Texts 2440 - 2448

the mountain is not lonely
in its solitude
it embraces the old monk
as the tide
washes my feet
an old homage lost
by the ages
to new gods and fears
and promises
2440. 26 Jan 2012 @ 0835

the garden awaits
the gardener awaits
the hills terrace like strategies
to mount a dragon
a flag flutters
a prayer to intercede
to some goddess
forgotten of men
2441. 27 Jan 2012 @ 0653

the old monk watches
the gardener potter
some she treats roughly
indignant mutters
others meet approval
soft smiles clucks
she turns to him
blows a perfect kiss
2442. 28 Jan 2012 @ 0953

a small boy and fishing rod
are memories of the present
I see him cast a long line
from this moment
on the rocks
across the sea to his past
returning to himself
2443. 2 Feb 2012 @ 1740

a small boy himself
hardly more than
his periwinkle baited rod
explores echoing caverns
of the tidal pool's horror
the anemone's grasp
drowns him like a kitten
2444. 2 Feb 2012 @ 1805

the hand written poem
inked in parker permanent
is not back spaced
spell checked
it smells
of time and space
a dab of your scent
to remind me
of contour paths
2445. 3 Feb 2012 @ 0951

a word paints ten thousand
pictures in my mind
as if a god had whispered
before when all stood
empty and alone
waiting for some cue
she said
let there be light
2446. 4 Feb 2012 @ 2125

the old monk has time left
though he knows nothing
more than nothing
he cannot count days
weeks each hour would break
a man's faith in prayer
god knows its time
2447. 9 Feb 2012 @ 1959

a small boy loves
fruit salad and his grandmother
as much as his mother maybe
not as much as the harbour
and his fishing boat dreams
always embraced
always his
2448. 11 Feb 2012 @ 0808

Texts 2433 - 2439

bring me word
master of silence
of time before
time before I knew
ignorance is divine
knowing all cannot be
nothing further
than silence
is the first word
it is
2433. 15 Jan 2012 @ 1311

reflect the Atlantic
in the tern's eye how
the pupil masters
an ocean in its tear how
the orbit of my mind
circulates each ebb and flow
of tern and turn about
2434. 18 Jan 2012 @ 0654

the egyptian goose
is heavier than air and must
beat its tattoo to
the galley slave's drum
but the tern rises
to a zephyr's first kiss
and cannot wait on earth
2435. 18 Jan 2012 @ 0704

does the seal pup know
who watches
deep in thought
his shallow acrobatics
beneath the superficial sky
the subcutaneous sea
bitter as salt
stirs nothing but kelp
2436. 19 Jan 2012 @ 0643

sometimes I'm lighter than air
stars wave up at me
I smile
show my royal glove
swoop and whoosh higher
faster than a bullet
faster than superman
like a dreamer
2437. 21 Jan 2012 @ 1637

a poet is looking for his poem
lost in an attic which
would be dusty
as you'd expect
if it were virtually anywhere
else but it's not so
he only needs reminding
2438. 21 Jan 2012 @ 1646

I'm at the Galapogos stage
the neck goes first
surprise in the eye
then humping
the ungainly clash and jar
unsubtle in technique
inept scrabbling of hind legs
2439. 21 Jan 2012 @ 1714

Texts 2413 - 2432

that poet who loves
who loves each flower
that crowds the amphitheatre
listens to the wind
combed grass sing
her lament the hymn
whose voice never breaks
2413. 9 Dec 2011 @ 0927

it's dark matter mostly
each within another
containing another
the only rule
cannot contain itself
consumes its host
is itself consumed
this is the law of Hugh
2414. 11 Dec 2011 @ 1046

the old man knows gravity
matches the years
his grandson's rubber legs
are weighted to infant earth
while his are anthracite old
one day a fall will shatter him
2415. 17 Dec 2011 @ 0657

Africa knows patience
she waits
time is not her measure
these are distances
feet cannot count
she waits
her part is the song
these are melodies
of many tongues
2416. 17 Dec 2011 @ 0705

a poem came and left
a butterfly's jagged warp
and weft too quick
autobiography is my eye's
flight's shuttle weaving
the fabric of wings
but the poem's grounded
2417. 17 Dec 2011 @ 0712

shallows of opinion
cannot move oceans
terns shriek awake
or sleep in the reef's arms
anemones caress love's dream
these shallow pools
reflect light's laughter
2418. 17 Dec 2011 @ 0830

behind the year's tick
winks the naughty girl
licks her lips
with that universal tongue
always at the ready
the sentry guarding
no other minder
needed nightly x
2419. 19 Dec 2011 @ 0655

a man is composed
the melody fucked
until the whole earth
blue green brown
like remains rotting
into opinion's compost
enriches the next
regeneration's song
2420. 19 Dec 2011 @ 1319

message to a friend indeed
broken winged the spirit soars
how else do you see
the distance you travel
every day to wipe the tear
from this cheek of history
xxx
2421. 19 Dec 2011 @ 1326

Jack Russell points out
interests with his penis
and led by nose
and mistress
and off the leash
for now
despite her ever louder
injunctions to come
doesn't
2422. 20 Dec 2011 @ 0713

Jack never interrupts action
with opinion
nor does he find himself
coupled
to a train of thought expressly
due at Paris Nord
he himself a moment off
cum-uppance
2423. 20 Dec 2011 @ 1454

is the pomegranate fruit
to amuse the poet in question
perhaps he licks his lips
or punctuates his words
with exclamations or marks
of content not averse to her
2424. 23 Dec 2011 @ 1104

the vida parasites exclusively
its bitterness matches
the double americano
sipped by wrinkled lip
and narrow eye
of the sad poet matched
by unpublished rhyme
2425. 27 Dec 2011 @ 1251

flat sea
horizon honed to its edge
all but the oldest kelp drowned
like puppies
a flotilla of duikers patrol
at periscope depth
terns rise to catch first light
2426. 28 Dec 2011 @ 1119

interstitial time
superficial space
where I am
at dawn
my tongue the blade
to skin Africa
my eye to catch the Atlantic
in its gasp
I breathe shadows of terns
2427. 29 Dec 2011 @ 0827

if I knew god as I know
god knows
I believe I would believe
creation is in the image
here before light
and if I prayed
I would pray
for light
2428. 30 Dec 2011 @ 0606

the year barely decent
yet to potty-train
yet to train
rude and demanding
inarticulate and loud
selfish
infantile as the first smile
comes to my ear
as a prayer
2429. 3 Jan 2012 @ 0643

once upon a time
before I became a man
I was as beautiful as you
time's lathe had yet to turn me
into something eternally useful
and ugly
had to spoil the rough stone
2430. 3 Jan 2012 @ 0658

a boy who came first
won prizes
he who came after
forgot
why he also ran
my father came first
he reminded me
each second in minute detail
until at last I lost
2431. 5 Jan 2012 @ 1130

a poem opens a can
of words lines up a few
clichés here and there for the
enjambment and bettered
croissant with cheesy petit
furs as aside
then rites it down
2432. 9 Jan 2012 @ 1009

