It's important to look forward, but also to look back to see how far you've come. The only problem is that you can't do both at the same time.

So, as 2012 rolls around, which one is it going to be?

A quote for the end of one year, and the start of another

I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

- Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding (last lines from Shawshank Redemption)

Two songs...

...which I'd forgotten how much i loved about ten years ago. and love just as much now.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free



-------------
The space between
The tears we cry is the laughter that keeps us coming back for more
The space between
The wicked lies we tell and hope to keep safe from the pain
Will I hold you again?

The Three Stages of Life

1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.
3) You are Santa Claus.

For my sister on her 21st birthday

Seems like just yesterday
you were reaching
for my ear lobe
or the wrinkled skin
around my elbow, (whichever was closer)
while sucking
your two middle fingers
and leaving tooth marks
that eventually developed
into what, I remember thinking
at the time, would be permanent scars.

Of course, they weren't really permanent,
were they? Because they've gone,
along with every other visible sign of your childhood.

You went:

from kicking at the air
in front of strangers
with tiny chubby feet
by way of greeting,
to donning
skinny jeans that
seem perpetually in danger
of being not quite long (or skinny) enough.

from dimpled chin
to pimpled skin in a heartbeat,
And yet, now your face
shines with a resplendent grace;
your kohl-lined eyes being just
about the only features I recognise
from old photographs.

It’s one of those things I can't explain,
You seem so different and yet the same.

I guess you just Grew Up without telling me.

One of these days
you should come round.
Try and make it for a Sunday,
We can go to the fairground.

We can hold hands,
buy some popcorn to share.
I'll knock down some tin cans
and try and win you a bear.

When we get really cold,
we'll drink some mulled wine.
And when we're really old
we can think back to the time
when all we needed
was a Sunday at a fairground
to make us happy.

I don't know about you, but at some point over the course of my professional career, I would like to sit in on a meeting where one of the following phrases is not used:

pedal to the metal/ rubber meets the road
gaining traction
gathering momentum
the upshot is...(my personal favourite)
back to the drawing board
going forward
at the end of the day

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but i'm exhausted just typing these. The wait for a meeting without one of them continues. I'm not holding my breath.

Because, at the end of the day...

Wood, steel and skin
he said,
were the three things
that made
the sound seemingly
take on a life
of its own, and meaning
like so many words
unsaid;
that, and the strings
that he picked apart
like thread, each
one vibrating with a sense
of its own unique purpose.










Wood, steel and skin
and a boy, alone,
making a sound
come alive
as though it were
made of
blood, flesh and bone.

And I,
watching it take flight
until it disappears from sight.

Soumik Dutta played the Sarod at Clare Hall, Cambridge. Summer 2010.

No offense, 2011,...

...but i think I'm about ready for 2012 now.

Mirage

Somewhere between the prison
and the sea,
she waits, my love.
Faced with choices she shouldn't
need to have to make,
my love.

In the distance,
a roving beam of light
casts shadows across the bay,
turning sand dunes into
the humps of a hundred
camels.

The lights of the old factories
blink,
on and then off,
in silent morse code;
while wisps of smoke rise
triumphantly from giant
cigarettes and disappear
into the moon.

All around her, life goes on;
but tonight
she stands alone under the stars
and waits,
faced with choices she shouldn't
need to have to make,
my love.

Yesterday my life flashed before my eyes.
But i was busy so I recorded it to watch later.

Besides, there's always eye player.

Aisle 13

She was rummaging through the 'Reduced to Clear' section.
He was shaking squash bottles and placing them back on the shelves
(because he didn't like the look of sediment at the bottom.)

They ended up talking about how they put the blue in blue cheese,
and the general over-use of the word please.

At the checkout, he bagged her shopping and bragged about his taste in wine.
Her 14 items totaled £ 8.79.

"Every little helps", she said, and shook her head from side to side.
He smiled and they left together for the Park and Ride.

On the way, she opened a tub of yoghurt and licked the lid.
not quite happy ever after though; they split before the milk did.

I'm odd; you're even.
Together, we're slightly uneven.
In hindsight, it was never quite right; 
I suppose we were never going to fit.
I'm a ball, but you're no socket.
You're a small hand, and I'm a deep pocket.

Still, who knows?
You can swing, I can shuffle,
Who's to say we can't dance our way 
out of circumstance?
I'll give it a go if you give it a chance.
Go on, one more go, if you give it a chance.