The beat changes

I walk this once familiar street
Follow the rhythm of my feet
As I feel the pulse, I feel the beat
Of the life that grows where people meet
But the beat changes

The beat changes
The beat may grow, or the beat may slow
But the beat changes

The beat changed between us
The beat of mine, the beat of yours
Asynchronous at the last
Each holding to the idea
The remnants of what once was
Reaching for the other holding them close
To feel the pulse
Hoping
But feeling the beat change

The beat changes
The beat may grow, or the beat may slow
But the beat changes

The beating I receive in the schoolyard has become passé
The regularity, the inevitability of life for the smart kid
Labelled a fag
In a semi rural town
The blows rain down as if upon another
Reaching my body but not my self
Not reaching me where my life pulses
Where my heart beats
Where the beat changes

The beat changes
The beat may grow, or the beat may slow
But the beat changes

The beat…
Change is inevitable
What was is not will be or even is
Intense this tense
Future present past
All part but never constant
Time an illusion measured by intellect
Felt as a fluidity
An hour can feel a lifetime
A lifetime at its end feel but a
Beat changing

The beat changes
The beat may grow, or the beat may slow
But the beat changes

The changing beat, the pulse of this once familiar street
To which I return after so long away
Has that slight discomfort of unfamiliarity
Of seeming lost in a world that once was home
Giving promise of future unpredicted
The excitement of getting to know a whole new world
All over again

think I've heard of it

From the air
The centre of Australia
Is all swirls
And ridges

Earthy tones
Brown, ochre
Black
But overall the heart
Is indeed
Red

Desolate and beautiful
Great swathes of only
Apparently
Barren wilderness
Open, natural
Harsh
And beyond our control

And yet man in his
Arrogance
Draws lines around
Sections
Of Nature’s whole
Divides it into
Pieces
Give names to the
Nameless reaches

Oft times they are named for
Those first brave or
Mad
Enough to face the
Wilderness
But more often as some
Honorarium
For one deemed
Worthy
Those who most likely
Had not set eye on a truly
Natural
Expanse of land

First Words from the Lines of a Love Poem

You
I

You
I

I
You
You
I

You
I
I
You

Yours
Mine
Your
My
I
You

We

Together
Apart
Being
With
Without

I
You
We
Why

Love

Only……

of a love poem

My visions
My nightmares
My life

All in print

Humanity's iniquities
The pains of growth
Rants on relationships
Gone bad
And alcohol fuelled revelry

Every low and
Angst ridden
Moment
Put down in words
Until my heart
Beats slow
And painfully

I tire
Lay my head down and
Dream

Of a love poem

From the lines

These stories are true
As such can be known
Life’s struggles
Humanity’s war on
Itself
The individual’s battle
With life

Love
Labour
Loss

No inconsequentialities
The reporting is
Detailed
And complete

Advance, retreat
Each victory each
Capitulation
But one more step to
Becoming

The stories
Many and
Varied
All coming to you live
Direct
From the lines

First Words

My pen at first
Hesitant
Random scratches of
Infant toenails
On floor upon which
It learns to crawl

Soon few
Faltering
Steps
Vocalisation of rough
Incoherencies

Then listen
Watch the grown ups
Mimic then
Practice

Stability of gait
Increases
Clear voice found
Pen steadies on page

Reveals

First words

when cogito fails (x-post)

what am I this I
which I
this me that I see that is seen
that is the me you see as you
as I see you
which I
who am I
what am I
why am I
where am I
who is this me an abstract inexact abstraction
from the self that is perceived as me
or as you
if it’s you whose perception is required
for existence of this persistent form
that is the I that I believe to be me
if me is real as I
as you
but real is relative
how relative to relate to the self
to my self
to your self
your reality different to mine
you see me as you
I see you as you and me as me
but this me this self
is ill formed sense of being
belonging to what or where is anybody’s guess
but not mine
I choose not to choose
not to guess or require
suggestion of reality
being that which I would be
or you believe me to be
is enough for some
but for me I don’t know
this me I don’t really know
but exist within this frame of perception
this me that is I
that is the you that you see
is this really the me that I see
are we one
this you in your eyes
this me in my mind
who are we
this I me you conglomeration of perceived beings
forming the self
this self
my self
which defies definition or serious inquisition
as to purpose
without purpose I am adrift
in this sea of self
selflessly see that around me as unreality
questioning all that is perceived
this self then questions it’s perception of self
am I
is me
does my self equate with being
if perception is to exist
and perception is questioned
where I this self
my self
this I that is the I that I see
that is me
the you that you perceive
or do you
do I
is this self perceived
or self deceived
by that which we trust in
to deliver us from void into being
into meaning
in existence we trust
but by perception do we measure
the immeasurable
with fallible translation
of sensation
by the mind
the infallible most foolable tool
able to do so much with so little
must all of it be real
or just that reality which agrees with self perception
of meaning
of being
of that I which is me
that is dissipating
instigating
anticipating
the destruction of the self
this entropic being
going the way of all things thermodynamic
breaking down
returning to null state
apathetically allowed not encouraged
as much as this me appears to do
with excess and stress
I digress from me
follow paths outside the borders of my self
this self
whose existence I begin to question
to doubt
without doubt I do not exist
if unable to question that which is around
do I exist at all or drift
in void and null
but if I exist to question
can I exist without question
of my own existence
but losing track of that
certainty fallacy of modern thought
can I still exist at all
but what is existence
but awareness of self
and what is awareness
if not the need to question
to doubt
but doubting that which is perceived
if I am but perception
am I in fact I
is this me
a me at all
am I at all
or am I not
and if I am not
are you
in that you perceive me
or do I perceive you perceiving me
who is deceived
if you are deceived
or if I am deceived
in that you are not of outside
but within me in my perception
this self deception of being
then reliance on your perception
to give me being
lacks substance
insubstantial this construct that is I
that is this I
that is me
is not to be
all that is believed