Photo: thebridalbox.com
Sometimes I know what you’re thinking,
then I wonder that I’m hearing what you’re saying,
I wonder too what you’re not saying,
or if you’d say anything at all in this moment,
but I do know this,
we’re agreed at our center of love.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under Free Verse, love, poem, Quadrille, relationship
Photo: ichef-1.bbci.co.uk
He left her broken body,
their child a silent mess,
the landlord has no patience,
her friends have closed her out,
the family turned away.
They’d warned her of the prospects,
lectured long and hard,
for better or worse it’s her bed now,
but her shoulders are bowed with strain.
She worries for their child,
what love is this?
What hope?
The food is running low,
though a stranger gave her money,
enough till welfare day almost,
but will there always be tomorrow,
will there be a birthday too?
Should she take back the bruises?
at least he brought her bread.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul,
pvcann.com
Filed under Free Verse, poem, relationship
via Daily Prompt: Complication
In downtown ancient Phrygia in Anatolia, in Asia Minor (now modern Turkey) the population were without a king for sometime, and a prophecy was given that the new king would be a man who drove an ox-cart through the city gate. And, a peasant farmer did just that. His name was Gordias, and as per the oracle’s prophecy, Gordias was named king of Phrygia.
Gordias’ son Midas was so grateful that he tied that ox-cart to a post using an complicated knot made from cornel (cornus mas) bark and dedicated it to the god Sabazios (or as the Greeks would say – Zeus). The knot was said to be very complicated, it was described as being several knots together, so intertwined that it was impossible to find the beginning or the end of it, hence its entry into legend as the Gordian Knot.
The legend went on, with a new prophecy that whoever undid the knot would rule all of Asia. Enter Alexander the Great. There are two stories of Alexander undoing the knot, in the first he simply slices it in two with his sword after wrestling with it. In the second, he discovers the central strand and successfully unravels it. Either way, he went on to rule Asia Minor and beyond.
Today it carries the meaning of complication. We use the term “cut the Gordian Knot”, which refers to decisively solving a problem or puzzle. The term also refers to any problem or conundrum that can only be solved with lateral or creative thinking.
We all carry an internal Gordian Knot or two. I think where love is concerned when we meet our life partner we are the key to unravelling the complications of attraction, bonding, and releasing each other in new creative ways. I think there are other knots we carry. Some carry the whole world on their shoulders, others carry depression, anxiety, heartache, grief. Others carry hate, jealousy, anger. Some carry physical knots of illness. It’s a complicated world, and none of these knots can be treated as simple or trite. These knots can’t be dealt with like Alexander slicing them open, nice as that would be.
The ancients believed that the knot was actually a code to be unravelled first, so that the knot would also unravel. In a way it is a metaphor for life – to be patient, to learn the clues to self, to understand self and one’s passions, abilities, and possible paths in life. For me the Gordian Knot is life opening up as I attend to the mindful path, strand by strand, not being too concerned with slicing or loosing the whole, but discovering each intricate strand and its role. Life is a Gordian Knot, and it cannot be short circuited, you cannot succeed by simply getting frustrated and slicing it open. Life, as the cliche goes, must be lived. Our clues to success are in the living into the glorious chaos we call life, remembering Samuel Butler’s comment: “Life is not an exact science, it is an art”, and finding our way. But above all, we are often the key to each other’s unravelling our inner knots, it is an imprecise science or art, sometimes we are totally unware it is happening, it’s called relationship, it begins with dialogue …
Paul,
pvcann.com
Filed under history, life, mindfulness, Mythology, quote
The White Corella. The noise is astonishing, they are one of the flocking birds and they come in large numbers. I took this a couple of weeks ago at a local park, you can’t see the birds very well, just a white speck or two and one near the end in the tree (swinging up-side-down), but the point of this video was to capture the sound.
Sadly the city council have successfully made a case to have their numbers reduced, they have been deemed a nuisance because of their noise, numbers, they dig up lawns, eat fruit and buds, and poop everywhere. I don’t mind them, but you know what people are like, they whine about the stain on the roof, the aerial interference, the untidy lawn, the loss of rose buds, the loss of apricots or other fruit. To the point that the people whining about the birds are more annoying than the birds.
