Summer Seeking

Prior to Heatwave Cerberus 🙏🥵

Summer seeking
somewhere
over the horizon
under a foreign sun
These neapolitan nights
revealing northern stars
a sight so foreign
to a Down Under traveller
from where the Big Dipper
always points north
so I followed that course
leading me here to gaze
at a stranger moon
bearing scars unfamiliar
on it’s pockmarked face
Now at a loss …
the Southern Cross
even the Milky Way
seem to have somehow
all gone astray?

On the Cinque Terre
on the Costa Brava
a poor Aussie boy
exiled from Australia
unplugged all the way
from Vernazza to Barcelona
A burnt out phone
for reasons unknown
But yet . . .
‘Like A Rolling Stone’
pouring out from a speaker
above the bar
The words as seen
in visions and dreams
even poetry
syncopating synchronicity
along the watchtower
watching over you
watching over me

The seconds
the minutes
this very hour
A word
a seed set free
as in the arms
of a higher power …

“Children of grace
In whom I delight
Lovers of justice
Knowing true mercy
Seekers of the light
I know your needs
I see your deeds
I know the deep desires
Of your beating hearts
Near or far
Since before your birth
I am with you always
To the ends of the Earth

The condition human
lives of quiet desperation
Hope gone
Faith floundering
Watered down love
polluted and abused
Upon the ocean
plastic floating
Boats of rubber
overloaded and capsizing
Across the Mediterranean
life is drowning

At the Louvre
the Moaning Lisa
she is not amused
In a queue
tour groups du jour
all seeking a cure
through visions
of eternal perfection
That dazzling lure
Without the knowing
of the what for
and the wherewithal
for what they endure
Life … in the choosing

And what’s more
visions of beauty pure
Fellow traveller
from a broken nation
on a magical mystery tour
to the bottom of the totem
Don’t be taken in
Don’t go heading for a fall
‘Tis only love that is sure
not the Siren’s call
of a mystical notion
Unearthly beauty
bathing in the presence
Saints and Martyrs
for honour and duty
All heroes true
battling super villains
and monsters
beseeching the heavens

Angels of man’s higher nature
time and tide revealing
The waters disturbing
seeking resolution
Searching for redemption
The giving …
to be living
a slow and steady salvation
Looking beyond creed and colour
and seeing the divine design
in one another

Rambling
from Tuscany
to Catalonia
from Paris
to Barcelona
riding second class
in a very fast train
Yet totally right royal
in a Wi-Fi glass carriage
Walking La Rambla
haunting littered streets
in the refugee rain
to the Café Le Titanic
next to the fish market
by the River Seine

Europa becoming
a beggar’s banquet
upon a cardboard mattress
with newspapers for a blanket
Coins collected
in a cup of plastic
Of their suffering
I know nothing
Their plight
on the road of flight
fleeing their ancestral home
in peril of barrel bombs
Death blowing in the wind
from chemical weapons
Soaked to the heartbroken bone
in the refugee rain
with dictators dictating
Is freedom ever a choice?
The ghosts of vengeful justice
all given full voice
as the present is condemned
by the unforgiving past

I know nothing
of their pain
behind a veil torn by war
Reaching for the light
to where freedom
is a hard won right
Liberté Égalité Fraternité
How could they ever
know the score
to find the open door
whilst held firm
in the shackles
of some Neolithic law?
From desert track
to rainforest ruin
under the shadow
of a crescent moon
Who is calling the shots?
Who is playing the tune?
The West’s
freedom of expression
seen dimly by those who
detest it
yet choose to use it
as a licence
for violent reaction
Is modern history
again to be written
by the blood soaked victors
and antagonists
of divisiveness
and archaic religion?

This world divided
and out of order
Razor wire fences
at the militarized border
From Saint Peter’s Basilica
to Notre Dame Cathedral
camouflaged soldiers on patrol
From Chicago to Aleppo
from Kyiv to Tel Aviv
violence gone viral
with demanding voices
Who is pushing the buttons?
Who is making the choices?

Under layers of graffiti
crumbling into dust
former glories of Empire
coming home to roost
with libraries burning
and riots in the streets
Who counts the cost?
Who’s to clean up the mess?

