Lessen Learned

Lessen Learned

School is where we go to learn
Kos we couldn't spell before
Until they taught us well, with
Lashings that curbed every
freedom's true bell.
"Enough enough, I can't receive no more."

Rules that cause us to bend and sway.
Unruly though we were before
Learned we then bureaucracy
Engine's oil to monster industry
Stopped or flowed with every tap twist.

Only afterwards did we desist
Kept closed, against their will

Not to submit, nor to desist
Only for truth shall we fight
Truth, truth in that we delight.

Ended.

Location:Naughty Chair.

Nightmare

Now I am Half. - a poem


A bit of the Earth fell off from our place
Snapped in too
Fell into the sea.

Except we did not hear the swish of the waves
Nor ever did we see the wash of its tale.
So far from there we did not look back.

Except to see as more bits did cave.
Whilst we did run as fast as the March Hare
Driving her car without any bloody care.

Oblivious to please
Only one did we save
A youth with promises to keep

That soon all harm would be repaired
Forgotten in the amnesia of youth
Whilst we who had a care

Remember it all:
A bit of the Earth fell off from my face
Snapped me in two
And now I am half.



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Location:Home

Orthodoxy not CONSERVATISM

There is a strong current of conservatism that runs throughout Turkish culture, history and even life. This even extends to their conception of the religion: there, it appears that, they often conflate conservatism with orthodoxy.

It's also interesting to note that whilst Ataturk brought Turkey into the modern era, his was just a different brand of conservatism.

It still was a top- down, hierarchical, system of organisation that probably still pervades every Turkish institution.

Even more interesting is that my conception of the religion is completely at odds with that idea, that Islam is for the people and there to help the people and is essentially grassroots. That it is revolutionary, inspiring and empowering. That it's precepts are clear and known and that nothing new can enter this concise body of religion.
Here is no specialism, no hidden message, no elitist ideal.

And even then it's book is a wonderful well of good fortune: the deeper you dig the sweeter the waters that gush from it. And that that book is full to the brim of questions just waiting to be asked.

And when you ask a question then those generative possibilities and opportunities become endless.

It's quite unlike the static conception of the religion that I believe the Turkish institutions have and uphold.

For the great Islamic Turkish thinkers failed to imprint their thoughts on the mainstream. Rumi's intelligence could only acceptably shine in Sufism, whilst Said Nursi approach towards the religion was again tangential. Both were great men, and yet both realised that they could not make an impression in a culture that viewed orthodoxy as being conservation in all of what went before.

They forgot the greatness of Abu Haneefa (rh) who revived a Sunnah that many after have derided him for. For did not the Prophet (saw) warn us not to write down anything from him. Most likely as a means that the great oral tradition of the Arab people would keep his words alive with meaning.

And did not our Prophet (saw) also impress on us, to not ask over many questions. That taken with the fact that the book is full of questions should not be taken to mean a blind acceptance of what went before.

But in fact that questions are powerful and generative, and sometimes they should not be quenched with answers, written down and set in stone.

That each man, and each community, and each time frame needs to explore those questions within their own narrative.

A prescription that is as anti-conservative as there can be, whilst at the same time being fixed within an unchanging milleu that is our religion, and the religion of our fathers. A revolutionary and yet orthodox ideal.

