The Cold Truth

dead men stare
with open eyes
(O)     (O)
they cannot see
and you
likewise

A.J. Ponder


The cold truth was brought to you by a very young cynic. Grown into an older one.
Again after twenty odd years, thought I'd better actually claim this one - before somebody else does - if they haven't already - can't imagine I'm the only one who thought of it!
Sorry Hells, I do have some cheery poetry, but I'm saving that for the dead of winter :)

And damn - but it's annoying how it keeps loosing the gaps between the eyes. It's a very squinty skull!


Yes, this is a reblog from over two years ago - I can't believe I've been running  "An Affliction" for so long - but there you are. 

So, to business, lots of exciting writing projects are happening right now, I'd better get on with them, but not before wishing you all the best with your endeavours, 

A.J.
 
A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Tuesday Poem: Colour Management

Warning:
the document's embedded colour file does not match
the current RGB working space

There are no words to describe it
binary codes do not do it justice
after all your eyes are only
prisons
for light
and management will always
make the final decision.

Interpreted and
mismatched
and discarded
just as quickly
the cones
have discontinued service
this workspace is now
torn assunder:


 
Alright - quick and dirty -  and yes - my mind has been completely blown away by the latest Photoshop - it wouldn't be so bad - but I really totally and completely cannot get me head around the colour management.  Last minute I was told my old standby the JPG was out - so now...

Help!!!???


And for more wonderful poems at the Tuesday Poem, I believe there is even a poem of pictures by Andrew Bell - so I can't wait to look - I just have to return to the PS hell imagine being able to do so much and not even knowing where to start.




A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W. B. Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, 
Enwrought with golden and silver light, 
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths 
Of night and light and the half-light, 
I would spread the cloths under your feet: 
But I, being poor, have only my dreams; 
I have spread my dreams under your feet; 
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.


 I found this poem by W.B, Yeats recited by Sir Ken Robinson in a TED speech; "Bring on the learning revolution!" (youtube)

It had some great - and one would thing really quite self-evident titbits of wisdom like -


 "A three year old is not half a six year old."  And while one would think that is self evident, sometimes - not so much.


But most enthralling was the way he wove this poem into the end of his narrative about how schools should - and I think they (very) gradually are - becoming places that are less interested in the factory model and more interested in growing individuals.  The problem is as he points out earlier in the speech -

"It's very hard to know what it is you take for granted - and the reason is...that you take it for granted."

In science it's called questioning your assumptions.  So while his speech was about the learning of children - perhaps it is the learning revolution of adults that most urgently needs to take place in this fast paced modern environment.

Anyway that's more than enough philosophising and speechifying when more poetry awaits with wonders and adventure for all those who dare to travel the 'verse. Travelling the Verse portal is just a click away! ;)

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Cul-de-Sac

I am walking

I was walking

I will be walking

past the road to nowhere

down the oft turned lane

where the green grass is speckled with daisies

Time to turn the fresh-faced flowers

into chains

 link to more Richard Ponder art

I am picking flowers                                                         

I was picking flowers

I will be picking flowers

in the lost paths

down in the meadow

where the horses are grazing

Keeping the grass

            short enough 
for ghosts


 A.J. Ponder


Alright - that's not exactly the picture I wanted - or at least not the one I had in mind - but I think it works well enough.  Better possibly.  Let me sleep on it and make up my mind.  In the meantime I hope you enjoyed meandering through this temporary field speckled more with pixels than with daisies, so I would caution you not to try picking them out - or in fact using them for chains, not even to make crowns or bracelets, after all some flowers were always meant to be wild.

To connect to more Fairy Tale poetry I've installed a rabbit hole within this field, so if you find yourself, by chance, becoming curiouser and curiouser - please at least know I gave fair warning.   And enjoy :)

 A.J. Ponder's work is also available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, and good Wellington bookstores