APPROACHING BRIDPORT

BLUE THRU BACK O' BUS WINDOWS
BRIDPORT BECKONS BEYOND -
I GO - NOT TO BROWSE
THE BARROW-BOYS' WARES
NOR DRINK A BEER
ON MARKET-DAY
NOR WITH BAITED-BREATH
FOR BOOK-BIZ
OR BARTER OR BANTER
IN THIS SMALL TOWN
WHERE BOOZE IS ON THE BREATH
RATHER THAN POETRY.
POETRY IS NOWHERE-BEING-BORN
BUT BUSY DYING -
A FOOTNOTE IN SOME
BACK-O'-BEYOND
OF A FOREIGN FIELD -
BEYOND AND BEYOND
IN AN UNTENDED CORNER.
BUKOWSKI SOME CURRENCY MAYBE -
BUT BASIL BUNTING OR BELTRAMETTI?...
DOES BLOODAXE BRING HOME THE BACON
IN THE TOWN OF ROPEMAKERS' BOOKSHOPS?
BEST TO JUST BREEZE-IN
AND BOW-OUT
WITH A BUDDHA-SMILE
AND RETURN TO THE BEAT
IN MY OWN BACK-YARD.
                                                  1o.35 - 14.20 hrs -23/march/2012

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RISING IN MY MIND

sitting here, before the fire, while SPELT dough proves. house temp. doesn't warrant heating but the yeasted bread-making does. LANA sings to me from the corner stereo-player : the young diva who has currently ousted ADELE in my attentions. beside me, on sofa, is my shoulder-bag and my swag of birthday books from KRIS (and his COLLECTED WORKS BOOKSHOP) in Melbourne. There's a glow from the red, fleecy throw, draped over backrest, that rivals gas-fire....i pick-up ROBYN ROWLAND'S book = "THIS ROAD" (Picaro Press -March 2007 - Wagtail-63). my eye alights immediately on the very first poem - no further than the title,in fact = "PERVERSE SERENITY".  and it stays my mind/catches my mood.
i live in Dorset.and am amazingly settled and content to be here at the moment. is there serenity in being here? are we defined by where we are? is a serenity that is dominated by environs a type of escape from reality - a perversity? i am very aware, that for many years, i have been sustained by things that are not of Dorset, and are not even of being in this house, until lately. i had links around the world, but precious few, and certainly none meaningful outside of family, locally. i was fortunate to have been sustained, in the main by KRIS, who ploughed a sustained and deep furrow from OZ to the UK & the family in Dorset, since the mid 80's when "we" moved here from Southampton. it was his delight to throw himself into "our " Dorset life / or into one of the many blackberry bushes  that line the little lanes and paths around Radipole & Chafeys (my meditation path) AND the path leading to St.Catherine's at Abbotsbury. He says he does not live in Melbourne but inside his head. for my part, the proposition of being where one lives, is overridden by where one is in one's head.
the BUDDHISTS say = ALL IS MIND. i agree. YUP! ALL MIND. ALL MINED. ALL MINE. DORSET ON MY MIND. DORSET IN MY MIND.....(the risen dough became the well-baked bread...)

....now i can enjoy the feast of all that arises in my mind....

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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.