tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1058817791840134172024-03-05T12:07:46.747+00:00Star Steeds and Other DreamsThis blog is devoted to the poetry and other lyrical writings of Dr Karl Shuker - in particular his published volume of poetry, 'Star Steeds and Other Dreams' (CFZ Press: Bideford, 2009). Dr Karl Shuker is best known as a zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author of numerous non-fiction books and articles, but he is also a longstanding poet, as revealed and promoted by this blog.Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-37671350958341065622018-04-01T01:00:00.003+01:002018-04-01T01:27:16.245+01:00FIVE YEARS AGO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Five years have gone by since the passing of my dear mother, Mary Shuker. Sometimes it seems like only moments ago, other times an eternity, a different life in a different world. How I miss you Mom, how I love you and wish with all my heart that you were still here with me, sharing my life, making it worth living again, a real life instead of a sham existence.</i></div>
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<b>FIVE YEARS AGO</b><br />
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Five years ago today, Mom, you left my life, you left this world – and my
life, my world, was left lifeless, worldless, without you. So it remains today,
and so it will always remain, until we are together once more, all of us, our
family, reunited at last and forever. Friends tell me that you have never left
me, that you are still here, all about me, always. I am reminded by their words
of other words - those attributed to Hakim Sanai, a 12th-Century Persian poet:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Unable to
perceive the shape of you,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">I find you
all around me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Your
presence fills my eyes with your love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">It humbles
my heart,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">For you
are everywhere.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">How I wish, how I hope, how I pray that this is so, and, above all else,
that even if only once ever, but at least just once, I could know this for
certain, beyond any doubt, beyond any shadow or whisper or flicker of
hesitation, know that you were indeed here still, filling my soul with your
love that was always there for me when you lived beside me in my life, when you
walked with me in my world.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Then again, perhaps it is a test, a test of faith - just like Orpheus faced
when walking out of the Underworld in the fervent hope that his deceased bride
Eurydice was indeed following behind him, but Orpheus failed to win her back
when he finally gave in to the temptation of doubt and looked behind him to
make sure that she really was there, and, in so doing, lost her a second time,
and this time for all time. Perhaps my test is to draw upon and have faith in my
memories of your love for me, upon my certain knowledge that as long as you are
in any way able to stay close by, you will indeed do so, never leaving or abandoning
me, but instead always here for me, watching over me, guiding me as ever, until
my own time here is complete - and that as long as I believe this to be so, so
shall it be. Only if my mortal doubts overcome me will I lose you here again, a
second time, Mom.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So, on this day, of all days, I must overcome any doubts, any fears, and
for all time, because I will not lose you again - never! - and henceforth I
will continue, in whatever role God intends for me here on His Earth, until in
His mercy I am finally at peace and at last restored to you, to all of us, in
His Heaven, never more to be parted.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">God bless you, Mom, may I always be worthy of you, as the son you loved so
much when you lived beside me in this world, and as the son whose love for you
lives on in this world, and always will do, through all the days of my own life
here, however many or few those may be.</span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My mother Mary Shuker (<b><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.0pt;">©</span></b> Dr Karl Shuker)</span></b></span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-52666381889259330982018-03-14T10:05:00.001+00:002018-04-01T01:26:28.272+01:00MY LADY OF DARK DESPAIR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">For some, depression is a Black Dog that
pads resolutely alongside them, a hound of shadow and sorrow relentlessly stalking
their steps, unable to be shaken off or shooed away. For me, it is a Lady, a Lady
of Dark Despair, whose great wings enfold me unexpectedly in their terrible shadows
of doom and doubt.</span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">MY LADY OF DARK DESPAIR</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">My Lady of Dark Despair, why have you
encompassed me once more</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">With your black-plumed wings of grim
shadow and spirit-numbing gloom,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Their enveloping, all-embracing pinions of
cool ebony extinguishing all light from my life,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">All wisdom from my world, all memory from
my mind, all salvation from my soul?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I feel your icy tears like disconsolate,
dispassionate dewfall,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Trickling ever deeper into the warm,
sunlit sanctuary of my heart,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">To freeze it in crystalline cemetery night-chill,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Until its very beating seem stilled and
silent.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Am I as pale, as pellucid now, as your own
pallid complexion and reflection,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">As isolated, as insular, as the sorrowful
realm in which you reign supreme,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Alone, apart, aloof from the mortals whom you
torment with your denying of hopes,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Your destruction of dreams, your
despoiling of memories?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Or will I find the strength within my
being to dismiss your dread visage,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">To discount your intrusive murmurs of doubt,</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> to disdain your grey forebodings of doom,</span>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">And turn away from your darkness, from the sadness that your presence imbues,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">And step back into the laughter and the light of the world once more,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Where the sun still shines, the moon still
shimmers, the stars still sparkle,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">And my soul awakens anew, renewed and
restored,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Raised up once more upon the bright wings
of recalled, recollected, resurrected Hope,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">To greet a new day's golden dawning, with
all of its wonders awaiting me there?</span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-46804011929304691772017-10-13T19:43:00.001+01:002017-10-13T20:07:14.058+01:00THE PEACOCK CAT<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCWf4GKPRNUW06NO242BGgzsj5gerkch9M1zmnBcllaUdBzjW_NO5SDX8dohY0JcKosMQ737rLSJryLZZ8o2a3BC1djwSdgn-fVqiIlXPHrAQXjrTiJ8p1F0b8aLPJSbSBRChwvpKw8fC/s1600/Peacock+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCWf4GKPRNUW06NO242BGgzsj5gerkch9M1zmnBcllaUdBzjW_NO5SDX8dohY0JcKosMQ737rLSJryLZZ8o2a3BC1djwSdgn-fVqiIlXPHrAQXjrTiJ8p1F0b8aLPJSbSBRChwvpKw8fC/s320/Peacock+cat.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "georgia";">(© Worth1000.com)</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia";">I have always been fascinated by the flamboyant beauty
of a peacock's train, each feather proffering a veritable eye gazing down upon
an adoring, venerating audience – an audience that equally would worship and
has indeed worshipped in awe the aloof but ever-seductive entity of mystery and
midnight that peruses the world through the golden eyes of a cat.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia";">So when I encountered online this spectacular
photo-manipulated composite of the pavonine and the feline reproduced here,
what else could I do but compose a paean of praise in poetry to its esoteric extravagance?</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia";">THE PEACOCK CAT</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The peacock cat purrs softly amid the fire of the
firmament,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Its burnished plumes glowing and gleaming in
blazing beauty</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">As its glorious train sweeps downward to trace across
the face of the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Each eye, every ocellus, gazing forth from the
splendour of its emerald feathers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Peers with timeless stillness and silence upon the
lands beneath,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">All-knowing, all-seeing, all-dreaming, all-being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The lands receive its hues, its light, its shades,
