Take Heart Too – a poem about the perceptive and wise.

Posted on by Opher

Take Heart Too

 

Take heart from those who see the bigger picture

And realise they are minor players

Within a mighty stroke of luck

That gave us eyes to see;

For they are aglow

With understanding

And see each second

As a gift.

 

Opher 16.6.2018

 

 

I wrote this as an adjunct to the previous piece. It always seems amazing to me that evolution has provided us with the brain, consciousness and senses with which to glimpse this most amazing universe. What a stroke of fabulous luck! We should celebrate every second of it.

Consciousness is a thing of wonder.

What if there were no conscious beings to witness the majesty of this cosmos? What a waste.

 

 

Nothing Is Surplus – a poem to the wonders of the interlocking ecosystem

Posted on by Opher

Nothing is Surplus

 

Nothing is surplus

Nothing wasted

Nothing less

Nothing greater

 

From virus to dinosaur

It is all a piece

Within a giant jigsaw

 

Opher 23.6.2018

 

 

I am always amazed by the way nature interlocks. Evolution has filled every niche with the right choice. They are so complicated and sophisticated. Everything has its place.

More time than we can imagine has created such a wonderfully intricate jigsaw.

What distresses me most is the cavalier way we dismantling it.

Planet Earth – a poem that is an apology.

Posted on by Opher

Planet Earth

 

It is the thirteenth of June 2018

On a warm summer’s day

That I have spent writing and reading.

It was a pleasant day.

Yet there were no swifts in the sky this afternoon.

I am sorry for that.

My garden is full of flowers and the grass is mown

But there is no room for nature.

I am sorry for that too.

What are we doing to you?

How can you bear it?

As we dig and chop,

Fence and rip,

Sterilise and sanitise.

Is this what you want?

That we should tame and reduce?

Tie you in knots?

And reduce your complexity

To our simplicity?

How long will you put up with it?

Mother Earth

Are you powerless?

Planet earth can you hear me?

I am talking to you.

You gave me so much

And I value it all.

But this is becoming less by the day.

How can you bear to see so much destroyed?

So many creatures killed?

So much cruelty and pain?

Planet Earth

Is it alright if we cause you to bleed like this?

Planet Earth

You’ve given me a full life

Laden with stars, sunsets and rainbows

Rocks, trees and seas,

Creatures of all kinds,

Plants and wonders

Always wonders –

How can I repay you?

You’ve been my home for 69 years –

An endless time of love and change.

All I can do

Is say thank you.

I am so sorry.

 

Opher 13.6.2018

 

 

I do not happen to believe in Gaia – that the planet is really alive and has consciousness. At least I don’t think so. That type of mysticism is attractive but fanciful.

But I did find it an interesting poetic idea to talk to her as if she was alive.

So what is there to be said?

It seemed to me that the most important thing was to apologize for the mess we are making.

Life is so obviously the jewel in the crown. Life, in all its forms, is a marvel. Yet do we hold it sacred? No we do not. We are destroying species after species, ravaging habitats with impunity and treating life with disdain.

There is an arrogance about mankind that insists that humans are the only worthwhile life upon the planet. That is risible. All life is important. We all started from that same one miracle cell. We’ve all evolved for the same length of time. We all fit together in this remarkable jigsaw puzzle of life. Yet that is the jigsaw puzzle that we are dismantling. We are throwing away piece after piece. Soon we will lose sight of the big picture.

We need to start appreciating it.

I’m sorry Planet Earth. We’re acting like spoilt brats.

Northern Lights – a poem about a lightshow in the sky.

Posted on by Opher

Northern Lights

 

Psychedelic cascades

In scintillating clouds

Streaming through the sky

With mesmeric majesty

In illuminations of gaudy display

Of glorious flourescent waves.

Magnetic colours

Wafting on the solar breeze,

Crashing on the seas

Of the moon

As electrons shine

Particles charge from the sun

To excite the eye

And flow across the retina.

 

Opher 17.3.2018

 

 

 

Living in the North of England we are fortunate to occasionally get to see the Northern Lights. The sky puts on a lightshow of scintillation with sheets of fluorescent colour like a psychedelic lightshow. The sky glows and shimmers as the solar stream hits our outer atmosphere in a rage of ions, electrons and magnetic fury displayed in beauty.

Returning – a poem about our place in the cycle of life.

