Dear Viv
It was good to meet up with you at the Library this morning, and, as promised, I’m sending you this e-mail updating you with the note about the amazing journey that has been mine since I came to live in Fish Hoek in 2006 at the age of 85:
‘When I first came to Fish Hoek at the age of 85 in 2006, you were the first to publish a poem of mine, ‘Fish Hoek, a Habitat for Happiness’ in that year’s ‘edition of ‘Scenic South in Focus’ and a poem, ’Aka Fish Hoek’ the following year. As a consequence of this I fell among a coterie of local poets, became a regular reader at Hugh Hodge’s Off The Wall gigs in Observatory, Kommetjie and Kalk Bay Books, and subsequently self-published with some acclaim three anthologies of poetry, ‘not more of the same’, ‘A Touch of Madness’ and “Out of Dark Spaces’
Now, at the age of 92 I have completed a fourth anthology, ‘The Book of Being’, only to find the Muse still nudging me on so that, when I thought my script was all finished and ready to go, she came up with some fresh ideas that had me juggling with words once more – this time around the thought ‘I Love the Subtlety of Things’, a copy of which is given below.
I have also been toying with the idea of making ‘The Book of Being’ into an illustrated book for the bedside, and am pondering ways of finding a graphic artist or photographer who could provide me with a suitable cover (I’m thinking of an illustration of an old leather-bound book with that gilded title, slightly open with rays of divine Light emanating from its interior) and coloured representations of, say, 10 of its 40 or so poems.
Could you please make this known through your blog?
I Love the Subtlety of Things
For I have learned
since I grew very old
to love the subtlety of things:
things that shrug off
the spurious love of gold
and unfold angel wings.
I love the subtlety of things
my third eye sees:
a heart that beats in tune;
a smile that says, “I know!”
a rain that falls in June
to help make all things grow.
I love the subtlety of things:
that perfect blend of taste
that mellows my desire;
a flavouring of grace;
a trifle that joy brings
to set my heart on fire.
I love the subtlety of things:
the tonal harmony
that everything intones.
The music of the spheres
spills music in my ears,
without, within, below, above,
to orchestrate the one word – Love!
Lewis Watling March 2012