and its shadows – </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Multicoloured, varicoloured, parti-coloured,
many-coloured.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">A kaleidoscope of ever-shifting, ever-shaping
patterns embellishing our world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Life surges, satiated, inebriated, by polychromatic
potions and elixirs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Cascading in torrents of tinctures from the
prismatic palette of its exquisite soul,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">As its train lies settled awhile, an ever-watchful
extension of its feline being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">And then the peacock cat moves on, withdrawing its divine
train of turquoise and topaz,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Of sapphire and sardonyx, carmine and cochineal,
agate and amber,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Ultramarine, aquamarine, cobalt and emerald, drawn
out and away from our world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">And what is left? No colour, no light, no subtle
hues or vivid vibrancy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Look around at all that is gone, all that is
lifeless, listless, and lost,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Our grandiose achievements strewn in Ozymandian folly,
unseen and unseeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The vast void of eternity encompasses us in its
sable spider-webs of dreadful darkness,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Nothing but nothing remains, where, formerly, yet all
too briefly, there was colour, and life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The peacock cat is gone, and now, and forever, so
too has what had once been our world.</span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-85321872693659877702017-09-09T01:52:00.001+01:002017-09-09T01:52:20.598+01:00I SAW A SEA SLUG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJy2Renq1z8-7VAxyzlyfIiRJLGsi5768uBh4fbZwNPnUJrFDOgF3-OHFdC7xGsjY3Zlteycc_VeHz-PIAlkSGQxs93vVgWtB0qORxSm6eZKlS79YDcGefcXvhj49nlO-P6QM9A0_9JXX/s1600/Nudibranch%252C+Berghia+coerulescens%252C+public+domain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="1062" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJy2Renq1z8-7VAxyzlyfIiRJLGsi5768uBh4fbZwNPnUJrFDOgF3-OHFdC7xGsjY3Zlteycc_VeHz-PIAlkSGQxs93vVgWtB0qORxSm6eZKlS79YDcGefcXvhj49nlO-P6QM9A0_9JXX/s320/Nudibranch%252C+Berghia+coerulescens%252C+public+domain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>A few moments ago, I felt like writing a poem about a sea slug, as you do, so I did, and here it is - you can thank me later.</i></div>
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<b>I SAW A SEA SLUG </b><br />
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I saw a sea slug, a sea slug I saw,<br /> Known as a nudibranch on the sea floor,<br /> Stolen nematocysts bristling and armed,<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> All those who touch them will truly be harmed.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> So, sea slug, slither in safety, serene,<br /> Dazzle with colours of orange and green,<br /> Yellow and turquoise and violet and red,<br /> Rainbowed molluscan upon the sea bed.</span><br />
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-9668497084511752812016-09-26T18:37:00.003+01:002016-09-26T19:10:55.986+01:00THE DREAM-CATCHER<!--[if gte mso 10]>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR30N_IkRNCxDGtnikuj8zpGkxw76e5FFIPY3dckxWtBJ5AI7CppvcDkq6wJVKJ1pn3f8R0FN_IgJrFWzB6uxB8XY3xMAcg47f3evMgMQCgEboEEX9LGHfX07721Z9eWC6BS0FVQP4_x5F/s1600/Dream+Catcher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR30N_IkRNCxDGtnikuj8zpGkxw76e5FFIPY3dckxWtBJ5AI7CppvcDkq6wJVKJ1pn3f8R0FN_IgJrFWzB6uxB8XY3xMAcg47f3evMgMQCgEboEEX9LGHfX07721Z9eWC6BS0FVQP4_x5F/s320/Dream+Catcher.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">When I saw the above
image online, it immediately suggested to me the concept of an otherworld
dream-catcher, a silent preternatural being standing unseen beside us as we
sleep, ready to capture the dreams that we shall dream that night. So that is
what I wrote.</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">THE DREAM-CATCHER</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The dream-catcher stands
unseen, still, beside our beds,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Powdered skin as pale as
bleached bone upon a beach,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A tippet of swan
feathers around his shoulders,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A dense ruff of white
owl plumes encircling his neck.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">His long fingers snatch
at the dreams that flutter by,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Like ghostly moths in
the miasma of midnight.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Then he blows them
softly inside our sleeping minds,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Keeping watch over them,
and us, through the dark hours.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And when dawn comes,
when the bright sun wakes in splendour,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">He is gone, leaving no
dream nor any trace here,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Gone away to ensnare new
dreams for new sleepers,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Until our dream lives
are over, our dream lives done.</span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-20529550475834426932016-09-25T23:32:00.000+01:002016-09-26T19:08:42.049+01:00THE GREEN ELEPHANT<!--[if gte mso 10]>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Kfhu31BYDWaIjZkodpiDXMxCb-ecmayTyNP2oNr-l8hFPuqAxsLvGNOUCHPfhtwp3Je4lLtrnL2vYv-XQ9nG56k1E8_RTstPUscHTSIOFTT0nrKQVQvlG6_q8cx8WpfuDe92ySPbgsKk/s1600/Green+elephant%252C+pub+dom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Kfhu31BYDWaIjZkodpiDXMxCb-ecmayTyNP2oNr-l8hFPuqAxsLvGNOUCHPfhtwp3Je4lLtrnL2vYv-XQ9nG56k1E8_RTstPUscHTSIOFTT0nrKQVQvlG6_q8cx8WpfuDe92ySPbgsKk/s320/Green+elephant%252C+pub+dom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On a number of occasions
down through the years, I have been inspired to write poems and verses after
seeing beautiful, bewitching works of art online. And today was another such
occasion, in which I penned the following poem after encountering the spectacular
illustration presented above.</span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">THE GREEN ELEPHANT</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I dreamed one night that
I had seen</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An elephant, but it was
green.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">It stood amid a leafy
glade</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">With light and shadow
overlaid.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A patch of sunshine on
its brow</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">That glowed like gold, I
know not how.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Its opalescent tusks
glowed too,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A pale, pellucid, pearly
hue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">It gazed at me with
stately calm,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A scene suffused with
leafy balm,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A green cathedral, still
and bright,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A place of wonder,
dreams, and light.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Serene and silent,
arched and tall,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">So too its guardian of
all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Majestic in the mellow
mist,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Where dreams can linger,
hope exist.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Its trunk rose up in
slow salute,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Its sunlight-sprinkled
message mute,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Yet eloquent inside my
mind</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Before I left its realm
behind</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And woke once more
within my room,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">No green or gold amid
its gloom.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Just fading memories
remain,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Until one day I'm home
again.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-77042923845917978462016-08-31T19:45:00.001+01:002016-08-31T19:45:13.011+01:00THE FRACTURED GOD<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBlIkob6UhW99PvjfHB93PYLVjdfcmYpdvSg4WgykH4Ame-XUatuVW69a0KQHTM2zsmWi64ZZ-p_mxwYXE2NaUkk-17JeeJxtTzwiWJhcWUrywEebpihsyx4gpdJUEWNCls_uQpeQbn9h/s1600/Fractured+god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBlIkob6UhW99PvjfHB93PYLVjdfcmYpdvSg4WgykH4Ame-XUatuVW69a0KQHTM2zsmWi64ZZ-p_mxwYXE2NaUkk-17JeeJxtTzwiWJhcWUrywEebpihsyx4gpdJUEWNCls_uQpeQbn9h/s320/Fractured+god.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Here is another short poem
that I wrote after encountering a remarkable example of artwork online, in this
instance the fascinating illustration presented here.</span></i><br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">THE
FRACTURED GOD</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Behold
the fractured god in fragmented florescence,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">His
turquoise-tortured visage tormented by its trace.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">His
