Brain X-ray

Let's dance

Let's dance.

Put on your red shoes

 and dance the blues.

Let's dance to the song 

they're playin' on the radio.

Let's sway 

while colour lights up your face.

Let's sway, 

sway through the crowd to an empty space.

If you say run, I'll run with you.

If you say hide, we'll hide.

Because my love for you

would break my heart in two.

If you should fall

into my arms

and tremble like a flower.

Let's dance for fear 

your grace should fall.

Let's dance for fear tonight is all.

Let's sway, you could look into my eyes.

Let's sway under the moonlight, 

this serious moonlight.

If you say run, I'll run with you.

If you say hide, we'll hide.

Because my love for you

Would break my heart in two.

If you should fall

into my arms

and tremble like a flower.

Let's dance, put on your red shoes 

and dance the blues.

Let's dance to the song 

they're playin' on the radio.

Let's sway, you could look into my eyes.

Let's sway under the moonlight, 

this serious moonlight.

by David Bowie

Moon © Jennifer Phillips

Major change

"Things are rarely as bad as they seem at the start of any major change. In any great upheaval there is a lot of emotion, a lot to cope with. But after a time - maybe a year or so, things tend to simmer down and settle - find a new level resting point. Then you can really start to build in a new direction."

by Jennifer Phillips.

Fingers

Dampness seeped into your voice

even though we fell behind

by an hour

and we did not need miniatures

to explain the history

because I can see the dynasty

dissolving, it is blowing away

the scent of ink shading the future

as the current sweeps us

under the carpet

so we stare into the sky

desperately seeking

the moon.

by Manzar Samii

Moon © Jennifer Phillips

Ode to the moon

A stab of Moon
between two trees

fireflies impersonating
stars

light
tangled in the branches of the night

on the road to the riverside
where did aloneness end
and loneliness begin

by Tabish Khair

Two eyes

Two eyes © Jennifer Phillips

Sail

A sea inside, 
an ocean without.

Breasting the waves
of life 
as they break
one by one
upon my shore.

They surge, 
I sail!

© Jennifer Phillips (All rights reserved)

© Jennifer Phillips

Daisy

Daisy © Jennifer Phillips

Negative thinking

Negative thoughts

can trap you

as effectively

as fish in a net.

They cast a grey film

over the day - 

spilled oil on dirty water.

Joyful moments

dissolve too fast

in the iridescent slick.

Yet, thoughts

can set you free.

You have peace,

when you make it with yourself.

© Jennifer Phillips (All rights reserved)

Oil slick © US Coast Guard

Blissful yearning

Tell a wise person, or else keep silent,

because the mass man will mock it right away.

I praise what is truly alive,

what longs to be burned to death.

In the calm water of the love-nights,

where you were begotten, where you have begotten,

a strange feeling comes over you,

when you see the silent candle burning.

Now you are no longer caught

in the obsession with darkness,

and a desire for higher love-making

sweeps you upward.

Distance does not make you falter.

Now, arriving in magic, flying,

and finally, insane for the light,

you are the butterfly and you are gone.

And so long as you haven't experienced 

this: to die and so to grow,

you are only a troubled guest

on the dark earth.

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Candle - Copyright Free Images

Dawn

Maybe I had to be broken down

these years, to truly open up.

To fully grasp what's real

and what's important.

To know truth 

and accept that

all that dwells inside

is all that matters.

There is truth in a kiss, 

in the pools of eyes,

the gentle caress.

There, lies cannot hide.

So, burdened and weary, 

we will lay down our loads, 

with gladness on our souls - 

and face a new dawn.

© Jennifer Phillips (All rights reserved)

Dawn - Copyright Free Images

Sing

Follow link to YouTube recording.

Sing, sing, sing, sing...

Find myself stuck in a daydream. 

Sometimes my life’s not what I thought it be. 

I want just to laugh and be happy.

It all melts away, and nothing turns green. 

Running through motions in life, 

looking for some kind of sign.

Oh my friend, I’ll be fine. 

 Dust off the pages, and move forward. 

I’m holding out hope that my song’s not been sung, 

and sing, sing at the top of my lungs:

La, la, la, la da. La, la, la, la, la da. 

Sometimes the best thing 

that you can do is sing.

All of the world starts to fade. 

Looking ahead - I can’t see my way. 

Two paths collide and I’m chasing 

time like a clock, but it never stops.

Running through motions in life, 

looking for some kind of sign.

Oh my friend, I’ll be fine.  

Dust off the pages, and move forward.

I'm holding out hope that my song's not been sung

and sing, sing at the top of my lungs:

La, la, la, la da. La, la, la, la, la da. 

Sometimes the best thing 

that you can do is sing.

