New Age

The steady pace of the horse's footfall, measured out,
on the metalled road.
The sound carries through the overhang of the trees,
across the parking ground to the open window.
As I sit within I picture the man walking beside the cart,
laden with wood.
A dog, hairy face, coarse-haired lean body,
loping at the axle.

Is this today or yesterday, the present or the past,
or is it the future?

I've seen the man and his friends, they're not gypsies
but yesterday they were.
I've seen their life, yesterday's life, lived today
in a new way but much the same.
I feel the peace and the certainty of their reality, their resolve,
beyond the normality of today.

Will tomorrow, the future, see their return - and why not
I say.
For I've seen their children happy in play, within the field,
within the wood, learning a new way,
divorced from the deceits of this material day.

Mantra For A Surfer

A wave on the horizon
A wave in my vision
A wave under my body
I am propelled
I stand up
I slide down
I lean
I turn
I glide in the wave
The wave in my thought
The wave in my mind
I am the wave
I lie down
I paddle my board to the sea
Through the waves breaking over me
I sit on my board
I look to the horizon
A wave in my vision..........