• Bodhisattvacharyavatara
    • Introduction
    • Chapter 1
    • Chapter 2
    • Chapter 3
    • Chapter 4
    • Chapter 5
    • Chapter 6
    • Chapter 7
    • Chapter 8
    • Chapter 9
    • Chapter 10
  • collected works
    • 25th August 1981 – count Up
    • askance From Hell
    • Batman
    • The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford
    • Bob 1995-2012
    • Edward Hopper: Poems at an Exhibition
    • David Bowie Movements in Suite Major
    • Eglinton Hill
    • FLOORBOARDS
    • Granada
    • in and out / the Avebury stones / can’t seem to get / a signal …
    • Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters]
    • Miller’s Batman
    • mum
    • nan
    • Portsmouth – Southsea
    • Spring Warwick breezes / over Bacharach fieldwork and boroughs with / the occasional shift and chirp of David / in the pastel-long morning of the sixties
    • through the crash
  • index
    • #A-E see!
    • F–K, wha’ th’
    • L-P 33 1/3 rpm
    • Q-T pie
    • U-Z together forever
  • me
  • others
    • William Carlos Williams
  • poemics
  • poeviews
  • teaching matters
  • wormholes

mlewisredford

~ may the Supreme and Precious Jewel Bodhichitta take birth where it has not yet done so …

mlewisredford

Tag Archives: discipline

on facing the Have

01 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2018, 7*, being, block, blue, bone, cause and effect, change, choice, clothes, clouds, Darwin, death, depth, discipline, doing, dream, drifting, economics, emerald, extermination, faces, government, green, grey, hats, Have, head, hills, hinge, humanity, identity, iron, kiss, life, loss, making, mud, music, neck, peacock, photography, power, quotidian, river, roof, settlement, shadow, Shrewsbury, slow, society, statue, stone, streets, tectonic plates, time, trees, violence, walls, war, watching, water, woman, World War, writing

                bone to stone drifting
                catastrophic slow

                lee to face-ward drifting
                shadow to quotidian

                suggesting life
                only when settled

                under branch of roof;
                noticeable change

                comes at the price
                of sheild and pike:

                death-mask disciplined
                to the painted face

                open to the very depth
                of loss, later settled

                to economies of
                plea, barter and

                proliferation of fact
                artisaned superfluous

                to being – faces fixed
                in leer the rest of

                born days, where
                animals are skinned

                under abnegated face,
                where stone walls

                turn green, staining
                clothing and where the

                emerald poise of head
                and neck watches

                the peck of open flay, all
                “exterminated by

                 slow acting and still
                 existing causes …”

                … time begins
                to tick – well it had to

                start somewhere – and
                with time cometh writing

                and with writing the
                topography fades from

                hill-wide face to
                pock-mark street and settlement

                all fitted ingeniously
                with raised wall over arch,

                high to unresolved descant
                always left in minor;

                the woman bends
                to the laundry before

                the rush of water
                released from the mill:

                power is only explicit
                when blocked and

                channelled, tree to
                gable with date

                and signature, silk
                to valence with

                drape of repose and spreading peacock dream;
                so, is there choice

                of governance: cut
                through from neck to child;

                you stay unnatural-still
                your image will be caught,

                you turn, and your
                head will disappear,

                you climb the wall
                and stand still, you

                stay in the mud yard
                and stand still, … only

                hats stay constant, cast-
                iron flanges reach

                from cast-circular
                hinges, woven to corset,

                slave to youth; the
                memorial stone,

                painfully-carved,
                reflects the blue

                of grey cloud, under
                posts of wire

                the death-etched
                face stoops to kiss

                the face of
                wholly mud

 

