Category: Poem - Lewie JPD

Question Your Perception

29/7/2019

Society presents a reality
That is at least partly constructed
For the benefit of those in power
For their profit and self advancement
With disregard for consequence

It’s up to you to use your intuition
In the formation of your decisions, your perception

Don’t be easily manipulated
By the ostensible, subversive undercurrents
Of the social requirement pushers

What is life?
Who are you?
Question it all, question it all

There is no standard answer
Allow your mind beyond existing parameters
Don’t let social norms restrict you
In your quest for personal truth and meaning

Because
If you think about it
Humanity is but a construct
An amalgamation of concepts
Agreed upon, accepted

Going with the flow is expected
Acquiescence is encouraged
And by all means, when it suits you
Use the paths already forged for your progression

But when you come across
Elements of standards
Moral, philosophical, practical
That demand you compromise your behaviour
Go against the grain of your innate awareness
Resist
And forge your own way

Investigate your natural instincts
Through research, discourse, quiet contemplation
To lead to a more expanded understanding
Of what things are
Of how things work

You’ll quickly see beyond the construct
Move beyond the fences
See that society can so easily restrict and limit us
Box us in
Categorise us for it’s own advantage

Through fresh concepts, words and actions
Express your essence and your truth
Illuminate your unique take on life, the world and everything
Formulate your reality to suit

Interrupted By Life

25/5/2019

It’s easy to write bullshit

But what’s the point?

Why write anything at all

If it isn’t going to be meaningful

This is what I ask myself

Before I begin to compose

What you may call a poem

I’ll let you call it that

Although it’s really just words

Spread out for comfort

Crept out from under my fingernails

Sniffing around for answers, freedom

Like us all

They seek liberation

From something

Constrict, judgement, habitual dependency

We meander from one sneaky trap to another

Fooled by life in succession

Dangling uneasily in self constructed towers

Every day another ledge

Do I have an answers?

Or even some suggestion?

If I wasn’t so busy just hanging on

Maybe I could think of one

But I’m the same as everyone

Who ever was

Destined for greatness

Interrupted by life

Dead or Improved

22/11/2018

Not into psychobabble
Quick new age cures
Life, by nature, is flawed, unstable
Replete with random potholes and
Sudden detours

Mistakes made over and over
Forgive yourself!
It’s human nature
Heightened states of threat
Prolonged exposure to distress

You know how it gets

Somehow, we survive
Adjust, reconcile
Do as we must
Metamorphosis takes a while

Ever evolving self
Often undetected or downplayed
Like a glacier
Or a slow cook roast
Over time we get philosophically remade

Restructured
Revamped
Upgrade

Dead or improved
One or the other
Get bruised, lose a tooth
Learn to suffer

There is always a lag
You’re never rid of those bags
The first few decades will fuck you up
Then a couple more to recover

Ever evolving self
The process is slow
Transformation ephemeral
Progressively we grow
But change is not always pleasureful

All faults excused
Face it - we’re fallible
Dead or improved
The hard lessons are the most valuable

Dead or improved
Don’t worry
You’ll get there in the end
One way or the other

Just Play

5/9/2018

I am not one to give advice
Cause what do I know?
By many measures of success
I’ve got little to show

On top of that I am not that happy
With how elusive happiness is
Every day is some kind of struggle
Convoluted ordeal or quiz

I would have it together by now
I imagined
Life would fall into place
Proceed steady pace
With substance and grace
But it hasn’t
And it doesn’t

I’ve been betrayed

Too many times to mention
By colleagues and friends
There’s no prevention

Life throws shit at you
It stinks how dirty you have to get
So much so that it becomes familiar
You kind of get used to it

But, hey

Maybe I am happy, really
Beyond my realistic and harsh assessment
Maybe I just don’t realise
The nature of the game to it’s full extent
And that actually I am winning
Killing it

Just through the depth of my immersion
Full integration (often against my will)
Discontent (seems all downhill)

Maybe this is how it is supposed to feel
Life at it’s a best
Strife and affray
A crisis a day
Vice and discomfort
Plans in disarray

If that’s the case
Then I’m a champion
So heed what I have to say:

Just take it as it comes
Stumble from one mistake to the next
It’s a fucking weird game
But few options remain
So just take your next breath
And continue to play

Just play

This Place

4/7/2018

Will you find yourself in this place?