Texts 2398 - 2412

what lesson misnames
the synonym fashioned
from learner
I'm old fashioned
ploughshare turning
sod in the black earth
its necklace worn thin
under the beady sky
2398. 28 Oct 2011 @ 0920

so the old monk turns
the page
is it first last
turns the key
a circular argument
were he half mason
he would build on it
brick the windows
tax himself less
2399. 31 Oct 2011 @ 1008

my skin fits loosely
about my neck
keeps me warm
and gravy off my shirt
a sort of bib
to allow me to disgust
myself as I dribble happily
into second childhood
2400. 3 Nov 2011 @ 0939

my friend the poet
coins knew currencies
from paper notes
promisory bills laden
with exchange above board
so his passion is unlimited
by indiscreet banking
2401. 3 nov 2011 @ 1228

in my dream I set the scene
characters are ice
houses are children
the flood of history bears down
sweeps us away
no Noah no dove no peace
no covenant nothing
2402. 4 Nov 2011 @ 0921

the smudge of cloud lying low
over the candid sea telltales
tomorrow today here
under milkwood
the lady of shalott
rehearses her last voyage
to ulysses and penny
2403. 6 Nov 2011 @ 1634

where does new light come
to find darkness?
infinite in the infant
his eyes unfocussed
draw mine
finite as my old vision
looking out over
infantile horizons
2404. 11 Nov 2011 @ 1536

the old monk takes calls
on his smartphone
seriously you never know
who's on the line next thing
you hear from the main man
who's mighty displeased
and hung up
2405. 16 Nov 2011 @ 1454

anew Cape Town train the saffa
old stations cross
ritual and remembrance
fruit salad country
hawking my heart
to the blind gospel
a penny for your thoughts
you
2406. 18 Nov 2011 @ 1330

beware the hawker who is
innocent
his crust is the truth
of my lies
his loaf is my daily bread
trespassers forgiven
pavements are his road
to power and glory
2407. 19 Nov 2011 @ 0717

my mother's voice
Hugh-boy
I hear at dawn's first chorus
rehearses tea cup synapsis
sweetness arising
and pap stirs
the intemperate yolk
shelled and executed
2408. 20 Nov 2011 @ 1130

this winged chariot
punctually late
of worn habit and incensed
by chance or compass
lifts the demented eye
to the furious sky
livid and raging
as I rightly sigh
2409. 21 Nov 2011 @ 0854

these are the mangled remains
of a poem a poet stitched
to his lover's arse
a reminder of better nights
to come and other symbols
or jokes he cracked seriously
2410. 21 Nov 2011 @ 0859

after the sax the preacherman
tells us rapped
Jesus Loves You
each and every one of you
I believe he saves
best till last
detrains at retreat
bless my dark soul
2411. 21 Nov 2011 @ 1402

Simon's town station is barely
above high water
take the train to town
along the kelp muscular shore
ocean green and blue
deep veined true
without a false heart
2412. 22 Nov 2011 @ 0854

Texts 2384 - 2397

international departures
has little sense of voyage
no sinbad plugging his pipe
with navy cut
rough as his thumb
no sweetheart dabbing tears
no tugboat whistles
2384. 6 Oct 2011 @ 1749

bawdy call coming
judging by glum faces
at this bar
should I worry they know
something I should
half of us are peeling keys
from our cells
last wishes perhaps
2385. 6 Oct 2011 @ 1756

the old monk no longer believes
flying is closer to godliness
judging by certain expletives
he overhears
in the bawdy queue
in future he muses
he'll take a bus
2386. 6 Oct 2011 @ 2125

the old monk understands
the meaning of patience
that time is not a measure
of self
or other
nor is rain the colour
of sadness
nor sadness
a vegetable garden
2387. 9 Oct 2011 @ 1651

a poet sees posture in respect
the demand for it
devalues the currency
its gift
values the other
beyond melancholy
beyond the poet's metaphor
beyond our embrace
2388. 9 Oct 2011 @ 1652

a property of possession is self
it is a variation of knowledge
and faith
love of self
is a property  of god
it is a variation of hope
and faith
know your love
2389. 10 Oct 2011 @ 1220

what's to fear
in a god-fearing land
but men
men fearful fearsome
women in darkness shine
covered to reveal
themselves open men
puppet and puppeteer
handsomely
2390. 11 Oct 2011 @ 0621

let the poet howl his stream
let me take rhyme
and feed it the eight ball
let each knuckle dust
sunset from night's laughter
let home wear
summer seas tonight
2391. 11 Oct 2011 @ 0621

how little I differ how much
I translate dreams to poetry
illusive tongues
of men and moons
how the tide groans
with metaphor
the desert
like still life
similar
2392. 15 Oct 2011 @ 1511

all good things come to an end
according to idiom
so at Persepolis boundless
and bare dust to dust
could they know
do we know
our splendid works
are soon ash
2393. 15 Oct 2011 @ 1514

the old monk amused
by Persian poets visits
the tombs of Hafez and Sa'adi
night domes their stars
prayer mat gardens
rose scented
beneath children's laughter
2394. 19 Oct 2011 @ 1141

the tomb of Hafez rests
under Shiraz's mascara sky
weary as the roses' scent
a long way spinning back
among the painted gardens
where the old monk waits
for me
2395. 20 Oct 2011 @ 0704

Seamus writes reads
his poem to me
I'm earful of the dew
its complaint of rough rain's
sodding spade
shoulders out metaphor's
Ted sheltered long
at Heptonstall
2396. 22 Oct 2011 @ 0932

there's no prize
in the end first is last
the poet muses
at the gates of paradise
who cares who ran
you need the ticket to enter
nobody gives a fig
for pedigree
2397. 23 Oct 2011 @ 1215

