SIGHT GONE .. .

Posted on December 24, 2020 by edenbray

THE LOST JOURNAL 1980’s

SIGHT GONE .. . 

.

Marlene, can you see me?

    can you feel the touch of my hand?

    does life revolve or go up and down?

Are the flowers blooming?

    and are you pretty today Marlene?

Are your hands soft?

    and gentle fingers, fine and young?

Does your hair hang loosely, 

    falling on your shoulders?

Is your face fresh and ruddy

    your lips like petals

Do your eyes sparkle

    glisten with joy and love?

Can I hold you in my arms Marlene?

    will you understand?

I cannot enjoy you without Marlene

    I cannot feel your youth

And you are young Marlene

    and I am old

Any you are warm Marlene

    and I am cold

..

                           edenbraytoday14.06.1986

.   .   .

Authors Note:– I found two old journals of verse that I wrote in the 1980’s during my thirties and even younger and I was struck by their freshness and minimalist naiveté.

I have enjoyed reading them, almost as though they were written by someone else. They speak of aspirations, of faith and hope which is what I believe we all need right now. There is a nice Kerouac naturalness about them too so I’m going to put them here on my site for people to read and make their own mind up about them. Catalogued and Categorised – THE LOST JOURNALS 1980’s

Also, I am reminded of the great wordsmith and troubadour BOB DYLAN, a personal mentor and inspiration to me, who has said that on reading the early songs he wrote back in his twenties from albums like the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – that he doesn’t recognise the person who wrote them anymore. Of course Dylan is in fact the supreme enigma and says a lot of stuff but then we all do, don’t we?

We all metamorphosise, evolve in our appearance and the words we use but essentially remain the same. These poems, essays and thoughts were just skimming stones I hurled at eternity’s misty shoreline and in many days I have found them again. A cluster of stones, returned by the tide and left upon the stoney beach.

Different sizes, colours, shapes, some rough hewn, some smoothed by the eternal sea.

‘ . .. make up your own mind, all the time .. . ‘

.

edenbraytoday

Posted in edenbray BACK CATALOGUE, edenbray POMES, THE LOST JOURNALS - 1980's | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

HAPPY CHRiSTMAS EVERYONE

Posted on December 24, 2020 by edenbray

HAPPY CHRiSTMAS EVERYONE!

☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆❄︎☆

To those who love me, to those who hate me

To those who revere me, to those who fear me

To those who ‘don’t get’ me or subscribe to me

To those who like me, read me  or respect me

To those ambiguous or those who don’t really know me

Keep reading what you like, keep believing in your site

Keep writing it all down, keep living and keep giving 

and hey chill out cos’ Christmas never ends .. .

unless you want it to! 

…

Be strong and be outrageous .. . edenbraytoday

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MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 12 – THE ART MAN I

Posted on December 24, 2020 by edenbray

A NEW PUBLICATION:

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 12 – POEM 10

To celebrate the launch of my NEW booklet containing 16 diverse poems and essays entitled : MODERN WORKS 2020 – I am happy to offer a signed, printed hard-copy and FREE worldwide delivery. All but one of these 16 pieces are BRAND NEW WORKS completed during 2020.

This latest collection of written verse – MODERN WORKS 2020 – comes in the usual edenbray-pamphlet A5 format and is printed professionally and beautifully in a 36 page booklet style publication with a cream-stock card cover that I have self-published to my own specifications.

I am able to offer my 2020 Annual of Verse at an opening price of just £7.00 inc. post and packing for shipping to literally anywhere in the world. So please use the PAYPAL Link below to make your purchase or you can contact us by leaving a message in the comments box at the foot of this page or please email me directly at:-stepheneede689@btinternet.com – I would sincerely appreciate hearing from you and we will make sure you get a copy of my new book/pamphlet and also keep you up to date with any developments regarding my work.  – (please indicate if you would rather NOT receive emails concerning my work when you order)

PAYPAL LINK – TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF – MODERN WORKS 2020

https://paypal.me/SeedProducts?locale.x=e

Many thanks ~ edenbray

 

Finally, to Celebrate the launch of my NEW BOOK I am posting all 16 poems over 16 consecutive days RIGHT HERE on my edenbray-BLOG-SITE B  – TODAY  – the Poem – NOLI TIMERE ~ DO NOT BE AFRAID  : ~ 

.   .   .

MODERN WORKS 2020

by edenbray

.   .   .

 

THE ART MAN – I

The Picture of Jesus

A look of recognition, the sun streaming making abstract shapes on the new, suspended ceiling, a Miro!

