Song Maker And Poet Choices

Sang three songs at a poetry gathering last night. Sometimes...when I'm asked to be
the musical person performing on a poetry night...I have a bit of a dilemma...given
I'm also a poet. For such a night...it's as if I never wrote a poem...as I sing songs
I've created...instead...while I am surrounded by poets. It's a strange feeling...but
I am glad that I can perform in either idiom. Being a song maker...and a poet...has
always presented me with one challenge or another. I started writing poems...not too
long after I started writing songs. My songs took precedence over my poems...for the
longest time...as I made my first albums of songs...and did concerts with my songs
to the fore...and my poems nowhere to be seen. After years of things unfolding this way...I made a conscious effort...to bring a few of my poems...into my concert performances. Eventually...I published books of poetry...and then started appearing
at performances...having to wean myself away...from the crutch of having my guitar
to help me through my public performances. At first...it was very difficult to go on
stage...with just a book in my hand to read from...but...in time...I got used to it.
For me...these days...reading poetry at a public gathering...is a much easier thing
to do...than having to command the notes I'm singing...interpret the song...
accompany myself on guitar...and make all the different things I'm doing at the same
time...come together...hopefully...in a flowing unity. So...I should just be glad
...that last night...for one more time...I was able to deliver on this...and let
the lesser challenge...for me...of reading poems rest...until another night.......................Quester.

Masters Of Essences

[Photo: Drawing on the sidewalk...Vancouver]. Today's drawing...in chalk...on the sideewalk...and made not to last...still reminds me of the simplicity of pictographs and petroglyphs...which had a strong influence on early paintings I did. To me there is a power that emanates from such images...made with simple lines. Humanoid or other worldly figures are stripped down to their essentials ...liberated from any fluff or froth. With ancient visual representations...on rock ...who knows if their creators were in a trance...limited by tools used...or simply ..."masters of essences". Whatever lay behind the images they left us...I am thankful to them...for having nudged me into making some pictures of my own...and teaching me about the power there can be...in simple pictures.

Starting In

Living the life of a free lance artist is not an easy thing. It's a feast or famine
journey...with many fluctuations. In my 9 to 5 days...reporting to work at an office
every week day...the unfolding of my work day...was very much shaped by my work place
...and those above me in the office heirarchy. One of the hardest things for me...
when I left that behind...to plunge into the uncertain seas of free lancehood...was
managing time over each long day stretching before me...not having been totally responsible for that before. That...and keeping my own company for long hours...as I
rehearsed...or tried to create a new song...still left slices of time...sometimes
large...for me to cut into smaller slices of activity. It was the kind of situation
that could easily have turned me into...a permanent talker to myself. I was somehow
spared that fate...and over the years...the "slow time" I had in my life...allowed
me to respond to many triggers for songs or other creations...as they came to me...
in a way that they never would have...had I been running from appointment to
appointment. To this day...managing my time...can still give me difficulty at times
...but...so far...I've been able to continue my work as an artist...with some of
the constructive approaches and habits I picked up...journeying on a long...and
sometimes rocky road. One of them...is...instead of waiting for the perfect
inspiration...or beginning...simply..."start in". I find that this even works...
for posting entries to my Blog..........................................Quester.

Poem: Long Tree Shadows

[Photo: Detail from wall painting at Slocan and Hastings...Vancouver].
On long train rides I've been on in my time...one of the things I've found it conducive to...is writing poems. This one was written as we shuttled slowly across
the continent of Ontario...with winter still gripping the land].
"Long tree shadows
on gleaming white
of unmelted morning lakes...
Snow...so clean...
far away from the big city...
Tree outlines
so slender and dark...
reaching for the far shore...
across the foot prints
of vanished coyotes...
circling back
to food and hiding places
on the winter land...
The multiple signatures
of two trinities of toes
that end suddenly
on the lake face...
having turned into
an invisible trail of wings...
marking the April air...
only a few gleaming moments
before...................."
..................Quester.

