ON HONG KONG
on hong kong
Allan Woodley
ON HONG KONG
Long poem with photos and artworks. Written by Allan Woodley, ramblin' pony, from November 1999 in the New World Apartments, Hong Kong until November 2000 when we moved the Discovery Bay and completed the poem on 9 September 2001 before flying to London where we were when the 9/11 attacks happened in New York.
Here is text only. The 4 artworks by Noel McKenna and my photos are in the pdf/ebook version in the STORE section, which is free to downoad, or people can pay something if they want to. That copy contains a few typographical and punctuation errors. It has "ramblin' pony" on the front cover and the photos are in colour, which look great. The first copies had "Allan Woodley" on the cover and the photos are black and white, which were also good. This copy below has no photos and some issues with lines and spaces in the copying and pasting, which didn't pick up the photos and which rearranged some of the Chinese characters in part II so I'll be working on restoring those to order over the next few weeks. Meanwhile here's something to carry on with!
Preface - 2003
The references to events in the preface are of the moment, ie 2003.
The poem is in 3 parts. It all happens in the blink of an eye.
It contains a theory of linguistic connections between ancient Chinese, Greek and some Hebrew, born of cross continental trade and the Silk Route at various times. A phenomenon repeated over time wherever the Chinese trade, including for example the goldfields of the 19th century in Australia and America. "Dinkum" is close enough to "real gold" in Cantonese. Most Chinese and Greeks will throw you out of their shop for making such a suggestion, but it works as art in any event.
This poem was written on long weekends and public holidays in Hong Kong
over two years from October 1999 to September 2001. Julie was coming
and going from Sydney so I had time to set down some things that had been
on my mind for a while. With my good friend and partner in applied poetics
Honan 'The Ho' Sattler riding shotgun and etymological hitman, Chinese-Greek-Hebrew concordances danced the dance of the seven veils,
wild nights were spent smearing ink on the word 'GO!', with revelations about
the sex life of Vincent Van Gogh. A final effort was made to declare the thing finished on 10 September 2001.
The poem remains basically the same as it was on 11 September 2001, full
of good old-fashioned pre-9/11 pro- and anti- Americanisms, pro- and ant i- communisms, antidisestablishmentarianisms, bouquets and briquebats for everyone, balls and balloons.
It was a Chinese gentleman called Fong who first told me back in 1978 at Sydney University where he was studying Shakespeare that the good Aussie word 'dinkum' is Cantonese. Thanks also to BBQ King, Goulburn Street.
Learning Chinese had something to do with Leonard Cohen. Suzanne takes
you down to her place by the river, she gives you tea and oranges that come
all the way from China. Sisters of Mercy concubine 'chippies' in a tent in the snow-decked 19th century Canadian goldfields of 'McCabe and Mrs Miller'
where 'chip' is the Cantonese word for 'concubine'. Julie Christie's
brown-blue opium glaze; a sign that reads 'I've been away'...
On September 11, we arrived in London. Jay met us at the airport at dawn.
In a taxi between the Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery the cab
driver said 'Have you heard what's happening in New York?' and turned up
the radio. Entering the Portrait Gallery, we walked beneath the names of corporate sponsors whose colleagues had just been blown to smithereens.
That night I had a strange dream. Schroder and Chirac were playing the Macbeths in Dresden with a cast of Chinese sailors from Southampton
who recorded the performance for future reference. They all turned into seagulls and landed at Charles de Gaulle airport. Banquo in a white stetson ran across the tarmac shouting 'A blood bond! A blood bond! Where's the Concorde? Got any euros? Fifty dollars says I'll see you, and raise you another fifty! Are you folks with the World Cup? We need a new script! Get Ossama bin Laden - he's drinking coffee in a semi in Mary Street, Enmore. Tell the New South Wales police!'
Cassius walked in talking Italian. 'Altrettante noi saremo chiamati coloro che alla patria han ridato liberta', English surtitles flashing across his forehead, as required by the E.U.: 'So.often.shall.the.knot.of.us.be.called. the men.that.gave.their.country.liberty!'. The Mont Blanc Tunnel boys were nowhere to be seen.
But then like a miracle a giant magic honeycomb filled the stage with a golden light, recognising only Good, all else was illusion and didn't
register a score but just vanished on approach. The copyright agency came around to collect their royalties but found an equal and opposite
tax had been declared for every time psyche had been impacted uninvited. The whole thing was sent to a higher court. Five years after the event, the first one to disentangle themselves from NATO went to war, citing the laws of capitalism and lick-em-good.
***
After London we went to Lyon where everyone stood still in the street for a moment's silence three days after the murders, souls ascending. At
Autichamp saw the middle ages returning, complete with wars of religion.
Bali blasted us through antiquity, heading for the stone age, compressing
time in reverse like a can of Seven-Up.
We had the Four Horsemen. We had the Revelations - Enron, WorldCom, HIH, North Korean Nuclear, the royal butlers, the Real IRA hitman a.k.a. global solutions consultant who says he's getting out because the guys
with the money are calling the shots.
The first beast is the lion. UK? The third beast is a flying eagle: USA? The second beast is said to be calf, but St John of Patmos had probably never
seen a kangaroo.
The fourth beast is like unto a man. We have satellite evidence on that but we can't tell you too much more at this point. He has a big bushy moustache and likes to wave around an old fashioned two-barrelled shotgun.
The first beast has a white horse. The second beast has a red horse - that could be Qantas. The fourth beast rides a pale horse - death and destruction. Four fixed wings, whose speakings are like the roar of the whirlwind. A reasonable description of a jet from someone living two and a half thousand years ago.
So, is it written?
***
Big Thanks to Noel McKenna for the drawings * which like the photos didn't copy to this text section so its only the words here - sorry about that folks. Certainly misses the photos and Noel's artworks* to be added as soon as technically possible. Meanwhile they're available with the ebook in the STORE section *. Thanks also to Ivor and Mabel in Sydney for reading it way back in October '01; and in Hong Kong likewise, John B. and Celia in Hong Kong. Biggest thanks to Julie for services above and beyond the call of duty, to our good friends, to la famiglia, especially our Mums and Dads.
AFW 18 Feb 03 Hong Kong
Cantonese dictionary extracts are from the New Yale Yale in China Language Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mandarin from Herbert A. Giles Chinese-English Dictionary, 1912, Kelly & Walsh. Thanks also to the Oxford Reference Dictionary, Lund Humphries Modern English-Greek and Greek-English Dictionary (I. Kykkotis 1957), John L. McKenzie's Dictionary of the Bible, the King James Bible, Charles E. Tuttle & Co's English-Chinese and Chinese English Dictionary, The South China Morning Post.
G'arn the Rabbitohs! Honan H. Sattler
©Allan Woodley 1999-2003
©drawings Noel McKenna 2002
ramblin’pony
Contact: ramblinpony@hotmail.com, woodleyallan@gmail.com
Printing: Lofty Virtue Publication Centre, Hong Kong
On Hong Kong
Dusk like fine grey
silk falls upon
a breast as hearts open
for the pearl of the Orient.