She stepped through the door, I harboured a good feeling, a pantechnicon crashed past blocking the sun intermittently and heading south

The light in the shop flickered as though the fluorescents by the door needed a new starter, nothing like the fireworks that were to follow after

I disappeared from view into the cool, half-lit stock room where we stored piles of Beswick, Coopercraft and other gifty boxes

In the corner, stored safely in large, manilla bags, some wrapped in corrugated – the completed, framing orders waited

She seemed a fragile and inconsequential soul but for all that, obviously she loved some kind of Jesus

She had seemed damaged by religion, fragile, emotional, somewhat irrational I thought but you have to appear non-judgemental

Yet the way now that she was standing at the counter made me nervous, the expectation was tangible, though the lights had stopped their flashing

I try to put my customers at ease, you must use so much discretion, send the message in your eyes, ‘we only aim to please’

Two weeks before she had bought it in, a triangular thing knotted at the back, in texture and in colour, a monks habit, a hessian sack

‘Its a picture of our Lord’, I could tell, ‘you’ll take great care of it I hope’, I thought I heard her say – those words always make your day!

Well, what can you say? ‘Lets get down on our knees and pray?’ I mentioned it to Michael as I always thought to do

The traffic outside was noisy, light played again over the pictures on the wall – a Turner, a Gainsborough, an Utrillo, a random bag of daubs 

I questioned with myself should I tell her no, just tell her where to go or try to sort it out, leave Michael to decide

Michael, he retorted she’s pulled the stitches far too tight – I’ll have to damp it, stretch it, see if it comes out all right

Michael calls on Fridays, before the weekend-trade, Saturdays always are the busy day, busy people just got paid

We unpacked her tapestry almost as the golden sun streamed through our picture window for the first time that day

And Jesus shone, the lumps had gone, the triangle square, I in awe of total transformation, a miraculous resurrection

How does it look?, her question was intense as I peeled back the sellotape and pulled her Jesus from the bag – ‘I think you will be pleased’

I’m sure the sun only shines through that window and it was hot, hell-hot, I never saw a face so changed, so anguished

Mary Magdalene, by Raphael did not paint such a joyless study, her face, by observation replaced by Dante’s view of Hades in Van Eyck’s ‘Last Judgement’

This needlepoint disciple, her chagrin broke, her face contorted, Saint Peter spoke, hot spears of tears squeezed out from her eyes

‘What has he done?’ she lamented, like my Jeremiah, a cardboard poster I kept of Rembrandt’s famous study, I considered him my buddy

I used my Jeremiah to back my daily sales graph, it hung on the store-room door, I tried to reason, ‘Honestly, our framer really could have done no more’

It was twisted, it was pulled, it had almost been de-wooled, out of shape, wouldn’t budge – the work that Michael did was splendrous, Jesus, please defend us 

The customer is always right, this poor creature’s face now ashen-white, blushing in the cheeks, where a women’s tears will always make you guilty

A monochrome in grief, despite my disbelief, she tugged at my conscience as I had tugged relentlessly at her abysmal tapestry, with no joy!

‘I don’t know what to say, I’m not sure you understand, what my picture-framer has achieved is quite beyond belief’

Her attitude had changed from sad to sassy, there was definitely more behind this complicated lassie, ‘I hate it!’ she cried.

Well, here comes the great capitulation, not the famed oil of Velazquez 1635, just one more dent in my jaundiced view of humanity

Standing behind my oak and plate glass counter I offered now this little weeper to send it back or make it cheaper – she took it cheaper

The Pillars of Deceit by Michael Lang come to mind, so was the broken lady really so cast down? Could I tell my framer his work had been maligned? 

And how can Jesus happy be in a cheaper casing, how can this lady sleep at night with her Jesus hanging, stretched and mounted on her wall?

edenbraytoday 18.09

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MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 11 – LONDON TOWN BY THE DIRTY WATER

Posted on December 23, 2020 by edenbray

A NEW PUBLICATION:

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 11 – POEM 9

To celebrate the launch of my NEW booklet containing 16 diverse poems and essays entitled : MODERN WORKS 2020 – I am happy to offer a signed, printed hard-copy and FREE worldwide delivery. All but one of these 16 pieces are BRAND NEW WORKS completed during 2020.

This latest collection of written verse – MODERN WORKS 2020 – comes in the usual edenbray-pamphlet A5 format and is printed professionally and beautifully in a 36 page booklet style publication with a cream-stock card cover that I have self-published to my own specifications.