eyes by shade are shielded, lost in lidded languor,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">His
mad mind dreams our fancy, our fear, our form, our face.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-34603548579079102642016-08-19T22:39:00.001+01:002016-08-19T22:39:04.695+01:00DINOSAUR DREAMS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5dawPleeX8vCS1Jr9aWziJG8xtY96NEp3kQLCa7E6DrO9uRG_gWeYjfL1p6CeiRMmOXdZ62uRrVwfa7FyUNchikQG4kEaGab3ZGlzkf56UErMpvzN5fBk-GcjF0v412r2s_VdCMSs1It/s1600/Decaying+dinosaur+statue+picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5dawPleeX8vCS1Jr9aWziJG8xtY96NEp3kQLCa7E6DrO9uRG_gWeYjfL1p6CeiRMmOXdZ62uRrVwfa7FyUNchikQG4kEaGab3ZGlzkf56UErMpvzN5fBk-GcjF0v412r2s_VdCMSs1It/s320/Decaying+dinosaur+statue+picture.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As soon as I saw this wonderful illustration when browsing online several
weeks ago, I knew that one day it would inspire me to write a poem – and today
it has done, so here it is.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">DINOSAUR DREAMS</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Verdant but still is the path through the forest,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">A study in sadness, in silence, in shade.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Its trail stretching on, its limit unending, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">A realm with no gladness, no gleam in its glade.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Dead as a dinosaur, all my dreams done with,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Enveloped in verdigris, mould, and decay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The past lies behind, its door closed and
cloistered,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And as for the future? Who knows - who can say?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And so I plod on, alone and regardless,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">'Midst trees, leaves, and bushes, viridian friends.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Their foliage beckons, soon to embrace me,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">To take me back home when my journeying ends.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-66211015039895110342016-04-02T03:16:00.006+01:002016-06-30T00:03:23.883+01:00THREE YEARS AGO TODAY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xOSjE8yr-PuYVftBKpYdymKabc_dMPI8kutG4UlPHdUwd4Fvi-iZebL8UzzJP-O6aqOk_vcCs_Yw56GueAPAFnNDldWTxITB9wVR08j37foMzfIx9lUITrMryGEVC9QqInocArZL8MLt/s1600/Mom+and+me+on+top+of+Sugar+Loaf+Mountain%252C+Rio+de+Janeiro%252C+Brazil%252C+2007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xOSjE8yr-PuYVftBKpYdymKabc_dMPI8kutG4UlPHdUwd4Fvi-iZebL8UzzJP-O6aqOk_vcCs_Yw56GueAPAFnNDldWTxITB9wVR08j37foMzfIx9lUITrMryGEVC9QqInocArZL8MLt/s320/Mom+and+me+on+top+of+Sugar+Loaf+Mountain%252C+Rio+de+Janeiro%252C+Brazil%252C+2007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: magenta;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mom and I at the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2007 ((c) Dr Karl Shuker)</span></b></span><i><span style="color: magenta;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></b></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Yesterday I penned the following lines, marking the third anniversary of the passing of my dear little Mom, Mary Shuker.</i><br />
<i>God bless you, Mom, I've missed you so much during these three long, sad years, and I always will do, every moment of every day, through all the days of my life.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><b>THREE YEARS AGO TODAY</b></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Three years ago today, Mom, was the first time in my life
that I reached for your hand but no longer found it there for me, ready to hold mine
with its loving, comforting, caring touch, as it had always been in the past.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">It was the first time in my life that I looked for your
smile but no longer saw it there for me, ready to dispel any shadows of doubt with its
loving, comforting, kindly reassurance, as it had always been in the past.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">It was the first time in my life that I listened for your
voice but no longer heard it there for me, ready to lift my spirit with its loving,
comforting, cheery encouragement, as it had always been in the past.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">It was the first time in my life that I sought you but no
longer found you there for me, ready to stand beside me, to walk beside me, to share
my life beside me, as you had always been in the past.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Three years ago today, Mom, was the first time in my life
when the future no longer mattered to me, when the present no longer interested
me, when only my memories remained dear to me, enabling me to return to you and
relive our countless happy days, weeks, months, and years together, as there
will always be in the past.</span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-85739162223754657082015-10-30T04:57:00.000+00:002016-09-26T00:18:33.061+01:00MORE STAR STEEDS AND OTHER DREAMS - THE 2015 EXPANDED EDITION OF STAR STEEDS - HAS NOW BEEN PUBLISHED!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_coIXyWI_BW6DjMWOjLplFCH0BhDR3whnRlAOpLEhAb0DzuuT12u_YdsmXscKa4uBcFqsNbcYg-e1J-Tc8s16oaWK9GwtJ3dbVIVin8ArhMj7I49z4Ue8CmPBQ0qg9eo9zzRHx1NI5kGu/s1600/More+Star+Steeds+and+Other+Dreams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_coIXyWI_BW6DjMWOjLplFCH0BhDR3whnRlAOpLEhAb0DzuuT12u_YdsmXscKa4uBcFqsNbcYg-e1J-Tc8s16oaWK9GwtJ3dbVIVin8ArhMj7I49z4Ue8CmPBQ0qg9eo9zzRHx1NI5kGu/s320/More+Star+Steeds+and+Other+Dreams.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm delighted to announce that a new, greatly expanded edition of my poetry book has just been published! Entitled <a href="http://www.karlshuker.com/more_star_steeds.htm"><span style="color: red;"><i><b>More Star Steeds and Other Dreams: The Collected Poems - 2015 Expanded Edition</b></i></span></a>, and published by Fortean Words, an imprint of CFZ Press, it contains two entirely new chapters of my poetry and other lyrical writings of mine. To purchase it directly on the UK and USA Amazon sites, click <a href="http://www.karlshuker.com/more_star_steeds.htm"><span style="color: red;"><b>here</b></span></a> for details and direct clickable links to those Amazon sites. Hope you enjoy it!</span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-36169672364357110692015-10-13T18:54:00.000+01:002015-10-13T18:54:00.512+01:00WHO KNOWS...?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfwABvoAt6wzb_vXzsJx8CaYtBgL3ExbGn67CzjAY_b_kbWl-TEvLtbMExGHsHg03PDASWVsCrFrU49c4-4gO4CEyKp3UsYuAXpb2MUpjo5ZEhbdPFnc0sNJEIWcdZgI9gT1AdjTIi-u-/s1600/Fantasy+carousel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfwABvoAt6wzb_vXzsJx8CaYtBgL3ExbGn67CzjAY_b_kbWl-TEvLtbMExGHsHg03PDASWVsCrFrU49c4-4gO4CEyKp3UsYuAXpb2MUpjo5ZEhbdPFnc0sNJEIWcdZgI9gT1AdjTIi-u-/s320/Fantasy+carousel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>(c) Anne Wipf</b></div>
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<i>The following verse wrote itself inside my head while I was gazing online at this wonderful fantasy artwork produced by Anne Wipf - so here it is:</i></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>WHO KNOWS...?</b></div>
<br />
Who knows what wonders<br />
And miracles be<br />
When no-one's watching?<br />
Not you, and not me...?<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-58859543210399847762015-04-01T22:13:00.001+01:002015-04-13T15:47:55.002+01:00IF ONLY...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Mom and I at Hong Kong's Cat Street Markets/Galleries, Summer 2005 (</b></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->©
Dr Karl Shuker)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN;">How often it is said
that Time is a great healer. Two years have now gone by since Mom's passing, but
for me Time's ministrations have been to no avail – the pain of grief, of loss,
of separation, of the grim, heart-wrenching knowledge that I shall never see my
mother again in this world remains no less raw, searing, or crippling.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I wrote the following
lines to mark today, the second anniversary of that darkest of all days, and I must
keep faith in my cherished belief that through God's good grace one fine bright
day not too long coming we shall indeed be together again, with all of our
family, forever.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I love you, little Mom, always.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I</span></b><b>F ONLY</b><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">...</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">If only my tears could be the footsteps that lead me to where you now are.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">If only my grief could light my way there, a lantern with which I could
see.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">If only my faith could bear me upwards to Heaven's bright portal afar.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">If only my love could find you waiting, and bring you back homeward with
me.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Two years ago today, Mom, you left my life, but you also took it with you.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">You left my world, but you also took it with you.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Only your love and my memories remain, but they are the happiest of
