April 20th, 2009 Comments Off
Some people love solitude. They love the thought of living off the beaten track in their own private paradise, away from the foibles and the kids of Mr and Mrs Average.
This is not a slight on average. Average is what most of us are, me included, but still people (like me) dream of it not being so.
Anyway, we stayed in this cabin a few years back. It was way too far off the beaten track even for me, but I enjoyed the stay and I also enjoyed the leaving, and I also enjoyed the early morning espresso coffee we managed to find on long drive home.
January 24th, 2008 Comments Off
The Wikipedia says:
The Twelve Apostles are a collection of natural limestone stacks standing just off shore in the Port Campbell National Park, on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction.
Link
January 16th, 2007 Comments Off
flash fiction by John Holman
His head newly shaven, he walks to the temple with a slow, regal demeanour. Each stride measured, each footfall quiet on the fine gravel path. His hands are soft and warm. His fingers entwined like tender lovers resting in some quiet ritual togetherness.
A misty rain falls. Feather-like droplets touch his ageing face but he is unconcerned with rain. He stops as he sees the temple rooftop appear above the trees — bright terracotta and angular, cutting the grey mist with waves of orange and specks of gold.
He hears the low rhythmic chanting of monks at prayer, a drumbeat and a frog whose call has a sadness that seems to match his own. And in the distance, he hears the faint step of a sandalled monk approach.
March had been cold and April even colder. No snow, just cold wind and a rain that had seeped inside of him, filling his lungs and his heart.
“Welcome home, Master.”
He smiles and bows his head but does not reply, preferring to hold back, to enjoy his silence a moment longer. He waits, listening as the monk’s tread slowly fades.
» Read the rest of this entry «
October 24th, 2006 Comments Off
Eyes might be windows to the mind but I find taking a snapshot of the rear of someone quite insightful. No eyes, no expressions or gestures to get in the way, yet you do get a sense of the scene and a sense of this man.
September 24th, 2006 Comments Off
a quiet walk
a solitary bench –
alone at last
maybe not a Haiku by John Holman
August 9th, 2006 Comments Off
fingers of land
separated by the sea –
alone and still
maybe not a Haiku by John Holman
April 5th, 2006 Comments Off
I could give you no advice but this: to go into yourself
and to explore the depths where your life wells forth.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926) is generally considered the German language’s greatest 20th century poet. His haunting images tend to focus on the problems of Christianity in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety, themes that sometimes place him in the school of modernist poets.