Texts 2364 - 2383

2364. 11 Sep 2011 @ 0904
the poet quit
therapy for reasons
no more complex
than posture and discomfort
her analyst sits in silence
she writes
in pencil
sometimes erases lines
and smiles

2365. 12 Sep 2011 @ 0944
I like a bare arsed lie
beneath the soiled underwear
of deceipt
of lawyers' whispers
I like its invention
its absurd humour
its humanity when all
said is undone

2366. 13 Sep 2011 @ 0800
in the end
you have to start
somewhere on the page
turn the first sod
is a grave metaphor
I like
so often a poem becomes
a trench
a mine
pointlessly dug further

2367. 13 Sep 2011 @ 0825
over and above that
are allusions illusions
is thirty feet just rhyme
I need to sound out
it has depth aft
any old sailor
taking a turn his self
gravely watches

2368. 13 Sep 2011 @ 1008
and understand all mysteries
for instance
the malachite hummingbird's
extravagant feather
as we take the catwalk
by Snake's Head light
him too in full bloom

2369. 16 Sep 2011 @ 1815
should I dream of you again
where would it be
that blue green forest
the singer what's her name
again the rhyme the groove
always repeats
always night and day

2370. 18 Sep 2011 @ 0935
her eyes search my face
for some crack
some little used entrance
some weakness in design
some place unguarded
she probes
coils and uncoils
shows me her tongue

2371. 19 Sep 2011 @ 1823
how do you sound
your name in my month
a certain distance between
us as between friends who
think about what
cannot be said or imagined
except between
the lines

2372. 20 Sep 2011 @ 0915
the old monk is not gay
he looks to his muse
how she fills the amphitheatre
with sad song
a pair of pied crows
always restless
how they still him
to his prayer

2373. 21 Sep 2011 @ 1700
my cell reminds me today
my father died
eight years seem millennia
the old man not aged
a day compared to this fool
we become ever more
alike to end the same

2374. 26 Sep 2011 @ 1022
the old monk counts little
of value in coin or paper
his song is the melody
sung as a child
when in one voice
the choir breathes out
holds the note
open mouthed

2375. 26 Sep 2011 @ 1124
July comes and goes
for Thursday's Child
rambles among the foothills
of reason hopes ever
to chance on a moment
skittish as a klipspringer
this long drawn path

2376. 26 Sep 2011 @ 1156
the old monk reads the sage
on the architecture of faith
the unsupported dome
gives him perspectives
of the infinite
and solutions
to differential equations

2377. 26 Sep 2011 @ 1302
eight centuries do not dim
his light here
I am still lit
by verse illuminated
in its melody
in its script
this parallel text
incautious as the wind
even now

2378. 27 Sep 2011 @ 0706
faith's fuel's fear
its power burns
internal combustion
its auxiliary motor electric
all connecting rods
cams and valves engineered
with no particular purpose

2379. 27 Sep 2011 @ 0758
break bread
have faith the old monk prays
the almighty acknowledges
calls for the messenger
cassocked in red earth
and dust said
don't think twice it's alright

2380. 28 Sep 2011 @ 0641
this john masefield sea
and lonely sky
kelp heads jostling the early
surfer as young fans do
a pop star still engaged
with life in the wild
this beautiful day

2381. 29 Sep 2011 @ 0708
morning has woken
grew dawn breaking
the fishing boat sobbing sea
a pair of african
oyster catchers breakfast
on the tide's spoil
the wind's cold from the west

2382. 30 Sep 2011 @ 0717
at first there's nothing
then it
then its name
some think the word first
before its meaning
so will not pronounce
then the code
the esoteric control
its garment

2383. 30 Sep 2011 @ 0725
the surf does not tire
while the surfer sleeps
it rests in its depths
in its own darkness
and knows
the superficial nature
of the world
its concerns
are selfish

Texts 2347 - 2363

2347. 16 August 2011 - 1726
the texture of paint
is the vision of song
how melody colours
breathes its dimension
photographs the posture
of stone turns image
to aroma and scaffolding
x


2348. 17 August 2011 - 0847
is love vegetable
the way it grows
fed by the soil of hope
and heaven's tears
I suppose not
looking within my animal fears
the road I've travelled
to find you
x


2349. 19 August 2011 - 1116
a poet knows rain
is not god's tears
the earth no longer weeps
it is now a dry humour
the old monk sits
under his cowl
listening to the song thrush
praise god


2350. 19 August 2011 - 1220
a woman in the last age
of her beauty
embraces the moment
as a lathe emphatic
turned fine furniture
from mature timber
her upholstery shows such
delicate colour


2351. 19 August 2011 - 1508
a poet recalls himself
a man less of content
than substance
more a man of dream
than nightmare
a man with six pack shown
rather than papsak hidden
a man like me


2352. 21 August 2011 - 1655
a woman of many colours
unlocks first light
how frequency counts
a calculus of almost
the poet bewildered
his tongue in translation
unclothed and inarticulate


2353. 23 August 2011 - 2247
a man as faceless as a porn
star sees himself approach
his beauty in the mirror
of misgivings
he pulls himself together
by habit turns his cheek
doubling intent


2354. 24 August 2011 - 0838
does the scaffolding of a poem
remain invisible after
the air has cleared
and the poet breathes out
is this my church
broad as the plainsong
I sing to you


2355. 25 August 2011 - 0748
the biography of a poem
leaves much to be desired
between the lines
sometimes a pretty moment
reveals as briefly
as spinning dolphins
broach the broad Atlantic


2356. 25 August 2011 - 1147
the pathology of the poem
is the poet's
each verse the anatomy
of morbidity
each line venal
why write why live
each syllable now anaemic
a metaphor similar to


2357. 28 August 2011 - 0937
I used to know joy
a place real
imagined I wonder now
which
a person you me
who lightens
brightens warms
otherness
to expand create
super nova starring us two
x


2358. 31 August 2011 - 0633
is pornography
in watching and being watched
feeling your genitals moisten
ready for cunt or cock
is the image
feeling the other's hand
play one's instrument
x


2359. 31 August 2011 - 0703
my ying yang tongue
would comfort your kitty
tonight or sooner
your prime cut
and proud easel
spread to arrive at a palace
of pleasure
to our satisfaction
x


2360. 2 September 2011 - 1247
a poet wears his skin
as camouflage
to hide vulnerability
to banker and attorney
he is watchful
and treads carefully
along frail pretexts
his tongue recoiled


