Midnight Repast

Your skin on mine,
tastes we offer each other;
morsels plucked from the coals we've kindled into flame.

What I feel leaves me in wonder
as you take my cock in your fingers
and face to face our eyes contain each other...

Having lost our boundaries,
we are the universe,
complete.

Text and photograph Copyright 2008 David H. Roche (click on hyper link to see photograph.)

Shamanic Lover

Her voice charms me saying:
“Enter through
my garden gate.


Inside are lush jungles,
and the creation of
supernovas

where you will disappear…
be annihilated
and reborn whole at dawn."

Text and Photographs Copyright 2008 David H. Roche

What Are You Missing?

Zen Humor

I’ve been thinking so much
I miss a lot.

While I’m thinking about what happened
something else is always happening.

So I tried not thinking
and began to think about that…

Tonight, waking, half asleep
I found this.

It was there,
a delight.

I’ve been up since
writing this damned poem.

Thinking about it.

Text and photographs Copyright 2008 David H. Roche

The Root of Compassion

I remained…
terror stricken
until seeing
‘I’ does not exist
separate from shooting stars,
raindrops, meadows,
rivers, redwoods,
springtime, harvest
the sea or you.

Text, photographs and videos Copyright 2008 David H. Roche Click highlighted links.

For My Children: I Believe

(Click on photographs for detail.)

I choose to die alone;
there’s no need to cry.
I will cry for you.

It won’t be easy,
not with all the memories.
If you remember me,
that is enough.

You have a heaven waiting
while I see galaxies unborn.
I believe they are the same;
I’ll meet you there.



Text and Photographs copyright 2008 David H. Roche

360 Degrees

(Click on photographs for greater detail.)

What I see: The first 180 degrees.




Autumn leaves in the rain:
the melancholy
of summer gone.







The Universe replies: The second 180 degrees.




I’m getting ready
for summer again:
it’s time to settle back.

Text and photographs Copyright 2008 by David H. Roche

Illumination

Sunlight is a means to illumination
on many levels.


(Click on photographs for greater detail.)







The ordinary moment is often
filled with astonishing beauty.









Light!

















Intensity!













And surprises.












Text and photographs Copyright 2008 David H. Roche

Daybreak and Dusk the Geese and the Moon

Daybreak and Dusk the Geese and the Moon

On this hill
it seems to change...
but it doesn’t.
(click on photographs for detail)



There is daybreak and dusk;
transient geese that pass twice a year
with the sound of woodwind flutes overhead.




The moon changes daily;
coming back with a different face
only to eventually return the same.




You are the daybreak and dusk,
you are the geese and the moon.
I am as well.

...........................................

I saw these things today and they moved me.

Text and photographs Copyright 2008 David H. Roche.

My Creed

I'm a believer
but don't ask me any questions;
I don't have any answers you'd be benefited by.
They are my answers and true for me;
they may not suit you.
In fact I'm sure they won't.

If you ask me about God
what can I say about a topic generally agreed to be unknowable?
Certainly I have a vague idea,
but my idea comes from everything I've ever experienced;
and you have not experienced what I have.

Perhaps this makes God a personal God in some ways that are not generally agreed upon by those intent on making iron clad definitions
and caricatures taken from stories in books found in every land and culture.

That God is in every land speaks loudly to me as proof that 'Something' exists beyond the edges of this little world I call myself.

It does not matter if 'It' has multiple arms, blue skin or a white beard.
'It' has appeared in the minds of mankind all over and is essentially the same despite the cultural details ascribed to 'It's' nature.

My Creed...So Far

I believe in God on the basis of intuitive not logical evidence.
I believe there is 'Something' outside the edges of my understanding leading me into the future.
I believe there is 'Something' orchestrating things.
I believe the Universe is a friendly place.
I am not afraid of what happens after the grave;
I believe I am traveling on without end.
I believe a 'one size fits all God' is an oxymoron.

When I am quiet I 'Know' these things;
at those times I feel God is speaking to me.
I listen, but I cannot tell you what I hear.
It is personal, constructed for me alone
from everything that has gone before in my life.

Peace and hope are what I feel at those times.
All I can say is:
"I seem to understand enough for the present."

Text Copyright 2008 David H. Roche. Links attributed to those who left them to be read.

A Question About Circles

A Question About Circles

Autumn sunlight
spackles fallen leaves and seeds together
on wet pine slats.

(click on photos to enlarge.)



Is it the beginning or the end?




Text and Photographs Copyright 2008 David H.Roche

Ten Words

(Click to enlarge photo.)

Ten Words

Life is crossroads.
Sunset and daybreak.
Things that never end.

Text and photograph Copyright 2008 David H. Roche

Humanist Vision

Humanist Vision

When we were young we had rights
and speaking our thoughts
was not a crime.

Even so they shot us down
on the streets
and campuses for speaking.

When we were young
we had horizons in our minds;
but they had boxes designed to keep us busy.

We struggled;
not conforming because
we believed our prophets





who pointed to the horizons.
A few fixed their eyes on the vision
and started off.