I am able to offer my 2020 Annual of Verse at an opening price of just £7.00 inc. post and packing for shipping to literally anywhere in the world. So please use the PAYPAL Link below to make your purchase or you can contact us by leaving a message in the comments box at the foot of this page or please email me directly at:-stepheneede689@btinternet.com – I would sincerely appreciate hearing from you and we will make sure you get a copy of my new book/pamphlet and also keep you up to date with any developments regarding my work.  – (please indicate if you would rather NOT receive emails concerning my work when you order)

PAYPAL LINK – TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF – MODERN WORKS 2020

https://paypal.me/SeedProducts?locale.x=e

Many thanks ~ edenbray

 

Finally, to Celebrate the launch of my NEW BOOK I am posting all 16 poems over 16 consecutive days RIGHT HERE on my edenbray-BLOG-SITE B  – TODAY  – the Poem – LONDON TOWN BY THE DIRTY WATER  : ~ 

.   .   .

MODERN WORKS 2020

by edenbray

.   .   .

 

LONDON TOWN BY THE DIRTY WATER .. .

( LONDON TOWN BY THE PURPLE WATER )

.. .

Walked from the West End to Streatham once 

   we had been out on the razzle-dazzle

Lived there later, I knew London Town

  it’s back streets and its souvenir trail

I drew street women in art classes at St Martins

   met the tallest man in Britain

When Holborn, Longacre and Covent Garden

   still showed signs of  the forties war

The Garrick, Queens, Adelphi, Dominion

   the theatres were old and cold and lived-in

.

Salt-beef sandwiches on rye with mustard

   from the Turkish Bar in Garrick Street

Or the Sandwich-Man with spotless hands

   in his tiny shop of mirrors and three bar stools

Hamleys, The Wedgewood Shop down in Regents Street

   turn left at Oxford Circus, up the road

Past Selfridges and the Bond Street stores to Marble Arch 

   and heaven, which is Mayfair! – then left again

Down, opposite the Park, where the Bunnies hopped

   next to the elegant Dorchester Hotel!

.

So many the places, so many different coloured faces

   don’t forget to mention the art,

Walking over Waterloo Bridge to see the Messiah

   or the Moody Blues at the Festival Hall

The buildings, museums, stadiums and stations 

   and the dirty river, must not forget the dirty river

The old, cold river, the colour of liver and onions

   or the docks where it all started, this town

On the East-end side, north of the Tower 

   and Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich

.

We were St Dunstans kids in Surrey 

   ferried around in a greenline bus

A bus de-commissioned for trips such as this 

   it soon smelled of kid’s travel-sick and piss

Then in the middle of November

   in sixties mist with that drizzled rain

A trip to the Docks, its boats, warehouses, cranes

   children of under-11 on a day-trip with Mr Weston

I now know what ‘the Origins of London’ meant

  100 miles down from the town at Thames Head

.

                                                                                         edenbraytoday18.11

‘. .. London Town by the purple water .. .’

Posted in edenbray APPRECIATION, edenbray POMES, edenbray travelogue, MODERN WORKS 2020 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A GIFT OF PROG-PROSE AT CHRiSTMAS : Poetry has never been so accessible … .

Posted on December 22, 2020 by edenbray

TODAY, I COMPLETED A 10 MONTH PROCESS OF CHRONICLING AND CATALOGING 50 YEARS OF LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF WRITTEN POEMS AND ESSAYS COVERING AN ULTIMATELY DIVERSE AND ECCLECTIC RANGE OF 24 SUBJECTS. THESE HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY COLLATED, RE-EDITED AND PRINTED BEAUTIFULLY ON FINE PAPERS TO A CATCHY, CONTEMPORARY DESIGN-BRIEF THAT REFLECTS THE MODERN TIMES WE LIVE IN.

IT IS SO SIMPLE TO ORDER ONE OF THESE EXTRAORDINARY AND TIMELESS PIECES OF PROGRESSIVE LITERATURE AND ART – YOU CAN PAY DIRECT VIA THE PAYPAL LINK BELOW AND PROVIDED YOU SUPPLY A FULL POSTAL ADDRESS AND/OR POSTAL/ZIP CODE I GUARANTEE YOUR CHOICE OF PAMPHLET WILL BE WINGING ITS WAY TO YOU WITH NO EXTRA CHARGES FOR POST/PACKING WITHIN 2 DAY!!

