{"id":1104,"date":"2018-04-30T14:20:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T14:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olioweb.me.uk\/wordpress_marcus\/?p=1104"},"modified":"2024-08-19T15:30:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:30:12","slug":"poems-of-the-month-may-2018-saint-marcus-breakfast-time-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/?p=1104","title":{"rendered":"Poems of the Month, May 2018: Saint Marcus, Breakfast Time, Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAINT MARCUS
\n<\/strong>(the one holding the book)<\/p>\n

Stay close to your God
\nand you cannot do anything
\nREALLY stupid.<\/p>\n

In my case this means
\n‘Namo Amida Butsu’
\nsixty thousand times.<\/p>\n

‘As long as you say
\nNembutsu you will be
\nadmired and respected.’
\nMaria makes the muesli.
\nSunshine on the garden wall.<\/p>\n

Your ‘calculating’ mind
\nknocks down more than it builds.
\nLet me <\/em>be your guide.<\/p>\n

I need your help, Amida
\nto get my day started
\non the right foot.<\/p>\n

After ninety days
\nof sleepless worship,
\n<\/span>two hours in bed
\ncan be fun. I recommend
\na room for One.<\/p>\n

Energy is important.
\nThinking steals it.
\nReciting gives it back.<\/p>\n

Veranda at dawn.
\nFirst light in heaven.
\nFrigidaire hums. Nirvana.<\/p>\n

Strong moon of Cancer
\nvisible, pale and lovely,
\nin the April sky.<\/p>\n

If you listen hard
\nyou will hear the universe
\nrecite Nembutsu.<\/p>\n

‘Namo Amida Butsu’
\nthe only answer
\nto Amida’s call.
\nFor Diane<\/em><\/p>\n

Amida organizes
\nmy life on highly
\nfavourable terms.<\/p>\n

It’s partly a question
\nof sitting back and
\nletting Him do his work.<\/p>\n

‘IF I’m an angel
\nas you whispered on the stairs
\nmust I aim to be good?\u2019
\n<\/em>‘I don’t think you understood.
\nYou’re not an angel with wings
\nbut a dawn blackbird who sings.’<\/p>\n

Amida shuffles the cards.
\nEach day he gives me
\na brand new deal.<\/p>\n

Am I the right man
\nin the right place,
\ndoing the right thing,
\nrefraining from unwise
\nactions that hurt myself?<\/p>\n

Nothing can go seriously
\nwrong when rhododendrons
\nare in bloom.<\/p>\n

MARIO SAYS
\n‘God wants me to be
\nhappy, joyous and free’
\non life’s choppy sea.<\/p>\n

STRUCTURE
\n(a beginning)
\n‘What shall I do,<\/em>Amida?’
\n‘Lie down at Maria’s feet.
\nSweep your side of the street.’<\/p>\n

NICE THING
\nabout the Pure Land
\nYou’ll recognize
\nand know the names
\nof everyone
\nyou’ve ever met.<\/p>\n

What has Love taught me?
\nThere’s no peace for the wicked.
\nKevin Barry was no coward.
\nShut up and keep swimming.
\nIt all works out in the end.<\/p>\n

Good karma, bad karma,
\ndoes it really matter
\nnow that we say Nembutsu?<\/p>\n

By the Grace of God
\nI am awake, alive
\nand sober. A new day.<\/p>\n

MARCUS CUMBERLEGE<\/em>
\nBruges Free City Poet<\/em>
\nMy nameday, 25 April ’18.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

BREAKFAST TIME
\n<\/strong>27 April ’18.<\/em><\/p>\n

RIDDLE
\nStop complaining
\nabout your wife
\nwho’s always complaining –
\nit’s your <\/em>fault.<\/p>\n

People who complain
\nabout people who complain
\nare travellers
\non the wrong train.<\/p>\n

ACCEPTANCE
\n(Chinese wisdom)
\nYou cannot change
\nthe direction of the wind,
\nbut you can adjust your sail.<\/p>\n

Eleven years after
\ngetting it from John
\nI’m reading Goethe’s Faust.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah! Now have I
\nbut one Bare hour
\nto live – and then
\nmy Soulmate arrives.
\nI hurry from the shower.<\/p>\n

Marcus, the man
\nwho meditates naked
\non ice floes
\nin the Arctic.<\/p>\n

NEUROTIC
\nFor Pete’s sake go out
\n<\/em>into the garden
\nand say
\n20 nembutsus.<\/p>\n

Poor little spider!
\nI can see you want to
\nclimb into Kuan Yin’s hair.<\/p>\n

When a good <\/em>idea
\ncomes into your head
\nfor once
\ndo it straight away.<\/p>\n

