A SILENT ELOQUENCE
A lovely German couple sit in companionable silence within the grounds of the Summer home of Agatha Christie. The quotation is from the front of her book, Kollaps (Collapse) : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond, who identifies five factors that contribute to collapse : climate change, hostile neighbours, collapse of essential trading partners, environmental problems, and the society's response to the foregoing four factors. It was nice to see these two reading and not on iPhone's or tablets. I found it very refreshing and gives me hope for the world … I don't know why, but it just did. They had no need to be openly demonstrative. Their love was tangible. They seemed, to me, to be the epitome of something that the world is rapidly losing and I wanted to capture the essence of that. I find that, for me, I can rarely relax and be myself except in the silence of my own company or when I am in nature. For me the world is often too big; too noisy; too crowded and overwhelming. Wish that there was none of the problems covered in this lady's book. How calm she seems while reading about such chaos. I remember my father saying to never judge a book by it's cover. Perhaps she has inner turmoil, but somehow I do not think so and actually I really hope her life is every bit as beautiful as I perceived it to be and his too.
“I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said; Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stampt on these lifeless things,
The hand that mockt them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
- “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817)
Soundtrack : www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IkFiuIkcPI
À Toi - Joe Dassin "Alain Delon and Dalila"
We return to innocence
like children we play in the sun
we sit in companionable silence
our two hearts so close as if our life has still not yet begun
we read and play out in our heads
the story of our lives
the love that we will find
and the memories we will make will help us to survive
we may go our separate ways
or we may stay together no matter what
for now the sun is overhead and heady
makes us dizzy
drink some fizzy
orange or lemonade will keep us steady
I do not know if you are ready
but I am … take baby steps
walk with me along the sand
love is in us and beside us
I feel it so deeply but will you ever understand
it is written in the stars
I write it echoing in the sand
I reach out to touch your cheek
we are closer now; walking hand in hand
but for now we have reverted back
to the companionable silence of before
so comfortable in our own skins
we do not search for answers or look towards the open door
we do not see it closing
we do not know if time is short or long
we only know the rhythm rising in us
that beats so loudly; that gives rise to our eternal song
we dance to our own tune
sometimes we dance apart
but it does not matter because we are sure
of this mutual feeling that is mirrored deep within our hearts
we travelled far; we travelled wide
sometimes together; sometimes apart
none of this matters now
all that matters is what is here
this perfect moment; this is our time
the poets wrote of it long ago
they wrote in couplets; they wrote in rhyme
and here we are; we are the living proof
that nothing really matters except
to be within this loving moment
to live and love
to live
to love
to rise above all things
to give thanks to heaven above
we found each other
we lost each other
we refound what we had lost with ease
what is written will always come to be
as long as I have you
as long as you have me
as long as we have Faith
as long as we have each other
as long as we believe.
- AP - Copyright © remains with and is the intellectual property of the author
Copyright © protected image please do not reproduce without permission
A SILENT ELOQUENCE
A lovely German couple sit in companionable silence within the grounds of the Summer home of Agatha Christie. The quotation is from the front of her book, Kollaps (Collapse) : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond, who identifies five factors that contribute to collapse : climate change, hostile neighbours, collapse of essential trading partners, environmental problems, and the society's response to the foregoing four factors. It was nice to see these two reading and not on iPhone's or tablets. I found it very refreshing and gives me hope for the world … I don't know why, but it just did. They had no need to be openly demonstrative. Their love was tangible. They seemed, to me, to be the epitome of something that the world is rapidly losing and I wanted to capture the essence of that. I find that, for me, I can rarely relax and be myself except in the silence of my own company or when I am in nature. For me the world is often too big; too noisy; too crowded and overwhelming. Wish that there was none of the problems covered in this lady's book. How calm she seems while reading about such chaos. I remember my father saying to never judge a book by it's cover. Perhaps she has inner turmoil, but somehow I do not think so and actually I really hope her life is every bit as beautiful as I perceived it to be and his too.
“I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said; Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stampt on these lifeless things,
The hand that mockt them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
- “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817)
Soundtrack : www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IkFiuIkcPI
À Toi - Joe Dassin "Alain Delon and Dalila"
We return to innocence
like children we play in the sun
we sit in companionable silence
our two hearts so close as if our life has still not yet begun
we read and play out in our heads
the story of our lives
the love that we will find
and the memories we will make will help us to survive
we may go our separate ways
or we may stay together no matter what
for now the sun is overhead and heady
makes us dizzy
drink some fizzy
orange or lemonade will keep us steady
I do not know if you are ready
but I am … take baby steps
walk with me along the sand
love is in us and beside us
I feel it so deeply but will you ever understand
it is written in the stars
I write it echoing in the sand
I reach out to touch your cheek
we are closer now; walking hand in hand
but for now we have reverted back
to the companionable silence of before
so comfortable in our own skins
we do not search for answers or look towards the open door
we do not see it closing
we do not know if time is short or long
we only know the rhythm rising in us
that beats so loudly; that gives rise to our eternal song
we dance to our own tune
sometimes we dance apart
but it does not matter because we are sure
of this mutual feeling that is mirrored deep within our hearts
we travelled far; we travelled wide
sometimes together; sometimes apart
none of this matters now
all that matters is what is here
this perfect moment; this is our time
the poets wrote of it long ago
they wrote in couplets; they wrote in rhyme
and here we are; we are the living proof
that nothing really matters except
to be within this loving moment
to live and love
to live
to love
to rise above all things
to give thanks to heaven above
we found each other
we lost each other
we refound what we had lost with ease
what is written will always come to be
as long as I have you
as long as you have me
as long as we have Faith
as long as we have each other
as long as we believe.
- AP - Copyright © remains with and is the intellectual property of the author
Copyright © protected image please do not reproduce without permission