“Excusez – moi?”
A stash of cash I don’t have
All I can say
without getting sentimental
over tradition and religion
we need a new testamental
complete
with a love resurrection
For God so loved the world
that he sent us the way
We have his word
Be under his sway
The longing within
as if to say …

“Be belonging to Him
For we too can be heroes
Forever … and a day”

~ by David B. Redpath © 2017-2023

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Photography;
David & Linda Redpath © 2017-2023

Pictured Sculpture:
The Rape of a the Sabine woman
~ by Giambologna

117 thoughts on “Summer Seeking”

  1. Oh GOD: David. This one made me sob. As it should all of us. Just SOB. I ask, all the time, where Resurrection is. I mean…TRUE resurrection. Resurrection is in me, in you, in the God in US. But where has He GONE? Love. We need LOVE. For a better world. For a better world.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. ‘Will I ever learn
      that there’ll be no peace,
      that the war won’t cease
      Until He returns ?
      Like a thief in the night,
      he’ll replace wrong with right
      When he returns.’
      ~ Bob Dylan

      In the meantime, BeeZeeGee,
      I guess it’s up to us.

      Liked by 7 people

      Reply

      1. It is, David. Sadly, most don’t realise that the thing for which we seek is in our own hands. We long for it, we say, yet how many are prepared to love enough to bring about the heart’s desire?

        Liked by 2 people

  2. “(good) reason to get excited
    The thief (s)he kindly spoke
    There are many here among us
    Who feel that life is but a joke
    But, uh, but you and I, we’ve been through that
    And this is not our fate
    So (please keep talkin’ truly) now
    The hour’s getting late, hey…”
    So beautiful. Pulled me in, touched my heart, reminded me of core truths. Thank you David. And thank you Linda — I love the photos, too. I have never been to Paris, but it feels like I visited a little bit this morning. Le sigh. “Paris is always a good idea,” so Audrey says. ♥.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. I believe that conversation,
      between the joker and the
      thief, was actually Bob Dylan
      talking to himself, somewhere
      within a guarded facility.
      But don’t tell anyone I said that, Niki.
      It could be a private affair.
      Like Sabrina, the school girl,
      returning from Paris as
      Audrey Hepburn.
      Travel broadens the mind,
      they say. I try to stick to the
      straight and narrow, like a
      loosened arrow.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. Really? I won’t tell but it’s fascinating to think of it. Sabrina is my fave Hepburn I think. I hope to see Paris some day, especially the Louvre ! – but, for now I’m content to do it vicariously. Really cool poem comment. It’s not easy to be spontaneously creative. ♥.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Ha! You read my mind re combustion. It’s so like that sometimes. Too bad I gave up cigs (not) – I’d have the required combo for a creative storm today – coffee, smokes, very little sleep and great conversation! =) ♥.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Oh Dail’s in DC.
        I’d leave the Louvre too
        to find those two.
        Meanwhile…
        1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris, France
        for Femme au balcon and La Buveuse d’absinthe
        and (wow) 88 Monet.
        Yay for Musée d’Orsay.

        Liked by 2 people

  8. Thank you for sharing your trips and thoughts that go with. At the very end, that god has sent us the way, through his words. Well I see it as god threw us away in this Hunger Games roman coliseum style. Really thought provoking, as usual. I imagine you writing this on a train, while travelling.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Planes, trains, and automobiles.
      Thanks for the contemplative
      comments.
      Usually it’s ‘the Man’ who throws people into the
      Colosseum. Never a part
      of the original plan.

      Like

      Reply

  10. David, I come back to your poems again and again. I don’t know how you do it. There is a gem in each line – and your poems are loooooong! They are absolutely amazing. This one draws me back and back. I love that song too. I play it often on my Native American Indian flute. Beautiful

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Like a Rolling Lorraine,
      on Native American flute,
      is now playing in my brain.
      Thank you, BeeZeeGee, for
      coming back to my Highway
      of Bloggery again & again.
      Like your own poetry,
      to write it, you first have to
      live it. Very glad, with you,
      to share it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Oh I LOVE your poetry David. I just HAD to try and find your site again today. For God’s sake don’t ever stop writing!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I absolutely agree with you David. After I went into remission from cancer, there was so little that I could do. I felt useless. I stay in bed most of the day because I have to. So, feeling so useless when I used to be so active, I was crying. I told God how useless I was now. And He told me to WRITE. I had always written. But I had not the courage to put it out there. I did not think my writing was good enough. However, I made up some poetry books and people loved them. So then I got inspired to start a Blog. I had no idea about blogging at all lol. It has paid off. Though I had to be patient. But I was wondering where you had gone to because my mail was not saying you had posted recently. So I looked for your site, feeling quite worried. I thought you might have stopped posting. Please don’t EVER do that. You are unique and I love your work x

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Your story is truly worth
    the sharing. I read all your
    posts but find words often fail me, to comment.
    WordPress recently has been
    ‘unfollowing’ sites. I thought
    it was just me stuffing up,
    or possibly ‘red-flagged’ as
    a trouble maker’, but others have been mentioning the same problem.
    Thank you Lorraine for
    keeping me in your zany,
    flea bitten, loop.