2361. 5 September 2011 - 1028
sickle's compass


the poet is the fool in the title
looks for direction
or sign or bearing
any landmark or light
to reveal harbour and reef
hidden by the sirens


2362. 6 September 2011 - 1730
the old monk thinks
he has no need
of technology beyond the rake
he uses to comb
leaves under the elm
the poet would send him texts
to enjoy
were he myopic


2363. 9 September 2011 - 0924
to love the poet first
love emptiness
then you will know
the meaning of melancholy
how nothing is more
everything less
the old monk told me so
gazing out to sea

Texts 2327 - 2346

2327.    28 July 2011 - 0812
it's exhaustion that drowns
the kitten in the bucket
to watch that takes a lot
I prefer a quick death
the garden spade to the neck
this lingering is killing me

2328.    28 July 2011 - 0817
I say marry your best friend
whatever the sex
after all at least you get to
talk about it over
marmalade and black coffee
this is the thing good sex
can't match

2329.    28 July 2011 - 0829
wise
the old monk only finds
certainty in ignorance
he knows nothing of prayer
instead his conversation
with god is to an infant
who speaks in tongues
wisely

2330.    28 July 2011 - 0919
the grammar of illness
nurses old grudges
some parts
of speech change tone
from demonstrative
to imperative
the pity is
playing doctor-doctor
isn't fun any more

2331.    29 July 2011 - 0817
cleanliness is godliness
but the old monk doubts
washing the soiled
cleanses beneath the skin
he prays for relief
thanks god for an angel
knows the devil's hand

2332.    29 July 2011 - 0852
Vladislavic 'reduced the earth
to sediment' a sentiment
to draw on
parched syllables
some oasis of language
some fontein dried
to parchment
to cemetery to dust

2333.    4 August 2011 - 0912
who knows
the exact weight of a poem
off the shelf
or second hand
at a rummage sale hidden
with knitted socks
and a nice cardigan also
one pearl one plain truth

2334.    4 August 2011 - 0927
is poetry a plague
the piper unpaid
still
he slips into the country
the odd man
playing with his little whistle
hoping to earn his keep
with the faintest smile

2335.    5 August 2011 - 0850
a poem is to mind
as piston to engine
each line another stroke
masturbation to coitus
looking for metaphors
to warm each inch
within specification
and tolerance

2336.    6 August 2011 - 8.42
Enola
gay as clear sky
who remembers the ashes
that year of infamy
me not more than desire
all the world busy
burying the dead
as if the child
was bombed again

2337.    8 August 2011 - 0908
the lost poem
calls for more wine
to forget the poet
who abandoned him
in forest glade
in dappled light
who went off
with a nightmare
who chanced by
in a dream

2338.    8 August 2011 - 0915
We stand trembling here
together, but what monster's
real. I need you
as you need me.
There is a road to peace.
There are kind people.
There is our beauty.

2339.    8 August 2011 - 1742
the lost poet
knocks on doors
slam after slam
an evangelist
for the word
between the covers
a private voyeur
made public a line
of enquiry in parenthesis

2340.    9 August 2011 - 1742
a dog does not defecate
with nonchalance
it's deliberate and defiant
nor to chance
nor does it reveal grace
or dignity
or backward glance
or my indifference

2341.    10 August 2011 - 0830
life near death
glimpsed the divine
lost in the woods
knowing this he turned
became as divine
as lost
until at last he found himself
dying in his arms unafraid

2342.    10 August 2011 - 1200
grief's companion
lover of joy
trite metaphor amuses a poet
the man died of prayer
fell forward released
grief's hold
lasted a lifetime
he's happy ever after

2343.    11 August 2011 - 1314
the side street of life
is manacled
to the magistrate's court
by holding cells
relatives bemoan fate
from the sidewalk
arrested by accusation
and sorry denial

2344.    12 August 2011 - 0828
rain has tearfully paned
enough poems to add to and
gutted the visceral metaphor
does it work bowel better
with chamber music
a violin sonata bowed
with vigour

2345.    15 August 2011 - 0909
I've always been touched
moved by caress and kiss
intimacy of finger and wrist
her spine from nape to small
I miss touch
how rash to squander now
I'm skinned

2346.    15 August 2011 - 1020
a hog's back in the poet's eye
traces the line of reason
to the point of metaphor
I will walk with him
in simian chatter
to the waterfall
where the forest weeps

Texts 2313 - 2326

 2313.    6 July 2011 - 0645
I also stand and wait
blinded by the light
of a great love
that so corroded me
I could not see you
or your smile
or your tenderness
my very skin pitted in rage

2314.    7 July 2011 - 0738
there is time and season
to misquote
heaven knows I've no kidney
nor wit's grammar
but plant now
if you've mind to
the air is foul this street
the sentence long

2315.    7 July 2011 - 0758
why count that
it has no number
nor weight that could help
my rising nor my fall
nor my wit
which this morning
lies fallow as winter
without even frost's edge

2316.    9 July 2011 - 1624
I sit here on ancient
memory of forgotten storms
looking at the winter sea.
Such dreams as bring
stone to life,
turn time to sand,
call me to untroubled rest.

2317.    10 July 2011 - 2127
back in the city
gates close
the matrix reconnects
am I the one trinity
then I remember watching
your body's characteristic
melody of the hip
smart arsed sax

2318.    11 July 2011 - 0816
a poet seized the day
fought it
pinned it down
then with infinite patience
and clarity
he took it apart
second by second
until the heart of it
stopped counting

2319.    13 July 2011 - 2114
worn as I am
this cliff without regret
my soles thin in narrow air
and below
at my roots
the drowning sea embraces
shades that passed this way
not unremarked

2320.    14 July 2011 - 0758
Somerset Rd Green Point
Limnos Bakers
early bird stirs coffee
still connected to dream
of her body
her perfect skin
haughty kiss
buttoned blouse unbuttoned

2321.    14 July 2011 - 0817
what coin satisfies
this pursed lip
some farthing's wealth
tied to stock by option
but no saddleback grunt
minding his bacon
could ever nor would
breakfast me

2322.    15 July 2011 - 0558
your handful breasts weigh
in my vision twin domes
and me waiting to enter
the knave my sword high
the whole rump of you
spread a feast
for tongue and tale

2323.    19 July 2011 - 0743
each day weaves its texture
into another year
this poem dyed a shade
so subtle the weaver
noticed only the sound
as it pulled tight
its tapestry moonlit