Muting The Spinners

Sometimes...I get very tired of the adversarial approaches to many aspects of the way
we conduct our lives...and even the systems we have developed over centuries...that
enshrine...human beings taking sides...and fighting with each other. Our political
systems...are prime examples...of "institutionalized againstness" being to the fore.
Political campaigns in full spate right now...do not present a fine example of human
beings performing at their noble best. Instead...they offer daily doses...of one side
blaming the other for everything under the sun. Just once...instead...I'd like to hear one side congratulate the other...when it is warranted...on a job well done. This
approach...to selecting our leaders...and governance...has...among other things...
bred a whole breed of professional "spinners"...who take any issue that arises...to
spin it in favour of the politician...they want to get elected. Sometimes...I marvel
at how a spinner...can sit there...usually with the recommended sacharine and
insincere smile...and to paraphrase a term currently much in use...and causing some spin of its own...set about putting lip stick...on the pig of their choice. At these
times...I have found my own answer...to this sometimes intelligence insulting game
that goes on on our tv screens. I look at "political" programs now...with my tv
remote in my hand...and just as some notorious spinner...is about to start doing his
or her thing...I click "mute". When that person's turn is done...I click the sound
back on. Yes...this exercising of your democratic rights...can be a thing of beauty
...sometimes.......................Quester.

Listening...A Gift Of Love

Last night...I had a discussion with a relative of mine...who is a good listener...
about listening. I have felt for a long time that listening...is a gift of love. I
first learnt about that...years ago...as I conversed with my daughter...who was a child then...on the long distance telephone. I wanted to give as much as I could to her...and on the telephone...I saw that it was in listening well to every thing she said...then responding...that I could communicate my love for her. Ever since that time...there are occasions when I sense that I have been the talker for too long...I
consciously remind myself...and stop...to give the person I'm trying to communicate
with...a chance to take part in the conversation. Communication...after all...is a
two way street...combining listening and talking...and although my contribution to
doing that...is still imperfect...I keep trying to get better at it. I was telling my
relative last night...that when you have listened at length to someone...and then
speak...only to find that they are not really listening to you...but impatiently
waiting...to talk on...what you are saying could easily turn to gibberish...given
that not being listened to...can suck the meaning out of what you are trying to say.
Sometimes it seems to me...that my world...has too many talkers...and too few
listeners...and that being "really heard"...is actually a human right...that is
sadly neglected. So...here's to less talk...and more listening...something that I
sense...will contribute to our living...in a more loving world...........Quester.

Go Canucks Go

Day before yesterday...the National Hockey League season started for my team...the
Vancouver Canucks...with an exhibition game against Edmonton. Notice I said "my" team.
Someone...free of this team identity thing so many take upon themselves...might well ask..."in what respect "your" team?...do you own this group of athletes?...are you related to them?". The answer...to such questions...is...of course..."no". So...what is it that lies behind a seemingly sane person...claiming a team...as "theirs"?. A lot of the time...it has to do with the sports team...that plays in the geographical area where you live...but I know of several examples where this is not the case. When you claim a team to be "yours"...you usually...it seems...get into an unbalanced view of them and their fortunes. Anyone who has attended a game has heard the deep...primordial bray of disapproval...that rises up from the home crowd...when the referee makes a call...against their team...regardless of how well justified it is. I've talked to other "sports fans"...who like me...lose their interest in the ultimate
outcome of the play offs...once their team has been knocked out of them...suggesting
that identification with a team...can come before the love of the sport itself.
I remember telling a young relative of mine...who was being vehement...about something
to do with "his" team...that one of the benefits of professional sport...is that
you can vent your prejudices...not in a way that is a human rights issue...but helps
you to blow off steam...in your one sided view of things...so that you don't have to
be prejudiced in real life. There may be at least a grain of truth in that
observation...which leads me to end this slight probing of what it is to be a fan...
with the totally objective call to arms for my team..."Go Canucks Go!".............. ..............Quester.

