Pale leaves fall silently in the dead of winter
I realise I have lived far too long
I was once a bold and outgoing singer
but no longer has life left me any single song-

in the night's thickest snow I wander
the heartless winds they blow loud and strong
tears of forlorn love on icy rocks they flounder
in this chilling hour I weep,  to none do I belong

In response to a Post by someone:

'Eckhart Tolle, after 27 years of acute depression, overcame this, in a state of bliss in ONE DAY. Is that possible?'

We are unhappy as we hold ourselves too seriously, too tightly, too selfishly, too judgementally.

In Zen and Taoism, we get rid of our ego, we don’t have fixated thinking, we accept life in all its facets—joy and sorrow, the pleasant and unpleasant—-we follow the flow of life and don’t fight against it. In our centred-ness, we hold our equilibrium in equanimity.

Ingredients making for happiness and sane living, in any culture, are fundamentally the same:

acceptance, kindness and compassion, love, generosity, simplicity, humility, patience, insight, forbearance, magnanimity, forgiveness, humour and in adoration of the transcendental, the divine and all that which is beautiful and life-enhancing.

This is a lifelong journey—we don’t need to lean on any person or their thinking.

ET has many critics, but also a huge following-
it shows the extent of existential angst of so many people in our anxious, restless and confused world.

But we walk away

when life still  holds more-

indeed every day-

for us to explore

Winter is not yet

autumn hasn't gone to sleep

she has memories to keep

Be patient, wait, listen, be still, be kind, think of others more than your own self, give a smile to everyone, drink your coffee and thank the barista, tip the waitress, donate $10 to the Red Cross, buy a rose for your wife, read a poem of Keats, listen to a piece of Mozart and be grateful you are blessed

Don't let it

get you down*

whether it's tomorrow

or the moment now-



still is my heart

whether events delight or frown

to faith I dearly hold

I'm unshaken on my very ground

I do just the possible
I don't need to sparkle

Short sentences do me well

I don't labour over what to tell

You can't rush
into your inner sanctum
demanding an answer
its sacredness you'd defile
and be left bereft, no better-

enter humbly you must
in purity of soul and heart
its door will gladly welcome
of you it'll be a willing part-

your dreams it will readily hug
the veil will then be lifted
never again would you
be left abandoned
in the lonely dark.

You must do your thing

and as for me,  mine

but if our paths do ever meet

that would be really fine

Let us mend ourselves first

before we can reach out to others

I am a humanist.

Like John Keats, I don't have a religion
but these words of his touched me profoundly:

“I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the Truth of the imagination.”

He died in spiritual doubt but seemed to believe in immortality.

I prefer a biological extinction---
all that I have felt and experienced in my life is enough--
why would I need another life?

My last 6 words will be:  It is just this---no more

I'll hold faithfully to silence

words -they don't solace confer-

the heart feels its mysterious radiance

the truth of life it will richly discover

Freedom in the air

early flight of birds in cheer

heralds in new day

Should I not

or should I?

and do I

know why?

No time for lament

to the heart beauty beckons

flowers smile in fields

Am I not more

the cause of my own suffering

than that occasioned by

others or any other human being?

We will all grow old one day

and many are at this stage already

the hours are rushing away

slipping into the edge of eternity



but solace your love shall give me

my heart weeps and the right words I can't say

I recall our days of youth we spent so rapturously

to sleep in peace now is all that I should pray

The genius doesn't have

         the skills of the plumber

         when your toilet is stuck

          you'd choose the latter

I've no reason to frown

just because something doesn't suit me

I'd not offend anyone who's around

that would be travesty!

Silence in the room

music, books and coffee

such great company

He said to me:

let's have a conversation--

I should let you know beforehand

with regard to opinions, I am very stubborn

I swim in a stream in a faraway forest known to none.  I found it in my youth and kept it a deep secret.  I know I have been selfish--it's too good to be shared.

I know if there were another person with me, we would talk and break the sacred silence and solitude of the place.

