All Mine!

[habib e najjaar]

Fenced in, floodlights and cameras,

Protecting the perimeters.

Sentries on guard, every yard;

And the years wear their mark,

Upon a notice with the solemn warning:

‘Private Property: No Trespassers!’

Protecting the land from the most dangerous kind:

Those who will appreciate the natural beauty,

And peace of mind.

Concrete monstrosities,

Standing out against the landscape.

Architectured obscenities,

Where artificial fountains gush forth,

From a bubbling brook whose course was changed,

From East to North.

Perfectly manicured lawns, and terracotta tiles,

Where moss grew on rocks,

and daffodils bloomed for miles.

The master of the land -

on holiday after a decade -

gazes out of his window, and smiles.

A piece of heaven, all mine,

for a week.

S. A http://scentedscroll.blogspot.com/2011/09/all-mine.html

[Servidor]

Here it is. Thank you. A wonderful little piece. Perhaps a little lenient. But you seemed to know your subject. You mentioned seeing similar things on the bus. I liked that you added a creative critique of the kinds of buildings they put on them (you should next pen an attack on modern cities generally). The line about their diverting the natural course of a body of water was very good also - though I have never seen it occur. My favourite line is -

Perfectly manicured lawns, and terracotta tiles,

Where moss grew on rocks,

and daffodils bloomed for miles.

Last year I only mowed the presbytery yard once. I like long grass. Australian men seem to be addicted to mowing their lawns. In spring and summer here you can hardly go a day without hearing someone hard at it. Probably why they are so violent in the cities. But I do like terra cotta; I shall just imagine harder still that the rest of the house looks like a true "architectured obscenity" and a concrete (and not terra cotta) monstrosity. You softened on them at the end as well. Most of them never even come to their properties. With the mountain I do not even know what monetary profit accrues from their ownership. Others just have them to breed and keep horses (hundreds and hundreds of horses...) to sell most and to race some (I would happily trespass but for the horses). They hardly come from their city homes in a decade and would hardly stay even a night at all leave aside a week.

So - should have gone at them harder. But a wonderful piece all the same.

Edited September 17, 2011 by Servidor

[TNT]

This a lovely poem.

[habib e najjaar]

So - should have gone at them harder. But a wonderful piece all the same.

Thanks. I decided to go easy on them because perhaps it is human nature to like the fine things in life, and for some, the finer things are the man made replacements of nature's natural beauty. :donno: And yes, terra cotta is pretty :D but it was the only word that came to mind when I was thinking of 'beautiful houses' replacing natural beauty :blush:

I will think about the attack on modern cities one. Again, its something that crosses my mind [ and which I voice pretty often :squeez: ] only never yet in poetry. When do we get to see some of your poetry? :shifty:

This a lovely poem.

Alhamdulillah, Thank you brother! coming from a real poet, that is an honor ^_^

[Servidor]

Thanks. I decided to go easy on them because perhaps it is human nature to like the fine things in life, and for some, the finer things are the man made replacements of nature's natural beauty. :donno: And yes, terra cotta is pretty :D but it was the only word that came to mind when I was thinking of 'beautiful houses' replacing natural beauty :blush:

I will think about the attack on modern cities one. Again, its something that crosses my mind [ and which I voice pretty often :squeez: ] only never yet in poetry.

Still should have gone harder. And yes. I considered that you may have been using "terra cotta tiles" as a smooth turn of phrase and not to disparage the beautiful and decidedly Roman style of pottery. From Latin terra cocta - literally cooked or baked earth.

I look forward to the attack on cities. We have much in common if you frequently raise your voice against modern cities. How I could and do! A world where everything is an advertisement; even the clothes people wear. Where anywhere you look a man has made it or made it like that (gardens and other things he cannot literally manufacture). All artificial. Delusion. The sense - overwhelming and false - of permanence and independence. Five hundred years and it shall not be like that - if there.

And this ideal of "progress" - leave to one side the tension between the sense of permanence and the insistence on progress. Progress. No. Nothing new. We have new buildings, new machines, new weapons, new vehicles, new borders. So did they. And whatever we have that they did not - they had things which we no longer do. We are the same even in this. And the difference is solely in form. Modern man really just took things already well known and made them electrical (central heating, clocks, stoves, ovens and ectera).

There is no progress. No change - exchange. Never "as never before". Always only the same thing done differently. What makes this progress? If I do the same thing six different ways am I going forward? Convenient. Easier. Quicker. Not progress. Not better.

When do we get to see some of your poetry?

Your partner in poetry can already tell you I am not a very good poet. But I did begin writing a poem a few nights ago. I have been considering making it my last post on Shia Chat.

