oh Monday mornings

It’s always just a little challenging to get things moving on a Monday morning. The sun is shining outside. I am sitting in my study, looking out over the garden and trying to stay focused on work. This is always a bit of a challenge, but it is made harder at the moment. Last week I put together the first book under my new “bluewater books” imprint. This is an idea which is filling me with so much excitement. It has been a long time coming to something, but finally we are there. The first book, ‘zen words’, a collection of poems is now a reality. I am going to put together a mailing list to share these books with. (If you want to be on the list, send me an email).

The brain waves have been gently washed with three CDs this morning. I began with Brian Eno’s ‘Music for Films’ from 1978, followed by ‘freefall’ by Darkroom which is a CD-R that is available for free. Follow the link if you want a copy. And as I write this, I am listening to ‘Music for Airports’ by Brian Eno.

Very much an ambient feel to things this morning. This afternoon, I am going to listen to the new Radiohead album, ‘Hail to the Thief’. I bought it on Saturday and am still trying to find a spare hour to listen to it.

Here’s a poem from ‘zen words’ so that you can see what I am talking about:

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zen three – second theme
when flower unfurls
then the true meaning of light can reveal itself

when my thoughts flow out
then the blocks can be pushed down

as I hover in air, snapping scenery
like a frenetic instamatic
then look back later
remember detail whether it was there or not
the sun, less the cloud, less the rain

hearing tugs at the pieces of sound that fall upon my head
because it is only when they are shuffled into a co-ordinate
that I can truly understand what they communicate

then, as the light sparkles and crackles as a bonfire
I can see through each moment of reality
as my breath slows down and quietens, I can hear it
listening carefully to each crest and trough

I find the essence of true care
the wisps of steam that rise, then disperse
the sense that we are all connected
all part of the same
in pain as well as laughter

for the smiling spirit is attached to the dour soul
and the message between the two is the balance,
the secret that we harbour

a dare that we keep
a shadow that we can see.

- - - - - - - -

The book is in three sections – the poem quoted is from the middle section which gives its title to the book as a whole. In it I explore aspects of living in the present moment, and of understanding the inter-connections between the senses.