New Year Wishes

Poem: Hit The Big Baloon

"As the arrow shot...
from the bow of your ego...
hits the bull's eye...
in the middle of mine...
my spirit smiles
at the game of
Hit The Big Baloon
we are playing...
down below...
from somewhere...
high up...
in the cheap seats..."
...................Quester.

Exercise Bicycle 1

Poem: There Are Those

"There are those...
whose knotted cedar
the culture chisel
could not chip into shape...
There are those...
whose eagle winged day dreams
could not be clipped by
the slow sharp scissors
of insurance plans and mortgages...
There are those...
who the straight jacket
of a robot schooling
could not keep from
houdini-ing their way
to their degree in creativity...
It is these ones and their kin
who have been given
the outcast's job of taking
the human race forward...
to a time when the few
who are different...
will not be punished
by the many who are the same...
and every man and woman
will know the unfettered freedom
of the imagination
to enliven the world
we sometimes sleep walk in..."
.................................Quester.

Value Of A Grey And Peaceful Day

On Boxing Day morning when I emerged from my bed room I looked out through my balcony window at the grey skies
over the mountains and said to my visiting relative...already up...with a tinge of sarcasm..."Behold!"...pointing towards the
mountains...the kind of thing that you might say...that comes out of your "wet coast" rain consciousness. A bit later...I
remembered that this day was the one year anniversary of the Asian tsunami. Then I got to thinking of how that
unforgettable day was a brilliant blue skied day...that changed terribly and suddenly. I then had the insight that...this grey
rain threatening Boxing Day on the West Coast of Canada...free of disaster...was infinitely preferable...to the one a year
before where so many had their lives changed...or lost...under beautiful blue skies...and that grey or wet...
catastrophe free days...are days to be cherished...rather than looked past...and put down...as we wait for blue skies to
return...................Quester.

One Life 3

[Lines from poem: "One Life"]

"One Life...
to be free
from the foibles of fashion...
One Life...
to put down
our public personas...
One Life...
to reveal
our authentic selves...
One Life..."
....Quester.

A Different Christmas Day

A different Christmas Day it has been. Fortunately all my gifts had been put in Christmasy bags before the cold struck.
Earlier today I sent them by a visiting relative...to the family gathering. I didn't want to expose the youngest addition to
our clan...just three months old to my cold...and wanted to continue my remedy for these sneezy interruptions in my life...
which is to go to ground for the duration. So...even though there have been glowering clouds over the mountains all day...
I've felt at ease...listening to music I love. My novice's training in not being attached to plans...knowing I might have to change them...and quickly moving on when I do...even at Christmas time...has kicked in...and I am at Peace with the unfolding of this quiet Christmas Day.....
..................Quester.

Peace Be With You

One Life 2

{Lines from poem "One Life"]
"One Life...
to dance to the Drum Beat
of Creation...
One Life...
to respect all Paths
to the Same Place...
One Life...
to be open
to joining with others...
One Life......."
........Quester.

One Life 1

[Lines from poem: One Life]
"One Life...
to break free
from the Prison of Poses...
One Life...
to stop wailing
our Litany of Againstness...
One Life...
to sing strongly
our Anthem of Forness...
One Life..."
....Quester.

Longer Days Coming

They say that today's date brings the shortest day...or is it the longest night of the year?. [I suppose it's a question of
whether your hour glass is half full or half empty]. It is 12.15 in the afternoon and so gloomy out there it looks like it's
going to be the shortest day of the millenium. Coming to Canada from a place near the Equator...where the sun seemed to set on cue at 6 o'clock...after having risen about 12 hours earlier...one of the never before experienced aspects of my
new country...in addition to the winter cold...was the shortness of the "sunlight" hours...during the winter...which left you
with a condition that could be called "light deprivation". Anyway...it's good to know that from tomorrow...the days will be
getting slightly longer...and before you know it...we will no longer be "deprived".....................Quester.

