Are we nearly there yet? Apparently not. This week has passed in a bit of a blur; Tuesday was a real doozey with a 2,500 word essay due at 4pm and a 5.45 pm two hour exam. I will never, ever, ever be mean about students again. I’m a grown up person (most of the time), I’ve been out and about in the big bad world in countless jobs, faced many deadlines and sat through too many hours of boring workshops about time management. Yet I still finish my Uni assignments in a caffeine hazed mess. At approximately 7pm on Monday night I get my life back for a while before semester 2, 2012, and then graduation!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!!
So I’m tired, cranky, and stressed, but ecstatic that I have 27 followers this morning and am reaching out across the globe to folks who I would never get the opportunity to encounter otherwise. I am also reading some really beautiful words and inspiration that are enriching my life a damn sight more than tweeting has.
I don’t have anything witty, self depreciating or ridiculous to share with you today (although you may be the judge of that), so instead I’ll give you one of my poems; it is intentionally lacking in punctuation so that you unavoidably have to concentrate on the breath, just as you would in Yoga. Best read aloud in moments of extreme haste, to slow you down, relax your breathing, give you a micro second of calm before you move on to something else. It embodies every emotion I felt when I visited The Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, when I was feeling particularly angry, grief stricken and distraught with the world. This garden is a pleasant surprise; slap bang in the middle of a noisy, chaotic tourist area, yet it is peaceful, tranquil, and incredibly soothing to the soul. Comprised of miniature vistas of waterfalls, inclines, pagodas and a tea house; it achieves a breathtaking feeling of depth, height and vastness, yet is all contained within a very small area of land and surrounded by towering buildings. It is circuited intermittently by the monorail, which is a sudden, stark, intrusion when you are just beginning to lose your sense of time and space. It’s the best $6 you will ever spend; worth slowing yourself down to enjoy, and really interesting to just sit and watch how all nationalities, creeds and ages, move around slowly, often only speak in hushed and reverent voices.
This poem represents not just a few hasty moments scratching away some rhymes and half rhymes for a deadline, but months of drafting and editing, devotion and commitment – it’s a little piece of me – that I gift to you xx
JADE GARDEN
Hollow yet sturdy
swaying yet still
forest of elders
whisper until
wind gathers knowledge
storm blows off course
temperance slowly
finds her true source
leaf floats like feather
Summer, yet fall
crowded yet lonely
life in withdrawal
names of the worthy
words of the false
carved in cane crudely
seeds of a voice
insect is fleeting
worthless yet jewelled
small yet intriguing
flight without fuel
cloud appears weightless
drawn like a breath
stilt walker stooping
fish swallows death
lotus unfurling
drifting yet stopped
found yet abandoned
gift for the lost
chimes soothe the memory
silence brings peace
pebble shines brightly
washed in relief
ancient yet thriving
sun still to set
echoing softly
songs of regret
candle smokes fragrance
flame glows in warmth
senses are melting
minds become one
brush stroke of movement
glancing a touch
flexing, yet supple
feeling…
too
much.
English: Joss sticks burnt during a Chinese wedding ceremony. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
©2012 D.J.Silversides all rights reserved by the author.
(Admiration is admirable, but copying this poem without crediting me for the work would just be theft).
What are you studying? Sorry if you’ve already blogged about it 17 times. I just came here from Second Lunch to check out your Nanna chair (love it) so I haven’t heard any of the goss yet.
at some point I may blog about it 17 times but I haven’t yet!! think I’m only up to 8 posts so far? I’m doing a BA with an Extended English Lit Major, History Minor, bit of Psychology a tussle with the Romans, some cool Ancient Greek and a bit of arty farty – goss for this semester was the crazy chic who kept having a rant on one of my course discussion boards – stay away from the Red Bull kids (and drugs) – thanks for stopping by Queen Gen!
Oh wow … that sounds awesome.
I’m a bit jealous now. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked! But am definitely looking forward to hearing more about it (I presume you’ll be blogging more about your studies? – and writing more poetry?)
My husband is a historian. If you need any books, feel free to drop by. Although you might have more than we do, in your fantastic library with your fantastic chair. I’ve been doing a graduate certificate in Classic Literature through correspondence, but so far I’ve failed to enrol for next semester. Maybe one day I’ll remember to do it.
Your poem is utterly breathtaking. I have lost the vocabulary to praise it…I felt I was there, marvelling along with you in the complex yet simple beauty of this place. Extremely well done!!!!
aww thanks, that’s lovely feedback, glad I put it out there now.
It appears you now have your life back as it is Monday night (at least in my neck of the woods). Congrats! And lovely poem.
thanks! this is going to sound really naff, but in the early hours of this morning (only because the dog needed letting out!) I was stood in the dark in my garden looking up at the Australian night sky – clear as anything – I could almost reach up to touch the milky way and the stars were dazzling – I was a bit weepy(I know, ridiculous eh?) – it seems like way too long since I actually stood still, OR looked up at the sky!! “Thus in wonder I am lost” (David Unaipon)
I think that’s something we all should do from time to time, but sadly, most of us don’t.