xxxiv. Signs and Wonders - Wood

Wood:

Old English wudu, earlier widu ‘tree, trees collectively, the substance of which trees are made’.

Two Wooden Boats

Two wooden boats

along old lovely lines

lie at an end of the northern paddock,

small humps for the wind.

Somewhere at the end of voyaging

they have drifted through

too many seasons here

to ever get back.

Although the farmer

sometimes jokes about one -

a last long jaunt

on a warm winter afternoon

with a packed lunch, petrol, matches,

and a bottle -

when he knows for sure

he doesn't have another,

winter.

Taking too much water

he would drift to the other side

of the island -

fire

and go down like a Viking.

But knows secretly he'll outlast them,

adding a last complication -

to where they now lie

and crack and split

and roof small rodents from the rain.

In a brief August sun

sparrows play along the rotten keel

and somewhere later showers

will paint the boards with rain

reflecting a thin-deep deceptive shine

that mock the reefs of afternoon

drifting

foundering

in the early easy reaches of the night.

Jeff Guess

Reflection:

Bali wood carving is perhaps the most popular of all other kinds of wood carvings. Artisans and craftsmen are doing the carving from centuries as this is their family business and art. Every kind of item is carved on wood in Bali. Bali is known for its art, beautiful nature of people and their spiritual values. All these are highly visible in the Bali wood carving especially the spirituality. Their love to their God is represented in their every craft.

Reading: The Gospel of Thomas: Verse 77 (non canonical)

I am the light that is above them all. I am the all; the all came forth from me, and the all attained to me. Cleave a (piece of) wood; I am there. Raise up a stone, and you will find me there.

Prayer:

Wooden prayer wheels have always been popular in Tibet with the earliest written record of their use being traced to 400 AD. These wheels are spun clockwise in accordance with the direction of the sun. The words Om Mani Padme Hum are said to contain all the teachings of Buddha and help to transform an impure mind into a pure mind.

©Jeff Guess 2017