companions,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">And in my sorrow I must draw upon their shared happiness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">To gain some of my own.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">If only I could find a way of doing so - </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">There must be a way, somehow, somewhere...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">God bless you, little Mom - </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How I wish that you were here with me still.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I
always will.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-9853656970837242442014-09-19T02:02:00.001+01:002015-04-02T02:04:27.137+01:00SANCTUARY<i><!--[if gte mso 10]>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrOdHuLrUN3qQAO4sDFNJHcfZ6wLrpGA_yF7XZuAAXpilnO2OULr61kXsHgYemzZbyFsyT-0-qqn5AKzvwT0Lf9jRK9rg_s1uniF-Wi-MMDIh-t5GzeP1Bd5XnwTbH7RFxB6VZJO-6Bqe/s1600/Fox+fantasy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrOdHuLrUN3qQAO4sDFNJHcfZ6wLrpGA_yF7XZuAAXpilnO2OULr61kXsHgYemzZbyFsyT-0-qqn5AKzvwT0Lf9jRK9rg_s1uniF-Wi-MMDIh-t5GzeP1Bd5XnwTbH7RFxB6VZJO-6Bqe/s1600/Fox+fantasy.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
<i><i>Seeing
this lovely illustration online and the expression of sublime peace on the face
of the fox, knowing that it was perfectly safe in this tranquil, magical place,
made me think of how many ways can sanctuary be defined, and what sanctuary
means to me, which in turn inspired me to write the following poem.</i></i></div>
<i>
</i>
<br />
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<b>SANCTUARY</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Where
might I find sanctuary,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Somewhere
safe, secure, serene,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Where
I could once again be loved,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Cared
for,</div>
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Cherished?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Like
a vale of green mists and golden shadows</div>
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Where
a fox can lie and linger,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Undisturbed
and unthreatened, a haven of peace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Like
a realm of leafy trees and fragrant meadows</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Where
tiny birds can sing in joy,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Beneath
Heaven's bright, resplendent dome of glory.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Like
the sanctuary of a mother's heart</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Where
a child can live and be loved,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Knowing
that here he will always be safe, will always be home.</div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-55764815227737737822014-09-18T17:48:00.002+01:002016-08-31T20:39:27.489+01:00THE GREEN MAN<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><i>While
browsing information online concerning the ancient European symbol of fertility
and rebirth known as the Green Man for a future article that I am planning to
write on this subject, I came upon these extraordinary, surreal images, above and below, which
inspired me to pen the following poem.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<b>
</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b>THE
GREEN MAN</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Cometh
the Green Man,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Stepping
forth from the meadows of our ancient mind,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Shedding
leaves of withered verdigris</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As
rebirth restores him anew,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
To
replenish, regenerate, reactivate, revive,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Reproduce
and reassemble, recreate and resurrect.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Fertility,
fecundity, his horns imbue their essence,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Erect
and branching outward to embrace, enthral, encompass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
He
strides from shade and shadow,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Confronting
noontide sunlight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
With
viridescent swagger</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
And
cuprous confrontation:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
"I
return, and return,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Every
day I relive,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
world is mine for as long as I so choose it to be,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For
as long as I nurture its nature, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For as
long as I seed it, sustain it,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For
as long as my beating heart revitalises its existence."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
And
then, he is gone –</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Lost
among the sunbeams and solitude</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Of a
bright, beautiful, golden afternoon,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Heading
onward to the green twilight of tomorrow,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Where
the cycle of rejuvenation, reinvigoration,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Will
begin all over again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
So
be it now,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
And let
it be so forever more.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9qrZ68YA0l_0Vidtx4HDRQyQh2MKiif_TNec_wYq1uGM6190DTksWPoZpn1Ed0icCK5nDNojpCDQC_XDILH3dIhNWZq58zG_JNsfSAhmBMAspAuScW6XpJITSQVC7O38MH9Al4xWME0s/s1600/Green+Man-Herne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9qrZ68YA0l_0Vidtx4HDRQyQh2MKiif_TNec_wYq1uGM6190DTksWPoZpn1Ed0icCK5nDNojpCDQC_XDILH3dIhNWZq58zG_JNsfSAhmBMAspAuScW6XpJITSQVC7O38MH9Al4xWME0s/s320/Green+Man-Herne.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-62494469888274230632014-06-09T02:54:00.001+01:002014-06-09T02:55:55.679+01:00LILAC LAKE FANTASIA<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMESK44Up38fQfApkxuClUy7GkdArUxjtvYoiNn0j5GLN2q9jIzV2LF9JiDZDlr7OdggbUaR1wLRk32cpj5Aa9eA8AG95W4oXUnCC3SOIlE7LbFDwJHpbl3_ECPoo-bvFs7ZXKwXGmfK6K/s1600/Lilac+Lake+Fantasia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMESK44Up38fQfApkxuClUy7GkdArUxjtvYoiNn0j5GLN2q9jIzV2LF9JiDZDlr7OdggbUaR1wLRk32cpj5Aa9eA8AG95W4oXUnCC3SOIlE7LbFDwJHpbl3_ECPoo-bvFs7ZXKwXGmfK6K/s1600/Lilac+Lake+Fantasia.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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<![endif]--><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Sadly, for reasons of space, the following word-picture poem of mine could not be included in the original
edition of </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Star Steeds and Other Dreams<i>. So I am delighted to present it
here instead, as a Star Steeds blog exclusive, its lilac and lavender hues of blissful tranquility
offering a welcome respite from the furious frenzy of hectic everyday life.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">LILAC </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">LAKE</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">FANTASIA</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Morning's first sky-filtered sun-rays</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Trace ellipses green and gold</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">On a lilac lake's clear waters –</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Violet-tinged in rippling folds,</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Each caressing amber fishes</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Darting long in rapid flight</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Through its purple undulations</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">'Neath the heavens' soft blue light.</span></span></div>
<div class="Style4" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And the fleecy clouds drift onwards,</span></span></div>
<div class="Style4" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Each reflected in its gaze</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Of translucent violescence<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span class="FontStyle12"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">O'er a spool of silver haze.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span class="FontStyle12"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<![endif]-->
</div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Shining shots of sapphire swallows<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span class="FontStyle12"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Skim and rocket out of sight<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As their sun-deflecting shadows</span></span><br />
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Stream in speeding, soaring flight.</span></span><span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></span><br />
