1

knocking knocking
beggars
at the door again

2

this part is not higher
or lower
than that part

not stronger
or weaker

louder
softer

in movement
the mover
in the mover
movement

lips slide
tongue wet
voice

fruit
berries
honey
milk

dandelion in the morning sun
tentative bees
spiders among the grass

the space
is full
of space
itself

3

dancer
thunderbolt man
stepping on
all beings
all emanations
all devils
all clouds

his drum sounds
hollow and milky
under his fingers

when treading
on a demon
take poised care
avoid the horns

4

out of
the darkness
the nothing in the core
of the devoid
the cold before difference
the night before light:

shining house
palace of senses
light of delight
ah

scattered bells
music in the dark
recedes approaches
music in the dark
scattered bells

there
where the sun rises
the mountains bow low
facing first light

light
bird-
throat
day

5

seeking the poet
the poem:

in the space between
galaxies
light-years across:
horse-head of dust
parsecs of stars

finger points
east west
up down
indifferent moon

from such and such
a place
recently
trumpets dust wheels noise

6

they say the system
rights itself
glare over the mountain
noise in the street
they say all errors
are set aright
people shouting
mist over the sea

7

garden of water
garden of words
garden of steel
garden of birds

complex star-chart
map of the garden
showing directions:
ascent
descent

gate always open
gateway
to always

craft of bodies
fabricator of love
making the flower
finding
the garden

sole existent
the bird calls
now now
the only
one

word in the tongue
indecipherable
word in the word
wind in throat
confounding all study
cannot be spoken

word in all seed
moist in each womb
soft information

on the hillside
waves of grass
tongue of the wind
exhibition

waterfall
thunder
an old man
laughs in his beard

the spider's web abstracts
lines of complication
a jewel of dew
at each intersection

8

mist breathed out
huge and formless
covers the city

communities of warmth
squat together
ice in the cloud
sleet in the wind

9

first you journey from
here
to here
then you take
this route
avoiding that
ten thousand years
three inches

the destination, see:
marked by
an immense boulder
self made
of air
wider and wider
expanding to
fill
all places
final
emptiness
patient
thermal gliding
wing-taut
life talons

here fine hair
in the light
edge of a leaf
new green

Oh,
quite mad,
I'd say.
at least...
I think so.

10

now continuing
always continuing
continuing now
always

not another
none other

unbelievable:
way beyond
all that

11

look, this lizard
in this bird's claws
still whips its length
tail dancing in the dust

beautiful
play of light
on refractive scales
beautiful

12

having snared the phoenix
finally
we made a fire
cooked it
wrapped in herbs
and clay

(two children tugging at the
wishbone)

this is our
sole possession
welcome to
having

13

the first
perfect
good-saying:

a road that shall be trodden
in one direction
to the end

try believing it:
you expect yourself to
(but you won't
be tested on it)

music so simple
repetitive
all the instruments
tuned together

the results of prayer
so various
prayer heart
the same

14

always he lies dying
dictating his will
always

15

the rarefied pleasure
of being hollow:
all things
stitched into each other
oh oh

the utterance commands:
the many arise
take heart
move hands

the summation:
all interwoven

thread bare
garment that
must be worn

you can't go
that deep
if you try

16

at every turn
emergent spin
(living twin
outside within)

here is a wall
of fantasy
a leaden way
cast on the day

beyond this place
the quarry lies:

to realise
the making real
the ordered round
the drunken reel

knife at the throat
oppressor's whip
life running out
torrent or drip

a voice shouting
over the sea
the way, the way!

17

patient, patient
small at a time
pearl layered on
waitin
g
listening

picking at
the knots
freeing
the lines up

self-
seeing
self-
judging
un-
folding

in
    brief
it-
    self

peering out through eyes
seeing through
what-is-seen

18

sixty feet below the wave
that moves its mirror waterback
motionless hovering alive

calling -
               come
                        closer

also at home in the flame's hearth
that warms hand body food -
cold night:
fire's fire

dis
     cover
              y
pro
     tec
          tion
de
    lay...

in all directions
some thing new
o wonder, wonderful
most wonderful

19

forgetting thirst
in a dry land

head lifted
on the deathbed
staring forward

stalking deer
in the forest
of unbelief

a whip
a drum
a foot
a heart

singing songs
at the moon
(she
smiles)