Edited September 19, 2011 by Servidor

[habib e najjaar]

Still should have gone harder. And yes. I considered that you may have been using "terra cotta tiles" as a smooth turn of phrase and not to disparage the beautiful and decidedly Roman style of pottery. From Latin terra cocta - literally cooked or baked earth.

I look forward to the attack on cities. We have much in common if you frequently raise your voice against modern cities. How I could and do! A world where everything is an advertisement; even the clothes people wear. Where anywhere you look a man has made it or made it like that (gardens and other things he cannot literally manufacture). All artificial. Delusion. The sense - overwhelming and false - of permanence and independence. Five hundred years and it shall not be like that - if there.

And this ideal of "progress" - leave to one side the tension between the sense of permanence and the insistence on progress. Progress. No. Nothing new. We have new buildings, new machines, new weapons, new vehicles, new borders. So did they. And whatever we have that they did not - they had things which we no longer do. We are the same even in this. And the difference is solely in form. Modern man really just took things already well known and made them electrical (central heating, clocks, stoves, ovens and ectera).

There is no progress. No change - exchange. Never "as never before". Always only the same thing done differently. What makes this progress? If I do the same thing six different ways am I going forward? Convenient. Easier. Quicker. Not progress. Not better.

Your partner in poetry can already tell you I am not a very good poet. But I did begin writing a poem a few nights ago. I have been considering making it my last post on Shia Chat.

Eh. Another tree hugger ^_^ lol. Will let you know if i get round to doing the anti concrete jungles and pollution piece.

I will keep an eye out for your poem, I am sure it will be interesting.

[Servidor]

Eh. Another tree hugger ^_^ lol.

No. I cut down trees. I cut wood and use it for fuel. I could not survive winter without burning wood.

Initivm necessariae rei vitae hominvm aqva ignis et ferrvm sal lac et panis similaginevs et mel et botrvs vvae et olevm et vestimentvm.

The principal things necessary for the life of men are water, fire, and iron, salt, milk, and bread of flour, and honey, and the cluster of the grape, and oil, and clothing.

Liber Ecclesiasticvs XXXIX XXXI. The book of Ecclesiasticus 39:31.

Ignis. Fire.

I hate modernity. I do not misunderstand or over-estimate the earth. It is the culture of convenience and the crass artificial turn man's ingenuity has taken that I hate. Not the correct use of what the Living God has provided for men that we should use. I read an article only a few hours earlier that puts it very well.

"Ever since the publication of Machiavelli’s Prince in the sixteenth century, modern society has been predicated on a technological war against nature in order to increase man’s dominion and power. Nature was no longer a lady to be wooed (as she had been for the Greeks, Romans, and medieval Christians); she was now to be raped, beaten into submission through evermore impressive technological advances that would render mankind, in Freud’s chilling words, “a prosthetic god.”. . .The environmental movement that began in the 1960s has helped bring to light the wages of ruthlessly exploiting nature, and thus today we have a renewed appreciation for the virtues of responsible stewardship and for the marvels of God’s green but fragile earth. Yet this same movement, which has served in many ways as a healthy reawakening, is peppered with absurdities. Often the same activists who defend endangered tadpoles go on to champion the annihilation of unborn babies. Recently, after liberalizing their abortion laws, Spain’s socialist government introduced legislation to grant chimpanzees legal rights in order “to preserve the species from extinction”—this in a land with no native ape population."

Edited September 19, 2011 by Servidor

[habib e najjaar]

No. I cut down trees. I cut wood and use it for fuel. I could not survive winter without burning wood.

lol. You should try hugging trees sometime, (right before you chop off some deadwood for your fire) and where do you live that you need to chop wood to keep warm? :unsure: Hugging trees is one of those few unexplainably nice feelings you get, like when you stick your nose in a pile of fresh laundry just off the line/dryer, or the sprinkling of rain drops when it just starts to rain, combined with that earthy smell ^_^

anyhow, that was an informative post.

[Mullah_Habib_uDeen]

i hug trees and sometimes random ppl :angel:

nice poetry :)

[Servidor]

I think I shall have to take back all that I said. I met one of the people who owns part of the mountain today. He did come from Sydney - but he and his family live there now (on the North side of it - nine hundred metres above sea level). Well met. Hard working. He reminded me of a friend I have not seen in years; he too is clearly of either Irish or Scottish descent. I did not ask him if he is a Catholic. If he is a heretic or a pagan we shall have to talk.

He also explained why they fence the mountain off. People were coming in and "helping themselves" (his words) to the wild deer. I know we would not like someone we do not know, without our prior permission, firing their rifle on the presbytery property.

Edited November 4, 2011 by Servidor