‘i am nothing?’

‘all that arises…     fades away….’

after twenty years of contemplation

the conclusion of a Buddhist monk;

my bones    my brain   soon to return to

the ashes and dust from which they arose

no bitterness.. no rancour.. against those

‘no time in my life           left for hate’

despite the trauma of corporate rape

post traumatic stress of ‘battles lost?’

grieving for a public who don’t give a toss

kept too ‘busy’      to have time to think

even in the queues in Centrelink….(they)

enmeshed in a system… grinding on…

completely out of control, or control by some?

a ‘demoralization of the ruling elite’

the warning sign spoken of by Yohan Galtung

of a society  a world  in first stage of collapse

death threats, phantom phone calls  computer hacks

there’s a beauty around us in all we see

yet we (humans) mess it up so willingly

‘as CEO’s shat (-on) in their own nests!!?’

‘all that arises… fades away…..’

i…..am…. nothing…

Rob Greenwood Redcliffe West Australia1.8.2007 158 wds

‘Faceless Nameless?’

Faceless         nameless        they hurry past,           eyes averted

 furtive glances,      eye candy?  but not for others?     for ourselves

 selective    faceless forms   each with a story,  a history,   a future?

‘Choo Choo’ – Thomas the Tank Engine ride – ‘did you press the button?’

 ‘what noise does the train make?’ ‘Choo Choo’ ‘Can anyone make the train noise

–        Choo Choo – Mirabella claps – ‘go get mum?’ ‘Want more?’ “ Hold on” ‘Make the noise the train makes

–        Choo Choo –      where’d you get the? from Tegan? – Choo Choo’ ‘Time to go’ ‘see you’ –

people hurrying by,      no eye contact,    eyes averted,  busy,  focused,     kids in trolleys checking out …stuff………..

older kids bouncing a ball against a glass wall      – waiting –              shops ….starting to put the shutters up

–        anger in the eyes           – no smiles –              affected laughter –         kids in school uniforms eating chips

–         finally…. a smile                  – of recognition –               for a loved-one –                then…..

–         

–        the dreaded uncontrollable shaking of Parkinson’s       – we avert our eyes –        we don’t want to get involved

–        ‘paging Mark Farmer to the customer service desk’ (K Mart) ……………….as Spendless closes up

–        last shoppers hurry past.        Vodaphone’s dead –                 as people accept the indignity of their bag check

–        sneakers squelch past –         lovers –             purple top black hair? Arms around waist………. saunter past –

–         

–        then Taya and her young mum’s beautiful eyes, met mine, and we spoke…..!!!! her of their recent trip to Egypt, Lebanon and Bali – of people who had little but were happy – who by contrast were helpful and friendly – their respect for their own culture –         not like here –      when asked here staff reply……. ‘if its not on the shelf then we don’t have any’

–        how ‘we don’t value our culture’   me ..’we have the burn bash and bury mentality’ –   ‘development’ at all costs…

–        ‘bulldoze the past – create a soulless future’ – a lovely young mum; thinking, caring, imagining, comparing; our future our past, our cultures – for Taya -  having a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine – as a young boy hopped on behind the chimney and rode it like a horse

© Rob Greenwood Redcliffe West Australia  27.7.2007 326 wds

 rain coming down

sky grey clouds wind

then drips from bark

sounds of drops rhythmic

brief shine of sun after

rain gloss on wet bark

smooth gold on grey

green and brown

as the rain soaks in

rob greenwood redcliffe west australia 19.7.2007 37 wds

‘I think therefore I am’

‘Cogito ergo sum’…Descartes’

‘I exist for as long as I am thinking’

‘if I cease to think I cease to exist’

But if i exist only in my thoughts

can my thoughts exist without ‘me’?

if knowledge/intuit is received through DNA?

is conscious mind a creation of this life?

As nature/nurture influences conscious mind

compare to implicit subconscious ‘knowledge’?;

the wisdom of our antecedents passed on

at the time ‘our’ egg and sperm was formed?

If intuit is passed on through DNA then

how was the wisdom of each forebear combined

‘switched on’, ‘switched off’, accepted, rejected

by this new mind?, brain?, thought-stream?

What influence then has each belief construct,

each organized religion, church, or faith

had on the freeing, or, the capture of our

mind, brain, thought-stream, soul?

What then is the meaning of (our) life

 is this our life ‘it’ for us?

or is our purpose to (imperceptibly?)

mould our thread of DNA passed on?