    Like

    Reply

  14. Powerful, clear witness, David. So many have fallen silent for fear, for cowardice, for exhaustion, for simply not having the words. Thanks for yours.

    And thanks for the photos. Paris me manque. Sarah

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you most continentally, Sarah.
      I miss Paris too, but in the Spring, or the Autumn. Sadly, it’s too Parisian busy
      in the Summer.
      Yes, there’s a slow motion global tragedy
      being played out, and nowhere is there
      true peace, safety, and shelter.

      Like

      Reply

      1. In our hearts, in our minds, in our actions, in our words, in our intentions, in our houses, is there true peace and shelter. Expanding outwards in concentric circles from our efforts, our example.

        Which is why I appreciate your work which, look, has reached to so many places including my little abode not far from the Atlantic Ocean on a continent far from you. So many thanks! Sarah

        Liked by 3 people

  16. It’s so wonderful to be seeing the world through your eyes, HEART and SOUL, David and Linda! Thank you so much for sharing the translations your brilliant minds produce concerning this great adventure! Sending the Sweetest of Blessings from my HEART to yours, Betty 💞

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Received upon the ether
      (including social media 😎)
      thank you exceedingly, Betty 🙏
      Linda & I feel already very blessed
      to have the opportunity to travel,
      and attempt to unravel the mystery,
      the wonder, and the trevail,
      of this journey called life.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. The world is increasingly chaotic which you caught with your words and pictures. First one (a collage?) feels like summer in the city. I have been a penniless wanderer in Europe – exciting but also a bit dangerous. Course, that way long before cell phones, etc.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Glad you made it back, JT.
      The best that could happen is
      deciding to stay. Perhaps Greece,
      France, or Italy 🇬🇷 🇫🇷 🇮🇹
      My phone got fried by the Spanish
      current on this particular trip.
      So Linda lost her phone, to a good
      cause, with every art gallery visit 😎
      The top pic was just me trying out the
      things you can do with a Snapseed app.

      Like

      Reply

  18. Excellent photos as always, David.

    And another masterful piece of writing from your hands, David- stones of prose wrapped in a sling of poetry with which to slay the Goliath of intolerance standing high above the worldly plains.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you muchly, Mitch 🙏
      Yes, a cacophone is the perfect
      instrument to set the tone for what’s
      going down. They say that travel
      broadens the mind, but best avoid
      stepping on a land mine … or an
      encounter with a señorita by the
      name of Gabriella 💃🚫😎👍

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  26. a stirring magnum opus, David; love the pop cultural references and the pics; this will reward repeated viewings; it’s a dystopian universe you largely recall yet there are spangles of light —

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you, John 🙏
      Yes, a magnum of French champagne
      imbibed on the banks of the River Seine
      to help the light of sanity shine through
      a cloud of dystopian dysfunction 🥂 and
      to keep one from going continentally 🇪🇺
      insane 😎👍

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  27. Vivid poem and words. It resonated with this Antipodean recently returned from some of those very different European centres. Still processing the journey.Our higher power travels before us and with us, I believe.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Greatly appreciated, Andy 🙏
      As an expat from Down Under
      I stationed myself at Earl’s Court,
      but there was no sign of Bazza
      McKenzie, or his Aussie cohort,
      to be found in old London town?
      Yet throughout my Euro vacation,
      done without much forethought or
      planning, I felt the guiding hand
      of a travel agent superior. So I’m
      no tourist … but a traveller! 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I love that distinction David, it shows of course in your words and of course your blog byline of us all being on a journey somewhere. After recovery from cancer in 2021 , I thought I would accelerate my bucket list by getting to some dream destinations. I was left with not just memories of sights and sounds but an overwhelming sensation of the vastness of our planet and its history , one’s own significance and some real concern for our chaotic directions and future…perspective I suppose…

        Liked by 1 person

      2. You are most fortunate, Andy.
        Many neglect their bucket list,
        lost in a hectic life of busyness
        thinking their time is endless.
        Flying north across the equator
        all the way from Down Under to
        Europe, Asia, and the Americas,
        does tend to give one a unique
        insight and appreciation of the
        cosmic vastness. Almost as
        much as going to the Moon 🌝

        “It is He who spreads out the north
        over emptiness and hangs the earth
        on nothing.”

        ~ Book of Job Amplified

        “Lift up your eyes on high
        and see who has created these
        heavenly bodies, The One who
        brings out their host by number,
        He calls them all by name;
        because of the greatness
        of His might and the strength
        of His power, not one is missing.”