291218 – spent the afternoon at the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery to tread time from immemorial to the First World War; the quote is from “Thinking Path” by Shirley Chubb (2004), an exhibition that explores the life and legacy of Charles Darwin, an artwork and series of installations inspired by Darwin’s daily ritual of walking the same path at Down House; “Shadow Stories”, an animated short film by Samantha Moore is not directly referenced but weaves about the whole perambulation; references include the Roman conquest, medieval, Civil War, and industrial exhibits, up to the Open Art Exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

being & clouds & doing & identity & power wormhole: The Passage of the St. Gothard, 1804
blue & woman wormhole: SPRING AND ALL XI by William Carlos Williams
change & streets wormhole: to let be
death wormhole: What You Are by Roger McGough
dream wormhole: THURSDAY by William Carlos Williams
economics & society & walls & war wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford – Trees
faces wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford – With Cows
green & shadow & trees & writing wormhole: Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – pageant of the trees
grey & time wormhole: La Route de Louveciennes, 1870
Have wormhole: SPRING AND ALL VI by William Carlos Williams
life wormhole: ‘… and yet I think I am so modest: …’
music wormhole: JANUARY by William Carlos Williams
river wormhole: quiet river
roof wormhole: breakfast
stone wormhole: early // Minoan & Mycenaean Exhibitions in the British Museum – diptych
water wormhole: SPRING AND ALL I by William Carlos Williams

 

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true nature

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

2016, adult, balance, being, discipline, doing, dwelling, flower, hidden, identity, importance, love, naïveté, nurture, obligation, self, talking to myself, true nature, vague, variation

 

 

 

                                                                true nature

                                   of my personality, true nature
                                   of my self: to be vaguely and
                                   variously focussed on event

                                   mostly missing what is seen
                                   important and dwelling lovingly
                                   with what is hidden in plain view;

                                   since I have become the adult,
                                   as obliged, I have learnt to
                                   override my naïveté with

                                   dead discipline; my naïveté
                                   is a slight flowering of my true
                                   nature, it should be nurtured

                                   in order for ‘my’ to dwell in
                                   my own true true ‘self’ … or
                                   maybe I just haven’t being

                                   my true self all that skilfully?
                                   I haven’t done wrong, I just
                                   haven’t balanced all that well

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

balance wormhole: always
being wormhole: through
doing wormhole: just saying, is all IV: // lost
identity & talking to myself wormhole: and that’s where I are
love wormhole: Quiver of / Tiffany – poewieview #20
naïveté wormhole: because
obligation wormhole: the lines are not that straight / after all

 

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grrr

03 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2012, anger, breathing, discipline, feeling, identity, mind, poem, posture, sitting, talking to myself, thinking, writing

 

 

 

                      grrr – must sit down and be
                           disciplined and correct and not move
                      arggh – focus on breathing
                           not let the mind wander
                      aghh – I’m being angry
                           stupid stupid regain
                      nooo – I’m writing a poem
                           … oh, no I’m not

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

breathing wormhole: offer the victory and accept the defeat
identity wormhole: 50 mph
mind & thinking wormhole: Soir Bleu, 1914
posture wormhole: sit / and move
sitting wormhole: my way
talking to myself wormhole: [s]
writing wormhole: when / ever

 

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before // writing?

07 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2013, angle, attention, being, breathing, discipline, listening, looking, questioning, seeing, shift, waiting, wind, writing

 

 

 

                                what is
                the discipline of writing
                is it waiting for the wind to shift gaze
                                to unknown angles there to soar
                                or alight elsewhere

                                or is it
                to breathe everything I hear
                and see everything I feel before I put pen to paper
                                and during and
                                after I writing?

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

attention wormhole: gently straighten
being & writing wormhole: my beauty
breathing wormhole: the stance of Buscema // qualitatively
listening wormhole: library: start where you are IV // all the distance I have travelled!
looking wormhole: I love with all the history and lack of perfections at our command
seeing wormhole: up here
waiting wormhole: purpose
wind wormhole: hot summer / morning

 

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tag cloud poem V – draft-ness

22 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1960s, 1970s, 2*, 2014, abandonment, America, being, Dad, dancing, Daredevil, dark, daughter, dawn, death, dedication, defeat, democracy, depression, desert, dialectic, discipline, disempowerment, distraction, divorce, dog, doing, doors, doubt, dream, dress, drips, dust, dwelling, identity, individualism, love, politics, poverty, tag cloud poem, wind, world

