey just begun
In the fall of first flight
From a garden in the middle of the night
Whilst the wind blew
Why, nor where, nobody knew,
Yet all wondered at the sight
Of the beauty of being on the horizon of time
An eternal instant of the sublime
Borne by the sea
Rising and falling with the moon’s tears
Overcoming Man’s fears
Love triumphs in the Spring
Flower which blooms anew
And a debt repays all that is due
On the instant redeemed
By the scythe swinging hour!
36
Listen
Whilst rising
And falling
We become
One
Love
Breaking barriers of time
Shattered in the instant
Sublime
37
In memory of Anna Politovskaïa
38
Sockets staring
At the silent screen
Flickering
Sea
N
N
Transmitting truths
Across the waves
Of silent rotting corpses without graves
Forever
And ever
Amen ?
Words to flow of energy pulsating life driving vitality through the seed
Of time
Blowing in the wind
Across oceans divine
Emptiness of star filled space of the universe overflowing
Love borne seeds of time…
Falling in a garden
Of the mind.
39
Why open that book
Why read that word
Why listen to the voice
You’ve already heard
Yet wait,
Procrastinate
Ponder
Wonder
Whilst admiring the treasures and plunder
Amassed,
In a word hoard
Stored
To be unleashed
Allowing the psyche to be released, run wild, rampant, like a child
Explore, discover, touch, taste, learn
In awe
Of all that nature has
In store
In innocence open
Yet see
From the charred ruins
Green shoots of hope take route in the ashes and dust
Of the empty tomb
Of the womb
Untouched,
Unscathed
Erased
To rise
Through time
In rhyme reflecting the mirror of the soul divine
Love
Falling in flakes of innocence upon the frozen lake
Whose unsounded depths stretch to an unfathomable infinity
Yet lie within the soul of every living being
Alone yet part of the whole
Pattern of creation continuing upon the horizon
Of time
Which flees faster than its own shadow
Beneath the moonlight falling
With the flakes of snow
40
Whilst the owls hoot
Since they know
There is neither beginning nor ending
Only a continuing
Change
Of season
Flowing
With the movement of the mountains in starlight
Twinkling as the patterns rotate in the heavens above
Reflected on the surface
Remembered
Re-called
To life
As green shoots thrust
Forth into the sunlight, absorbing, reflecting life in the instant
Of being
Upon the horizon
Of time.
41
Of thought
Which re-mind
The listener to
Re-wind
But what if
The cassette has no beginning
Nor end
But just is
Transition
From monkey to man
Can you imagine
The time span it took
To get from the monkey
To a shepherd’s crook?
Inclement weather
Knowing the morrow would bring
Warmth, life and love
To everything
Which lived
Under the sun, moon and rain
Perpetuating eternity, again.
42
Listen
Love remains
Immutable, silent in swirling days
Of sorrow past
Love remains
True to last
A lifetime of pain
Only to rise up again, unconquered,
To reign
Throughout the universe
Love
Remains
Unchanging
With the tides or time
Constant
Sublime
Divine
43
Listen
Silence
Yet in the silence a fullness
A wholeness
A being at one
With the universe
With universal being
At one
With one
And all being at one with one
Universal being
All encompassing
All pervading presence
Of love
44
Listen
45
Listen
Listen to the temple
Of thy body
Listen to the word
Open the doorway
Let in the congregation
In the form of the Lord
One being
Infinite
Contained yet
Void
Containing time
In a silent sea of faces listening
To a voice within
The temple
Ricochet across the still waters
Of thy soul
Reflected
On the surface
Of a pool of infinite depth
The sun moon and stars rotate
As galaxies and universes themselves
Rotate in the revolution of evolution borne
In the word
Which echoes inside the temple
Personified in the flight of a bird
A dove
A symbol of love
The spirit which flies
46
With the imagination taking flight
Journeying through the sill waters
Of thy soul
Being
Carried in the carrying
Of the cross
Uplifted on thermals to soar
Above the clouds and look down
On the town
Nestling in the foothills beside a lake beside a sea
Where there wanders a guy
Listening
To the rockets blast
And the blood flow
Suffering
Children to welcome him in
To their hearts
Listening
To the spoken word
Listen
Listen to the voice within
47
Guiding your feet, uplifting,
Transporting your soul
Across the wasteland of eternity
should your flesh be torn
by desire
then the cross which you carry
will raise you higher
as your flesh is bound
to return to the land
from which new fruit will fall
if the soil be fertile, warm and wet
the seed will sprout
and the flame of humanity not go out
in the winds of doubt
seeds of time sew
in the wasteland of the desert
where the tempter wove
a tapestry of words
to enslave the knave who there would go
without a cross to his own loss
blowing in the wind
and rain falling on sand
the desert blooms
watered by an unseen hand
some guy wandering by
a lake
telling fisherfolk
where to cast their net
to catch the word
past over
houses untouched
bearing the sign
of a fish or Egyptian cross
48
roads from the East
bearing gifts sublime
unfolding passage
of time
taken to cross
the desert which blooms
as the shadows of the camel trains loom
on the horizon.
