Seeking The Source

Anciently arcane? How about a

time before time existed? As for

place, and being, none at all. 

None, as in nothing, blankly absent

existence. The teeming presence

of atoms and gases, chemicals, ice 

and dust that powerful telescopes

visualize and present that we are

not alone in the Universe have

taken the place of the void that

once was. So this is the ultimate

mystery: What propelled existence

into being, what force beyond the

insipid imagination of mere

humankind initiated existence

out of total absence, to produce

an expanding Universe, its

diversity of forms and its yawning

endless timelessness of being?

 

The Goal And The Failure

 

The human spirit is such a fragile instrument 

of nature so readily succumbing to the passion

of emotions from which rational judgement flees

knowing there can be no cerebral intervention 

possible  to contain either of the elemental 

emotions near yet so far from the echo chamber

of love and hate. The angels of our better natures

sit by dejectedly in the stifling atmosphere of 

suspicion, victimhood and hatred giving birth

to threats and violations of humanity's most 

coveted prize; to love and be loved. Perhaps they

are able to parse the moods and emotions that 

drive particular elements of the social order to 

fray its edges spreading rumour and innuendo in

a concerted regime of devaluing and slandering

the vulnerable, in the process finding satisfaction

in the dark dungeon of hatred. A mystery to those

who seek the light, attuned to the sweet fragrance

of love given and returned completing a life

cycle of certain value, leaving the haters to 

discover their purpose in the venom that courses 

through their meaningless lives in the process

irredeemably corrupting the legendary holy

grail of poets and lovers of a life well lived.

 

 

Beware The Abyss

 

They are of their time and their place

 for today is their history. Today's 

prophets, as with those of antiquity

are denied, their dire prophesies

denounced; worse, ignored. Yet

they are not hermits with tattered

garments, gaunt faces embraced

with flowing beards and hunger-

trembling bodies, but once-respected

academics, philosophers, writers.

Above all among them those whose

position in the inner circle of

intrigue, fanaticism and violence

should lend credence but does not

for what they so passionately describe

appears as from minds demented

and as such unassimilable, lacking

veracity. They are not wild-eyed

zealots, nor threatening, but

give voice to the infiltrated presence

of same biding time and as they do

the chasm grows wider, prepared to

engulf the vulnerable and oblivious

in a final paroxysm of surrender to

inevitable conquest, stilling dissent.

 

 

Winter's Icy Wind

Above, a wide, deep wash of blue.
Not a wisp of cloud to mar this
day's stunning perfection. This
was today's message to us.
Frigid temperatures reign
thanks to the absence of cloud
trapping scant winter heat below.

We are lashed by the icy fingers
of winds in high dudgeon,
knocking the heads of the
forest trees and slicing its fire
across our revealed flesh; eyes
weeping, foreheads frozen.

Dried flower stalks bow in
humble homage to the
insistent, imperious wind.
Gossamer veils of snow
languorously part from
laden spruce boughs.

Oblivious, in their winter
element, the minuscule, dainty
black, grey and white shapes
of chickadees flit from branch
to branch, calling their delight
with their environment.

The creek running through
our Ontario wooded ravine in
this Ottawa Valley is frozen fast,
its glaring surface reflecting
the sun's serendipitous presence
as we lope along snow-padded trails.

We have company this day;
silent, elongated, gracefully
following, then leading us forward.
Our shadows step lively, unaffected
by the chill, the ferocity of wind.
Brought to life by the sun's
life-affirming presence.

 

 

Dominion of Restraint

 

The influence of small towns on the

character and behaviour of its residents

is a matter of historical nostalgia, places

where, as villages gathering farmers and

craftspeople together in a common area

where all were known to one another

resulted in a community of personalities

where the perennial divisive crank was

identified along with the meek mild

tempered man living with the harridan

and the local professionals in law and

medicine and church represented the

refined gentry, mercantile interests held

by those of exotic backgrounds and any

whiffs of impropriety sniffed out by

those with arcane talents from whom

nothing could be hidden. Proliferating

by word of mouth and a movable press

naming, blaming and shaming might

convince all and sundry to improve mode

of conduct lest local law enforcement be

moved to custodianship. That world of

tight community surrendered to a world

where the population pool is immense

no longer confined to towns and villages

of yore, where scandals and anti-social

events of psychotic dimension continually

flavour the news. The intimacy of belonging

evaporated, the flamboyant flaunting of

celebrity absent moral boundaries reigns.

