About Opher’s World.

This is what I wrote seven years ago when I set up my blog. Have I been true to my word? What have I achieved? What haven’t I done well??

OPHER’S WORLD

About Opher’s World

I live to make the world a better place. Why don’t you join me? Creativity gives purpose to life. This blog celebrates creativity. I welcome you. Please have a look at my books, art, poems and art.

This is an idealist’s shriek at the absurd, the horrendous and the obscene in the huge optimism that we can make it better.

This is a blog in pursuit of the marvellous.

I ask you to devour all that is wonderful –

and detest all that is cruel, vicious and mean.

You will find lots of life, sex and ideas in this blog – (Ideas such as – there is no god, no purpose, no great scheme, no after-life) – but I do not set out to be offensive, merely to argue my passionately held point of view.

This blog is a celebration of Life – not Death.

What is obscene is not sex.

Obscenity is:
– The destruction of the environment
– War
– The indoctrination of children
– Overpopulation
– Cynical exploitation
– Cruelty to animals and people
– Grotesque disparity of wealth
– Deforestation
– Fanaticism in politics and religion
– Pollution

These are the things I stand against.
These are the obscenities.

This blog celebrates Love, Humour, Kindness and Awe.

It is a howl of creativity – A feast of ideas – A source of controversy.

A thing of beauty –  A delight of wonder – A splurge of passion.

I preach Tolerance – Empathy – Equality – Freedom – Respect –

Responsibility and Passionate Argument.

I will post some of my photos from round the world, examples of my poetry, extracts from my books, my views, ideas and dreams. I will tell you what I stand for and against and argue my case.

It would be great it you told me your views. Perhaps we could have a good argument about it!! There’s nothing better than a good passionate exchange of deeply held views.

This will be the marmite of blogs!

Poetry – A Vision

A Vision

A man should have a vision –

Something to base his life on.

For without a philosophy to fight for

There is no far horizon.

A vision is a philosophy

That one can aim straight for.

A set of ideals that

Are worth fighting for.

A vision of a better world

Is what I nurture in my head.

So that I can leave a legacy

For when I am long dead.

I have a picture of a future

Not run for selfish greed,

That protects the environment

Yet fulfils every need.

It’s a vision that is possible

For us all to achieve.

A vision in which everyone

Has the right to believe.

Opher – 19.12.2019

If one has a philosophy to base one’s life on then every action, every thought and every deed is focussed. It means that your efforts are put towards something positive. It gives your life purpose.

One knows what one is striving for and what one is striving against. Your life is no longer shallow and empty.

A man has to have a purpose.

Poetry – Civilisation

Civilisation

A thin veneer.

A film of ice.

A wall of paper.

A tissue of lies.

A gossamer thread.

Civilisation is an illusion.

Through the thin skin

We can see the maggots squirm.

Pierce the fragile epidermis

And release reality.

It is peace that is unusual.

It is violence that is the norm.

All it takes is a nudge

To release the hate;

A prod or two

To elicit fury.

Inside, the tribal prejudice

Lies dormant,

Waiting for the spark,

To entice it into a blaze.

Always there are those

Who, for personal gain,

Are eager to release the beast,

To set it free

And profit from the carnage

In its wake.

For war is the normality of humanity.

Opher – 14.10.2019

I watch the racist thugs at the football stadia, the rise of Neo-Nazis, the division and hatred created by Johnson and Trump, and the nastiness of the far-right and I know – humanity is a violent, stupid species.

Throughout our history, we create wars, torture and enjoy abusing animals for fun. We have a nasty, brutal streak.

We love pain.

We are arrogant.

We love violence.

We never learn.

There is always someone who wants power or wealth at any cost. We are trashing the planet for personal gain. There is always someone who wants it all without wanting to put in the effort.

Our history is one of bloodshed and crime.

Civilisation is a chimera.

Poetry – Energy

Energy

Energy is the only exchange,

                Art the only purpose.

Symbols trap reality

                Perception changes

                                Senses evolve

We learn to understand.

Isolation

The enemy.

Communication

A down payment

                For a better future.