JOIN ME IN MY ATTEMPT TO RAISE THE LEVEL OF PROGRESSIVE CREATIVE WRITING BY SUPPORTING THIS VITAL INITIATIVE AND I WILL INCLUDE 1 FREE PAMPHLET AS A THANK YOU TO YOU FOR YOUR ALTRUISTIC CHOICE AND ARTISTIC SENSIBILITIES – THIS IS STILL A DAY FOR THE FREE, CONSTRUCTIVE ARTIST – EDENBRAY …

please email me with your order and address at: stepheneede689&btinternet.com

and make payment using this PAYPAL LINK >>>>>

https://paypal.me/SeedProducts?locale.x=e

Screenshot 2020-12-22 at 13.28.46

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

BUY A GIFT OF ART AT CHRISTMAS 2020

INDIVIDUAL PUBLISHED POEMS AND ESSAYS

BALADIN’S DREAM XI – RISPURTHÉ   – the lost 11th tale completes the dream

I AM WILLIAM BLAKE       –  the influence of William Blake on the writers life

I, A SKINHEAD IN CROYDON 1968 – I, an adolescent skinhead during the 60’s

MENTAL ILLNESS                 – the writers perspective on this important subject

ORION SPEAKS                            – the mysticism of space – the realm of the god/s

RONISM                         – eb’s account of the birth of ronism – a religions critique  

RUTH – THE FINAL EDIT – finally a tribute to the authors partner of over 45 yrs

 THE TRIALS OF MILES BLACKMAN  – eb’s magnum opus – writers life in verse

.   .   .

LIST OF PAMPHLETS – COLLECTIONS

ALL ABOUT WOMEN i.e. JEAN SHRIMPTON –   author’s affinity with women

ALL THAT JAZZ                                                        –  a collection of ‘jazz’ poetry

A MYTHOLOGY                                     –  a collection of poetry inspired by myth

A POET AND AN ARTIST                    –  background influences of the artist-poet

BAILEYS                                              – memoirs using no traditional punctuation

BALADIN’S DREAM AND OTHER TALES  –   the 11 tales of Baladin + eulogy

CITIES I HAVE SEEN                             –  edenbray’s tribute to seven great cities

EVERYMAN – A BRAVE NEW WORLD –  poems of 1970 reclaimed & rewritten

GAELIC POEMS & SHORT STORIES        –  edenbray explores his Gaelic ‘roots’  

LAUGHED? I NEARLY DIED  –  bet you never knew edenbray could be funny?

LIFE AND DEATH                                 –  the fragility of life and finality of death

LOVE IS NEVER ENOUGH            –  few are sure they have been loved enough 

MENTAL ILLNESS                                 –  collection of verse on this vital subject

MODERN WORKS 2020                             –  edenbray’s annual of verse for 2020

MISCELLANEOUS MACHINATIONS  –  creative-random is not a classification

OBSESSION AND DEPENDENCY –  only dependents understand dependencies

SCIENCE, FAITH AND MEDITATION  –  we all crave a sacred and devoted life

THE LOST JOURNAL – 1980’s                             – earlier writings from the 1980’s

THE SACRED PAGES – 1980’s  – included in the Journal or available separately  

THE SPORT’S JOURNAL                              –  the onlooker sees most of the game 

TALL TREES AND TORN PAGES         –  an autobiographical omnibus of verse

TALES OF THE SWAN-DYKE                 –  poems written during cv-19 isolation

TEMPTATION                                        –  has many guises & many consequences

2 HAYSTACKS with CONVERGING LINES –                the theme is convergence

.   .   .   .

 

INDIVIDUAL POEMS            –       £2.50 

PAMPHLET COLLECTIONS  –    £6.OO

. . .

FOR FREE POSTAGE – PLEASE SUPPLY A CORRECT FORWARDING ADDRESS AND POSTCODE 

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REWIND .. .

Posted on December 21, 2020 by edenbray

REWIND .. .

.. .

The old clock is ticking by the wall of past regrets

A redwood clock of metal parts with a heavy winder

It sticks sometime like crushed pepper in the throat

Old Jon Rutherford of the brotherhood can mend them

.. .

To set the clock you must climb upon the mending steps

Open up the back to view the gubbins and the metal parts

This place of many starts but the clock is old and fragile

Our honest indecision lost in this labrynth of precision

.. .

Old Jon has an oil can, knows the soul as much as any man

He’ll tinker with your tock when the pendulum has stopped

Climb the wooden steps to view or kneel to say a prayer

Wisdom is a canvas bag of tools not a book of wooden rules

.. .

edenbraytoday21.12.2020

Posted in edenbray POMES | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 10 – RESOLUTION

Posted on December 21, 2020 by edenbray

A NEW PUBLICATION:

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 10 – POEM 8

To celebrate the launch of my NEW booklet containing 16 diverse poems and essays entitled : MODERN WORKS 2020 – I am happy to offer a signed, printed hard-copy and FREE worldwide delivery. All but one of these 16 pieces are BRAND NEW WORKS completed during 2020.

This latest collection of written verse – MODERN WORKS 2020 – comes in the usual edenbray-pamphlet A5 format and is printed professionally and beautifully in a 36 page booklet style publication with a cream-stock card cover that I have self-published to my own specifications.

