Unalterable

I listen to the water flowing,
really listening — now —
hearing, actually,
still listening, consciously.
Think to hear
the deeper cadences,
the unchanging rhythms,
deeper and deeper,
if I can,
into pure timelessness,
feeling less and less,
knowing nothing.

The moving water joins the pool
in stillness, barely visible
eddies on the surface.
Gone.

I am lulled
into an oblique reverie:
emotionless.
I am neither happy, nor anxious,
just aware,
for there is nothing else
at that moment to be.

Moments later,
past the steaming asphalt
and the heavy equipment rollers,
the pile drivers,
the motorcyclists
entombed in pneumatic drills
of exhausted ill wind and
and brutal noise,
shocking the senses
of the senseless so often
it seem they are not capable
any longer of feeling brutalized,
as I am, again and again
by these barbaric assaults
on civilization itself.

An ambulance screams by,
stop and go at first,
blasting the air with the urgency
of the dying
in an emergency.
I walk on the sidewalk
fingers plugging my ears,
trying to obliterate
the momentary madness,
the wailing shriek of death
and mortality.

At the crowded intersection,
there is no denying death.

Today, this morning
in the stillness of piano music
window-framed blue-sky
and yellow-gold,
autumn oak tree
biding its time
in a slow farewell,
staving off the bare-branched
finality of winter:
Alone. Quiet.
Was it all a dream, or two?
I think not.
Dreams pass quicky
through the landscapes
of unconsciousness and unreality.
Yesterday is past.
Some of it resembled a dream
I couldn’t control.
Today, only memories remain,
reminding me of dreams I can remember.
But not for long.

Shi

January 19, 2002

Coming here and reading your entries, always leaves me thoughtful. Like a quiet walk. Thank you.

Hey, it’s been a long time, I lost track of you over on OD Free. Looking forward to catching up.

Oh, your diary is always such a good read! And today is no exception! Beautiful! Love,

Sychronicity! I was thinking about writing something very similar to this today. I was outside yesterday listening to the rain drop from the trees, listening to the wind blow through the branches. Hearing nature speak to my soul, but then came “downtown” and the construction noise. (shiver) You write so well. I’ll just stand beside you today and simply say “Yes.”

I like them all, but I think the last one best. Beautiful as always.

Edelweis

It seems they are not capable any longer of feeling brutalized by these barbaric assaults on civilisation itself…and then the quiet, and the piano music and the wonderful colors of nature! What a powerful and touching contrast you composed here with your words. Re-reading at this side I realize that what you write here fits all so well together!

I try to understand how human beings are able to survive this world if they don’t have a refuge from this! Can loud and agressive TV, harsh music and other excesses be their refuge? Maybe…?! Or are most people so scared by stillness that they even cannot think of it as a refuge? Could they experience it as something threatening? I just wonder! I am glad I found my true refuge which is nature :o)

Awesome! I’ve missed reading you. Glad to see you, too, are on OD+ Take care.

Sago

January 20, 2002

Yes, a good read here always. My best.

forever in motion

January 21, 2002

A written three-part symphony here…How perfectly you have captured the contrasts. And the agony of that re-entry from nature to supposed “civilization.” Just keep writing, more, more, more… (I’m greedy, what can I say? 😉 xxoo,

Very nice. I also like the last one best.

I enjoyed all of these poems, too, but the first poem is my favorite. 🙂