Ever since our lives entwined / Grafted to the noble vine / Wondered whether we’d survive / The peeling bark of time
Grafted
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Category Archives: Fiction Writing
Seed of Creativity
A quote from Dubliners by James Joyce in “A Little Cloud”
“A light began to tremble on the horizon of his mind…
He tried to weigh his soul to see if it was a poet’s soul. Melancholy was the dominant note of his temperament, he thought, but it was a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith and resignation and simple joy.”
Present Joy
Quote from Dubliners by James Joyce in “A Little Cloud”
“He picked his way deftly through all that minute verminlike life and under the shadow of the gaunt spectral mansions in which the old nobility of Dublin had roistered.
No memory of the past touched him, for his mind was full of a present joy.”
Contentment
Quote from Dubliners by James Joyce in “Two Gallants”
“He thought how pleasant it would be to have a warm fire to sit by and a good dinner to sit down to. He had walked the streets long enough with friends and with girls. He knew what those friends were worth: he knew the girls too.
Experience had embittered his heart against the world.
But all hope had not left him. He felt better after having eaten than he had felt before, less weary of his life, less vanquished in spirit.”
Harvest
Image
I carried a scarlet cross for her
Dark as His blood
I held it high for the sake of my
Own dearest love
I heard the men I’d never marry
Judge with words in haste
Waiting for His tender mercy
As tears melt on my face
The witness of a cowering woman
Weighs nothing in this prose
The blood of the martyrs
Feeds the field as it grows
Untamed
Image
First, a quiet friend, dark glossy coat
hanging around me, peacefully
Grows wilder, lays by me rested
Gazing we lie in mournful wake
I stroke its dark and bristly hair
It grows under my care
Follows me everywhere
A loyal friend.
Soon overlooked by daily haste
Untamed, unkempt, rejected
It grows fierce and growls
Paces the floor, I lie awake
Our hearts race
The growing shadow of hairy beast
Takes a swipe, deflected
It claws and prowls, surrounds my all
Steals prized possessions
Forces me back, there’s worse in stall
Let it end – save it takes my all
Grief untended.
Surrender
Tout comprendre c’est tout pardonner..
“To understand all is to forgive all”
– Evelyn Waugh Brideshead Revisted.
This quote originated somewhere else at an earlier date – Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace; I am inquisitive about it – as to its meaning.
I have reflected that to truly understand (or empathise) one must have suffered a similar situation or to a similar degree. No one would wish that upon anyone. Therefore I consider it important to note that true forgiveness is not about empathy or understanding from our own experiences, it is a giving up of one’s self – our criticisms and doubts and selfish desires – to consider another person more important than oneself. It does not require in-depth understanding but a depth of character that is reflected in Christ’s nature – to reflect the image of God.
For Karen
You with your hands
held high in the air
Blank stare on your face
Your words said with flair
Still, we both pray for Karen.
You with your bells
and your smells in the air
With robes and peak caps
And ceremonial fare
Still, we both pray for Karen.
You with your book
and your words fill the air
Nods all around
Words just and fair
Still, we both pray for Karen.
Me with my morning
and evening, night air
Hands closed to my head
Soul emptied of cares
Lying still, we all pray for Karen.
Them with their sun
and full moon on the rise
Empty words in the air
Suspicions of lies
Still, we all care for Karen.
Sweet Bye and Bye
Every time I say hello
I also say goodbye
Just in case it’s the last time
I see you alive
I used to fret about
being the first
or being left behind
but now I don’t mind
It’s the sweet bye and bye
Every time I say hello
I also say goodbye.
The day the war began
The day the war began
Seasons framed in reflection
Of my bedroom window view
In the mirror
I see me in all my bedding
Hair awry, face unkempt
Illuminated by the backdrop
Of the cherry tree
Telling me how long
I’ve been sitting here
Since the day the war began
Lying wounded and shell-shocked
Months ago on my pillow
Craning my neck hesitantly
To peer out at the cherry picking
Birds up high buried in leaves
Listening to little voices squeal
Mouths filled with red juices
Delighting eating low hanging fruit.
More recently sitting strong, erect
Arms opening wide the curtains
To feast my eyes
On the kaleidoscope
Of fiery leaves still attached
And glowing in the light
As the sun hurriedly sets.
The coolness of the window
View icy grey branches
Dew upon the buds
That wait in vain for the frozen
Months to pass.
Teased endlessly by a
Weak winter sun bare lee
Shining on their old
And twisted frame
I feel much the same.
Old inside but
Growing wise to not
Allow the inevitable
Changing seasons to
Dominate my own
Mind’s window view
Instead, I rely upon You.
To fight my battles with the
Endless foes apply the balm
to shrapnel woes
Batten down the mind’s
Battle cry and send the
Warning salvo’s high.
Relent, relent, face me till
All life is spent.
Count the stars of heaven 