IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

Last day of February(29th) or Best Day(of summer!). Mum would always say, when we'd had a beautiful,sunny day = YOU'LL PAY FOR IT LATER! - sometimes we did, sometimes we didn't.

Out all day in greyness, then home again and working, i noticed the sky increasing in blueness out the window, while taking a little rest. So, encouraged by pink, cherry blossoms,in front garden, decided to go out once again, with mum's words in my head. Take advantage, i thought. The atmosphere as soft as soft. Walked slowly, slowly...each step a pleasure in its breezeless stillness. Children coming out of school. Scooters and pushchairs. Dogs and owners in quiet streets and a mostly uninhabited beach invited the photo opportunity. What did the bruv say about this blog? More writing, less photos?...WELL, i just couldn't resist.....But of this beach, this afternoon, Dad would have said,= IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS. It was an oft said, little philosophical phrase of his. Indeed, IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS. WE ONLY HAVE THIS PRECIOUS, PRESENT MOMENT. He knew that also, and would have tried to capture that magical, idyllic picture of Weymouth beach and sands on his camera. He was always disapointed. But as with myself, he was so happy to have found that idyll of living in Weymouth, and in Dorset = IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.

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JUST BOOKS - (JUST PHOTOS - 28/feb/2012)

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ON "CHE HAMZAH'S MONKEY" - Owen Davis - Stingy Artist/Last Straw, 1988.

The life and legs of a book always amazes. Of recent times have met and had good chats with my Malay/Sufi friend, Suzuki. Warmth and ease was there from the start. Instant. In the usual flow of Zen and Sufi tales and stuff, i happened to mention that i had published a book of Malaysian travel poems by my friend, OWEN DAVIS. i followed this up by giving him a copy the very next day.
                                      SYNCHRONICITY !
Suzuki actually knew CHE HAMZAH - The Puppet Master. Had been a student of his as a young man in Malaysia. Suzuki said Che Hamzah was one incredible guy = shaman, spiritual teacher, a thrower of shadows and voices, AND that he had died about 10 years ago.
i relate this to OWEN (nearby, in Bournemouth ! AH ! a real poet in Dorset !) and he is not only amazed but also, not amazed. These synchronicities DO occur. Owen tells me, he could have bought one of Che Hamzah's puppets for just £10. in the '70's - but had no room in his rucksack ! It would now have been such a treasure. Of course the real treasure-house is memory.
i am increasingly amazed at the interconnectedness of all things = the readers of this blog; 6 billion people on this planet;the Milky Way; Indra's Net; countless BIG BANGS; the endless possibilities in the beginner's mind.....infinite stupidity.........i am moved to tears as i type this/ at all of this. & this. AND THIS. and even this....  

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OUT OF DORSET WITH LANA...

No plan or expectation on setting-out from G.G.H. Neighbour asked where i was off to - i just knew i wanted to get away from Weymouth. X53 bus @11.20 hours heading west. Bound to be far-out somewhere along The Jurassic - Abbotsbury? Burton Bradstock? West Bay? Bridport? Lyme Regis? Seaton? Sidmouth?....definitely not as far as Exeter - would just be on bus all day.
Low clouds skulking greyly over hills approaching Portesham did not dampen feelings for the trip. OUT OF DORSET, i suddenly thought. Away from the desert.The desert that made strugglers of Zukofsky and Williams in this Age of Degeneration.

YUMMY PECAN PIE RAW FRUIT & NUT BAR AND RICE MILK IN BAG OVER SHOULDER. FORGOT CAMERA !!!!

Bus ascending hill out of Abbotsbury afforded no view of St.Catherine's out of rear window. Vision at top 50 yards at most for a while. Sheep in fields invisible to my gaze until past Swyre. Then, clarity of fields, sea & surf and all. We pass THE THREE HORSESHOES (Burton Bradstock) where, in '76, scoffed "tiddy oggies" for first time. That hot, dry summer of yellow fields, in Sally's car, all the way to BUCKFAST ABBEY. Memories flood. "Writing is an aid to memory."
Comfort break at Bridport Bus Station in refreshing shower - but, oh so lightly. Springlike. 12.25hours. Very comfortable. i know these roads and views from our family trips in the 60's, in the big Wolseley saloon Dad bought for a song, speeding to our caravan at Wheelrose near REDRUTH & the beach at PORTHTOWAN. The chimneys and the pink Thrift flowers.

CHARMOUTH at 12.40hours. Memory will remember even the unmemorable. BUT the long, slow descent into the belly of two converging hills that is LYME REGIS, is of another order. The softest spot, much sought after, by the sea, at the western edge of Dorset. A right royal place! But any more literary sons to be had after FOWLES? Fleeting glimpse of where stood THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN....    and at one minute short of 13.00 hours, i have fled DORSET for DEVON. The shackles have fallen and i'm singing/hearing LANA DEL REY - "Feet don't fail me now/ take me to the finish line/Oh my heart it breaks every step that i take...." along the shore at SEATON....

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THE BOOK THAT NOBODY WANTS !

If one can believe it, not one outlet in Dorchester were interested in having even one copy on their shelves. Variety of reasons - from "too expensive" or even, that they didn't think there would be any interest ! DUH ! THOMAS HARDY, son of Dorset !. DORCHESTER, the County Town.! Tourist season coming up!. Absolutely not a problem not to place them. i just "DON'T BELIEVE IT" !

OH WELL...it is available @THE DANSEL GALLERY, ABBOTSBURY and THE ANTIQUE CENTRE , Nr.BREWER'S QUAY,WEYMOUTH. And, of course it will always be here @ Golden GOJI Hermitage.

Limited Edition of 75 signed and numbered copies @ £10 each.