20

these stairs lead down
to his house -
your father waits
deep in past pain

the teacher he
knows everything
come in - come in:

at the highest
place of judging
seated on the highest throne -

every shark's tooth
notched death mark
skin torn in
near as blood

much further than
distant mount Meru
hazed beyond blue
wide beyond sky

21

uni
     verse
uni
      que
            cosmos

unmediated
                         now

unbroken
all thread
all weave
continuous

the myth resists
the forges
has one form
no change

breath into
body
breath into
clay

22

armies in the north
rule by force
cannon at the passes
iron on the roads

and the stone of stones
- hidden hand of the king -
stone of wisdom
rule
plunder

here, look closer -
it has veins that pulse
streaks of muscle
flower head in the nock
throb of pleasure

the difference gives meaning -
strong over weak
eating

that face has no food
the cheeks scooped out
eyes blank

23

coiled serpent
rears its head
thousand petals
thunder light

stars hold down the edges
of evening
light from far space
wet on the skin

(under the old tree
beginningless
                       ly

without ceasing
dropping back
to the dark)

made pure again
by night and rain

24

sound wave swell
pushing through
music -
             all
                 is
                         stripped away

looking up -
sunlight
among leaves

kneel on
cool stone
hands poised
follow breath

the dense mosaic
of all
seamless interlock
fragments of colour

the scent of a tropical fruit
juice
keen in the throat

and the sound -
                         roaring
                         silent
                         intimate
filling all rooms

25

somewhere on the road
from one small town
to another
what was seen
changed -
                 great presence

26

folded in love
held hidden in love
love in love
couched in love

cast out
chased out
hunted hounded
exorcised
out cast

no evil
we see
no evil
we live
no evil
in life
no evil

solid unchanging
diamond of permanence
splendid unshifting
melded in no furnace

eaten by microbes
tunneled by maggots
mold and rottingness
home of putrescence
dagger of love
hot bands on the heart
death binding the limbs
father of murder
poison in plenty
mother of fear
author of terror

27

finger pointing
at itself -
these
words

full of life
mother to be
furnace of
fertility

mother was first
everywhere her singing
was a sea of sleep and warm milk.
then father,
huge and dark.
brother and sister grew from their sides
like budding leaves
and the world grew smaller and vast
with their coming;
beyond the pathway at the garden gate
stars rage

self-recollecting
image futurity
stepping the
bright line
between present and memory

28

in the rooms of government
in the offices of rulers
the whispering

proffered explanations
thieves in attendance
lies and distortions
selves in abundance

seen from this angle
things could look different
tilt the head
thus
and thus
a new conformation

wires fat
with power
lines slick with
information

29

eyes look at the moon
deep space's
self-inspection

not taken
not birthed

still
no country
empty hands

thought about thought
void
devoid

30

a tree with strong bark
can resist the winter
things live
in its hollows

women find food
on its branches
fuel in its dying

the yo-yo sun
winds out
spins back
at evening

you ask "how much?"
the earth finds her way
moon follows
tides fishes birds
trees grow free

jewels line her footsteps
in the early dawn
a skin of sun shines
from her wide hand

thus I've heard -
upon a certain day
stars cloud
sun moon

31

see, I have no pockets
my hands hang by my sides
there's a whole world
to walk on

now I'm a schoolgirl
now an old man
a woman of leisure
or a baby with a scrunched-up face
a dog pissing on a car tire
whose mask must I wear?

I'm a pretty good farmer, too
judging by my yield:
ten thousand things
spring from emptiness

I've even tried
playing love
on the stock exchange

32

the random shuffling
of cards
the motion of
gas in a bubble -
some rules
some luck

recalling the future
retalking the lines
retelling the ending

33

there's a well
at the crossroads
in it lives
a snake
with a tongue
split four ways
when you're thirsty
take care

old age and death
come down the path
leaning on each other
brandishing
a bottle of sour wine

rows of crosses
line that road -
it's an avenue of
spikes and gore

great winds whirl
from the cardinal points
fire on the mountains
dust in the fields

preparations
for war
hands harden
the earth

when dropped
irreparable shards

34

precisely poised
stepping lightly
cannot fall
never fail

great moment
of love
how to explain?
what happened:

the tall gods stoop
to see their feet -
beneath them mice
among the straw

(coming home -
the feast
of celebration -
help yourself
there's plenty)

there are no words
for how we left here
facing the harsh dark
even memory
was abandoned

35

the high gods toss the galaxies
about with unencumbered ease

and people struggle with defeat
streets dream of grass,
have wheels for feet

the dust of people
churns and churns
we are the end:
the word burns

(children dodging hailstones -
high thundercloud)

the leopard's claw
seeks out the vein
food and death
unite again

the final wind
howls through the town
the massive buildings
all fall down

the waves come up
and churn about
the earthquake's cock
thumps in and out

36

ah, here comes innocence
stepping like a fool
on a banana peel

a friend of the devil, he
and of angels too
this man'll go
a long way

(after a time
the studied sway
must give way to
the body's own
foolish convulsion
oh! ha!

