I go to Iceland. Box breathing; trapped. tomorrow I take to the water.
Category Archives: Poesy
What was it you said?
ChatGPT and me; human – computer interface. Let me join the dots, let me tell you what I have forgotten.
Emily isn’t her real name.
Emily isn’t her real name. I introduced her to our medical student on Friday. She is rake-thin, with wizened skin From almost a century of cigarettes, She shuffles from room to room on a dusty walker, Her mobility scooter askew In the corner of her room. I’ve mentioned her before, She of the parakeet Coco.Continue reading “Emily isn’t her real name.”
Black Swan
Moments with my daughter,
reflecting
on growth and change.
What is understood. Understood. Standing under. Capisce?
The humans built the tower to reach heaven or God and their punishment to forever live in perplexity, to hover above or alongside the dark matter.
A death foretold.
I am running.
Funereal wave. Suspension of belief.
Is this it?
You ask,
Is this the call?
the empty bed & the red dahlia
blink and you will miss it.
I just called / pieces of a man
What is left behind when you have gone. Audio legacy.
Heraclitus, Zen & Il Gattopardo
To stay the same everything must change. That is, For you To remain In the same place, In the same state across time, Then everything else must alter Unless that is, You change a little and as The increments of progress encroach upon you The world’s altering will be less. You can’t put your handContinue reading “Heraclitus, Zen & Il Gattopardo”
Papa
I visited my patient yesterday. He is from Alloa. In the Lowlands of Scotland. A tall, Former miner Now ageing gracefully. His grandson was there And his red-headed great-grand daughter. She sat colouring as I sounded The old man’s chest. ‘Papa, I’ll pop to the chemist.’ Said the grandson. He refers to himself in theContinue reading “Papa”
He & she, me, thee & thon
We talk so much of He As God Yet, When you think about it God is surely, If they exit, Bigger than man. Their remit Must at the very Least, Be man and woman. And isn’t She Both He and She? Doesn’t That word sustain the Essence of both? And What of they or themContinue reading “He & she, me, thee & thon”
I move through empty space.
Although if you are my brother,
Ancient Greek scholar (he’s a Greek scholar, not ancient).
This would not be surprising,
the woods
They are a nightmare.
The Waterboys, Gene Kelly & Worm Moon 2022.
I thought of the residents of my care home,
Was it disturbing their mental continence?
Would it influence me?
My mum – for International Women’s Day 8 March 2022
My mum Would pass thread through the eye of a tiny needle and perform what she called invisible stitches. It was what all the ladies wanted. The middle-aged women would call-in at our house Requesting alterations to aid their spread, their girth expansion from the time in-between diets. Mum would sit at her Singer sewingContinue reading “My mum – for International Women’s Day 8 March 2022”
Thinking mindful – geriatrician asks his followers to ‘get high’
My mind has been in a Japanese meta-reality rather than on Wong Lane
Shady Towers, Social Care, Nora and Whitey on the Moon.
The PM announced a rise in NI tax this week. I understand this is to offset some of the damage they have done to the NHS over the past decade. Fantastic. (And yes, Whitey is still on the moon).
Sorry
Sorry for the preamble.
Chaos theory. Calamity in action.
The misdirected guided by the uninformed.
Babyteeth
It’s a comedy,
Although I don’t remember laughing.
Mystical motor forest
I guess the trees were too closely packed, or, I never found the entrance.
Where the Crawdads sing.
Just finished Delia Owens’
Where the Crawdads sing.
Shuggie Bain; not a book review
It is a wonderful poetic chaos of characters, moods and emotions.
Today they took my dog’s womb.
The vet, Friendly young woman in dark blue scrubs Face mask and clipboard, Took me through The ins and outs of the procedure. Operation to render my dog Sterile. / My last dog Maisie Was also spayed Although I seem to have lost the memory. / Now, Stella, As she cowers, Under my desk, BesideContinue reading “Today they took my dog’s womb.”
Lockdown Saturday
Half past six on Saturday night Fireworks are popping, Banging outside; dark and cold with mist. I liked this morning’s cobwebs; now they have moved-on. The hum of TV downstairs threatens another dancing programme I consider Netflix Or a book, Not really interested. The dog In the corner house Barks when I walk past; HeContinue reading “Lockdown Saturday”
Covid, pants and barriers to communication
I met an old man last week, his pants were poking out of his pyjama bottoms. They were the same as mine M&S blue stars; I was going to tell him and everyone else in the room about our shared underwear but, the facemask and the goggles, gown and gloves Got in theContinue reading “Covid, pants and barriers to communication”
IDLES Lorax beauty & we all fall down.
I am the Lorax.
I speak for the trees
For the trees have no tongues.
IDLES shout for me.
Care Home; acceleration towards time.
dim lights that cast no shadow in the bedroom
as
Older person
Man or woman
sits
silently
Waiting.
The leaves are bare
How long do his dreams last as he, Tightly tucked away survives the winter?
In the darkness we wait.