Posted on by Opher

Returning

 

Each second that we live we dare,

And in death too we give to share,

We are all part of the great cycle

and return to the plants, animals and air.

 

No atom do we hold for long

No matter how cold and strong

We are part of a great wheel

That holds us all where we belong.

 

Connected through our DNA

Through the realms of eternity

To life in all its panoply

We have our time in which to play.

 

The time of stars has different span

To that enjoyed by plant and man

So enjoy it while you can

That is the essence of my plan.

 

Opher 10.12.2017

 

 

Every three months most of our cells are replaced. We change our bodies four times a year. The molecules come in and out. There are no barriers to the recycling. The atoms do not change. We are part of it all.

Nothing of our bodies is permanent. Change is the key.

The only permanence we have is what is contained in our DNA. We pass the codes down through the generations.

Our lives are short. We merely glimpse the magic of the universe and are gone in the blink of an eye. But our codes live on for longer. We live down the generations through our DNA.

We are part of the big cycle of life on this planet. Our task is to appreciate it.

Nothing Makes Sense – a poem of wonder and great satisfaction

Posted on by Opher

Nothing Makes Sense

 

A trillion stars glistening like white salt crystals on black velvet;

The Milky Way a band of circling smoke;

A mind to witness the majestic impossibility;

A mind to ponder all possibility;

A sea of questions to founder in;

Answers like driftwood to cling to;

Facts that are a mirage in a desert of emptiness;

Delight in the wonder and the awe.

 

Sitting on a warm rock with feet dangling in space,

Staring out to sea as the very last hues of the day’s sun fade on the horizon,

What does it matter?

Suspended here between the breath-taking imponderables of macrocosm and microcosm,

Both of whose mysteries lie beyond our comprehension,

Incompatible in their weirdness,

We bask in the glory of our reality

And breathe its beauty.

 

Yet still we dare to fathom the reality of quarks, quasars and black holes –

As if any of it mattered.

We dare to stretch back through time to the beginning –

Enshrouded in mystery, like Merlin in his mist, we seek to understand.

With senses limited, experience restricted and minds constrained,

Nothing marries, nothing cleaves and nothing makes sense.

All that’s left is to enjoy the moment of being

And cherish our existence

And cling to the warmth of the rock for as long as we are able.

 

Opher – 9.8.2017

 

 

Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the wonder and majesty of nature, the incredible phenomenon of consciousness and the infinity of the universe.

How did it all arise?

How did we come to be here?

How does this universe work?

The more we come to understand of neuronal nets and brain images, of quantum physics and the birth of galaxies, the more amazing it becomes.

It is fascinating to delve, enquire and discover but ultimately it doesn’t matter. All that really matters is that we are here and that on a warm night with the sky of stars as a backdrop, a companion to share it with and a glass of wine, life is pretty good.

Being thankful!

Posted on by Opher

The sun is shining. The temperature is warm. There are white clouds in a blue sky. It is a beautiful day.

I am fit, healthy and feeling good.

Today I opened my eyes again into a fabulous universe that is full of many wonders, beauties and things to discover just like I have done 25,219 times before.

My brain is still functioning well. My senses all operate well. I stop to contemplate what an amazing experience this is.

Today I’m playing a bit of music by Neil Young. I’m contemplating a walk on the hills and a read of a book. I’m thinking about the book I’m working on. I’m meeting up with friends later for a pleasant evening of talk, food, wine and fun. I’m thinking ahead to a concert tomorrow and meeting up with my daughter.

For 25,000 plus days I have experienced this universe. I don’t know how many I have ahead of me – certainly not another 25,000 – but I intend to make full use of every second of them as I can. I want to pack them with love, friendship. writing, reading, travel, music, sex, fun, exploration, thought, learning, experience and joy.

One day I will not open my eyes. There will be no universe to be inspired by. Until then I will live.

Sorrento by night.

Posted on by Opher

We had a great view over Sorrento and out over the bay to Vesuvius. I do like night photography.

This is a shot over the city.

This is a shot taken over the bay towards the hazy shape of Vesuvius the brooding volcano that is still active.

Misty sunrise over Sorrento Hills.

Posted on by Opher

As the sun rose over the hills and mountains around Sorrento it highlighted the mist rolling in the gullies. I found it very atmospheric.

Seals on the Farne Islands

Posted on by Opher

It was great to see the Bull seals with their hareems emerging from the mist while lazing on the rocks.