Finisterre . (By David Whyte from Dumbo Feather Magazine Issue 11)
The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken, into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way to your future now but the way your shadow could take, walking before you across water, going where shadows go, no way to make sense of a world that wouldn’t let you pass except to call an end to the way you had come, to take out each frayed letter you brought and light their illumined corners, and to read them as they drifted through the western light; to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that; to promise what you needed to promise all along, and to abandon the shoes that had brought you here right at the water’s edge, not because you had given up but because now, you would find a different way to tread, and because, through it all, part of you could still walk on, no matter how, over the waves.
It began with a Black Dog who, much like the fabled little black duck – was different.
Unaccepted for his difference he sought refuge in dark places.
In time, the darkness revealed others sheltering in the shadows that drew reflections of himself.
In the belonging, he gained the strength to raise a hand above the nodding and question why suffering souls too often go unheard.
Burdened by the silence and neglect, he began to bark loudly despite those troubled by the noise.
And when backs were turned to bury all that had been found – Black Dog continued digging for all that had been lost.
Hope grew from every hand that gave purely for the giving. And so, despite colour and size and the absence of wealth, and with the friends that followed…
…Black Dog claimed a space for those who may never fit, in a world too big for most. Those who seek to move beyond minds too small.
Those who seek freedom from the relentless pace of a world spinning way too fast to catch.
Now, as the world continues to turn away from the darkness in favour of, “Have a nice days”‘ and all that’s shiny and new…
…Black Dog continues to hold a place for all that’s lost and found .
The Black Dog Project Story.
Clunk & Jam Book.
Army of Ink Salute .
It is these inky things that stand me up when I slip up back. Show me forward into places I wouldn’t go all by myself. Write the wrongs through poems and songs. Create picture books of what I can’t tell. Hold me in a silent vigil when I bump and stop. Slow a world too big ad fast into moments precious and still.
It is these inky things that turn the deep end into a puddle I can jump over. Fear into something I can see. Anger into rock the boat defiance (like a wee rabbit thumping its foot). Shift loneliness into along wrapped in a nice warm blanket. Shrink pain to a hurt more my size. Make difference and smallness fell like a snug old fit. Every knock a trip to somewhere new.
And when night arrives … they snuggle beneath my pillow soft like a hidden treat. Riding the rise and fall of a slumbering breath. Catching sweet dreams and soft sounds that awaken a brand new day.
(Reposted from 2010. See also, ‘Peacemakers Plot’, ‘Once Upon A Dark Time‘. All Army of Ink here. In Clunk & Jam book, 2019. Original handwriting by Mags, with a chook feather from Ruth’s farm in Yallingup, Western Australia for handmade book, ‘Rock The Boat’, 2009.)
The Crossing .
One day I will swim out to the seaweed. And I swam for the longest time to know the place where I now rest. But let me not forget to look far back into the distance. Cast the mind before the deep unknown. Feel the fear in every stroke as I made that crossing. As I make it still each day.
(Clunk & Jam book, 2019. Pictured, Hansel & Gretel).
Clunk & Jam .
Through the clunks and jams and carriage returns of the dusty old beast that rides my desk, I slap silence with letters on waving arms, clunking out truth on a black rubber roll, as jams slow the rush and errors have a say.
Footnote: ‘Clunk & Jam’ is the title of the book. The book was typed on an old manual typewriter – Clunk & Jam being the sound of the typing and also the above poem about the process.
(Making Clunk & Jam second edition, 2019)
The New Brave .
If it is brave to be tough – is it not also brave to show sensitivity?
If it is brave to fight in anger – is it not also brave to not fight the sadness?
If it is brave to get on with it – is it not also brave to sit still in it?
If it is brave to confront something – is it not also brave to choose to retreat?
If it is brave to hold emotion back and in – is it not also brave to feel it? If it is brave to be in the spotlight – is it not also brave to be alone?
Pictured book page from Clunk & Jam. Pic from The Concise Oxford Dictionary and ‘Mary Poppins’ book.