I have a patient Who cannot read or write. I have not yet Determined the reasons why; Whether circumstance situation or something else. Nevertheless, He struggles with many activities that you or I would find Straightforward. When I was explaining to him the other day About the dosing of Paracetamol, I realisedContinue reading “In the darkness we wait.”
Dementia
I have been asked to write the outline of a chapter for a book about dementia from a doctor’s perspective. I am struggling. here are my thoughts… * I have lost my Hearing aids & specs & my dentures are gone. * I feel low. Trapped; The doors you see, are locked. * The carerContinue reading “Dementia”
Hey folks.
Hey folks, Nothing, Really matters NOW Except Coming Together And self-determining. All Else Is Naught. Fight!
Canary in the mine
The Canary Has all but Died. Given up the ghost. Called time on the miners. The children of the miners. This, the next step in the rape of society. Mrs T, 40 years ago Ended our communities and only now have people realised what was lost and are working to re-establish. Today, MrContinue reading “Canary in the mine”
My catty dog.
It has only been
Since our recent
House-guest, a dogs-dog, you might call him –
A man’s dog
Came to visit
At Newgrange
At Newgrange I felt drawn back to the scene at the end of Stig of the Dump. The one on mid-summers’ eve with the ancients dancing. It was hypnotic to gaze at the zig-zags and spirals in the stone. Etched some five-thousand years ago by an early Irish artist. Potentially off their headContinue reading “At Newgrange”
Religion/opiate/masses
This will be short. Only a few lines are required. Marx underestimated the powers of religion. He didn’t perceive Netflix Amazon Love Island And PS4. All too occupied with Android, iPhones Or potential harm Of 5G To notice the mismanagement Of our society (UK) And Our Planet (Gaia).
Heron – wet july morning.
I surprised a heron this morning. All gangly Feathers And feet And too-long wings. hobgoblin Crossed with aesthete, It flapped Stiff wings and escaped.
inwards
I sit on the veranda, Un-noticed. Adults are awake, admiring the dark water. No one looks up. A child, five or six, would see me, older folk are mostly fixed on the ground, watching for hazards, lost in thought, Inside their heads; Not where the beauty is revealed.
the sea
Sitting, waterfront veranda over the Sea of Galilee, called Lake Tiberias, Ha-Kineret in Hebrew or Bahr Aljalil in Arabic; I hear wood pigeon and sparrows. A generator in the background mostly slips away as I stop listening to its drone; the sea is calm. The water, a black mirror reflecting a rising sun, which itselfContinue reading “the sea”
Wild Garlic associations
I walked through a wood today and tasted wild garlic tangy rich; It made me feel connected. Wild Garlic Has the Latin name Allium ursinum. Allium as it belongs to the onion family and Ursinum, as it is believed that once when bears wandered Europe They would dig for the roots. OneContinue reading “Wild Garlic associations”
The Sound of the Sea
What do your senses tell you?
This morning
This morning Kingfisher Was Accompanied By Wagtail; Yellow, they Darted From the stream.
Seven am
We talk of the
War Horse
Who lives
Along the way.
Bells
She is a woman with bells on her bag.
Kingfisher
I saw Kingfisher this morning
Concessions
If you cut away the edges; If you Plane The roughness, Eventually, You are left With something That everyone Will Accept.
How do you kill an idea?
How do you
Stifle
creativity?
Outliers
in old, broken bed; there is a tired man. Fearful. Sticky glue-eye sagging; wrinkled skin w/ faded bruises and scratches, glossy puckers. The human response to uncertainty is mysterious.
In the moment, walk into town.
The streets Are scattered With Lost And forgotten Bits and bobs. Here An old woman’s Winter hat, There, a bone china jug. It is early in the year And the Trees Are still bare. The dead Squirrel Has been removed And the cars glide Unerringly towards Town. Cigarette packets, Old milkContinue reading “In the moment, walk into town.”
Delete, delete, undo.
I suspect what would render is a generic me.
Aspirin rather and Anadin.
Lacking colour, texture and detail.
precarious
your being-ness will
delete,
invert,
and,
In your place
another.
Dog (in winter)
He was solid, tall,
wearing an orange jumpsuit.
now
The past is the past
It is gone
And
I am left
With
now.
Re-learn
I am almost
seven
different people from who I was
Then.
When, did I become a man?
I am nowhere a man,
Not a mensch,
How do you think it went?
But,
Underneath,
What about the feelings?
Those don’t concern me.
Visible
Today I learned a sad fact, I should Have been aware Already, Perhaps Indeed It was one of those things I had chosen to forget. It was about the eyes. Visit to the optician. I like the bright, My son the dark. ‘Ah, that is your age,’ Says the guy. Continue reading “Visible”
Gum and Gods
Gum Stuck To my shoe Or bottom. I walk around before realising That the Tackiness Is actually Chewing Gum. Spat out Or Left behind By somebody. And now attached to me. I can’t remember the last time I experienced this; Whether fewer people are chewing Or I am less exposed, IContinue reading “Gum and Gods”
It’s not just old people, geriatrics, tzokrochen…
Waiting for nurse.