Following The Links

From time to time...I check the links that appear under my videos on YouTube. Doing this ...can reveal some interesting things...to me...anyway. In addition to the links in the English language...there are links with text in...Russian...Japanese...Chinese...and in one or two other alphabets I can't identify. It is a humbling experience when this happens...and it's also hopeful and encouraging...showing that a song in one language...can convey something...to someone who usually speaks another language. There is a music site...probably located in Britain...that has featured the video of my song..."Oh Holy Holy Day"...for over eight months now...which it looks like...has helped a lot with the number of people who have viewed this video. My "Apache Man" video...with a song about Geronimo...the great Apache leader...is featured on a site ...and to the left of the screen it appears on...there are about a dozen video titles shown picturing Native American People...with the caption..."more videos like Apache Man"...again...very humbling.
There are many other intriguing aspects...in having videos of some of my creative
work on YouTube. Perhaps I'll write some more later...about this ongoingly
interesting online adventure I'm on.........................Quester.

Sidewalk People

Today's photo...soft focus and all...may be an example of...a picture being worth a
thousand words. Camera in hand...I was about to step into a thrift store when I glimpsed the person sitting on the sidewalk...and clicked...before stepping into the
store. Perhaps that's what we do most of the time anyway. The poor sidewalk people...
begging for change...of the "spare" variety that is...are ever present in the
downtown core of my city. Once in a while...I stop and give something...but over the
years...I too...have learnt to put my blinkers in place...before shifting by them.
Always leaves me with a dissonant feeling. The argument here...is that you couldn't
possibly stop for every one of them. Whatever the case may be...something in you says...life shouldn't be this way for some. Maybe there'll come a time...when there
will be no more out stretched hands...or plaintive calls for "spare change"...because
a way is finally found to help people...before the sidewalk becomes their home.......
........................Quester.

Survival Of The Wisest

Years ago...I first came upon the notion...that we human beings are three brained
creatures...still carrying in us the oldest of the brains...the reptile brain. That
discovery...made a lot of things fall into place for me. For years I had wrestled
with the question...of why many of us humans...seem to suffer from an over dose
of blindness and backwardness. The presence of "the reptile" lurking in us...unless
we make an ongoing and conscious effort...to curtail what it has a tendency to propel
us towards...gave me something to work on...in my own imperfect journey. Perhaps...
among other things...the tendency to be quick to wage war...as a central way of
resolving conflict...when it should be well known by now...the carnage it always costs
...might be traced back...to "the reptile"...and its tendencies. Fast forward to our
present era...with its unprecedented complexity. This is not a good time...for leaders
with their reptiles to the fore...to be ruling our world. Some time ago I read a phrase by a very fine writer...whose name I can't recall...but whose memorable phrase
I can. He said...that we are now living in the time of..."the survival of the
wisest"...amen. There is little or no wriggle room left for survival from...the blind and backward decisions...of those with their reptile...very much to the fore. Let us pray...that it is the wisest...who rise...to lead our world...through uncertain
times.....................Quester.

A Creation Begging To Be Born

[Photo: detail on wall painting at Slocan & Hastings].
Written today:
"Sometimes...
I can feel
my red
"creation begging to be born"
light...
flashing dimly...
somewhere inside of me...
It is giving me notice...
a poem...or other creation...
is available to me...
if I focus in
on retrieving it...
before it skitters away...
Noticing this throbbing light...
as dim as it may be sometimes...
is an important part...
of the creative artist's
repertoire of skills...
Noticing...then taking time out
from other pursuits...
to do something about it......"
......................Quester.

Outside The Restaurant Window

"Outside
the restaurant window...
the reddening trees...
stand perfectly still...
under low cloud cover...
Lunch is over...
as I look around
for a sparkling thought...
or a poem...
to shake up the shroud
hovering over me...
No jewels...
freshly minted
in my mind...
present themselves...
but I smile
as I recognise...
that like a sleepy
afternoon turtle...
somehow...
I have inched
from the top...
to the bottom
of the page...
before me....."
.......Quester.

Poem: When You Just Can't See

"Morning...no sign
of devoured mountains...
or once upon a time sun...
Grey mist hangs low...
hugging the roof tops...
This is where...
faith comes in...
telling you
they're both still there...
it's just that
today...you can't see them...
but some day soon...
they'll both return...
They say...seeing is believing...
but looks like...
it's knowing
that sees you through...
when you just can't see........."
........................Quester.