Reminder 3

"Let your imagination fly free...
Shake away...
the shackles of predictability...
Don't let peer group pressure
shape you...
Become a custom made being...
not a factory made one..."
...........................Quester.

First Snow Fall

A Working Contradiction

A week before Christmas Day...and I still haven't entered into the rush to the stores. Every year I have this debate with myself
...about whether I'll join in the gift buying or not. What usually wins out...is that I couldn't turn up to the family gathering...
[which I enjoy with its family warmth...and Auld Lang Syne being served]...bare handed. One year I did stay away from the
shopping and the family gathering...and even wrote a song about it called..."May Your Houses Be Warm"...and did quite a
bit of painting. Something tells me that this year..."as the days dwindle down to a precious few"...the family gathering will
win...pulling me before I attend it...to join the lemming rush to the stores. Given my dislike for the commercialization of
Christmas...going to the stores for the reason described...is what I would call...one of the "working contradictions"...we
sometimes have to engage in...in living this thing called Life..........................Quester.

Observation

"Acts of Kindness...
calculated to happen...
before a tv camera...
or an audience...
can't be called "random"...
Real Acts of Kindness...
are more likely to happen...
with only giver...
and receiver...
present..."
....Quester.

Back To The Fret Board

[Written yesterday]. It was a sunny but chilly day today...as I walked by the Bay. The mountains across the way were in
bold relief...and the water was a cobalt blue...it's unusual darkness probably a measure of the coldness of the day. After
returning home refreshed...I listened to a voice and guitar cd of mine...something I hadn't done in quite a while. It was a
good thing I did...I found myself being impressed with the guitar accompaniment I was playing. I think the reason I was...
had to do with the fact that if I were asked to play those parts...today...I wouldn't be able to...given my recent lack of
practice. Those guitar parts were the result of a lot of practice leading up to the recording of the material...for that cd.
So...listening to my work this day turned out to be...not just a narcisstice exercise...but was a strong reminder of the daily guitar practice I have to return to...any day now.....................Quester.

When Charity Began Up River

Reminder 2

"Aspire to be...
a tree full of flowers...
invisible to the world...
knowing...
invisible flowers...
never fall..."
.....Quester.

Buck Man

The audio post done yesterday was called "Buck Man Knows". "Buck man" was the
pejorative term used to describe the Amerindians of Guyana...my father's people...
when I lived in Guyana.
My hope is that since that era this term has been consigned to the place where
racist relics go...as people become more enlightened...but until I receive evidence that that has happened...I wouldn't bet that this term has vanished from the Guyana
vocabulary...along with other negative descriptions of members of all six ethnic
groups who live there. I remember in the school yard...if you were playing badly in one of the ad hoc cricket sessions that took place often... someone...likely...would shout at you..."Eh eh man...you lookin' buck sick!" i.e. bad play being equated with being Amerindian. Years after I had left Guyana...on a return trip there...I was leafing through a Geography text book used by a nephew of mine...in it I came upon a passage saying that....the Amerindians never made good slaves because they kept running away to the forest!. The man who wrote the text book was from one of the "dark" races of Guyana...and yet...in keeping with ancient prejudices in that country...he couldn't see that "going back to the forest"...was actually "going home" for the aboriginal people there...and was passing on a prejudice...inside the "final source" that a text book is supposed to be for children. For these reasons...and many more that have accrued over the last five hundred years I wrote the poem..."Buck Man Knows" ...and live in the hope that it won't take another five hundred years...for the true value of the original inhabitants of the Americas to be appreciated.........
......................Quester.

Buck Man Knows-2

Reminder

"All the Stuff from the Past...
from the Forest of the Undone...
or the Forest of the Done...
that wasn't well delivered on...
has no productive place...
in the Gift of the Present...
Let Yesterday go...
and not prevent you for a moment...
from living as full and undriven
a life...as possible...Today..."
........................Quester.

