The Canteen

(Signal Hill, St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, June 21, 2009)

At the old canteen at Signal Hill
Sitting on the wall staring out to sea,
The gulls glide gracefully,
Graciously soaring for me,
In the updrafts above the cliffs.

There is only the lonely distant sound of the sea,
Of the waves crashing on the rocks way below.
There is a dark, close, suffocating feeling here,
A mournful stillness.

I watch the dandelions moving to and fro,
The breeze blows their seeds out to sea,
An exercise in futility.

There are lost souls here,
Reaching out, but unable to fully break through to me,
I feel them around me nevertheless,
In eternal twilight they struggle for peace,
They yearn for the eternal rest they are unable to receive.

So long ago they sang their songs and drank their ale,
So far from home,
Within the walls, above these cliffs,
As the ancestors of the same gulls rode the same winds outside.

There is a darkness here,
A mournful hollowness,
Of heartbroken lovers,
Of men lost at sea,
Of drunken soldiers falling from cliffs,
Of lost souls infused with sadness,
Stifled by heavy snow,
Frozen in the cold,
Chilled in the ice-flows of time.

The feeling is overwhelming,
I can’t stand in any longer,
So I make to leave.

Somehow I know that the songs of the sad men,
 Who died here so long ago,
Will haunt these cliffs forever,
For eternity.

And mostly,
Only they will know.

The Flight from Umeå

Looking east through the window,
Intense, bright, white light from the early morning winter sunshine,
Dissolving the clouds that shroud the frozen seascape far below.

There is an austere beauty to the gleaming snow,
A purity that enfolds the glowing sea ice in the gulf,
Surrounding oases of cooling, steaming seas.

And as I traverse this trajectory through the air,
I prepare a path ahead for my sacred beloved,
Who will soon soar through the same crystal cold skies as these.


This poem was written in February 2010 on a flight from Umeå in Northern Sweden to Stockholm. There was an incredible stillness in the frozen landscape below that I had to try and capture...

I Give Thanks

I give thanks for the love,
That is present in my life,
For all that is good,
For all that is pure,
For all that is joyful,
For all that nourishes my soul.

I give thanks for my family and friends,
Though many of them live far away,
They are in my thoughts always,
And all of them energise me and sustain me.

I give thanks for the joy I have in my work,
And the blessings of my work mates,
Who share and support me,
In my daily struggles and challenges.
I give thanks for the knowledge that each is unique,
And is doing the best they can in their own way.

I give thanks for each new person I meet,
 Along the branching paths and golden threads of my days,
For each soul is a fragment of the absolute perfection of creation,
And each one shines a light upon me and enlivens me.

And when I walk in nature.
I give thanks for the beauty of creation.
 I give thanks for the blessings of the earth,
For rugged coastlines and peaceful beaches,
For the high mountains I climb and for the ridges I walk,
And for the secrets revealed by the views I see in the valleys below.
I give thanks for the steadfastness of the rocks on the shore,
And for the waves on the sea that wash my worries away.

I give thanks for the light and warmth of the sun,
For the ever-changing shapes of clouds and mists,
For the curving, colourful beauty of rainbows.
And I give thanks for the grains of sand that slip through my fingers,
Revealing that everything is transient, that nothing exists forever,
Teaching me to cherish and enjoy every single moment.

I give thanks for the rain that falls,
For the flowers that bloom and the grass that grows,
For the pure water that quenches my thirst,
And for the wind that rustles the leaves of the bushes and trees.

I give thanks for the soil,
And the food that grows from it,
To sustain the temple that is my body.
I give thanks for the genes and proteins,
 Propagating and maintaining my cells and tissues.
I give thanks for DNA and for the codes of life,
That orchestrate this symphony, this dance,
And I give thanks for the eternal process of evolution,
For the magnificent beauty of all life forms throughout the universe.

I give thanks for the insights of science and for the technology,
That makes our lives easier from day to day.
I give thanks for the power of information and computation,
And the fundamental natural laws,
That are essential for creation and evolution of the universe,
And which hold everything in balance,
 So that everything relates to everything else in perfection,
And I give thanks for the the fundamental particles,
Causing everything to vibrate and to resonate with energy that I can feel.