A Sprig Of Figs

Took today's picture yesterday...guess I could call it "A Sprig Of Figs". If you can
ever get past the copious leaves on fig trees with your camera...this is what figs on
the branch look like. There are quite a few of these trees in my neighbourhood...where
many immigrant people...not too long to Canada...keep fine and productive gardens.
I can see how...having left behind so much that shaped and comforted you...having a
tree of the same species as ones that grew around you...as you grew up...can be a
consolation...in the absence of so much that you once knew. In August...the tenders of
the fig trees here...often cast a large net over their trees...my guess is that they
do so...to protect the figs from being eaten...or "pecked down"...by birds. On my daily walks...my little digital camera...is always with me...unless its raining. Sometimes...as I stop in my tracks...to take a picture of a hanging apple...or pale green bunch of grapes...other people stop in their tracks...and as I bring my camera up to my eye...I can feel their eyes burning into me...as they try to ascertain...whether what I'm up to...is felonious...prying...or vandalistic. I wonder how many of them...get what I'm really up to...as i take pictures of anything that I deem beautiful...or is of interest to me in some way. Taking pictures across the seasons...has become an integral part of my days...as I use new technology...that makes it...so easy and simple these days....................Quester.

Poem: A Metaphor At Lunch Time

"After the sated diners leave...
ketchup bottles...crumpled napkins...
soiled cups and glasses...knives and forks,,,
saucers and dishes...and remnants...
are quickly removed...
by the hyper-active hands
of the afternoon waitress...
the damp cloth rubs over the table
removing all visible traces
of the just finished demolishment...
Making the wreckage
from a just gone meal...disappear..
seems to be at the top of the list
in the waiters' cathecism...
Makes sense...this keeping things
ship shape and visibly hygenic...
the better to lure in repeaters
of the lunch time ravaging...
The metaphor seeker in me tells me...
it's also about letting go of
the debris of the past...quickly...
the better to start over...
one more time...
before closing time comes........."
..........................Quester.

A Sudden Tidying

I had just posted today's picture...when the phone rang. It was a relative...in town
for a brief while...who wanted to visit within an hour or so. This set me off on a
whirlwind of activity...to make my place reasonably presentable. I'm sure I'm not the
only one who does last minute tidying up...when someone you know is about to drop by.
I guess it's about putting your best place forward. I did a quick removal of bits and
pieces...from the areas where the visit will unfold...and closed the door on places
not in play today. When I first got the call...I may have been silently swearing...but
now...a bit after an explosive clearing effort...I am thankful for the spur that was
given me...I'm even beginning to like my living room again...and I am ready to face...
the ringing of my buzzer...any time now..................Quester.

UFO's Over My Mountains?

[Photo: Detail from wall painting on Commercial Drive...Vancouver].
A couple mornings ago...someone from Britain...sent me a message via YouTube...to
pause my video..."Dawn On My Mountains"...at 1.04...where I would see two unidentified
flying objects...in the freeze frame. Curiousity got the better of me...and I did do
the recommended UFO check. At 1.04...other than clouds...there were two objects in the
sky. The one in the middle of the picture...was interesting...looking like an orb of
some kind. You could say that in the paused picture...it wasn't easily identifiable.
Before I started sending excited messages...about the UFO on one of my videos...whizzing across cyberspace...I thought I'd do at least one more test...I clicked "play". Instantly...the sphere...morphed into a gull flying out of the middle of the picture...eastward bound. [By the way...the second object was instantly
identifiable as another gull]. Perhaps...the spreader of intriguing tidings...from
across the ocean...simply gets his chuckles...from "gulling" people...about what he
sees in their videos...that they couldn't see...or maybe he was sincerely trying...
to make my day in an interesting way. Whatever the motives...it was an intriguing
little exercise...although it might be much more than that...revealing for the first
time I know of...that alien space ships...have now mastered the art of morphing
instantly into gulls...the better to fly by my window...and do some surveillance
of my daily habits...as they get ready...to carry out a flawless abduction...some
time up ahead.....................Quester.

