Transcription
CONCERNING THE NATURAL INCLUSION OF LOVE IN LIFE AND LIFE IN LOVEA COLLECTION OF POEMS AND IMAGERYBy Alan RaynerIntroductionAround the turn of the millennium, following a period of breakdown and intense selfsearching, I became aware of what I now regard as a fundamental evolutionary principle ofNature. This principle has largely been overlooked by modern thought, especially in thewake of widespread acceptance of the Darwinian concept of ‘natural selection’ as a‘mechanism’ for biological evolution. I couldn’t accept this concept because of itsinconsistency with my personal experience and delight in the diversity of life on Earth. I feltthe need for a different way to understand natural forms, patterns, processes andrelationships, including human relationships. Most especially, I wanted to understand theorigins of human compassion in a supposedly unforgiving biological world of competitivestrife in which only the ‘fittest’ survive.As I searched, I became increasingly aware that modern thought has been confined by anabstract perception of space, time and boundaries as sources of definitive separation anddivision between material ‘objects’, rather than continuity and dynamic diversity. To escapethis confinement, a more natural way of perceiving space, time and material form isneeded.And so emerged my awareness of the principle that I call ‘natural inclusion’. There aremany ways to describe this principle, but a good way to get a ‘feeling’ for it is ‘the creativeinclusion of love in life and life in love’. More prosaically it can be described as ‘thedynamic embodiment of space in form and form in space’ or as ‘the receptive-responsiveevolutionary relationship between space and energy in all material form’. Feel free tochoose what most appeals. But choose carefully because the meaning conveyed caneasily be corrupted by language that is rooted in abstract thought.As my awareness developed, and I sought to communicate it to others, so I began torealize just how difficult, painful and confidence-sapping ‘swimming against the tide ofpopular thought’ can be. Two creative activities, especially, came to my aid as a source ofsolace, in spite of and because of the fact that I have received no formal instruction ineither: painting and writing poems. Sometimes the two would come together,simultaneously or eventually. In both cases the imagery or/and words would come into myheart-mind fully formed – or almost fully formed - ‘out of the blue’. All I had to do wastransfer them as faithfully as possible, and without questioning them, from heart-mind intoprint or paint.
Here I have gathered, in alphabetical rather than chronological order, some of those thatappeal to me most. Where they have come with paintings, I have included those too.When they were written is not as important as why they were written. Perhaps why theywere written will be or become self-evident as a recurrent theme. Perhaps it won’t. Eitherway, I hope it will provide a source of inspiration.Alan RaynerMay 2019Achilles HealA gap breathed spaceInto the fortressOf a soul walled inBy dreaming of Absolute securityIn its individual completenessElevated above some baseline standardOf soles firmly plantedAt odds with one as anotherIn foundations of quicksandSet fast in cementHow quickly this dreamingWould fadeIn less than a lifelineOf certain anchorageWhen doubt made its fearful questionOf presence feltIn a blow below the beltThat crippled unbending fixtureInto sharply wrought reliefCurved into some new and ancientAwarenessWhere no One could still competeWhen stilled by its own completenessOf idolized concreteInviolate to all but its own violationOf unfelt presence
So deeply disconcertedBy no sense of nonsenseIn the absence of its motherhoodThrough which to find communionFrom sole to soulUnblockadedBy proud pretensionA humility restoredTo Faith in individual failureAs sure and omnipresent signOf love in human natureOpening all waysTo unending RecreationIn the very Shadow of TragedyThe Community Play of Foolish GeniusBeyond restrictive lessonsIn Schools of Guilty ThoughtThat burden the bleating HeartWith endless ways to blame and shameBy reserving the right for One AloneTo claim superiorityA Simple MessageA simple message breathes into Mind.Immerse your Self in the Receptive Stillness of Space,Within Life,Not aloof from IT.Your innate creativity blooms,Inspired and soothedBy LoveIn the dark,Soulful depthOf your open heart.As the Wind Blows Through MeI am that empty tortoise shellThis resonating chamber
Made receptive by hollowing out,Which opens up when troubled or awakenedBy Apollo’s certain put-me-downsTo let the wind blow through meAs his lips play upon my voiceVibrating my heart stringsIn empathic responseMaking music,Making verse,Making Art,Or, something worse –Hoping to relieve the distress that’s causedWhen bullies rule the roostA Void DanceWhen we imagineThat what’s insideExists only outsideOur mortal bodiesAs a frightful surround A dumping groundOf fathomless void Our lives shrinkInto isolated, inconsequential grainsLike sand whipped upInto fearful stormEach striving to regainIts lost significanceThrough individual gatheringOf collective powerConnected together in harnessed complianceWhile avoiding what bringsEach into becomingWhat it is in the first placeWhen we know in our heartsThat what exists insideExists also outsideOur vibrant bodiesAs a receptive surroundEnveloping our unsealed envelopesAround the invitationDeep within
To come inside, loveOur hearts swell to take inAll that is within reachOf our outstretched mindsAvoidance of what life depends uponTo find expressionBecomes a void dance Energy pulsing and circulatingBetween and aroundOur bodies’ hollow centresKeeping us on the moveHolding us in silent stillnessAccepting us for what we areBoth stirred and at restBeneath The Surface of the SeeWhat happensWhen what you seeDoesn’t stopAt the surface of what you see?When all aroundExtends withinTaking its bountyWithin sight unsoundTo be turned aroundIn spinning danceAnd returned once moreBeyond the coreThat place within the mirror’s surfaceWhere all reflectionIs no deflectionBut recollectionOf what comes and goesThrough all that flowsWhat place thenFor what comes betweenThe sight from outsideAnd the sight unseen?
Is it pure mirage?This sweet resistanceThat holds openness withinIts shimmering graspAnd dances into endless figuresWithout having to claspTheir fiery breathWithin the solitary confinementOf imprisoning rigoursNo, these are no prison wallsThese shivering quiveringsThat take life inTo spin it outFrom the focus of their inclusive attentionWhere infinity is heldReceptively, in responsive tensionNo corners hereExcept when frozenInto the still life of crystalline beautyAwaiting the kiss of life’s re-awakeningWhen infinity returnsTo melt a way inNo rigid floorOn which to bottom outWhat’s present throughoutIn the bottomless pitOf everlasting doubtWhich is where we sitIn our easy chairsLounging in the splendourOf all that caresBroken Tree SheltersBroken tree sheltersSplit and cast asideBy growing bodiesThat they had been set in placeTo protectRest uneasy in their scattered,Fragmented array of non-decayed plastic
Still tethered to those preservative-soaked stakesSet in place to support themBy a visionary foresterDeceasedWho knows how many years ago, nowThey tell their story of derelictionIn the line of their dutyServing an uncertain futureAbove them, swelling oak trunksHold out their rough armsProviding home and shelterFor epiphytic growth of bryophytes and lichensIn diverse profusionBusyness, As UsualHe looked up at me, with dulled, mournful eyesTorn momentarily from his job in handBy my tacit intrusion‘What do you want?’He asked‘I want you to see through what you’re doing’I replied‘So that you can have a lifeBeyond your passing of time from cradle to graveWhere you no longer need to feel so oppressedBy such conflict of interestBetween who you areAnd who you think you areOnce told that you mustAbandon all trustAnd find hope insteadIn infinite dreadAnd so turn awayFrom the bright light of dayThat calls you to playAnd work Hell for LeatherIn Order to tetherThe love of your lifeTo trouble and strifeCan’t you see if you will