Tugs and lighters
junks
loaded tramps on cruisers
tankers and freighters
swing on their moorings
out of sight,
off Peng Chau
down the Urmston Road
Star Ferries
green and white
golden lights lit,
coiled ropes on the lower deck don't spit
mind head
beware of pickpockets looking through the open door down to the engine room warm in winter
her blue uniformed boatmen ferry the souls
on Hong Kong
the fragrant harbour
east west, west east
channel up, channel down
Panama flag, China flag
Maersk, Triton
vehicular ferry
Kowloon side
a thin white cat
tries the stairs
comes back in a cartoon
followed by some black haired people
marble lined hotels
bouncing cocktail piano trills around a salty margarita suddenly a chanteuse appears to sing
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face sublimely
a deep blue Aphrodite
far from Piraeus
her slow rembetika
burns
with a Detroit Atlantic sound
cruising to Crete
ouzo under the stars
hiring a moped
and riding across the hills to Knossos
the minotaurs maze
projecting that rectangular wave pattern
seen adorning pottery vases and restaurant walls from Salonika to Sai Ying Pun
successfully adopted by Givenchy
circling hawks
now the city glows
smouldering coals
as night comes on
Chet Baker sings
The Thrill is Gone
looking back at the island from the Regent Hotel hips bony shoulders, elbows
lay along the harbour
a black Jerry Hall
in a sequinned Valentino number advertising Panasonic, SOGO Manulife TDK! EPSON mita Ford Bosch LG Nikon HITACHI SIEMENS
phosphorescent deep sea creatures glide before your eyes
the moonbeams
dissolve and dance with the stars
on Hong Kong
til dawn
when the sun comes blazing through the haze like a Turner
Ike and Tina
ready to rock 'n' roll
down that swirling river of Hong Kong
a window on the world
Heineken and Schumann
Canaan in neon
Jordan with junks
sometimes like Abraham
you just need a new land
across the Western mountains the road is steep
winter snows
summer brings
silk
lapis lazuli
amber traded up the Rhone Valley from the Allobroges and Helvetii
or their predecessors in title
in the land of Lug
Lugano, Lugdunum
becoming in time Lyon
town of silk
town of steel
of food and wine
the Lumière brothers
and therefore home of the movies where in more recent times
Deng Xiao Ping and other party cadres learned about engineering
democracy
although Karl Marx was a German
and Lenin of course was Russian
but the gentleman does not originate he reflects
and so the manifesto came east
to the black headed people
negotiating
in ancient phonemes
carefully sailed
down five thousand years or so
tongue to tongue
heart to heart
preserved by reverence
for an ancestral past
mythical and mighty
nuggets of sound
set on the sea of commerce
panned on goldfields
rolled on the wheel of commerce picked up in ports
traded in bazaars
hip talk
demimonde
tongue to tongue
heart to heart
one to one
Moby-Dick
Mo 魔 = witch, devil
baai 白 =white
dik 的 = qualifier, particle >white devil
if music
and all inventions
flesh out the relationships flowing around
taking us step by step
towards the truth
the tape recorder demonstrates
that the earth is a spinning magnetised band
every word and pulsing thought recorded,
satellite cameras show
that everything is seen and captured in time
and if the internet reveals the universal connection of souls
the ropes on the Star Ferry expose the structure of light
three plaited strands, each composed of many filaments
its coiling and uncoiling on the deck the rapid contraction and expansion of vortices of energy
tornado style
Vincent van Gogh exposed the particle nature of light in waves of Arlesian colour
twenty years before Einstein
the way that artists do
and if time-light is a train
don't forget there are passengers on board
sleeping, reading the paper, talking on mobile phones, dying for a
smoke,
making their way to the office, getting into the lift up to the thirty third floor, making
coffee and logging on to the internet
suggesting light to be a medium for unseen communications
in the ether
as Lucent Technologies and fiber optic cables describe
the history of mankind has been phototropic growing towards the knowledge of light
instinctively fleshing out the soul system the landscape behind the Bible
as Philip K. Dick put it
behind the veil, the ocean
witnesses gathering clues and revelations of angels ascending and descending Jacob's ladder of heavenly intercourse active as Mind and Intelligence
as Cocteau proved in Orphée
with two way radios to the au-délà
gloves to walk through mirrors
motorcycle angels
though St Irénée might not agree rejecting all magic
and claims of special occult knowledge we must
warn of heresies
Simon the Magician, Ménandre Saturnin and Basilide
Carpocrate and his disciples
Valentine
science fails to acknowledge the intelligence Love and Mind of light
connection
is the element it seeks
Sun Microsystems
the network is out there
Seneca
and other AD Romans
contended views of the life of the soul after death
on the first day the word goes out
to ancestors that a particular soul is on its way
arrangements commence
the prior of kin are notified
prepare to meet the ship of souls.
On the second day the soul descends to the centre of the earth for purification, part thereof fusing with the remaining earthly
next of kin and physical intimates,
On the third day, just prior to dawn, in that chilly moment
the ship of three day souls ferries the loved one
out of earth's sphere
the parents meet the child at the landing
along with representatives of Abraham and the first tribes
according to their line
as the sun comes collecting and proclaims again glory hallelujah
meanwhile back on earth
a magpie hops up to announce the glad news to the bereaved
a magpie, or a kookaburra, in Australia
Christ came back from the dead to tell us there is a life everlasting that cannot die so we give thanks for the life
we mourn the passing
celebrate the resurrection and the life everlasting
the resurrection on the third day shows the spirit does not die but
is purified and transformed, connected
in continuity with ancestors
back to the first
back to the beginning
forward and forever, inimitable and whole
I heard of someone who came back from the dead once after three days
it was in Sham Shui Po
the family were horrified
they thought it was very bad luck
images seized
flashed by light speed around the world satellite news information delivered
by phantom lawyers
to ghostly judges
who hear the evidence make orders accordingly
The Shining Star arrives like an Alka-Seltzer lines made fast
gangway lowered
Mind Your Head
Beware of Pickpockets CO2 Room
Don't Spit
Net Reg. Tonnage
39.6
smell of hot grease and marine oil
and flying back from Paris
against the flow of time
trying to put the world back together by rotating Australia on an axis around the Cocos Islands
slotting Broome into the Arabian Sea such that Perth joins at Karachi
in the Carnavalet Museum a cup and saucer
given to Voltaire
by the Emperor K'ien Lung in 1768
featuring two black and white birds
and Chinese character script
a "Gobelet et soucoupe en porcelaine
de Clune, offerts a Voltaire par l'empéreur K'ien Long en 1768"
however all Chinese I have consulted say the characters make no sense and should be presumed to be a fake
the vases in those late 17th and early 18th century salles I've seen in shop windows
in Queens Road West
the chairs as well
and as it turns out
Voltaire fell big time
for the ethical and moral values of Confucius which Leibniz held up
as an ideal that post schism Europe could strive for so we can thank the Chinese for the Enlightenment
the Seine was in flood
rising a foot a day
wild winds killed ninety
knocked chimneys onto minis
flattened the forests of Rambouillet
uprooted hundreds year old trees in the Jardin du Luxembourg a merry go round outside Saint Sulpice smashed
its horses heading for the sky
the walls of Saint Eustache a Vuitton handbag tombeau de Colbert
Louis Quartz baptised etcetera
upstairs in La Sainte Chapelle statues with no noses
knocked off by revolutionaries transfixed before the reliquary that held the crown of thorns unable to leave
a purple crystal geode
in a galerie window
rubies, emeralds
from Burma, Cambodia
longtime secret to the Kings of Mandalay impenetrable
forbidden
Michel le patron stands by his
giant green bowling balls
saying "toutes mes sphères sont faites à la main
par les Allemands
the blood of ten thousand battles
rises from the chalky soil of Champagne in a fine mousse
as Paul said in La Coupole
il n'y a pas de futur sans le pardon
Bosnia was the dollar and pound bombing l'euro
a ce niveau toute est nette
the language of capitalism and totalitarianism are the same
one thing they never notice about Vincent is his erotica masque
sunflower breasts, river hips
churches wrapped in mulberry thighs look at that haystack
legs akimbo
disco tribute to Millet yes
man between earth and heaven yes
ils ont la folie nécéssaire"
but what about the labia? the obvious pubes? the broads? the pussy?
you never hear about them
the blunt inseminator, the mound of Venus the sine curve behind the colourful years
So who was he in love with?
the doctor's daughter
Mademoiselle Gachet
see her in the garden
hanging in the Quai d'Orsay
pure creams wound delicious ice cream cones of oil and over in the bushes, there, on the left, two red eyes Vincent self portrait a pleurer
look at any Chinese painting
and you will find
in addition to the erotica
little guys tinkering with devices
that in the west with the industrial revolution became the steam engine or the water shovel which with the benefit of patent law
became private property
however because Asia is about reflection
the gentleman transmits he does not originate and copyright means copy well
but it has its uses
such as preventing circulation of graven images attempts to freeze the soul
so they take what they want from the west
and the rest is a lot of hot air
in Hong Kong
if trees fall over
they pull them back up again
just as the idea of globalisation
and essence of competition
caused women to plunge everything into the neckline
and bend forward to show the world
their breasts
leading to a series of mergers and takeovers at the corporate level so the Pope is inspired to unite all religions
in the worship of the one true God
which was always a rational process
from the word go
emerging naked from making love in the shower
air on clean skin alive and new
and ready again
to make love to you
on pure white sheets our eyes meet
soon to touch
shiver
lover
tied to the mast on starry sails
a gentle dawning eye opens clouds of sleep dispersing empires slowly north
east on a sea breeze
grey blue
lavender on a pillow
an amber necklace
streetlights
strung around the mountains
as the last ship of dreams leaves for the east white light on bow and stern
red for port, green for starboard
the first ship of day
comes the other way
lifting silken veils
reveals the scene
of white castles
and Chinese hills
behind purple
a red sunrise turns the sky blue
a pair of early star ferries
life jackets under the seat
head for Hung Hom, North Point
on a tranquil harbour
as glassy as you'll get
the typhoon of last night’s love
has climaxed and moved on
in red taxis
leaving the scene
purified
fishing hawks circle and swoop
to kiss the water and all is well on Hong Kong
if a second Flood drowns the world but two of each survive
so we have to start again
oral history
for a few thousand years
will tell how thanks to the human genome project it was possible to make a man out of dust
and woman from a rib
but not every one will buy it
the people
with Christ they called for Barrabas
two thousand years later
Bernard Tapie's
out of jail and back to a cheering ovation from the stands for Marseille Olympic the people
they want control
automation
the gradual elimination of the band
standing between consumers and their own egos
the people
Rupert Murdoch
the lowest common denominator
the big accounting firms screw
the people
the leaders hate
the people
give them away
one country two systems
a monarchy of many queens
an Alan Sherman shirt
at the federal level
but that's not all
you have the State and local levels
blackjacks
construction mafia
the cops
its a miracle anyone survives
who put the K in demockracy?