2324.    20 July 2011 - 0737
news of the world
occupies the old empire
ashes of my fathers
quiet as owls in churchyards
by the moor its ravens
calling from steeple and tower
imperial echoes

2325.    20 July 2011 - 0816
two bare foot symbols
take a hike
all puffed up
a saviour washes each foot
as a parable
explains cleanliness
to godlessness
I overhear myself
in this connection

2326.    24 July 2011 - 1234
Africa beats south
teeth bared to this gale
we hold our breath
expect to go under
any second as slickly
as dolphins blow
watch strap-hanger gulls
kite the surf

Texts 2305 - 2312

2305. 20 June 2011 - 8.18
the old poet no longer
fits his skin
his biggest organ
wrinkled and loose
hangs a shroud
to former glories
if only the mirror lied
as I look at this withering

2306. 20 June 2011 - 20.53
who is master
who mastered
the old monk shrugs
people ask more of god
than is
this is the reason the poet
writes god's weeping
is heard in the wind's
melancholy

2307. 21 June 2011 - 7.42
the old poet tends
his vegetables digs
the soil of imagination
roots himself in her
metaphors of mountain
and stream
later he explores her face
turns her over

2308. 21 June 2011 - 8.20
how do you taste
after noon the dessert
is the main course
it's on the tip of my tongue
to tell you how
the bruised grass
springs back
as a lover repairs

2309. 21 June 2011 - 8.37
the old poet dozes
in the afternoon
the sun still warm
he feels the light play
dappled melodies
as choristers rehearse
some benediction
to almighty gods

2310. 28 June 2011 - 7.52
Cape Town unslumbers
naked glories
the bruised night harmless
unbeds dawn
breakfasts on newsprint
enriched airs
rumour and truth
uncourtly odours seep ashore

2311. 3 July 2011 - 8.51
the poet wears her words
naked as womb days warm
to clothe her thoughts
the first I noticed this
the earth stopped
the trees walked
and the grass sang to me

2312. 3 July 2011 - 9.30
it is impossible to know
rainbow blade or axed dawn
the obtuse measures
neither desire nor sucking
nor the clinical poet
overseeing trafficked night
its odours

Texts 2292-2304

2292.    19 May 2011 - 12.41
mountains of the moon
dragon flame or spice
herb gardener she sets
a table before me
I overflow my cups
the poet seeks mercy
under this thatch
finds her alight

2293.    21 May 2011 - 7.35
the path's scar is weary
as the kloof's memory
rain has patience
and the wind ways
reminds the old monk
god knows how
the path wears the season's
fleece today

2294.    23 May 2011 - 7.58
when people look back
when I am returned
to fossil and sediment
and all fame and ego
of millennia is not
a millimetre of strata
the tide will ebb and flow

2295.    31 May 2011 - 8.01
how to love a poet
remove wrappings
label and price tag
rip out spleen and tongue
he'll not need those
take his last word
chew each syllable
and spit out god

2296.    3 June 2011 - 8.34
the sacred ibis cassocked
offers measured gait
and silent prayer
to the morning chorus
and chattering terns
the interstitial jogger
chuffs by in breaking light

2297.    4 June 2011 - 9.15
all he has is not him is him
he prays for me
in return he smiles
there is no reward
in time
I am nothing he says
beyond paradox
beyond metaphor
beyond this rain

2298.    5 June  2011 - 15.58
the poet watches women
seat themselves in the theatre
how one lowers herself carefully
another bounces in
one wriggles
or balances on one cheek
catching my eye

2299.    6 June 2011 - 9.14
the poet names her day
stitches her tongue
to the black-hearted rain
elbows aside equations
in the bicycle lane
I send her greetings
roses are inappropriate

2300.    7 June 2011 - 11.42
send a perfumed letter
wear gold on your right hand
nothing else
to distract me
do not smile
or touch your throat
you are not naked
yet your body is song
dances

2301.    10 June 2011 - 9.44
an angel flew in
on a metaphor's talon
hooking her vision
to storyboard script
rights for sale
a biological agent takes
the raincheck
cashes it similarly bonded

2302.    12 June 2011 - 8.12
her flower arrangement
extravagant petals
she tells
and narrow-necked vase
earthenware pink glazed
in this light
unseeded but not barren
and perfumed naturally

2303.    12 June 2011 - 9.30
her geological bag
reveals strata
fossils of the early anthropoid
period checkout slips
you would not credit
the retiring archaeologist
bedded and brushed

2304.    14 June 2011 - 10.18
a poet recites
his right hand wristless
sotto voce bows
the tearful punctuation
autumnal romances
half remembered sex
chocolate bittersweet
mumbles astutely

Texts 2276 - 2291

2276.    12 March 2011 - 07.53
Ships Log
weather is the instrument
faith lends rhetoric
showers as tears
the sea's fury divine
through which I plot
a course the metaphor
is the earth's terror

2277.    14 March 2011 - 07.14
all night the sea rumbled
to my ear's vision
black seas of my dreams
here the grey heron
like a gantry waiting a ship
before a rising sun
is another truth

2278.    14 March 2011 - 18.41
Note to a beachcomber
dark webs of the flood
cast adrift flotsam
are signs
of wellbeing
silence and no gulls
means you are stranded
or the ark has already left

2279.    16 March 2011 - 7.11
the old steam engine
a tangle of connecting rods
huffs and puffs up
the valley's incline
howls into the tunnel
emerges glass-eyed like a lover
from his dream

2280.    29 March 2011 - 17.23
note to a monkey
when the cage is big
enough you think
you're free
it helps to recognise
zoo keepers in the wild
they are the ones
with smiles
and ripe fruit

2281.    30 March 2011 - 12.39
the first poem
was a kiss
beyond reach
apple longing
in windfallen rain
and I look for a word
new to god
that a poet finds
beachcombing
still wet and hazel-eyed

2282.    31 March 2011 - 8.58
this ragamuffin morning
a crumpled sky
stubs yesterday
potholes my thoughts
and you also
see art clothe
the gorgeous tarmac
blush and roadkill
share the litter

2283.    1 April 2011 - 9.39
winter arrives
fresh as French kisses
under the summer duvet
my ass chilled
as cuvee brut
coins new language
bridges intellect
and lust
with hope and slope

