THE BEAUTY OF A FLY

My house is built on hallowed ground and land that was reclaimed from the sea. It suits the essence of me and calms my spirit to walk in my garden knowing that it was left for many years, an abandoned place until the house was built and the stony and sandy ground where nothing much grew except ancient plants; wild flowers that blew in on the wind. Then someone planted trees from all four corners of the earth and plants that should not have survived began to flourish as if the roots of these trees breathed new life into the earth. There have been only a few guardians of this magical place and I am honoured to be the current guardian. At first I tried to plant what I liked; tried to enforce my will on this holy place, but in time I realised something … you cannot force a garden to grow; to bend to your will. A garden evolves slowly over time of it's own accord mostly and we, as guardians, should allow it to guide us. In this way I have found peace and happiness here and I embrace the changes of my ever-evolving garden. I seldom buy anything new to plant. I wait for the winds; I wait for the seasons; I witness the changes and I grow and evolve as a person in much the same way as my garden does. It is a joy to anticipate each new season; each new wind; and to see what appears. There is always something unexpected appearing. Life is full of surprises; of serendipitous moments. I wonder sometimes about these old trees. I think whoever planted them was guided and perhaps the garden welcomed the dappled shade on what once was a desert. Certainly I feel myself sometimes directed to introduce a new species. Perhaps I am guided also by a hand that I cannot fathom. We are not meant to understand everything. If we allow ourselves to just be, we may find, without effort, how our path unfolds with relative ease. I have found this to be the case. All those years of struggle and now I can just let go … it really is that easy to be content.

p.s. I was compelled reluctantly to remove a Laburnum tree that I thought might be harmful to my cats. I had always wanted such a tree with it's beautiful yellow flowers … but in it's place a Forsythia grew with a profusion of yellow flowers. I did not plant it! Magic? Yes, I believe so! : 0)

 

“I like gardening. It’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself. “

 

– Alice Sebold

 

Soundtrack : www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbx6aXhocew

IN ABANDONED PLACES - Raison d'Etre

Please enjoy the unique experience of this video.

Lieber Rolf, ich denke du wirst diesen Film zu schätzen wissen! : 0)

 

“We leave our footprints in a place to mingle with the echoes of all that went before; our heartbeats; our rhythm; the patterns of our lives.” - AP

 

I wander in the wilderness

my garden of delights

a jungle by the turquoise sea

a land so flat; the moon at night

shines down with silvery fingers

and touches the ground with magical spells

and come the breaking dawn of morning

all ills are banished and all is well

the dark and mysterious creatures

who loiter in the dusk

emerge in brilliant sunshine

with all-seeing eyes; an elephant tusk

protrudes and scythes the longest grasses

parts the meadow like the ancient sea

leaving behind a trail of crimson

flowers of sorrel and sweet harmony

reigns here as the King of the Jungle

seeks solace in the afternoon siesta

ignores the urban sounds outside

these walls; these trees; a back-firing Fiesta

alerts the songbirds from their idle rest

they flitter and flutter from tree to tree

and as I lie within the striped hammock

I swing and sing low to the sound of the breeze

a mist arises suddenly; springs up from the sea

settles a cloak; an air of mystery

around the shoulders of myself and the limbs

of the ancient trees as I sip my Pimms

I can barely keep my eyes from closing

the warmth of the air so cloying and deep

I find myself falling gently to the humming of bees

as I lapse now into a soundless sleep

I awake to find the blue sky black

lit by a billion diamonds or more

an infinite guide is laid out before me

the wisdom of ancient celestial stars of yore

some say when we see them

they have already died

long ago before our ancestors

what does this imply

do our eyes deceive us

or are we psychic or perhaps

we are more knowledgeable than we realise

all we need falls easily into our laps

but still we often ignore

the instincts that are given

override them; divide them

dilute them; we're driven

to only see clearly to the end of our noses

we fail to stop often to smell the scent of the roses

take stock; stand still

absorb the nature of all living things

for in this garden I discovered

nature brings happiness and happiness brings

peace of mind; plentiful bounty

the sweetest fruits of the earth

the love that will bind us

circumnavigate the world's girth

here I find every day all that I need

the flora; the fauna; all that set seed

and I've no desire to be anywhere else

as much as I desire to be here

in this garden full of Heaven

there is love; there is goodness that I hold dear

from the humblest of creatures

find the beauty in a fly

sing so loud like a blackbird

view the world through a child's eyes.

 

- AP - Copyright © remains with and is the intellectual property of the author

 

Copyright © protected image please do not reproduce without permission

 

My artwork is a blend of 4 of my photographs taken in my garden

Done