Snippets – Dr Rod’s Odd Blog (almondemotion)

His left testicle.

My teacher, R’s smile in particular, warm and proud of our academic accomplishments.

Yet, the testicle.

Say what you see, not what you think, and definitely not what you think others see or perceive; translate the reality before you into clear, words, sentences and paragraphs. Take your time. There is no rush; if you wait a moment or two before expressing your conception, nothing will be lost. How often is itContinue reading “Say what you see.”

Eye contact

There was a strange moment; it must have lasted all of half a second; walking through Green Park in London, watching the cherry blossom fall, the pigeons peck. A man in his late thirties, trim, short, cropped hair, he shouts as his daughter, ‘Come here, this minute!’ only, he is talking in Hebrew. You see,Continue reading “Eye contact”

Minor evolutionary hiccup.

I bought a bottle of full-fat Guernsey milk (in a milk-bottle shaped bottle), yesterday, and I am now sipping it, mixed in coffee. It made me think, about the blue-tits I used to see in the 70’s. The ones that learned about the lovely creaminess sitting at the top of milk bottles, on doorsteps, justContinue reading “Minor evolutionary hiccup.”

Moment

All there is is the moment. Now. Plan ahead by all means, leaf through photos, But, Only now. Pain in the present, Happiness, Fear. Worry is corrosive but, usually about future or past events – did I, will I, should, could I? You die in the moment and are born into theContinue reading “Moment”

Now

The moment that is now when you can reach-out and touch is sometimes the best of times and more valuable than a thousand saved-up tomorrows

I was listening

today, I was listening as a nurse shouted at one of the patients. She wasn’t shouting in anger, more, because she felt that he couldn’t hear. Indeed, He could not hear. His hearing aids were missing. Lost Somewhere. It was however odd, that when, I spoke with him, He seemed to hear whatContinue reading “I was listening”

Ransacking

Ransacking my past, Picking moments that are fizzing in the nooks and Crannies of my memory. A Nugget. Sitting with Andy in Queen’s Park. Outside the Glass Houses. Him smoking, Me, just filling my mouth with Smoke. and teaching me How to. How to Inhale. Breathe-in Hold. Supress the cough. Cough.Continue reading “Ransacking”

Marina

On a train Bound for Paris, I meet Marina. She is slim, dark haired and Palestinian. Her uncle has something to do With the PLO. It is 1990. I visit her apartment. I’m tired from sleeping in the open, From too many train connections. She fades into the distance.

Heather

We spend the night out in Glasgow. Texas. The band. I’m sure that’s who it was. Heather got the tickets from her brother who was a tabloid journalist at the time. At the end of the 80’s. and. for whatever reason, Heather came home with me afterwards. To ourContinue reading “Heather”

Moshe

Moshe was our sandy-haired head-teacher. I thought he was wonderful. Freckled with a wry smile and, A friendly punch to the shoulder of us boys who passed too close. and, I remember the day of the storm when school flooded and the water was more than a meter deep. IContinue reading “Moshe”

Ice (Rouken Glen)

There is a picture of me somewhere, I must have been seven or eight, standing in the centre of the pond in Rouken Glen, which is a big green place in the South Side of Glasgow. It was one of those winters we had in the 70’s when everything froze. I am wearing red welly-boots andContinue reading “Ice (Rouken Glen)”

Night Frozen

Night frozen on hard ground Wrong-tog sleeping bag, head cocooned within. Ancient landscape of cadaverous bogwood We wake in the middle of the night with the rain and our stuff floating around inside the tent.

The cardboard night

You see, one day when I was a student, I got fed-up. I can’t remember what is was that caused me to feel that way – Likely, something to do with people, As people Are my currency. I headed out, having just finished On the Road And hitched a lift to Edinburgh. BarelyContinue reading “The cardboard night”

Trees

I love looking at the late winter trees. Naked. Branches sketching an intricate skeleton Just like The lungs or the brain of a Gunther von Hagens Exposed For all to see. birds settle on the branches. they lark and fight for space, taking comfort in the company of the flock That is until it isContinue reading “Trees”

I remember

I remember sunrise over The Tay, walking home. I remember the woods where I hid The railway bridge Night asleep on cardboard Attack on a fun night-out Under the dining-room table Thickening ice inside bedroom window Looking left Then right Then left Then crossing And still looking, still looking

Honest

How honest can we be with one another; How much can we listen How much can we hear How can we How?

Glasgow tenement tiles

Cold tiles & musty stair-well. Shutters over hardwood doors and light struggling from first-floor window. Air still, like frozen time & the clock on the mantelpiece monitors each moment as everything slows-down & every breath is like a forever. *Photograph of Glasgow Tenement Tiles by @TnmntTiles – please check out the Twitter Site

Cry

Now I look at the pictures of Obama

And…

And I am crying.

Before the Flood

I watched Before the Flood today. Rami told me about it; I had actually seen it as a National Geographic trailer last week over in Holland on the hotel TV. It is Leonardo talking about Climate Change. And how, essentially… by next Wednesday, we will know whether the planet is doomed Well… perhaps we areContinue reading “Before the Flood”

I remember Uzi

Uzi Not just the name of a machine gun But also The name of a retired engineer Living in Ra’anana; Recently emigrated from Essex. I couldn’t For the life of me Understand the Hebrew mathematics. I somehow missed-out on the minus times minus And The minus times plus logic That today is second nature andContinue reading “I remember Uzi”

Kata

& Michelle arriving

Blood spattered on the tiles

Summer garden

Dandelions Coarse grass Uneven flagstone, moss leaching-out Roughcast wall Safety glass and patterned net curtain; chafing the tongue Worms Clayey clumps of mud, black with pottery fragments and coal Rhubarb, roses and caterpillars asleep in lilac leaves Rain Drizzle, musty, condensation Sunday afternoon

Lag B’Omer*

I imagine the shell would blow and the bullet would fly-off somewhere; perhaps not – I don’t know much about ballistics. No one was injured.

Snippets (ix) Giffnock (iv) Fragments (ii)

Of Human Bondage and The Ascent of Man

Snippets (viii) Giffnock (iii) Fragments (i)

Kizzie.

Snippets (vii) Giffnock (ii) Iggy

I heard Iggy Pop on the radio yesterday. One of the things he said, that has stuck with me is, he didn’t realise how great the 70’s were at the time. The 70’s – a strange, dust-covered decade sitting in my memory. It might be what I return to in my old age. It wasContinue reading “Snippets (vii) Giffnock (ii) Iggy”