If the sum total of human ‘knowledge’

would take some thirty thousand intellects

to store, then of the whole how much will each

ever understand, more than a tiny fraction?

or is each ‘individual’ intellect simply

a part of a great collective Gaia intuit;

much as each of trillions of microbes

support each body/intellect/thought-stream

our part in life’s great cyclic ebb and flow?

© Rob Greenwood Redcliffe.W/Aust 92772028 18.6.2007 225 wds

We’d levelled up the mantelpiece

the night before, and woke to a

magnificent day… too good to work

so after a lazy late breakfast

and walk and talk we cancelled

our plans, fixed the brick cladding

back on instead, levelled the washer

let the chooks out and decided on

a BBQ lunch – Webber wood fired

charcoal and collected dry Marri under

the grapevine trellis the smell of

mandarines, and wood smoke under

winter sun and blue sky chooks scratched

contentedly potatoes in jackets and foil chicken

in marinade of herbs, bread cooking in cast iron

with banana in skins and lemon halves

rosemary, bay leaves home brewed beer

with twist of orange we chatted and

pruned the vines until succulent and

glazed smoked chicken and sausage

we ate our fill and more oh so perfect

in the warm sun a truly memorable feast

on a randomly special day in Mundaring

©Rob Greenwood  Redcliffe.W/Aust 92772028 7.7.2007  150 wds

‘An empty room doesn’t need light’

cryptic notice in ‘The Bank’ gallery;

encouraging energy efficiency?, sustainability?

or, some deep philosophical statement?

An ‘empty’ room filled with light

a lightless room filled with dark

in the depths of darkness full or empty?

half full, half empty, half lit?

Trillions of atoms; oxygen, nitrogen

microbes et al of an ‘empty’ room

invisible yet not empty; full of life,

movement, appearing ‘empty’ to our eyes

An ‘empty’ room; may need even more ‘light’

to reveal it is not empty at all; much like

life itself really; appearing to be empty yet

requiring more light to reveal it’s full-ness.

© Rob Greenwood Redcliffe.WAust 20.5.2007 92772028 104 wds

Thoughts inspired by a walk through ‘The Bank’ Gallery Midland WA on 20.5.2007, by the excellent variety of ‘work’, conversation with Corinne, a chance walk upstairs, (the road taken), and a notice on the door;

 ‘an empty room doesn’t need light’.

a word

a smile

a thought

shared….

encouragement

can plug a

hole

 in a dam

©  rob greenwood Redcliffe West Australia 30.6.2007 15 wds

Molecules… around since

we know not when….

at least since the Big Bang

….and back again?

Surviving thermo nuclear

temperatures of the sun

Resilient little buggers

whence we’ve come…

micro universe in each?

proton, neutron, electron,

atom, molecule, an incredible

journey to end up in… One

Rob Greenwood Redcliffe West Australia  6.2.2006 46 wds

As black dog scrambles

around in my brain

the hours tick past

and the page remains blank

As we torture ourselves

exploring endless scenarios

chasing bunnies down burrows

the page remains blank

from big picture issues

to excruciating minutiae

in an exploding universe

the page remains blank

as we try coming to terms

with what’s happening around us

make sense of ‘our’ madness

the page remains blank

as i escape to the arms of

my new make-believe lover

where no one can get hurt

so the page remains blank

Rob Greenwood Redcliffe.WA 7.4.2006  88 wds

This was written following an interview on ABC TV with Australian writer and poet Les Murray and relates to his battle with depression throughout his life, Les replied with a wonderful postcard; dear rob, thanks indeed for your kind message via Mark O’Connor’s website, and for your poems. My page is blank at the moment, the sod, but that could be because i’ve just published a book! Cheers, Les Murray

And reflects the dilemma that so often faces writers and thinkers.

Soft caressing dappled play

of sunlight and shadow.

Fuzzy-edged silhouettes.

Magic lantern slideshow

through glass onto carpet

Fleeting horizontal images

of breeze-tossed leaves.

Slanting rays of mid-morning sun;

splashed shapes in light, shade

Play and inter-play… soft

washes, bold brush strokes.

Instantly the canvas clean,

ready for the next foray

Eyes focus on rocks outside,

ancient instants cast in stone;

Moments captured, fossils, grains,

time freeze-framed in stone

To erode imperceptibly before our

eyes; release each grain in turn.

Give up each bond, carried by

wind, rain, stream, to end up who

knows where?;…Endless cycles

in sunlight and shadow…

©Rob Greenwood Redcliffe West Australia 25.2.2006 99 wds