Fear of asking for nurse.
Fear of fear of asking for nurse.
The sound of the cistern is scary.
Would smoke
One Lambert & Butler after another
On their phones
Those Angry Young Men, one day they’ll learn, they will eventually see the light and become more like me – they will die a little inside;
What affected me most today?
We all live lives of stunning colour,
reality,
w/ vivid, experience.
memento
The dead have no memories for, they are the thoughts of the living; the living, exist momentarily.
Memory
I remember the first time I visited Jerusalem. We entered via the Jaffa gate, my brother and me. He had some business related to psychology, I was just tagging-along. Eged bus, then foot. The spices more a phenomenon than the last time I went. Zaatar. Which is hyssop sprinkled on just-cooked bread. At the timeContinue reading “Memory”
In the midst of Goya’s black paintings I fell In love With the image of the goat And the People Cowering In a circle Reminiscent of The Dybbuk, The Devil Casting shadows, Pretending Enchanting, Ensnaring, Encasing – Smothering. The peasants Demoniacal Passive in their observation, Crooked fantasy; Rosemary’s baby, Polanski And Ira Levin TogetherContinue reading
Goya, lost dog
Head of the dog Lost in his Black period. We all Loved And somehow Understood the symbolism; We got The drowning, The overwhelming beauty the majesty, Of being very, very small On a canvas designed for ever.
Tao
“Into a soul absolutely free from thoughts and emotion, even the tiger finds no room to insert its fierce claws.” You can interpret this as you like. Today, I will take it like this… You could be perfect; a flower, a petal, a sunrise – everything in its allocated position, like soldiers lined-up for report.Continue reading “Tao”
Agus dei
A moment in Madrid Pedro Rudolfo Maria Jesuitical monk Prayer gown\ Cassock I stand in the sunshine And appreciate every ray As it falls onto my skin Sparrows are listening And An old man drops A wrapper Dyed black hair Scraped backwards, Glistening In the artificial light Truncheons OldContinue reading “Agus dei”
What makes us human?
And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
Rag and bone
Alte-zachen They used to shout. It was father and son Who had come across from Qalquilia To facilitate early-days recycling. Ambushing Yiddish And Hebrew, Transmogrified Into Arabic. Their donkey was close to its end; staggering in the heat. Melting Tarmac And Heat haze Wavering. No one was quite sure how toContinue reading “Rag and bone”
Thinking, feeling, disunity.
I won’t expand on the place of introverts and extraverts; I always imagined that computers would prefer peace and quiet to bombast.
Superficial analysis of complexity
It Keeps everyone happy; Like Freewheeling downhill having forgotten your repair kit. Focusing excessively on the details, Holding Too thick a lens up to what is small Can sometimes Slow us down, Keep us back, Postpone the inevitable. I prefer to skip, Skeeter Over the surface; Jittery they call me When things areContinue reading “Superficial analysis of complexity”
How do I put it aside?
My family gathered last night for another season of Strictly. I tried. Honestly. Most years I don’t even join them in the room; Last night I balanced on the settee, albeit with my laptop for comfort and half and half sat through contestants spiralling onto the screen amidst glitz and glamour. Well, the inevitable happened;Continue reading “How do I put it aside?”
Now.
If I have told you once I have told you 106 times. Here, Look at this detail, It is significant! relevant! שים לב Point your heart here. …I know you laugh, You and your crew; Mocking my attention to detail, My scrupulousness, The meticulous aspect of my everyday Life. I am the microcosm Without which NothingContinue reading “Now.”
Countdown…
I remember Sitting On my grandfather’s bed, 43 Newark Drive, as Countdown Played-out on the TV. Channel 4 With Richard Whiteley And Carol Vorderman. He Would rapidly calculate the sums adding, subtracting, timsing and dividing To reach an obscure number; Juggling Letters to arrive at the High-scorer. And, Always, At fourContinue reading “Countdown…”
this is the end
When I was little There was a place on the South Side of Glasgow Where we sometimes went (dad & I) on bleak Sunday mornings, To dispose of items no longer useful or desired. It was ‘The Tip’ A maw. A dark Mechanical Mouth that consumed All. Many years later IContinue reading “this is the end”
Ask not what. (TR4)
And perhaps
A kidnapped
Beauty.
An old dog’s dream (TR2)i
I wake. It is perhaps 130 in the morning; & make my way to the computer. Old, sleeping dog, cataracts, deaf & rheumy joins; she doesn’t stir. I type-out a list of my thoughts, from one, it stretches to three pages of single spacing. It must be her nose thatContinue reading “An old dog’s dream (TR2)i”
Bee
I remember I was Perhaps 14. A dusty pine forest outside Jerusalem. I met a girl With an allergy To bees. She said If she was stung It could kill her. I was stunned By the precarious nature of her existence. Here one moment, Gone the next; And, IContinue reading “Bee”
Dr Rod’s Odd Blog (almondemotion) 