The 100 most recent posts
Presence - Sometimes
I like to turn the radio off
Let the silence fall upon the car
Let the experience of driving
Transcend the noise
Otherwise in the background
Veil ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #105 - Difficult it is
To remember beauty
Especially my own
When the veil of anger
Occludes my vision
Shrouds my being
Cacophony - In the cacophonous mingling
Of mountain and sky
My eye finds no place to rest
No one object to hold it
So it is free
Anger Clouds - Anger never served me
But for its reminder
That my thinking was clouded
And truth obscured
By slavery
To emotion
Magic Castle - This golden hour
This magic light
Reminds me of
My brightest days
Times when I
Could do no wrong
Creative might
Insightful mind
Beautiful Corridor - Confined by valleys
Trees and roads
Through narrow corridors
Can I roam
But all so beautiful
I can't bemoan
The choices few
My path can go
Ice ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #104 - Like ice It trailed From the nape Of my neck Down my Straight hard spine The chill In my thoughts While the truth Sank in And the world Came apart
Making Home - It was a world not my own
With its weak red star
And its amber sky
The always cloud
And the never rain
But we'd brought our seeds
Planted our trees
Spread our grasses
Harvested the carbon
To surface the roads
To refine the fuel
To run our cars
Valley of Discontent - In this valley of discontent
Light falls in but cannot escape
So I climb to highest ridge
Carrying unsubtle hope
Else bathe below in light's deceit
Contemplation ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #103 - Contemplating the turmoil
Roiling in my head
I notice a point
Centre of the storm
Centre of my being
Around which all
The turbulence pivots
There's calm there
I fight my way toward it
Seeking the source of such peace
But bucked and buffeted
By the tumult
I make no headway
In the intensifying storm
The Space Between - The space between
The light and dark
Is sometimes just
A narrow gap
And in this lies
A beauty common
Where truth is told
In high relief
Moments of Discovery - I'm no hero
Reluctant or foretold
No beacon of goodness
I'm no brave soul
Blazing a path of wisdom
For others to follow
Such youthful fantasy
Dreamers - I ponder
All that is
All that never was
All that could be
All that never will
Thinkers explore
Every possibility
And dreamers
Every impossibility
Nature’s World - Oh have I travelled
Far from home
To other worlds
Beyond imagination
But never left
My own backyard
Nor taxed my powers
Of creation
Just let nature
Run its course
Leave her to
Her machinations
Just my thoughts and my eye - In dappled sun
Breezes ruffle
Pastel petals
Stems buck and sway
Camera and I lying
In long grass
Ants trundling
On thighs and calves
While dragonflies
Hover and dart
Seeking mosquitoes
And deer flies
A Billion Years of History - Tempting it is
To call this landscape
Barren
No life
No green
No creatures
Scurrying
Or so it seems
But apparent are
Rich textures of rock
And a billion years
Of history
Before a human
Ever walked
A Helical Spiral of Indeterminate Tense - The sun is just a star
We chose to father us
The moon, our mother
Illuminates the night
And whispers lullabies
To soothe us
When the darkness
Frightens us
The Earth
Our home
Bedrock beneath
Space above
But solid ground
Spins us round
Cycles of life
Always turning
Shrouded - Sometimes
I prefer
Mystery
Envelopes me
In this shroud
Of anonymity
I allow
The self is free
To explore
Deepest edge
Furthest field
Darkest path
So I may
Emerge again
Into light
Lit within
Stars ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #102 - Aided by
Small aperture
In this starburst
Am I reminded
The sun is just a star
In blackness infinite
Speckled with
Uncounted stars
Hurdles - With every sunset
I am reminded
There will always be
Another hurdle
And another opportunity
To clear one
The Sails Long Furled - In the calm
In the calm
In the gentle calm
With the sun now gone
And the colour fading
I trace the line
In reflecting mind
From a day long past
One last empty kiss
Ends a love at rest
Infinite Grey - I'm not sure
Whether I'm alone now
Because I'm tired of getting hurt
Or I'm tired of hurting others
Somewhere I lost track
Maybe it's both
Lightworker - In the turmoil of fragmentation
As what was once whole
Fractures and atomizes
I am startled to discover
Running through the center
Of this formidable chaos
A rainbow
Rainbows ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #101 - Sometimes
Even the appearance of a rainbow
Cannot dispel the darkness
So I plumb the darkness
Seeking the rainbow within
The Fog of Pain - I remind myself
That the pain is just a fog
Cloaking the mountain
The wind, soon enough
Will blow the fog away
And there will be I, the mountain
What the Veil Reveals - I want to know the world
With the clarity and vibrance
Of a postcard
But that is not the world
Mortality ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #100 - Grey.
Smoky.
The smell of a campfire.
But the nearest fire set a hundred thousand trees alight, a hundred or more kilometers away. I wonder, was that one lightning? A cigarette? A carelessly managed fire?
