Oh River, dear friend.
How clearly do you know your path.
While I sit here, clueless
Looking for direction
Hoping this apathy will lapse

To be still, to let what must pass, pass,
To trust that what must be, will be,
That in faith I will find my Destiny,
All of this I know and yet
In my heart there is a pit
A void I must fill.

Oh River, I sit beside you in friendship,
For in you I can confide.
My soul finds it difficult to share its pain and
in your presence I hope I may some answers find.

Life has been busy and now 
it quietens down,
In the noise of constant activity,
I drowned 
and forgot how to listen to my deeper self.

But now I Hear.
And what, I do not know.
As I delve into my depths, tell me
Where do I go?
Tell me, how do I reach 
My soul.

My mind is a whirlwind of thoughts I cannot comprehend
The wider picture is missing
The pieces are magic, the whole is perfection
And yet there is a blindness
A could I cannot dispel
But my friend, I have embarked on a journey
And I have faith it ends well.

A journey I undertake to reconnect with my spirit.
And understand the unease in my heart.
Listening to your course and your nature
In my journey I embark 
to surrender
And to let myself be taken by the flow.

A journey I hope leads to my soul.
 

Hello again, my friend,
how have you been?
It's been a while, 
and still you stand so peacefully
and Proud.

The world moves so fast, you see,
the seasons change, and now
you shed your leaves

And here you are, a hundred
or two hundred years of age,
Firm and Sure of your presence.

Over the years you nurture your 
roots and as you grow they 
Anchor you to the ground.

You know Yourself, come what may.
Let the harsh winds sway your 
branches to and fro and the
storms reck chaos and hell
upon your land.
It matters not, for here you stand.

And with your indifference towards 
the world's doings, somehow,
I feel your beckoning still.

There is a warmth and 
timeless kindness that penetrates 
my soul and being.

I know I'm not alone, because
I have you, my friend.

The years may go by but our
friendship will never change.

With your wisdom, take me 
where the sunlight will find me.
 

Smooth as silk
Fierce, sharp and cold
Shimmering, Colourful, Translucent,
A Mirror to all she knows,
Moulded by circumstance
While circumstance she moulds,
And the look of all she beholds...

Peaceful as air,
Violent as wind,
Like fire, she’s Merciless, Great but also Forgiving,
Alive though not living,
Defiant yet Listening.

She is Light as she is darkness
And she is thunder as she is Silence,
All are drawn to her, a Siren, Enchantress,
Intensely seen and heard and felt, yet alas!
to all, a ghost, long forgotten and past.

She, the Ephemeral Glimmer,
Our Hero, our Saviour our Martyr,
abused, neglected,
caged, disrespected, 
Yet Proud, Strong and Unfaltering.

She stands Eternal, Immortal,
Watching over us all,
Queen and Slave of the Living and the Dead.
 

The world is, and of it, I am.

Knowing this, the sky behind the
clouds is seen, the sun's colours
are most warmly felt,
And all the World is at Peace.

It is, because I know
And I know because it is
No need for rational thought
When what is plain is felt

It is not life that I have but
life that I am, and being this
most wondrous existence,
I Trust.
 

Don’t look down
Never give up
Release fear
Learn to let go.

Climbing upwards
I feel the knots disintegrate
those that capture my body and mind into a frantic, convoluted mess of distress, confusion, and overwhelming emotion
loosening the tension of those that bind me to the terrible consequences of a decision I cannot turn back on
but only move on.

Instead I am held by the powerful knot of safety and comfort
a knot that allows me to let go
to lose fear
to move on.

Instead I can climb upwards instead of 
pulling myself down.
There I forget myself and look towards my only goal.

Persistence, perseverance, patience
sometimes means letting go.
Though my violent falls are easily perceived as the fault of
weakness, under-confidence, cowardice
Though the bystander may consider that I have
Given Up.

But when I let go it is not to give up
but to look at the wall from a 
different perspective
take a moment of rest and self-care
So I can learn, improve and try again.

In my peaceful state of unrelenting motivation, concentration, and clarity
I challenge myself to a harder wall.
Slowly, calmly and fearlessly I approach it with gentle movements
despite the strain on my arms and my trembling body.

I do not ignore the pain. I acknowledge it and move forward because
I know my destination.

And yet,
ever so close,
I feel a sharp, burning, searing pain. I know I can still hold on, move on, continue …

I also know that I will break.
Instead I remember to
let go.
And I remind myself that
I will try again.

Don’t push harder, work softly, don’t make the damage worse than what it was.

Where I am injured I support 
though I know I must temporarily avoid my source of pain.
Support gives me an equal if not
more gratifying source of peace.

Then try again, but don’t push too hard. 
Aware of my injury I adapt my strategy
the position of my arms and legs
the difficulty of the walls that I attempt
letting go whenever the strain is too strong.

A judgement that I alone must make,
for the strain is nothing like
the pain of 
a broken
or dislocated
arm.
Nothing like the pain of a
gashing wound.

But I will not let the strain 
become a broken, dislocated arm.

I walk away from the climbing walls and know that I will return again.
 

River rushing through creek.
Water, rocks, trees,
assuming shape, knowing surroundings
invariably, flowing through law
law flowing through it
Knowledge contained in its essence

Not conscious
but the end-point is clear, intrinsic to its existence,
the embodiment of natural law.

How some assume to be the river!
With absolute certainty they insist to
know the world.

Water, rocks, trees
the creek shapes us, knows us,
but we do not know the creek. 

And yet
somehow we may take any shape
more like an uncontrollable fire
holding the freedom of
choice.

Not knowing what is ahead
nor understanding the reality we have
changed. Yet having to
think, decide and
live.

To choose our own way
to make our own creek.

Though overwhelmed by the thought of the
consequences
I embrace the thought and
go to sleep.

​