Wherever I go I keep hearing, reduce the shark numbers, reduce the corellas, reduce the Ibis, the Egret, reduce nature. I never hear reduce humans, but that would be too shocking! I think Mr. Smith (The Matrix) was right when he suggested that humans are a virus. Yes, balance is important, but we have biased the balance in our favour. When developers are permitted to build housing estates near estuaries and lakes, then water birds will be in those places – does building your house mean you get permission to moan about the fact that there were pre-existing neighbours in your suburb? I don’t think it does.
If you buy a house near an existing airport, the government doesn’t just jump to and move the airport for you, it is likely to send you away with a reminder that you bought the house knowing the issue was there. Now that is not always true with nature. Sometimes the birds will develop new flight paths, or will seek out districts where food and water are plentiful. In Bunbury the Corellas have been around for a while, sadly they will be culled because some in the community call them a nuisance.
We need to continually bring an awareness to our world that nature is vital and we are a part of it, not separate. We co-exist, we are interdependent, it is a relationship, and we really need to value that relationship because it is critical to our own survival. We need new eyes to see that the problem is not the Corellas, but the fact that some people have a problem with Corellas.
Corellas swinging TV reception blurred time to read a book ©Paul Cannon
Paul,
pvcann.com
Filed under community, environment, Haiku, life, mindfulness, nature
Redbank Gorge was worth the short scramble, but I’m not as agile as I once was, although, in my head I’m still in my twenties 😀, but I’m definitely not fragile! As a child my parents took us on country walks. And my friends and I would sneak off for escapades in the surrounding countryside collecting tadpoles or frogs, chasing fish or floating leaves in streams. As I grew older it became more about nature as an interest in itself. And later still, I understood nature to be integral to my spirituality, something our whole family shares to some degree. Whether it is a serious trail hike or a simple bush walk I feel whole and nurtured in the bush, and I do anything to make it happen, agile or not. It’s not about the conquest or possession of nature, it’s about emersion and relationship.
Paul,
pvcann.com
Filed under bush walking, Country, nature
Moss and wood a marriage of sorts, knit together in a lasting, mutual, relationship. The wood is dead, yet it gives life, while the moss is life and forms a wonderful eco network. It had just rained and petrichor was working my nostrils yet again, and the peaty smells were heavy in the air. Not only that, they give pleasure to the eye, and the touch of a hand. Eros and Psyche are perhaps lingering up ahead …
Paul,
pvcann.com
Filed under bush walking, Country, nature
I really like the sentiment of the poster (which I found on the net some time back, but which had no credit), it doesn’t matter your race or beliefs, we are one human race. Sadly the poster alone won’t educate the world. When I engage with learning I prefer hands on, to be shown then to have a go. It works well through group work where we learn from each other, through relationships, and through experience. The way to educate the world towards positive and mutual acceptance of difference yet oneness is the same, to engage in relationships that break down suspicion, difference, or any false binary that intrudes on relationships. If we learn from each other, if we build relationships with each other, if we experience the other, then we can make it.
Paul
pvcann.com
Filed under life, Philosophy/Theology
I don’t want to delve into it too deeply, but you may remember the catchy adds a few years ago that promoted a credit card where a moment or experience that was so unique that it transcended normal concepts of value. Of course, the reality is that no credit card can transcend the reality of your income, and credit cards are not priceless, they cost in real time. It begs the question, what really is priceless? Family, friends, love, achievements, and so on, they are priceless.
For me nature is priceless, though we’ve managed to comodify it anyway and thereby devalue it rather than make it priceless. But when I look at nature I see what I have not made, what I cannot make, what I do not own, nor cannot own, but rather, that which sustains me body , mind and spirit, and holds together a myriad of seen and unseen relationships.
This photo was taken at Redbank Gorge in early August, to me its priceless.
Paul
pvcann.com
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In the times i needed most, I WAS ALONE. Real life stories through my life that hopefully can enspire someone struggling.
Words from Angela.
My original blog got too big. Time to downsize.
Serving The Family Caregiver
Videos and Music with Subliminal Joy affirmation meditation
Everything Organic
Poetry and Flash Fiction
In the times i needed most, I WAS ALONE. Real life stories through my life that hopefully can enspire someone struggling.
Words from Angela.
My original blog got too big. Time to downsize.
Serving The Family Caregiver
Videos and Music with Subliminal Joy affirmation meditation
Everything Organic
Poetry and Flash Fiction
parallax 