Strange Imaginings - Sometimes
I wonder
If I know this planet
At all
Of course
I often manage
To imagine something
Stranger still
Dreaming the Land into Being - As time became time
In Ancestor's dreaming
The void became sound
The sound became song
The Ancestors sang
The world into being
The Rockies - They rise
Like a Wall
The Rockies
Towering
Above the land
Which for a thousand miles
Has known only sky
And a horizon
Beyond infinity
Shadows in the Sky - Shadows in the sky
Where the sun
And the clouds
And the smoke
Interplay
Where the river
And the rails
Run in parallel
Display
Levels ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #99 - Levels deep Path obscured Proceeding On faith Alone Well Faith And experience There is Always A path
In the flow - Heart, mind, body and soul
Four independent currents
Perhaps enlightenment
is the condition
when all four
flow together as one
Beauty and the Breath - Vibrant
Violent
Fire
Consumes
Valleys
Distant
Choking
Smoke
Creates
Pastel
Twilight
Artistry
Calm
Lake
Okanagan
Fleeting ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #98 - The express train rumbles through
town after town
station after station
Fleeting moments
Current ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #97 - With
Against
Over
Bypass
All the ways I've learned
To make my way in life
Unconsciously, they become habit
Forgetting the current running through it all
Monolithic Demagogue - Monolith Monumental Immense Magnficent Formidable Immovable Immutable Rooted, gravitas
Magic Hours - Where land and sky
And sea and sun meet
There the magic light
Comes twice daily
Glorious hours
Connect me
To all
In grace
I, not this I - A different Tantalus
Every time I visit
Just like
Everything else
No thing
No one
No place
No moment
No emotion
No insight
Is ever the same
One moment
To the next
Bowyer, Bowen and Gambier - Light and soft
My mood
My spirit
Charmed by the pastel sunset
Playing over
The gently rippled Sound
City Light Homecoming - Driving down
From my mountain high
Headlights
Tail lights
Darkening sky
On the Sound
A sheen of cobalt and amber
Twilight
Cloud light
The last burning ember
Underway - Nothing quite calms me like
The mountains
And the sea
Beneath azure skies
Underway
Destination of no concern
Nary a Care - A rocky beach
A cloud strewn sky
A becalmed sea
And the last
Glimmering
Rays
Of a sun
Leaving the day
And I
Reflecting
Alone
In my thoughts
With nary
A care
But for the beauty
Of it all
On the other side, this side is the other side. - I like to cross bridges
Thinking of the dreams
To be fulfilled
On the other side
Sometimes, while crossing
I remember
There are dreams to be fulfilled
On both sides
Creativity ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #95 - I love being in a place
Where creativity thrives
Where paint and passion
Offer more vibrance and colour
Than nature's grandest sunsets
Twilight Transformation - It is a simple pier
On a rocky beach
The large stones worn smooth
By the rhythm of tides
And uncountable waves
Not a beach
For laying out towels
Basking in the sun
Building castles
In daylight
Pretty enough
As I drive by
Repose ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #94 - A moment of repose
Beneath obscured half moon
In late twilight
Between
The day behind
The day ahead
When time
Is all
My own
A quiet
Internal
Revel
In the beauty
Of it
All
No Stony End - Young conifer
Which set down roots
Some few years ago
They're now exposed
By desert rains
And so it seems
To cling to Earth
While off beyond
The hoodoos laugh
At upstart pine
Rolling Hills - I roll
Into land
Which swallows me
Whole
I mind
Not a bit
Becoming one
With it all
Just me
And the land
And the dance
Of the road
Twilight ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #93 - When the sun has left the sky
Impending night encroaching
On the very edge of dusk
Colours of refraction
Upon the sea reflected
I draw a breath
Feel the cool
Know the day
Is past
Commitment - I commit
Moment to moment
Day to day
With every step
With every breath
With every thought
Unconscious
Inconsequential
Commitment
Transient Space - Transient space between
Fingertip and existence
Connection
Transition
Evil subdued
Peaceful detachment
Relief - Curious it seems
To experience
Relief so profound
Exposed to climate
So unforgiving
Among the desert's
Many victims:
My haughty ego
And petty worries
Matters unworthy
Of a life
Worth living
Ghosts ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #92 - I carry a haul of ghosts
Along the paths I travel
Some recorded, for all time
And others a shadow memory
Each a fleeting moment
Seen in the context
Of another realm
And none too clearly
What they are
Where they are
Who they are
Somewhere on the Way Through Nowhere - These roads through nowhere
Always find somewhere
Along the way
Because somewhere
Is always a state of mind
And my mind is always somewhere
I Create - I create
Layer upon layer
Expression upon expression
The new obscures the old
The old shines through the new
A temporal collage
Of overlapping
Insights, expressions, realizations
Hoping, in the end
The sum of it all
Creates some enduring meaning
Focus - I look back
At times of impatience
Of diligence lacking
Decisive moments
Reminded of the virtues:
Steadfast focus
Attention to detail
And a good tripod
Becalmed ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #91 - Under an empty sky
But for the lonesome crescent
And I
Becalmed