This is my retreat, my sanctuary, my little slice of heaven...
If I were dying the next day, I will have another swim there--
I would have touched the edge of eternity and die content and happy upon the morrow.

Some will like you

others, perhaps not

if you like yourself- you can keep

everyone else from your thought

If I should want

let it not exceed

the number of fingers

on my one hand

I see better

when I walk away

from the self

I was yesterday

Join me in the dance

with fulness of soul and heart

to last beyond time

I am neither

pro nor con

either leads me nowhere

only openness I stand upon

Though I'm walking away

in my heart you I will yet bear

perchance we'll meet again in some day

you'll still find me the same there

Lone sunset figure

walking home after the plough

watched by sky and trees

I was there

here I am now

nothing has changed

no 'somehow'



but the heart's purity

to which I bow

love draws us closer

l'll never let you down

Sometimes I don't need

either wine, coffee or tea

I just want to lie down

and enjoy being just me

Don't struggle, be supple

know your limits, be humble

you succeed in bending

without any fighting

so passive is water

when it strikes--everything it does conquer

You can walk away  

  it's not too late

  lest this friendship

   you later regret

Before I can reach out to others

I must be able to reach within me

the foundation must precede the building

only this will make for my credulity

Simplify, simplify, simplify

don't take life or yourself too seriously

you don't need wisdom to acquire happiness

trust yourself and believe the universe is not against you

you need people--be kind to all

cultivate love, compassion, humility, contentment and gratitude

accept life has joy and also sorrow

embrace all things noble and beautiful

embrace humour and live in the moment

The past is a dream
memories are carried in the river
ah, love where are you?
why do you still wander?

Soon night will set in
my heart loneliness will cover
by the water I stand in reverie lost
I am the unrequited lover.

We should be light and empty.

Isn't death so much relief in its nothingness?

Because I love life, death to me is only a metaphor

......but I am into the moment and don't think whether I am happy or not--- happiness is but a word-- meaning is found in my engagement with what's required of me by the moment.  I enjoy doing 'my thing', in my silence, unnoticed---it's just me in deepest absorption--time I forget, even my self.

If I have applied my best, in honesty and earnestly,  perhaps I would realise that state but I don't go around seeking the elusive happiness

The heart is woodland

deepest mysteries it holds

it sings and it weeps

It would be a lie
if I were to promise
what I can't give-

would that be love
or but a sham
a blemished gift?

My words would never fit--
but none of us does any wrong
neither do we need to forgive-

cast in fate's unyielding stone
are these words: ' Love is illusive-
remember as long as you live'.

In meditation

my being is anchored

upon emptiness

which contains all that is needed

It's most worrying

when words begin

to betray or distort

the mind's intended meaning

I've slept too long

      no more the slumber

      life's next song

      is springing to my ear--



      beauty will never do any wrong

      as bouquets of wonder she sets to gather

      with love and rejoicing in music's throng

      life doesn't die--it will live forever

About others we can sometimes be curious

but we should never be life-detectives -that's odious!

I wondered first as a child

I next wondered when I came to my youth

I wondered further in my middle-age

life was with me but it didn't often soothe



and now in my dying days

I wonder why I should have wondered

should have left behind the rude lacuna--

much of life borders upon the absurd

The doctor knows his medicine

but the heart he can't heal

life is hardly about reason

infinitely more about how to feel.

I am not out (truthfully)

for the trophy

that would indeed be

a ****** part of me

Do not seek in me

your image of what I am

I have flaws too many

for me to deny would be a sham-



come then, if me you can accept

come of your own free will, I should not implore

such that we would neither have cause to regret

and will cherish our affection more, much, much more

Do you remember
do you remember
that autumn day
when we first met
faraway by the gentle lake?

still was the water
silent were the trees
to me was your whisper:
I'll not forget
today's tender splendour
stay, oh stay
it's not sunset yet...

Now all alone
the lake is a reminder
of the day you've chosen
not to remember

yet I look
at the silent water
and your face
still does appear---

I'll walk away
and learn
not to remember