oh but its the best we have
look at the chaos in the world
is that what you want?
greenhouse gases yes
but whatabout outhouse gases?
baked beans, lamb chops methane clouds
the clout of science
since Hiroshima
has been thanks to the atom bomb
bikinis
triggering mexican waves
intercontinental peaks
putting man on the moon
coast to coast
while woman holds up half the sky
demonstrating again the power of effective management skills and making the world safe for democracy
as in 1975 the UN's New World Economic Order
proposing the nationalisation of global resources
somehow became the New World Order of free markets
in which the good guys win by definition
introducing terminology
first world, third world
who's on second?
later to be replaced by emerging markets
the correct use of accountants
expressions such as the dog barks
and the caravan passes
beloved of dictators everywhere
Rex Connor's plan to buyback the outback
for a sum now exchanged daily
overthrown
Latin America, Iran, Iraq
overthrown,
Mack the Knife installing
shark infested juntas
provision of aftersales service
the Middle East, Ireland, Basque separatists
state terrorism
limited theatre
fear on tap
that was world war III
unannounced
world war IV now unfolding
with corporate sponsorship
eco-terrorism
press manipulation
dumbing down the global village
idiot
couched in the terms of neutrality
somethinglike Crisis Management Group International Inc
Striving for an Excellent Ending
they are busy walking up and down on the earth gloating
there is no loyalty in a dollar
Rule No. 1 of geopolitical information strategy: the action is always somewhere else.
Vietnam for instance
the US stayed until they were ready to go
the war was in Vietnam
the action was somewhere else some oil field somewhere Geneva
Chile
Africa
Australia
Cyprus
who knows
the trouble with Vietnam
was the guys in A&R didn't know
what the guys in oil
were doing
thinks
as the chopper lifts off the embassy roof what the hell sort of deal
did Nixon think he was doing anyway? leave oil to the oilmen
its a rap
petrolpumpin'partna izitmyimaginayshunn woodjarardakildaworld danwrektifydasitchyooayshunnnn
but as the International Monetary Fund has been trying to tell us obliquely
you can't have a modern democracy
without Chuck Berry
and that means highways, gasoline and automobiles hamburgers, fries
and a whole support network
of shakes, Coke, rubber, ballistic missiles condoms
the internet is fine
but you can't drive a modem down highway 69 hang your elbow out the window, feel the wind in your hair clean the windscreen, pull into Burger King
fill the tank, smell the fumes
take your girl to the beach
taste the salt on her skin.
What China also needs is guitars,
bass, drums and the rocking piano
of Johnnie Johnson.
We stopped at Guangzhou but bypassed Wuhan
we never was a minute late
we was ninety miles out of Anyang by sundown
rolling out of Shandung state.
Saxophones
a horn section
a Big Band era
that's past
you can't have Glenn Miller without steam trains.
read a magazine
then you're in Baltimore
Charlie Parker
Cuba libra
Aretha Franklin
Motown
Chess Records
valves, transistors, amps, pickups
country blues guitar
as heard in say Ry Cooder's Vigilante Man or Paris, Texas
or that tremendous scene at the beginning of Performance when the black Cadillac is driving across the green fields of what one feels
is Kentucky
pure good ol' Chinese sounds, brought over in gold rush days
taoist philosophical harmonic sounds played on quasi banjos,
banjo that good ol' Cantonese word
to perfect the circle
in the blood and land of the red indian
their medicine man
recently invoked in an IBM commercial
metal landscape skins the great spirit
criss crossed now in macadam arteries
Cherokee eagle soars above
chrome buffalo
resurrected in Elvis, Jimi, Emmy Lou
Methodist, Baptist, southern
Samuel Fuller hymns transported coast to coast
pedal pumped harmonium
diapason, vox
dusty angels
prairie apostles
lonesome ol' Chinese sounds
picked up by afro-americans
given some rhythm
some blues, some electricity, some industrial speed some old testament, some resurrection
highways, gas, automobiles
sex, some action
and there you go
Maybellene
rhythm put me on this road
Jesus Lao tze and P.A.M. Dirac
spin and anti-spin
knocked out listening
to Keith Richards Talk is Cheap
Blood on the Tracks
and one half of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter til a strange wind
a comet and Qantas
lifted us from Botany Bay
over red iron earth
swirling beige river beds
of the Gulf country
cobalt northern coastline
turtle totem islands
leaving Australia
four hours later
exactly as the Aborigines painted it
pillars of cloud rise from the equator
in five more hours
descending from the skies to land
on Hong Kong
where typhoons roam September seas
and tycoons sail
the April breeze powder blue skies Chanel tai tais auspicious lies
and snake soup
tyranny washes people south
Dennis in a dinner suit
arranges himself before the grand piano
at the centre of the Universe Mall
the one the stars all turn around
closes his eyes
totally professional
and conjures up
Diana Ross
Peabo Bryson
Endless Love
those smoochy ballads that stood in for religion
after Fame and the world became this Alan Parker movie
tears well in the eyes
of shoppers moved
by echoes of Candle in the Wind some bite their lip
others must away
twelve stars ferry
back and forth
like sea birds
building a nest bright and busy bringing cheer
crossing Hong Kong at dusk
the Celestial Star weaves
through the east west traffic that has the right of way
a caterpillar on a gum tree
I once saw Eric Sims run the length of the field for South Sydney evading three tacklers
its a bit like that
a miracle
every ten minutes
John Sattler George Piggins John O'Neill
Bobby McCarthy Elwyn Walters
Ron Coote
Bobby Grant
Dennis Pittard
Ray Branigan
Bobby James
Arthur Branigan
Bobby Honan
Eric Sims
Lamma,
Peng Chau,
Lantau
Cheung Chau
Green Island
Stonecutters Island
Tai Mo Shan
granite outcrop fishing village
pirate cove
pinched waist stone sea sisters
mirror
Ios Chios
Boetia
the Cyclades
by sky gods descended
Gaia
Demeter
Pohoidon
wrestling philosophers
the So brothers
Sophocles
Solon
Socrates
Solomon
wondering
along with demos and polis
how they got their Chinese fingerprints
you can still feel them tugging
on the silk threads of sound whiting on the line
with a beach rod and a moontorch at dawn you can hear them calling through the sea breeze
just beyond the breaking surf the rising sun illuminates
the whole school
suspended in the wall of a curling wave before it collapses
into time
casting up the shells of empire's oceans on Hong Kong
one day the rising sun
will illuminate
the whole school
suspended in the wall of a curling wave
so I'm looking at Jackson Pollock No 32 1950
wondering if light is
electric seaweed tumbling in the surf
waiting for the dolphins to arrive
but end up feeling
it was probably prefiguring Apocalypse Now
trust the people they give their heart
bird in cage sing
bird in sky soar
II
midnight lighters
tilt in to hug the St Jacobi
floodlit on black South China waters gantries and booms swivel the stars Queensland lobsters
line and pulley heave
containered cargo
ascending, descending
surging collapsing
gravity down gravity up
heaven and earth
hold
translucent memories
of kingtide prawning
torch and net
St George's Basin
wading cold crystal water
virgin sand
probably full of rutile
of interest to Boeing
the world's a big whirling wheel wheels within wheels
the universe too
we must move through it
in harmony
let us sing unto the Lord
for He has triumphed gloriously
songs of praise
forever and continually
for that is the purpose of mankind on earth
as I said to the Mormon who came to the door down the coast at Durras Lakes
3000 BC
sky gods arrive Olympus
slip into a spell
leaving Linear A tortoise shell oracles visit the Minotaur
depart Iraklion for Nicosia
it was the mythical period
1800 BC
Abraham in transit Ur to Canaan it was the Xia
1350 BC Moses dwelt in Egypt it was the Shang
1000 BC
David recorded the Psalms
spinning through space
songs of praise for bells and flutes tambours and lutes
carried on the wind
circle the world
a radio broadcast
of invisible influence
Solomon built the Temple
covered in gold
it was the Western Chou
the Mandate of Heaven was established
in the 8th century BC the Western Chou had regular
intercourse
cross continental transfers stopping in 221 BC, Chin Shih Huang, hard headed Spartan legalist, erects original Chinese wall
walls not for walking through,
books not for cooking
words depend what you mean
in Anyang zhongquang bells
shake the world
unleashing waves of sound
travelling over mountains and deserts circling still
in Sion David's psalms are sung to the chief Musician on Neginoth
David
Daai Wai
the slingshot king
Goliath
Go Lo 高佬
the tall guy
Colossus
Colisseum
colossal
Bashan 北山
Anshan 女山
hills of peace
northern mountain whispered on desert winds
Samarkand
Persia
Babylon
Minos
Jason
Colchis of Medea
帶 daai
韋 wai
sing of King David
偉 wai微 wai委 wai畏 wai危 wai位 wai慰 wai圍 wai為 wai闈 wai
幃 wai魏 wai
extraordinary, great small, minute, slight
to send, depute
to dread, be dreaded
bold, dignified
position, place, a throne
to pacify, to soothe, to comfort
to surround, hem in, to drive
elegant, handsome
doors of the palace
leading to the women's apartments
a curtain, women's apartments
the Uighurs, a Turkic tribe descendants of the Hun
belt, sash, thong
a thong of leather
know therefore this day
and consider it in thine heart
that the Lord he is God in heaven above
and on earth beneath;
there is none else
the name that cannot be named
but has been called Shang Di, Jehovah, Allah God, Great Spirit, Elohim, Dios
550 BC
Cyrus allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple
it was the Eastern Chou
Confucius and Lao tze
Plato Socrates and Aristotle
more or less
the same enquiries
master, what is
the nature of the soul
the life principle
in all things?