It still has all the potential that it always had
But have you the will to use it wisely?

Living on fumes
Humming new tunes
Not always immune
To reality’s brutality

Diverging in and out of illusion

With every new day a new mood at play
And a fresh set of circumstantial challenges

It’s the way the game is set up
Just the way life unfolds
Unevenly
Sometimes
Leaves you kind of crumpled
Slightly severed
Cold

Like just now
Just before
You may have momentarily locked eyes
With the bearer of your dreams

But you looked down
Averted your gaze
Unlike the you of yore

No more chancing encounters
No more urgency at play

Too many bouts with breaking hearts
Unfulfilled hopes, left to die
Not literally
But at the time it felt that way

And the face in the mirror
Sure, familiar
But worn
Less absorbing that’s for sure

Though you still don’t act your age
Most likely never will

Never
Seems like a long time
Like a life
Seemed like forever
Back then

But now we’re nearing the crunch time
Rearing up on the reckoning
The dark abyss discreetly murmurs, beckoning
And, again, it begs the question

Will you find yourself in this place?
Before your course is curtailed
Or will you just quietly fade away?

Find yourself or fade away?

Could they be one and the same?

It’s funny, this place
You just never quite know
Where you stand

Look Away

14/5/2018

There’s just so much going on
These days
And, although, of course
There always was
It’s in our face
On our screens
In our ears
A constant drone
A prolonged scream
For attention

From everyone
About everything

No wonder
We feel overloaded
Foggy, numb and bloated

There’s only so much
One person can absorb

So much of what we are fed
Is garbage
Soul-less spruiking
Money motivated
Trying to grab our attention
For selfish reasons

Vapid
Surface
Tepid
Worthless

Look away, I say
Look away
See the clouds and imagine things
See the mountains and head towards them

Climb above the every day fog
Of useless information clouding your vision

You need to!
No, not later!
Now!

It’s an addiction
This over stimulation
It delivers no joy
Its just distraction
A ploy
Packed with platitudes
A pantomime
To sway your attitude
To swipe something from you
Your time or energy, your money
It’s corrupting, egregious
Don’t shrug or laugh it off
It corrupts you
It isn’t funny

Look away, I say
Look away
Turn off your device
Step back from the screen
Sure, life is an illusion anyway
But nature’s presentation is so much more pristine
Has substance, grounding, meaning

Get real again
Find purity
Simplicity
Use your ingenuity
To create a depth of reality
That you can rely on
And believe in
Beyond the prism of digital domains
Which pretty quickly can become a prison

Escape to find yourself
Go outside and stay there
Unplug and unwind
Go outside of your craving mind
So much more out there
Awaits you

Look away, look away
Before the shiny thing
Makes you dumb and blind

Look away
Look away

See there?
Far in the distance
You may find yourself
Ready and awaiting your return

Go!
Now!
Not later!

YooHoo From The Notaguru

7/2/2018

I would like to give some good advice
To help
I really would

To assist you in your journey
Make it a little easier
Try to do some good

Thing is
I’m no expert
Not by any stretch

I’ve meandered through
In an ad lib way
Taking things as they come

And I have not come up
With any useful tips or leads
That may be of assistance

Sorry bout that!

I never claimed to be a guru
I am getting old but none the wiser
Still just as baffled as I ever was
An off-the-cuff, shape-shifting soul-survivor
(Four hyphens - that’s auspicious!)