And when I wander out into the night
I give thanks for the beauty of the moon, the stars and their planets,
For the spinning perfection of galaxies and nebulae,
And supernovae and black holes,
And I give thanks for the glory of this universe,
For the recognition that it is one of many universes,
And that I am blessed to live within it,
And that although I am but a tiny part of it,
I am essential for its continuing development.

And I give thanks for the moments of insight, bliss and joy,
For the glimpses of truth, knowledge and wisdom,
That fill me throughout the day.

And when I am in solitude,
I give thanks for the silence,
And for the stillness,
That speaks to me,
And cleanses the core of my being,
Showing me that I am never alone.

Thank you for never leaving me,
For guiding me day by day,
For keeping fear away,
For giving me patience, trust and faith
And love in my heart,
Always.

Amen.

The Master

Created from the first word ever spoken,

Your body is a tool of fantastic function,

From omnipresent vibrational energies,

Like waves on the surface of the sea,

Through which everything connects,

Within which you move gracefully,

Nourished by light from the sun,

A temple in which to worship,

A sculpture of perfect form,

An evolving work of art,

A fragment of eternity.

Be the waves,
Know the waves,
Be with the waves,
Surround the waves,
Be within the waves,
Be above the waves,
Be below the waves,
Be one with the waves.

Breathe like the master,

You are!

Move like the master,

You are!

Walk like the master,

You are! 

Be one with the waves,

Be below the waves,

Be above the waves,

Be within the waves,

Surround the waves,

Be with the waves,

Know the waves, 

Be the waves. 

The Master breathes consciously.

The Master breathes with thanksgiving,

The Master breathes with compassion,

The Master breathes with knowledge,

The Master breathes with reverence,

The Master breathes with elegance,

The Master breathes with purpose,

The Master breathes with serenity,

The Master breathes with wisdom,

The Master breathes with passion,

The Master breathes with feeling,

The Master breathes with dignity,

The Master breathes with insight,

The Master breathes with energy,

The Master breathes with power,

The Master breathes with grace,

The Master breathes with focus,

The Master breathes with truth,

The Master breathes with love.

The Master moves consciously.

The Master moves with thanksgiving,

The Master moves with compassion,

The Master moves with knowledge,

The Master moves with reverence,

The Master moves with elegance,

The Master moves with purpose,

The Master moves with serenity,

The Master moves with wisdom,

The Master moves with passion,

The Master moves with feeling,

The Master moves with dignity,

The Master moves with insight,

The Master moves with energy,

The Master moves with power,

The Master moves with grace,

The Master moves with focus,

The Master moves with truth,

The Master moves with love.

The Master walks consciously.

The Master walks with thanksgiving,

The Master walks with compassion,

The Master walks with knowledge,

The Master walks with reverence,

The Master walks with elegance,

The Master walks with purpose,

The Master walks with serenity,

The Master walks with wisdom,

The Master walks with passion,

The Master walks with feeling,

The Master walks with dignity,

The Master walks with insight,

The Master walks with energy,

The Master walks with power,

The Master walks with grace,

The Master walks with focus,

The Master walks with truth,

The Master walks with love.

The Master is consciousness.

The Master is thanksgiving,

The Master is compassion,

The Master is knowledge,

The Master is reverence,

The Master is elegance,

The Master is purpose,

The Master is serenity,

The Master is wisdom,

The Master is passion,

The Master is feeling,

The Master is dignity,

The Master is insight,

The Master is energy,

The Master is power,

The Master is grace,

The Master is focus,

The Master is truth,

The Master is love.

You are the waves,
And the waves know,
You are with the waves,
You surround the waves,
You are within the waves,
You are above the waves,
You are below the waves,
You are one with the waves.

Breathe the light,

Move in the light,

Walk in the light,

Know the light,

Be the light.

Breathe with God,

Move with God,

Walk with God,

Know God,

Be God.

The Master is not Being,
The Master is Being,

Being the Master,

The Master is.

Be the Master.

Forever and ever,

Amen.

The Night Time

Written in Somerset,
Early 1991 

Crisp,
The night time calls me,
As it does sometimes,
Like a pilgrim to another land.

Crisp,
Chill in the air,
An owl hoots and I step out,
Into the swaying of the trees,
And the silence of the night.

