Exquisite thank you David and Meg, I love teh way the stanzas and images hold each other creating thsi beautiful sensual experience of a place I have sadly never been to, so much to explore on this continent
Hi Sally. Thankyou! Substack provides us with the opportunity to combine text and image, and it is definitely giving us new ways to work together. I will pass on your lovely comment to M.
Travelling through time and space and love ... They say space time emerged from wrinkles and irregularities following the Big bang.
Here it is ... This is my question from the philosophy poem... Was love part of that original bundle of differentiation that featured space and time? You went for those as a trio in your intro here. To me, that kind of counts as a poetic proof statement.
That's what I am saying about purpose... Awkwardly. Nature is a spontaneous emergence, but was love part of it?
Beautiful insight here, Jed! I guess my 2c worth of conversation in reply is this : everything I see in genuine nature (as opposed to manicured gardens and such) exudes a subtle love towards all animal species. I was overcome seeing what water had done to sculpt the Grand Canyon; bearing witness to the 5,000yr old trees in Patriarch Grove, White Mtns (Inyo territory, Nevada) …. nature shows us how to love and work in our zone(s).
I see the Fibonacci sequence everywhere - shells, tropical seedlings unfurling, whales and dolphins dancing, breaching water in what looks a LOT like synchronized swimming, haha.
I also think stressed, troubled humans find it very very hard to still their minds and vision and embrace nature before them.
When we feel loved and held by Love - even treasured by love, it frees us all up to soak in vistas and write /sketch them. It’s (again) darkness late late in Australia so this might just be a late night rave, Meggy Kimmel-Meggy Colbert style lol 😂
I am digging this funky Meggy-Kimmel hybrid. I have enjoyed this thread. It's obviously been on my mind. As much as I know that understanding love and nature primarily comes through living it and experiencing it, it is my nature to try to develop a conceptual nest where my mind rest in the subject. A conceptual base to work from. And Dave's poetic entanglement of space, time, and love triggered me, as does your follow-up on how love is embedded in nature's treatment of its own. good dreams to you friend.
Well.... it's a fascinating question. I could say that love is an unintended consequence, because we are one such too, but I do think that the conditions for love are deeply tied into the nature of existence.
Look - I probably have several answers, depending on the day and what I've had to drink - both literally and metaphorically.
Sometime soon - possibly - I will publish a poem here which comes the closest I can to how I feel about this in a general sense. It's a hopeful entry in a national Australian poetry award/competition thing, so I can't publish it anywhere until I receive the rejection letter :)
In the general sense though, love seems to me to be a profound appreciation for the fact and infinite diversity of existence. Since we are ourselves a small part of existence, it is a tiny act of self reflection, self regard and joy on the part of the cosmos itself.
Our limited wiring constrains how we feel it, and the ways in which we can express it, but I don't think "love" is just a weird artefact of our wiring. Watching any living thing - they all seem to have their version of it. The incredible order within the apparent chaos of the physical world hints at another form.
Is there a "love field" outside of ourselves that we are tapping into? Is the entire cosmos capable of joy?
I'm inclined to say yes but - as you say - a poetic proof statement is about the best we can achieve.
Sky painted... White noise saturated... Water coloured... Flipping the perspective and we become the object painted by nature... I know I am randomly spraying graffiti all around you comment section here. But this is the first time in a couple of days that I feel like I have taken a deep enough breath to square up to the piece you have wrought here.
I absorb a bit of it and say what I have to say, but my phone loses the original piece so I have to flash back and forth.
I think it is delightfully twisted when the scene itself becomes a metaphor for the artwork it will become. When you think that way, the mind quivers a bit and you can have a mini zen moment.
Couldn’t agree more Jed! Small mind quiver —> zen moment —> right brain goes into that flow state writers, artists, musicians all in rapture as they (we) lose track of linear time. Sometimes a large-scale work takes me days! Obsessed until I’ll suddenly feel it’s all enough. Satiated.