Full of questions with very few answers
A veteran novice, I guess you could say
Making constant minute adjustments
In a swirling state of delight, curiosity and dismay

No guru
No expert
No master
Just a guy waiting at the bus stop
Watching the traffic go by

I have said a lot of nothing much
I have travelled a long way to not arrive anywhere
Never settled
I’ve always wrestled
With the contradictions of existence
Tried to see beyond the systems
Lots of theories, observations
But very few answers
I take my chances
Doll the rice
And carry on

Doll the rice
Doll the rice
Doll the rice

I never claimed to be a guru
That doesn’t mean I am not cheering for you
Cause I am

Bit of yoo-hoo from the notaguru

On The Upswing

11/11/2017

Things are on the upswing
Feels like they’re getting better
Not just for me but for family and friends
Last year was a killer

Now a gradual easing of tightness
A gentle swing towards chilled
A subtle increase of brightness
A few simple wishes being fulfilled

It could just be coincidence
But it feels like something more
A shift in the paradigm
A hint of better times

On many levels the world is in a crisis
The powers that be are corrupt and malignant
To the disenfranchised, the many are banding together
To make a change, set some limits
Voice their aggrievment

No longer content to sit back in silence
We’re connecting, joining forces
To improve our social situation, our environment
Through unified opposition, new approaches, discourse

Things are on the upswing
Feels like they are improving
Despite blatant, crooked opposition
From the self serving dimwits ruling

There’s a groundswell
A shake up, happening
And just as well
We so desperately need a full rebalancing

Crisis point has been surpassed
In this current state we will not last
We need to celebrate our differences
Rectify injustices
Transform the gap in class
Spread the wealth more fairly
Jettison our useless government
Who does nothing but aggravate our ailments

Same old story
But it’s getting stale
Too many enduring
A protracted hellish
Existence

It’s time to push back
Show resistance
Release our true passions
With determination and persistence
Accept each other as we are
With equality and acceptance
To form a new and vital
Loving coexistence

Why Spoil Now?

14/10/2017

I’m going to let it roll
Play out as it will
There might be a few things to worry about
Coming up
But they aren’t here yet
And maybe they won’t come at all
Either way
Why spoil now?

Why spoil now?
Why spoil now?
Right this moment
In the sun
After a swim
Filling my lungs
With ocean air
Why should I care
About society’s woes
Timetables, demands, expectations
Things that enclose

I want liberators
Psyche shifters
Random joy bringers
Not exasperaters
Flow resistors
Serenity spinners

Why spoil now?
Why spoil now?

It’s going so well
In a rare and mellow
Mental continuum
With a vibe that’s just swell

Why spoil now?
Why spoil now?

Evict those intruding doubts
Before they get past the gate
They should be kicked in the ass
And sent on their way
Back to the vortex
Of latent worries and woes
Get rid of them fast
Don’t let them in or they’ll grow

Overtake
Take over
Swamp
Discompose you

A blanket no
To gratuitous distress
The bass of your soul
You want to play
Unplugged and fretless

Groove away
Move away
From angst
Remove the pressure
Take off your pants
Let go your past
Lay down your head
Surrender your mind
Do a total reset
And fear not the future

Why spoil now?
Why spoil now?

It might be as good as it’s going to be for while

So, why spoil now?
Why spoil now?

Between Havoc and Implosion

3/9/2017

Gotta make blunders to find wonders
Gotta screw up to get in touch
You gotta go the wrong way
More than once
To learn the right ways
To overcome adversity
It’s a real world perversity
That it has to be this way

Pretty clear
Yeah
What I am saying

Everyone loves the underdog
Because everyone has been that pup
That struggles just to continue
That labours to get up

Sometimes
It’s a ruthless fight
An endless road
The long and listless, dark and dire night
A heavy load
A wounding blight

That’s all she wrote
Cause she’s lost her pen
Her computer broke
Then she got shot
After a random stop
By a grim and sinister policeman

It happens a lot more than you think!