Opher – 7.2021

Living together in harmony with each other and the world, creatively, is the best we can hope for.

Poetry – The Sun Just is.

The Sun Just is.

The sun just is.

                The story reads itself.

Any dream is as real.

A mind roams the universe.

                We feel

                                We think

                                                We see.

Everything adds up to nothing.

Nothing contains it all.

                We wonder

                                We taste

                                                We conjure.

Reality is inexplicable.

Consciousness an illusion.

                We touch

                                We think

                                                We disappear.

I just am

                When I am.

Opher – 7.12.2021

Explaining infinity, consciousness, dreams or reality requires magic.

We exist.

There is no explanation.

Poetry – Where?

Where?

Where was time

Before the first second?

Where was matter

Before the first atom?

Where was space

When nothing existed?

Where am I?

Opher 24.8.2019

The philosophy of being never ceases to enthral me.

They say the universe began with a big bang. In that instant all time, matter and energy was created.

That is impossible to comprehend.

We find it easier to create gods.

Where?

Where was time

Before the first second?

Where was matter

Before the first atom?

Where was space

When nothing existed?

Where am I?

Opher 24.8.2019

The philosophy of being never ceases to enthral me.

They say the universe began with a big bang. In that instant all time, matter and energy was created.

That is impossible to comprehend.

We find it easier to create gods.

Poetry – The Fifth Dimension

The Fifth Dimension

I want to live in the 5th Dimension

Where we cherish the chimpanzee!

Oh yes, the fifth dimension

Is really the place for me!!

There are those who say it is from the heart –

A sanctuary of love, peace and happiness

That could be accessed by all of us

In a place that is most mysterious!

I want to live in the 5th Dimension

Where we cherish the chimpanzee!

Oh yes, the fifth dimension

Is really the place for me!!

I dream of a place of infinite love,

Free of this greed and cruelty.

A place that exists in harmony

What better place to be?

I want to live in the 5th Dimension

Where we cherish the chimpanzee!

Oh yes, the fifth dimension

Is really the place for me!!

Some say there are 26 dimensions

That are the basis of reality!

I don’t care about the other 25!

The 5th is where I want to be!

I want to live in the 5th Dimension

Where we cherish the chimpanzee!

Oh yes, the fifth dimension

Is really the place for me!!

Opher – 7.8.2019

Thank you to Dewin Nefol for telling me about the 5th Dimension. I’m not one for fanciful ideas but science is coming up with the most amazing things – quarks and dark matter, the quantum world and black holes – I’ll rule nothing out.

I love the idea of a dimension full of infinite love – a place of love, peace and happiness.

I think if we put aside out greed and cruelty we could inhabit such a place.

Poetry – Life

Life

Life is like a meander through a wood on a sunny afternoon.

You know you’re going somewhere but you don’t know where.

At first the trail is big and wide with many people to direct you.

But it soon begins to fork and split and meander off into the unknown.

Some paths are enticing but they rarely lead anywhere.

Sometimes you become distracted by a pleasant glade

And stop for a while to linger in the beauty of its dappled warmth.

Sometimes you are lost within the darkness of forbidding trees.

Trails come and go and usually peter out into thick undergrowth.

There is no map to guide you on your journey

And the tales of the fellow travelers that you meet along the way

Are often not at all helpful.

When you set off you had all the time in the world

But it is already late afternoon. The sun is low in the sky

And night is drawing near.

There is no way back to from where you came and no end in sight.

Time is slipping away.

There were so many things that you intended to do;

So many places that you intended to visit

And so many people you wanted to meet.

There was not time to do it all.

Now, as night is about to fall, you wonder if you followed the right trail.

Where did all that time go?

How did you get here?

This is not where you intended to end up

That morning when you set off down your trail.

The journey distracted you.

The trails led you away.

But have you enjoyed your day?

Opher – 8.5.2019

I’m not sure if this is a poem at all. Reflecting back on a long life one is struck by the way one has drifted along. Days were filled with all the routine of work, chores, family and the necessities. Rarely were their moments of clarity. Choices were always a risk.

One packed in what had to be done and selected the options from the menu on offer.

The meal was not always what one ordered.