Hi Jed! It's an incredibly special place.... Rainforest down to the sea, then coral reefs beyond the sand.
The only downside - crocodiles! I have been swimming at Noah Beach in the past, but it's apparently not safe now, and after living near Darwin and travelling around Arnhem Land, I have huge respect for the crocs. Not a nice way to go...
However, there are some safe - and superb - croc free swimming places in creeks just inland.
So happy to hear that brought warmth to your hearts! We had a send-off dinner for my cousin on Monday night who is making her journey back to Austrailia and of course I gifted her a Mary Oliver book for her travels. Hoping to travel to that part of the world someday, love to you both!
Hello David, gorgeous words and artwork by Meg, as always. I loved journeying with you to your special wild place, Noah Beach, and listening to the day unfold and ebb into the night. These places find a way into our bodies and work their magic, I think.
I read your prose poem, a little extra gift, you will laugh but I had to look up the title word Susurration, but now I have some new terminology and ways to think and describe the sounds of coastal places 🙏 Also thank you for the shout out and for thinking of me, all the way down south in Lutruwita / Tasmania.
Thankyou! I will pass on your lovely compliment to Meg. I’m hoping she will do more art soon. I’m enticing her with a photo of one of my favourite trees….
Have you ever noticed - in every patch of bush there always seems to be at least one “special” tree - like a tree elder? A tree which is just…. different - more intensely there. Even in remnant urban bushland.
Maybe it’s just me, but I may try and create a collection of them - photographically - and maybe with Meg sketching each as well, then see what I can write about it.
I’m glad you like the word - it is gorgeous…. And thanks for the restack!
Hi Dave, I love that image of you and Meg, head together over a picture of a ‘grandfather’ tree.
Thats something to think about, the elder tree. My eyes are often drawn to the bigger trees in an area, simply because they take you together sky. But I haven’t thought about them in that way before. Now I have this thought I am keen to go for a walk in the bush behind my home and see what I can find.
My eldest daughter and I are going bushwalking on the weekend so we will report back.
Family are well, school is back in 3 days time, so we are enjoying the last few days of having no where to be.
You know - I started reading thinking it was England ("Land's End"), then I thought it was Australia ("Eucalypts and scrub") - then I realised it's the USA.
Still a lovely poem. Just a reminder to me of how common Eucalypts are in California. I have met Americans there who think the Eucalypt is native to their State!
Hey dear Kate! I think our project will happen.... It will be beautiful. There is a nature reserve in the middle of Woodford Island in the Clarence Valley - where we usually live. I walk and run there often. Most of it has been selectively logged at some point - presumably for hardwoods for local housing and fences, but there are gullies and steep slopes where some of the original trees escaped. I have found a few with large bark scars which are - I'm sure - where the bark sheets were removed by the Yaegl people for canoes or for shelter.
We are currently in Newcastle catching up with family - and I'm visiting urban remnant bushland I used to roam when we lived here, revisiting old trees that knew me then.
Have a wonderful walk at the weekend! Enjoy the last days of school hols. We have been spending time with our Grandchildren - aged 9 and 12. It's a bit like a second chance at being a parent - an enormous privilege...
I'm here in the dark, waiting for Monday to begin. My wife and dog by my side, I have work later today. The world you portray seems impossible. Lots of clouds and wavy beaches, that's awesome enough by itself. Carry on David!
haha yes i probably should be asleep but am just so juiced up on all the goodness in this new space! i agree there are some delightful benefits to these high-tech platforms where you can share something with your global community and not wait eons for a response! there is the drawback of becoming fixated on getting an insta-response — and i have withdrawn from other platforms for that very reason — but I really love the layout here and it feels like the work comes first and the elevation of it is just a wonderful bonus. anywho, thank you for connecting and sparking my inner poetic world!
Oh! Thankyou Jared! You win the fast reader award!!! Shouldn't you be asleep or something? :)
OMG - I was still proof reading and editing...
Seriously though - I am delighted that you like my work. Back when I published in hard copy - literary journals and such - it would be months before anyone saw something I wrote, and weeks again before I received feedback (if any).