Starlit,
A few clouds pass,
In front of the crescent,
That masquerades as the moon.

Crisp,
The night time fills me,
Feeling plumes of breath,
Dancing and disappearing,
In front of me.

Smiling,
Stepping on,
Through fields, over hills,
Where morning will reveal,
Where Jack has been,
And carpeted the ground,
With sprinkled icy, whiteness.

And I will awake.
Refreshed,
Staring from my window,
Towards the east,
At the sun above my coffee cup,
Wondering how it is,
That a world so wonderful,
So simple,
Can have so many woes.

This poem was written in Somerset in early 1991 during the very cold, snowy winter. I would sometimes go out for a walk in the early morning darkness... it was something I felt called to do...  I remember hoar frost on the trees and returning home to the cottage to write this.

Just a thought.....

With enthusiasm, determination and focus, 
You can overcome all your problems! 

What you imagine you can achieve you will achieve!

 Because what you think is going to happen will happen! 

Your mind creates the future out of nothing!

In the beginning,
Nothing existed but energy! 
Pure potential energy!

Remember,
The universe emerged from a thought!

The Word!

It's all down to Physics!
One of the fundamental natural laws of the universe!

Energy = mass x c x c (speed of light squared).

Thoughts are energy in action! 
So, thoughts = matter = future reality! 

Your dreams will come true! 

Simple!

Einstein's Theory of Mass–energy equivalence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence 

Stradbally, County Kerry - August 2009

Here is a podcast of me reading this poem



Through thin clouds,

The star light shines,

Colliding with mountain sides,

Devoid of flesh,

 Sliding on scarred scree slopes,

Like broken bones.

 Into the heart,

Along vessels carrying blood,

Pumping for millennia,

Eroded by ice and time,

But alive to storms,

And dancing sunbeams,

And tormenting, torrential rain.

A full moon hangs above Stradbally,

A loving, luminous eye.

 And the children sleep,

In the back seat,

Oblivious to the knife-edged ridge,

Of the eternal now,

And the ancient starlight,

Ending its journey on their wind-blown faces.

Photo from MountainViews
http://mountainviews.ie/mv/index.php?mtnindex=42

This poem was written while on holiday on The Dingle Peninsula on the west coast of Ireland in 2009. We were driving at night 'with the children in the back seat', The silhouette of Stradbally Mountain dominating the skyline ahead. It was a beautifully crystal clear August night.

War Memories I and II

Some dark stuff from a while ago...written sometime 1987-1990

I. DEAD COMRADES
        

Black bodies bubble,

Silently charred,

In death's dark doorways.
        

Drowning.

The bell tolls.
        

Obsoletion.
        

Spasms of facial contortion,

Through which they no longer smile.

Under fire,

Under siege.
        

Screams,

Shattered minds,

All manner of broken dreams.
        

Unspun,

In destiny's web.
        

Undone,

In time.
        

Made to die.
        

Congealed,

Without hope,

Unchanged by molding hands,

Unsurpassed in illness,
Undreamt.

        

Picture a thread through a needle,

The needle in your life,

Poking you,

Mocking your heart,

Killing you.
        

It sees beyond the facade,

Through which you try to smile.

       

II. POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

        

The demons in the dream scream,

Flickering as flames in a grate,

Whirling flitting incandescence,

Rising upwards,

Born upwards,

In an orange tinted half light,

Floating upwards,

Born upwards,

Spiralling,

Spinning,

Taunting you they float,

Haunting,

Grinning.

A bed in the middle of a floor,

A room with no walls,

Windows with cracked pains,

Shattered shards cut you,

Pierce your soul,

Your spirit hidden from you,

You lie alone,

Your head in your hands,

Nail biting,

Perpetual grimness.

 And all there is,

A vision,

Through mists and rain,

Of words swirling,

Of poetry peeping through keyholes,

When you're sleeping,

Of delightful escapism and happy moments,

They taunt you,

And are gone,

Even before hands can grasp them.
        

Pin your thoughts to the ground,

Hang your head alone,

There's no speaking when you drown.


A dark poem about war and its consequences on the human spirit. It was written in early 1991 around the time of the Iraq War... I found the report of the bombing of the road to Bazra particularly harrowing.