Kind prince, soul
being in individuals
does not mean it is born of individuals
it means the individual is part of the universe which began when soul moved
the enquiry shifting
to an examination of motion
and eternal change
A-ris-tot-le
阿理這子
Ah Li Dou tze
Way of Virtue
perpetuated and magnified and this by Thomas Aquinas to Descartes
way cool
high sterned ships
with no keel they bob and roll
so what is this?
some sort of quantum thing? some mirror thing?
a yin yang thing?
if ma is the Chinese particle used to indicate a question how did it get into enigma?
and all those Mo words that talk about Moses
漠 mo desert, indifferent
寞 mo lonely, solitary
陌 mo stranger
陌路 mo a raised path running east and west between fields
驀 mo to spring on or over, suddenly, unexpectedly
默 mo dark, silent
謨 mo plan, scheme
模 mo a model
毛 mo hair
蕪 mo
莫 mo
塻 mo
嗼 mo
lo
stranger
luxuriant growth of weeds
not, no, negative, without
dust
silent, stem, peaceful
冒 mo
穆王 mo wong
穆 mo
墨 mo
母 mo
無 mo
巫 mo
武 mo
穆 muhk
JouJew JewJou
佃 descendants,
to risk, to brave; to be exposed to hardship; to put forth, to issue forth, to go up as smoke, fire etc
the fifth sovereign of Chou dynasty, BC1001-947, and hero of many adventurous campaigns beyond the borders
of the empire
solemn, profound, reverent
black; an ink stick, calligraphy; language, letters; statutes, institutions; to be greedy, to covet,
to corrupt; tatooing one of the five punishments
in ancient China; name of Mo Tzi or Mocius son of Mo as in spiritual follower of, one of the greatest philosophers of the Warring States period who preached love without distinction
imperative thou shalt not
a corridoor; a hallway; of vegetation dense or luxuriant
a wizard or witch; a Chinese family name
force, military, warlike; a footprint; the length of half a pace; string of an ancient hat; a Chinese family name
peaceful, sincere; respectful, majestic
posterity
訷 to ask blessings for, to pray for
咒 to curse, to swear an oath; to recite incantation; to employ
charms or spells
JuJew JewJu
主 the master ; leader; chief; host主人 the head of a family
主 Lord; Jesus Christ
主吾 Jew
天主 the lord of heaven. Title of the first of the Eight Spirits ba kua – (see kabbalah) worshipped in ancient times
to abide, to dwell渚 an islet, a bank
砫 a stone tablet dedicated to ancestors in the family temple燭 candle; to illuminate
逐 to follow, to pursue; to expel, to drive out
朱 vermilion
硃 another word for cinnabar
祝 prayer, to pray to, to invoke; to call to witness, to make oath
to tie up, to bind
祝宗 to invoke one's ancestors祝福 to pray for blessings
Well we all have ancestors divided into tribes
back to the beginning subsets of the great scheme
The Herald International Tribune reports
Lamp in the shape of a ram found in the Mu Us desert formerly peopled by the Hun almost certainly a Turkic group
rams horn masks
ram wine jugs
the cult of the lamb
representing a healthy departure from human sacrifice previously burned, fed to lions, snakes, chucked off cliffs into steaming oracle crevices
as when the Lord did tempt Abraham to offer his only son Isaac
as a burnt offering
upon a mountain
and he arose early in the morning and he clave the wood
and took the knife
and the fire in his hand
and Isaac spake unto Abraham his father
and said My Father
and he said, here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
showing that the practice was already established
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing to him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram
caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram
and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son
so tired but happy they made their way down the hill
wondering what would happen next
the character geung 羊 meaning sheep threaded through
羌 geung羌蠻 geung羌笛 geung美 meih羑 yauh羖 gu
羔 gou羞 sau義 yih羨 sin
羯 kit
羲 hei洋 yeung徉 yeung養 yeung恙 yeung漾 yeung様 yeung烊 yeung
maahn dehk
name of an ancient tribe in West China
an ancient barbarian people in West China
a kind of flute
beautiful
to guide to goodness
a black ram
a lamb
ashamed, shy
justice, righteousness
to envy, covet
castrated ram, name of an ancient barbarian people Fu Hsi, a legendary ruler who introduced the house an ocean, foreign, Western, imported
to stray, to roam, unsettled; hesitating
to grow, to bear a child, to support, to educate disease, worry
to be tossed about lightly, to ripple, to overflow appearance, look, style, pattern, a sort, a sample
to smelt, to melt
later they built a golden ram
for an idol
a stiff necked people
although it is not known
whether Baa-l was a sheep reference
or whether it was derived from Ba as in the Ba gwa, 八卦 the eight diagrams seen in the book of changes
Ba the lucky number 8 八number magic
star magic
six pointed
but that's a cabalistic thing this is strictly etymology
The Greeks like a lamb
roasted on a spit
spiced and herbed
the savoury odours wafting up to heaven please the gods
ancient Hebrews consult Yahweh via urim and thummim
yarrow stalks
as in the i ching
essentially proposing yes-no questions
answered by the reaction of the urim and thummim before flipping coins caught on
as Jane said in Paris
they're all after the same thing
vestal virgins tending Delphic priestess burn cinnabar in tripods
Chinese style
paper flame
transmits the name
delving into spirit realms
in hypnotic trances
and coming up with a vision
hold onto your soul at all costs
Plato in Queens Road West checks the numbers
figures its a good day for washing calls his woman
in syllables picked up in some ante-diluvian dai pai dong
temple smoke
glory in a cloud
steaming windows, fluorescent lights chickens feet, pig's intestines thousand year old egg
pre Tower of Babel days
that Esperanto is trying to put back together the sounds that moved south
but can still be found alive and well concentrated
on Hong Kong
shades of Pythagorus and Athena ride the underground
to Tin Hau, Bac Go
escalators back to earth
the Latin blue fields of Lam Tin burning cinnabar
in temple malls
worshipping trees in high places at Christmas
mingling respective gods and heroes taking a view on the issues of the day son of Zeus
son of Virtue
son of God
Mang Mo
cycle of opposites
hot cold
wet dry
Zeno and Dr Mok
asses skin shavings
crossing some sort of Rubicon with a mouthful of black pepper so holy art
wert and evermore shalt be
好理
好理
好理
ho li
ho li
ho li
Lord God almighty
there art none beside thee merciful and mighty
ego
a good old Chinese word not GO 角 > angle
as in
北角
Bac
North Point
角
PythaGO
three angled triGO
角
eight sided pa GO
five angled
pentaGOn
but GO the unit word for people
as in 一個人 Yat GO Yan one person or 二個人 Yee GO Yan two people
generally spoken without the Yan, ie 一個 Yat GO, 二個 Yee GO or ego the second person
歌 go to sing, to chant, to praise, a song, a kind of poem with rhythm & rhymes suitable for use as lyrics in song
going to a go go
where the go go's go
go go lover
go sing brother
where you sing
go go 歌歌
哥哥 go go elder brother哥哥 go go lover
a go go is a place to go
where everybody go goes go go
all the go go's go go
all the go go's go go
all the go go's go go go go go
conjugation declension
first person singular
Greek lu-wo I loosen
Chinese wo 我 indicating I
everywhere heard in Hong Kong
in the passive construction as a final
such and such happened to "wo-oh-oh" the original tale of wo
is that Jewish or what?