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And the sun's auroral presence</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Glows from deep within the lake,<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span class="FontStyle18"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As its silhouette of saffron</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Shakes in fleeting golden flakes.</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span class="FontStyle19"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle20"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now </span></span><span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">the deep blue vales of shadow<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Prom the willows bowed in grief</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Dapple racing, circling ripples,</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As a green uncurling leaf</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sailing round in swift gyrations</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">From the centre's spiralled sphere</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Holds a single flashing dewdrop – </span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Or a willow's mournful tear?</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And above each mauve reflection</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Drift the souls of lakeside flowers –</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Rosy, golden-wingèd cherubs -</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Borne through fountains, groves, </span></span><span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">and bowers,</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">While the nymph of lilac waters</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Moves unseen in dappled shade.</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She, the naiad of the lakeside; </span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She, the spirit of the glade;</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Gliding swiftly through the waters,</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Cool and lucent as the dawn,</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As this lavender enchantress</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Through the countryside is borne</span></span></div>
<div class="Style7" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">On the zephyr's ruffling shoulders</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Through the heavens' violet shade,</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As her countenance of beauty</span></span><span class="FontStyle15"><span style="font-family: Georgia; letter-spacing: -1.5pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">,</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle15"><span style="font-family: Georgia; letter-spacing: -1.5pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">P</span></span><span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">ast </span></span><span class="FontStyle15"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">all</span></span><span class="FontStyle15"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></span><span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">mortals, is displayed</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In the lilac lake's reflection,</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Shining softly 'neath the skies,</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Where the cerulean bluebird</span></span></div>
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<span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Through the morning's shadow flies.</span></span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-48976503906984518052014-04-01T20:25:00.001+01:002015-04-02T02:04:27.127+01:00A YEAR AGO TODAY<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">1 April 2013, which was also Easter Monday, was the
blackest day of my life, because it was the day that my dear mother, Mary
Doreen Shuker, passed away. Today, exactly one year later, has been for me a
time of reflection, looking back over what has been a traumatic,
life-shattering year of grief, loss, and irrevocable change, but also looking
ahead, to whatever the future may hold for me, and to whatever I may accomplish
in honour of my mother, and in fulfilment of her most cherished hopes, dreams,
and ambitions for me. God bless you, little Mom – thank you for all the
happiness, goodness, and love that you have always brought into my life.</span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">A YEAR AGO TODAY</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Can it be just a year ago today since you passed from my
life, my little Mom?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Sometimes it seems but a heartbeat away, other times a
thousand lives, a thousand worlds, from where I am now.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">People try to show sympathy and understanding when they
learn that you have gone, but they have no concept of the true nature of my
loss - the immeasurable breadth and limitless depth of the black chasm created in
my life and within my heart by your passing. Yes, I have indeed lost my mother
- a loss that in itself would be all but unbearable. But I have also lost my
best friend, my ever-present housemate, my constant travelling companion, my
most trusted confidante, my number one supporter, and my entire family. You
were all of those persons, Mom, and so much more besides. Is it any wonder why
I grieve without ending, why my life is now but a paltry, meaningless
existence, a mere shadow of its former state, why I look only to the past for
happiness and security now, and to the future with only loneliness and fear?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">I never cried as a child, because I'd never give the
school bully, the playground tormentor, the satisfaction of seeing my tears.
Instead, I'd save them all, each one a precious pearl of emotion, only to be
released in my darkest of all hours some day. Well that day and that hour
finally came, a year ago today, the hour in which I lost you, Mom. The tears
flowed, and have continued to flow ever since - every tear that I've ever saved
throughout my life, torrents of tears that even now after a year of unbroken
outpouring continue in unabated profusion, threatening to drown my very being
in their salty, burning despair, or to carry me away, borne upon a veritable
ocean of tears to who knows where.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">I know that your fondest and most fervent wish for me
would be that I should make something of my life, do something worthwhile with
it, and, most of all, enjoy it, not fill it with grief and sadness. I cannot
change the past and bring you back - I would if I could, in an instant, you
know that, Mom, but I can't. What I can do, though, is change the future, my
future at least, if I choose to do so. You were always so proud of me when you
were here, and I can still make you so now. Indeed, it is knowing all of this
that has given me a reason, the only reason, to continue day by day through
this first year, and it will do so again in those that follow. You sacrificed
so much for me, and loved me too much for me to let you down, to betray your
faith and your trust in me, and so my books and my articles and my blog posts
continue, as you would want and would hope for.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tGW8pSdNGY92heP0QgAnD_oDlDo4_PKXBoXsf7xDbUN4IvatiiyAZWRm45YmzU2uO5kQW-CidhezHAUg_0ghXreREyiAJZJkSmXTW8cF1W341qWmIbZ-uYCFnsQjadP22Lcu7VYtUMD6/s1600/Mom+at+Ironbridge+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tGW8pSdNGY92heP0QgAnD_oDlDo4_PKXBoXsf7xDbUN4IvatiiyAZWRm45YmzU2uO5kQW-CidhezHAUg_0ghXreREyiAJZJkSmXTW8cF1W341qWmIbZ-uYCFnsQjadP22Lcu7VYtUMD6/s1600/Mom+at+Ironbridge+2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">As for me: I am still granted some fleeting but
all-the-more-precious moments with you in my dreams, when once again we are
together, happy and contented in each other's company as we always were. I
still see you in thousands of fondly-recalled memories at home and in millions
of happy remembrances within my mind, which help to dispel the ever-present
loneliness pervading my world indoors, and bring to me your welcome company to
counter the cloud of invisibility that seems to separate me from everyone else whenever
I venture forth into the world outdoors.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">How truly blessed I am, Mom, to have shared my life with
you as my mother for 53 wonderful, happy years, to have been loved
unconditionally by someone who was so proud of me and who genuinely thought of me as
special, wonderful even. Few people are ever so lucky. I shall always remember
that, especially when at my lowest ebb. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">This first year of being without you, of being alone in
this world, knowing that wherever I look, whichever street I walk along,
whatever shop I walk into, I shall never see you again, shall never hear your
voice speaking to me again, shall never see your face in the crowd looking for
mine again, has been the worst time of my life. Nothing else ever will, ever could,
be as devastating, but I shall miss you always, all the days of my life. I now
stand on the brink of entering my second year alone, and I can only pray that
acceptance will at last be mine, that grief will lift and give me a measure of
release, of peace, and that I shall be worthy of you, Mom, that I shall go on
to achieve all that you have ever hoped and dreamed for me.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">God bless you, little Mom. Please always stay beside me
where you always used to be when here, please always give me hope and