I am able to offer my 2020 Annual of Verse at an opening price of just £7.00 inc. post and packing for shipping to literally anywhere in the world. So please use the PAYPAL Link below to make your purchase or you can contact us by leaving a message in the comments box at the foot of this page or please email me directly at:-stepheneede689@btinternet.com – I would sincerely appreciate hearing from you and we will make sure you get a copy of my new book/pamphlet and also keep you up to date with any developments regarding my work.  – (please indicate if you would rather NOT receive emails concerning my work when you order)

PAYPAL LINK – TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF – MODERN WORKS 2020

https://paypal.me/SeedProducts?locale.x=e

Many thanks ~ edenbray

Finally, to Celebrate the launch of my NEW BOOK I am posting all 16 poems over 16 consecutive days RIGHT HERE on my edenbray-BLOG-SITE B  – TODAY  – the Poem – RESOLUTION  : ~ 

.   .   .

MODERN WORKS 2020

by edenbray

.   .   .

RESOLUTION .. .

It was always easier when the burnt sun dried the perspiration on your neck

The old boy shuffled the cards of the deck, fingered, worn, creased, greased, flecked

It seemed with traces of blood but it was just the pattern on the back, those red specks

.

He wore grey, seemed like flannel slacks, they must have cost a pretty penny

When they was new, probably had a jacket to match, the old boys name was Lenny

It reminded me of a Steinbeck tale about a smart guy and a retard, I read it back in ’70

.

If I kick anymore stones Mr Jones my shoes will gape and I won’t be able to work at all

Or pay back the old man who collects his winnings in an old can he leaves by the wall

I got tired of being behind, that bottle of glass empty, my winning hand buried, I call

. 

The old man he just smiles conceited, he sees I’m struggling in the game, life’s a drain

He’s seen that gnawing pain behind the eyes before, that’s his cue to increase the strain

When the ice flowe cracks, your enemy attacks and you turn again to the barley grain

.

Which burns fiercely in your soul, it burns a hole right through, creating an intense light

To see you through another night, and the old guy sits shuffling his cards, sat on a crate

Shoes never looked so down, consorting with the dusty ground, you want to clear the slate

.

But sleep denied is a victim you meet in the morning, old fella he’s taken now to yawning

If he gave you a sign or a warning, old bugger’s been dealing cards since day’s dawning

So drink up, hand another dollar over that’s another fond thought later you’ll be pawning

.

O misery, I drink to thee, you wear my smile upon your heavy, hard and wrinkled skin

That old geezer with his stack has contrived to convince us all that what we do, it isn’t sin

And the cards now coming good, I got 3 jacks and an ace, perhaps today is the day I win!

           

edenbraytoday 22.10

…

.. . ONLY SOMEONE WITH DEPENDENCIES TRULY UNDERSTANDS DEPENDENCY . ..

Posted in edenbray POMES, MODERN WORKS 2020 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 9 – THE DOG

Posted on December 20, 2020 by edenbray

A NEW PUBLICATION:

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 9 – POEM 7

To celebrate the launch of my NEW booklet containing 16 diverse poems and essays entitled : MODERN WORKS 2020 – I am happy to offer a signed, printed hard-copy and FREE worldwide delivery. All but one of these 16 pieces are BRAND NEW WORKS completed during 2020.

This latest collection of written verse – MODERN WORKS 2020 – comes in the usual edenbray-pamphlet A5 format and is printed professionally and beautifully in a 36 page booklet style publication with a cream-stock card cover that I have self-published to my own specifications.

I am able to offer my 2020 Annual of Verse at an opening price of just £7.00 inc. post and packing for shipping to literally anywhere in the world. So please use the PAYPAL Link below to make your purchase or you can contact us by leaving a message in the comments box at the foot of this page or please email me directly at:-stepheneede689@btinternet.com – I would sincerely appreciate hearing from you and we will make sure you get a copy of my new book/pamphlet and also keep you up to date with any developments regarding my work.  – (please indicate if you would rather NOT receive emails concerning my work when you order)

PAYPAL LINK – TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF – MODERN WORKS 2020

https://paypal.me/SeedProducts?locale.x=e

Many thanks ~ edenbray

Finally, to Celebrate the launch of my NEW BOOK I am posting all 16 poems over 16 consecutive days RIGHT HERE on my edenbray-BLOG-SITE B  – TODAY  – the Poem – THE DOG : ~ 

.   .   .

MODERN WORKS 2020

by edenbray

.   .   .

TALES OF THE SWAN-DYKE – the collection

In the year 2020 I wrote a series of poems during the 1st national cv-19 lockdown and my own personal isolation and I self-published them in a collection entitled ~ Tales of the Swan-dyke and also in other edenbray pamphlet/collections. 