 

Abbreviating Life

 

It's the truculent truth is it not?

This is no rehearsal, it's here

it's brief and it's final, one

lifespan so swift it leaves

spinning heads to wonder. No

argument though, you cannot

have it all. Not as simple as

making choices. Some harbour

scant curiosity, satisfied with

mundane routine, certifying

they will live a long, quite

ordinary life. Those propelled

consumed and intent on a search

for deeper meaning in existence

those whose senses are excited

and exalted by approaching

the farthest reaches of the world

looking aspirationally at the

vastness of the universe, yearning

to reach and to touch the outer

limits of endurance have bartered

longevity for experience in

reaching beyond the ordinary.

They spiral inevitably beyond

any but nature's control. It is

they and their ephemeral vision

unafraid of venturing toward

that dark abyss and in the process

willingly abbreviating life.

The World As We Think We Know It

 

 

Something's happening here -- what it is ain't exactly 

clear for the world as we know it is canted, slipping its 

moorings and it is not simply the Planet spinning on its 

axis faster than it should, compressing time. Stop children

-- that sound you hear is your ancestors keening in sorrow 

at the world they knew fast declining. From Antarctica 

to the Arctic all the hemispheres of this Earth comes 

the tottering of empires and satrapies alike threatened 

by massive disorder from a capricious dysfunction. 

Legions of ideology, authority and power in disarray 

and confusion in a desperation of incomprehension

--  the world become a house of calamity, a common 

threat indifferent to intent or intervention unleashed 

beyond the historical record, a morbid pestilence of 

minuscule dimension yet enormous destructive power. 

The response of global incoherence another tragedy.

Qualms

 

He is but a vain, ignorant and shallow man

who confuses the dignity, honour and

power invested in the office he holds with

attributes that he does not himself 

exemplify. It is, above all, the power in

the position temporarily his that he feels

reflects the glory of an absent intellect

and inability to but mock the cerebral

functioning of those superior to him

holding positions meant to guide his own

while his quixotic decision-making sends

quavering shivers down the spines of

world leaders for any decisions he makes

in the full fallibility of his flawed character

through the intrinsic majesty of his office

inevitably impacts the stability of the free

world upon whose freedom the decisions

emanating from his office traditionally

guarantees. He is a madman run amok

and the dilemma is that lawful democracy

and the people's will placed him in

such authority that others can only hope

he will in due time be but a footnote in

history which cannot pass soon enough.

 

 

 

The Human Dilemma

 

 

What if the source of humanity's inability 

to improve itself and leave its baser instincts 

behind is lodged in its collective desire to be

better than it knows it is, feeling that it can be 

better and failing abjectly leading to conflict

 and misery for all involved, encouraging among 

the disaffected an errant embrace of sociopathy

as a more direct route making gains for the 

human element in minority to realize their own 

aspirations for chaos to reign. A bizarre defect 

within the majority which yearns for order and 

equality equating honeyed words of promise 

from those seeking power then producing nothing

of value but for their own ends to be achieved

antithetical to good government and public

usefulness. While the rare blunt-spoken candidate 

persuading the electorate he can deliver good 

for society that others have failed to do does 

just that in  masterful strokes of judicious reasoning 

from a persona whose personal failings in decency 

mask the successes he is responsible for, leading

to his downfall and the return of the poseurs

producing ill government and the reality of 

failure. Choices so flawed and ill-starred

peace prizes are awarded to warmongers.