 

 

 

                                                                                                                Dad dancing daredevil
                                                                                                dark daughter dawn
                                                                                                                           DC death dedication

 

                                                                                 defeat democracy depression
                                                                                 desert dialectic discipline
                           disempowerment distraction divorce

 

dog doing        doors
                                                                              doubt dream dress
                                                                                              drips dust dwelling

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

abandonment & Dad wormhole: the sounds the difficulty and the long long strands of liquorice
being & identity & wind wormhole: the en-gentled / end of a wan / writing retreat
dancing wormhole: Do Nothing Usually / Take Everything Regularly / Consider It All Clearly / And Step Aside It Waltzingly
Daredvil wormhole: Daredevil: Born Again (1987)
daughter wormhole: t w e n t y f i r s t c e n t u r y l i f e
dawn wormhole: the library, / you know …
dedication wormhole: let
depression wormhole: really
disempowerment wormhole: I don’t think I could do it anymore
distraction wormhole: may the supreme and precious jewel bodhichitta … // … take birth where it has not yet done so … // … where it has taken birth may it not decrease … // … but may it increase infinitely
divorce wormhole: what to do
dog wormhole: … still waving!
doing wormhole: ‘til death do us part
doors wormhole: multifarious: the Dark Knight Returns (1986)
doubt wormhole: transition
dream wormhole: the edges of my reach
love & politics wormhole: just saying, is all – III
tag cloud poem wormhole: tag cloud poem IV – C
world wormhole: my life is not your market

 

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Child of Illusion

30 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

2012, 6*, being, career, discipline, doing, experience, identity, life, LoJong, pointlessness, retreat, settling, significance, sitting, society, talking to myself, treasure

 

 

 

                                                                                    my
                                                                      fundamental
                                                   experience
                                of life
                is being
                insignificant
it is the one experience I cannot abide in all its different guises and identities

                                it galvanises my endeavour
                                in life
                I have spent a whole lie
                                looking for significance to be significant
                                in order to prove that I am not insignificant

                and as I get older
I find that my attempts
                                and whole campaigns for significance
                are not what I’d hoped
                                                   finding that I am after all
                                insignificant
                that I cannot achieve significance and
had never got closer to significance through any of my works
                                no matter how hard I’ve cried

                                my bottom line:
                I am insignificant
and this is also my treasure all along
                                what a relief
                leave me alone

                                                   my life has rendered me into retreat
                                no one listens
                                no one notices
                which I have resisted and resented all my life
                                I cannot hold responsibility
I have nothing to contribute to that woe and decline (that anyone wants)
                                                   there is
                                no career
                or role for Mark Redford in this world
                                and this is his blessing
                                                   and this is his opportunity

                I could be in retreat for the rest of my life
                                without arranging anything
                                                   and I have only just realised this
                                so stop messing around
                trying to get a career and recognition under your feet
                                instead do what your whole life has left for you to do
                                                                                              sit
                                                   (but you are such a sloppy and naïve sitter)
                                                                                    gradually
                                                                      move into
                                                   sitting
                                                                      with discipline
                                and become the Child of Illusion
                                                                      you always wanted to be

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

being & doing & talking to myself wormhole: fly
career wormhole: inverse superhero
identity & life & settling wormhole: gradually finding
pointlessness wormhole: worthwhile
sitting wormhole: again
society wormhole: ashramas

 

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grrr

16 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

2012, 4*, discipline, distraction, identity, motivation, sitting, thinking, writing

 

 

 

                      grrr – must sit down and be
                           disciplined and correct and not move
                      arggh – focus on breathing
                           not let the mind wander
                      aghh – I’m being angry
                           stupid stupid regain
                      nooo – I’m writing a poem
                           … no I’m not

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

distraction wormhole: little thrills
identity wormhole: dream return to / Eglinton Hill
sitting wormhole: patient
thinking wormhole: exercise
writing wormhole: Joni Mitchell

 

