Ten new commandments

Posted by Simon Parke, 20 Aug 2019

1) Be present – Behave as if all that matters is now, whatever presents itself. Do not think about the past or future.

2) Observe yourself – We are unique in creation because we have the capacity for self-awareness. Kind self-knowledge makes us fully human.

3) Be nothing – Do not be afraid of emptiness. The empty night sky holds the stars and space holds genius…

Starting my life again

Posted by Simon Parke, 19 Aug 2019

Sometimes we notice we are in chains of some sort.

We suddenly appreciate that despite everything, old ways of thinking or being still hold onto us.

We might feel quiet despair, a sense of having lost our way; more animal than angel…tied tight to anxious time rather than dancing with eternity…

Skinned Alive!

Posted by Simon Parke, 16 Aug 2019

I will show you the skins I have shed

Left in the grass as I have crept away

They are proof that I have lived.

Skin one: docile child…

With every goodbye you learn

Posted by Simon Parke, 13 Aug 2019

After a while you learn the subtle difference

Between holding and chaining a soul

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning

And company doesn’t mean security

And that kisses aren’t contracts…

Casualty

Posted by Simon Parke, 9 Aug 2019

We visit my father in hospital. He is 93.

He fell down the stairs at home. He should use both hand rails on the stairs but had just cleaned a pair of shoes and was carrying them upstairs in one hand…and over-balanced.

He fractured both femurs at the contact point with the hip joints; and also broke his collar bone…