Sing, sing, sing, sing (repeated).

by Shelly Fraley

© Shelly Fraley

The scent of her neck

The scent of her neck-

a tea of dry flowers

now desire moistened

and demanding

the ransom be met-

deliverance of lips 

drought dusted,

plunge, lick 

and tasted deeply 

as dark pools 

beneath shade trees 

of bodies bent

like a river.

© "Neon Veil" (All rights reserved) 

River, King Valley VIC © Jennifer Phillips

Define your future

"There are things in your life that might suck, be awful and challenging. 

You don't have to pretend they don't exist, but you can't dwell on them. 

They can define your past, but they shouldn't define your future."

by Robert Hoge

Meditation

thirty seconds short of a miracle

reminds the world

to keep me on my toes

forget it's a poem it's

life everlasting and what would 

you give for life everlasting

i am a cracker breaking into

the crumbs of what i am, fit for a journey

through a thousand carnivorous years

remember me the way you first glimpsed me

through the wrong end of the telescope

that's me in the distance, my hand in yours

shut the door the thing out there

that was us will go away

and let us remember what

a privilege it was to bless this 

space that was our duty

to keep busy with being 

by Mike Finley

The journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice –

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do –

determined to save

the only life you could save.

by Mary Oliver

Pathway © Jennifer Phillips

To feel strong

"The sea's only gifts are harsh blows and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now, I don't know much about the sea but I do know that that's the way it is here, and I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions - facing the blind deaf stone alone with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head."

From the movie "Into the Wild" - Sean Penn (screenplay), Jon Krakauer (book)

Sea © Jennifer Phillips

Cyclamens

Cyclamens © Jennifer Phillips

Heirloom

Follow link to music

You try your hardest to leave the past alone.

This crooked posture is all you’ve ever known.

It is the consequence of living in between

the weight of family and the pull of gravity.

You are so much more than your father’s son.

You are so much more than what I’ve become.

Long before you were born there was light

hidden deep in these young, unfamiliar eyes.

A million choices, though little on their own,

become the heirloom of the heaviness you’ve known.

You are so much more than your father’s son.

You are so much more than what I’ve become,

what I've become,

what I’ve become.

You pressed rewind

for the thousandth time

when the tapes wore through.

So you memorised

those unscripted lines,

desperate for some kind of clue:

When the scale tipped,

when you inherited

a fight that you were born to lose.

It’s not your fault,

no, it’s not your fault,

I put this heavy heart in you.

I put this heavy heart in you.

You remind me of who I could have been,

had I been stronger and braver way back then.

A million choices, though little on their own,

became the heirloom of the heaviness we’ve known.

You are so much more than your father’s son.

You are so much more than the wars you’ve won.

You are so much more than your father’s son.

You are so much more than what I’ve become.

by Ryan O’Neal (Sleeping at Last)

First day of my life

This is the first day of my life, 

I swear I was born right in the doorway.

I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed, 

they're spreading blankets on the beach.

Yours is the first face that I saw.

I think I was blind before I met you.

Now I don’t know where I am,  

I don’t know where I’ve been, 

but I know where I want to go.

And so I thought I’d let you know

that these things take forever.

I especially am slow, 

but I realize that I need you, 

and I wondered if I could come home.

Remember the time you drove all night

just to meet me in the morning?

And I thought it was strange you said everything changed.

You felt as if you'd just woke up, 

and you said: “This is the first day of my life. 

I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you,  

but now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you

and I’d probably be happy”.

So if you want to be with me, 

with these things there’s no telling

We just have to wait and see.

But I’d rather be working for a paycheck

than waiting to win the lottery.

Besides maybe this time is different, 

I mean I really think you like me.

by Bright Eyes

Doorway - Copyright Free Images

Love, like rain

"Love, like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive."

by Mitch Albom in "The five people you meet in Heaven"

Rainbow near Rutherglen - VIC © Jennifer Phillips

After a while

After a while you learn

the subtle difference between

holding a hand and chaining a soul, 

and you learn

that love doesn’t mean leaning

and company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn

that kisses aren’t contracts

and presents aren’t promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes ahead

with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child.

And you learn

to build all your roads on today

because tomorrow’s ground is

too uncertain for plans, 

and futures have a way of falling down

in mid-flight.

After a while you learn

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul

instead of waiting for someone

to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure, 

you really are strong, 

you really do have worth, 

and you learn

and you learn

with every goodbye, you learn…

by Veronica A. Shoffstall

I don't like Mondays

Follow link to YouTube recording.

The silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload

And nobody's gonna go to school today

She's going to make them stay at home

And daddy doesn't understand it

He always said she was good as gold

And he can see no reasons, 'cause there are no reasons

What reason do you need to be shown?