It’s a crazy world
You know it
Can be savage and unmerciful
The passage through
Can get hysterical
And not in the funny way
Like Monty Python
Or Curb

It’ll leave your best laid plans vagrant
In disarray, scattered and shat on
Leave you standing there
Naked, bloody, broken
Stupefied
In stunned dismay
Like the rest of us
Almost completely unqualified

I got no answers
This is just a mildly pacifying poem
I wrote to pass the time
Give me a little breather
Between havoc and implosion

Metaphysical Monkey

19/7/2017

I read so many things today
Much of which was useless
Essentially, just a method for delay
A modern day aloofness

If I’m not digging
For deeper truths or finer meaning
Feels like time’s awasting

But then
Sometimes I ask myself
How have I translated any self awareness
That I may have so far garnered
Into making any difference?

Could it be that all’s for naught regardless
A re-occurring query
No point in getting overwrought
With convoluted theories

It’s like an itch
I have to scratch
My existential yearning
A metaphysical monkey that will not detach
No matter how much I fend it off or feed it

Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo (monkey sounds)

At times I envy
More simple folk
Who traverse the centreline
Do their jobs, raise the fam
Sunday BBQs, barking silly jokes
Congregate and conversate at same time suppertime

Is it bliss, is it
This kind of placid unquestioning acceptance

Rarely asking the abstruse questions
No time for making protracted connections

I could not do it if I tried
Not without sex or drugs or alcohol

And tried I have with them glorious props
Wrapped it all up
And let it drop, drop, drop
Down, down, down to the crashing waves
Straight off the cliff

In a crazy nonstop couple of days and nights
Into weeks
Into months
Into years

In an effort to avoid expectations, failures
Muffle my fears
Stiffle the fierce, ferocious
Self questioning, the doubt, the discomfort
That comes from being a sentient being

It was a costly excercise
Financially, emotionally and health wise

Until I eventually realised
And a conceded
Got to face it
Can’t escape it

It’s like an itch
I have to scratch
My existential yearning
A metaphysical monkey that will not detach
No matter how much I try to fob it off or feed it

Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo (the monkey)

Throwing shit at random
Into my hair like a cheeky, twisted phantom
Trying to spook me
With questions I can’t fathom
Neutralise or nuke me
Hold my sanity at ransom

It’s like an itch
I have to scratch
My existential yearning
A metaphysical monkey that will not detach
No matter how much I try to appease it

Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo (he goes off!)

All Considered

17/6/2017

I've long been writing poems. It is something that has appealed to me since my mid teens. It's a unique way of expressing thoughts and feelings. A playful way to shine a light on your deeper, more complex feelings. Because you are being concise and using rhyme, you take your time, you sit with things. You are not just saying what's on your mind but you are formulating it into a something that is going to be an entity unto itself. Without getting bogged down or stifled, you aim to let your thoughts flow freely but also channel them into a somewhat structured vessel. It's one of those things that the more you do it, the more you enjoy it.

Poems are personal. They can't help but be. That's the other thing I like about them. That can be perceived as being hyper sensitive, a bit wussy they are, in fact, the result of brutal honesty and bold expression. You think you are too tough, too cool to write a poem? Just try writing something that is your authentic truth and share it with the world. You have to be at very least carefree, if not a bit foolish, with a sound base of awareness and confidence.

Anybody can hit someone in the face - but try doing it with a poem. And not the face - the heart. And not hitting but moving. Being a human is equally tough for us all. A poet will synthesise these universal struggles and encapsulate them in a bite size lyric. To make it look simple, easy, takes a lifetime. And just to be clear, I am not classifying myself as any kind of master. I'm just a passionate enthusiast. That's passion and enthusiasm - two wonderful things to direct towards anything worthwhile.

Anyway, the poetry writing comes and goes in waves but over the last few years it's quite steadily been one a day. About 44 minutes each one. I don't time it. In fact, time becomes inconsequential. It's an esoteric pursuit. That's one of the good things about it, you get lost in thought. Focus and mind travel transport you to a different plane. You gather and return. Scribble it down - see how it sounds.

Ultimately you're mostly just a secretary for the universal muse. Channeling. If it's any good, it's because you got out of your own way and let it flow. It's a good feeling. That's why I keep doing it, I guess.