2284.    10 April 2011 - 13.50
opposite speaks
in dilemma and paradox
to me
I held her up
to light
translucent as storm clouds
she was
the desert storm flowering
the oasis metaphor
delicate

2285.    19 April 2011 - 7.55
a man stands at the edge
of africa thinking of nothing
it is a parable
healing the man
healing the man watching
the man healing the world
by deep waters singing

2286.    20 April 2011 - 10.15
the old monk is vain
the peasant wise
they speak in camera
no need to alarm poets
with jargon and cliché
when the truth will do
as well as any
counterfeit note

2287.    26 April 2011 - 7.36
the effigy still wrinkled
as the hunter a sculptor
imagines with his short bow
and loins modest
as the hotel lounge
under the berg
unnoticed still
by humanity

2288.    27 April 2011 - 9.13
my eyes rust and murder
the brown cows who echo
the last agony
of the wind and pied crow
exulting on a fierce memory
the epigraphs that still reek
at Spioenkop

2289.    10 May 2011 - 9.50
your kisses are too
the grinding of locks
your smile the wake
of St Helena exiled
and becalmed
were I not of swine be
a goatherd who'd lost
his tongue calling

2290.    15 May 2011 - 13.07
wither on the vine poet
let fruit turn to syllable
your sugar eyes fermenting
windfall words and swine
snout there a simile
or cliché royalty
piss on his shoe

2291.    15 May 2011 - 14.23
sea pastures
kelp graze listless on the ebb
peer up at Lipizzaner surf
the boogie board rider
leans into the curl
of a lesser god
reins in inhibitions unsealed

Texts 2258 - 2275

2258.    18 January 2011 - 08.18
sleeping dog stones dry out
in the awakening sun
before the flood cormorants
mine shallow water
for anchovy and tiddler
this telephone out of keeping
records

2259.    18 January 2011 - 10.14
a negligee mist skirts
the coast the snake's head
light upright
a posture familiar to the tern
that beats along the updraught
of the swelling sea
and screams

2260.    20 January 2011 - 07.36
a bulk carrier passes the edge
of Africa where I sit
looking over the horizon
and my mug of rooibos
thinking of you
who you are
and our voyages
and intimacies

2261.    26 January 2011 - 09.59
who reads
the book of silences
the woman carrying
water from a far place
the man who watches
the wind and the spoor
it would be poetry
if I found my place

2262.    31 January 2011 - 07.18
the bellringer calls
the old monk to prayer
a solitary reflection
in company in common
his knees are weary
god knows
silence too has truth
the spirit willing

2263.    1 February 2011 - 21.09
the first sense is touch
it gives
and receives
taste, smell, hearing, sight
do not give
it is the sense of orgasm
of joining
of pain as pleasure
of all life

2264.    3 February 2011 - 10.30
eventually all languages
written on Earth
used the universal pictogram
and poetry at last
achieved critical mass
read with one eye
and many voices
of the shore

2265.    5 February 2011 - 07.06
Note to a late starter
live long
sleep naked
don't miss breakfast
except for good sex
sing in the shower
as happy people do
closer to godliness
kiss often

2266.    5 February 2011 - 20.54
Notes of forty years
ask after the beholder's sight
the wilderness is metaphor
if you refuse temptation
you will be crucified
you remain fortified
scored twice

2267.    10 February 2011 - 16.16
February knows nothing
of Autumn
long days south
long nights north
to Spring
but we walk hand in hand
coupled in our season's
hemispheres by inclination

2268.    15 February 2011 - 09.32
this colour of history
carved from deep water
like a statuette
of the minor god
found later in the rubble
with the empty skull
and ruins
see here lies a man

2269.    4 March 2011 - 07.25
is the year turning to
introspection and summer
not yet done
the fall, decay, death
the air bright with it
filled with
pretence like a favourite coat
of winter

2270.    4 March 2011 - 09.04
I don't write
I lie in
wait as the tide
I ebb and hold
an old moon
by her symbol
an abstract of the last orbit
searching always for
meaning in the turning
back

2271.    4 March 2011 - 09.17
a poet is not
a monk beaded
in refrain
or rhyme where a chant
would do
no
he is a peasant
knows the gods
are angry now
these years of supplication
and tedium

2272.    5 March 2011 - 07.04
black night
petrol pink
dawn sea
slick and still
and sacred
ibis queue
in space time
the stars lost
again and me
here too
hope and tide
turns another
cheek

2273.    6 March 2011 - 12.27
Note to my skin
depressingly large by some
measure and sensitive
by another
yet unable to contain all
my poisonous inside
it tests an ecstasy
lacking pleasure

2274.    7 March 2011 - 07.23
western fog clothes
indecent dawn unblushed
me feeling her negligence
handsome as a nightmare
under coverlet and slip
last I felt this good was
in a former life

2275.    7 March 2011 - 09.41
though, to make a clean
breast of it
merely reveals common
cliché and little taste
the poet just bangs on
at the anvil
of hard knocks
hoping smithy comes soon

Texts 2253 to 2257

2253. 6 January 2011 - 1.15pm
natural causes
the yellow paper seems faded
by burden and borne
IDNO
SURNAME
FIRST NAMES
DATE OF BIRTH
SEX
MARITAL STATUS
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
5 copies

2254. 6 January 2011 - 2.02pm
so rest comes
or is that hell
that frozen featureless place
a spiritless arctic
the weather the endless
howl of selfconscious hate
where nothingness empties

2255. 11 January 2011 - 12.04pm
two African oyster catchers
dab the litoral
as I type
we know this place
differently as fish or fowl
or European ever visiting
a sooty tern
and dark continent

2256. 12 January 2011 - 9.10am
every time the wave breaks
it is the same
it is different
all repetition is original
each new moment repeats
so it is for me
and you my love
always renewed

2257. 13 January 2011 - 9.42am
slip out of something more
comfortable the old monk said
if you need to ease your spirit
unclothe your emperor
and impress with candour
your own reflections

For Sonja

19 December 2010

A hint of Rome,

a nose that guards

the Kaiser of good taste:

she is chef and chief

cook to this space-cart –

the daily round of sly

pages laced with humour

and her tinkling laugh,

itself a reminder to behave

as behoves a Saxon jester

who should have been a sailor

and would have landed her –

her ship worshipped full-breasted

in the figurehead, broad

in the beam, forecastle and after –

well-travelled by each tar

who dared to hammock her

and ran amok to win her heart

by charm or totem or some chant

last heard in a poet's cave,

a wonderwork naked before

her birthday still naked before the caul

that keeps a man from drowning

in her deep blue,

her tongue the language compassed north,

hardened to a plain truth

and ironstone of endless visions

of her mystery and caress

as if short-handed;

this lady grips the heart

as a vice and sole

raison d'être

for setting one step before another,

yet amid this cleverness,

and enlightened,

the valley and hills of soft love

foresee an almost English occupation

of this country before Christmas

with my Cox's orange pippin.