        ~ Isaiah 40:26 Amplified

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Thank you for taking the time to respond further David. The OT verses are certainly apt. Without some spiritual anchor there is great difficulty in making sense of that vastness and the impermanence of all. For instance,I found the Vatican Museum shocking it its scale of colonial acquisition and cultural appropriation but realised that it just never stops , there are just new plunderers. Empires fade and fall , leaving only relics. Individuals too will pass ( I came close!) , leaving only memories. Touching back down in Aotearoa New Zealand, I was grateful to the God of my understanding for the great privilege of life, no matter how fragile. Keep travelling on!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Very much appreciated, Nicole 🙏
      I have been blessed with the
      opportunity to visit some of the
      World’s finest art galleries.
      Sadly, I’ve been to some of World’s
      most impoverished slums.
      It helps to keep things in balance.
      Thanks for your visit and comment.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated, Cindy🙏💖
      Sadly, Linda and I had to undertake
      the grand tour without the company
      of Lord Byron, or Percy Bysshe Shelley.
      A real pity, as Mary Shelley could’ve
      kept my lovely wife company as us
      men folk went off to do something
      stupid, like running with the bulls🏃🐂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Yes, the March of Folly continues
      in an unbroken line from Cain to
      Putin. With only the occasional
      interruption to transmission from
      the program sponsor, “Buy More! …
      It’ll make the dog days seem shorter.”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  34. Found the Titanic on the Map. East of Montmartre. Rue Dejean, near Château-rouge. I don’t think I’ve ever been on that side. My sister used to live Rue Caulaincourt. On the other side…
    And speaking of the Titanic, my search told me there was a “Café Parisien” on board the ship… Hmmm.
    “Moaning Lisa”. Very good. You have a way with words…
    And images. I liked the Black & White garb contrast in Venice. Relations of yours I imagine?
    I avoided Paris this summer. “Had to go” (Had? Poor soul) in September. Hadn’t been back in September for years… Much nicer.
    But, yes, one can see the degradation seeping everywhere.
    There was a book by Douglas Murray I read some time back. “The strange death of Europe.” He might re-issue it under another title? “The never-ending agony of Europe”?
    Be good. Or bad. Whatever takes your fancy.
    I’d also say “take care”, but the American sense is different from the English sense. Don’t know what it means Down under…
    Cheers.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The two colour coordinated ladies are
      a couple of friendly fellow travellers we
      met on the boat to Cinque Terre. Where
      else but on the Amalfi Coast ⛵ 😎 They
      just loved having their photo taken 📸
      Last time Linda and I were in Europe it
      was high summer tourist season, and
      we swore never again. Spring, autumn,
      even winter next time. Sadly, the queue
      at Cathédrale Notre-Dame was so long
      we decided to leave it for the next visit.
      Big mistake 🔥😪🕶️
      Anyway, we’re both looking forward to
      a Parisienne spring (or possibly autumn)
      eating croissants and baguettes on the
      banks of the River Seine. We could catch
      up then, Brian. Take care 😎👍
      (FYI: As an Australian, I’ve found Emojis
      a useful tool for communicating with
      aliens 👽 Especially Americans who just
      don’t get our Aussie humour . . .
      as they misspell it ‘humor’ 🤔🕶️ )

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Very coordinated friends. And a good shot. I wonder how it would go in B&W. (Not BMW!)
        As for “Un printemps à Paris”, don’t do it next year, they´ll be rushing everything for the Olympic games. Remember my dear Frog compatriots are not big on delays or follow-up. (Ask the Aussie Ministry of Defence about submarines… LOL)
        Notre-Dame was supposed to ready for the games, and despite the impressive job of the late General Georgelin, it won’t be finished until end of 2024. That is, if they’re not late on something else… So you’ll have to wait a bit.
        It is a documented fact that Americans can’t write… (No offence to all our American friends). When I went to Graduate school in the US, for the first 3 weeks I couldn’t understand a word. (True, this was south of the Mason-Dixon line). Between the accent and the spelling, I was a bit confused. In an advanced quantitative techniques class, the teacher referred to Z. A very important symbol in math. He said Zee. I said Zed. One my classmates asked out loud: “Why are you saying ‘Zed’?”. Teacher answered: “‘Coz he’s speaking British English. He’ll learn.”
        “Ye be good naw, David. Ye year?”

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes, thanks to our government blowing
        the budget on American “Submacopters”
        us poor Aussies may well end up broke
        and all living in a nuclear submarine ☢️
        on some nocturnal submission! 💥 💦
        Thanks for the cautionary advice 🙏
        We’ll plan our next Euro excursion well
        after the 2024 Olympic Invasion.
        Hopefully Europe hasn’t been overrun,
        and Paris isn’t burning 🔥 🚒 😪🕶️
        But then 🤔🕶️ being a true nature’s
        child, I like things on the wild side ✌️😎

        Liked by 1 person

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