#0 - Goodbye House

The old battered house
I once helped tear down
I supposed I'd see each year
being built layer by layer.

But this was not my new home
As once was thought by others
It was the signpost on the footpath
to my unknown future.

O Yes Fate did bring me back close
and yet still not to meet Palupõhja again.
It showed me glimpses of the future
and pushed me along a new road.

It asked me questions:
Sprechen sie Deutsch?
Do I enjoy remoteness and foreign lands?
None that made sense at each moment, but now...

But looking back now
It was a long windy path
all the way back from the house
stretching and asking and probing and leading to today.

by Ian (Poem and Picture of the torn down house).

Best of wishes Estonia - as possibly my last poem here!

Actors

What happened to all the actors
in the dramas of my life.
Maybe there were factors
why you were in the comedies and not with me in the strife

What happened to the tragedy
They always seemed to ask
when ever they were being unheedy
and only seeing the mask.

What happened to the past
Now misinterpreted when re-enacted
The meaning lost in a mystery
In the mind where the history and present interacted

What happened to.. well what happened to me
I'll not fade like a ghost, I have more form, you will see!

by Ian

English Weather - Englisch Wetter

English Weather

Without you
When it rains, it rains
When its sunny, it rains
I have a thunder and lightning heart

With you
When it rains, its fun
When its sunny, its fun
My soul is complete
-------------------------------------------
Englisch Wetter


Ohne dich
Wenn es regnet, es regnet
Wenn es ist sonnig, es regnet
Ich habe ein Donner und Blitzen Herz

Mit dir
Wenn es regnet, es viel Spaß
Wenn die sonnige, es viel Spaß
Meine Seele ist komplett


by Ian


(Original and translation by Ian)
(Sorry there is no Estonian translation.. maybe someone can do one? And maybe sorry for the rubbish german ;))

Here and not so here

(oder hier und nicht so hier)

In this, my hushed house

catacombed castle
long lost kingdom
overgrown land
and secluded keep
my mind is drifting...

elsewhere.

On novel adventures

exploring unknown shores
mysterious landscapes
the next bend in the road
where ever you may be
that is my roam sweet home.



by Ian (Photo by Ian too)

Schnee

All unique

covering the land

but who will miss me

from the rest

when I melt away?

Poem and Photo by Ian

Recipe 2: Cheese, Onion and Potato Layer Pie - my veggie Christmas Pie :)

Here is a simple (very rough) guide to the pie that I like to make instead of having turkey for Christmas.  (Also featured in a few Preston Poets Christmas buffets.. see photo at bottom)

Ingredients:

Try to get local where possible and also the varieties you prefer. Quantities depend on how big a pie you are doing. My pies end up bulging with stuff , you may prefer nicely shaped pies :)

Halved Peeled Potatoes - I don't think I have ever counted how many I put in. Is a guess whilst cleaning and peeling. A guess whilst writing this is 7  medium potatoes, the pie is mostly potato.
Chopped/ Diced Onions - 2 maybe 3 and I prefer red.
Grated Cheese - What ever variety / varieties that take your fancy! This will be grated so you can use the rest of the block up with your favourite crackers and wine or something later.
Plain Flour
Egg Yolk/Milk for pastry
Butter


Instructions:

1. Put the peeled and halved potatoes into boiling water with a pinch of salt. Cook until soft but not collapsing. I cook for 10/15 mins then have a poke. Drain and leave to cool.
2. Fry some onions in a pan with a knob of butter. Fry to soften and make sweet tasting flavour. Maybe slightly brown but not crisp. Leave to cool.
3. Make some short crust pastry. Enough for a base and  a lid . Delia's guide to shortcrust pastry is here if you need any help.
4. Grease your pie dish and place the pastry in. Make sure it is flat against the dish and there are no bubbles. We want all the space for the filling :)
5. We are going to make different layers of the ingredients. First use some of the potato and slice up into smaller pieces so you can layer the base of the pie.
6. Next layer some of the onion over the top.
7. Grate (or use your pre grated :)) cheese over the top of this.
8. Continue with the layers starting from Potato until you run out of ingredients (either in the pie or through tasting :)).
9. Seal your lid on. Maybe a little egg yolk or milk to help seal it.
10. Put the pie in the an oven until pastry cooked and nice golden brown. Oven around 180c and again the guide of cook for 10/15 mins and check. As everything inside has been cooked that needs to be cooked then we are just waiting for the colour!

