Approaching a clearing in the mind,
Open and vulnerable to the elements
Alone and free, experimentation is a natural path

Burdens lift from shoulders, floating overhead
Paper crumpled in the hands of divinity
Blown away on the whispered promises of better things to come

Sanctity swells around the feet like a fog
Wandering through fallen leaves, memories discarded with no value
Rustles roll to thunderous applause

Eyes open, head tilts to the heavens
View unadulterated, comprehension unhindered
Empty sky, so simple now

Peace sinks heavy through constricted nerves,
An old home, vacant for so long
Senses overwhelmed, must pause for reflection

Past plugged into socket stars,
Space seems less distant now,
A dashboard of cause and effect

Eyes adjust, nature's palette returns again,
Forest thickens, clearing closing in
Experience a buried fossil, waiting rediscovery

Crusading through veins like a chariot
Crescendo due, but wave fails to topple
'Till finally
Exploding heart leaves a lasting impression in the sky

Orbital beat progresses to white noise
Strata indistinguishable yet so familiar
Pause
Tunnel ends, precipitation returns

Old words, new meaning
Touched by context, light and shadow realign
Mood fitting
A gesture to ever-changing thoughts

Destination altered, switch rail
Distinct terrain yet of the same earth
Openly private
Comedy or tragedy, opinion divides

Aches unsoothed, request repeat prescription
Anticipation climbs, summit in sight
Air thins
Could this be the end?

While our thoughtfully-placed chips may win when the coloured wheel slows,
The ball spins on, absent of profound meaning or motivation.

We save the world just for drama's sake,
As even the Joneses gasp for breath to keep up.

Through dusty glass, from the comfort of couches,
Where scholars would once have taught, we claim to learn.

Following signs in the night I never would in the day,
I find the conclusion - the only candid love is that of this moment.

Fixated on the clockwise wobble of a fan overhead, I laugh with solace -
Newly aware that our most intimate of moments,
Seemingly so personal between two individual minds,
Are merely echoes from the shackles of biology and society.

12 pages turned since that seminal moment,
I close this sunlit jamjar, arresting unresolved issues from the air.
In ****** battle for a monopoly on knowledge, the message filtered through,
That understanding is worthless without doing and being.

And what have we done with our time on earth?
Too much and not enough.

What a wonder,
Lost in the hills
Trudging and slipping
Through mud and snow.

Ninety minutes,
A dozen dogs,
One and a half 'caches,
A single candid horse.

Racing to beat the sun,
I find a sack and a tub.
I'm happier than mother, though -
Left with a rather muddy rug.

I arrived anonymous,
Mother's tongue raising no eyebrows in this town of travellers.

Settling together in our disparate roles,
We gingerly trade skills and share tales.

Our alien conventions lack legitimacy here,
A tender fog cushioning idiosyncrasies.

In hometowns,
Once-tranquil homes become restless.

But in this enclave,
Foreigners feather new nests.

...Until Basel is where we belong.

A gift for the host, my permission to land -
Champagne for sunrise, as could only have been planned.

The all-night lock-in; whispering late, the breakfast date.
Just smalltown lust, but why give it up for drama’s sake?

Months from now, all will be said and done,
Fresh appetite earned, from ballads tearily sung.

And I’ll search white noise again for something special,
Until passing faces burst into beautiful blooms...

No matter how improbable.