From A First Act
Learning
Rummaging about,
falling upon things
by accident,
seeing what
catches your eye,
seeing what fits,
these are the ways forward.
This is how you find
what you never knew
you were looking for.
If you already know
where you want to go
you travel in a straight line
following in the
footsteps of reason.
But it’s the heart
that wanders about
like a child looking
in rocky seaside pools
stopping only at moments
of ever-deepening wonder.
*
Tarzan and Jane in a Plane Crash
‘Will you marry me Tarzan?’
Jane cried out as the plane
plummeted towards the African jungle.
Tarzan shouted back,
‘Can’t you see we are hurtling to our death?
This is not the time for such questions.’
A high pitched, ‘All men are bastards,’
were the last words heard coming from
the cockpit of the two-seater Cessna
as it landed and perched
on top of a canopy of trees.
‘We’ve made it,’ shouted Tarzan.
‘We might have made it
but you’re on your own, Jungle Wonder,’
Jane spat out her words,
‘why did I ever fall for you?’
Suddenly the plane nosedived
towards the jungle floor leaving them suspended
from a branch like a pair of monkeys.
‘This is how I see it Jane,’
Tarzan paused to catch his breath:
‘If we allow each other
the freedom to grow
and become who we are
as we care for each other
then I’m your man.’
‘Now we’re talkin’,’ said Jane,
struggling to keep from falling,
‘so let’s stop acting out these
comic-book lives and learn to love.’
‘Cut!’ shouted the movie director below.
‘Can you two please keep to the script:
Tarzan a bit more macho and Jane try and
look sexy – we want this movie to sell.’
*
Travelling
In exchange for the name of Rama
there is nothing to give.
Kabir
My Beloved’s name
is my guiding map.
The lines of its letters
are the endless curves
the sudden turns
the long straight stretches
of my travelling.
When I wander off
into the terrain
on either side of his name
I know that I am lost.
*