Coming together

We all individually live in deeply troublesome and turbulent times. So much goes on past our noses nowadays, that we can't even find a moment to glimpse at what has past us by.

Technology has greatly improved our lives but it moves at such a frantic pace. External information can jepordise smaller communities that have thrived and survived for generations

People have become afraid to venture outside their own front door. They are living in constant fear of being threatened or attacked. This has always gone on, but this is something different about the World we live in today.. It's like we can choose what we want to watch, when and where. There doesn't have to be a direct link to what's going on outside We can merely exercise the option of turning a PC or Television on or off at the push of a button.

Some might not agree with this, but I can't drive, and as a friend pointed out to me recently, when you live in a big city and have a car, you don't usually come into contact with anyone at night. Life operates at a much slower pace, depending upon where you live.

We are forever getting into such a rush to get from A to B, that we don't have time to take any notice of people all around us. It's a fear of behaving in a responsible manner, because we live in a very self indulgent era.

Once upon a time, people had posessed less thing's of a material nature. Community links were stronger, because you had to depend upon another. The economics of today have meant that we can't all afford to stay in the same area all our lives. Yet there is a mass migration continuing to get out of the cities or emigrate abroad. We all want a little piece of the pie, and there just isn't enough to go around.

There are so many issue's today that are making us become more globally aware. The enviroment is always in the news, and doing as much as we can to save the Planet by recycling. People always used to save what they could and put them to good use.. We have taken so much for granted, and now we're left to rediscover the old ways.

The risks and fear of global terrorism by deeply misguided beliefs, has made us all become acutely aware of hidden dangers. Fear is every much a weapon, and tries to make us feel we're isolated and alone.

When terrorists attempted to bomb Glasgow Airport in the UK, I thought they were idiots. For if these misguided indviduals had bothered to read their history about the Scottish people, and their ancient ancestors the Picts. Then they'd have learnt a valuable lesson. The Roman Army had to build a wall to keep the fierce warrior tribes from the North out. Hadrian's Wall was built to make the most powerful army on Earth feel safe.

It just goes to show you, that every nation has a strong identity of self on the a larger scale, but why is it we can't take time out for one another and those all around us.

I heard an interesting term mentioned the other day at a meeting. It was concerning Blind and Deaf people being "sensory impaired" We're all a little of that when it comes to how much information we consume and absorb. Everything that's being thrown at us today, is just sometimes too much to all take it all in. We're being bombarded with images and noise.

If we all just remember what's truly important in our lives, then we still possess the foundations to make a difference. It won't be easy, there will be heartache and pain, but we all have it within us to firmly root out an injustice. It's what we value the most, that'll make a difference.

We're all coming together in ways that we once inconcievable, but we still need one another, and to show that we still care about the things that are truly important. We're human being's, and in recognising that, how we all express our basic humanity.

Getting ready to leave

Where your going
you travel light,
just needing to possess
the right kind of insight.

Time was against it
and you left your shell,
the pain had become hell.

Getting ready to leave
meant we'd be apart,
yet I'll always feel
you in my heart.

You had such a brightness
and that'll continue to
path your way,
I'll see you again
someday.

Life will keep
on turning,
and there are many
more lessons for
learning.

Trying to possess
the dream and the drive,
got to keep pushing forwards
to survive.

But you taught me that
and I'm learning it well,
but whether I make it or not,
time will only tell.

Freedom road

I can't drive,
but Cycling
in Wales
makes me feel alive.

Whether it's through
the Sun, wind
or freezing rain,
cycling is like pouring
my needless worries
down the drain.

Wide open fields
and a range of mountains
in the distance,
all I need to get through it all
is my own dogged persistance.

Climbing up a hill
then free wheeling it
down the otherside,
just sit back and
enjoy the ride.

For me it's living
life by a different code,
and wherever I'm headed
it's freedom road.

Peddling may be tiring
and a road narrow and steep,
but my memories of cycling
Welsh roads
doesn't come cheap.

Coasting through

High upon
a hillside
looking over
an untamed stretch of coast,
is what I like about this
area of country the most.

Blisters on my feet
and skin that has
become sore along the way,
still it's all part of the invigorating
feeling of the day.

Up and down narrow
bits of track,
can be kind of scarey
until you get the knack.

It's a bright and breezy
morning and looking
like your just taking a leisurely stroll,
but after a few hours
all that walking
takes it's toll.

Yet when your walking along
a coastal path
you forget about the road,
taking it all in a
different mode.

Your wandering aimlessly
somewhere off the beaten track,
enthusiastically shouldering
a backpack.

Knowing you have to
pace yourself and can't
do it all in a hurry,
just enjoying the day
so why worry.

At the end feeling tired
so that will do,
all the fun of the day
by coasting through.

Riding down to Hay

What a great day
for riding down
to Hay.

It turned out
to be quite
a stretch
feeling afterwards
like a wretch.

Down the river road
towards Brecon,
had to be another
15 to 20 miles
I reckon.

Cycling up hill's
can be tough,
and this one
was going to be rough.

Eventually meeting
the small suspension
bridge at Boughrood,
improved my mood.

Down the main road
until I take the turning
for Hay on Wye,
a rare book shop haven
for people to buy.

Standing on the edge
of town and walking in
like John Wayne,
many would have thought
the distance insane.

Hay boasts a book festival
that is recognised
Worldwide.

But my cycle
was not yet complete,
my fluids draining away
because of the heat.

Heading back I took
a wrong turn,
but went to on to live
and learn.

5 miles and it seemed
I had recovered my full
head of steam,
but the tiredness at times
felt like a bad dream.

63 miles can be
hard to face,
but with cycling
you do it all
at your own pace.

Penbryn

Walking along
white sands
at Penbryn,
out to sea
you might encounter
a Dolphin.

It's a truly marvellous
stretch of coast,
one of the best that
Ceredigion can boast.

It's even had a
few moment's on
the silver screen,
as a romantic location
for a Bond love scene.

Brightly standing out against
a pale sea view,
heading towards Tresaith
and Aberporth are nearby to.

It's off the main road
by a couple of miles
or more,
until you come to
a beautiful seashore.

Penbryn is
such a peaceful
and tranquil delight,
how the sunset's
captivate the
skies around there
at night.

I've thought of
Penbryn many
times before,
it's out of the way
and so easy to ignore.

To it's memory
I bid it a fond farewell,
an enchanting place
that put me under
it's spell.

Abergwesyn

It was a bright and
sunny day,
towards Abergwesyn
I was headed that way.

I reached that small hamlet
and headed through the pass,
cycling towards the Devil's staircase
was in a different class.

The road was narrow
and utterly steep,
slowly up it
I would creep.

Once over it
there were two different
roads to take,
either to Llandovery
or Tregaron,
but instead I
took a break.

The landscape was
amazingly wild,
but thank goodness
the weather was mild.

The Drovers used to move
their cattle along that narrow
stretch of road,
where small streams
into a river have flowed.

During the Winter
it must be untamed
and bleak,
the snow's lasting
far longer than a week.

So there I was cycling
through Abergwesyn,
so many hills to
make it there,
that they just wouldn't lessen.

But what I saw
stirred my heart
and inspired the mind,
cycling through landscapes
that could otherwise
be hard to find.