Every image has a story
Deep, deep down in amongst the undergrowth, thickness, darkness and lif…light.
The old die young but never lost, they stand and wait until new will pass… Waiting till rotting breeds new life and turns what was old into a… (pause)
Sanctuary and shelter new and old will give new stories to all both young and old.
When simplicity makes you smile. Everyone is welcome even if they are bad.
‘Do you believe?’
‘Not sure… I mean not really in the traditional sense. But there is something there.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well like Jesus the disciples, their adventures, the 10 Commandments etc. That’s all from a previous time. And for sure people have taken advantage of that.’
‘Like people starting wars over beliefs’
Tom laughed ‘yea exactly, like religion and Jesus is supposed to be all forgiveness and acceptance, but only with the caveat that you believe in what I believe.’
The friends laughed together and gathered their thoughts staring out to sea.
‘One thing they did right though was to build their churches in the most beautiful spots’
‘That is true, I mean look at this place’ they both twisted around staring at the picture perfect pirate cove, the mountains descending straight into the ocean, the sunlight dancing on the crystal blue sea and the horizon a perfect horizontal line contrasting the arc of the bay.
‘It’s pretty.’ Tom regathered his thoughts. ‘But sometimes things seem to match up. Like you have some thoughts about life, there is some clarity, but you can’t express yourself and then you hear or read something and there you have it, your thought is clear. I think that is God.’
‘Like he shows up when you are in need’
‘Yea spose so, but it doesn’t have to be ‘in need’ as such, just some clarity. Next day could be all burry again, but something in the world spins right for you. Even if it is for just a few moments.’
They sat again in silence, thinking as a seagull landed on the pier.
‘What about the Virgin Mary and all the metaphors’
‘Look people always got to have a battle and something to fight for, to believe in. So before it was God, now it’s fame, celebrity, that’s the new idol. It was probably like that with the Bible, first it was kinda well intended, then people took it too literally and lost the point of it all. I mean the 10 commandments aren’t a bad set of morals, just a little outdated. And a celebrity is just a character that grew out of a talented individual. It’s not bad to have a role model who is talented at something.’
‘So God is like the Spice Girls’
They burst into laughter. ‘No no no, that’s not what I meant, that’s messed up I am not sure who was the talent behind the spice girls. No, look there is an energy in the world that makes things happen and there are good people who should be admired. God and Jesus are… somewhere in between that, somehow… somewhere.’
Can you squeeze a little more out of what you have or do, or do you just replace it with something new.
With all the fun there is to be had can you live forever true.
But when you have sucked it all away the glass is empty, just buy a little something else to pick a new energy.
But it is true to say that if, you wait till it is dry there will be nothing left to inspire your inner eye.
So pack away the things you own and throw away the key, keep your eyes wide awake for the world’s simplicity.
Squeeze away, suck out the fun, drain all that it is there, please yourself, burn everyone, but don’t come crying when it is bare.
For the choice is yours, to drain to buy, the newest of the knew, the world has all the answers for all your questions true.
But remember when all is said and done to listen to yourself, ask yourself the question were you sheep or something else?
What is love? To hold a hand when no one else will.
To reach out when all has been ignored, to bend to ways long forgotten or to change someone for worse.
To live with all the broken promises, to let the lies be believed. To forget about your misinterpretations, to kneel in front and offer peace.
To let be and not ask questions of the future, to analyse all actions gone, to breathe in new opportunities, let the passion die and move on.
To hold and care when all is broken, to give time and space to change the way. To sing and dance and smile and cuddle or stand back and give grace.
It will never always be the same and old passions twist the mind. But at one moment it is exciting, and love will always be blind.
Always the same, like emotions, they are just our understanding of physiological responses to our thoughts.
Our body sweats, scared, fatigued, hot… simple. But then you see, the words get all twisted up and used to make people feel a certain way. Words should not push the feeling, feeling should push the word.
Then it all gets kinda complex. Do I feel the feeling because of the words or do I really see the thing and feel the truth. Or my truth at least.