I don't love technology, and it is being used to dreadful ends by many, but it can also be used to help create a better future....
Well Dave, you’ve perfectly captured that camping trip. Takes me back to that pristine coast.
Makes me think about you!
But you know I do anyway....
xxx
D :)
Exquisite thank you David and Meg, I love teh way the stanzas and images hold each other creating thsi beautiful sensual experience of a place I have sadly never been to, so much to explore on this continent
Hi Sally. Thankyou! Substack provides us with the opportunity to combine text and image, and it is definitely giving us new ways to work together. I will pass on your lovely comment to M.
Have a beautiful day!
Best Wishes - Dave :)
I have no entry to quantum philosophy
Or reason to comment
On this beautiful combination
Of picture and poem
Only to say
That nature resides in us
And to find nature
We must delve further
Into the Self
As Hegel says
In the Philosophy of Nature
Nature presents nothing to us
Nature is the perfect clarity
Of human communion with
The self
This might even say
Something about Love
Travelling through time and space and love ... They say space time emerged from wrinkles and irregularities following the Big bang.
Here it is ... This is my question from the philosophy poem... Was love part of that original bundle of differentiation that featured space and time? You went for those as a trio in your intro here. To me, that kind of counts as a poetic proof statement.
That's what I am saying about purpose... Awkwardly. Nature is a spontaneous emergence, but was love part of it?
Beautiful insight here, Jed! I guess my 2c worth of conversation in reply is this : everything I see in genuine nature (as opposed to manicured gardens and such) exudes a subtle love towards all animal species. I was overcome seeing what water had done to sculpt the Grand Canyon; bearing witness to the 5,000yr old trees in Patriarch Grove, White Mtns (Inyo territory, Nevada) …. nature shows us how to love and work in our zone(s).
I see the Fibonacci sequence everywhere - shells, tropical seedlings unfurling, whales and dolphins dancing, breaching water in what looks a LOT like synchronized swimming, haha.
I also think stressed, troubled humans find it very very hard to still their minds and vision and embrace nature before them.
When we feel loved and held by Love - even treasured by love, it frees us all up to soak in vistas and write /sketch them. It’s (again) darkness late late in Australia so this might just be a late night rave, Meggy Kimmel-Meggy Colbert style lol 😂
I am digging this funky Meggy-Kimmel hybrid. I have enjoyed this thread. It's obviously been on my mind. As much as I know that understanding love and nature primarily comes through living it and experiencing it, it is my nature to try to develop a conceptual nest where my mind rest in the subject. A conceptual base to work from. And Dave's poetic entanglement of space, time, and love triggered me, as does your follow-up on how love is embedded in nature's treatment of its own. good dreams to you friend.
Well.... it's a fascinating question. I could say that love is an unintended consequence, because we are one such too, but I do think that the conditions for love are deeply tied into the nature of existence.
Look - I probably have several answers, depending on the day and what I've had to drink - both literally and metaphorically.
Sometime soon - possibly - I will publish a poem here which comes the closest I can to how I feel about this in a general sense. It's a hopeful entry in a national Australian poetry award/competition thing, so I can't publish it anywhere until I receive the rejection letter :)
I'm sure one will come soon though!
In a specific sense, my poem Euclidian https://davidkirkby.substack.com/p/euclidean?r=471m47 comes closest. (Or any of several poems I have written about M - some definitely never to be published lol)
In the general sense though, love seems to me to be a profound appreciation for the fact and infinite diversity of existence. Since we are ourselves a small part of existence, it is a tiny act of self reflection, self regard and joy on the part of the cosmos itself.
Our limited wiring constrains how we feel it, and the ways in which we can express it, but I don't think "love" is just a weird artefact of our wiring. Watching any living thing - they all seem to have their version of it. The incredible order within the apparent chaos of the physical world hints at another form.
Is there a "love field" outside of ourselves that we are tapping into? Is the entire cosmos capable of joy?