• Any pastry left over can be used for mince pies, jam tarts... just make smaller pastry shapes and fill with (Christmas sweet) mincemeat or jam.

Enjoy with some salad / veg or some chilli jam. Lovely warm or cold.

Enjoy :)

Let me know what you think.

Sorry wasn't quick enough to take a photo of my last pie:

We Ran!

We ran down roads, and up paths
We ran past quiet cows, and cheering people.
We ran over bridges, and through woods
We ran around a lake, and spied into a castle
We ran against our doubting legs, and the energy ran away
And then we ran even more… and we triumphed!

by Ian  (all a true story too!)

(Photo and manipulation by Ian... Collection of shells and feathers by DA)

And we all must be lions

Fierce, Roaring Cats
Guarding our pride
King under the sun
But our mothers
Still know how to pick us up by the scruffs of our necks !

by Ian

(Estonian and English (maybe French or Norman or something before) lions)

Switzerland # 2

There are no words
no thoughts
no sayings
no rightness
just being
for the one
you

___
by Ian
art by Katrin in 2011

(story of the picture:
were in a cafe with children
and they had pencils there
for children to draw
and no newspapers
so had to draw myself
for not to get bored
while children were busy
playing around)

(story of the poem:
well it says it all in the poem
even the fact that even though I had written it
and typed it up I did not think it was good enough
it was not right! )

Auf Wiedersehen Butterfly

 

It was probably the last lovely summer day

The summer bird had flown
The Sun was hiding away
I felt this was the last I’d see of you

So now as the Day, I Falter colourfully

and Night, I Falter greyly
I was ready for the final winter
and the ultimate freeze.

But Hey! I was wrong

lovely sunny summer day today.
As you displayed to me
your pretty wings once more

Fluttering in and around

in a chaotic dance
As butterflies randomly picking flowers.
You have found me.

So just as I thought I could see the end.

I now know, there are plenty more summers in between
I just have to survive the winters.
and be with you again.

by Ian and A

Sometimes

Sometimes
I need the rain.

The cooling shower
to stop me from wilting.
The downpour and thunderstorm
to clear the air.
Or just the cloudy parasol
shading me from the intense heat.

Yet

Sometimes
I need the sun.

The clear blue heavens
encouraging to grow.
The bright light
to awake and flower.
The warming sky-fire
then I can ripen.

But to bear fruit
Sometimes
I need both

by Ian August 2011

art by 5-year-old Mari Lee

Finland - #16

I struggled through
the deep snow
with more following fast

I struggled through
the bitter cold and
with more following fast

I struggled through
hunger and tiredness
with more following fast

eventually arrived at Walhalla
and what's this to say about my journey
it was closed!

poem and photo by Ian

Finland - #2

(Posting poems about snow in summer doesnt seem right so I have posted them now even though I wrote them months ago)
Out at Sea
Bracing against the wind
defying the beating waves
a fortress in the sea

Snow all around
Sun is blinding
a mix of hot and cold
I must guard

So I stand here
against incoming armies
against incoming tides
and against the deep loneliness
until the snow melts and flowers bloom

photo and poetry by Ian

Iceland #8

there i sit
on a stone
like an elf
when no one is
around
i admire the
landscape
and peacefulness
but when someone comes
round the corner

I am gone!

poem and photo by Ian

Iceland #23

and she sleeps tonight
and she dreams of love
of the beautiful sky
of the golden silence
of the one true person
of that moment that it all came together

when the fire burnt
and the moon met the mountain

poem and photos (photos from same night of bonfire) Ian

Iceland #21

Lava burning
sweeping
fast
like love
racing through your veins

Glacier
cool
slow
like someone important in your life
leaving a longing impression

Written on a walk near Landmannalaugar looking over at the Lava fields and remembering the Glacier at Skaftafell.
Poem by Ian and photo of Glacier near Skaftafell by Ian

Iceland #17

the earth
rumbles
all through the valley
like a troll
roaring
marking out its territory
beware of its bite!

photo and poem by ian

Iceland #16

like saving an ice cube
in the sun

youth and beauty
may melt away

but the important part remains
like the life giving water

photo and poem by Ian

Iceland #14

How can one place
make you feel so homesick
that drives you
to all the silly things
you miss
like
the flower in your garden
that you usually ignore
yet somewhere else
that flower just feels
like home?

Photo and Poem by Ian

Iceland #12 - Me

I spy
with my little eye
something
beginning
with
I

Photo and Poem by Ian