the genie sleeps
beneath the wick
until he's rubbed
awake again)

37

the old man in the silk turban
holds up his hand
wind blows his beard to the side
first hailstones glow at his feet

if you believe
it is 'real'

(wisdom intends
no belief
no thing
no pain
no cessation)

the wheel circulates
round and
round
people above
snake under foot

the old woman stops to tie
her rag shoes up again
ice wind in off the plain
shivering and mud
pus in her sores

38

at the door
holding a torch
the usher
smiles -
follow me

things can, when worked
be made to take
whatever form
your mind desires

and don't forget the
old time-eater
maw of the kalpas
relentless bone-chewer
ash strewer
day ender

39

the chant encircles
wave form
loop-back
(all the known
time beyond all
a standing wave)
surge in
sink out
the chant encircles

stepped up
scaled down
the wave form breaks
accountancy of change:

counting
the hairs
in every beard
the fingers
on each hand
the eyes
in the vision

also the
tabulation
of violence
the balance-sheet
of hate
the chant encircles

40

the night grows long
the day is thin
summer's leaves
tarnishing

self-prediction
in the seed

mathematics
of the void

price
paid

payment
made

gift
had

ransom given
its word

dance dance
energy movement
voices together
close bodies shifting
ongoing rhythm
close bodies shifting
voices together
energy movement
dance dance

41

they said:
only see
that face and you
blaspheme

they said:
only love
it for one moment you become
sacred

42

tall hedges
low clouds
labyrinth
damp rain scuds
late daytime
dark footsteps

and then

cloud tumbling
leaves playing in
quick sunlight

bird flying in the garden
red flowers
under her wings

everything, instantly
bird high-wire
cloud tumbler
sun spotlight
leaf acrobat
carnival!

43

there appears to be
some sort of plunder at work:
things are taken
to build other things...

my turn to play
what are the two kings worth?

I know it's somewhere in that deck
how long can it hide there?

44

I can't tell anything
from anything
any more, it all sort of
mushes together

but I can start to hear
a real sound
coming through
all the noise

and yes that melody
oh, she's wild!
she dances, she licks my throat
all those musicians

it's so big, it fills
up everything
with everything, there are no
borders or edges

it's the very thing which you
can't say
the word you can't get your
mouth around

but it's true, what I'm
telling you
about the music and how
it feels so big

it's like her song is what
you want
and when she sings you get
what you want

and you can see her
without looking
I mean with your eyes closed
you can see her

and it's as if her singing
made those forms appear
and when you open your eyes
her singing
is still making the world be there

45

deep in the underneath
cold in the underbreath
lacklight cave space
down the dark underplace

soundless:
:
:

cell with no exit
faces with no people

and the room has no doorway
the gate is not gated

" form is precisely emptiness
emptiness is precisely form
form is not other than emptiness
emptiness not other than form
feeling thought
desire-impulse and consciousness
are the same as this"

46

when those roses which survived
black spot, aphid, spider-mite and mildew
have flowered and shed their petals
and rounded to red hips
we sit outside in the long evening
eating pasta talking

this way, we can make no error

that pot which is still warm
from the afternoon sun
was glazed closed in a kiln mistake
you'll never look into
its empty belly

47

it follows behind you
you run not looking
over your shoulder
it is relentless
your feet become heavy
you churn them not looking
over your shoulder
it follows behind you

the descent is steeper
the path is uncertain
you stumble not seeing
what is behind you

it's bigger and bigger
you run peering forward
your feet become heavy
its size is increasing
you run never looking
it looms up above you

48

a match flares
a candle is lit

the valley is hazed
with sundown
mosquitoes whine
(the orchards have been cleared)
late rain builds to thunder-pitch

lightning strikes
near the tobacco barn

she runs wet onto the stoep
hugs the pillar
rain beads her hair
she smiles at me

I'm not sure why
my throat and chest tighten
when I remember these things

but it feels like a thirst
which I cannot quench

49

down hair
inner thigh
small touch
tongue tip

I was so pleased to see her
it was like
there was a gun
in my pocket

50

soft stuff
in here
much folded
brain
hello

old sleep-walker
tall talker
wind rider
route twister

lying there
all curled up and wrinkly
life passenger

and cunning too
stacking the deck
sleight of sight
tongue shifter
liar
thief of fire