So, for this new collection of Modern Works 2020 – I gave myself the challenge to choose one piece to represent the collection to avoid unneccesary duplication and I just kept coming back to –

the Dog – a lecture.

A reason? I think this piece encapsulates some of the bottled feelings that three months of isolation, the coronavirus pandemic, the BLM demonstrations and news of the threat of personal redundancy had put on my mental state. 

There is more to it than that though – I think in a sense that this is the most balanced piece in the collection. It is entirely sane, not taken up with depressing detail or much information at all. 

I was entirely delighted with and extremely proud of the – Tales of the Swan-dyke collection but this particular piece speaks not from the soul or the spirit but out of the gut .. .

                                                                                                   edenbraytoday

.

a wail ~ a prolonged high-pitched cry of pain, grief, or anger

.   .   .

THE DOG – a lecture .. .

..

I’m a dog

I’m a savage dog

A dog that you don’t need

A dog you should not feed

.

I’m a sad dog

I’m a bad dog

A dog without a tail

.

I’m a grey dog

I’m a white dog

I’m a black dog

A dog wog

A prairie dog

A dog out on the trail

A dog that still can wail

.

I’m a rabid dog

A dog full of disease

A dog without a leash                 

Not a love dog

To sit between your knees

Give you all my fleas

.

If I lay upon my back

You can see my male sack

And tell that I don’t lack

A dog bound to this verse

Stuck within this curse

Riding in a hearse

Impolite and terse

Hang around

– it gets worse!

.

I’m a tabloid dog

You can read between the lines

I’m a dog that never pines

I never pay my fines

.

I’m a fierce dog

A wolf-dog

A dog out on the street

A dog with mangy feet

.

I’m a lone dog

A lost dog

A dog who’s on the run

A dog who has no fun

A dog that needs – a gun!

.

I’m a wild dog

A riled dog

I’d crap upon your floors

Show you then my paws

They’re right next to my claws!

Fight then for the cause

.

I’m a mad dog

A dog with a bad grin

A dog thats full of sin

I’m a dog that eats it all

The guts, the legs, the balls

.

I’m a bold dog

I’m an old dog

I’m a cold dog

A dog thats lost its way

A dog in a manger

A dog who is a stranger

A real lone ranger

.

Not a farm dog

A sheep dog

Who does what its told

Leads the sheep to the fold

A dog with a bushy tail

I’m a dog you wouldn’t want

A dog out of control

I should live down a hole

I’m a dog

 

.

edenbraytoday 05.07

Posted in edenbray ANIMALS & BEASTS, edenbray POMES, MODERN WORKS 2020, TALES of the SWAN-DYKE | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 8 – BUDAPEST

Posted on December 19, 2020 by edenbray

A NEW PUBLICATION:

MODERN WORKS 2020 ~ 8 – POEM 6

To celebrate the launch of my NEW booklet containing 16 diverse poems and essays entitled : MODERN WORKS 2020 – I am happy to offer a signed, printed hard-copy and FREE worldwide delivery. All but one of these 16 pieces are BRAND NEW WORKS completed during 2020.

This latest collection of written verse – MODERN WORKS 2020 – comes in the usual edenbray-pamphlet A5 format and is printed professionally and beautifully in a 36 page booklet style publication with a cream-stock card cover that I have self-published to my own specifications.

I am able to offer my 2020 Annual of Verse at an opening price of just £7.00 inc. post and packing for shipping to literally anywhere in the world. So please use the PAYPAL Link below to make your purchase or you can contact us by leaving a message in the comments box at the foot of this page or please email me directly at:-stepheneede689@btinternet.com – I would sincerely appreciate hearing from you and we will make sure you get a copy of my new book/pamphlet and also keep you up to date with any developments regarding my work.  – (please indicate if you would rather NOT receive emails concerning my work when you order)

PAYPAL LINK – TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF – MODERN WORKS 2020

https://paypal.me/SeedProducts?locale.x=e

Many thanks ~ edenbray

 

Finally, to Celebrate the launch of my NEW BOOK I am posting all 16 poems over 16 consecutive days RIGHT HERE on my edenbray-BLOG-SITE B  – TODAY  – the Poem – BUDAPEST  : ~ 

.   .   .

MODERN WORKS 2020

by edenbray

.   .   .

BUDAPEST .. .

.

In walking of your sunny streets 

   I see your past is Prussian bled

And in your markets the abundance of paprika

   parcelled orange-red

For now we amble thoughtfully 

   as though the Danube’s greyish blue

Refuses now to conjure illustrations 

   brave Buda’ has alone lived through

.

A tale telt’ of twin cities and the blood 

   that runs betwixt the two, we view

When the Magyars paid full bounty 

   for their change of heart to prove

That honest endeavour of their wartime choosing

   offers not regret at losing

Except those citizens of Isaac’s birth 

   be left themselves to float the river bruising

.