A Song And An Era In Your Life

Just received an e-mail from someone in Inverness...Scotland...saying after searching
over a long period of time...he had acquired...on e-Bay...and from Australia...a copy
of the first album I ever made in Britain many years ago. It always surprises me...
when people get in touch about an individual song...or an album of my songs...made in a long gone era...knowing that since that era...I've created many other songs...some of which are also on cd's. As a song maker...you want to say..."but there are so many
other songs since that time"...because you feel that...in some way...you've expanded
the width and depth of your songs...since the era they are mentioning. I pondered on
this phenomenon...of people hankering after an old song...until what might be the truth of the matter came to me. I think it might well be...that a person's own life...and what was going on in it...became intertwined with a song...from a given
era...and that is what may lead them to search for that song...many years after they first heard it...and not necessarily want to know how you've developed as a song
writer since they first heard you. In my own life I've lived examples of that. As
an altar boy...in the wooden church...on the river in Guyana...I grew up on...my
reward after church...was being able to listen to old 78 discs...in the presbytery
next to the church...on a wind up gramophone. A year or so ago...I looked for a song I first heard in one of those listening sessions...and found it...on YouTube...It was...Richard Tauber...singing Schubert's Serenade. I remember the satisfaction I felt...after listening to it...as if an important circle in my life...had finally been completed............................Quester.

Glimpses Of Distant Places

Once in a while...I check out a web cam or two...with a view from a far away city or place. The other night...I looked at what a camera...perched over a street in Dublin...was looking at. As is so often the case with these cameras...at first there wasn't anything much moving...it was early morning there. Then...someone with an umbrella...came into view ...walked across the picture...then disappeared. It gave me a strange feeling...that I was looking at this...as it happened...making me wonder...who this person was etc. On these kinds of web cams of the world...you're not likely to check in with them...just as a daring robbery is taking place...and across the world...you are witnessing people wearing masks running...chased by uniformed police men...their guns blazing. These web cams do not produce "action" programs for their distant viewers. A central characteristic...is that they are usually very inactive. Why does anyone...including myself...check them out?. Perhaps...it may have to do with the lure of distant places...so many human beings...carry inside themselves...where...from time to time ...just a glimpse of a distant place...helps you to think...maybe some day...I'll actually visit this place I'm looking at...or to remind yourself...of a long gone time...when you walked the streets of the city or place...you are looking at...and you just wanted a reminder of that time...that will never return...........Quester.

Trying To Make New Neurons

[Photo: Detail from wall painting on Commercial Drive...Vancouver].
Was looking at a television program...last night...about brain fitness...which was of
great interest to me. This morning as I stare at a blank blog page...I'm thinking...
man...looks like you need to start working out your neurons...get your brain plasticity moving. Actually...I've been creating for many years...and I would like to think that ...that part of my brain...anyway...has been getting its share of work outs. That may be so...but keeping your brain fit...is an ongoing challenge. If I need any reminders of that...it's my "facing the blog page" blankness. You would think...that the nano-second...a throbbing cursor appears before me..."words of wisdom"...would come streaming from my fingers. But we all know...that's not the way it works...not for me anyway. It seems that no matter what you've done in the past...you'd better keep giving the old brain...new challenges. I'm hoping that facing a blank blog page...is actually...one such challenge...and in the few minutes since I started my wrestling with morning words...I have spurred a few more new neurons...into being.........
..................Quester.

Poem: September Crocuses

Yesterday afternoon...on a walk along Victoria Drive in Vancouver...I saw something
I've seen before on the West Coast...in October...but never as early as before
mid-September...and took the picture used here today...and wrote this poem:
"My camera and I smile...
on a lyrical September afternoon...
as I take pictures of crocuses...
blooming again before year's end...
Some people say...
the crocus gets fooled
by the weather
on the West Coast...
I don't think so......
it's just that
it's open to blooming...
any time...
regardless of the season...
and of what...
those who accept limitations
easily...
have to say................"
....................Quester.

