The idea of Pλosm is that every action has at its root either a logical rationalisation, or else it is an intuitive response which, by its nature, is irrational (but is still sensible*). These are the two approaches of the ‘Scientist‘ and the ‘Muse‘, which is what the S and M stand for in Pλosm … Read more
The M in Pλosm stands for the Muses—including Saraswati and the Gods of literature, dance and music, and it extends to divine madness, and the drunken wildness of Dionysus, and the early forms of Shiva (Sanskrit ‘mada’ = drunkenness, lust; perhaps the same root as English ‘mud’). It contains the power of the tantra, the … Read more
The S in Pλosm represents Science. The scientist is drawn by curiosity towards the unknown. But they are also determined to keep their feet on the ground of reason. Science in its modern form is a product of the Enlightenment. But the same impulse was there in early discovery and agriculture, its practitioners have worked … Read more
O represents the Ouroboros—an ancient possibly Egyptian symbol of a snake eating its own tail. It is also the ensō 円相—a zen symbol representing the universe, enlightenment and ‘mu’—the void. It represents the Hindu Upaniṣhad’s concept of Brahmā, the absolute, and Ātman the soul, which are combined in the concept of Advaita (not dual). Occurring … Read more
Λ or L stands for Λόγος , logos, which is a word or argument.. a narrative and by extension a logic, a law (though ‘law’ has a different latin root–from laga, something lain down). The progress along the pada, the path, through time, is a creation. It demands a narrative. First we are simply counting … Read more
The P in Pλosm is for Path or Sanskrit पद् ‘pad’ = foot (it has the same indo-european root as in octo-pous, “eight feet“, and ‘pedal’). Each footstep on the path finds a balance between logic on the one hand, and the unknown (the ouroboros), on the other. The path is not going anywhere in … Read more
This website is a bit of a mess. There are two layers—the wordpress blog you are in now, plus a bunch of older web 1.0 pages, where my poems are archived by date into the Poem Library database . There is also an oldish page of experimental poems (using Java whirldiggery and such). My self … Read more
my first sensations are of the light and the sun.. flooding into the front room of my grandparents’ house where my parents and i were living in Farrer, Canberra, in 1978, and the sounds of mum playing the clair de lune on the small ‘minion’ piano there.. the green sofas of that front room and … Read more
Over the Christmas break i spent time with my bees. Here are some of my hives, my 4yo daughter helped paint one of them (we did it before the bees were in it). I have had bees for nearly 9 years but i only feel like i am beginning to get the hang of it … Read more
Bec Sandridge first stuck me as out of the ordinary when I heard her unique voice — a kind of seashell soft croon that has both a warm force and an ease, winging at airy heights — and her early songs allied this naturally with a sweet acoustic guitar. But as her music has developed, … Read more
I was born in 1978 and although I don’t think i have any specific memories from when i was 2 years old, decades do tend to live on for a few years into the following one, and the general spirit of the 70’s definitely infuses my earliest memories. The music (Steely Dan and Gerry Rafferty … Read more