And so, we know in full part the governments procedure

   in consequence of the union

Buda’ a champion of the people wed a prince 

   as full of zest, the fair and noble Pest’

Whose joining pledged the best of bridges

   parks and awnings would greet the morning

The lost position made of once fair Royal Budapest 

   adorned in purple with golden braid

.

At the time of our arrival we saw signs of peoples honest toil

   their patience in survival

Of opulence, decadence, royal scorn 

   where prince’s born, folks allegiances were torn

Much change affects us all, fair Buda-pest has often heard

   answered one too many calls

We found there now a younger tribe

   so dressed in black, a pack, attended by a vision

.

Within this grace of indecision 

   cultures meet in apprehension, the river flows through

A nation forced to start again, scars hardly cleft of pain

   mid brave Pest’s blackened fires

History cascaded, a furnace of desire since Atilla of the Hun

   it is time Budi’ had some fun

We waltzed the Blue Danube beneath the stars 

   midst a whirl of newborn entrepreneurs

.

Our ship of dreams nighttime cruiser, passed 

   beneath the Bridge of Chains, lights aflame

Drifting at its widest part so well situated

   this city deserves its youth to begin ingratiated

Fireworks on its hills – cakes, clusters, kamuro

   roman candle, spyder, chrysanthemum and fish

Crossroad to the east, gateway from the west

   a flower printed skirt, a buttoned tunic vest

.. .

                                                                                        edenbraytoday 16.11  

 

boots

My Budapest Boots – sad boots and shoes at the quayside memorial

 

. .. be left themselves to float the river bruising ..

Posted in edenbray COMMENT, edenbray POMES, edenbray travelogue, MODERN WORKS 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BALADIN’S DREAM XII – BALADIN’S MASTERPIECE

Posted on December 18, 2020 by edenbray

XI

BALADIN’S MASTERPIECE

…

rispurthé

PART I

a lost tale of Baladin

.   .   .

Rispurthé, viewer of memories

Felt wet spray and blinked

Rushing, heavenly sounds

He shifted his position

.   .   .

‘Caw- caw’

This was a bird he imagined

Lifted the dreamers eye lids

A shaft of white sun

.   .   .

The blurred outline – a sea eagle?

It could not be, so he closed his eyes

‘What matter?’  he thought

Rispurthé’s leg slept

.   .   .

The rushing, the spray, the sun

Behind him a twig snapped

The bird lost was silent

Rispurthé leapt

.   .   .

Like a pack of wolves they came

Each his sword, club, spear

Glistening grey, eyes fierce

Rispurthé had dreamed too long

.   .   .

His mind now sprang, danced

The sword! – he leapt

And with skill 

He thrust

.   .   .

Calderon had warned of complacency

Dimask feared the worst

Rispurthé danced with danger

Now tales would be told

.   .   .

The grey faces grimaced menacingly

Metal clashed, the air buzzed

The earth darkened red

Rispurthé fought fiercely

.   .   .

Hours passed in moments

With leaden arms and shoulders

His will paled and his face set ashen cold

More they came till instinct taught him

And sword clave to his hand

.   .   .

With bloodied arm, torn leg

Rispurthé, mender of visions

Rested heavily on his haunches

His blade still raised in defence

.   .   .

‘Caw-caw’

This was the bird returning

A friendly mocker of warriors who sleep

With no eyes to see

.   .   .

‘I am Rispurthé bird’

Spoke the champion

And the eagle wheeled away

Quietened, but sure of nature’s wisdom

.   .   .

Alone again with flickering sun

Leaf, shade, water, surf and sound

Arms ached, seeping with blood

And eight heaps lying still

.   .   .

‘I am Rispurthé,’ he spoke again

Firmly yet quietly

He rose, sheathing his sword

And loosening leg armour

.   .   .

IT HAD BEEN HIS INTENTION TO REMOVE THE ARMOUR COMPLETELY BEFORE RESTING BY THE COOL OF THE BROOK. HIS RELIEF AT ESCAPING THE ATTENTIONS OF ALL HIS WOULD-BE ASSAILANTS LED RISPURTHÉ TO AVOW – NEVER, AWAY FROM THE CITY WALLS WOULD HE  CONSIDER SUCH AN ACTION AGAIN .. .

….  ….  …

rispurthé

PART II

…  …  …

‘Melior is my life’

‘I have no other friend’

‘We will be wed I tell you’

The stallion snorted as if in reply

.   .   .

‘Your choice pleases me’

‘And I am at peace Dimask’

‘Melior is a warrior, a prince’

He stooped to avoid a branch

.   .   .