(Click to enlarge photo.)












Text Copyright 2008 David H. Roche

Contentment

Contentment

I know where I’m headed;
its through a door called the grave
that opens to starlight.

(Click photograph to enlarge)












Nothing ever ends … it merely changes.
I’m content with that.





Text Copyright 2008 by David H. Roche

Life Lane

(click on photograph for detail)
Life Lane is in a rural location a few miles off of U.S. 30 along the Alston - Mayger road. It's just a few miles past the Lewis and Clark bridge and Rainier Oregon if your heading towards Clatskanie or Astoria.

On a visit I saw the sign and the cemetery across the road. Their juxtaposition was something that I could not help but think about. Death is always rummaging around in the back of my mind. It's become the perennial 'boogie man' that religions use to keep people in line.


Life and death, yin and yang, black and white: these comprise the spectrum of differences that make up everything. You've got to get to know these things before life makes any sense. If you don't you'll look and wonder and perhaps cry. If you do you can smile confidently in a bitter sweet kind of way because life is nice, and the unknown is, well, unknown. So talk to death until you have your answers.


The Teacher

Make friends with death.

Take his hand; invite him to walk with you.

Listen to what he has to say, he's wise.

When you've talked,

say goodbye and go your way;

you'll meet again, and you'll be ready.

Seaside Oregon

The entire North Coast of Oregon is a showcase of natural beauty that is difficult or impossible to equal in the United States. Seaside is a small city that attracts a lot of visitors and during the vacation season it is transformed from a sluggish community of a few thousand local inhabitants to a congested haven for those seeking the chance to get away and have contact with the natural world or to just get away from it all. There are races and volley ball tournaments and many other events that draw people to the area.

Tillamook Head is a dominant feature in the area. It is impossible to miss. The link explains a lot about it.

This is a short video of the beach at Seaside and Tillamook head.
The huge rock formation jutting into the ocean is the result of repeated catastrophic volcanic activity and subsequent lava flows that occurred over many years, beginning, by some estimates as long ago as 16 million years and 300 miles upstream near Idaho. The city and the state have provided a wonderful medium for enjoying these natural features by allowing unlimited access to the beach for recreation.

(Click on photos to enlarge them.)

The major attraction of Seaside is the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding natural features as well as planned events. One of them is the relay race from Mount Hood to the sea at Seaside. It is officially named the "Hood to Coast Relay" A team from 2006 is featured here. This is a race comprising almost 200 miles. It fills the highways and people come and enjoy themselves.

On the beach you'll find many things to delight you...

like this western Sandpiper,

as well as other neat things
the ocean produces.

Seagulls reflecting in the tidal water
give you the opportunity
to see the beauty in the commonplace.

I have no idea what these curious looking birds are named.

None the less I enjoyed them
just the same. Not having a name to label them with did not detract
from my pleasure.

The Pacific is constantly in motion just like the universe it exists in;
it is constantly heaving its contents up on the shore.
I was struck by the beauty of the ordinary, the bits and pieces on the sand.
Nothing stays the same. Everything is becoming something else.




Kelp.

Pieces broken on the shore.

This poor little guy has lost his hands.

Drift wood.

Sand dollars.

Sunlight images.






And there are those who come for the razor clams.


These are a sought after delicacy. If you like fresh off the boat or right out of the ocean sea food, the Oregon North Coast is the place to come. Restaurants will post the time the fish came in that day.
I recommend Doogers There are several locations and each offers a relaxing and satisfying place to eat.

The locals do not generally use the 'clam gun' as it can damage the clams. They use a shovel. But the 'clam guns' are sold in local stores and they do work. You can see a 'clam gun' in use in the photograph below.



This young lady with the University of Oregon sweatshirt holds a small specimen. Someone out further is looking for more.

Then there are those who just come for fun.

Kite flying (video)

Kite flying is a common pastime on the beach. Theres always a breeze and theres always the sound of the surf and water at your feet.

And volley Ball.

The Promenade is a unique feature in Oregon. It stretches almost 2 miles (approximately 8000 feet) along the beach front. It offers on one side the ocean and on the other side the rental properties for visitors. It is charming to say the least.















I stayed for 20 days on 9th Avenue within eyesight and earshot of the ocean and the 'Prom' was a few steps from my door.

This is the 'turn around' at the end of Broadway. The Mount Hood relay finishes up here. The statue is in memory of the Lewis and Clark expedition which ended here at that time, but is continued on in the spirit that sent them on their journey. They are depicted looking west as if to say: "There's more and we want it." That was my thought, anyhow, after seeing how things have worked out since their visit.

But the 'Prom'
is a lot of fun.
I'm sure the ocean will
enchant you
in the same way it
has captured my mind.

And then theres the locals. They enjoy it too.



At the end of the day it's a place to go and empty your mind.


















Enjoy the sunsets.

Think about it all and you might just decide to disappear into the mist (video) and stay there forever.


Text photographs and video Copyright 2008 David H. Roche. External links to things not created by me are the property of those who created them.