Spit out that sweet pillWhat joy we could findTo save humankindFrom suffering the painOf endless disdainAt the hands of the storyThat calls all to gloryBy weeding them outWithout casting a cloutFrom where they belongIn the summer of songWhich draws all its zestFrom the silence of restIn winter’s warm furringAnd nightjar’s churringAt the slide of the dayAnd the smell of the MayThat blossoms from furlingWith petals uncurlingFrom deep in their wombProtected in gloomAll you have to doIs dissolve all that glueThat keeps you attachedTo your egg once you’ve hatchedAnd open up spaceFrom that place of disgraceStuck in the cornerLike little Jack HornerWith dunce’s cap onUntil with aplombYou stick up your digitAnd scramble to fidgetYour way out of limboBy marrying that BimboWho won’t trouble to questionYour harsh indigestionFrom having to swallowWhat can only bring sorrowFrom your sovereign rightTo run from your frightAnd stiffen in vertexTo save your day from yielding to night’He looked back at me, in disbelief
And his eyes welled up with the waters of griefAs his mouth opened wide and said‘I’ve no time for that, it’s over my headNow please leave me aloneWith the life that I ownIt’s time for my bed’Catching the SunWhere would the sun beWith no where to catch its raysAnd spin them into LifeThrobbing in receptive bodiesResponsive to warmthConveyed in light too deep in shadeFor human eyes to see?Where would we beWithout a place to call our homeReceptive to influxResponsive to neighboursEach gathering harvest to pass onThrough channels unseen?Where would cosmos beWithout somewhere to call its ownReflecting in its mind’s eyesAll that comes and goes in flowsThrough the natural communionOf spirit and soulThat expresses its passionThrough bodies seen and felt?Nowhere and everywhereWithout a womb or heartTo revolve into LifeChannel Number FiveCome on you TwoWon’t you fuse with us ThreeSo that we no longer have to beRivals?
In an Olympic Golden SovereigntyOf One on either side of offenceThat makes you overInto binary oppositionAn oddly singular coupleOf thrust and counter-thrustIn action and reactionThat denies the even handednessOf your giving and takingTo and from eachReceptive and responsive influenceA tidal flow that emptiesAs it fills and fillsAs it emptiesIn a chord with circumstantial needTo keep a breastIn tune with MotherWho can giveNo more than she can provideIf she is to sustain her sustainingIdentity of one in All and all in OneA world with out endIn which none can beginWithout being taken inAmend
Child of ReasonI feel I cannot thinkOf My Self aloneAs wiseFor there can be no wise One aloneI am not wiseI am a child of sufferingWhose childful yearningIs to lighten the loadImposed by those who goadUs on our wayBy means of fearful refutationOf all that they might seek to findI cannot grow upFor in that adulterationI encounter devastating povertyA desertion of the spiritThat pools us all togetherIn the recreative communionOf our natural neighbourhoodCan our rational pursuitServe any better purposeThan to chase what we seekFurtherAnd furtherand furtherAway?If we were only to loosenThose unforgiving means and endsThe hardline limits of denialBy which we close down on our preyWe could release the life that lovesOur child’s playComing as GoingWe come as we go
We ebb as we flowInto and out from LifeInto and Out from GraceJoyfully and SadlyPainfully and PainlesslyLoudly and QuietlyRestlessly and RestfullyIt is what makes us who and what we are Fleeting expressions of creative relationshipBetween Stillness and CurrentCalling and responding to the Other’s PresenceEndlesslyCurrentCurrent flows through timeTime flows through currentCurrent is timeEndlessly circulating within and pulsing betweenBodiesEnlivened by currentSuspended in SpaceThat everlasting GraceThat simply receives whatever comes and goesWithout judgementFor what it isAs an expression of currentAnd so life arrives and passesIn curves and trajectoriesAround and across the gentle voidThat allows it to be and becomeAs it currently isWithout feeling its heat That burning agitationWhich comes with the resistance to currentThat is current itselfAll is wellAnd all will be wellUntil and unlessWe take it upon ourselvesTo deny the currentIts space-filled homeAnd seek to control it within fixtures