The grey mare and the chestnut steed

Trotted together comfortably

Their livery sparkling in sunlit revelry

Their hair golden, rang their golden heritage

.   .   .

‘Father would be pleased’

‘Mother will care greatly’

The warmth of the day

Melted memories, mellowed time

.   .   .

Brother and sister, lovers in liberty

‘And has Risputhé heard your tale’

Calderon lifted his head

And shook his golden hair

.   .   .

‘Calderon, you care too gtreatly’

‘My choice is free’

‘Rispurthé is clear of thought’

‘He will embrace us together’

.   .   .

‘Well, I am closer to it perhaps’

‘And I only trouble to see you happy’

He took his mare’s reins and

steered her round another tree

.   .   .

The forest here was dense

and except the day were bright as today

it were dark and mysterious

today it gleamed with lemon-green light

.   .   .

‘Where are we to meet our lovely brother?’

The mare quickened its step

Calderon steadied her

and waited

.   .   .

Dimask sat her head bowed so thoughtful

He said to await him

At Eavesley Point

but my heart feels ‘sad’ for him brother

.   .   .

‘Perhaps we might purpose harder then’

Calderon rose in the saddle

‘Our brother might yet be in danger’

‘If you think and feel ominous my sister’

.   .   .

You have spoken clearly

Let us hasten Calderon

They both stirred their mounts

and their pace quickened

….  ….  …

rispurthé

PART III

…  …  …

At Eavesley Point it was said

the sun never rises but only sets

Here, two and at times three

Sea eagles from the Phalin Sea would circle above

Risparthé would remember the bird

.   .   .

It had tried to speak in warning

His arm now ached dull and so weary

His leg ebbed a crimson flow 

He had no strength to tie

.   .   .

He scanned the bushes

The nightmares of his broken dreams

That still raised the hair upon the nape of neck

He slumped now from his saddle

Lying hurt against Eavesleys brow

.   .   .

And in the golden dusk of Eavesley’s fading light he waited 

.  ….  …

rispurthé

PART IV

…  …  …

Were it the one night?

Or was it days?

 He could not tell

Who woke in sight at sound of hoof

.   .   .

Dimask by his side

Buried her golden head

In his blood soaked hands

And wept

.   .   .

The princely warrior

Met his brothers cold, hurt stare

With thoughts

“Do not despair Calderon’

‘Your life is now beginning’

.   .   .

‘My heart was large and I erred’

‘My dreaming took too much’

‘And your warning I did not heed’

Calderon’s eyes were wet

.   .   .

‘At this point my dear Risputhé’

‘I must announce my greatest news’

‘For this was to be my joyful day’

‘I am to wed Melior’

.   .   .

‘Then, be happy my sister, my daughter’

‘For I have loved you’

‘Be strong my dearest brother Calderon’

‘I am Rispurthé, bird’ – he spoke softly

.   .   .

If the earth had shook

The sky turned blood red

Not worse the moment

Calderon clutched his sister

To himself and they shuddered

.   .   .

The sea eagle circled above once more

And with its mate it was gone

Not since that day, not till this

Has any eagle gone to Eavesley Point

.   .   .

The viewer of memories

The mender of visions

Was gone .. .

…

but not forgotten .. .

.   .   .

edenbraytoday26.06.1986

…

Authors Note:– I found two old journals of verse that I wrote in the 1980’s during my thirties and even younger and I was struck by their freshness and minimalist naiveté.

I have enjoyed reading them, almost as though they were written by someone else. They speak of aspirations, of faith and hope which is what I believe we all need right now. There is a nice Kerouac naturalness about them too so I’m going to put them here on my site for people to read and make their own mind up about them. Catalogued and Categorised – THE LOST JOURNALS 1980’s

Surprisingly the journals also threw up yet one further lost Dream of Baladin … This becomes the 11th in the COLLECTION.

Also, I am reminded of the great wordsmith and troubadour BOB DYLAN, a personal mentor and inspiration to me, who has said that on reading the early songs he wrote back in his twenties from albums like the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – that he doesn’t recognise the person who wrote them anymore. Of course Dylan is in fact the supreme enigma and says a lot of stuff but then we all do, don’t we?

We all metamorphosise, evolve in our appearance and the words we use but essentially remain the same. These poems, essays and thoughts were just skimming stones I hurled at eternity’s misty shoreline and in many days I have found them again. A cluster of stones, returned by the tide and left upon the stoney beach.

Different sizes, colours, shapes, some rough hewn, some smoothed by the eternal sea.

‘ . .. make up your own mind, all the time .. . ‘

.

edenbraytoday

Posted in Baladin's Dream, edenbray POMES, THE LOST JOURNALS - 1980's | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment