Thoughts in a silent cafe

31st Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

My Pictures: Taken today.

Sometimes it is difficult to straighten
my saddened thoughts.
I make my bed, drink some coffee
and catch up on the world.
But it is not always enough.

I muddle through the day
swimming upwards, backwards
and from time-to time
finding moments to write
and see things differently.

On occasions I read Bukowski,
then I realize that things could be worse.
So I read Dickinson,
to find a tangible mind and spirit.

In the end, my thinking
always seems to end up in another room.
A landscape of the spirit,
blue sky and thinking open mind.

Pain Diagnosed

30th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / 1 Comment

My picture: A grey day in Xinxiang

After the pain….
drop by for coffee
…..a mind of evolving language
that gives me comfort.

A future frays like a cut wound
…. but at least today
the pain splutters out.
And my words are open.

Unseen Songs

29th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

rptnb

My Pictures

Wandering in a bookshop in Xinxiang,
I came across an Underwood 310 typewriter,
an Olivetti by another name.
It was not in good shape….
probably taken too many victims.

A young woman gave me a book about
the sex life of Andy Warhol.

‘You might find this interesting”

I thought this was a strange combination
of histories mingling….

In a moment of lighthouse flashes,
I felt a warm familiar breeze….
a self-moment of age.
There and then
I wanted to love someone.
Until death comes to visit me again,
the wind that brought me here still goes on.

Xiao Nian

28th Jan 201928th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

http://www.cctv.com: The 23rd day of the year’s last lunar month marks a traditional Chinese holiday called Xiao Nian, which means Preliminary Eve, the prelude to the Lunar New Year’s Eve celebration.

Another year without summer,
the cold sun fills the heavens and the earth.
Darkness on the edge of the city,
a hard moon sick and rising.
One suffers love, so meager

The Jade Emperor shows me a way forward.
A vision in light white silk, beyond the empty void
burning me up with hope……
my mind is awake……
No way now to hide the fire inside.

How to show your age

27th Jan 201927th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

My Picture

With daylight fading beyond the
silence, I went for coffee.
I was reading Bukowski….
‘Notes of a Dirty Old Man’,
when one of my Chinese friends joined me.
A young doctor with love rocking in the wind,
who is on the path in the desolate landscape.

“What are you reading?”

I ordered him some warm milk,

“A book about the space between
the covers of books……..
and why some poems have lived long enough….”

Unsure if he understood my words,
I suggested he sit down and order
this poem a glass of shaojiu.
We both found this funny…..

What we overlook

26th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

My Pictures: A new bookshop opened today in Xinxiang.

January cold in Xinxiang,
I met a young woman
who told me a sad story
about a boy from England.
She looked battle torn,
her eyes clouded
by his tormented life.

Hidden from the sun…
was herself…..
a blazing grassland
at its summertime height…
loving with strongest feeling.

With wounds of past regrets,
I told her that responsibilities float
away on each breath,
by the here and now and tomorrow.

Even the darkness has hope

25th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

My Pictures: More treatment today on my shoulder …..

The sorrow pain agony,
still continues.
It is never satisfied.
Coughing here and there
on the Xinxiang streets.

Yet I can still see,
the sun streaks that kissed your hair.
And the daily love dance,
broken, but now stronger.

Reborn with death together,
where hope had seemed left behind.
Now each drop of ink,
preserves a love lost in time.

‘Tuku’ died today

24th Jan 201924th Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

http://www.citizen .co.za

Oliver Mtukudzi died today.
My friend said
“So what….many singers die, it’s inevitable”
But I have a lingering mind…

Long before the shadows came,
and love was stolen from us.
We would listen to his music
and rainbows stood in a moment.

Oliver Mtukudzi died today…..

Branches of memory

23rd Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

My Picture: ‘Giant Buddha’. Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China.

Between the sun in dull reflection
and the grieving branches.
I may move between familiar memories,
and starless still nights cold clean and unclaimed.

Moments linger touched by what was.
A faint visible haze of seamless living life,
that reaches out to me now.
For simply breath without pain.

To the tune of life

22nd Jan 2019 / Rugby Lion / Leave a comment

My picture: Poster on the wall of No 3 Hospital, Xinxiang, China.

Sometimes it is difficult to straighten my saddened thoughts. I make my bed, drink some coffee and catch up on the world. But it is not always enough.

I muddle through the day swimming upwards, backwards and from time-to time finding moments to write and see things differently.

On occasions I read Bukowski, then I realize that things could be worse. So I read Dickinson, to find a tangible mind and spirit.

In the end, my thinking always seems to end up in another room. A landscape of the spirit, blue sky and thinking open mind.

After the pain…. drop by for coffee …..a mind of evolving language that gives me comfort.

A future frays like a cut wound …. but at least today the pain splutters out. And my words are open.

Wandering in a bookshop in Xinxiang, I came across an Underwood 310 typewriter, an Olivetti by another name. It was not in good shape…. probably taken too many victims.

A young woman gave me a book about the sex life of Andy Warhol.

‘You might find this interesting”

I thought this was a strange combination of histories mingling….

In a moment of lighthouse flashes, I felt a warm familiar breeze…. a self-moment of age. There and then I wanted to love someone. Until death comes to visit me again, the wind that brought me here still goes on.

Another year without summer, the cold sun fills the heavens and the earth. Darkness on the edge of the city, a hard moon sick and rising. One suffers love, so meager

The Jade Emperor shows me a way forward. A vision in light white silk, beyond the empty void burning me up with hope…… my mind is awake…… No way now to hide the fire inside.

With daylight fading beyond the silence, I went for coffee. I was reading Bukowski…. ‘Notes of a Dirty Old Man’, when one of my Chinese friends joined me. A young doctor with love rocking in the wind, who is on the path in the desolate landscape.

“What are you reading?”

I ordered him some warm milk,

“A book about the space between the covers of books…….. and why some poems have lived long enough….”

Unsure if he understood my words, I suggested he sit down and order this poem a glass of shaojiu. We both found this funny…..

January cold in Xinxiang, I met a young woman who told me a sad story about a boy from England. She looked battle torn, her eyes clouded by his tormented life.

Hidden from the sun… was herself….. a blazing grassland at its summertime height… loving with strongest feeling.

With wounds of past regrets, I told her that responsibilities float away on each breath, by the here and now and tomorrow.

Oliver Mtukudzi died today. My friend said “So what….many singers die, it’s inevitable” But I have a lingering mind…

Long before the shadows came, and love was stolen from us. We would listen to his music and rainbows stood in a moment.

Oliver Mtukudzi died today…..

Between the sun in dull reflection and the grieving branches. I may move between familiar memories, and starless still nights cold clean and unclaimed.

Moments linger touched by what was. A faint visible haze of seamless living life, that reaches out to me now. For simply breath without pain.

How long is lifelong? Years of tender colours, taken away in a moment.

Once a life was so flat, so bitter and cold. But love and lust never eluded me.

A year’s gone… but moments are offered up in song. Dredged each day from toil in the fine dust.

Yet… there are times away from the crowd, when the flowers fall fast in the hard rain. Then I think of you.