Greek first person plural wo-men Mandarin first person plural wo-men 我們four tones Greek
five tones Mandarin
nine tones Cantonese
down Queen's Road Central every third building
spells Gaia
in aluminium
界 Gaia the world新界
新界
Sun Gaia
the New World home to
hoi yan
海人
the sea people Hydra-headed
two American scientists
researching the Flood
in the Dardanelles
the whimsical lateral thinker
and the pragmatic dogged empiricist
the lateral thinker sees a local boatman drop a basket of stones
from the bow so that an invisible current running the opposite way to the surface current will tow them against the tide
he first read about it in the epic of Gilgamesh
country
Greek Xuo Cantonese Guo 國
Ah Guo 亞國
Asia
Argo
the memory of cultural transfer
house
Greek kia Cantonese gia 家as in Ikea or oligarch
tyrant
tai yan 大人the top man tai as in Titan
De the earth 地as in Demeter deme and demos units of Greek land franchise-giving
地方 de fong地甲 de gaap
area of land; place; locality
tithing system or subdivision of communities with a responsible head to each division
帝 di
the Five Planetary Gods
God, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe
青帝 Ching Di
赤帝 Chek Di
黄帝 Wong Di
白帝 BaDi Venus黑帝 Hak Di Mercury
gymnasium
jim 佔 to occupy, take by force
jimsin 佔先 to lead in a game or contest
Homer the blind bard
ho 好maahng 盲Homer
ho 好mahn 敏Homer hon 刋mahn 文
mahn 澠
good very real exactly just so all one you bet blind
good very real exactly just so all one you bet quick, clever, witty, speedy, agile
to hew, cut, engrave, publish, a publication writing, literature, culture
name of a river and county in Honan Province;
ancient name of a place in Honan Province where the kings of China and Chao of the Period of the Warring States
held their summit conference
Jupiter Mars
Saturn
hoi man 海文 sea story, sea poem hoi ma 海馬 the sea horse
unless of course he was a Turk called Omer Po-hoi-di
帝 god of the 海 seas 普海帝
hohn hoi the vast sea Hohn Hoi the name of the Gobi Desert 沆海
before being cut off and evaporating
Greek nymphe 女飛
nu Chinese woman, girl 女as in nubile
fei to fly 飛
Greek phy flight
phos
photos
light
fo fire 火, flames, to burn with fire phosphorus light bringing, the Light Bringer the Morning Star
火把 fo ba a torch
phoebus
pure
bright
radiant
Phoebe
Phoebe the Shining One Phoebus Apollo
Phoenix 火鳥 fo niuh fire bird鳯 fuhng phoenix
pharmakon poison, drug remedy, potion
nong
simpleton
20th c. Australian, origin unknown nong 農
Cantonese, agriculture, farming their cult of rural simplicity spurning pretension
transported to the goldfields became half the Aussie legend
bo lai cha
smoking in the billy ding kam 正金real gold
cobber
确 kok=sure, certain, firm; 巴 ba=a final particle implying
closeness or adhesion >kok ba >cobber if you sort of only breathe the last k and pronounce the first k as a hard g which is how its done
or how about
go 哥 elder brother
ba 爸 father
colloquially used as terms of familiarity endearment cameradery and respect
go ba 哥爸 elder brother father
cobber
your good Aussie mate
金 kam gold 錠 ding ingot of gold or silver
the nouse of gnos the nouse of nou
腦
nouse Greek mind nou Cantonese mind腦
〉 gnostic
knowledge
電腦
tin nou
electric brain
electric mind
computer
DELL Apple Intel Macintoh
68
man 民the people
maan 蚊the dollar money
deco-reconstructing hydro
hydra
hoi sea
de of
lo or laaa final particle hoi de lo
hoi de laaa
one of those sea things hydro
hydra
hyaline glasslike vitreous Gk hualos glass Mandarin
hua 化
change alter melt convert transform civilise die to burn
of many colours clear evident apparent
lo 烙
lo 瞭
hua lo
one of those things you change by melting thats very clear
hyacinth
Gk huakinthos flower and gem hua 花 flower
kihng 瓊 fine jade maat yeh 物 matter
what's the matter?
pharmakos
化物 fa ma
to change matter
hip 叶
to harmonise to rhyme
who? where? bingo!
bin 邊
go 個
bin here go got it BINGO!
and so it goes
the ancient river flows
in ox bows
meandering
billabong songs
a bit lateral but
just relax
let it happen
til you can see
through the clouds
descendants of Gomer
Greek Jews
meet your Chinese cousins
twenty percent of the ancient wordstock
rocky islands
covered with likenesses
gods heroes and men
hoi yan
the sea people
daan yan
the boat people
Danaans 丹人
daan 丹 cinnabar; red, scarlet; sophisticated daan yan 丹 the red pottery people
hak tauh yan
the black headed people
黑地 Hak de the black land of Hades
or maybe下 Ha under
地 de earth
five colours olympic rings
five colours of the Chinese way
five elements
earth metal water fire wood
Aristotle cut out the wood
and swapping air for metal ran with four elements supported by the Church through many dynasties until the enlightenment
which as we have already seen was also Chinese
Jewish teleocommunications with Shangdi urim and thummin echo
divination done daily
ba kua and kabbalah
Yu dak 月徳moon rules moon people
parallel uses of Attic good o and Cantonese good ho grease the wheels of grammar
in Wanchai bars
baclava in the Plaka
gei ho? 幾好
d'ho kei
ok
Teach Yourself Ancient Greek Stanley Lau style
Cantonese ho and Greek o
good cobbers
participles, prepositional phrases exclamations
positive adverbs
idiomatic
as a conjunction
as a preposition
in temporal clauses/in clauses of manner/in clauses of reason/exclamatory
polygamy
poly
po 普 universal widespread general
li 列 to arrange in a line to enumerate to display arranged in a line numerous a line a series a Chinese family name
Gk gamos marriage
ga 嫁 to get married, to marry a man, to marry off a daughter mo 母 mother, female
polygon
po li go
poly + gonos angled普列角go=angle(see above)
politics
普 po = general, universal里 li = principle
利 li = virtue
里 li = a place of residence; a neighbourhood; a village
of 25 or 50 families; the group above a tithing; a street in a town with a gate at each end; a measure of length, 360 paces
徳 dak = morality, decency, virtues, behaviour, conduct, final participle of achievement
politikos one concerned with the running of the city
普 po
里 li
的 di
個 go person
general, universal
virtue or village
possessive, descriptive particle
the ancients were concerned with the city as a virtuous entity polis 普里
city
市 sih marketplace, municipality地 de place, locality
gangway
gong 港 harbour, port as in Hong Gong
gung ho
westward ho
ho ho ho
hobo
19th c. origin unknown熱 yit warm
好熱 ho yit hot
ho yit hot
hoyit
hot
hot
hot
hot 渴 thirsty
好模homo
ho mo
ho 好 good very real exactly just so all one you bet mo 模 model norm to imitate to copy a mold a form >homo just so norm
>homos Gk same
now there's folks in America who'd have you whacked for that China too
a very unpopular theory
Sappho
the tenth muse
every morning
our lift lady calls your name as number 10 lift opens Sahp ho!
sahp = 10
ho = right, ready
Sahp ho!
number ten!
number ten!
sophist philosopher
叟 so廋 so搜 so
an old man
to be concealed; to examine into, to search
to search; to enquire; to investigate the whizzing sound of an arrow
搜羅 so lo
惢 so
所 so
所以 so i
事有所以然 there is a reason why things should be as they are所以了 so i of course! just so!