On the quiet sea
Furl my sails
Start the engine
Turn for home
To which I bring
This peaceful moment
This land of oh-so-pretty - In this land of
Oh-so-pretty
The comings and
The goings become
As much the point of travel
As arriving
Diminutive ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #90 - Diminutive
Am I within
This grand design
Of laws and matter
Such that I
Go travelling
Across a great expanse
Or one so seeming
In truth
A journey of
A thousand steps
Is hardly more than one
In a universe
Far wider still
Than light
Has ever gone
Magic Hour - Magic hour
In a land
Of no small magic
Conspires to create
Tableaus of beauty
Inimitable
Evanescent ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #89 - Celestial cyclic moment
With every day arise
As starlight crests horizon
Seeking eastern skies
Awakened human spirit
A grace divine replies
Infinity ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #88 - I seek the moments
When the infinite
Becomes the infinitesimal
When the All
Which is everything
Becomes the One
Which is nothingness
I seek the moments
When paradox
Becomes awareness
Heroes - Hero
A word of nuance
Of many meanings
Of differences
Subtle and grave
In a story
The protagonist
Who in the end
Saves the day
Lotus Petals - Petals fallen
To dimpled pond
Where raindrops gather
On lotus pads
A thousand diamonds glittering
Under slate grey skies
Swagger - Swagger
Chutzpah
Presence
A small man
Of no small mass
A big heart
A wise soul
Both worn
Close to the surface
Monkey Business - I remember a time
When simply breathing
Was dangerous
A time before
The Clean Air Act of 1970
The Environmental Protection Agency
Which gave the Act bite
And enforced its many regulations Hate ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #86 - I began to realize
If I could learn to love myself
Completely
I would no longer want to hate
Such unconditioned inner light is
Impenetrable
Even to hate's formidable darkness
Unconfined Light - I remind myself
The light at the end of the tunnel
Is only light
And the tunnel
Is only the sum of my fears
Confining me
When the Flash Came - When the flash came
I had just cleared the fourth floor
Confident everyone made it to the shelter
The steel door closed
When the flash came
Night became a day like no other
Just several seconds long
With the intensity of a hundred suns
It Is What It Never Was - In these hallways
I've created oh-so-many worlds
For the dream factory
To film its stories
Police stations
And hospitals
Apartment buildings
And condemned spaces
Secret headquarters
And schools of magic
Corridor Dreaming - I dream of corridors
Every one different
But all the same
The light is soft
Though harsh
Streaming in
Through doors
All open
On the right
An inviting light
Nonetheless too bright
And as I tread
Ever-so-gingerly
Down the corridor
Fractured Flash - A pair of runners
Find the frame
One time coming
One time going
And one time
In a fractured flash
As they pass before me
Trust - She was broken and battered
Her ability to love
Damaged and misaligned
And yet
There was to her
A tenacious spirit
Movement ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #85 - In a world
Flattened and stilled
My taxi crawls
Toward a fogged-in airport
Flights delayed
Forward progress
Intermittent
Passing
Ill-advised
The People Who Change the World - To roam the world
Is to see the unimaginable
To experience the unknown
And, most profound of all
To touch
And be touched
By people
I may never see again
But who will forever
Change my world
Miles of Earth - I have driven
Many miles of Earth
Across continents
And countries
And where others see
Monotony
Or mundanity
I discover
Exquisite
Subtlety
Sphere of Influence - Sometimes I feel
Beyond my flesh
Sense the world
And its beings
Not by touch
Nor sight
Nor sound
Not by smell
Like a sphere Of presence
A sphere of influence
Because others
Feel me, this way
And I feel them
Like I know them
Earth - Every now and again
Landscape and sky
Remind me
I live
On a speck
Of rock
In an expanse
Of space
Dotted
Intermittently
With other
Little specks
Emptiness ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #84 - I often ponder
Choices made
When I'm taking
Photographs
A moment here
A moment there
Adjusting frame
Awaiting light
Or add a child
Just running through
What once was full
Seems emptiness
Which strikes me now
So much like life
Five Priests - Five priests
Raise fire
Into night
On Ganga banks
At Shiva's
Light
Where people come
To see
The sight
Some pray
Some pay
In boats
Packed tight
Games ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #83 - The game of games
In every land
Its dreams
Of fame and glory
Roaring crowds
Adulation
Played out
In young boy's hearts
Under the lights
Imagining a stadium
Fans in every seat
A swing away
From eternal meaning
Boats - In the deepening night
Long after Aarti fires
Extinguish
A late boat returns
While some colleagues rest
On gentle ripples
And others await repair
Uncomfortably aground
Aum - Aum
I sing
From deep within
Aum
The sound
Resonates
Like kundalini
When spirit rises
Energy of life
And being
Fire ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #82 - Every night
The aarti fire
Five priests
Pay homage
To Shiva's gifts
While one boy
In their shadow
Shines bright
The Birds - They flock
The gulls
To feed
On seed
And bread
That's thrown
From boats
On which
The tourists
View
The banks
Where
Funeral
Pyres burn
All day
And night
