Tyninghame

The track suggested mud and deep green beneath the night
Fields basking in a moon that was not so full
Like a cheek of God grinning
At a joke we travelled to understand
Puddles wept back at her
Two torches, hug greetings, yellow waistcoasts
Beyond: a beach accelerating

Dancing droves beat limbs and earth
Bones shake to new beats
Flow as ancient as Earth
Never smelling sweeter (sweatier?)
Colour lips, whirwind hair
Eyes booming alive
Man stands
World at his feet
Ocean at his head
Faded faded moon wishing red upon the shore
We swing, fly
Find further arms to fall into
Take another sip of joy
In case it is our last
Beach is thinning
Moon reappearing
Another draw on this happiness
So rightfully ours
Uh wow this dream!
This beauty!
Another dab to beautify it more

Calm underneath

There is no calm underneath it all
Collisions so out of our control
pretend to whirl and understand

A purer form of fury
From somewhere we can't deny
But would despise
If it wasn't
For the surer form of knowing
We're sure beyond it lies

A madness to meet God's madness
So we can look her in the eye

Tyninghame

The track suggested mud and deep green beneath the night
Fields basking in a moon that was not so full
Like a cheek of God grinning
At a joke we travelled to understand
Puddles wept back at her
Two torches, hug greetings, yellow waistcoasts
Beyond: a beach accelerating

Dancing droves beat limbs and earth
Bones shake to new beats
Flow as ancient as Earth
Never smelling sweeter (sweatier?)
Colour lips, whirwind hair
Eyes booming alive
Man stands
World at his feet
Ocean at his head
Faded faded moon wishing red upon the shore
We swing, fly
Find further arms to fall into
Take another sip of joy
In case it is our last
Beach is thinning
Moon reappearing
Another draw on this happiness
So rightfully ours
Uh wow this dream!
This beauty!
Another dab to beautify it more

Calm underneath

There is no calm underneath it all
Collisions so out of our control
pretend to whirl and understand

A purer form of fury
From somewhere we can't deny
But would despise
If it wasn't
For the surer form of knowing
We're sure beyond it lies

A madness to meet God's madness
So we can look her in the eye

Twenty million people built a raft
Thirty floated it
For one million nine hundred and ninety-nine people to enjoy
Some of them wore sandals

Twenty million people built a raft
Thirty floated it
For one million nine hundred and ninety-nine people to enjoy
Some of them wore sandals

I saw seven beautiful things today
That's three fewer than yesterday and some way off my personal best of 22
Edinburgh is a beautiful city but it is not as beautiful as Cape Town
And when I was in Cape Town a woman on the bus told me that it was not as beautiful as Nelson, New Zealand
I used to tell my girlfriend that she was he most beautiful woman in the world
But I have said that to other women since
And I think Nicole Kidman would look different in person
I once stood, looking at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies
I asked a woman - who was not the same woman as in Cape Town - if
She had ever seen anything more beautiful
She replied that she had, somewhere in Switzerland
I have a friend called Nim and she's always calling me beautiful
But she says that to everyone so I'm not sure where I stand on her list

So, you want to know those seven things?

• Yellow ducks on my shower curtain
• A photograph of my old flatmate Rich grinning on N. Berwick beach
• Lamposts outside William McEwan Hall
• A pair of old fashioned scales on the kitchen shelf
• Ras Babi
• A girl hitting herself on the head with her glow-in-the-dark poi
• A really nicely weighted wok

I saw seven beautiful things today
That's three fewer than yesterday and some way off my personal best of 22
Edinburgh is a beautiful city but it is not as beautiful as Cape Town
And when I was in Cape Town a woman on the bus told me that it was not as beautiful as Nelson, New Zealand
I used to tell my girlfriend that she was he most beautiful woman in the world
But I have said that to other women since
And I think Nicole Kidman would look different in person
I once stood, looking at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies
I asked a woman - who was not the same woman as in Cape Town - if
She had ever seen anything more beautiful
She replied that she had, somewhere in Switzerland
I have a friend called Nim and she's always calling me beautiful
But she says that to everyone so I'm not sure where I stand on her list

So, you want to know those seven things?

• Yellow ducks on my shower curtain
• A photograph of my old flatmate Rich grinning on N. Berwick beach
• Lamposts outside William McEwan Hall
• A pair of old fashioned scales on the kitchen shelf
• Ras Babi
• A girl hitting herself on the head with her glow-in-the-dark poi
• A really nicely weighted wok

Babylon & Beauty

It's hard to have thoughts on beauty, since beauty seems to be that thing which keeps us from thinking altogether,
Or rather, it captures,devours and exploits us in our thoughtlessness
And this is Babylon
She is dancing and parading, and you welcome her intrusions,
Flattered by her confidence that you're becoming freer of confusion
You have striven for your sunsets and she has traced your every step,
Only to alter to more convincing desires and concepts when the horizon looks alarmingly out of grip
But now you're getting wise to her cajoling and frustrating,
You see how her dance falters when you start to stop you're thinking,
Now over the night she is walking without speaking
By the midnight pool where she will lay you without loving,
You're left nake,d disappointed and undone
And you'll reflect that she was just an idea,
And it was your idea all along.