words and images
you shake loose
shrively gray one
your leaves blow
through me

51

approach it
roundabout
unwrap it
carefully
it may contain
the unknown

a game that's
played again
a land that's
quite remade

the stars turned
upside-down

52

and there's Jesus
strung out on his cross
hurting like
hell

53

day's too long
eyes fill up
overflow from
an empty cup

at an oasis
under a palm
weaving a basket
all day long

cup of hemlock
knife in the side
stern fathers wait
among the clouds

54

Look, you almost stood on it:
a blue disa!
(very few of them left)

blue-gold perfection
with one worm-hole

that flower teaches

blue-gold perfection
with one worm-hole

55

I've heard that history
compels destiny
but it need not be

it lives everywhere
now here

immense birth-giving
caused by the living

56

there's a hidden agenda
secret proposals
things being done
don't know the reasons
not clear who's doing them

obscure purpose
movements shiftings
vehicle hidden
purpose bscured

new ways of living
pain in the learning
eyes opened from sleeping
to see unknown houses
the reason keeps shifting
new ways of living

57

the whole thing that we see
is like a canvas
but you know
solid
three dimensional

and you and I
are
brushstrokes
in this canvas

and trees are brushstrokes
and houses and cars and
the mountain the sky
and all the people
and all their words and feelings
are brushstrokes

only deep down
its much more like
dots motes particles energy
and we're these brushstrokes of
dots motes particles energy

58

think of
a hungry man
gnawing on
his own leg

59

on the left wrist
a silver band

and the gestures
so perfect
hands that move
with the grace of fishes

60

he which
is older than himself
is age

which
as you know
the fox calls change

he comes twisting from
an old wormhole in space

changeling
dancing
reeling
forming

fox calls him thing

he winds beings down
has virus microbe heart
he's a cellular one
air-born
waterbourne

fox names this one disease

he is full of scream
taut gut
and tight tendon
blood and him

fox call him pain

61

clear morning
frosty grass
chimney smoke

wide plume
goes everywhere
touches everything

62

the monster roars
the hero waits
sharpens his sword
the monster roars

all fangs and claws
and slime and spume
the hero waits
grinds at the blade

the monster comes
breathes a hot gout
the hero strikes
blood gushes out

63

she takes off
her underclothes
cheekily
he watches

he hardly touches
her body
soon she takes
him into her

he moves
inside her
her eyes
slide away

he comes
his back arching
sweat runs in
his chest hair

she fakes it
too early
says you're fantastic
strokes him
takes the money

spirochete
and virus
find new hosts
damp bodies

her lipstick
is Caribbean Sunset
her eyes
Veridian
Silk Lilac

you are also there
looking in at a window
or through a camera lens
a video
microphone
transcription
words
these words

64

a pigeon throbbing
past the window

a slime-eel
blue-grey
making an S
in the water

asleep in a sunbeam
belly-up tabby cat

sheds the dream instantly
comes to full awakening

in a barn on a cold night
her waters break
she gives birth in the straw
(the most common event)

the barn-owl
stoops
loud
mouse

people come
poison down
plough profit out
when it breaks
move on

65

the child has it and knows
that it is precious
feels it in a pocket
warmed moist by a hand

walks all the way to the
end of the breakwater
spins it out among the gulls
it vanishes with a small plop

the child turns and walks
home with a full heart
knowing that the precious
is for always with the sea

buys an ice-cream and two chocolate-bars
misses the cracks on the pavement
scratches a puppy through fence-wire
kicks stones, kicks tin-cans

66

remember the astronomers
in all the observatories
looking out out out out

                         out

                                 out

67

a traveler arrived
seeking the saint
he was referred
to the court of the king

on the great throne
sat the royal presence
sir, all around you
sensual pleasure

I do not believe
you are he whom I seek
the king clapped his hands
guards came running

fill a bowl with milk
to the very brim
make him bear it
all round the town

if one drop spills
sever his head
now go return with him
alive or dead

and when they had gone
he commanded a carnival
music and dancing
flowers festivity

to fill up the streets
in the path of the man
who walked with a bowl
of milk in his hands

they brought him back
the bowl still full
the king smiled at him
enjoy the festival?

68

studying a crystal ball
hoping for a star to fall

hunger caused
by common need

form comes alive
word in the seed

silent sound
speaks everything

ignorant morning
two birds sing

they're simply there
wings tumble
big air

the now is the promise
of things that were

69

earth water
fire air
woven around
with silky hair

put in a basket
sent to the sky
joying suffering
don't know why

look, there's narcissus
well-known fool
staring into
an empty pool

always in motion
energy free
dance continues

comfort me

there's too much light
painfully bright
terror of darkness
silent night

70

desire-impulse moves
guilt and shame stir

forgiveness breathes free
life into me

new air
after rain
there are still drops
on the windowpane

71

(a knock on the door
shout down the hall
answer me
come when I call)

there was a man who walked on stone
till the cold seeped into his hard heelbones
he changed his pace and walked on sand
but the lack of footholds disturbed his mind
he slept, curled into himself

now he walks on a field of frost
but the sun comes up and his tracks are lost
he scatters signs to mark where he's been
the wind dissolves them all again
and he goes down into sleep

he came to a path of soft red clay
because of the colour he turned away
into a field of new-ploughed earth
where he lay face-down and discovered his birth
sleeping, curled in himself

72

suddenly stillness
wind stopped
birds silent
heartbeat
breathing

(in a room full of people
and loud conversation
a moment arrives
when no-one is talking:
which first word will
enter the
silence?)