Cut out of placeWhereupon we can never forgive ourselvesFor being and becomingAs we naturally areAnd live insteadAt odds with our neighbourhoodUntil our neighbourhood reclaimsOur mortal remainsAnd life passes on to its next instalmentDark & Light: Flesh & BloodI view the sunThrough outstretched fingersOf my child’s handAnd my child’s eyesAre filled with wonderWhat seemed so hard-edged So sharply definedIs no thing of the sortI see darkI see lightI see redIn blurry transitionFrom each into otherWhen I cut myselfThe redness flowsFrom inside to outsideFrom dark into lightThrough my severed skinWhich holds me withinIts tender envelope My life’s fluidContainer and sustainerWhen I sun myselfI feel the warmthComing inside from outsideFrom light into darkWhere I resideThrough my permissive skin
Which welcomes inWhat sustains and comfortsMy life withinI behold a leafWith leaflets splayedFor taking inThe sun’s red lightThrough its breathing skinWhich holds withinIts living story Green with cravingSpread through veinsFrom root to branchAnd back againAnd my adult’s heart leaps
DigitalisOh, that iron fist that hidesIn a velvet gloveIntoxicating the heartWhilst ordering its erratic wanderingsInto the hard-edged metronomic beatingsOf a loveless marriage to mechanical objectsSo clearly definedTo beguile the seeker of certaintyCould not that purple velvetThat flatters to deceiveYet restore our child’s play?An antidotal, anecdotal softeningOf hard manipulationsThat exclude the darkness from the dayLight touching lightly upon the fringesOf etchings into clayWhere the bodies’ soft life-liningsCan frolic in the summer hay
Eclipse on Solsbury HillAscending through misty envelopeWe reached the shallow domeWhere Earth kisses SkyEach melding into OtherIn touching transferenceBut with no Sun in SightUntil a pallid glimmer began to showThrough thinning vapourRevealing hard-bitten discGradually erodingInto metallic sliverAs sights and sounds of morning duskFilled chilling airUntil the turn-around beganIn brightening, warming hazePreparing for equinoxEstrangement and ReconciliationIn the Becoming, All was WellA limitless pool of infinite depthShimmering into form wherever light brought lifeTo her receptive permissivenessFor a while before restingThen reshaping into somewhere differentFor a while before restingLife lived in the love of darknessDarkness loved in the life of lightUntil the beginning of the EstrangementWhen Men took it into their HeadsTo exclude one hundred percent of everythingLeaving their selves in splendid isolationUnder the Spell of One AloneWhere darkness couldn’t reach their non-existenceEvery now and thenDarkness would call from all around their self-annihilationTo be allowed back inTo make their presence meaningful
But all they could say from their height of abstractionWas ‘leave me alone in this world that I ownAmongst others who fightFor my claim to the throne’So committed were theyTo their restless toilThat they just couldn’t seeWhat was coming to boilWhilst they claimed from somewhere far out of sightThat nothing could overcomeTheir Right to be LightTo serve their Good FightIn the name of their LordWho was nowhere to be seenBut glimpsed in flashesThundering uproariouslyOn and on and on and on and on and on and onGround their relentless distractionFrom what was really in their midstTo which they paid their utmost disrespectUntil she could stand for itNot a moment longerShe stamped their blithely marching feetUpon a different questTo end her unnatural confinementUnder house arrestAdmitting where she’d been all alongThe influence beneath their throngTheir journey now just had to turnAround from their point of no returnBack into the heart of where they belongedShimmering to lifeIn the love of the limitless poolEternal CurrentThere is a currentSensational tinglingThat flows eternally
Inwards and outwardsTowards and aroundEternal restWhere it builds its nestOf spiky bits and piecesLined softlyTo accept some body’s reposeAmidst the hustle and bustleOf life in raw reliefWhere no body’s strivingGoes unnoticedAnd no one’s isolationGoes unaccompaniedAnd no discomfortGoes without careHowever appearances may seem to beTo the contraryFading VisionI glimpsed a hidden beautyEnshrouded in a veilCalling my attentionTo come closer and revealWhat lay behind her coverYearning to be knownI approached and gently startedTo peel away the layersUntil, there she stood,Stark,NakedFor any One to seeHer heart of utmost darknessEnveloped by a dance of fiery passionBringing flesh to life in Earthly fashionBetwixt the sea and skyAt last I knew the storyOf life behind the scenesBut as I strove to share itI saw a mist descend