encouragement as you always used to do when here, and, above all else, please always
love me as you always did when here. If you will do these, I will do the rest –
this I promise you, Mom, with all my heart and with all my love, always.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3NPXLzHmxCBlocuu-JtJfzwKyj7xzyUoZNs-GDIRecgY0UovlLb9LmCBrZg_wU_e5S6bzHgL-LJjr0XCXBRIX1cPA5tQuiuptUs-rDU85jokB9A8caRfQILYxoXG3a5FwjGKCvH0ngI2/s1600/Mom+and+I+on+WWTBAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3NPXLzHmxCBlocuu-JtJfzwKyj7xzyUoZNs-GDIRecgY0UovlLb9LmCBrZg_wU_e5S6bzHgL-LJjr0XCXBRIX1cPA5tQuiuptUs-rDU85jokB9A8caRfQILYxoXG3a5FwjGKCvH0ngI2/s1600/Mom+and+I+on+WWTBAM.jpg" height="320" width="318" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">All photographs are (c) Dr Karl Shuker</span></div>
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Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-50453020857992140952014-04-01T01:59:00.001+01:002015-04-02T02:06:32.131+01:00ShukerNature: REMEMBERING MY MOTHER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NfcARX47v_54jfMBmdsI-bb5y60zVhkKu2as3IxrhaWazB3F7jdxFXYR4UXp1Fwx8uob0Q1fB0PTJJ7x9B5zM6YB8faZLyqsp9OKbjZva8qdeV-pGJeCR7TbKvUjVAxEPQVxZr4iSVe-/s1600/Mom+in+protea+coat+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NfcARX47v_54jfMBmdsI-bb5y60zVhkKu2as3IxrhaWazB3F7jdxFXYR4UXp1Fwx8uob0Q1fB0PTJJ7x9B5zM6YB8faZLyqsp9OKbjZva8qdeV-pGJeCR7TbKvUjVAxEPQVxZr4iSVe-/s1600/Mom+in+protea+coat+3.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2014/04/remembering-my-mother.html?spref=bl">ShukerNature: REMEMBERING MY MOTHER</a>: Mom, wearing the beautiful protea-decorated coat that she purchased in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2008 (© Dr Karl Shuker) Today it i...Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-1073020440923988672014-02-23T12:03:00.001+00:002014-02-23T12:06:17.446+00:00WINTER WOLF<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqziXFwdSWXBbZ-xJSSK5eVhrjc1S4syqhxJyhv4z1wkS76nossK7LGIoPCw1JIanweudc5Jk1kKscJv-dCWdRqGL8qy3auGTBPlCuZb36677IyJO2yK0VgcDXjk3GCo4hDeVvhf_hMF4S/s1600/White+wolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqziXFwdSWXBbZ-xJSSK5eVhrjc1S4syqhxJyhv4z1wkS76nossK7LGIoPCw1JIanweudc5Jk1kKscJv-dCWdRqGL8qy3auGTBPlCuZb36677IyJO2yK0VgcDXjk3GCo4hDeVvhf_hMF4S/s1600/White+wolf.jpg" height="264" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> I saw this beautiful illustration online today, and
felt its winter wolf inspire me, impel me, to compose the following lines in
its honour. </span></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">WINTER WOLF</span></b>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">White wolf of winter, of starlight and icicle,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Padding softly through the silver trees in blue frozen
haze,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Its chilling breath swirling, curling, a smoke of
sudden snowflakes,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Its frosted fur sparking and shimmering in pale, pellucid
scintillation,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Its azure eyes imparting a glacial gleam of cool
frigid fire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It turns and gazes at me as I stand before its
mesmerising presence,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Resistance is futile, is fickle, submission is solace,
is all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I never suspected that death would be so subtle, so
silent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">But then the bright sun filters down from the
treetops,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Down through the branches to where we both stand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And the winter wolf vanishes - </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">A spectre swept past-ward,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">A dream dreamed and done with,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">A shadow extinguished,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">A vision discounted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The snow keeps on falling as I retrace homeward,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The winter wolf's footprints my lone steadfast
guide,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I still hear its howling, its heartbeat, all round
me,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I still feel its cool chilling breath on my face,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And know that one day it will come, it will find
me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And I shall be there, shall be waiting anew.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-81264690418487358222013-12-15T01:37:00.001+00:002013-12-15T01:37:34.776+00:00WEARY OF LIFE<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjn6ijJQ3RS4fe11BApbU2XNg2YXcmw2zXfmky2JwzxH3uiZJCuJ84eluxieJiEeSWf9k48k5nQPv3cODZiTexMYJNoElYcxDhY1Iq8tqwJhpp0nrZ6TD1wnkXe7EYKzbt6EhaEBtQOsRJ/s1600/untitled__cloaked_figure_by_sesfitts-d4165pv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjn6ijJQ3RS4fe11BApbU2XNg2YXcmw2zXfmky2JwzxH3uiZJCuJ84eluxieJiEeSWf9k48k5nQPv3cODZiTexMYJNoElYcxDhY1Iq8tqwJhpp0nrZ6TD1wnkXe7EYKzbt6EhaEBtQOsRJ/s320/untitled__cloaked_figure_by_sesfitts-d4165pv.jpg" width="157" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Courier New";"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: magenta;"><b>((c) esfitts-d4165pv) </b></span><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Life is for the living, and death is for the
dying. But what is there for those whose living has no life, and for whom dying
is not death but release?</i>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>WEARY OF LIFE</b> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Weary of life,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of shrugging off the
darkened drapes of melancholy,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Settling like a
shroud of grief upon my shoulders,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Like a veil around
my face,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Like a mask around
my mind.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Weary of life,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of shaking from my
memory the dusty webs of sorrow,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Woven by the spiders
in the chasms of my soul,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the ashes of my
future,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the sunsets of my
past.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Weary of life,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of gazing at the
broken, empty dream that once had lived,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That once had
brought the light of love, of hope, to me,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Lost now, all over, dead
and done for,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Lost now, 'midst the
stillness of my tomb.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-29407508172887586432013-10-23T12:50:00.001+01:002015-04-02T02:04:27.122+01:00THE CHAINED GATES<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMakhpmznNl4QJCeZ2nub45KcqPj7Wi_Wy3wjHKyyAJJFRVWpf5dDTtJSZbvIeYdHqJtG0EB7yvE8FonRc17N1JntoOavTE5ilGI5cNZosdTh8oHzyRXVRxCvTRWORAc4AUEzm2toO25c/s1600/Padlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMakhpmznNl4QJCeZ2nub45KcqPj7Wi_Wy3wjHKyyAJJFRVWpf5dDTtJSZbvIeYdHqJtG0EB7yvE8FonRc17N1JntoOavTE5ilGI5cNZosdTh8oHzyRXVRxCvTRWORAc4AUEzm2toO25c/s320/Padlock.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>This morning, I visited the newly-completed gravestone of my mother, Mary Doreen Shuker (1921-2013), which has taken
6 months to prepare. Standing there in the solitude of the cemetery, it all
still seemed so unreal, that the vibrant little lady always so full of life, of living, and of love was gone, her time in this world marked only by the stone and grave
there before me, beautiful and elegant though they were, just like she had
always been. Come the closing of December, I shall not grieve the passing of 2013, but I shall forever
grieve the passing within it of my mother, whose light is gone from my world until that joyous day when we will be reunited forever. The following lines are ones that I wrote yesterday evening, after I'd previously attempted to visit Mom's grave a few hours earlier, only to discover to my dismay that the cemetery had already closed.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>THE CHAINED GATES</b></span>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">This afternoon at around 4.10 pm I received a phone call
from the memorial stone masons informing me that Mom's gravestone with her
inscription was at last complete and in place upon her grave. The weather
wasn't good, so I decided not to visit straight away, but then at around 4.50
pm it improved and the sun came out. So I psyched myself up to be ready, then
got the car out and drove to the cemetery, only to find that it was locked. It
turns out that from October to April it closes at 4.30 pm, instead of at 7.00
pm as it does for the rest of the year. I didn't know that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Standing there, outside the cemetery with its chained
gates separating me from Mom's grave, was heavily symbolic for me - it is after
all a representation of the real situation that I endure every day. I stand in
this life, and Mom in the next, so I am separated from her by the great divide
of death, the chained gates through which I cannot pass while still alive.