 

 

Omnipotent Impotence

 

 

If the divine spirit of creation

does critically observe the 

creatures inhabiting the zoo called

Earth, how then does that creator

weigh and balance responsibility

resulting from the inspiration to

imbue its creatures with passion?

The fraught, inexplicable transition
from polarizing extremes like

love and hatred whereby the most

cerebrally gifted of creation's

living experiments adapt life

to the non-existence of death

a finality expunging life, as

example. Had the creator imagined

that within its divine self only

would the ultimate authority 

of life and death reside? But

then, the creator designed its

creatures to procreate, endowing

them with the capacity to bring

forth new life, and in so doing 

enabling those blighted creatures

also to destroy lives the benighted

considered unworthy as though

it was they dabbling in the arcane

laboratory of existence, shuffling

stardust, carbon and atoms

about at whimsical dalliance.

The Vision Of Creation

 

How wickedly peevish Nature can be

as though in a pique of irritated malice

at a mere human hubristically parsing

her mysterious manipulations of the

elements through the creation of the

Universe; a febrile mind capable of

huge theoretical leaps of imagination

interpreting her ineffable design

earning her unappeasable wrath.

Capriciously, she inflicts upon that

mind a living, inescapable prison

where, locked within an unresponsively

neural-frozen prison of flesh the mind

forges on, struggling to communicate

its fantastical vision of creation.

God: The origin of the universe 

can be explained by the laws of physics

without any need for miracles or

divine intervention. These laws predict

that the universe was spontaneously

created out of nothing in a

rapidly expanding state.

Dr.-Prof.Stephen Hawking

 

 

How Strange It Is!

As a feature of indecent human nature to

jealously guard what is not theirs in the

arcane belief that claims are nine-tenths

of a just law of ownership it is beyond

strange that the most creatively talented

group on Earth from ancient times to

the present remains hounded, threatened

detested, their heritage and ancestry

mocked and belittled yet the articles

of their faith, their history, their land

and their contributions to the world

that shuns them are valued decoupled

from their source in counterclaims of

authenticity. From brilliance of thought

and reasoning, execution of monumental

discoveries to the ultimate horrors of

deliberate annihilation the world rushes

to claim originality and victimhood as

their very own experiences, denying both

achievement and martyrdom to the tribe

whose very existence profited them all.

 

A Satisfying Life

 

There is an elegant conformation in there,
deep within the black-grey unruly mop.
Her eyes watch warily beyond their
impairment. She trusts only to a certain
degree, insisting on her venerable entitlements.
She does not now take kindly to the usual
ministrations and unwanted manipulations
that offend her sovereign integrity and dignity.

Grooming results please us, but not of
necessity, her. It is, after all, her hair, her
teeth, her nails that we so officiously insist on
engaging with, and she feels understandably
affronted at our presumption, for she does not
impose her values upon us, so why must we
incessantly discommode her peace?

It helps not one iota that she now hears nothing
and sees almost as much. We do insist, on
occasion, that she submit to the process
whereby extraneous hair is shorn and once
again emerges the lovely little dog we adopted
eighteen years ago. Regardless, she would
much prefer not to be so importuned.

Take it or leave her be, for she yet remains
capable of and interested in long, guided
woodland rambles, albeit now forgetful of
long-familiar direction. And she remains
staunchly committed to meal times, with their
very important, anticipated treats. What more,
after all, should a satisfying life be comprised of?

 

The Father The Son

They lean muscle   and sinew
into their work
minds free to wander
tongues hanging silent
in the roofs of their mouths.

Companions   they find comfort
in close presence
each teacher to the other
wordlessly
          carefully
full of care for the moment.

They are masters of the mind
but yet lovers of hand's efforts
they dexterously play ideas
one on the other
                casually
cut wood to fit delineated form
sand and smooth
            shave and stain
two jacks of variable trades

 

Insufferable Insubordination

 

The ultimate order of power lies in the

capable hands of none other than nature

the ultimate creator. As vast as the universe

is it is in fact but a laboratory where nature

devises her scenarios, arranges chemicals

and mixes her uncountable elixirs to produce

galaxies, their suns and the planets that

revolve around them leading her to turn

toward the micro-level of inspiring new life

forms upon them to study the properties that

evolve and transform. On one planet alone

that we are most familiar with she has

created and disposed of billions of living

species most found to bore her and thus quite

expendable leaving a remaining ten million

to prove their value to this most exacting of

creators who just happens to ferociously tend

to minute details in guiding her decisions. 