Across a fading visionRe-veiledFeeling The CurrentEvery Rock is a RiverEvery Island is a StreamDespite how Each might SeemTo a distanced MindCut Off from FeelingThe Current of its OriginIn Flux and StillnessInextricably CombinedEvery Moment is a Turning PointBetwixt There and There,Then and ThenNever an InstantaneousBreakage in the LineThat’s how life moves on,Continuously
Flame and FountainMy Life, My PsycheIs a FlameAnd a FountainA marriage of Entropy and EnergyReceptive Darkness and Responsive LightTransparent Silence and Flowing SoundAwaiting the PossibilityTo Come TogetherIn Flower and ShowerCarefully tendedIt can illuminate and warmIt can refresh and coolAbused or neglectedIt can burn and extinguishIt can freeze and drenchYes, my life, my psyche is a flame and a fountainAnd so too is yoursTogether we playWith fire and waterIn the draughty air of the futureFeeding from our earthy pastImmersed in the ever-present GraceThe holding SpaceThat permeates and bathes us But we need to play carefullyWith one anotherIf Life is to FlourishAnd Love is to last
Flowers FlowerFlowers don’t care to be ignoredFlowers flowerTo drink in welcome visitorsSo that they may wine and dineOn nectar and pollenHeld within colourful advertisingAwaiting distribution of coded messagesFrom here to thereWhere they can be taken in and take rootIn newly emerging possibilitiesTravelling far and wideNo, flowers don’t care to be ignoredIn covert operationsBuried undergroundAnd neither do I
Following Each Other’s FootstepsSome might aspireTo climb on other’s shouldersWhence to gain an elevated viewAtop a stack of figuresPerched precariouslyFrom pinnacle to groundWhere ground is All belowLost from near in sightBy far out of sightDistanced from feelingThe thick of lifeWhere down to EarthThe dew hangs heavyGrass grows tallThe humid forest yawnsSmelling of humusBlanketed by mossesBedecked with fernsPervaded by slithering, rustling, stampingResounding with squawks, barks, twittersOne feels so smallWithin it allSeeking safe passageFrom here to there in everywhereTrampling over undergrowthTunnelling under overgrowthRevealing the spaceOf no resistanceWaiting quietlyThroughout and about us allSo we followIn each other’s footstepsEasing the pathOthers can takeThrough striding the wakeFrom lonely foot fallMade by the first brave soleBumped off courseBy those comingThicker and faster
From behindOur river flowsDrawing through tributariesPassing through deltasMeandering sleepilySupplied in torrentsEtching the landscapeRebuilding banksNever ever endingBeginningContinuouslyWith infinity in sightNo, nothing to loseFrom standing Proud and TallAbove them allForm and FormlessnessAnd the Natural Inclusion of Each in the OtherIt’s All so very SimpleReallyThere is Form&There is FormlessnessSplit ApartNeither Alone can make Sense of LifeBut Each included in the OtherFalls naturally into PlaceForm Flows into and outFrom Formless ExistenceFormlessness Flows into LifeIn FormForm pulls its own WeightWhile Formlessness is WeightlessUntil its two Great Architects Space & LightCome TogetherIn Silent Stillness & Lively MotionEvery Night & Every DayIn Every Body
Every Now & Every ThenEverywhereHelter-SkelterThe Return of the NativeImagine yourselfBorn under cover of darknessIn the shade of an umbrellaPierced by peepholesInto an other-worldly radianceThat shines on coralline oceanLapping up the shifting shores of landscapeFlowing in rocks and waterAir and fire streamsBreathed in and breathed outBy life itselfAs endless varietyIn this place you call home
That holds and caresses youWith open armsBut there, at the edge of your stareWhere your home finds its limit horizonGlinting with cut-glass precisionIs the baseline of prismatic structureAbstracted out of kilterA multi-story high rise power blockSplitting apart between seven floorsEach to its own paradoxConfined yet connectedPoint to pointBy a dichotomous treeInvertedWith bottom at topBifurcating to lower ordersWith multiple entry pointsWhere you can enter freelyFrom abasementSo long as you close the door behind you!Once inside this glass-cut spaceThere’s no where for you to go but upBeckoned by idealismOf social or economic aspirationsColoured monotonouslyRed or BlueMe or YouUs or ThemHere or ThereEach a cut above the restReached by ladders climbed assiduouslyTo the point where worlds collideFar above the ground you left behindIn a room where All presume to be OneSuffocating as a WholeThat claims from aloftTo be more than the partsBeneath itselfFrom which it ascendedOnly to bang its headAgainst the ceilingSo near and yet so farFrom what was shut outside
