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Brian Taylor has been a Poet and Philosopher in Cornwall, England and the Far East.
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Category Archives: Oxford Blues
KATHLEEN
‘Going out there is no other,coming back there is no trace’.Love and care for one another,smooth the sadness from her face. Like Orestes how she travels!Light-foot ever, onward roams;as the skein of life unravels,everywhere she makes her homes. Loves she … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged Eurydice, grass blade to her star, Kathleen, king of Shades, Life, love, Orestes, Orpheus, Oxford Blues, pain, Pluto, sadness, smile, sunshine, travel
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TRUTH IN THE BOTANIC GARDENS
Thousands of magnolia flowers,by Danby’s gateand yellowstone walls,test vernal powersagainst the winds of March; and wait. Slowly, blossoms fall,like heavy snowflakes, one by one,lit by a dull and clouded sun. Tourists have gathered here to seethe wonder of this snow-blossom … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged "inner eye", Botanic Gardens, harvest, march, Oxford Blues, photography, snowflakes, tourists, Truth, vernal power
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MIDWINTER’S DAY IN THE BOTANIC GARDENS
Hippophaewith clusters of orange berrieson spiky twigs. Set in this ancient, yellowstone wall,which separates the formal walksfrom the marsh garden to the south,is the gateway (with gate long gone).At its base, nerines – all mauves and reds –spill over on … Continue reading
Posted in Blondin, Oxford Blues
Tagged Blondin, Botanic Gardens, Brian Taylor, Cherwell, Magdalen, magnolia, medicinal garden, Merton, mid-winter, Oxford, Oxford Blues, winter jasmine, yew tree
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ARMISTICE DAY
“Died some pro patria non dulce non et decor.”So Ezra Pound adapted Horace’s linesfor those whose sufferings for their nationhad bred a dull, dark, painful generationwith gloria cauterised from their minds. In the calendar their deaths are still recorded.Poppies and … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged Armistice Day, bombs, deaths, dust, Ezra Pound, Flanders, gloria, grief, human litter, Martyr's Memorial, medals, November, Oxford, Oxford Blues, past and present, poppies, pro patria, services, spirits, St Giles, transcendental
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THE ONE AND THE MANY
If there is only One,nothing can be special.If there is Nothing,what then? .
THESEUS
Labyrinths are mind-madeand vanish when the mind stops.(Do the Minotaurs vanish too?) Life is a Labyrinth.Garden gate – Conception.Front door – Birth.A thousand mazesbranch off to every room.Every room with its viewleads to the Back Door.(Is the Minotaur waiting there … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged birth, Brian Taylor, conception, labyrinths, Life, mazes, minotaurs, Theseus, view
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HALLOWELL
The tide that started flowingall those years agohas eddied roundand doubled back,has shadowed our diverging tracksand monitored their going.It sidles in and splashes at our feetleaving us very little common groundfor if and when we try to meet. Every step … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged absinthe, Brian Taylor, dead blackbird, dead cow, Dorset, Euro Express, Hallowell, light, opium, Painted Veil, sunflowers, tide, Tuscany, Van Gogh
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REMEMBRANCE MONDAY
Remembranceis invalidunlessit goes right back to the beginning. Cats know thisand complete their lives in the present. Humans don’twhich makes their workincompleteand invalid;a building lacking its foundation. .
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged beginning, building, cats, Foundation, Humans, present, Remembrance Monday, work
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REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
November RosePink and white and mauve.Solitary, still,among the rosemary and late autumnal gorse. Sea winds have blown.The first frosts have frozen the short grass.Spring and summer are memories,midwinter an echo in reverse. November Rose for the dying.November Poppies for the … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged autumnal gorse, dead, first frosts, Flanders, midwinter, new birth, November Poppies, November Rose, Remembrance Sunday, Rosemary
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MAGDALEN
In the Fellows’ Gardens,past the Deer Park,a willow twists and stretchesout of a brown poollike a giant Nāgatrailing garlands of green lace. Along the avenues of Addison’s Walk,among birch and beech,chestnuts stretch out their brancheslike semaphores,and hang their leaves like … Continue reading
Posted in Oxford Blues
Tagged Academics, beech, birch, chestnuts, Deer Park, living, Magdalen, Michaelmas, Odysseus, Oxford, Oxford University, World's End
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