Much is known of human predecessors. Much

much more is unknown and will not be known

as nature afire with the spirit of creation

creates endlessly and disposes with casual

ease. She may now be bemused that the

upstart human race has evolved as a most

impudent and insubordinate creature which

in its spoilage of nature's resources threatens

her primacy and the existence of all that

thrive, on this her least mysterious planet.

 

 

Agents of Decay

 

The conclusion is obvious and

unmistakable; she is not a meticulous

and overly conscientious housekeeper

of her voluminous holdings.  Whether

attributable to disinterested collapse

of purposeful design or the ennui that

sets in over prolonged periods of

studious stewardship, she has chosen

to excuse herself from direct action

and opted instead to job out her

tedious tidying up tasks by

assigning unpleasant, time-consuming

cleanup through contracting out to a

main contractor, Time, who in turn

enlists the services of many subcontractors:

moulds, fungi, bacteria, feathered and furred

omnivores; entropy, morbid agents all - of

decay.  An elementary audit is sufficient

to observe how her forests present

in a state of climax and disintegration;

observe the fallen giants nursing saplings

while the agents of decay perform their

mission.  But, then, of course, Nature

has invested greatly in the braintrust

of her more advanced and capable

organisms designed to enjoy her

gracious invitation to manipulate her

kingdom.  And, like the others who

set about exploiting her generosity,

we do our very unwholesome best.

 

God's Gaze Distracted

 

 

How to imbue a sensitive child with a sense

of security and well-being, the comfort of knowing

their place in the world and the horizons open to

them in their future? The reassuring love of a

parent, the sense conveyed to a child of endurance

in the face of adversity, the confidence that they

have the attributes required to build upon through

exposure to education and societal norms. How

then do Jewish parents convey all of this to their

offspring in explaining that educated people had no

problem accepting a societal norm so adverse to the

enduring existence of Jews that their leaders were

enabled to destroy the lives of Jewish children just

like them, trusting and eager to learn, fully one and

a half million such children whose lives were

obliterated with full intention by those oblivious

to their humanity. The dilemma is to expose one's

questioning child to the reality of the Holocaust or

seek avoidance of any mention of the monstrous deed

that extinguished the lives of men, women and children

by the Nazi Third Reich under the eyes of the world.

 

 

Living Recklessly

 

What is this world coming to?
We've become awkward and hapless
in our long-familiar environments
suddenly quirky, demented beyond
meticulous meteorological record
keeping and aboriginal recall.

The reliable, familiar and long
accustomed climate we have so
carefully adapted toward has turned
in against itself and our expectations
like Nature pouting that she has been
for far too long taken for granted. A
bruise to her dignity and imperial majesty
she will no longer countenance.

So, mortals, live in fear and suspense and
countenance this, if you can: massive
snow squalls without end, ferociously-driven
winds driving monsoon rains and widespread
flooding or snow banked as high as a
highway overpasses; icy terrain and great
tidal bores uplifting the restless seas.

Opaque fogs obliterating sight lines.
All human efforts to cope destined to fail,
the skies and the land and the seas suddenly
owned once again by the elements, absent
human-contrived conveyances as trains,
planes and ships are mute and humbled.

Mass migrations of people and animals
fleeing inundating floods submerging
bridges, highways, homes and hope.
Earth-shuddering quakes, arousing
tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions sending
rivers of molten mineral and dense, dank
curtains of ash to obscure the sun and the
wide, blue sky. Treacherous landscapes
where once benign, arable fields lay.