Less than a hare’s breath awayYet, deep in the core of this prismReaches the umbrella’s shaftA focal passageReceptive to all who reach for itWithout resistanceLifting from base to apexBut not stopping thereInstead emerging into slippery spiral gutterBy way of which the native returnsWhizzing gleefully down slopeTo where he and she belongTogether as children playingIn the light of darknessIn the darkness of lightLearning along the wayThat gathers before into afterContinuallyWith no need to get stuck in the prismThat seems to cut a dash in spaceBut can’t.Holding OpennessYou ask me who you areTo tell a story you can live your life byA tail that has some pointThat you can seeSo that you no longerHave to feel so pointlessBecause what you see is what you getIf you don’t get the meaning of my silenceBecause you ain’t seen nothing yetYou ask me for illuminationTo cast upon your sauce of doubtRegarding what your life is all aboutTo find a reason for existenceThat separates the wrongFrom righteous answerIn order to cast absence outTo some blue yonderWhere what you see is what you get
But you don’t get the meaning of my darknessBecause you ain’t seen nothing yetYou look around the desolationOf a world your mined strips bareYou ask of me in desperationHow on Earth am I to care?I whisper to stop telling storiesIn abstract words and symbolsAbout a solid block of land out thereIn which you make yourself a declarationOf independence from thin airWhere what you see is what you getWhen you don’t get the meaning of my present absenceBecause you ain’t seen nothing yetYou ask of me with painful yearningTo resolve your conflicts born of dislocationFrom the context of an other world out whereYour soul can wonder freelyIn the presence of no heirWhere what you see is what you getWhen you don’t get the meaning of my absent presenceBecause you ain’t seen nothing yetYou ask me deeply and sincerelyWhere on Earth can you find healingOf the yawning gap between emotionAnd the logic setting time apart from motionIn a space caught in a trapWhere what you see is what you getAnd in a thrice your mind is reelingAware at last of your reflectionIn a place that finds connectionWhere your inside becomes your outsideThrough a lacy curtain liningOf fire, light upon the waterNow your longing for solutionResides within and beyond your graspAs the solvent for your soluteDissolves the illusion of your pastAnd present futureNow your heart begins to thunder
Bursting hopeful with affectionOf living light for loving darknessBecause you ain’t felt no thing yetThe Hole in the MoleI AM the holeThat lives in a moleThat induces the moleTo dig the holeThat moves the moleThrough the earthThat forms a hillThat becomes a mountainThat reaches to skyThat pools in starsAnd brings the rainThat the mountain collectsInto streams and rivers
That moisten the earthThat grows the grassThat freshens the airThat condenses to rainThat carries the waterThat brings the moleTo LifeHollow WayI live in a tunnel of softly lined wallsThat melt into distance, beyond past recallAnd flex as they twist in curves out of sightTo find what they will, through darkness in light
To bring within focus, then restore before longTo the place where they came from, bursting with songHow different is this natural corridor of flowerFrom those devious labyrinths, which seek only power?As different as only what’s natural can beFrom abstract constructions divorced from the seaWhere they came from in pillars of saltPetrified into standstill to serve their good fightIn flights full of fancy, not earthly delightSo, when I encounter minds taken to viewTheir selves as divided between me and youAll I can do, is leave them aloneTo conclude for themselvesAs I keep on livingIn my own hollow wayHow May I Take This In? (25/12/08)How may I take this in?The silence beyond and beforeThe commotion of locomotionThe cacophony of the dinThat heralds and applaudsPressing presenceIn the gift of the momentPinpricks of brightly coloured lightPiercing the conscienceOf darknessLoving and forebodingMaking a mealOf expectationsOf memoriesThat feed on repastRoasted nostalgiaCaught in aromasOf now and thenRepeated amongst shadowsOf afterthoughtReflecting experienceOf fading presences