The Bottomless Songs Of Ireland

Lately I've been listening to "Live Ireland" on the internet. This has reacquainted
me with some of the music of the world I like best. I am not talking about the
plentiful supply of jigs and reels from this site...if I were at a country dance I would no doubt respond to their call to get moving. No..it's those songs in between
that programmers are probably told to keep to a minimum...although on this site I've
heard quite a few. I am speaking of those wails that come from deep out of the
painful history of Ireland...and the separation of so many of its people from their
homeland...for economic or violent reasons. Whether it's the human voice...or...
aeolian pipes...or tin whistle...sending out its lament...these songs reach me in a
deep place in myself. What longing...from those separated from loved ones there is...
in songs like "Ten Thousand Miles". Then there are the songs of love lost...like
"She Moved Through The Fair"...and "Raglan Road"...and many others I've heard lately
and still don't know the names of. In the midst now of the poverty of AM Radio...I
know now where to go to be reminded...that all in my world is not shallow...as I am
moved...in deep places...by the "Bottomless Songs Of Ireland"...............Quester.

Invocation

Like A River Flowing

Yesterday...I said to everyone...or no one in particular...I felt these days
like a river flowing out into my world. Afterwards...being someone who lingers
with his metaphors...after they have been used...I got to thinking...the thing
about a river...is it does not ask the sea..."Pray...tell me...did you see me
flowing out to meet you?...Did you approve of my being so bold?".
There are rivers...too many have sailed on. There are rivers where none have sailed...
but both kinds keep on flowing...paying no mind...to whether many...or...none...
know about their flowing. The river goes on its way...whether no one or many are
listening...singing..."I flow...therefore I am".....................Quester.

The Gift Of Blogging

Eight months a blogger and I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience. More than that
though...I am thankful that I survived through periods in my life as an artist...where
I kept on creating songs...poems...and prose writings...and although I made over twenty
albums of my songs...and had five books of poems and song lyrics published...there
were so many other creations accumulating over the years...so many thoughts scribbled
down in journals...no one ever saw. Not having the particular courage...or...need that
over rode dignity...or..."expressive" mental illness...to rush out to the street corner
when the urge to express myself came...to launch what I had in me out on to the world ...my life was without a daily channel of expression. I had also gone for years...bypassing the "middle men"...who hover around
artist's talents...like flies around a honey pot...the better...not to create...but to
get a piece of someone else's "action". This was all a recipe for developing "a
haunting" about the unexpressed in me. Well...the good news is...I am haunted no more.
Instead...I am thankful that I lived long enough to be offered the gift of blogging...
available to everyone in this "new age'. Although some days I wonder where my next
post is coming from...I no longer feel blocked...having bypassed the "keepers of the gates"...I feel like a river free flowing out into my world.............Quester.

A Simple Core

Browsing through the library one day...looking at some of the book titles on the
shelves...I was reminded of how much knowledge there is in the world...which underlines
how little I know. And yet...I have a sense that despite one's lack of knowledge...
there is a simple core available to all of us...to live from...that is not dependent
on how much knowlwdge...wealth...or notoriety...we have accumulated. this is what in
the past I may have called..."the democracy of the heart". Never being sure of the
"geographical" locations of heart...and soul...and mind...I am not sure of how accurate
this phrase is...but what I meant...was the equal availability of this central place
in our beings...to live in the best way from...whether we are professors...lumber jacks
...shepherds...astronauts...scientists...or bush men...a place available...to all
human beings.................Quester.

Immigrant's Journey

Bling Fest

Was thinking this morning about this season we're in...and what I like or don't like about it. Over the years there have been occasions when with family and friends...we
have sat around singing Christmas songs we remember from childhood. That...I've
always enjoyed...removed as it was from the blinging of cash registers. Meeting with
family during this time...has also been something I've felt the worth of...as I
experienced it. However...many years ago I wrote a song...which is on my cd..."Through
Arawak Eyes"...called "November Town"...with the lines..."Christmas is near...come
shop and show that you care". That's the part of this season I don't like. I was
reading in a recent newspaper...that in this season...anxiety disorders peak...and I
couldn't help wondering...where is the "Peace on Earth"...not Anxiety...that's
supposed to reign at this time?. Anyway...as you may have gathered...I am all for the
warm...loving...and peaceful side of this Christmas season...but save me from what
confronts me everywhere I turn...out in the world...nothing less than a "Bling Fest"
...sometimes with people being judged by the expensiveness of the presents they give
...and because of that...buying what they can't afford...as we seem to forget...what
this season is supposed to be all about.............Quester.