Texts 2235 to 2252

2235. 24 November 2010 - 8.47am
this trail's spoor treads
old memories and signs
who pass
lifting my heels too
to leave my mark
on the face of africa
not yet washed away
by tears and years

2236. 29 November 2010 - 8.01am
still life water colour man
his sky high clouded
distances diluted desiccated
dull stone washed plain
solitary windmill slow slurp
of  parched imaged sorrow

2237. 7 December 2010 - 11.43am
this voice
I hear calling is it mine
would I know if not
is the sound of the surf
the surf or some other
this voice
a poem still pregnant
and morning sickening

2238. 12 December 2010 - 10.04am
skin me
take this
hide
the subcutaneous man
hidden
a priori always argues
the held position
digs in his heels
fed up with the specious
unspoken word

2239. 13 December 2010 - 5.27pm
imagine this place 30 years
hence some changes not much
this café gone at last
you spot your son
on the other pavement
you call him
he turns without recognition

2240. 22 December 2010 - 11.41am
the world remains
indifferent to my passing
joggers jog
the Atlantic rolls in
we eat fruit at breakfast
get ready
I hope to see Mum today
and I do
though passed

2241. 23 December 20.10 - 7.36am
kelp uprooted and flung ashore
dry to charred limbs
old bones to ash
their dark relatives watch
from the offing
tiptoe with the tide
their dirge never quieted

2242. 24 December 2010 - 6.59am
the bench is damp with dew
or mist the tide floods
the kelp dressed shore
where I sit where we sit
as if two terns in paradise
wondering why the world
is weeping

2243. 24 December 2010 - 1.47pm
do you remember the day
your mother let go your hand
both your hearts pounding
expecting the best or worst
and you turn to look
at her face which is all smile

2244. 24 December 2010 - 5.11pm
all my years have unprepared
me for today I fetched her
things the intimacies of her
smell her underclothes
her knitted jumpers
by her own hand
I held so often

2245. 25 December 2010 - 6.12am
now you are dead
we resume
our conversation
gosh you have a lot to say!
and such loving advice
I realise now how missed
the long years
only your kisses spoke

2246. 25 December 2010 - 6.20am
I spoke to Dad yesterday Mum
basically to warn him
if not too late
you're on the way
though of course
you may have touched already
perhaps a little shy at first

2247. 25 December 2010 - 6.43am
why pray
when you can speak
your mind directly
this pussy footing
around god does little
for mental health generally
last we spoke
a little rudeness was apt

2248. 25 December 2010 - 9.06am
and old loves too
need love
yesterday - my life in between -
I saw Joyce just the same
hard ass memory at bottom
but hell I forgive her too
letting my tears dry

2249. 28 December 2010 - 11.03am
the old monk considers
a cliché
the writing on the wall
how loud it is
he takes a vow of silence
listens to the world shudder
a column of ants
also silent pass

2250. 29 December 2010 - 9.05am
my mother is a week dead
already memory
the world passed on
to the next triviality
undistracted by a happy spirit
who hid from her terrors
in laughter and love

2251. 31 December 2010 - 8.18pm
this language innermost
to vertigo
of men and angels
carries no echo
of times past
and light or water
stars at noon
the moon full
promises remission
and shadows

2252. 31 December 2010 - 9.50pm
a year contracts
into its calendar
a flatness like the spoor
of a great beast of antiquity
its eyes rolling
heavy hipped into a petrified
history or darkness

Texts 2216 to 2234

2216.    11 October 2010 - 5.44pm
a melancholy poet considers
the exhausted whore
youth sweating and shopped
naked as a bead
necklaced and threaded
wild oat seeded
dreaming of a white
Christmas

2217.    11 October 2010 - 6.02pm
the opening ceremony
never seduces the poet
nor the balloons
at the unashamed entrance
nor the Brazilian
exposed by a letter
to the world
daggers drawn as usual

2218.    15 October 2010 - 12.41pm
in Brazil patchwork quilts
don't cover the whole
where people lie like spoons
stripped of inhibitions
in the brassy sun come
mardi gras they parade
bottomless

2219.    16 October 2010 - 6.44am
her Bermuda triangle is
early morning's glory
and mystery the don
asks himself how to address
the issue of plagiarism
she purses her lips
in a perfidious smile

2220.    22 October 2010 - 9.58am
of darkness
the old monk says little
he closes his eyes to see
the light
the poet would see
better if he listened
to the silence of prayer
in darkness

2221.    26 October 2010 - 10.02am
the missing poet
knows the line
that divides despair
from a sunny day
her words etch
the coffin lid
scar my livid poem
the way she plays
her hand
herself an ace

2222.    28 October 2010 - 8.58am
I live on the edge of
Africa of its teeth jarred
white as the break left
at the Outer Kom in
the early sun this
morning of a life sooner
lived then forgotten

2223. 2 November 2010 - 11.45am
a queen knows that
bishop and rook rank
in the scheme of affairs
the king's horse's always
willing to mount
the scaffold in a show
exhibits his helmet
to a pawn

2224. 13 November 2010 - 8.32am
I sleep in stone
such music in a molecule
and light behind dark
content in empty cups
paradox in flight
then comes love
sweet chorus and nests
chocolate smells

2225. 14 November 2010 - 9.55am
she dozes
the light still liquid
himself rude rises
kettles a chorus
turns spittle to its lip
sweetens his smile
and returns to her rigid
monumental antiquity

2226. 15 November 2010 - 6.05am
no history brokers
a dawn like this
even return to eden
flocks where i roost
and the moon too
comic attends jests
in half gesture imperial
purple walled hills

2227. 15 November 2010 - 6.35am
Notes to a poet.
Watch the gulls circle
inventing figures of speech.
Hold the lens to your good eye,
and your breath. Press gently.
Horizons are level headed.