to make researches
suspicious, doubtful
what, whatsoever, that which wherefore, whereby, why, of course
the whole classification thing
manifesting the Taoist enquiry
and sounding like the Greek enquiry
there being two souls according to theory by the time of Western Chou po, which animated the body
strays to the subterranean realms after death
han, the spirit soul, takes itself off to heaven,
to achieve immortality
whereas Jesus taught the three in one proven by physical resurrection founded in one universal God
love adding equity to the law
perfect expression of the way
in surrender
honour your father and your mother dominion over animals
stone tablets
Without leaving his door
He knows everything under heaven Without looking out of his window He knows the way of heaven
not inventing perfect love
he lived it here on earth
but had always been around
thats the whole point
ketchup
one of the jaap words jaap juice 汁
faan ke tomato 番茄faan ke jaap tomato juice ke jap ketchup 茄汁
fun 歡
happy glad joyous
many thanks
to the entertainment business
ideological soeur putain
of the military industrial complex
that will carry you out in a box
for your copyright
they're showin' them war movies again ma musta bin a war
supported by the popular song
Mickey Mouse
the CIA favours the misfit
the hotshot
the aeroplane
ridicule
telemortis
hold your fire
wait til they're on their knees
go in late
clean up
maximum commercial impact reconstruction
redefinition
whereas MI6
who taught them everything they know from the Mayflower on
now prefer
the automobile
spin doctors
the French administrative delay
there was little we could do
showing that the Rolling Stones were right about Diana
fate is a joint effort
ask JFK,
Marilyn, anyone
the further one travels the less one knows circling heliotropically ships lights
amber against the night
sticky jewellery
on Ken Thomson's black silk mou mou the embers of cracker night bonfires cycle of opposites
all accusations projections
and will oil companies end up
saving the world?
therefore the Sage arrives without going sees all without looking
does nothing, yet achieves everything
but for the rest of us who work in the city
there are pretty women to see
cappuccinos and a gigantic Vidal Sassoon blonde pony with one eye
Harvard Add Hair Technologies Prada and Gucci
a Babylon of graven images impacting Pysche
with the illusion that stasis is possible in a moving life connections to make
are you or have you ever been
a member of the capitalist party?
is the totalitarian state where
all is recorded and every thought known in fact a longing to express the divine? as Russell Crowe said in Gladiators in Cantonese
our deeds in this life sound in eternity the people cheered the Roman soldier honouring his ancestors in an effigy taoist magic mojo man
ringingly endorsed
highlight of show for many of the people
look between the buildings the river of light flows there grabs your image
ricochets down the mall Versace
Fendi
Chanel
shoots like a pinball across the Bridge round the Cahill expressway
zaps through the ionosphere
bounces around Vega
and keeps going
so watch what you say
it all counts
eyebeams
handbeams
ascending descending surging up collapsing gravity down gravity up heaven and earth
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Enmore Theatre
a living thing
surging collapsing
holding together
the circle of Harleys
gathered in the clouds
Thor, Wodin, Skull, Bones
pass the joint
the way they used to for the Rolling Stones the lightning based struggle of good and evil expressed by Moslem militants
as a call to arms
straight from the middle ages
Genghis Khan rules
Europe and China
two sides of the one continent dancing partners
to The Tennessee Waltz
the beeaautiful Tennessee Waltz
an old married couple
turning together in bed
the Americans leap out from under too late to stop penetration
but just in time to grab their attention
opening another packet of old French cheese crackers, wine that doesn't travel,
pasta
past its use by date
the dumping grounds of Europe matched by crap dumped in return
eighty percent of what you see is fake
Under cover of dark
the Sun Pisces and its rusty cousin
the Jim Mei
slink out to sea
for gambling outside the territorial limits
to creep back in the morning
escorted by tugs
a fine example of government and enterprise working together
ahoy!
ah hoi
hoi=sea
work it out for yourself the tip of the iceberg
Aphrodite step
out of the Prince's Building
in a gust of watermelon sea salt air
crosses the tram tracks
rides a rattler down to Whitty Street her patented electric control engineered in Glasgow
is real
the Scots have a fine history in Hong Kong Jardine
Matheson
Germans too
leaving Lutheran churches
now preferring Kowloon side to Victoria Island
Kowloon the nine dragons 九龍
being quarried away to fill in the harbour
along with the ten olympic pools of raw sewerage
daily dumped
not to mention the industrial waste
towed up the harbour to be dropped at sea just across the territorial limit they eat the fish
ignoring cholera
water from the typhoon shelter that the boat people
shit in was pumped into the restaurant fish tanks
people live in cages
there's no social security
its a free economy you see
voted to be one of the freeest
by the usual conglomeration of interests
hooked to the US dollar
like an iron lung
walking round the hill south of Belchers the particular smell of the earth
signals the snake zone
where zombies walk
hypnotised
until they pass out the other side
Julie once grabbed a cobra
by the back of the head
in a snake shop in Sai Ying Pun and held it up for the locals who were gobsmacked
as was the snake
the crucial element of surprise
now is the moment
for China to move
to the middle
invade that yearning space
in the totality of love
fulfilling the promise of communism
just like Jesus said
for'tis better far
to rule by love than fear
and eliminating human rights abuses is a win-win situation
removing any excuse for capitalist depradations such as
oh we do it for freedom
and making it possible for the rest of the world to say yo China instead of what a shame they shoot people like that
下民易虐，上天難欺
it is easy to oppress the people below but difficult to deceive God above
不教而殺謂之虐
not to teach and yet to punish with death is held to be tyranny
ayapin de mi e'ho
old Greek for “if I have not love” mei yo ai Chinese for “have not love” mie'ho>
愛
love is patient
love is kind
real
scientific
strong like a tree
a mighty man
love is an aeroplane
zooming
neither executed in Texas
nor shot in Shanghai
love is an aeroplane
zooming
real
scientific
a tree
strong
a mighty man
The South China Morning Post shows
13 drunken pirates sing Ricky Martin's The Cup of Life before being shot in the head and heart
minutes after their appeal was refused
photos show them being loaded laughing and smoking onto the tray of a truck
their body parts heading for American labs to fund the purchase of arms
In Notre Dame a priest raises a very large Bible on high and prays God to forgive the sins of the world
Europe moves together
in a Mexican wave of incense and light
the Pope in white
prostrated on cold stone in the pre-dawn shadows prays for the world
as we must all pray for the world
dinkum
ketchup
gogo
yankee
buck
the northern dollar baak
a hundred cents boy
fun
joke
ham luk fuk suk
so although we may never know
why Tin Hau, empress of heaven and sea guardian of the boat people
sailed to Athens
in Jason's ship the Ah Guo
with her black haired Hellenic hoi yan sea people to become Athena
or took her sky gods to Crete
just either side of the Flood
apart from the tax angles
we expect it was for trade and glory
for gold and jade
lapis lazuli
for pearls
whales teeth and turtle shell.
for land
for freedom
to preserve the Way of the one God
Shang Di in a new land
the way the Word has always been preserved by timely transfer from one civilisation to another
as Alexander was drawn to Bactria
married that Bactrian broad
Retsina
verbs
and all desires
of grammar
syntax
springing
from the heart
as seen
in hieroglyphics
the basic flow of which
is still with us
to tell the story
of things seen and heard
how we travelled
who we met and saw
big events of the day
prayers and longings
good and the other
rivers, skies
trees, birds
man, woman
child man
woman child
building
re-building
following
the invisible stream
of the way of God
unbroken, strong
gentle, fragile
joyful, free
bound for glory
a golden cup of precious wine
carried for the King
a hundred lighters
perform the ten thousand angles plumb-bob lines calculate
the popular mechanics of the sea trade such that pi is the constant
figure this
I'm at the Journalist's Club in Surrey Hills
with Louise Andree and Michael
its 1983
Nick Cave walks through the bar in a white shirt and waistcoat hair slicked back
Brylcreem or California Poppy
a schooner and a Camel
the band plays a rip roaring
Serve Me Right to Suffer
a song known to me from Johnny Winter days
its the first time I've seen Nick Cave
the Birthday Party has just broken up
Tracey Pew is there on bass
Nick comes on like a southern preacher
walking down Chalmers Street
I bet his next record will be an Elvis number
Andree and Michael are the Birthday Party freaks
Release the Bats Deep in the Woods
say they don't think so
it seemed it were a dumb thing to say
but lo and behold
out come In the Ghetto
b/w The Moon is in the Gutter
kind of spooky I thought
was he walking down the street behind us
well who knows
but it just goes to show
no one who heard In the Ghetto
on the radio in 1969
can ever forget
as the snow flies
on a cold and grey Chicago morn in a Burwood kitchen
on a Caringbah lawn and the sprinkler turns
water into East Circular Quay Chardonnay so we had a bit of chardonnay
and looked at East Circular Quay
and we thought
this is really good chardonnay let's build it
so we did
created a riot
took a taxi back to Paddo
and rose above it
spiralling slowly over Bondi
north towards Watson's Bay checking out the action
there's always more than you expect but never as much as you want
and though my bi-plane may look quaint to the Concorde you believe in
still the rush and swoop were there
the wing and the prayer
and God like the father mother seagull showed us the best place for hot chips
blocks of time
propelled by marine oil iron islands carried home by oceans and ports
nine dragons ride
the turning tide
on Hong Kong
III
In Sydney's western suburbs there's a place called Ashfield with a red brick palace
by the railway tracks
on the Hume Highway
the Western Suburbs Leagues Club and on the red brick wall
is a giant black and white magpie the team emblem
a sign of happiness
bringing many black haired people from Hong Kong to Ashfield.