I'm inclined to say yes but - as you say - a poetic proof statement is about the best we can achieve.
I'll keep reading everyone else's poetic proof
and doing my best to churn out my own.
Maybe one day I'll nail it.
Dave :)
Sky painted... White noise saturated... Water coloured... Flipping the perspective and we become the object painted by nature... I know I am randomly spraying graffiti all around you comment section here. But this is the first time in a couple of days that I feel like I have taken a deep enough breath to square up to the piece you have wrought here.
I absorb a bit of it and say what I have to say, but my phone loses the original piece so I have to flash back and forth.
My friend, I deeply deeply appreciate your interest and all your comments, in any order and at any time.
D :)
I think it is delightfully twisted when the scene itself becomes a metaphor for the artwork it will become. When you think that way, the mind quivers a bit and you can have a mini zen moment.
Couldn’t agree more Jed! Small mind quiver —> zen moment —> right brain goes into that flow state writers, artists, musicians all in rapture as they (we) lose track of linear time. Sometimes a large-scale work takes me days! Obsessed until I’ll suddenly feel it’s all enough. Satiated.
YAY!
You just made me happy!!!
D :)
David, the beaches look like glass and you cannot even tell when they become water in places, the way light hits. Meg's art ... Big breath.
Hi Jed! It's an incredibly special place.... Rainforest down to the sea, then coral reefs beyond the sand.
The only downside - crocodiles! I have been swimming at Noah Beach in the past, but it's apparently not safe now, and after living near Darwin and travelling around Arnhem Land, I have huge respect for the crocs. Not a nice way to go...
However, there are some safe - and superb - croc free swimming places in creeks just inland.
Dave, I am in awe of the beauty in your part of the world! Loved -
"Framed we are already
standing still, posed
for the sinking
sun."
Tell Meg that I love her painting too!
Ash! Thankyou!!!
Meg is sitting right next to me now - and she is delighted!!!
Sending you our love from
far off
Australia!
Dave and Meg :)
So happy to hear that brought warmth to your hearts! We had a send-off dinner for my cousin on Monday night who is making her journey back to Austrailia and of course I gifted her a Mary Oliver book for her travels. Hoping to travel to that part of the world someday, love to you both!
Hello David, gorgeous words and artwork by Meg, as always. I loved journeying with you to your special wild place, Noah Beach, and listening to the day unfold and ebb into the night. These places find a way into our bodies and work their magic, I think.
I read your prose poem, a little extra gift, you will laugh but I had to look up the title word Susurration, but now I have some new terminology and ways to think and describe the sounds of coastal places 🙏 Also thank you for the shout out and for thinking of me, all the way down south in Lutruwita / Tasmania.
I loved this stanza —
This stretched
moment hangs
like the painting
it will become….
Hi friend Kate!
Thankyou! I will pass on your lovely compliment to Meg. I’m hoping she will do more art soon. I’m enticing her with a photo of one of my favourite trees….
Have you ever noticed - in every patch of bush there always seems to be at least one “special” tree - like a tree elder? A tree which is just…. different - more intensely there. Even in remnant urban bushland.
Maybe it’s just me, but I may try and create a collection of them - photographically - and maybe with Meg sketching each as well, then see what I can write about it.
I’m glad you like the word - it is gorgeous…. And thanks for the restack!
I hope the whole family is well.
Best Wishes - Dave :)
Hi Dave, I love that image of you and Meg, head together over a picture of a ‘grandfather’ tree.
Thats something to think about, the elder tree. My eyes are often drawn to the bigger trees in an area, simply because they take you together sky. But I haven’t thought about them in that way before. Now I have this thought I am keen to go for a walk in the bush behind my home and see what I can find.
My eldest daughter and I are going bushwalking on the weekend so we will report back.
Family are well, school is back in 3 days time, so we are enjoying the last few days of having no where to be.
Kate :)
Cheers,
Hi David, I read this poem and thought of you and Meg. There’s a link here -
https://www.writersalmanac.org/index.html%3Fp=10247.html
Hey Kate! Lovely!