Seeing those gates brought it all home to me so much. Of course, I know that I have
only to wait until tomorrow to be able to walk through the unchained cemetery
gates and be with Mom's mortal self at her grave, whereas I have to wait for
the rest of my life before I can transcend death to be with her in spiritual
immortality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Her gravestone was the last thing that I could organise
for Mom, and I hope that it is elegant and beautiful, just as she always was.
Mom never liked the taking of flowers to graves, as they soon fade and die, or
are stolen by others, so I've instructed that a pair of multicoloured bouquets be
engraved onto her gravestone, so that she will always have flowers that will
never fade, never die, and never be stolen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Visting her completed grave for the first time will in a
sense mark the final footstep in my own personal Via Dolorosa, the sorrowful
path that I have trodden for the past 29 weeks since she passed away while
everything associated with her funeral and burial was being organised by me for
her and was then being carried out, stage by stage. My grief will not be abated
by my visit, but there is nothing more that I can do for her now in a direct,
physical way, except to make something of what is left of my life - something
good, something worthwhile - if I can, as I know how much she would want me to
do that, and also to ensure that her name and memory live on, as my personal
tribute to a truly wonderful mother and the best person I shall ever know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";">Mom is at peace; may my visit to her final resting place
on Earth bring me, if still too early for peace yet, at least some degree of
acceptance, of understanding regarding our mortality in this present world, in
this present life, and also some reaffirment of hope that there is a new life
and an everlasting reunion with those we love beyond it, beyond those chained
gates that stand before us all during our time here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8KV2zoWhGv0Qyke6WmqRVJopCWHELQZLRxSin1ItjqZD7E8z2QHZRXLH1sN4etccxQNC6H-5OEHG1UHFphv7tNw7kN5HKgc_ruWxLUpcsWGA69QDaz5Q4jWZDEX7vL-k1aU7qMkV6YcqG/s1600/Mom+and+me+at+Royal+Palaces%252C+Bangkok%252C+Thailand%252C+2005%252C+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8KV2zoWhGv0Qyke6WmqRVJopCWHELQZLRxSin1ItjqZD7E8z2QHZRXLH1sN4etccxQNC6H-5OEHG1UHFphv7tNw7kN5HKgc_ruWxLUpcsWGA69QDaz5Q4jWZDEX7vL-k1aU7qMkV6YcqG/s320/Mom+and+me+at+Royal+Palaces%252C+Bangkok%252C+Thailand%252C+2005%252C+cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<![endif]-->Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-80491773280103753402013-07-23T19:41:00.000+01:002013-07-23T19:41:05.054+01:00THE STAG OF HEAVEN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlXxhEUe4jP9gFRoxIhuOLZEZ4mG1Zq5BzdAaL13DG_zcesIIHTNeKob_pJL_KnwO_GVWxR7RhL1OGyeRx-BIY9oH8vDAqGpFjROMLuYW23YBhTnpKABJc0f1aXmTfl0dsBpwBNZHv2YZ/s1600/Stag+of+Heaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img bba="true" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlXxhEUe4jP9gFRoxIhuOLZEZ4mG1Zq5BzdAaL13DG_zcesIIHTNeKob_pJL_KnwO_GVWxR7RhL1OGyeRx-BIY9oH8vDAqGpFjROMLuYW23YBhTnpKABJc0f1aXmTfl0dsBpwBNZHv2YZ/s320/Stag+of+Heaven.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>I saw the above picture earlier tonight while browsing online, and its strange, melancholic beauty drew from me the following lines, which echo the solitude of my own existence.</em></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>THE STAG OF HEAVEN</strong><br />
<br />
Gently, calmly, in stately silence,<br />
The hart of Heaven, the celestial stag,<br />
Steps forward through the graveyard of my life.<br />
<br />
Its leafy coat, grass-green amid the moonlight,<br />
Flows like forest waves upon the lake,<br />
And glows like living foxfire in my eyes.<br />
<br />
Its antlers bear the promised buds of future years,<br />
The dreams that may be mine in other days,<br />
And I can only wait and hope and pray.<br />
<br />
It passes from my sight, the land is dark,<br />
No phosphorescent glimmer, the waters still and cold,<br />
And I? Alone once more, as ever it shall be.<br />
<br />
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-62738171485674253302013-06-22T23:22:00.001+01:002013-06-22T23:22:07.998+01:00THE ROAD OF LIFE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKk4coyLdQwabCKRlRmLTtQTPFIjmWyCF_k1HHylGC_2COomQSfAICeos6BYZc_Pi2zkPPHp2SPBgdYfJZSOOCN29zIfLBMP0BmZuIRRR-DwYoNMa8Fk_BRVx82ybMgNq98VShAU7fWvx_/s1600/The+Road+of+Life+pic,+Andy+Paciorek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKk4coyLdQwabCKRlRmLTtQTPFIjmWyCF_k1HHylGC_2COomQSfAICeos6BYZc_Pi2zkPPHp2SPBgdYfJZSOOCN29zIfLBMP0BmZuIRRR-DwYoNMa8Fk_BRVx82ybMgNq98VShAU7fWvx_/s320/The+Road+of+Life+pic,+Andy+Paciorek.jpg" width="320" wya="true" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Photograph by Andy Paciorek</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>Who can say what the future holds? We can only hope that we will be equal to its challenge.</em></div>
<br />
<br />
<strong>THE ROAD OF LIFE</strong><br />
<br />
The road of life has many turnings,<br />
And where they lead is usually hidden from view.<br />
So we must have faith that, wherever it may be,<br />
The sun is shining,<br />
The grass is fresh and green,<br />
And life still holds some purpose, some meaning, in store.<br />
<br />
Otherwise we may just as well sink to our knees -<br />
Alone and adrift by the wayside,<br />
Watching our dreams shatter and perish on the stony ground,<br />
Weeping impotent tears of sorrow, desolation,<br />
Willing our days to darken, disintegrate, dwindle into dust -<br />
And die.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-22852604406513073892013-04-13T21:40:00.001+01:002013-04-13T21:40:28.805+01:00YESTERDAY NO LONGER - THE SEASHORE BY TWILIGHT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKQRuJb63CxLgXUeZPemc9p4toTfhZoF_fJ5BhsVptKpRbQbRatdSpQy66-PT7Z58CvKEzBw35ZMG-SD9Yk3ekyyCL7Z1-xDnEjKJ1R6dVguXW1fviiCoRb8-Z8KbB-Gn5aRPnAzwoHcy/s1600/Seashore+at+Twilight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bua="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKQRuJb63CxLgXUeZPemc9p4toTfhZoF_fJ5BhsVptKpRbQbRatdSpQy66-PT7Z58CvKEzBw35ZMG-SD9Yk3ekyyCL7Z1-xDnEjKJ1R6dVguXW1fviiCoRb8-Z8KbB-Gn5aRPnAzwoHcy/s320/Seashore+at+Twilight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>A final word-picture, this time unrhymed, in which I have attempted to recapture via alliteration, onomatopoeia, and selected repetition the subtle beauty and sounds of the seashore experienced one evening alone with only the sands and waves for company, and the thought that perhaps there really is something more out there than merely our own mortality. Until the next time…</em></div>