This is one from today:

BLUE OF NIGHT

It's cold and grey
Around here today
Still I went for a swim
Got to get in
Got to get in

The ocean calls me
Soothes my skin and
My inner being
One with the world
When I'm wave catching
Even the briskness warms me up

Getting older is a funny thing
Not funny ha ha
But strange and complex
Like a gradual awakening
To a different dimension
Not as hectic
Nor as hyped as youth
More elastic
Not as tasty and it's got less bite
But you appreciate it's truth more
Like sipping fine wine
You can take your time
Cause, more or less, you know what's in store

This may not be a revelation to everybody
But it is to me
Because like a few others, maybe many
I kinda thought that I would be young forever
Well, not really
Just couldn't picture a drop in my vitality and verve
Found it hard to imagine
Health and money and relationships
Would ever need to be preserved

I spent it all when I had it
Wasn't wasted (though I was sometimes)
But nothing saved
I guess I was a bit of a radical
Whimsical, sometimes slightly OTT misbehaved
Fuck it was great
But, as I've learnt, it eventually goes away
Goes away
Dissipates

And you are left
With hair that is grey on top of a verteran brain
Brimming with an arsenal of memories
A body that is still OK but slowing down
Standing in a very different place
With somewhat fewer options
That's just a reality

New things to be learnt
Like grace and pace, humility
Boldness now displaced by sensibility
There's a new kind of vulnerability
A leveling of intensity
Which, quite honestly, is a welcome relief
And there's more self belief
I mean, hell, you made it this far!

Hats off - ha ha - no one cares that you are losing hair
Sure at first there's a smidge of despair
But vanity wanes
As you become more philosophical
You make less complaints - cause what's the point
You can show restraint
And small tragedies just seem comical

So what I am saying, I guess
Is that although some elements do get less
Other things come to take their place
More subtle, more precious, more enduring
LOL
It's called maturing
Can be both alarming and assuring
Even alluring
Take it as you will
Cause what is what is

Funny
It was a muted, bright afternoon
When I started to write
And while I have been focused on expressing these words
Around me I've observed the transitioning light
From the warm orange sunset
To the cool, deep, dark blue of night

And you know what
Everything has its time and place
And it's alright
I do believe that
It's alright

Everythings & Nothings

12/5/2017

“A constant reminder…”
“Two days before I left for Scandinavia…."
“Then he went off the dole…"
“As a pretext for doing that... bullshit…”

I'm just going to write down snippets of what I hear people say
Beside me and adjacent in the Mullumbimby cafe

I'm all set up with my long black ice coffee
Cream on the side
And hear that!
It's Billy Joel singing
She's Always A Woman
How nostalgic

I was sixteen when that came out
Probably sipping ice coffee much the same
In a basement cafe called Comos
Next to the station in Hiroo

I was just learning
About women myself
They were teaching me, first hand
The girls from Sacred Heart just up the road
They would fraternise with a bunch of us guys
The ones who rode their bikes 45 mins from our school
I always stayed the latest 3:45 to 5:30
Cause I lived not far from there
We'd all smoke cheap Japanese cigarettes
(Seven Star, HiLite, Golden Bat)
And laugh, joke, laugh, smoke

Just from listening to their banter, gossip and chat
So much was gleaned
It was an education
Much more valuable than that by the one that was ostensible
At my school that was international
But way too ambitious and assertive for me
I was a poet
Even then
A gentle souled, Aussie, comic kid grown up in the bush
On the hunt for fun and friendship, games and laughter
(And of course I made a point to find it -
Tenacious in the pursuit of insouciance
Keen to drift, playfully meander)

What would I ever need from physics, history or chemistry?
I knew it was all a time waste (for me)
Instead I would draw pictures with my multi-coloured biro
Make comics
Compose whimsical, ironic poetry

Now here I am forty years later
Doing pretty much the same thing
I learnt plenty more lessons from women over that time
Upfront and personal
From being completely in love
To emotionally torn and tortured
Incredulous, blissful and in total awe
The entire spectrum
Had heaps of fun, shed a few tears
Yeah, I had a good run
Married once
Some cheeky one nighters
Some live-togethers
That were real gems, true treasures

