Top 10 John Leonard Quotes at QuotationFun

Displaying Top 10 John Leonard quotes

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Poem Title: The Wind That Blow Through Our Mind - If you think of the winds that blow Through our lives, you might think: Of the wind of childhood, blowing The tall grasses and hayflowers along The hedges, setting the poplar leaves A-flutter-the wind you always Wanted to capture, set down, Whose beauty you guessed at, felt, But could not see, could not frame; Of the summer breeze, stirring In the hot evening, bringing Cool air, carrying the sweet smell Of jasmine-scent of a love Too intense to bear, yet borne; Of the wind of late summer, smelling Of harvest smoke, of ripeness, Provoking restless thoughts - Desire to begin a journey Before winter sets well in; Of a cold autumn wind, tearing Summer to pieces, dragging clouds Like dirty hanks of wool Across the mountain tops, blowing Squalls of stinging rain before it; Of the wind on a winter's night, Gusting in the darkness, only it Moving between the unseen earth And the cold starry sky - Arcturus glaring in the north, Body disembodied, chilled to the bone; Of a great gale from out of the west, Pushing huge waves against the headland, Carrying salt spray far inland, Tossing and clattering bare branches, Bringing boughs low, making Woodland trunks creak and scream; Of the hot wind from the desert, Swirling dust, stirring the salt-bush, As you walked there to find out Who you are, where you are; If you think of these winds, you Think of the scudding, gusting wind, The living wind, the wind that blows Through our lives, through all lives - Original, living principle, First, always and everywhere.

http://www.jleonard.net/page6.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: The Last Day - On that last day, suddenly freed From anything we might have To do, even duty, why not wander In the afternoon sunlight, looking At flocks of birds, examining Even the dustiest leaves? Or perhaps write poetry which Has meaning only in some other Time, wondering at the rareness Of this special hour, now the weight Has lifted, and others have assumed Their roles for the time.

http://www.jleonard.net/page2.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: Honest Errors - These mistakes, so inexplicable, In matter of such simplicity, Have a purpose. They give it all away, confound it, Destroy the illusion of a selvedge, True acquittance. They tell us that lumpish authority Is not what we think, nothing To meddle with. Here, these honest errors say, We should not waste our time, Or expect results.

http://www.jleonard.net/page12.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: Nel Mezzo - And so I approach the quiet centre, Rest from the busyness of life - Its patterns, activity and facts, which, Then and now, seem to me not A life, rather a kind of agitation Where I forget this, and forget that, And will in time remember a host Of lapidary truths that never were. Quietness says that everything Pretends a permanence it does not enjoy, That it flaunts this scurrying importance, When what obtains, what is true, Is other than the fleeting appearances, The charade never guessed correctly.

http://www.jleonard.net/page14.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: Today - Today was broken: last year’s leaves, Dappled with this year’s new sun, And a wind to cancel the warmth And blow the leaves far away. There was nothing to grasp at - These papers, where is any good, Any willingness to be found? - No hint at all for being. And yet today was one where thought Reached to the end of thought, And did not cease to think. List today on the honour board; There was an emptiness, impatience, But hope for future’s side-glance.

http://www.jleonard.net/page16.htm

Poetry

These ideas once had life, Were thoughts that people once Lived, breathed, had hope in. But now they are dead, No-one can truly think them - They must be reconstructed, revived. And the language they’re clothed in - Stiff, archaic, full of words That have nothing familiar about them. It’s the stuff of antiquarianism, Preserved for history’s sake alone - Yet, these are this year’s books.

http://www.jleonard.net/page11.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: Sad Heart - If the poem will not crystallise for you - A night when neither the Northern Nor the Southern Crowns could be seen - It may be that the dashes in the document Ascribed to you are too much In themselves... eager sad-heart. Butterflies wander in the mist, Yet flies are clattering on the ground. The path is clear, and every day Certainty weakens its grip.

http://www.jleonard.net/page20.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: A Circle - A circle traced in the air By the hand, yet the hand does not Make the circle, nor does the strength Of the arm, or the mind’s guidance. The circle springs from a connection Between the earth and the body; Inward force flows to turn The centre, and so the hand travels And in the air a circle’s traced.

http://www.jleonard.net/page15.htm

Poetry

Poem Title: Earth Star - It dwelt ages-long in the earth, A part of earth itself, a questing, Spreading net of filaments. One rainy spring it burst out Scattering its meaning through the world: Wherever there is soil without network, Without potential, there let it be - Earth is waiting for this, it will decide On its flourishing, or its failure. For now the fruiting body lies, A powdery husk, an open hand, Amongst the grey grass, thistle-stalks Bleached under the high, empty air. It is detached, broken to pieces By the world’s feet and weather.

http://www.jleonard.net/page17.htm

Poetry

The Way of Poetry is a short work dealing with what I see as the connections between Daoism and writing poetry in the C21 in the west. It contains 10 of my own poems. It has been published in the US by the Three Pines Press.

http://www.jleonard.net/literary.htm

Poetry

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