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open / window

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by m lewis redford in poems

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2011, 6*, discipline, growth, net curtains, openness, posture, settling, sitting, windows

 

 

 

                                                              open
                                          window

                           cross-legged
                           I pulled my back straight
                           I gazed ahead and
                           oval-ed my hands

                           one breath
                                          settled

                           then the net curtains
                           lift and adjust

                           now I am really
                               settled

 

 

 

————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–

net curtain wormhole: fresh start
openness wormhole: the zen of grandmothers
posture & settling & sitting wormhole: 0.42
windows wormhole: chrysalissing

 

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… Mark; remember …

"... the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful; it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe to find ashes." ~ Annie Dillard

pages coagulating like yogurt

  • Bodhisattvacharyavatara
    • Chapter 1
    • Chapter 10
    • Chapter 2
    • Chapter 3
    • Chapter 4
    • Chapter 5
    • Chapter 6
    • Chapter 7
    • Chapter 8
    • Chapter 9
    • Introduction
  • collected works
    • 25th August 1981 – count Up
    • askance From Hell
    • Batman
    • Bob 1995-2012
    • David Bowie Movements in Suite Major
    • Edward Hopper: Poems at an Exhibition
    • Eglinton Hill
    • FLOORBOARDS
    • Granada
    • in and out / the Avebury stones / can’t seem to get / a signal …
    • Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters]
    • Miller’s Batman
    • mum
    • nan
    • Portsmouth – Southsea
    • Spring Warwick breezes / over Bacharach fieldwork and boroughs with / the occasional shift and chirp of David / in the pastel-long morning of the sixties
    • The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford
    • through the crash
  • index
    • #A-E see!
    • F–K, wha’ th’
    • L-P 33 1/3 rpm
    • Q-T pie
    • U-Z together forever
  • me
  • others
  • poemics
  • poeviews
  • teaching matters
  • William Carlos Williams
  • wormholes

recent leaks …

  • “…and may the great elements…”
  • paisley // implicitly
  • this pocketed being
  • the inevitable tock // when we close our eyes
  • time
  • the simple prayer // the tattered poem // the bitter lament
  • taking birth
  • mirror
  • long / road
  • ‘in my car I pass…’

Uncanny Tops

  • me
  • Moebius strip
  • YOUNG WOMAN AT A WINDOW by William Carlos Williams
  • 'in my car I pass...'
  • 'the practice ...'
  • 'I can write ...'
  • like butterflies on / buddleia
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  • 'hello old friend ...'
  • under the blue and blue sky

category sky

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tag skyline

'scape 2* 3* 4* 5* 6* 7* 8* 20th century 1967 1979 1980 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 acceptance afternoon air Allen Ginsberg anxiety architecture arm in arm attention awareness Batman beach beauty bedroom being birds birdsong black blue Bodhisattvacharyavatara books Bowie branches breakdown breathing breeze brown Buddha buildings career Carol cars change child childhood children city clouds coffee shop colour combe end comics communication compassion compromise crane creativity curtains dancing dark death distraction divorce doing doors dream Dr Strange earth echo Edward Hopper Eglinton Hill emergence emptiness evening eyes faces family father feet field floorboards garden Genesta Road girl giving glass gold grass green grey growth haiku hair hands Have hedge hill hills history holiday hope horizon house houses identity kitchen leaf leaves lemon letting go life lifetimes light lime listening living London looking lost love management managerialism mauve meaning mind mist moon morning mother mouth movement Mum muse music night notice open openness orange others park passing pavement people performance management pink Plumstead poetry pointlessness politics portrait posture power practice professionalism purple purpose quiet rain reaching reading realisation reality red requires chewing river roads roof rooftops samsara sea searching seeing settling shadow shops silence silhouette silver sitting sky skyline sleep smell smile snow society sound space speech step stone streetlight streets sun sunlight superhero table talking talking to myself teaching teaching craft Thames thinking thought time train travelling trees true nature university voices walking walls water waves white William Carlos Williams wind windows wood Woolwich words work world writing years yellow zazen

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