Loose Communities

A song writer...singer...and key board player I know...had a launch of his group's cd
...to which I was invited last night. One of the additional reasons I attended...was
knowing that there would be several people present there...who I've grown to like and
interact well with...over the last two or three years. During that time...we have kept
meeting at poetry nights...benefit concerts...parties...and music nights...where we
have shared our work...or talked and laughed together. I was thinking last night...
what a pleasant organic way that is...to get to know people...no forcing of anything
...no calculated getting to know each other strategies...just being open and meeting
each other from time to time...and becoming over time...better and better acquainted.
i had the sense last night...that over the time since we first started meeting...it looks like we have become what I would call...a "loose community"...and I'm not speaking in a behavioural sense...of people who simply like each other. So...here's to "loose communities"...and may we all have one or more we are
connected to...in our lives..................Quester.

The Sand Dollar

Shoe String Studios

Yesterday...my post was singing the praises of a creative burst...but it left out an
important thing or two. Someone reading about my creating my "Third Arm" might well
say...but...what's the fuss about...you can already buy something like that in the
store. If this is the response...something central would have been missed...it is that what I call "buying your life from the store"...and that always being your first
choice...is likely to guarantee...you don't live a very creative life. I know what delights me...call me simple...is each time I utilise something lying around my home...in a new way...in a way that is not the culturally accepted way of using it...rather than taking "the road most travelled" to the store. My futon frame...now in its nth reincarnation...will attest to having more lives than a cat. The "Third Arm" was made in exactly such a way...focussing in on what was needed...what function it was going to perform...and going through a process of elimination of approaches that didn't work...gradually solving problems...and finally arriving at something that I think will perform the job I had in mind for it. If I were to show anyone my "invention"...I'm sure they are likely to burst out laughing...any creation involving a shoe lace...is likely to provoke such a response. That would be fine with me...having experienced the buzz from the creative process...that led me to reach for a shoe lace...when all else failed. By the way...I'm thinking of calling the place where the "Third Arm" resides..."Shoe String Studios"...................Quester.

A Creative Burst

Earlier today I experienced a surge of creativity that was very satisfying to me.
It is the kind of thing that loses every thing in telling about it to another...
or...for that matter...in writing about it on a blog. It's like trying to tell someone about something that was very funny to you...at the time...but having to finally give up...lamely saying..."well...you had to be there at the time" to appreciate it. Nevertheless...to me it was one of those times in my life...especially as a booster of creativity...I know that I am not just talking about it...but am really living it. One of my least favourite things in life...is when people talk about creativity...but don't actually live it on an ongoing basis...of course...at times allowing time to letting the creative field in you...lie fallow for a while...so that you can return to it...when it is refreshed from rest. We are all potentially creative...but it is the exercise of this potential...that really matters...and is actually what "being creative" means. I've created melodies...songs...poems...prose pieces...and pictures for a long time...but...in a strange...or not so strange way...it is when I "get creative" in
dealing with some every day challenge...that I tend to get most tickled about it...
like the time in Northern British Columbia when I went to a bank to cash a cheque I'd
just received from touring in the schools there...and was short one piece of ID...
and convinced the teller that a vinyl album of mine...with my picture on the cover was the additional piece of ID she needed. Anyway...back to today...today was the day...when I invented the "Third Arm" I needed...in order to do audio posts on the
telephone. I won't be abla to go into details right now...after all it hasn't been
"patented" yet...and...actually...it has not yet been tested with my doing something
else with my other two hands...when I use it...but...so far...it just feels good!...
.................Quester.