Tag Archives: future

ORPHEUS IN EXTREMIS

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Universal Octopus

He turned his back on the graveyardand with the sad songshe had taken downinto the stiff clay of the underworldlike root-fingersstill singing in his ears,walked towards the future. Before him floatedher death mask,warmed by the pale fireof yesterday’s desire. Fire … Continue reading →

Posted in Blondin | Tagged Blondin, Brian Taylor, death mask, desire, empty space, forgetfulness, fountain, future, girl, grave, nothingness, Orpheus, Proserpine, silence, smile, stream of being, sunlight, underworld | Leave a comment

HOPE AND DESPAIR

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Universal Octopus

In the Presenteverything gets donehere. From the window of the mind,the Future is therewhere the consequences wait. The mind invents this Futurein order to see consequencesthere, not here,and move towards them. If these consequencesare seen as essentialand realisable,the mind is … Continue reading →

Posted in Gnomonic Verses | Tagged consequences, DESPAIR, future, here, hope, mind, past, present | Leave a comment

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Universal Octopus

It was different in the past.Especially in the village. Before you could readBefore there were newspapersBefore there was radioBefore there were telephonesBefore there were filmsBefore there was TVBefore there were computersBefore there were smartphonesBefore there was the endless whisperingof global … Continue reading →

Posted in Gnomonic Verses | Tagged friends, future, global gossip, Hey? Mrs Robinson?, Imagination's Daughters, neighbours, Now, past, present, TV | Leave a comment

SCALES OF JUSTICE

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Universal Octopus

It is not easy to sympathise with the victimand not blame his oppressor.It is not easy to sympathise with the oppressorand not say that the victim was asking for it. If the inescapable future is seen, however, Verily I say … Continue reading →

Posted in Gnomonic Verses | Tagged blame, compassion, future, glad, Gnomonic Verses, here, I am, no escape, oppressor, scales of justice, sympathy, victim | Leave a comment

WAITING

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Universal Octopus

Magdalen’s groundsare full of life,full of space. Space, which is mownand cleared,tended and enclosed,its waterways unchoked,brown and sparkling clear. It is home to ducksand coots,to dragonflies and deer. Grass and paths and gatesand streamsand yesterday’s undergraduatesare waiting. Not for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged being, dragonflies, ducks, future, Magdalen, Oxford, Oxford Blues, past, peace, space, undergradutes, waiting, waterways, Yes! | Leave a comment

SEPARATISM

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Universal Octopus

This flowering of the Human Spiritis a reaching outinto the empty wastelandof the egoic mindin search ofthe lost gardens of Eden. This fruitless endeavourto fill its wastelandwith memoriesof its past (My was)and thoughtsof its future (My will be) is stitched … Continue reading →

Posted in Gnomonic Verses | Tagged Eden, egoic mind, future, Gnomonic Verses, Here and Now, Human Spirit, light, memories, past, peace, separatism, thought, un-separate?, wasteland | 1 Comment

EMERGENCY EXIT

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Universal Octopus

I must be present nowbefore I can have a past;I must be present nowto create a future then. If I still my present mindand exchange present thoughtsfor nothing at all,I have escaped past and futureand achieved a timeless peacewith no … Continue reading →

Posted in Bamboo Leaves | Tagged Bamboo Leaves, escape, Exit, future, I, I am, mind, nothing, past, present, timeless peace | Leave a comment

SHADOWS

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Universal Octopus

We peer into the shadowswhere yesterday’s sunlight glows,trying to capture and holdyesterday’s sunlit gold. We peer into tomorrowto predict and plotwhere that sun will likely go(but where, perhaps, it will not). Today’s sunshine still blazesits disc ever overhead.Past and future … Continue reading →

Posted in Blondin | Tagged Blondin, dead, future, gold, ight, land of the dead, past, predict, Remember the Light, shadows, sunlight, sunshine, tomorrow | Leave a comment

FREEDOM

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Universal Octopus

Freedom from the Pastis the Present.Freedom from the Futureis the Present. The Presentis a crack that runsthrough the universe.Into it everything disappearslike snowflakesinto a bonfire. For Māra’s people,the Presentis a mental spacefilled with memories,thoughts of the Future,sense impressionsand a random … Continue reading →

Posted in Bamboo Leaves | Tagged Bamboo Leaves, blazing, crack, dusty cobwebs, freedom, future, Mara, memories, past, present, snowflakes, sun at noon, thought, universe | 1 Comment

IMAGES OF ETERNITY

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Universal Octopus

(Dust for the Human DustBeen) The photographer has discoveredhowto change the Present into the Pastjust as fastas he can. So that his facsimiles can replacethe Present of the next man’s Now. Both the photographer and the next manwaste the treasureof … Continue reading →