Year long international romances
Swedish, American, Kiwi, Korean
All of them delightfully complex, mesmerisingly feminine
We went deep
Got entangled

And, as always happens
After they burnt bright
They ended

So now I salvage the throw-away phrases of random strangers
Up the back of a tiny town cafe
And write about it
As I loosely reminisce and contemplate
All the everythings and nothings
That have come my way

And you know what
It's all OK
It's all OK

You just take it as comes
And eventually you find your way
Back to where you began

A series of alternating
Everythings and nothings
Living life is half the fun
(The other half is just getting it done)

Everythings and nothings
Once, twice, a thousand times
All over again
All over again

Everythings and nothings
All over again

Enlightenment, Insight & Hysteria

19/4/2017

Enlightenment, insight and hysteria
A turgid mix indeed
You have to have a standard beyond the usual criteria
Only you know what you need

You don't have to be great
To be good
It's not a competition
Essentially, everyone wants you to succeed
There are lots of people who can - and will - help you
All you gotta do is find them
All you gotta do is ask, accede

It takes a bit of courage
Takes application and self belief
It takes persistence and dedication
You'll improve slowly and surely steadily
Bit by bit, by degree

At first there is lots of stumbling
Mucking around, trying out new things
The field is freshly laid, all open
So takes a while before you get wings

And even once you do
And you can fly some
There's bound to be crashes
Loss of altitude, of direction

But you'll find your way through
Testy times will be overcome
With a mix of mad dashes
Bold attempts at experimentation

It's a cluster fuck of anguish
Interspersed with incidental elation
Some times
For ages it just feels like hard work
Struggle and alienation

But it does have it's upsides
It does have it perks
Unpredictable delights
Sometimes you get exactly what you deserve
Surprise, surprise!
Gotta love those highs

You're an artist
A free spirit
Not shackled by convention
You're a creator - zealous
Of expanding dimension
A master of your own domain
You can put reality in suspension
After all
That's some skill

And at will
Easy thrills from esoteria
Your imagination
Is an open ticket
To enlightenment
Insight and hysteria

Enlightenment, insight and hysteria
Look around, baby, here you are
On Planet E
Trying to express yourself
And you answer to nobody
But your own conscience
You're a hero of the anarchist
The underdog
The naturist
The pollywog
The satirist

You're an artist
You're an artist
Fuck fitting in!
Be as madcap as you need to be

You're fur real!
A fucking artist

Surrender To Your Soul

2/4/2017

I have an idea
I have a thought
I have certain feelings
That could never be bought

I can imagine
I can mind bend
Create unique concepts
That help me transcend

Everyday life
Is one thing
But don't be limited to that
Let your thoughts come alive
Mould your own habitats

I say to you
Like I would've said to myself
When I was younger
If I could have

I say to you
You are born full of treasure
Full access is yours
Limitless, amazing realms to discover
As your life gently occurs

They teach you all kinds of things
On the outside
Tools they believe you will need
As some of it is useful
To help you to grow and to succeed

But the best stuff
My dear friends
Nobody else can ever reveal
It resides deep inside you
A gold mine
Boundless in vitality and value

How to access?
Well, that is for you to figure out
But the most important thing is first
To trust, to believe in yourself
Not to doubt

Heed what I am saying
For over a long life
I have discovered
Innate wisdom
A fine kingdom
Far beyond crude limitations of
Categories and egoism
Far beyond learnt narrations of
Simple glories and competition
Beyond everyday callings
Real world obligations
Physical longings
Daily frustrations

I'm talking
A whole new paradigm
The infinite, soulful magic
That awaits to be born from your mind

It is there
It is yours
To uncover and to find

So seek, search, strive
To satiate your hunger
For something bigger, greater, truer
More pure, better designed
No matter how obscure it may seem
Don't mind
The most amazing thing you will ever know
Is the magnificence of your authentic light

And the ironic truth is
That finding your way through the blackest darkness
Is the way that you will find it
So fear not
And forge forward

Trust, seek, surrender
To your soul
And where it leads