49
Like a painting
Of rooks, sky and fields through which three pathways lead
Whilst one turn may take
The dynamic equilibrium to pause
And break
Its evolutionary rhythm
50
Now that the visionary never would
Tell more than he could
In his gesture
Of faith
Taking his life
Away from his fellows
Whilst the seasons come and go
A lantern was lit
To outshine the stars
Shedding music and light
To animate the dance
Far into the night
The vessel drifts
At the mercy of currents, reefs and rocks
Guided by the lamps
Of those before who had lit
Lanterns to show
The animal who’d died was no less than a god
Clothed to hide his nakedness
Body torn from mind
Experiencing the duality of being
A man
Moulded from clay
To which he will return
One day
The fragile thread will break
A single slip
Is all it takes
To break the glass
Into splintered shards
Each of which will slit
A thousand threads which will no longer unravel
A million pathways down which one will never travel
To get to where one is now
Looking at the stars
And wondering how
It came to pass
That you should be travelling on this very same path
With me, listening to the wisdom of the word, beneath an undesignated tree
At an unspecified hour
Watching the unfolding
Of the fragrance of a flower
In the breeze blown, borne
Across the war torn promised land
From which all men are moulded as they stand
To face the vagaries of life, the cast of the dice
The music of stars, of life,
On canvass captured
By an animal, enraptured by the beauty of the vision
Transmitted to act as a beacon of light for those in the wake of the craft
51
Crossing the ocean with neither rudder nor mast
Nor compass save the stars
Gliding past in the bible black night
To the tune of words in sight on the printed page
Transforming animals to gods under the sun’s rays
To hang on a thread in a state
Of dynamic equilibrium moving at a rate
Of knots
Sounding the depths of the still waters of the soul still unfathomed in still life
Or death
For the dieing animal still breathes a last breath
As he’s transported by his fellows
Back to his second best bed where he’ll lie for an hour
Before a mass is said
In the church he’d painted
With a vision in his head
Who can tell
Except the figures on the canvass he knew so well
How they lived, laughed, loved, cried
But in the bearing of the message, died.
Listen
Listen
Listen as thy breathing slows
Listen as you remember to control
Your breath
Linking you with life
And death
Listen in the silence of the night
Beneath the silvery reflection of the full moon so bright
52
Beneath the trees
The river flows relentlessly
Towards the sea
Of the divine
Whose kingdom to see
You first must die
To live
For God to give your all
Whilst receive
God within your soul
Open the door
Welcome the whole
Bow down and pray
For love hath entered the same way
Be true
For though it seem strange
Thou be born anew
Not of the flesh
But of the spirit, blessed
To bear
The weight of the word
To carry you far
Whilst you wander
As you will
Wonder at the wickedness which still
Pervades the planet
For good or evil both come to nought
Once discounted by the future bought
By thirty pieces of gold
A man betrayed
His spirit bought
By greed for what he had no need
Yet had he not done the deal
There would be no tragic ending to this tale
Of love betrayed
With the awareness of the one to die
Hanging beneath a heavenly sky
Whilst the guards waited, rolling dice
A tunic was torn
Whilst the waiting went on
Shadows shortened, the sun rose high
Vinegar was proffered, wine turned sour,
53
Reflecting the movement
Of the hour
A fourth man arrived to wait
And watch from outside the city gate
Crows cawed, men laughed, at the crown of thorns
For thus the duality of existence is
The flesh dies, whilst the spirit lives
Men die, gods live, though both are one
The flesh is tempted by images past
The spirit struggles to rise at last
Buoyed by the waters of belief
Drunk by children who see
As do those who died yet live
Born again in the spirit to give
Light to the word, that the light be heard
Listen
For ‘tis so
Hard to swallow this truth I know
Too well
For though I live, I heard my death knell
On the hour strike
As harrowing Hell, I went whilst many wept
Some slept in vain
I write these words, I call thy name
In vain
For vanity pushes one to act
Out the play
Re-enact what he has to say to win
The approval of his other self
Who stands watching, waiting
For roles to be reversed
Masks to change with lines rehearsed, repeated since the dawn of time
The spirit of love made manifest through man
Listening to the music of the flute of Pan
Whilst the full moon moves silent through the sky
Alone a shepherd wonders why
The sky be so bright, casting shadows into the night
The world spins
Change is constant, shadows stretch
Into the distant horizon of time
Frozen, in an image, to portray the crime
Redeemed
By compassionate acts
As the Master washed the feet of his followers who trod
The same land from which he was made God,
Crucified, waiting whilst he died
To rise
With the mist on the morning tide
As the river runs into the sea
Washing upon the shore of life’s mystery
54
Revealed
By
C
N
N
Concealed
From those seeking riches and wealth
Whilst those who serve
May get the reward
Which they deserve
And those who open their hearts even more
Will be charged to carry the burden of yore
Free choice
Listen
Or not
To his Master’s voice.
Listen
Listen
Listen to the silence of the dark night.
55
Listen. It is growing steadily light
Joy is coming. The invisible is made
Visible.
56
Listen
For in the listening lies the journey
Within the words
Winding and wandering as one explores
The undergrowth of the mind
Blind, lost,
With neither compass nor map
But only as guide
Listening
To the silent voice follow yet forge a path on the
computer screen reflecting the meanderings of my
soul seeking questions to escape the labyrinth in
which I was turning with no bearings except those
provided by listening
Listening to the rhythm of life
Pulsating through the universe
The drum beat of being which pervades time and
space
Listening
And finally discovering
A voice
Within
To follow
The word
Displaying compassion and kindness
To all which is alive
57
And functions doth perform
Where a slight change
Will echo throughout time
A dynamic equilibrium of the universe moves
And you can hear it
When you listen
To your own
Heart
Beat.
Listen
Listen to the silence
Listen to the silence
58
Before
The beginning
Primordial silence flowing through the empty universe
Silence resounding
Before the beginning
Broke the silence
With a word
Followed by another
Silence
Impregnating the universe with opposite pairs
Being and non-being balanced
Heard in the silence
between
the words waiting
the words weighting
the words awaiting
the silence speaking words
Listen
To the silence
Between words
Flowing
With emotion
Heard in the silence
Of the words not spoken
But heard
59
On words
And silences
Impregnated with communion
With the divine
Silence
Of the word.
Listen
Listen
If every straight line be the arc of an infinite circle
What doth that circle encircle
But that which it excludes?
Thus the love of the Lord is both limitless yet lies contained within the heart of the true
believer who, offended that he must bear such a weight which transports him in ecstatic
jubilation of divine love, seeks to unburden himself by shedding light to enlighten the
pathway to be trod by those suffering a similar affliction, or lameness, who, in their turn, will
seek to lighten their load by lighting the pathway leading to the soul, or fish, found within the
still silent waters within which all is but a shadow of an eagle in flight crossing the desert
sand falling through an hour-glass reflected in the silence of being. Alone.
Fleeing the pain the afflicted seeks union, earthly or spiritually. Yet whilst earthly love doth
crumble spiritual love remains. All encompassing union with the divine reflects itself in a love
of all beings, all of which possess a soul of equal weight and worth in the eye of the
beholder…in the I of the beholder. Aye. I.
60
Listen
Listen
Listen to the silent word
And hear
The silence between the words
Not heard
Listen
Listen to the silent word
And wonder
At the transformation created
By listening
To the word
Unheard
Listen
Listen to the silent written word
Stained with the blood of humanity
Fed
At the last supper
Before
It was too late
To change
The flow
Of fate
Beyond
Redemption, a city gate, stood, open,
Waiting one to pass
On a beast of burden
An ass
Carrying a man to be crowned king
A crown of thorns to be borne
By a beast of burden torn
In twain
61
As in the middle he hung
Between two thieves
Whilst angels sung
A stranger limped, unseen
To listen to the words
Of the scene
Enacted
A scream
Was seen
In the word
Awaited which went
Unheard.
Listen
Understood, heard
Waiting
To be said
Spoken, read.
Listen,
62
Supper, scream or scene
Which fell
In to place
With a word
Of love
To resound
In time to face
Unaware
Out
On the cross
At a loss
For words
To fit between
The silences
Reporting
63
And heard
In the scream
Which shook
The tree
Be it apple or fig
Fruit fell
Listen
A particle of dust
Through waves
Whilst you
Listen
Of the beauty
Everywhere
64
Whilst you listen
You change
Beginning a fresh
Life
In death
Which tempts, which calls with a word, between the silence of love and the sea of emotion
welling up in thee there falls
65
Forged race
Against the waves which wash
Clean the blood stained sands on the shore.
Listen
Of listening hear
To form
A new
You
Out
Shedding
The years
Shorn
You see
Write
Wrongs
In songs
Reflect
66
Listen
Listen
Listen
For Man to see – he’s more than a monkey swinging through a tree
He’s a god – and his actions will be judged by humanity
For all work for the greater good of the collective neighbourhood
When it thrives each individual is more likely to survive
The ravages of time and tide.
67
Existing for a while
On the horizon of time
checking the scales
and the sails
with an eye on the weather
and a weather eye open for a fellowship to form
to help the craft weather the storm.
Listen
Listen
Focus
Get back on track
Position yourself
True
North in view
Single-minded
Prioritise
Listen
To words of wisdom
From other skies
To your being
You
Saying
What you do
And doing what you say
You do
Be true
With no secrets to hide
Because you lied
Cheating yourself
In vain
68
Attempting to create
A name of renown
For vanity’s sake
Your face will reflect
The truth which your soul
Will re-collect
In the depth’s of your being
You
Need to be focussed
On track
Committed
To arriving at a destination
In the dark
With only the candles
From other skies
To show you the pathway
They better not be lies
You will tell
Others will see
Straight from the smell
Of the scent in the breeze
Whispering its way
Through silent trees
Which wait
To carry the word
A cross
Shadows which fall
Still life lingers
Upon a hill
Where dice lay cast
With the skin of the serpent
Which spoke
Arousing passions
Which awoke
The dragon within
Causing the crowd to laugh
At your nakedness
Whilst you in vain shed
Floods of tears
With the words you had read
But heeded not
For in vain
Considered the snake slain
As it slithered from its skin
Into the dragon within
You
Can conquered be still
If you will
Consider your destination true
Anew
69
Be carried by the burden of love which bears fruit which falls
To the ground
See the might of mother nature who wrought
The word
From nought
Duty bound
Freedom of thought
Word and deed
For the truth will be seen in the seed
Blowing in the wind
In the breeze
Through the trees
Where one prayed
On his knees
Whilst his followers fled
Swords were drawn
Whilst rivers were to flow red
With the blood
Remembered in the wine
From water turned
By the drug of love which burns
Intoxicating as it turns
Water into wine
Drunk in the silent communion
Of the mind
Seen by the blind
Man who saw
The beauty of being
True
To your self
Anew.
70
Listen
71
Listen
I have been
Scraping
A living
Eking out
Making do
With my breath
Without which
I would have had a hard
Time
Just breathing
In
Out
In
out
like the sound
of the sea
unceasing
I have tried
To explore the pathways of the wise
Only to find
The undergrowth of my own imagination
Denied
Access to the higher echelons
Of the tide
72
To myself to no avail
The sea pounds the shore
Wearing thin
Falsehood and sin
Telling
The tale
Told
Undersold
In the sale
Of the century’s tail
Ender
On a bender
In time
To rhyme
Standing the words in line
Whilst wondering why
A.D.B.C
Meet
Where they do
On the shore
I wander
As I wonder
At the beauty of the world spinning in space
Despite the follies
Of the human race
To which I belong
Amidst the happy, loving, murderous
Throng
Listening
Singing
The same
Song
Between the sheets.
73
Listen
74
Listen
Listen
75
In
Out
In
Out
The same air
Shared
A smile
Whilst a child stops to help another who has fallen by the wayside
A child
Helps
Another
Whilst his elder brother waits
Analysing in vain
The empty reasons of shame showered in stones upon the silent bones which wait
Whilst inscriptions carved in stone slip beneath the spider’s web
Whilst the moon grows, cries, takes the form of the fingernail of both the child and soldier
who died in the cross-fire of bullets which hailed
Mounting from 345 to well over a thousand in less than ten days of mindless killing engaged
In the name of
Something which children can’t understand, though children help, each other with a helping
hand
Some
Smile
Of love which reigns
Whilst salt stained tears fall
The desert blooms
With love
Once you open your door
To the Lord.
Love
Is the dew on a rose in the mist in the morn as the light filters, flickers is filtered into a
spectrum of colours all of which together constitute a single colour
As it is with all religious pathways which all meet at the same summit beneath the star flung
sky.
The artist is both a child and an adult. As a child he seeks to have fun, enjoyment in the
instant immutable fleeting passing whilst as an adult he seeks to leave a silence in the passing
of words to enlighten the wayfarers following on other pathways leading to the same silent
summit where the wind blows with no answers except those heard in the word-struck silence
of the dumb-founded poet found wanting whilst waiting prepared.
76
Listen
77
In which the spectator was actor
In the created image of creation stored
In the stories storing the store
Of silent images
Of the imagination day-dreaming during the nightmares dreamt whilst piecing together
To gather
The fragments
Re-collected
Restored
To life
In the childlike process of creation
Unravelling the meaning of the messages
Drawn
Carved
Painted
Transmitted in the breathing
Blowing
Through the didgeridoo sounding ”om”
“om”
“om”
om
om
om
om
om
resonating
throughout time
from within
to the universe
in a symphony of sound.
78
Seeking the Light
He found me
Alone and desolate
Consoled me
With the light
Of the Word
Made flesh
Forged future
Fore-gotten
Gain
Of the word with no name
Known to all men
Dolmen
Standing stone
Circles
Parallel
Placed
At energy spots
Where flows
Energy
To heal
And re-store
To life
The sick
Quick and the dead
With a word
Shattering jolt of energy restoring electrical impulse awakening the mind to the infinite
possibilities of life flowing from living beings through one another to one another at dawn
Between night and break
Of day
Upon the sea-shore listening to the movement of the waves washing back and forth whilst the
moon lit the sky silver and clouds rolled by.
Imagine
Being
Born
A second time
Without having died
Yet being
Dead
To the word and the flesh
79
One’s ego consumed
In a childlike state
Of innocence
Creating
For Heaven’s sake
Holding fast
To a lifeline flung
In the past
By fellow sufferers
For the future to form
In the wise words
Of the second born
Seeking a path
To express in words
The silent suffering beauty heard in the music of stars and the flight of birds.
80
Under the cypress trees
I watch the crescent moon
Rising high
Waves curve upwards
Before breaking on the shore
I listen
To the rhythmic rise
And fall
Of the sea
I am swept away
In the arms of my lover
We become one
We come
Together
Under the cypress tree. Listen 21jan
Listen
Close your eyes
Put your hands together
Meditate
Drift
81
At work
In our dreams
Which make
The future
Not what it seems
In our dreams
Of a better earth
Where North and South are not
Divided
By the cartographer’s pen
But are one
Sun-blessed humanity singing
The same song
To different tunes
Writing
With different runes
From a crumbled tower
Of Babel
Which fell
Upon the hour
It takes
For Man to rise
From Finnegans wakes
Week
T
Ford
Car pollutes
Congestion fills
The auto-routes
Tolled
In the telling
Charges bought
Against a Man
Who had done nought
But said
The truth
As he saw it
Lying
In an infinite number of chambers under the same roof
Beneath a weather-cock
Which turned
As Mother Nature scorned
The ideas produced
By the pen
Induced
By the word which when-T
Unheard
In the silence
Of the symphony of stars which sang
To the echo of the silence which rang
82
Through the minds of Man
On the hour
The clock struck
The silence
Of a tall black tower beside the silvery sea stretching beyond the boundaries of infinity to be
Lost
With neither compass nor map
Spells the ingredients
Of a mishap
Or misfortune
Told
In the telling
Tales of old
Found
To save souls by the pound
Of flesh
Unfolded
Unfurled
In the star spangled banner
Burned
Books which rise
The spirit of awareness
Higher than the skies
From which stones rain
On the poor
Again
And
Again
Intifadah
Reigns
Stones
On the poor
Slain in vain for a Lord with no Name
But Love
Charity
Faith
Borne from above.
Listen
Be matter waves
Energy
Love
Saves
Be matter love
Waves
Energy
83
Gives
Be matter energy
Waves of love
Flow
Energy be matter
Love
Waves
Matter be love
Energy
Waves
84
Listen
Still
Life
Flows
Nature
Dead on a canvass
Grows, lives, gives,
Emotions live, vibrate through time and space
Still
Life
Lives
Gives a reflection which resounds
In the energy which abounds
In grace
Filled space which flows
Which comes
And goes
Comes and goes
Flows
Listen
Plants grow
From non-being
to being
combining to form
matter
in form
healing
energy
borne
warming rays
penetrate with love life’s days
85
Listen
86
The universe bestows
In the movement of the stars, of the sea, of birth, death, drawing free
Souls from bodies
To float
In a sea of spiritual awareness
Of a boat
Crossing the sea
Of being
To eternity reflected in the waves which flow
Upon the shore
Of the instant captured by listening
Through an open door to the way
To the light spreading
At the break of day
Night falls elsewhere
In the turning
Of the tide
Is a constant flowing
Guide
To the universe borne
In the heart
Of all being
Both one and infinite
Encircling the encircled arc in a line
Of language listened to through time
Listen
Listen
87
Listen
Thanks be to God.
Listen
Thanks be to God.
88
Listen to the silence before sunrise
The world sleeps
The city sleeps
The town sleeps
The village sleeps
The household sleeps
You sleep
But wait
Listen longer and wonder
Doth a city ever sleep
Doth it ever stop
The town may look quiet, sleeping
But maybe there’s someone who could not
Fall asleep to find
Repair, restore body and mind
With the energy of love which flows
In the silent heart which knows
Contentment
Being blessed
With a selflessness
Desiring to give
Yet forget the deed
89
Or debt
Volunteering
To serve humanity’s cause
In vain
Striving to carry the light to a point yet to be
named
In three languages carved
Facing both one direction and an infinite choice of
pathways
At a time which neither existed yet exists
Beyond time
Beyond timelessness
As a new current flows from the meeting of
streams all of which contributing
Create anew
Riverrunningflowofthewordsusedtodesignateyou.
Listen
90
Listen
91
hour-glass reflected shadow keeping pace with
camels they climbed rolling sand dunes of the
mind which rose and fell with the universe’s
dynamic equilibrium poised in motion the camels
strode whilst the travellers listened to the creaking
load in their hearts they heard the current flow
bringing news of the word they sought to know
The path to tread
To a cross
Road of cultures
Marking a point in time and space
Reflecting the beginning
Borne in the word
Bearing ideas and thought
Which pictogram and word both wrought
Forging tales anew
As the travellers talked
Languages from lands long left
Behind sea of dunes and mountain cleft
Rising towards Tibet
Snow-capped peaks
Where currents of thought ran deep
Through Time’s span
The travellers heard tales of a word began
In the beginning
beginning time
Unravelled in the present
92
Flowing through space
In silence
Heard
In the hearts
Of the travellers who knew
Other forgeries equally true
As language forges thought
Wrought in words
Writ
In Sanskrit
Hieroglyphs carved
Chinese characters printed
Transported
Through time and space
To a cross
Roads
Reflecting the flow
Of a universal being
Endowed with spirit
Which flows
Through space-time being
The sum of an infinite number of parts
Reflecting the reflection of the word
Listened to by the travellers whilst they listened in
awe to time-worn tales of yore
Story
Your
93
Story
Told
For you
By a story-teller forging
Old tales
Anew.
Amen.
Thanks be to God.
Listen23b
Listen23b
Listen
Listen to this odd fragment that I’ve heard
The Dalai Lama
Was reincarnated
In Bethlehem found
By travellers listening to the sound
Of the verb
Incarnate
In every word
Spoke
From the heart
Opening a door
Into the dark
94
Awakening
Awareness
Brings light
Hearted laughter in flight
The imagination alights
The flame of desire
Of Man’s funeral pyre
95
A beginning borne
In the reincarnate word
Made flesh
As time and space converge
In the universal flow
Of laughter
And smiles
Sign-language aped
Mimicked in the mirror
Of the soul
Bearing gift
Of awareness
Stole
In the fruit of the flame of desire
Rising to a crescendo
As two form one
Love
Flows
In the fertilized egg which grows
In the womb
Giving birth to the cry
Of travellers asking why
A tunic would be torn
In two
As night follows day
Love flows unfathomed from a fathomless flow
Of space and time being incorporated
96
Within the body borne
From womb to tomb
Whilst the spirit like a river flows
Alleviating the suffering of Man’s woes
Though whence and where no man knows
Whilst feeling it in passion’s throes
Of love
Which bear
The weight of the light across
The journey crossed
By travellers wise
To the fortunes of man’s demise
A beast of burden clothed to mask
The understanding of the questions asked
Of one’s self torn
In two
The tunic is split
Though a patchwork it be
Common to all
Humanity
Hiding behind
A fig-leaf found
On a tree
Where apes still swing free
Of the chains
By which Man enslaves
Man
97
As egos grow
Out of control
Travellers listen
To what they have
Herd
In the ideograms in the spaces between the
characters painted on the papyrus in hieroglyphs
carved in stone to crumble to be buried amongst
the dunes which curve to a crescendo whilst love
flows converging bodies meet the climax where
space and time fuse to form one continuous
flowing current of energy which consumes the ego
so the travellers stand in a trance like state of
quietude aware only of the infinitesimally small
point which Bethlehem is bound to become as the
waves of the universe roll the sands of time into
dune formed crescendos of love which ripple forth
into the starlit silence of the night following day
which has broken upon a lake where two fish
caught are sufficient to feed five thousand souls a
multitude of times throughout time as the travellers
contemplate the myriad of words caste into the
pool of consciousness where they sink into the
depths of the unconscious only to resurface in
refurbished form appropriate to the culture of the
time being in which they are borne to bear the
message of love which fills the Springtide air
98
blowing in the wind to which the travellers hark
aware of the silence and need for language to
lighten the dark passage of time which flows in the
hearts and mindful souls of those who wait, awake,
whilst they watch two birds in flight cross a lake
amongst mountains in a moonlit night in awe,
listening in silence, dumb-struck by what they saw
to embody the universal spirit of love which flows
beyond time and space within all which is.
Listen 25
99
Listen to the truth which lies
In the silences between the words unsaid
Between the lines
But read
Listen
Listen
Listen
Could it be that we be
Trapped
In the projection of a will
Too powerful and too deliberate to be human?
100
As Justine said?
Trapped like a boat on the sea
Awaiting the wind
Yet slipping fast with the flow
Helplessly drifting further and further out
With the tide
Unable to counter the force of nature which
impassively moves
The tiny bobbing boat ever further from land into
waters that are deep and swirling with eddies and
currents we do not know? Yet what can we do?
Wave? Who to? The radio has gone dead? No ships
pass this way. We pray.
Yes, we who have never gone to church on
Sundays, preferring to prepare our little boat for a
spot of pleasure, we pray.
Yet God hears. God hears us in our chains.
Frightened. Afraid, trembling now as the boat slips
further and further beyond our control.
God comes. God calms. The panic attack over we
see the world anew. God has entered our hearts.
Like a mother reassuring a child woken from sleep
by a nightmare. Like children we seek God.
Finding His presence in our hearts fills us with
tranquillity. We are at peace. Perhaps the current
will continue to drag the boat ever further from the
shore. We shall wait. Whilst waiting God’s love
101
will lift us up. Strengthened we will give fight. Yet
there is nothing to be done, but wait.
Perhaps the morrow will bring a welcome wind to
our sails. We will be saved. Yet it proves nought.
All will seek the Lord in times of trouble and none
will be refused.
Blessed be he that seeketh the Lord when the wind
blows fair for in Him he shalt find great solace.
We were together
In the heart of the city
Watching the river flow
Past beautiful old apartments where once
Different faces had looked out
Over the flowing river
As people had shouted in the street
Napoleon
Louis
Or perhaps earlier
When the scaffolding used in the construction of Notre Dame was
Finally removed
Displaying the beautiful stonework
And weighing of souls
In silence
We wondered
At the beauty we saw
Together
Happy
Asking for nothing more
102
Listen
Listen
103
With the waves
Which wash away the dualism
Between you and I
Between I and we
Elevating the mind
To a union with the whole
Totality of experience
In which the I
Is submerged
In a sea of being
Aware
Of the rising
And falling
Of the boat
Bobbing up and down
In the universe
Flowing
With the tide
Of matter
In waves
Of time
Encircled by emptiness
Flowing
With the particles of emotion
Of love
Between sentient beings
Divine
104
Whilst as one with the Lord
Absorbed in all light
All pervading
Flight
Through the universe of time
Gathering pace
As it hurtles
Through space
Curved
Expanding
Exponentially until time and matter fuse
To form one
Flow
Of energy
Driving life
To grow
From the seeds of the flower of time which fall to
embrace life’s diversity upon the earth’s face
which mirrors that of the moon whose tears fall
and water the desert which blooms
anew
whilst the wind blows
sand
falling in dunes which roll with the rising and
falling waves of time which flow through the
current of energy which goes from being to being
in the instant one knows an awareness of Being
105
part of the whole which flows
with the rise and fall of the boat bobbing sea
of love
which flows
from you
to me
whilst the I
and the we
lie consumed
in a passion
the Lord lifteth up
with compassion
the fallen
angels who bore
a message
to humanity
from afar
flung star
which hung
over a manger
where a Man-child was born
to be the son
of Man
and Woman
whilst the world watched
wise men from the east crossed
carrying gifts from afar
106
for out of Egypt was called the Son
who saw
the beauty of being in the world
awaiting the word
upon which to wait
to be carried
whilst carrying
its weight.
Listen
107
A bowl of dirty water lay waiting by a wall
Warming in the courtyard, for the use of all
Who may have happened, passing by,
To seek to wash their hands
Beneath the sun-blessed sky.
108
Can it be possible that a man can see
The mysteries which flow from Thee
And live in peace without feeling
He has to give
Back the beauty which he bore
When he looked upon that which he saw
Pregnant with awe
He stood
Wondering whether his tongue had been turned to wood
For in the pictures which he painted
There was so little of the truth for which he’d fainted
Swooned, so strong was the sentiment
He felt himself doomed
To bear the burden to his fellows
Awaken the world
Sound the alarm
Flag up a warning message spammed
To those awaiting the word which jammed
In the machine which broke
Down and cried
Upon discovering
The truth
Had lied
With falsehood stood
The test of time
Upon its head
To wait
For the silent word to weight
The scales
To guide
The soul towards its test
For if it won it would be blessed
With the vision to weight
The balance of fate which swings
The trajectory of earth born things
Towards the stars which sing
Of the future which flies on wings
Of time which tell
Of the beauty of the silent word
Which resonates in the wisdom
Of all that you’ve heard
In this tale
Summed up in the action
Of a horny old snail
Seeking to transmit
The genetic code
Of which he was writ
To survive
Only the fit
Will remain alive
109
For he wondered
“who wrote the writ?”
a High Court Judge
is it He that sit
measuring the wait
which swings the balance
bearing weight
borne
in the coming
of the dawn
unfolding
o’er the hills
of England’s green and Pleasant
new Jerusalem
but this?
Listen
It will grow
To be recognised
By the fruit of the action
We sew
110
In the silent understanding
Betwixt the cup and lip.
Listen28b
Listen
111
Listen29
If thou seek
Thou shalt see
Within thyself
The reflection
Of Deity
In human form
Masked
Nakedness hidden
Mortal
To become ashes and dust
Be all that remains
Of passion and lust
Conquered
In Love
Of the Lord
Whom thou shalt see
When seeking deep
Inside of thee.
Listen
112
Listen29b
Listen29c
Listen
113
Of old
Wine in new bottles
Sold.
To quench the thirst
Whilst the truth doth flow
From that which is given
For nought but love
For a higher being
In the heavens above.
Listen
Give
For unto the giver shall it be
Given
Thanks be to God.
114
What use art thy
But to help others seek enlightenment and understanding?
A heavy heart
Sloweth the journey
Travel light
Taking only a smile with you
115
Righteousness overcometh evil
Bu who is to judge one from the other
Except by the fruit they bear?
Om
Listen to the Om
Within thyself Om
Pacifies
As does a didgeridoo
Om
Blowing out
All is in the breathing
As one is part of the universal flow
Om
Om
Om
Repetition takes one into the realm
Of the Almighty.
Om
Om
Om
116
Contemplate not the sin most trivial
For from small seedlings great oaks grow.
117
The voice of the Lord thy God
Shalt reign from generation to generation.
118
A sound heart, body and mind is to be had
By listening to the weight of the word.
Om
Om
Om
119
Let thy days be bounteous and long
And thy cup of understanding overfloweth forever.
120