Bent on resurgenceThe calmness of tensionThat aches to be soothedWhilst lacking reassuranceAnd so reaches not to the SpiritOf Christmas past and turbulentBut for that Spirit of the kindThat idles distilledIn slow swirls caressingThe bottom of a glassHumility of the ValleyLife doesn’t striveTo secure its foundationUpon the rocky serrations of the High-mindedWhere Men build castles in the airTo furnish that false sense of superiorityWhich comes from the pretenceOf overlooking all aroundTo the edge of infinityLife thrivesIn the seclusion of the valleysWhere dampness accumulatesIn the earthy humidityOf humilityWarmly tucked inTo the bed of sea and landRich with varietyExudingIntrudingOut and into the cosinessOf each lovingly envelopedIn the other’s influenceWisdom cannot be foundOn peaks of adaptive fitnessRunning with Red QueensBut only in that radiant depthThat reaches everywhereThrough the heart of somewhere
Hush!The Deep Receptivity of Intangible PresenceWhat’s in Earth’s axis?What can no One be without?What’s in the midst of everything,Everywhere,Every din?Yet ignored by all who seekPower from AboveTo will the subjects of their objectivityInto alignment with their DreamTo keep perennial OrderOver the wildness that they fearWill undermine them in the EndThe entropy of their FallListenVery care-fullyThe answer’s very clear!Deep down you know it must be thereFor you to be here at allAlive with movement in your skinBreathing out and breathing inWilling to receiveWhat you most need from all aroundFrom the bottom of your heartWhere all there isIs what you need to love, yet fear will be your endHush!Illuminating MomentI came across a flowerIt flowed into my lifeIts face beamed out a messageCast from sunlight taken upAnd spun around in ShadowThat none could see withinI ached to feel its yearningFor the passion fruit of learningThat relieves its heart from burningWith the secret of life’s churning
Around and aroundIts figurative resoundIncluding spatial groundIn bodily unboundBy fixing stake to moundBut rooting soil to branchThrough secret inner channelsDrawing water through their strawsTo slake the thirst of airFor what was lost in rainI wondered how such presenceCould make her presents feltWithout some outer shiningTo keep her inside turningWith compassion for her mateTo bring to life her offspringIn fields of open spaceJust then the sun came dancingAnd played on horses prancingWith delighted sideways glancingOf panoramic life-enhancingFlows in turns entrancingAnd in that moment’s simmeringIllumination found meAlight with inner darknessWith darkness spinning lightReceptive in the yearningResponsive in the burningReflective in the turningOf Love that comes with LifeImaginative Turn, 1/1/2010How tiresome it isThis beast that turns in my graveShrieking to unearthSuch fearful forebodingOf what is to comeFrom what has been done
In the name of the RoseThat holds itself inEnshrouded by sepalsTo keep all its petalsFrom falling to groundOut of sight, far from soundStalled in the budDistilled in the mudDefended by prickleRefusing to tickleBut piercing insteadThe heart that yearnsTo get out of bedHow exciting it isThis creature that rises with the sunSinging its heart outIn radiant flowerBearing fruit into joys to comeFrom what has been doneCrying, hip, hip hooray!In the name of the RoseThat gathers all inAs it dies and growsLoosing its petalsFrom the confines of sepalsTo spread light in soundBefore turning back inwardWhilst falling to groundWhere others come to bear its energy awayThrough death and decayInto life that unfurlsIn the openingThat sustains the possibilityOf flowering afreshThrough darkness in lightBreaking out of boundsIn another dayIn Spiral InclusionHow hard it is to be softLike a copper screwI
CONCERNING THE NATURAL INCLUSION OF LOVE IN LIFE AND LIFE IN LOVE A COLLECTION OF POEMS AND IMAGERY By Alan Rayner Introduction Around the turn of the millennium, following a period of breakdown and intense self-searching, I became aware of what I now regard as a fundamental evolutionary principle of Nature.