Bye Bye Hibiscus

Early in my blogging days...I remember writing about the plants inside my home. Can't
remember exactly...but most likely...I must have mentioned my hibiscus...which you
could say...for years...was my main plant. It was...because it was one of the ever
present flowering bushes...of my Guyana childhood...with its luscious pink...or red
or salmon pink blooms. {Just occurred to me...there may have been a white version too.] For some reason...it was the most likely flower you might see...in a young girl's hair...which later...emblazoned it on my awareness. The hibiscus...in these cold northern climes...is only available...at florists...in a pot. Nevertheless...I was happy to acquire mine...as a reminder...if I needed it...of "whence I came". My potted friend...never bloomed as copiously...as its cousins of the South...but from time to time...it would reward me...for my many hopeful waterings...with a gorgeous pink bloom. I remember how precious they were...coming usuallly...as a single flower...and then...only lasting for a day...and a long time going by...before the next one came. My hibiscus...now falls into that aching area of life...
we humans all know so well...the category of..."that which once was but never more
will be". My plant...some time ago...became reduced to standing leafless sticks. I
kept up my watering way beyond that...until last night I reluctantly concluded...
that there wasn't going to be a rebirth here. Last night...I put my pot of dry sticks
in a bag...and moved it out of my home...saying a thank you...as I finally let it go.
......................Quester.

Songs Loved For A Long Time

This week I rigged up a cassette player to two large speakers. Although this might seem a backward step...in my embracing of new technology...in many ways...for me...for now ...it's a move to listen again...to tapes of songs and other music...I've been out of touch with...in recent times. It'll be interesting to see what'll happen...when the
last cassette tape player goes the way of the dinosaur...perhaps...by then...I may have figured out how to turn all my music to digital formats...to be played on a digital machine. For the last several days...however...it's been wonderful...rediscovering songs I hadn't heard in a while. Like Emmy Lou Harris' version of "Hickory Wind"...or Paddy Griffin's wonderful song "Mary"...or an instrumental version of "La Paloma"...a song from my child days in Guyana. Something positive does happen to you...when you listen again to your songs from past eras...that's nostalgic...but also inspirational ...sometimes. Yes...music can inspire. I suppose that's why it's been...such a big part of my life...for so many years..................Quester.

Finding Your Own Voice

In my time...I've seen...or should I say...heard...many kinds of popular music come and go. When you yourself create music...[more accurately: songs]...how to keep your sanity as you hear such trends come and go?. I...of course...can't speak for how others would approach that. In my own case...one of the first challenges...after learning to play the guitar a bit...was to find..."my own voice". When you first start singing...it's so easy to fall into the trap...of copying the way someone much better known than yourself sings...or become mired in the singing style of the era you're in. My approach to that...over time...was to keep working on finding my natural singing voice ...stripped of any affectations of the day. I remember early on...having to focus on "not crooning"...given that as a child in Guyana...the style of singing that was around ...was strong on crooning. I think I eventually freed myself from that tendency...and would like to think...have been singing in a way natural to me...ever since. In writing songs...I engaged in a parallel process...until i finally..."found
my voice"...in the way I wrote songs. Both of these journeys...took a long time...
before I found...my way of doing things. I am glad that I took the approach I did...
because..."being popular"...may come and go...easily...but being yourself...is for
always.........................Quester.

Tests For A Video Maker...Online

[Photo: Sand sculpture at PNE '08]. Putting your videos on YouTube...apart from the
great benefit of having some of your work available to the world...has some other
aspects to it...some hidden...some not. One i've usually enjoyed...is having people...
including relatives I've lost touch with...getting back in touch. Perhaps in the future ...I'll devote a Blog post to this alone...but this morning I want to write about putting your artist's work online...and the attitude you have to carry inside yourself about it. The first time I uploaded one of my songs on video to YouTube...I had to really get myself up to do it...feeling I was risking a total non-response from the world outside my window...or even a savage dismissal of what I had to offer. [I'd seen a few of those previously online]. I was fortunate that my first video uploaded...was responded to plentifully and affirmatively. As you continue to upload videos of your work...you experience many fluctuations in response...with song videos you feel good about not being responded to...the way you feel they deserve...or...sometimes...some being responded to over and above the way you thought would happen. For me...having videos on YouTube...has become a testing thing as it fluctuates. I've trained myself ...not to define myself...by the numbers attracted by my artist's work...but to have my own evaluation of my work...regardless of what happens to it. This training...has been well tested...during my online video journey. Hope it continues to remain in place for me...through the fluctuations...of what lies ahead.........Quester.

