"P" IS FOR A "POEM" ABOUT SOMEONE WOT i KNOW

AT

one-twenty-five

a "P"int

and

on a "P"ension

there's a killing

to be made

today

 First "P"

after four

out the back

and

a roll-up

just as if

still at school

sharing a fag

behind

the bicycle sheds

with

 his seven brothers

competing

for who could "P"

the furthest

up the wall

or

over the blackberry bush

or

into the stream

AND

what is saved

on the

"P"rice of beer

will more than

"P"ay for

a taxi home

not that

one would dream

to leave

this rendezvous

at so

 early an hour

for
the last bus home

ONE-TWENTY-FIVE

muttering about

seven brides

for seven brothers

as office-girls

"P"ass-by

in Indian Summer

chic

over the town bridge

AND

he returns

to the "P"ub

for

another "P"int

adjusting

his leather belt

and shorts

satchel

across his shoulder.

* * * * *

bernard hemensley

(composed in the early hours)

@

golden goji hermitage

21 / november / 2014

* * * * * * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



W. H. Y. : 3) NOVEMBER : 4 ENTRIES

THE

 

WEYMOUTH

 

HERMIT

 

POEMS

 

NOVEMBER 2014

 

* * * * * * *

 

1)

during the night

a curtailment

of dreams

 

2)

fragments

daubed behind

my eyes

 

3)

thoughts

as nothing

in the dark

 

4)

animal instinct

prompts

head and heart

 

*

 

Golden GOJI Hermitage

circa 2 a.m.

15 / november / 2014

 

**************

MY FRIEND JEAN is of my parents' generation...raised in the PEAKS of DERBYSHIRE, the weather down south does not require her to ever wear hat or stockings or gloves...riding her bicycle with her terrier dog perched on her sholder as a child, prepared her for the rigours of these years on sticks...i see her sometimes peering from the shelter, anticipating my approach and conversation...and if there is space on the bus we usually sit together...SIT DOWN AND BEHAVE YOURSELF she enjoys saying to me as no doubt she says to the gentlemen at the Sailing Club where she goes each morning preparing coffees and biscuits...and sometimes she tells me of another person who has POPPED THEIR CLOGS......Hmmmm...JEAN...86 years old......

 

 

 

* * *

golden goji hermitage

21st/October/2014

* * * * * * *

 

 

 



THE TWIGS AND CUTTINGS AND BRANCHES HAVE ACCUMULATED SINCE LATE SUMMER'S START ON TIDYING THIS "WILD" "HERMITAGE" GARDEN OF MINE TO THE EXTENT THAT IT WILL MAKE A WONDERFUL BONFIRE FOR "GUY FAWLKES" NIGHT IN ABOUT THREE WEEKS TIME. After November 5th i aim to keep the site of the bonfire and have a permanent sort of "FIRE PIT" situated as it is near the renovation project of the Garden Bench under an arbour of the Bay Tree and the overarching brambles and ivy and honeysuckle...of course if the rain of recent days persists into November the bonfire will not catch enough to burn through...

...this afternoon, after 2 hours in the garden and having prepared the vegetable mash for supper, i lay on the sofa watching the rain drops multiply on the window and listening to the chanting of KRISHNA DAS. The sky was just a light grey blanket of clouds...no scuddings as of other afternoons and evenings and no summer sun when i would bask in the warmth until the high hedge at the bottom of the garden intervened.
At present i can almost adopt the natural rhythm of watching the dawn break when I rise to practice yoga and sit... AND go to bed after supper soon after it gets dark. Watching the sky and the clouds and the waving branches and leaves of trees in a breeze is refreshment and fulfilment enuf......   In the U.K. one would spend a lot of time in bed adhering to the rhythm of day into night and night into day for it to govern ones activity......But at this time of year it makes for an interesting and natural pattern for ones life...

* * *

GOLDEN GOJI HERMITAGE

12TH/OCTOBER/2014

***************

W. H. Y. : 2) SEPTEMBER : 4 ENTRIES

THE

 

WEYMOUTH

 

HERMIT

 

POEMS

 

SEPTEMBER 2014

 

* * * * * * *

 

1)

 

many Buddhas

in this retreat

i  alone
speak

 

 

2)

 

sitting still

incense stick

smoking in peace

 

 

3)

 

overnight dew

evaporates skywards

Chinese music

in the air

 

 

4)

 

geese overhead
a passing fancy
to fly-off south

 

 

 

* * * * * * *

golden goji hermitage

20 - sept - 2014

* * * * *

 



i "INHERITED" MY LOVE OF YOGA FROM MY FATHER. OUR GREEK FRIEND, POPPY, WOULD ASK ME "...and how is Yogi, today?" whenever she met me at my Aunt Lydia's flat in Southampton. My father lived for health and fitness and practiced asanas, of a certain type, all his adult life. Being in possession and full control of his body was very important to him. He used to say he was gonna live to 150. Anyway, taking fotos during my own asanas this morning, mainly of my feet, i remembered one of his favourite quotes = I THOUGHT I WAS POOR BECAUSE I HAD NO SHOES, UNTIL I MET A BEGGAR WHO HAD NO FEET."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * * * *

GOLDEN GOJI HERMITAGE

15 - SEPTEMBER - 2014

** ** ** ** **

 

 

 

 

 



6 NEW POEMS in HELEN'S BLUE FELT NOTEBOOK

in the moment (1)
incense swirls
chinese flute
flying south
geese

*

in the moment (2)
chortling bird
resonates
with heartbeat
passing sounds

*

in a flash...(variation #1) for Sanussi
must get
bread
from oven
before it becomes
burnt offering


*

in a flash...(variation #2) for Sanussi
must get
bread
from oven
baked with
sunflower seeds
the way
my friend
likes it

*

in a flash...(variation #3) for Sanussi
must get
bread
from oven
burnt
sunflower seeds
give
bitter taste

*

midnight moment
summer downpour
hits roof
i wake-up
for water
it's cold

* * * * *
golden goji hermitage
24th & 25th/august/2014
* * * * *

SONG TO A SEAGULL

 

 

 

 

*

"MY DREAMS WITH THE SEAGULLS FLY

OUT OF REACH OUT OF CRY"

JONI MITCHELL

from

"SONG TO A SEAGULL"

[1968]

*

* * *

GOLDEN GOJI HERMITAGE

22ND/AUGUST/2014

* * * * * * *

 

 

 

 



W.H.Y. : 1) AUGUST : 4 ENTRIES

THE

 

wEYMOUTH

 

HERMIT

 

YEAR

 

AUGUST 2014

 

* * * * *

1) UNE NUIT BLANCHE

up all night again

i've taken

to drawing

on walls.

* * * * *

 

2)

pruning brambles

picking blackberries

in the sun

my father

nods approvingly

i like to think.

* * * * *

 

3) Philip Whalen

How could a "Beat Poet"

enter the monastery

shave his head

and be celibate?

i wondered

40 years ago.

Well, here i am

"alone" for just as long 

and living 

in a "hermitage"

these past four years.

* * * * *

 

4) No room for manoeuver

Merton said

a life is either

all spiritual

or

not spiritual at all.

My father said

one cannot be too honest

either

one is honest

or

one is not honest.

* * * * *

golden goji hermitage

17th/august/2014

* * * * *

(Golden GOJI Hermitage is on Facebook)

* * * * *

 

 



 



KOAN : What is the sound of one hand clapping ?

 

 

 

* * * * *

golden GOJI hermitage

30th/JULY/2014

* * *

1st/AUGUST/2014

^

^

^

UPDATED

^

WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING?

HAKUIN

^^^^^

 

***************************

GoLdEn GoJi HeRmItAgE

02.42hrs.

2nd/August/2014

***************************

 

 



IF ONLY THEY WERE DRUNKEN POETS GIVING VOICE ALONG THE ESPLANADE

if only there were a LI PO or DU FU amongst them

on these beachside benches

but the winos are seated there

one with bloodied nose

from fighting (?)

with contempt for more well-healed passers-by

or so it seems...

they look to catch any eye

but with camera

 am focussed on the pattern of the path

on a shadow or a cloud

or a boat in the bay maybe

with WHITE NOSE cliffs and beyond 

 as backdrop to the scene...

if they were poets

i would be more than happy

to trade words

write a RENGA

or laugh along at the

10,000 SYLLABLE HAIKU

beloved of OWEN DAVIS

who lives half-way down the coast

someone who like me

would nod towards PAUL BLACKBURN...

but no such luck

we need wine to loosen tongues and minds hereabouts

release a resolute grip

on perceived realities

and share that fire for life

......

later in the day

heading for home

someone gives me a thumbs-up

from the pavement

from across the street

did you get a good one

he says

i am mystified until

i recognise the bloodied nose...

and those

  were the kindest words

i heard all day

if not from a poet

then maybe from

a BODHISATTVA in disguise.

* * *

bernard hemensley

golden GOJI hermitage

27th/july/2014

*

In the Early Morning Rain / Down to the River

 

 

 

*

golden GOJI hermitage

18/july/2014

* * *



JUST SITTING : 13 JULY 2014

a seagull's cry
in the dark

 before dawn's summer

chorus and daybreak

 i would hear

a pin drop

in silence
continue to sit

 undisturbed by 

house creaks

knowledge of 25 years plus

just hope

i'll have the balls of Ryokan

and bid any intruder
take what he needs

and leave quietly

the way he came in...

a gentle breeze

enters at will

such a pleasure

in hot July.

*

golden GOJI hermitage

13th/july/2014

* * * * *

 



THE DAYS TRULY SPARKLE

Lakeside

 

 

 

*

Seaside

 

 

 

 

 

*

Harbourside

 

 

 

 

***

Golden GOJI Hermitage

6TH/JULY/2014