73

you know how to die
now learn to give
you can forget
how not to live

"that the self advances
and confirms the myriad things
is called delusion
that the myriad things advance
and confirm the self
is called enlightenment"

from the ten directions
and the three times
all around
it flows through

in those directions
and into all ages
rays beam
sunburst

much stronger than dying
or the fear of death:
leaves fall
dog barks
woof woof
plastic bag
caught in the wind

all directions included

no self

74

you can get pretty close
to a lover
but this is even closer

you can touch pleasure
the inner heat
but this is much bigger

first it tangles you up
in its trip-net
then you're gently unpicked

oh, it's so elegant, so refined
that you'll know it
only by its closeness and its pleasure
and its gentle unraveling

75

put your gloves on,
we're going out
in the cold

the trees without leaves
are like sketches of trees

there are seeds buried
waiting to light up the sun

76

when she arrived in heaven
they gave her a harp
and told her to play on it

but she said I don't know how
to play a harp and the angels
looked puzzled and wandered away

but the eye of great
TETRAGRAMMATON
saw her left alone
and the finger of this immeasurable
J H V H
pointed her out

why don't you play a harp
like my servant the King David
who slaughtered that worm Goliath
with one slug from his sling?

so she became still and filled her
mouth with round sound
and her body with the warmth of it

and she stood and filled her
memory with a silver flute
and blue air moved in her limbs

and the lord of hosts smiled
and became a room with curtains
full of warm light

and held her in his love
because you are my only one
and are not like any other

77

absolute white
blank white
crimson red
diamond blue
earth brown
forest green
glans purple

78

light moves beneath the leaf
silver hairs
spring

79

the king comes home
gold gleaming
on a tooth
a servant laughs
further away

deeper in
dragon scales
mirror gleam
strange tales told
old lives unfold

80

a bomb-blast came out of the dark
we heard people running, got dressed
went out and ran with them

we stood talking not far from where
pieces of the station lavatory
were sharded on the pavement

(a statement about the bomb the next day
claimed it for the freedom struggle)

we went back to bed and continued
making love in the excited dark

and when we exploded we fell into each other
and burned with a light fire and lay
tight together wet with sweat

and a star shone into the bedroom
where we'd parted the curtain
to look at the people running

81

a beetle in the rain
shiny clambering thing

light on its way from the sun
coming to shine on
the insect and the rain

82

a cigarette-butt
flipped out of a car

grass-fire
flash fire
trees go
smoke

reptile and mammal
seeking a hollow
burned together

summer goes long
glows low

over the city
brown smoke

83

poison in
victory

passion
defeated

heart
of desire

drawn over
the planet

84

a step's a yard long he said
and took one to prove it

you listen to me he said
you haven't heard a thing yet

now there was a thief he said
and rattled a coin on the counter

he looked after the poor he said
not just out for himself

yes and he had an eye for the women he said
and he mimed unlacing a corset
with plenty of hand-movement

85

not even god
could sink
the t
       i
        t
         a
          n
           i
            c

86

wave poised
about to break

men with weapons
study war

87

dew on
tall grass

saying
dawn comes

a high cloud
flies
with that bird

88

the book incarnates
as a page
you hold it in your hand

your eyes read

this
word

the whole

the letters
dance on the page

imparting
almost

nothing

but a memory
of themselves

(everyone a
self-monument)

and the words dream of a meaning
awake to
paper
calligraphy
forgetting

like some scroll-painting
a thousand miles of the Yangtze river
water and ink
a thousand miles

it'd be a joke
if you could get it

89

there it goes, look out
here it comes, feel in

my finger touching
your skin

zeno's idea that nothing moves
ignores
your hand stroking
my skin

safe in this
warm enclosure
my warm breath on
your cheek

this has always been
our destination
your hair imprinting
my skin

your body warm
with my body
my mouth on
your skin

your eyes half open
are where it hides
floating sleep in
our warmth

that which dies
now alive
a fine fire
in our skin