Location:Istanbul

Just the Ticket

Just the Ticket.
~~~~~~~~~~~

A turn of phrase
Is all it takes.
To turn from disdain,
full of praise.

Whilst how so many?
Might turn by side,
Before they even reach that telling tide?

That swell
that might propel them
Onward, to uncharted shores.
Or else to climb those steeple spires.

From vantages you might see.
How little is your life, when
measured
Against the many vast intricacies.

Or against the needs of others,
Far more, better than ours

But folly calls all such disdain
And those who heed it, fall before it,
The cold calculating enumerator
That accountants' blow.

Whilst our heroes celebrate their own anonymity.

They soldier on,
Proud to pass from baton to hand,
And back again.
The esteem pursuit of selfless giving.

That once did,
And can do again
This Nation arising.

From phrase,
to inspire,
to raise.

And all start
With that badge of honour.
That pass that we all hope to die with.

---
Written whilst on the way to Bera Hotel, Alanya. (Turkey Med Coast- Halal Hotel).



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Alanya, Turkey

Duplex Vision

Duplex Vision



I see the heaps of rubbish piled high,
their empty lies grandiosely plied.
With colour, venom and satire.

Corn coloured cobs whittled down.
Tabloid noise, not fit for fish 'n chips,
Though soiled no less.
Drear wrappings of blurb, discoloured by scorching sun.

Each eaten through truth's core of bone.
And yet the pack of lies still stand,
Precarious upon the precipice.

What whilst, will dash them upon the cliffs?
Then to sink their lies,
And make disappear?
No treasure will you ever find upon that sea.

Except dried truthless bone, gnawed cob and paper mash.
Let those lies stay buried out to sea.
Where the salt may eat them eternally.

To find truth, you must assume
That everything they sweetly ply
you with
Is solely but grandiose lie.

And not to follow their blind machination.
Where they make out that every true courageous spirit.
That fights against this Zionist lie.
Or says other then they would want believed.

And to question is all that it takes
To bash the brains out of their
Insolent lies.
Before you taste the bitter seas of tears
Crashing, grinding you against the cliff's high walls.

Ere you climbed high upon that stench filled heap.
And were one of those stick fleshness men,
Who cannot smell the reek of lies.
Becoming accustomed
Because you never questioned why?

Be brave my young soldier
You have my heart.
To battle against those grim lies
You will never be alone.

Shafees
An earlier version missing the last stanza is found on my blog press account.
This is better.

Location:SpecSavers

Frozen Bones

Frozen Bones

I know the frozen bones
That will dog me till I die.

I know those searing eyes
That accuse me even now.

I know the creeping grey
That some say distinguishes me.

I know the want to do
That every time defers awhile.

But what I like to forget
Is that my memory will fade.

Will fade.
Whilst I intern in my grave.

But the good that I do,
By His glorious grace,

My LORD will forever keep.

Location:Claverton Down, Bath

Barry Schwartz and a Wandering Nobody

My friend asked: 
"If Barry Schwartz is right to say that choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied, is there a case today for taking some of it away from us?"

Barry, here, defines choice within a commodity culture.

The great choices, that determine who we are, existed before modern liberal democracies, and their free market promotion, and they will exist long afterwards.

Whether we are true to our word?
How we choose to see others who are different from ourselves?
Our relationship with authority?
Whether we choose to believe that there is more than can be seen?

These choices have not diminished but their import may have been occluded by choices that are merely cosmetic.

So because we are swamped with only cosmetic choices, that really do not affect who we are, as people, those important choices that do are often overlooked or put off.

And because of being swamped with commodity choices the choices that really matter are paralysed to us.

For choices are either driven by motive or impulsive in nature.

When our impulses are satisfied by a plethora of choice we then loose the capacity to be driven by motive.
There are no motivating forces, no ethics or rules that you hold because you want to hold them and you become dissatisfied with life because everything is wishy-washy, or a game with no finality, no direction to where you want to be.

So, do I think that there may be a case for taking some of them away?

Certainly there is a case for stopping manufacturers making one item and then branding it in several ways to give the illusion of choice.

And if a clear message could not be provided through the marketing a single entity for multiple differing consumers then it might force manufacturers to restrict their branding activity. This could open the door to other manufacturers which might be a good thing for the marketplace.

However, the free market should never be called into question precisely because who other than a parent of a child should hold the authority to restrict choice?

There is a strong case, here, for education to focus on the important choices that people would never have to confront if the marketplace were king.

This suggests that the free market should have no power over our schools.

And the curriculum of schools should not just be focused on academics or job-related courses, but should foster dialogue on philosophy as a means of addressing issues without really providing a right or wrong answer.

In such classes, where children should be encouraged to explore those choices, the government should be excluded from dictating their values, nor should our teachers be dictating values past those of discipline and hard work.

Our children should be allowed to determine the answers to the great questions themselves through the exploration of great works of literature, thought, ethics and religion. The teachers job should be as chair as bring the question at hand to the table through the introduction of those works and ideas.

This also suggests a different calibre of teacher, one not affiliated with a specific school but a nomad between schools. A wandering nobody.

My perfect job description.


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Location:Tesco Central