Too many factors, the experiment would have too many variables to make a clear evaluation.
Anyway Paradise.
He laughed to himself.
Tears well in sore eyes, mind race, thoughts divide.
Uncertain future, past words, good bad and honest
Build tempest seas and darken forest
Memories of times when life without worry seemed hard and choices all made in a hurry
Could bend and warp peace of mind but now, in the balance, just, just give me a sign
Tell me I’m safe, give me the words… will I live to see her universe
Will she grow old, will I grow old? Will she teach and sow, all the things i thought I know
Will he be safe and strong without, my soul to guide to talk, to walk, to shout
All questions will in the end be answered and answers not thought become our masters
But okay I not know your philosophy I not know what strength you need to believe, but a laughter I remember strong, a smile so wide and eyes clear, pure no wrong
So let not clouds and thoughts steer belief away to live every moment in every day.
She arrived expecting the worst. Expecting a melee of people surrounding the boat, demands, shouts, orders and offers. But as they neared the pier there was no one.
Something must have happened. Perhaps else where, perhaps downtown. Perhaps, oh, a thought suddenly jumped into Beth’s mind. What day was it? Maybe a holiday. The market day might have changed. Shit she thought to herself.
She cut the engine and drifted toward the docking bay. The fear of the crowds and demands turned into the need for people. How was she to sell if no one was there. The ice was already on the turn. Her stock wouldn’t last. Well at least the sun was shining.
At first when I saw her she looked fierce, she skilfully navigated her way in and out of the umbrellas with no more or less than a moment for everyone. When we spoke she corrected my Greek with a smile and moved on. But as time passed I noticed a softness behind her steely demeanour and then out of the blue as we passed on the stairs she spoke to me.
‘I saw your van, wooow… It’s amazing’
I blushed a little mind racing to find something interesting to say. ‘Thanks, it’s super simple though…’ thoughts rattled around in my head like a pin ball… was I sure she was talking about my van? Did she see Jan’s van? When? Fuck. ‘I like it, it’s cool, it’s got everything I need, but it’s simple, you know I don’t have a sink or solar… well I have… but…’ What are you saying? Shut up!! I shouted at myself.
‘I am thinking of buying a van’, she rescued me, now I had something to say.
‘Okay we have time for one more… Black t-shirt, red hat at the back.’
‘Thank you, James Peterson, Mail. You said that your motivation for writing came from reading and from nature do you believe that the Nature First movement is affectively shining a light on our global warming problems?’
There was a pause while the author pieced together his response. He had it clear in his head, he knew what he wanted to say, but to make it clear was the reason for his silence. The lack of sound within the room made the guests start to fidget. He sucked in some air and the wrinkles around his eyes stretched to his ears.
‘I get my inspiration from the things around me, it isn’t necessarily nature or reading, it could be an interaction between a bin man and a bin. It could be the way he leaves the lid open so all the rubbish is put in one bin and not the other, saving him time when he has to empty them. It doesn’t matter what it is, just that there is something interesting going on. That there is a story. But you see this story telling has started to cause problems.’
He paused for a moment, while the journalists ruffled their papers and scratched their pens.
‘Writers have been doing it for years to get people to read their books or watch their films, but now we have a problem because everybody creates a narrative to gain traction for their,’ he struggled to find the word, ‘modus operandi and to get people attracted to it. They create a sound bite, in this case Nature First. But it’s bullshit the words don’t mean anything, the tagline is purely to gather the relevant opinions to one place, I say relevant, but the thoughts are not relevant they are momentary, ill thought through and lacking substance, or lacking credible story, but because of the volume of them they are perceived as true or popular. I genuinely think that the majority of comments are actually bots. But hey, maybe I am wrong. Anyway I digress, but I would prefer it if you asked questions about my thoughts on global warming or nature, rather than these references to media campaigns.’
The Mail reporter looked slightly puzzled frowned and re-phrased his question. ‘Do you think we are doing enough…’
He was cut short, ‘I don’t know… I just think that we need better information to have a proper opinion and people should not deal in headlines.’
Life From the Dirt 