On Sunday mornings in Ashfield Park they worship and sing
under old pine trees
full of magpies
who love the Chinese sounds
and often in Hong Kong when I hear the sounds
I think of those magpies warbling
wondering
is Chinese the preferred language of birds?
and if so
in view of John Webb's 1669 essay
proposing Chinese as the original tongue
and the human propensity to reproduce
images
of light and sound
and supporting the founding of language by Fu Hsi as an ancient mimick thing
is this a missing link scenario?
Woronora cemetery with a cup of tea and a lamington sitting with Dad under a gumtree
talking to him arranging flowers the magpies land not far off
sandstone headstone
in the shade of a gum tree
all the years and days
we got the news in Hong Kong there's the bench I sat on
with Julie outside Prince's Building flying back to Sydney
departure will not be announced
Southern Cross hanging high over the Gulf of Carpentaria like diamond gates
to steer between
the northern river beds searching for rain
like blue veins
for life
went from the airport to the morgue 63 is young
a beautiful boy
but his mother whom he adored died at the same age
so what can you do
as the second day turned into the third
to accompany his spirit on its journey
I walked up and down the verandah all night
reciting the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm
until the first light moved on the water
a slight breeze came up, rocking the boats gently on their moorings purple clouds gathered out to sea
suddenly burst by the sun in glory
its rays touching all horizons
proclaiming hallelujah, he is risen
as the first birds called around the bay
then I slept
knowing all was well
for Christ came back from the grave to tell us there is a life everlasting that cannot die
the three day souls gather
all aboard
safe in the captain's hands
ferry to the other side
a bouquet of precious flowers handed up just before the dawn in that slightly chilly moment when on Anzac Day
they play the Last Post
we give thanks for the life
we mourn the passing
and we celebrate the resurrection and the life eternal
where we'll meet again
face to face
somewhere in the soul system
Dad was born on 14 January 1931
in Auntie Else’s and Uncle Reg’s backyard cottage
his father was Sealy
his mother Alice
the third child
older sisters Nance and Peg
younger sister Jan he later called Audrey
after Audrey Hepburn
he was the boy of the family
they lived in Jeffrey Street Canterbury
which angles off Canterbury Road
round the race track
he and his mates used to run
down to the river
the Cooks River you could swim in it in those days
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the boys were here today
there's a hand
and another
when he was about twelve or so they moved to Fairfield
when it was still a market garden suburb
they had a chook yard
we used to collect the eggs
a shed with chaff bins
dustysmell the hessian bags
we worked for Mrs Dunn
who owned the corner shop delivered groceries on a pushbike Thurs and Sat morning for ten shillings a week and a block of chocolate gave the ten shillings to Nanna shared the chocolate
went to Fairfield Primary
loved running home bare foot through the bush sliding in the mud
studied French
du pain
du lait
du beurre
early every morning
had to be at the baker’s
bread was delivered by horse and cart
he wheelbarrowed the horse manure home for Grandfather
his parents bought him a flute
a wooden B flat flute
which we still have here today from Fairfield days
he could made it sing
Mugsy Spanier his Big Band Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats
the liquorice stick
could have gone to the Con
but went to Tech
studied surveying
worked for the railways
he travelled all over New South Wales
surveying properties for the railways
became a valuer
he met many people from all walks of life
he remembered them all
one of nature's gentlemen
he was a Christian Scientist
and had a great group of friends through the Christian Science church they danced and sang
that's how he met Mum
a Maroubra girl
of French Street Maroubra
trams from Taylor Square
a long way from Fairfield
necessitating staying over
Dad's family had a mascara Ford Prefect
runningboards, heavy steering
there's a great photo of Dad dressed as Charlie Chaplin
cross eyed, moustache, bowler hat
Mum as the Palacco shirt man
the car broke down in George Street
he had to push it
Mac Sennatt style
they had a good gang of friends
rode push bikes for miles
through the National Park
Ian, Les
Christmas Eve parties, New Years Eve
singalongs
Dad on the piano
T-chest bass
swapping with Geoff
Ian on the mouth organ
or Jack
the girls singing
Norma, Jill, Joy
Nell, Max and Mum you are my sunshine my only sunshine
you make me happy when skies are grey harmonies, thirds
the other night dear while you were sleeping a natural
projecting the harmony around
Auld Lang Syne
Barefoot Days
smoke Gets In Your Eyes
pumping out from our fibro home
it only occurred to me a few days ago you must've been able to hear us for miles
Mum and Dad danced beautifully two children of God
smooth movers
fancy ankle work
Jesus walked by Galilee Jesus died for you and me Jesus rose to set us free so be free
through the bush is Sutherland Oval
where blonde Les Johns, Johnny Rhodes the greyhound Johnny Greaves, George Taylforth the Welsh detective and Kevin Ryan turning out for Canterbury
defeated Cronulla-Sutherland
on an autumn afternoon
sky blue chill
lengthening shadows
lime sideline
spitting vaseline
dencorub headbands
thud and crunch
quick hands
they can't run without legs
blood streaming
tomato sauce
Big Ben pies
cover cover
watch the ball
up and under
set move
penalty
calls for sand
balances
angles the pill
before the days of round the corner kicking loll-eee leggs!
straight between the posts
car horns blow
gathered round
Pacer
Charger
Monaro
straight between the posts
life comes again Mary independently of man greater than the grave life is forever
as Daniel in the lion's den was untouched
and in the flames
so the soul
is safe
and life goes on
leaving
this life
still
but happening
coming again
in annunciation
in the dreamtime
in the afterglow
not necessarily in the passion sucked into the centre
shot out like a rocket into space
its only two hundred yards
to my friend Pickle
buried beside his Dad Kevin and over on the Catholic lawn Julie's mate Forbes
where she will place a rose
from time to time
a Miranda poet
who the last time I went up to say hello arranged to have a small yellow earth mover perched across his grave
rocking back on rubber wheels to the east grader tip delicately poised to the west with a dealership sticker that said
KEEP IT GENUINE
Port Hacking has many bays
the olive green and ghostly gums
turn the water a deep turquoise
lapping dreamtime sandstone boulders
from Lilli Pilli you can watch
the sun sink in a marblecake jaffa orange blaze
up North West Arm
over the National Park
beginning time
as Helios gives us the arse
the tide runs strong through the channel
sand silts up quick on Maianbar
sweeping round to Bundeena
out to sea
you can walk from Gunnamatta Bay
past the big white house where the guy who mined away the Kurnell sandhills lives on the profits that's what I call a crime
past Jack Gibson's place
past Bass and Flinders Point
where you watch from up high the Pacific
swell into the river's mouth
surf bending round rock platforms
the way the universe bends around a body
board riders quietly carving
Sandshoes
Oak Park
Shelley Beach
South Cronulla
The Point
every bay has her own perfume take big draughts
fill your lungs
we didn't have many Chinese families in the Shire when I went to Lilli Pilli primary
the Goon Pans ran the grocery store
at the top of Wentworth Avenue
Narelle Goon Pan was in my class
I wonder how she's going
I always expect to bump into her up the Fair
deep down the Shire hasn't changed that much since then gum trees planted in the fifties
when our families all settled out there
are now an olive ocean that sways gloriously in the breeze like seaweed in the tide
in November the jacarandahs still put on a show
beetles and blue tongue lizards on sunny verandahs
bushfires blaze for days
Bundeena cut off
snakes and wombats head for Waterfall fire jumps the highway
and will it jump the river?