The uncertainty of surprise and survival
stalks the land as nations strive to cope
with disastrous by-products of Nature's
pique expressed in unimaginable levels of
geologic, climatic and geographical extremes
we struggle to surmount, as ineffectual
bystanders complicit in our own undoing
as though fate would so have it.

 

 

The Silence of Snow

 

Wind spurts fierce thrusts compelling
the snow to drift languidly and
mound into voluptuous landscapes
while evergreen boughs heavy
with snow release great clumps
themselves springing to height.

Lazy clouds of snow drizzle
the landscape. Falling clumps freckling
the grey sky, shifting clouds to
pleasure the insistent sun. Shafts
of light haze through the forest,
firing the snow to silver crystals.

Through the soft and gentle
stillness, the staccato of a hairy,
red-capped woodpecker. Snow
generously comforts a recently-bereaved
copse of elm, maple and poplar,
naked no longer. Trunks grey,
black and brown stippled
gloriously-blinding white.

Desiccated, bright orange bittersweet
fruit cluster along their vines'
chokehold on prickly Hawthornes.
Their haws shy against the
flamboyance of the others.
The creek drifts clear and tinkling
over gathered fall detritus
now heavily banked in snow.

A raven crosses the undecided sky,
its raucous call shredding the silence
swift body a black arrow true to its mark.
Soon, snow-muted silence regains
its imperious reign.

 

 

Cause du Jour

Instant recognition of the fount of knowledge 

the institutes of higher learning every advanced

society venerates as an institution whose purpose 

is to inject the excitement of knowing the value

of acquiring an education geared to producing

the leaders, scientists and artists propelling nations 

toward renown by the industry of their creative 

minds whose curiosity has been piqued and 

staunched in the fulfillment of an aspirational goal

philosophically apolitical, delving into nature's 

storehouse of possibilities. Until it no longer was

and became a hothouse of ideological sparks

scorching the search for knowledge in favour

of stirring the embers of racial resentment where 

a universal enemy was named and shamed and 

rational judgement was spurned in favour of

launching accusations of genocide against the

the sole nation ever to have been genocide's

victim. Aspiring scholars disciplined to their

search for truth and justice demur at risk of a

calamitous label of racist Islamophobia, their

place in the great halls of learning disputed

should they defend truth against slander while

the cowering majority become as one with the

usurpers of knowledge proclaiming victory.

 

Waiting...

With the limitless patience of the faithful

they wait, imperturbably confident and

assured, the seers and the shamans, the

yogis, the sufis and the swamis, near

Chichen Itza.  Their followers worldwide

besotted with the spiritual chill of the

unknowable void of being will settle for

alternates.  Awaiting the spirals of

heavenly light promised to invade the heads

of believers, from their vast galactic journey

they weep in fear and joy.  A cosmic dawn

arrives to gift the worthy with telepathy and

they will loose themselves from the

niggardly magnetic bonds of Earth, to

levitate and flee its constricting confines

set to implode.  Electrical vortexes

arrived from the galaxy's centre bid them

hither and they will respond, leaving fear

embracing love, bathed in the light of

transformative cleansing of the soul.  For

they have discovered true salvation, fleeing 
the stagnating brutal influence of life as

we think we know it.  That is the revelation

the cataclysmic upheaval that engages 

humanity, one with the golden light

of divine forgiveness, an arcane alchemy

of  life bypassing death, the final frontier

to incandescent longevity.  If not immortality

then why not?  Thirteen and counting.

Look...at us, at them, the pathetic ones -

quivering with the misery of unrequited life.

 

Lost To Us

 

He is everywhere, his
tiny self dogging us,
haunting every room of
the home that was his 
              and ours
but we grieve that
he is nowhere to 
be seen, simply no longer
with us, and we can no
longer swoop the
      little fellow
our dearest companion
into our arms again.

The memory of him
lives within our very core
warm and alive, but
it is now an essence. That
lovable and loving creature
to whom we gave our hearts
has taken a piece of those hearts
with him, leaving what was
left within us broken,
bereft, sorrowing. Nothing
can be done, he is gone
his life lost to us.