Tag Archives: Brian Taylor

TOI ET MOI

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Universal Octopus

is the eternal dancewhere those who lovefind one anotherand, taking their chance,reach up to highest Heaven aboveand down to deepest Hell. There is no higher happinessthan loving true and well. Toi et Moi sailtheir fragile boatwith single eyefrom birth to … Continue reading →

Posted in Gnomonic Verses | Tagged birth to death, bliss, Brian Taylor, eternal dance, Fate, happiness, Heaven, love, memories, mortal coil, single eye, toi et moi | Leave a comment

FULL MOON DAY

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Universal Octopus

One candle is a light unto itself.One hundred candlesilluminate a room.In a room,one candle isa light unto itself. Uposatha Day at Wat Krathum,seven old ladies and one old mantaking eight precepts for a dayto keep the fires of Hell at … Continue reading →

Posted in Bamboo Leaves | Tagged abbot, Ayudhaya, Bangkok, Brian Taylor, Buddha, candle, chicken farm, chicken flu, death, food, full moon, government, heart, Humans, mangoes, mass grave, monk, no chicken, Pali chants, precepts, Sariputta, sermon, Uposatha day, virtual reality | Leave a comment

THE HAPPIEST OLD

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Universal Octopus

The happiest oldhave nothing and don’t mind.The happiest youngare old before their time.Few these. The others are behind their years,suffer thirteen-year-olds’ fearsinto their twenties,and in their fortieshave appetitefor sins of twenty. But not the bite. .

Posted in Blondin | Tagged bite, Brian Taylor, forties, happy, nothing, old, sins, Time, twenties | Leave a comment

NEW RECRUITS TO THE GUARDROOM

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Universal Octopus

On Tuesday after a silenceof three months,suddenly,where the junglethrows evening shadows over the bougainvilleas,all the cicadas shouted out at once;stretching and releasing their tymbalslike the shimmering and vibratingof a thousand silver cymbals. No notices were posted on the trees.No announcements … Continue reading →

Posted in Bamboo Leaves | Tagged Brian Taylor, cicadas, diaries, Jungle, march, recruits, sergeant major, silence, silver cymbals, single silent drum, trees | Leave a comment

MIDSUMMER DREAM

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Universal Octopus

I dreamed of Paradise Garden;sunlight sliding downfrom an infinite skythrough cedar trees to emerald lawns;oriental poppies six feet high,Indian butterflies gliding bythrough multilayered shades of blue.Olympian Apollo’s statueholds a fountain in his hands,which swirls and mists, sparkles and cools,cascading down … Continue reading →

Posted in Bamboo Leaves | Tagged Brian Taylor, dream, eagles, falcons, free!, garden, Indian butterflies, infinite sky, midsummer, mirror, Olympian, oriental poppies, Paradise Garden, silver sands, solitude | Leave a comment

COMPLETING CYCLES

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Universal Octopus

The Juggler throwshis batons at the sun.The sky throws them back againlike rain,each and every one. Surely by now he knowswhat it is he’s gaining? Come Mr. Juggler,look at it from your point of view,just how long has it been … Continue reading →

Posted in Blondin | Tagged Brian Taylor, Cycles, Juggler, point of view, rain, sun, you | Leave a comment

FUNERAL

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Universal Octopus

We crawl our way from earth to starnor calculate from birth how farour tiny feetwill take usbefore the karma that we meetwill break usand cast us adrift on an outgoing tide. While those onshore mutter simply,“He died!” Ding-dongFay’s goneLife longDeath … Continue reading →

Posted in Ego Ego God of the Jungle | Tagged birth, Brian Taylor, death, died, earth, funeral, karma, outgoing tide, star | Leave a comment

THE FOUNTAIN

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Universal Octopus

The fountainreaches upwards into spaceand, finding nothingto sustain it there,falls back into its proper place. And in this endlessrise and fall,we see the start and finishof us all. Time fliesthrough summer and through wintry skies;measures elephants and butterflies,marks where this … Continue reading →

Posted in Blondin | Tagged Blondin, born, Brian Taylor, butterflies, dies, elephants, fountain, nothing, rise and fall, space, summer, Time, wintry skies, world | Leave a comment

DEEP DOWN TO DEATH

Posted on December 27, 2021 by Universal Octopus

Deep down to deathwith every breathand not one morefor any faith. His skin has lost a glossy look.He only feels his single painand waits for nothingto come back again. .

Posted in Blondin | Tagged breath, Brian Taylor, death, FAITH, nothing, pain | Leave a comment

PURIFY THE MIND

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Universal Octopus

From Mt. Kailas,birthplace of Shiva,Lord of All,the snow slides down the Himalayasmelting into pure waterand becomes Gangathe holiest of rivers. Absorbing the works of natureand of man, it flowspast temples, villages,rice fields and factories,and Calcutta slums,and comes,at last, to meet … Continue reading →