2228. 15 November 2010 - 6.49am
native sky and observer
listen and chart
no measures help decide
course or wind
colour changes with resolve
silence too
has gone
the waters back off
saddened

2229. 16 November 2010 - 9.31am
send for honey on grey days
when sheep lift their heads
watch pied crows
do not argue at dawn or dusk
women in trousers can read
your mind and will remember

2230. 17 November 2010 - 7.58am
make a note
to sing in the mountains
the clouds have gathered
and the granite waits
listen to the voices
of your remembering
your own when your
innocence smiled

2231. 18 November 2010 - 7.27am
for example the lighthouse
views without opinion
sure of location
day and night
fair weather and foul
warns of the shallow
metaphor of fact
before faith in gods

2232. 20 November 2010 - 12.18pm
give oranges to sweet hearts
honey to lovers
pare fruit and dice
eat at passion's table
drink deeply
hold your love's gaze
lick your lips
remember to kiss

2233. 21 November 2010 - 12 noon
break bread
crumbs are wholesome
share
laughter at breakfast
helps digest oats
fresh coffee civilises men
let the children talk
of adult questions
and answers

2234. 22 November 2010 - 7.00am
the child is not deceived
by the obvious
hide from the adult
in his foreground
the decoy is for fools
and children but
children remember
your lies and tricks

the edge

of desire is smooth
a blade well-honed and lubricated
with the spittle of her whetted wheel
at first she cannot believe the flooding
warmth that begins in air
a voice overheard
in a maze on the other side
of the privet
a voice that whispers
the odd word
her name was it
caught in the timbre
a sigh as if forgotten
but repeated no mistake
does he know her naked
soul dances to a rhythm
how it fires her spine
the small of her
the back of her to the drum
if he but knew would he not
beat a path to her
through the hedgehog sleeping day
the soft rain to where he finds her
him erect she kneeling to
no lesser god

Texts 2204 - 2215

2204.    27 September 2010 - 6.50am
a poet uses his tongue
to taste the painter
articulates her point
of reference
she pivots at an apex
to unhinge her sex
as he bears witness
to palette and pussy

2205.    27 September 2010 - 7.14am
talk me down
O Icarus
I close the light
so heated I
wax and wain
flow and ebb
search your body
with my poet's tongue
to articulate this
word unknown to
any man

2206.    27 September 2010 - 8.40am
a poet combs the horizon
at the edge of his longing
no distance is closer
than his heart or further
from his voice
so he sings his lullaby
to the morning light

2207.    30 September 2010 - 2.42pm
when it blows
the old monk wraps up
walks down to the beach
to watch the breakers
hurl themselves
on the rocks
that have so long repulsed
the Atlantic's embrace

2208.    30 September 2010 - 2.54pm
there he considers the meaning
of patience
how it is not given
to those who need it
most those who tire
in their voyage
who find wind and sea
untamed still

2209.    30 September - 8.39pm
the old monk knows nothing
of the bereft he knows less
of god he trusts more
in faith and less in good
weather and the well-ploughed
field than good
natured men

2210.    1 October 2010 - 12.35pm
the old monk enjoys
a ploughman's and a glass
of pale ale after morning
service at the dog and whistle
and a game of dominoes
to ponder over a second glass

2211.    2 October 2010 - 5.46pm
the great white feeds
me to my therapist
who has long teeth
and a gaping smile
she poodles to her id
she terrorises his ego
ergo he settles
couches a confession

2212.    5 October 2010 - 8.32am
these have seen us come
and go with equal indifference
foul men in wooden boats
foul men in plastic
the sun lights this scene
ageless as stone as if
I were last

2213.    6 October 2010 - 6.55pm
a poet finds her metaphor
in a death rattle
the flesh burning
a self examination
the viva of failure
a diabolical rhyme
marks the Thomas
of cynicism
his alone

2214.    7 October 2010 - 9.00am
a poet explores
the whole of Brazil
each deforested valley
each denuded hill
her essence like her voice
neither forgotten
nor remembered
an archaeology uncovered

2215.    9 October 2010 - 9.35am
the old monk does not ask
forgiveness he forgives
as he loves without agenda
so he loves within
but the poet loves Brazil
as if Adam of Eve
for giving her fruit

Texts 2192 - 2203

2192.    15 September 2010 - 11.30am
the old monk is glum
this morning
the weather gloomy
under the low sky and
drips snottily from the eaves
he decides to write a letter
of complaint to his angel

2193.    15 September 2010 - 11.43am
Dear Angelo
Please send good news
or money soon.
I notice even people who have
it, don't want work.
Maybe work has betrayed
the Protestant Ethic?
Truly, yours

2194.    16 September 2010 - 08.31am
the old monk's prayers
are poetry
for your eyes only
he tells his angel
and the ear of god
who loves his voice
at evensong
as the sun sets
and candles are lit

2195.    16 September 2010 - 08.44am
Dear Monkey,
The good news is you don't
need money
where you are going.
I am reliably informed
that stout shoes will help
protect your feet
from cinders.
Angelo

2196.    16 September 2010 - 09.06am
the old monk cannot lie
his truths are complete
his vow is silence
he listens without comment
he loves without consequence
he cannot hate
he looks for grace

2197.    17 September 2010 - 08.02am
the world surprises
neither the old monk
nor the peasant
but the poet is
vastly astonished
understands nothing
new always returns
to the refrain
or lullaby

2198.    20 September 2010 - 03.29pm
the poet loves
the rising tension
that disengages all
but essential services
to focus on
the rise and curve
the rise and rhyme
and season
of your sweet ass

2199.    21 September 2010 - 01.53pm
Dear Angelo
the weather changes
night lasts all day
stars are stoic
the moon full-bellied
prayers sung
children lifted
the sea restless
dogs whimper
God's name

2200.    22 September 2010 - 09.11am
O Monk
the weather is not God's
nor are stars his hers
nor genitive her him
nor the wind breathe
nor the tide copulate
nor time conceived
your servant
Angelo

2201.    24 September 2010 - 12.58pm
a poet grips the earth
until words squeeze
from his fist
his song's wet clay
rises in steam in fire
in the kiln of his music
to burn lines
to unmask himself

2202.    24 September 2010 - 01.51pm
a mystical rain seeds
the earth womb
under the mountain gorges
a masked man calls me
to prayer and solitude
I hear the earth's screams
give birth to my mother

2203.    25 September 2010 - 08.57am
a bronze man dances
in the naked garden
born again the nymph
offers her breast
if he remove his mask
but he is blinded
by the music
he will flee
the mortal clay