However, everyone DID think they were beautiful, little hand-made books. Problem, i guess, was that they had never seen this sort of "book" before."It is almost an "art object" one person said, "i wonder where the best place for it would be?"  ....Answers on a postcard to me, the publisher @ Stingy Artist Editions..i do everything, apart from the actual printing..even make sauerkraut and sourdough bread. COME...TASTE AND SEE.

FIRST PLUM BLOSSOMS @ Golden GOJI Hermitage

thru kitchen window

magpie

in neighbour's tree

making a fuss

draws first plum blossom

to my attention

too high to go inside

we linger together

in the garden.

(26 / feb / 2012)

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IN AN EMPTY BOWL/ZEN ARTWORX #1

CHILLI KETCHUP SQUEEZED WITH FLOURISH INTO EMPTY DENBY BOWL.

EVENING OF THE 23RD FEBRUARY 2012..

DINNER WAS SOON SERVED.

ORGANIC STEAMED VEGETABLES.

POTATOES, CARROTS, KALE, CAULIFLOWER & BROCCOLI.

VEGAN DIET. ABOUT 50/50 RAW AND COOKED.

WE LIVE IN A COLD CLIMATE.

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KWAN YIN'S BLOSSOMS IN WEYMOUTH

SUDDENLY,"MY" HANDS ARE MY FATHER'S HANDS ON

EARLY -MORNING-BUS-SEAT-RAIL-BEFORE-ME.

HANDS THAT HELD ME,THAT DID NOT KNOW THEIR OWN FATHER'S HANDS

THAT SAVED ME FROM MY BABY-TEARS-AND-FEARS

AT THE END OF THE ORCHARD UNDER BLOSSOMS.

AND THE SOFT-SLIPPERED LITTLE-LADY

CLUTCHED AT "MY" HANDS WITH MY MOTHER'S HANDS

AS I STEADIED HER HOME ONE NIGHT

WITH HER PAINTED NAILS AND RINGS ON HER FINGERS AND BELLS ON HER TOES,"HE SHALL HAVE MUSIC WHEREVER HE GOES" MY MOTHER SANG UNDER BLOSSOMS.

AND MOTHERS ARE MOTHERS, OH! WHERE DO THEY GO? WHERE DO THEY GO?

THESE HANDS ARE TO HAND-OUT

AND HOLD-OUT

AND HANG-ON-TO.

AN OFFERING OF

OUR HELPING HEARTS

UNDER BLOSSOMS.

(winter 2011/2012

written on the road

around Weymouth)

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ON WEYMOUTH'S SANDS IN FEBRUARY for Kris

Jerry Cobbold speaks on page 329 of WEYMOUTH SANDS (John Cowper Powys - The Overlook Press 1999) = "Your baboon's arse may be an Aurora Borealis..." And this morning on the beach @ Weymouth i see the universe in a gram of sand, a sea-weed, a playful dog, a plastic bag, a Ben Nicholson painting, driftwood, foot and paw prints, a moustache....

And at end of walk and musings, i find No.1 for No1. Appropriate that these things come to my mind looking thru his eyes from our Hemensley family home in Weymouth, in Dorset. "Have a base and be mobile," is what he has advised for years. Happy now, to be based in the county of Thomas Hardy, William Barnes & The Powys Family.

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BIKING FROM BEACH/RACING 'ROUND RADIPOLE

Sunday morning.Out early to beach. Great big,blue sky.The sea as quiet as a millpond.This is the JURRASSIC RIVIERA ! Cycled from the front, on path around Radipole Lake as fast as i could, taking fotos with the right hand, and left hand covering the brake. i was o.k., not many out between 7 and 8a.m. And of those, who got up at 4a.m. to start day with yoga ?In being up so many hours, there is time for everything. No clamour or anxiety to actually DO anything. Nothing to achieve. Nowhere to get to. We already arrive every moment ,wherever we are. What's more, eager to get up in morning and love going to bed at night. About average of 18 hours a day to play with. Need some Gopis. Need a flute. Need for nothing....



Maybe i'll be trick-cyclist ! People tell me i should wear helmet. Remember 1968,with Phil, on the back of his motorbike, me wearing no helmet (it wasn't the law in those days), a pair of shorts, a shirt, a black lambswool cossack hat, and nothing on my feet - riding from Barmouth to swim off  the sand-dunes at Dyffryn when he didn't have his girl-friend with him. On our way back, leaning into and around the bends, Phil turns and laughingly says -" that was close, i almost hit my head on the rock face !"...then still on adrenaline we get to the "S" bend where at the top you can see a good way along the road ,and if clear, you can go fast, up and down into the dip, more-or-less in a straight line. Crazy stuff, thinking back. My first time away from home. 20 years old. It's that feeling i have right now...i still sing "Groovin" by the YOUNG RASCALS, but my big song at present goes like this = WILL YOU STILL NEED ME, WILL YOU STILL FEED ME, WHEN I'M 64. But i'm forgetting, ADELE, JESSIE J, AND LANA DEL RAY....forever young (BOB DYLAN)

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BRIDPORT HO ! TO MARKET,TO MARKET....

Oh no,

i've said

TOO MUCH -

I HAVEN'T SAID ENOUGH.......

BARTER : BREAD FOR POETRY

Left for THE PHOENIX & AIDAN CHAPMAN just after 6am.Down Goldcroft to THE ROCK,turn left towards town, thru subway, inner harbour... and walking and jogging, get to KING'S STATUE and THE PHOENIX. Aidan's "shift" started y'day evening (friday), will be finished around 9am, then home to BRIDPORT. i collect the promised organic rye sourdough and make for the sea-front = always on the lookout for a photo opportunity. and the sun has yet to rise into the sky.[had already given Aidan copy of my latest = "THE THOMAS HARDY POEMS" = as my part of barter.this is what i prefer as business practice].

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