b & w photos
Enchanted Forest
Enchanted Forest
I danced through the forest at fall of night,
By guardian mountains and faithful streams,
To where an old lady sat, in ramshackle cabin porch,
Her hands are deeply grained with living cares,
Her face is old, her eyes are wise,
She smiled, we sat, she read my heart,
She looked about us, and waived her arm,
This is Mother Earth, she whispered in my mind,
And all the trees began to shimmer in energetic haze,
Wreathed forms melted away, pure being revealed.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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They Lived and Loved
They Lived and Loved
They lived and loved,
Their childhood friends and summer days,
While all about them daisies sang a sweet serenade,
Their dream is life, their living a dream.
They lived and loved,
Their feet falling, fumbling, caressing rugged Earth,
Sinewed muscles, developing their strength, skill and speed,
Celebrating winning joy, pained in careless fall.
They lived and loved,
New words and meaning, new sounds and dance,
Absorbed keenly into flesh and bone and blood,
Growing doubt free in the endless rise of man.
They lived and loved,
Their union sanctified anew, in time-worn tribal traditions,
Walking into their future together, weaving new familiar stories,
Joyous love giving painful birth to new generation.
They lived and loved,
Feeling the full numbing force of daily chore,
Raising, loving intimately, chattering, laughing and cursing,
Yet terrified, in ultimately not knowing their own creation.
They lived and loved,
All the while, silent stars swarmed overhead,
Inviting passionate mystery, blesséd ancient tales,
God’s grace, breaking gently on shore-less human psyche.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
Sea Anchor
Sea Anchor
Sea anchor, hold us safe in passing,
Stormy seas. Protect us from raging,
Tidal torrents, bone breaking waves.
Sea anchor, saviour of souls, bless our,
Fragile bodies, racked with fearful,
Doubts. Clothed in restless desires.
Sea anchor, protect us from gnawing,
Obsessions, tapestries of daily,
Duties, eating our aliveness.
Sea anchor, release us now from your,
Deathly grip of our history’s past,
Gnarled, bitter, toxic memory.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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There Is A Story
There is a Story
There is a story,
A story of our life-time lived.
There is a story,
A story of our family’s struggles.
There is a story,
A story of our rich tribal roots.
There is a story,
A story of our ancestors’ rights of passage.
There is a story,
That pre-dates our time on planet Earth.
There is a story,
Which comes even from before time and space appeared.
There is a story,
When we were young and powerful beings, creators of worlds.
There is a story,
Before we invented in innocence, these games of life and death.
This is your story.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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The Merging
The Merging
The key slips into lock and turn,
Gate latch, twisted, smooth, rusted edge,
Walk out, join life’s sultry urban churn.
New soft shoes shuffle on pedals,
Drive out, join life’s urban jobbers,
The key slips into lock and turn.
Run, catch the seven thirty train,
Drift into mesmerising thoughts,
Walk out, join life’s sultry urban churn.
Bill boards flirt and play, stealing mind,
Promising escapes, trusted,
The key slips into lock and turn.
Will beggars stop asking you why,
Why you don’t give to them anymore,
Walk out, join life’s sultry urban churn.
Heads turn briefly to watch siren,
Sail colourfully by, merging,
The key slips into lock and turn,
Walk out, join life’s sultry urban churn.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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Lay Down
Lay Down
Lay down; lay down my sleepy head,
As I lay down in this rag-tag field of reclusive dreams,
How long?
How long before this day is just a distant playful memory?
Lay down; lay down my grateful true and tested love,
As I unfold in this endless rolling breath of vibrant life,
How many?
How many lifetimes before Earth is just a ripple under shimmering stars?
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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Down By The River
Down By The River
Down by the river an old man sang,
His voice so full of life, one with tide.
He whistled ancient tunes, calling
His soul back home, borne on wind and stars.Down by the river, old women sang,
Their voices full of family love.
They hummed ancient lullabies, soft
And gentle, guiding their children home.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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The Beast
The Beast
The
Beast sighs,
Menacing deep snarl.
Fear ripples through sinewed
Taught jaw and clenched teeth.
Inhibited anger emerges, twists, cries out,
Out of reason’s insane shadow.
See, whispers the Beast,
No more illusions.
All is
God.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More thoughts on this poem are on my FaceBook Page.
Your Eyes
Your Eyes
Momentary stolen glances,
Mythic tales in your eyes;
So powerful, so refined.Yearning to reach you,
Passion’s dancing flame;
So powerful, so sublime.Your gaze turns inward,
Deep run your memories;
So powerful, so benign.In our eternal meeting,
Our souls united again;
So powerful, so divine.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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Innocence
Innocence
Innocent is love’s first bloom,
Ignorant of worldly rules,
Flowing heart, fleeting, carefree!
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
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Sacred Internment
Sacred Internment
Whom do we bury?
Under these daisy scattered fields,
A friend, a loved one, an acquaintance so slim.What do we bury?
Under these raven scattered skies,
A smile, a birthday party, a look so grim.Why do we bury?
Under these grief scattered feelings,
A doubt, an innocent secret, a lost tearful sin.When do we bury?
Under these fear scattered lives,
A dream, a longing for love, a hope so dim.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: PHOTO PRINT SALE
- To receive blog updates, click on the +Follow on your screen.
- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
War Memorial
War Memorial
How deep? How deep this blackness? Beyond our
Fragile beating heart’s memory, down into the
Black ocean of our mortal sorrows, long
Past ancestral reckoning; horrific.His eyes bore great sadness, under
Their manly smiles, fleeting moments
Of distance, moments lost in tempest,
Dark ripples, unresolved anger.Respectable men smile knowingly,
Their deceitful eyes lower
To innocent victims, in mock
Remorse. Gluttony triumphant again.Patter cake, patter cake her
Childhood rhymes rang, gently, in
Half remembered dreams. Her
Limb torn anguish, blood soaked.We fall at the feet of
Man-made gods weeping, then
Blessing. We survived,
Others stain war worn earth.Voices fall silent,
Promise betrayed.
Angry battles rage,
Of hells they are made.Reason lays in tatters,
Disheveled victim.
Unblinking fear. Terror
Driven insanity.It seems, there is. It cannot
Be, yet there it is, they,
They must be wrong, the reports
Must be completely wrong.Fear grips feeble minds, grief gashed hearts,
Fires rage, until our world burns.
Out of these lifeless ashes,
Desolation kindles new dreams.When upon fair Earth we shall find bold
Strength; real honor; new humanity.
And cast aside vile tools of raging
Hate, lustful greed and shameful lies.And songs will arise in our hearts, not in
lament, but borne out of life’s precious joy.
Destiny greeted beneath moon and stars.
Awaken in love’s full bloom, home at last.
© David R. Durham, All Rights Reserved.
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: PHOTO PRINT SALE
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
Mystery
Mystery
Lost, lost in the Mystery,
Neither knowing, nor obscure,
Invoking long sought secrets.Bliss, mysterious bliss of life,
Neither living, nor dying,
Humbling our mindful awareness.Chants, sacred chants arise,
Neither memorable, nor forgettable,
Guiding, tempting, revealing.Light, mystical light infuses,
Neither luminous, nor dim,
Enveloping and blessing us all.
© David R. Durham
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: FINE ART PRINTS
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
Birdsong
Bird Song
A light dust hovers round chanting hoe,
Warm earth, strong hand and eye, furrowed
Brow; deep concentration. Evening
Sunlit haze, thrushes’ song brushes past
Engrossed mind, hearts intertwining,
Spirit to spirit, sweetest union.
© David R. Durham
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: FINE ART PRINTS
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
Desires
Desires
Did you move because of it?
Did you get up and leave your
Welcome bed? Your hearth so warm,
Your lover so near and dear.Did it tempt you again with sweet
Promises of tomorrow?
Tomorrow so new, so bright,
Seducing your heart and sight.Did you know, did you know the
Fair price you would have to pay?
If you did, would you do it
Anyway? Any time, night or day.And all of this, if all of
This World could be yours? Would you
Clasp it? Would you love it? Could
You take the pain of it all?
© David R. Durham
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: FINE ART PRINTS
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
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Everyday Ritual
Everyday Ritual
The cups are neatly stacked,
Soft flowing handles in line,
In kettle’s blue light, eddies
Of water, shimmer and dance,
promising dark pleasures.Unswirled, rich aroma,
Now delving, scooping, deep brown
Granules, measuring right
Taste, imagined memory,
Guiding mysterious ritual.
© David R. Durham
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: FINE ART PRINTS
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
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Standing
Standing Where I Once Stood
I
Standing where I once stood, once larked,
Fresh in youthful eyes and heart,
Exuberant games with friendly faces,
The only faces I had known, experienced,
Navigating the native neighborhoods,
Fragile recall. Mind’s tainted eye.Homespun stories turn the wheel of life,
Measured by ticking clock’s pulse?
Or valued by experience gained.II
Standing where I once stood, once loved,
Racing to the finish line, grasping at
Victory’s promise, beckoning adventures,
Dancing in passion soaked joys, inviting
Life’s raw seed to raging ripening,
Fragmented heart. Sentiment corrupted.Organic stories fuel the wheel of life,
Measured by ticking clock’s pulse?
Or cherished by love’s bewitchment.III
Standing where I once stood, once lived,
This dhamma body drinks Messiah’s blood,
Ravishing the earth corrupted heavenly
Host, that rages hot, then cold with each
Passing prayer, and tempts old bones to
False resurrection. Soul deceived.Human stories spin the wheel of life,
Measured by ticking clock’s pulse?
Or rated by voluntary sweet charity.
© David R. Durham
- Photographs from this blog are for sale here: FINE ART PRINTS
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
Love Held Tight
Love Held Tight
With love held tight in hearts embrace,
Would’st the scent of love be enough,
Should a whisper fulfill our finest grace,
Or will full storm of voices be raised,
With longing left far behind on shrinking shore,
‘Till neither you nor I falter in hesitant dark,
And all our days they flower into this, this honest moment,
Where secret words weave their prophetic spells,
And tenderness holds sway over doubt filled years,
Yet no love song, nor pure sonnet can compare,
With love held tight in hearts embrace.
© David R. Durham
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
Three Worlds
Three Worlds
Love inspired magical voices chant,
Meeting place of earth and sky, drumming finds,
Resonant core rhythm, seed and amplify,
Nascent spirit’s dance, loosen mind’s tight grip,
Rippling songs strip blinkered eyes doubts.Inviting ocean of love, which speaks and,
Knows our names, convulse viscerally to,
Still point in salvation’s ravenous breath,
Collapse terrified into vacant black,
Deathly void, homeless home, life eternal.Love shatters shape shifter’s blind mask and holds,
Our dripping head aloft triumpant, blessing the,
Blood soaked liberation ground, purged,
Grace resurrects, reborn to deathless joy,
Visionless eye witnesses, faithless awe.
© David R. Durham
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- Technical details on the photo are on the Photo Information page.
- More information on the poem are on my Facebook page.
The Poet Photographer 