<br />
<br />
<strong>YESTERDAY NO LONGER - THE SEASHORE BY TWILIGHT</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Over the slumbering shore I stroll, over the gently undulating seas of glistening sand, shining silver in the pale, overlapping light of the moon and stars. The violet sea flows gently up the silver layers of sandy shore, coated with white surf, billowing like featherdown. It makes no sudden, sharp movement as I walk between the grey, red, green, and yellow pebbles strewn over the seashore, speckled here and there with spiralled shells, almost as if it too were sleeping, the mauve and blue waves reflecting silver light that darts back and forth over their sparkling crests like living shadows cast down from the moon.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As I walk on, the sea stretches alongside, endless in its volume and capacity, rolling softly over silent shores like a blue fluid wind, billowing and ruffling, casting up airborne bubbles to spiral and cycle before bursting, their souls returning downwards to be reborn in the waters of the sea.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And as I look at the sea in this dark, silent evening, it seems as if another world lies beyond its shimmering boundaries, lying just behind the horizon, to which, one day, we shall all go, across the rolling waves of the ocean – leaving behind the silver sands, passing through the tranquil twilight, until we reach the very end of the ocean itself, and then at last we shall be there. We shall have left the world behind, our cares and our hopes and our dreams all forgotten, leaving the slumbering sea to caress the sleepy shores forever.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /> </div>
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-88956446086744022312013-02-28T20:57:00.000+00:002013-02-28T20:57:14.409+00:00LIFE - THE INFINITY OF THE WORLD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvS6I6X-jcEbOkw6EfgPibWRgcI2GlXSA1cWzL-8GCel7yEr5DPxs2t2TMBIglp9T0cpb4o-N5iuS8ULd3_Bt88Lw90ipXo_I3MarVkOgWfFYSq6qE0lGk5FQSTghKUlAuwhKDm8FIOee/s1600/Life,+The+Infinity+of+the+World.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gsa="true" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvS6I6X-jcEbOkw6EfgPibWRgcI2GlXSA1cWzL-8GCel7yEr5DPxs2t2TMBIglp9T0cpb4o-N5iuS8ULd3_Bt88Lw90ipXo_I3MarVkOgWfFYSq6qE0lGk5FQSTghKUlAuwhKDm8FIOee/s320/Life,+The+Infinity+of+the+World.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>How strange it is that whereas the seconds of our lives pass quite slowly, the minutes seem to go by faster, and the hours faster still, as our lives race ever onward to their conclusion. And yet as they depart, others commence – the one certainty in a world of uncertainly is that Life, in an innumerable multitude of forms, is ever-present.</em></div>
<br />
<strong>LIFE - THE INFINITY OF THE WORLD</strong><br />
<br />
The throbbing fingers of a clock<br />
Tick slowly by, ne’er ceasing,<br />
Just as Time moves on forever,<br />
Never stopping, never easing,<br />
In its swift, eternal race<br />
Through the vales of Outer Space.<br />
<br />
Seconds trickle by like raindrops<br />
In my life, so little being,<br />
Followed closely by the minutes<br />
As they chase, forever fleeing,<br />
Through the heavens still and grey<br />
In the silhouette of Day – <br />
<br />
Like a windmill turning softly <br />
Through a timeless, depthless pool,<br />
As its orbit circles ever<br />
Round its lone, immortal spool,<br />
Till it sinks away to die<br />
‘Neath the shadows of the sky.<br />
<br />
Thus my life flits swiftly onwards<br />
As the hours soon drop away<br />
Like a host of cloudy phantoms,<br />
Growing fainter every day,<br />
Till at last their forms are gone,<br />
And the Future marches on – <br />
<br />
Like a journey hoping ever<br />
For a journey of its own,<br />
As its unknown dreams await me,<br />
Each I meet but once, alone.<br />
Then it’s gone, it cannot wait,<br />
Nor can any ghost of Fate,<br />
<br />
Till, to God, my soul turns humbly<br />
On my final mortal day.<br />
Metamorphosis is over,<br />
And my spirit flies away,<br />
To a Land of lasting Peace,<br />
Where e’en Time shall find release.<br />
<br />
Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105881779184013417.post-72757012052304069902013-01-19T16:45:00.002+00:002013-05-28T17:04:17.437+01:00BLUE TIGER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafXwpNiIBrkt-tVitIbEFhiz27SAHl_7mtZatJzZ-SsPVs8fif3Krexwh6BiYRxK9KEoT0ldvkM6CmBLQ7q-IaVAzmqloiWwPiEPUXBQwNpmNBkWXlQ8IFFR4WUitnIxjHQwyP4oECUF/s1600/Blue+tiger%252C+fiery+background%252C+pub+dom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafXwpNiIBrkt-tVitIbEFhiz27SAHl_7mtZatJzZ-SsPVs8fif3Krexwh6BiYRxK9KEoT0ldvkM6CmBLQ7q-IaVAzmqloiWwPiEPUXBQwNpmNBkWXlQ8IFFR4WUitnIxjHQwyP4oECUF/s400/Blue+tiger%252C+fiery+background%252C+pub+dom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>Remarkable as it may seem, blue-furred tigers have been reliably reported on several occasions from certain regions of China and Korea, and strands of their fur have even been found on trails utilised by these evanescent, dream-like beasts. How magical it must have been to have seen such a creature...</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<strong>BLUE TIGER</strong></div>
<br />
Once,<br />
In a dream it might have been,<br />
I saw a blue tiger.<br />
<br />
As cerulean as the sky,<br />
Ethereal yet awesome,<br />
Eclipsing even the scarlet rays of dawn,<br />
Its strange, unearthly hue<br />
Filled the heavens with its wonder,<br />
Gleamed in the gaudy plumes of jungle birds,<br />
Glimmered in the plush, powdered wings of butterflies,<br />
Glittered in the cool depths of a forest pool.<br />
<br />
It lowered its proud, regal head,<br />
Shaking it in the pool's limpid waters,<br />
And ripples gyrated madly across the dark surface,<br />
Skimming and shivering,<br />
No longer calm, no longer tranquil,<br />
A liquid mirror in startled disruption.<br />
<br />
Refreshed, the tiger raised its head,<br />
Majestic, aloof, magnificent,<br />
Quelling the ripples, the mirror restored.<br />
<br />
And the tiger's azure reflection<br />
Took shape,<br />
Took form,<br />
Took substance,<br />
Took life.<br />
<br />
Then,<br />
The tiger opened its eyes - <br />
<br />
And I was awake.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Dr Karl Shukerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.com0