You know - I started reading thinking it was England ("Land's End"), then I thought it was Australia ("Eucalypts and scrub") - then I realised it's the USA.
Still a lovely poem. Just a reminder to me of how common Eucalypts are in California. I have met Americans there who think the Eucalypt is native to their State!
D :)
Yes Eucalyptus grow like weeds in many places!
Hey dear Kate! I think our project will happen.... It will be beautiful. There is a nature reserve in the middle of Woodford Island in the Clarence Valley - where we usually live. I walk and run there often. Most of it has been selectively logged at some point - presumably for hardwoods for local housing and fences, but there are gullies and steep slopes where some of the original trees escaped. I have found a few with large bark scars which are - I'm sure - where the bark sheets were removed by the Yaegl people for canoes or for shelter.
We are currently in Newcastle catching up with family - and I'm visiting urban remnant bushland I used to roam when we lived here, revisiting old trees that knew me then.
Have a wonderful walk at the weekend! Enjoy the last days of school hols. We have been spending time with our Grandchildren - aged 9 and 12. It's a bit like a second chance at being a parent - an enormous privilege...
Best Wishes - Dave :)
This is just outstanding!!
“pouted puffs of cumulus self-
generate, drift and
dissipate….”
Gosh, what a stanza. A delightful rhythm and crystal-clear image. I’ll circle back later on to decipher the handwritten work…😁
Thanks Samuel! I'm glad you liked your quick trip to the tropics!
Best Wishes - Dave :)
Think this looks like a wonderful place to stay and reflect. Better than going back to work tomorrow 🫤
Oooh yes…. A gorgeous tranquil place.
Just gotta watch for the crocs …..
lol :)
I'm here in the dark, waiting for Monday to begin. My wife and dog by my side, I have work later today. The world you portray seems impossible. Lots of clouds and wavy beaches, that's awesome enough by itself. Carry on David!
Hey Rob
Well - it is a gorgeous place, but hard to make a home there.
On the plus side for Westchester - no crocodiles!
Best Wishes mate - Dave :)
we have a coyote, I try to feed him when I know he's around. Thanks Dave, best wishes to you too.
Excellent!
Tnx mate!
It’s a good place….
I hadn’t been there since 1987. To my delight - it was pretty much unchanged.
D :)
What a wonderful piece to wake up to. Thanks to you both. 🙂
Hi Richard! Good morning you!
Sunset here....
You just made Meg's day!
Best Wishes - Dave :)
Beautiful...especially for a Monday morning that has relaxed me so much and geared me up for a productive week! ⛱
I think when I land in Australia I'll just use your stack as my Tripadvisor! 🌍 🌎🌍 🌎
Great poetry, great pics, great timing. Thanks for sharing David!
Ha! Friend Kris..... that's just the loveliest thing to say!
Are you really coming to Oz?
Best Wishes - Dave :)
It is definitely on my list…If I can’t make it this year then definitely 2026, but working on it. Thanks for the wishes!
so glad i found your work! such a sublime escape! 🌊🌝
haha yes i probably should be asleep but am just so juiced up on all the goodness in this new space! i agree there are some delightful benefits to these high-tech platforms where you can share something with your global community and not wait eons for a response! there is the drawback of becoming fixated on getting an insta-response — and i have withdrawn from other platforms for that very reason — but I really love the layout here and it feels like the work comes first and the elevation of it is just a wonderful bonus. anywho, thank you for connecting and sparking my inner poetic world!
Oh! Thankyou Jared! You win the fast reader award!!! Shouldn't you be asleep or something? :)
OMG - I was still proof reading and editing...
Seriously though - I am delighted that you like my work. Back when I published in hard copy - literary journals and such - it would be months before anyone saw something I wrote, and weeks again before I received feedback (if any).
I don't love technology, and it is being used to dreadful ends by many, but it can also be used to help create a better future....
Best wishes to you mate.
Dave :)