I AM – being helped
\nby countless bodhisattvas
\ndisguised as angels.<\/p>\n

Diane has a pretty
\nhigh vision of me, but
\nfrankly I don’t.<\/p>\n

EL NO-NACIDO
\nI’ll be born in bed
\nwith teddy bears at my head
\nand the Bible being read.<\/p>\n

With a grateful heart
\nI look back at Anabel
\ngiving me advice.<\/p>\n

I get the feeling
\nGod is active in my life,
\na caring presence.<\/p>\n

‘Drop everything
\nand rest in her <\/em>presence
\nuntil you feel better.’<\/p>\n

\n

SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moon of my Marriage
\nQuintile Mars and Pluto
\nFor all my Exes and Crosses<\/p>\n

Trust that God supplies you
\n<\/em>with unlimited good.
\n<\/em>There is grain left in the field
\n<\/em>even after the harvest.
\n<\/em>Linus Mundy,
\nKeep-Life-Simple Therapy<\/p>\n

I need your help, Amida
\nto get my day started
\non the right foot.
\n\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

After ninety days
\nof worship, the fun is done.
\nYou’re ‘hot’ as the Sun,
\nburnt out
\nin the heart’s deep core,
\nin love with the girl next door
\nand the Virgin of the Poor.
\n(Bruges, the Marian City).<\/p>\n

I awake at two,
\nin the year of twist and shout,
\na mass of ‘unresolved doubt’
\nscreaming to be let out.
\nSomehow I get to the John
\nand pull a sweater on.
\nThere’s a Black Cat on the roof.<\/p>\n

Be my Sukria!
\nThe captive Muslim housewife
\nwith a dark soul on fire
\nwith unsatisfied desire
\nwho feeds me when you’re in IRE.<\/p>\n

‘Drink your tea Markitos’
\nsings a sexy Soulmate
\nwith a clavicymbal
\n‘Before it gets too late.’
\nWhere the bloody hell IS it?
\nThat <\/em>was a welcome visit.‘<\/em><\/p>\n

TRABAJO!!!
\nGet up them winding stairs
\nto Pluto’s den and send
\nthree poems to the world of men:
\nmarcus cumberlege is alive,
\nthe Queen of Maria’s hive.<\/p>\n

CLOCK TIME
\n‘Geen wonder dat ik Grumpy ben.
\nI may not C my wife again.
\nNadine’s pills will keep me cool and Zen.
\nTake it with a pinch of FUN.
\nThe Sun will shine by half past ten.’<\/p>\n

for Diana Madrid
\n<\/em>k.i.s.s. Keep it Simple Stupid
\nUranus and Jupiter in harmony
\ndecide to tell the truth at last.
\nAnother nite has nearly passed
\nwithout an alcoholic drink. It
\nmakes you think. Korea on the brink.<\/p>\n

A toilet stop is now required.
\nYou’re fired, dear patient planet Saturn,
\nthe guardian angel at the door.
\nI’m wired, and ready for the show.
\nPuta. A tiny crucifix appears
\namong the dust of ages in the carpet.<\/p>\n

Today I’ll be agreeable. I’ll wash,
\nnot criticize your tendency to criticize.<\/p>\n

All right Markitos, that’s enough.
\nNow go away and do your stuff
\nwith any of your favourite floozies
\nbefore the going gets too rough.<\/p>\n

Liefde is luisteren
\nnaar Zakenvrouw en Zot
\nin Caf\u00e9 en Kot.<\/p>\n

Se ha marchado, dank zij God.
\nElla y yo solos por fin, trabajando
\nen distintas partes: administracion
\ny artes. Todo con calma, Gardel.
\nUn hombre pacifico at last.<\/p>\n

GRACIAS A VOSOTRAS
\nEmotional stability!
\nThirty-five years of constant practice
\nstudying the rudiments of behaviour.
\nAnd then a Guatemalan saviour.<\/p>\n

My Spanish angel rescues me again:
\nAmoldarme de acuerdo
\ncon TUS deseos y las de Luna Blanca,
\npaloma triste que trabaja con pincel.
\nYo Capido, ta Diosa del Amor.
\nI’ll try to be less ‘clever’, pray for Muriel,
\nsay what I truly believe – and leave.<\/p>\n

Giving each other, me and my mother,
\n‘pieces of our minds’
\nwe turn out the lights and draw the blinds.<\/p>\n

You simply cannot imagine
\nthe pleasure it gives me
\nto watch you move through the fair
\nwith your delicate air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAINT MARCUS (the one holding the book) Stay close to your God and you cannot do anything REALLY stupid. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}