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

I want to shoot the whole day down

The telex machine is kept so clean and it types to a waiting world

And mother feels so shocked

Father's world is rocked

And their thoughts turn to their own little girl

Sweet 16 ain't that peachy keen

No, it ain't so neat to admit defeat

They can see no reasons 'cause there are no reasons

What reasons do you need

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

I want to shoot the whole day down, down, down, shoot it all down

And all the playing has stopped in the playground now

She wants to play with the toys of war

And school's out early and soon we'll be learning

That the lesson today is how to die

And then the bullhorn crackles

And the captain cackles with the problems and the hows and whys

And he can see no reasons 'cause there are no reasons

What reason do you need to die, die?

And the silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload

And nobody's gonna go to school today

She's going to make them stay at home

Her daddy doesn't understand it

He always said she was good as gold

And he can see no reasons 'cause there are no reasons

What reason do you need to be shown?

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like, I don't like, (Tell me why?) I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like, I don't like, (Tell me why?) I don't like Mondays

Tell me why?

I don't like Mondays

I want to shoot the whole day down

by The Boomtown Rats

Bob Geldof

A majority

Insomnia

I have lain awake

sucking at the roots

of slumber, greedy for

oblivion's sweet draught, 

seeking a dream.

Instead, memories

cascade shadows

across my soul

in the dark, they flash

entreaty or retreat.

Emotions burn and wheel

in demented concert,

reality is not oblivion

but grasping at 

some ideal.

© Jennifer Phillips (All rights reserved)

Tree roots - Copyright free images

Alpha or Omega

Caught in the amber light 

of an accidental photograph-

her eyes are captured

dying suns. 

The strange reflection

of her heart

to a stranger

surrenders a secret 

retreat 

or entreaty. 

Yes?

© "Neon Veil" (All rights reserved)

"It is about a photo I saw of a woman. Her eyes looked ancient-- either really tired (retreating) or looking for meaning/love (entreating) so it was either a beginning or an ending for the speaker."

On creativity

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

by Martha Graham

Someone like you

I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.

Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,

Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead"

You know how the time flies
Only yesterday was the time of our lives
We were born and raised
In a summer haze
Bound by the surprise of our glory days

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I'd hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."

by Adele

Adele

We speak

After the storm

we speak 

small words.

A delicate dance

skirting the issues

that lie too deep

to convey.

So we say

not what 

we really think

but just enough

for comfort to resume.

Our silence 

speaks instead.

© Jennifer Phillips (All rights reserved)

After the storm © Jennifer Phillips

Darling

The days fall out of your pockets one after the other.

Soon you'll need a new jacket with tougher leather

and seams no one has felt. Soon you'll bring

the old books into your bed and sleep easy

and alone. It must be December again.

This must be the part of the story where you

refuse to say how the bodies you've walked toward

continue walking in you. With heavy black boots

in a calm procession of darling and honey —

they walk up and down the narrow streets of your heart.

by Alex Dimitrov

My bookcase © Jennifer Phillips

Loving strangers

Loving strangers, loving strangers,

loving strangers, oh... [repeated x 2]

I've got a hole in my pocket

where all the money has gone.

I've got a whole lot of work

to do with your heart

cause it's so busy, mine's not.

Loving strangers, loving strangers,

loving strangers, oh... [repeated x2]

It's just the start of the winter, 

and I'm all alone

but I've got my eye right on you.

Give me a coin, and I'll take you to the moon...

Now give me a bill, and I'll kiss you so foolishly,

like you do when you lie, when you're not in my thoughts,

like you do when you lie, and I know it's not my imagination.

Loving strangers, loving strangers,

loving strangers, oh... [repeated x2]

by Lourdes Hernández González, aka Russian Red

Lourdes Hernández González

This song features on the rather good movie: "Room in Rome".

In Blackwater woods

Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars

of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,

the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders

of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is

nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned

in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side

is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.

  

by Mary Oliver

Daylesford Lake © Jennifer Phillips

Take my hand

"Take my hand and grow young with me; don't rush; don't sleep; be a beginner; light the candles; keep the fire; dare to love someone; tell yourself the truth; stay inside the rapture."

by Marlena de Blasi in "A Thousand Days in Venice"

Near Glenrowan

Near Glenrowan, VIC © Jennifer Phillips

Pilgrimage

The moon is the host

dipped in the blood

of the chalice 

religio ad postremum

et finem Dei

and their lies,

the beginning of truth

full of dreams. 

Amen, soul-sailor, amen

steer through the starry

toothed night-

swallow the orb,

commune with the sea,

slay the hurricane,

and unleash the answer. 

As was in the beginning

is now and forever will be-

Love. 

© "Neon Veil" (All rights reserved) 

Moon © Jennifer Phillips