Friday, December 30, 2011

to sail beyond the sunset


Here are some photos of the sunset on Christmas Eve. I stand on this temporary shoreline and observe the passing of another day and am reminded of the people no longer here. Mind you, there's a fair chance I would have been on my own here anyway, but now these people are no longer at home when I get back and I am unable to reach them by telephone. I have my memories of them and they also make an occasional appearance in dreams, which seems an appropriate place to catch up with those who have gone. I also have to consider that whatever I have lost, it has been a worse year for many other people. There are all these plans for the future and all the time in the world but the time runs out unexpectedly one day.

The sea uncovers the remains of a ship, another hope foundered and was abandoned to the incoming tide. What have we learnt from this loss? The wise king Canute has somehow been misrepresented as foolish by history when he seemed to be demonstrating against the sea to "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws." and if there isn't then no matter, for whatever net you may try to throw over the universe to contain it makes no difference in the end when you should already know the reason and the answer.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

sailing the songs of forever
on eternitys flowing tide
trailing through existance
on a sense of all inside
rising like a tempest
from the small into the great
weaving through a heart
where eternitys embraced
chasing through the caverns
where the motions draw
pushing through the rocks
filling everything with awe
pulling on the moments
swirling through all time
a pathway through the universe
carved upon the mind

..peace..

have a poem john,,,,and some deep respects.....neil

john said...

Thanks Neil. The poem's great and much appreciated. I always think how nice it is that folk leave such good comments and, like you, share their talents. All the best for the new year to you Neil. I hope it will be a good one for you. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

thanks john,,,you always lay out a good atmosphere over here,the pictures are great,and the words always calming,,to be honest its difficult to not write a poem or think for a little while....

you have a fantastic new year aswell john and I'm looking forward to all of your posts

.....neil

john said...

Thanks Neil. You're very welcome. i don't know about anybody else but we've had a really mild winter here so far. I was out the other night and it's not even very cold at night at the moment. I've had colder nights in the summer. Gales and storm tomorrow maybe, a good time to pick up seaweed.

nobody said...

More like this please John. It's very good. The only change I'd make is to have more text interspersed with the pix. Oh wait, that's how I'd do it if it was my blog. I thought it sounded familiar.

Otherwise, P's been taking some nice pix over at her place. Have you seen?

reem said...

Nice .queit christmas evening ..beautifull photos John ,i like the first three photos ,the coulors of the sky ,the gentle sea ,all of that help you to feel comfortable ,i think you haven't got snowy days yet , well i guess this seems bad for this winter ,anyway we all hope good rainy snowy winter ,in my town the weather is very cold but dry too no rain no snow untill now .2011 what can we say about this bad year ,it was the worst for many people ,countries ,much blood ,killed ,there is much bad events and no one knows the real reasons ,there're many bad news from my town ,,strikes at gunpoint ,,some demonstrations paid ,killed ,abduction for money , in Damascus explosions ,college student opened fire on five of his colleagues at the university during exam ,whay ? he is not agreed with them ,this revolution if we can call it like that ,it has turned some people into monsters ,Syria was very very safe country ,now we don't feel that .

Again i'm chaty ..........i think you feel lonly sad John ,i can know that through your words ,yes it's hard to loss people who we love ,people who are special in our life ,to back home to find no one ,waiting for us ,mybe they gone but i believe they can feel us and they can know if we are happy ,sad ,tired ,but we can't do that ....they are living in our hearts ...it's new year and we hope the best ......still beautifull life and things will get better ,at less ,we have somethings to do .Happy new year again John and enjoy your time .

john said...

Hi Nobody. Yes I have been seeing P2Ps recent photos and just had another look as more have been going up, very good indeed, it's always interesting to see the world through P's lens and it looks as if she has had plenty to photograph recently. The earlier ones are of Rome I think but the later ones look slightly further away than that.

What surprises me is the amount of colour. The forests and the land seem very vibrant and there is much in the nature there that is very beautiful, even the wood has a beautiful colour and as for the birds. I thought I caught a glimpse of a familiar wrist but there you go. What an extraordinary looking place, the landscape seems to dream itself. Hope all good.

john said...

Choukran Reem and thanks. Yes it does seem that revolution will turn some people into monsters. There seems a great push to get people to revolt. Here in Europe I think such things are also quite possible. Although we have had a relatively peaceful few decades we only have to observe our own recent history to see how bad things can rapidly become here. Much of it is out of our control, but at the very least we are better informed nowadays about the reasons these things come about.

All ok here really. I miss my Dad and The Maids Dad too but feel sorrier for both the Mothers. My Mum was married for over fifty years, it has been much harder on her than she has let on. Still life goes on and we get on with it and as you say there is much that is beautiful, you only have to see P2Ps photos to see this and there is still much to be thankful for. Cheers for now Reem and thanks for your kind words.

john said...

Oh I forgot to say the weather is still extremely mild. Last night I had no heating on and it still doesn't feel cold. This time last year we had deep snow. We have had some unusually strong winds here though, today being no exception. The other day we had 84mph winds recorded just down the coast. The other night I stood out in the garden to listen to the telephone wires singing, the chimney moans and blows in and out, even the catflap has been flapping without the cat. Anyway, it's high tide soon so I better get out. Cheers.

reem said...

Every things is ok ,nice to hear that from you and life realy still beautifull ,fifty years ,it's long time and it's hard for your mother to loss your dad ,take care her John and i'm sure you do .....

I'm sorry about thus bad events in Syria but i believe in my country and i am not pessimistic ,i pray and hope to end all of that very soon .


Mybe it's strang weather for this year ,is it ? winter means foggy rainy snowy days that's fantastice ..oh how much i miss all of that .

Have a good time .

nobody said...

Hullo John - P is an industrious girl and continues posting pix. A fine eye indeed. Otherwise the colour is different this year what with El Nino having ended and La Nina being in ascendance. Global warming? Or the usual climate cycles of the Pacific Ocean? I got my money on the latter.

Anyway, doubtless the photos will continue to go up, familiar wrists and all, and you can see how it goes there.

Ciao Ciao,

n

And regards to the maid.

john said...

Hullo again Nobody and thanks, I will pass on your regards to The Maid. Last year was one of those years where so much seemed to go wrong, it just didn't seem to end. I'll look forward to popping over to P's place and looking at the photos, they have been very good. Talking of industrious I must get my finger out. Have we got a new haiku picture up yet? or are you still out there somewhere? I should go and have a look really but it's getting late here now and I should get off. Hope the transport is behaving itself. Cheers for now.

john said...

Cheers Reem. I try to take care of my mum as much as I can. Yesterday was the first anniversary of my dads passing, so an upsetting time as I still miss him a lot.

I follow events in Syria as well as I can though a lot of what we get here seems increasingly to be propaganda. I don't like the way it's being reported and worry about the way things are going. I am glad that you have such faith in your country and also hope that the Syrian people can find a way through this. I hate to see all the trouble and violence. I think there is much external pressure being put on Syria.

The weather has been unusually warm this winter, plenty of fog and rain though no snow down here so far.

cheers for now