Poem: Crows And Gulls

Remember...
what's going on in you
is not likely
what's going on out there...
What we carry in us
can warp what is seen
out in the world
in a way that could
make it unrecognisable
to someone
of a different warping...
The crows and gulls
keep flying around
my windowscape
regardless of the seismic changes
or the sadnesses
any of us wingless ones
are going through down below...
After all...
they have done their arcs and turns
for millenia
in the patch of air
I look out upon...
They may be soldiers of survival
but they are never prisoners of regret
or of the sadness
of time's quick passing...
Crows and gulls
cut to the chase...
unlike us creatures
of a million warpings...
moving to an ancient bolero
to the blessings
of an obliviousness
to all that is not necessary...
for taking flight or finding food...
and air dancing
to the endless gifts
of an abundant
and guiltless Creation.......
.....................Quester.

They're Cutting Down Trees

They are cutting down the trees across from where I live...branch by branch. I don't...so far...know the reason for it. It could be because of some construction or alteration they're doing under or around the sidewalk the trees are standing over. It could be that the root systems of the trees...are buckling the sidewalks or causing some kind of damage. It could be that the branches of the trees are damaged in some way...and are likely to fall at any moment. Who knows?. The other day I asked a man who was looking at a similar scene down the road...why he thought this was happening. He answered..."Put a chain saw in the hands of some people...and they feel they can chop down anything!". Whatever the reason...I always feel...a sense of loss when a tree is cut down. Perhaps...each of us interprets a thing like this...based on whether
we're practical...or imaginative...or over sensitive...or.............I am in the
process of making my adjustment...to the treeless foreground of my cityscape...I'm going to be looking out on...in a few hours. I keep telling myself that maybe...when I do...I'll be seeing more of the mountains they have been hiding...............Quester.

Poem: Restaurant Voices

Photo: Sand sculpture
at the Pacific National
Exhibition '08.
Written yesterday:
"Restaurant voices...
refuse to whisper
words of wisdom...
but rattle on...
each one with
an unabashed certainty
about what is being said...
It's been ever thus...
this strange certainty
about so much
you can't really
be certain about...
Still...helping to keep
human beings meeting...
so they can each
dish out their opinions...
not really benefiting
from them...
but from meeting face to face
and sharing...
and helping to keep
the blues away...
sometimes even with
the most approximate
stories and ideas...
a lot like me...
scribbling the time away...
in my afternoon restaurant..."
.....................Quester.

Reminders Of Your Artist's Work

Recently...I've been sorting out...materials I've created over the years...and things
related to them. They have been scattered around my home...in many piles...trays...
boxes...or on several shelves. The dream here...is to have..."one central place"...for
each of the categories...so in the future...I know exactly where to go to find an item
...rather than going on one more inefficient search. For example...I want to have...all my song words on loose pages...in one place...as I make videos of my songs. Just because I've written a song...doesn't mean its words have been memorized forever...and so having the words readily available...is very necessary when recording time comes. The melodies of songs...I usually remember on and on...it's just the words I find more elusive. In engaging in this filing and indexing process...I've
rediscovered all kinds of materials...I'd forgotten I'd created. It never ceases to
amaze me...how...if anyone were to ask me...name twenty songs you've written...how
much difficulty I would have doing that...although I've written hundreds and hundreds of songs. So...another benefit of engaging in this sorting out process...which can
be messy...while it's being engaged in...is the many rediscoveries you make...
reminding you...that all these years...you've been ongoingly doing creative artist's
work...and here are the fruits of it...in the event you've forgotten..........
................Quester.

Poem: Two Dragon Flies

"Man and woman...
two dragon flies
locked...
sun silvering
their wings...
falling and flying
at the same time...
towards the lily pad...
on the
bottomless pond......."
...............Quester.