purple haze and orange nights
charred remains
of a good burning back
it all grows again
Aboriginal carvings
fish totem
blackfish in the weed
imaging the land
goanna on the fly screen door
six feet high
David Tranter got it in a hessian bag wallaby dusk
earth's pounding heart
a rain grey sea
rolls down the glass
a gray and white tramp the Shao Yan
propellors kick back full astern blue cotton priests
attend the rites
of ropes and bamboo
lowering the wooden gangway back to earth
Mind your Head
Do Not Spit
by deep green waters slipper junks bob
its another superb day on Hong Kong
US Coastguard 726
sleek and trim o'line
a champagne lady
a shark in a white skivvy
turning on a turning tide
where the real destroyers used to ride marines built like brick shithouses frigate 966
bristles with towers, radars white globes of nuclear power thinline cannons prick the sky
a cactus and a frill neck lizard
pissed off but ignored by the boat people rocking in marine ply
green and blue canvas cover
a row of old Goodyears bumping
her armour plated hull
a Shell tug green and gold
flathead spike
circles towards the gigantic
fish lips of the Convention Centre
its gray wings a soaring
stingray
lighters cluster like beetles humping a dozen derricks working
orange green and red winches erect lobsters in a tank
floating crane with live-in two storey cottage grandma reads paper
kettle boils
in life boat pot plants
under verandah hang
white colour window frames washing on line
Tam Kung on table up
shrine with oranges in hundred year old eggs discussing dried sea horse radix root combination lowering a container of pesto from the Cittavecchia
meanwhile at the Kowloon Cricket Club leather on willow
cracks through the bar
a blur of white across green turf
but the ball beats him to the boundary drinks are called
in a minibus
16 black heads sway
to We're All Going On a Summer Holiday
characters stream like Kagemusha soldiers carved in time
acted out around
by reflective hearts
every stroke a clear direction
startled, virtuous, seductive, affronted as appropriate
women's wiles
first to touch
then retreat
make the man come
contact seals the spell
a single hair will hold him
voodoo style
across the world
two hearts one breath
concubine expectation
springs on the wind
a clearly defined sequence
a very bitchy scene
fleshing out chapters
from the creation of the gods
red beams burst the heavens
magic rings
thousand mile jade
sex is not a problem
hungry glances
follow the Hang Seng
morals closely tracking
free exchange
we Cantonese have a saying
seize the day
who is he?
what has he ever done? who has ever heard of him?
youths charged with conducting a Lion Dance without a permit at Yau Ma Tei
on the festival of the Hungry Ghosts
triad connections
sentenced to two years the dragon banknotes burn in hell
Yen Lo
Ruler of the Underworld
cuts a deal
with hell's bankers
the sentence is reduced on appeal to a good behaviour bond
in Sai Ying Pun there are rats fed on seafood
that dries in the sun
that shines on the gutters
of Des Voeux Road West
where chickens in bamboo baskets ride on bicycles
through pungent air
pedalled gracefully
along tram tracks
by man in white singlet
old ladies pushing trolleys
get right of way
over screaming minibuses
driven with foot to floorboards
and a lot of face
practising for the Macau Formula 3 singing bird
swinging cage
Spring on Wei River
Buddha on the dashboard
generally denying that this is anything but a peaceful village
where everyone agrees
the old ways are the best
Pung! is the cry
when mah jong clittering ivory tiles make a city
break it down
win some money
if you're lucky
a Silver Cloud
parked outside
a restaurant in Water Street
shines
the sleeping driver dreams
while all inside drink bo lai cha
eat quick sliced fish
camphor smoked duck
bac choi
spring bursts
97% humidity
legs like logs
the night turned cold and windy as predicted by the Tong Sing water dragons in town
call a quick conference
tree gods
star gods
the ten celestial stems
and twelve earthly branches consulted all decree
burn more gold paper
Ching Ming
clear and bright
they sweep the graves
the ancestors smile
Easter follows next week
moving round the moon
Tin Hau festival falls this year on Easter Monday at Sai Kung the sea people give thanks
to the Goddess of the Sea
Queen of Heaven
fair skies and good fishing
crowds have been climbing
for days to get in early
prayers rise with incense
on the way out
bang the drum and ring the bell
Aberdeen typhoon shelter is chockablock jostling gunnels rafted together
booms, nets
lanterns, crackers
cha siu, ha mei
Tin Hau presides over proceedings
clearly pleased
later there'll be mah jong
Tsingtao and Blue Girl
a lucky day
a wedding at Town Hall
fifteen minutes each
Bing and Total
must pay a hundred dollars
the Four Seas bless the virtuous and prosperous day ten thousand homes congratulate
a herd of water buffalo on Lantau heads down the beach at sunset walk in the sea
follow the leader
swim along together the farming calendar cycles
the sun shines on sheets
which I pass my hand across looking hard at the white cotton clouds shift the light to fragile faraway silk road caravans wash off the dust in Rome
slake their thirst with wine
from Liguria
as time sails slowly by
green for starboard
one for the mast
one for the sky
life is a song Nehemiah
see the sun on the water
you can watch the boats go by
and the women curve magnificently
as we wander through this light show
of days and jewelled nights
blue mountains rise in the mist
trailing gossamer
waterfalls bush flowers that cannot be named dream of sex
saying
we have removed the veil
of sleep and seen
inside the fragile clockwork of the heavens rewinding every scene
the soul camera ascends
pilgrim walk
the ancient ways
we live and breathe
in one time
one breath
that was and ever will be back to the father mother
grandfathers grandmothers Maroubra surf
morse code
Signals Division Mesopotamia
World War One
With Horse and Morse
the batte of Kut
going away a Jew
coming back a Christian Scientist training the boys for World War Two round the billiard table at French Street buffalo grass
tennis court
trap doors
Masonic Lodge
grandma remembering the night
they turned electric lights on in Sydney struck by a lightning ball
bowled bodyline down the hall
army band tunes drift from the rifle range at Malabar
boys with motor bikes
the day they came back from war
the crowds in Martin Place
joy exploded
in kisses
pink and blue balloons
the trams were free
those that didn't come back
those that were prisoners of war
Pop sleeping under the water pipes
in the sun at Prospect Reservoir
and putting a man on the moon
why do they want to do that?
Jesus
David
Abraham
Adam
Eve
keep going
no names
in time
just time
one time lifetruthlovesoulspiritmindprinciple
gene code sequences found
to move on four
rhythmin'
rhymin'
sparkling
bow wave tumbling flowering overpowering dreaming
no illusions photoshop machine spitting images captured in a flash next world projects seen in this world social systems judges
registrars officials
temple smoke glory as a cloud hovering
Moses Bushfire
steps out of the Sinai Hotel
into Nathan Road
here where the water spins backwards sunlight on bamboo
scaffolding
twenty stories high
remembering midnight
menilmontant accordion
sidewalk cafe
bamboo moon
silver spoon
light redistributed into oblongs windows
desk lamps
pagodas
octagonal
Rain Lover in the Cup
Paganini
Gil Shaham
fleshing out
relationships
connections
and reaching madness said Lord I can no more you'll have to carry me and he did
and you realise
he's been carrying you all along and they rise again singing busted flat in Baton Rouge waiting for a train
and man is phototropic
his story tells
the knowledge of light
speed
acceleration
every star struck moment precious
as Noah lived for a hundred and thirty years then had some kids
then lived for another nine hundred years or so as time gets faster
life gets shorter
but communication is a constant
the faster the line
the greater the spin
so the message gets through at the same rate to find in the end
the answer is
love
and God lights the way
preferring the world of chords and changes to be in
Oscar Peterson's world
and his trio
that world
bouncing off the stars
a number three typhoon bares her shoulder
in February
tugs at the moorings the Evening Star
sliding lifebuoys by
brass instruments shining
through the captain's window
on the lower deck
leaving her green and white scarf behind she bears away
into peak hour
bound for Tsim Sha Tsui
a thousand miles of time
skirting amber constellations
red neon galaxies
SANYO BOSCH TDK! life jackets
the purple harbour's hue rocking with dusky cargo strange gustings
swirls, whisperings ni chih dao ma?
你知道嗎? wo chihdao
我知道
ni chihdao shemma?你知道什麼?
awaking to darkness a ghost ship hovers outside my window as if to say soon soon it will be time moving away
like Nineveh adrift
Castile and Florence of the Medicis floodlit tugs and lighters
rock slowly by
an Easter procession
of bright Orion, Alpha Centauri Hydra rescuing Cyclops
with a chin tow
saying its alright
everything's alright
as time goes slowly by
green for starboard
one for the master
one for the sky
Easter Sunday rains
light down through the gray
oil coloured hulls
MAERSK, HANJIN, Nedlloyd
red umbrella, black umbrella
an orange shirt
drops roll down the window ships east, west angels ascending and descending
life coming, life going
Van Morrison singing Astral Weeks
adds an extra dimension
to the ferry cutting through the morning air the way that light is both particular and vague digital and analogue
quantum and wavelength
and we're all on board
and we're all blessed
and washed in this shining ocean
arcing across the scene
like a ballerina with a sparkler
so draw near and have no fear for love is all and faith is here
the rain lifts
on the pearl of the Orient
silver washed and new
the Peak and Bank of ChinaBuilding
lost in mist
first lights appear
the piano player in the Regent
reflects
as he fastens his Kammerbund
the tug boat Profit
shepherds a Bachy Soletanche rig called Sophie west
as the Twinkling Star
turns on her old gold lights
plying east
on Hong Kong