Month: August 2015

Morning misanthropy…

Originally posted on Sue Vincent's Daily Echo:
“Oooh, you look well!” She beams you a chirpy smile across the yard, halting you in your progress with the heavy load of rubbish for the bin. You force the pained grimace into more acceptable lines, unwilling to scare the nice old lady. Why is it that you only ever hear those words when your hair…

Ben’s Bit, part six – Far Away Places

The air is blazing on the Greek island. There is a faint breeze blowing off the shore, but it does little to cool the afternoon. Sitting comfortably in my beach chair, I wiggle my toes in the sand, digging them deeper and feeling the hot, dry grains give way to the wetter and more compact sublayer of the beach. The tidal shelf extends all … Read More Ben’s Bit, part six – Far Away Places

The Scale of Life

Tree full with leaves etched deeper into cloud With blue beyond that thinly veils like shroud The living globe which hangs in blackest space Lit golden eyed by central Sun with fiery face Cast in the pearls of milky spiral joy That smiling at the dance so far below Bends time and space to kiss the sacred flow Of leaf that masks the eye … Read More The Scale of Life

Nine Deadly Sins with Coffee, part 26 – Outside the Circle

Nine Deadly Sins with Coffee, part 26 – Outside the circle There was a chill wind as I took up my appointed place outside the doorway of our Monday morning cafe. The Summer had been a poor one for the North of England. Now, it looked as though the Autumn was about to arrive prematurely. I pulled my too-thin rain mac around my collar … Read More Nine Deadly Sins with Coffee, part 26 – Outside the Circle

Prospecting for Ben – Confessions of counter-intelligence…

Prospecting for Ben… the interior castle II

Sue, holding all the strings, of course, sheds some light on Ben’s predicament . . . from afar . . .

Names Matter…

Stuart takes us deeply into spiritual riddles . . .

Ben’s Bit, part five – The Reasonable Dr Grey

Ben’s Bit – part five – The Reasonable Dr Grey The man is calm. His dark-rimmed, circular glasses focus the intensity of his study at me, rather than taking in the light that bounces off my prison uniform, whose monotone colour, resembling a modern warship, bears his name. “Do you think it’s normal for a person in your position to refuse bail?” Dr Grey … Read More Ben’s Bit, part five – The Reasonable Dr Grey

Rooted in the Land

Rooted in the Land No raging storm front tears my roots from ridge No howling sky will twist and drag my limbs from land The densest deluge will not wash my will enduring, rooted here to frame and feed this place. But one day the lightning may come . . . And neither rhyme nor reason then resist endurance’s end ©Copyright words and image … Read More Rooted in the Land

One step…

Sue (and the rest of us) recalls one of the most intense and dramatic moments of the Silent Eye’s history . . . was that only a year ago?

Mist over Pendle

A haunting photo of Pendle Hill, in my home county of Lancashire; and some deep thoughts from smackedpendtax about one of the sadder periods in that county’s history . . . and the weakness of the human mind in the face of collective fear.

Nine Deadly Sins with Coffee, part 25 – The Turning Point

I knew it was Alexandra. I could feel her strong presence as she entered the cafe for our Monday morning chat. Even though I could not see it, I could tell, exactly, the moment that she stood still to take in the scene, unmoving by the doorway, gazing across the busy tables, her vision locking on to the spectacle . . . I had worn the best … Read More Nine Deadly Sins with Coffee, part 25 – The Turning Point