Douglas Colston hails from Australia, has played in Ska bands and picked up university degrees, supported his parents during terminal illnesses, developed mental and physical disabilities, married his love, fathered two great children, had his inheritance embezzled and among other things, he is pursuing a PhD (Victoria University) he hopes will provide a positive contribution to the zeitgeist. In addition to being published by Impspired, his fiction, nonfiction and poetry has appeared in various anthologies and magazines, including: Tenth Muse; Hive Avenue; Rue Scribe; and Inlandia. 

Erg – innermost being alone – rejecting superficiality?

Optimal prehistoric structures possessing haunting experiences.

Shaking out impurities?
Indifference.

To be successful?
One platoon wandering -
temporarily,
but with certainty ...
a huge hurricane
or a great gem
reproducing ghostly images.

Barren soil within?
A reflection.

What caravan crosses over
a plain making the same troop?
One chain
in the name of 
understanding, choosing or preferring
stone.

Me?
Shade for the sake of
the lonesome, the undefended
and the desert.

Issues in life and a solution

The matter of 'meeting people where they are'
is a bit of a vexed issue in life - 
we can't do so in the first instance 
because we lack information, 
so some of us go with extending others the courtesy
of treating them like they will be kindred spirits
(which often turns out to be overly generous). 

Maintaining situational awareness is key, 
of course, 
as we can adjust our responses 
(and even our reactivity) 
as new information emerges.

If the others 
are of the 'shit slinging malignant demon' variety, 
it's best to distance oneself promptly! 

That made me think ….
of a point I made to a solicitor once: 

	"I'm not going to be a co-conspirator
	in my own annihilation". 

I'm always happy to share some thoughts
(and I'm taking the opportunity
while I've still got some 'marbles' left
rattling round in my head). 

I believe you're doing the same
(although you're probably not experiencing the same
oppressive neurological deterioration).

Keep on making the best
of the ever-emerging moment! 

I was talking about 'best possible' outcomes
with my wife, children, a male friend and community care workers
over the last few days 
and I think they boil down to
"doing the best by ourselves and others" …
pretty simple stuff. 

With a pending prognosis of frontotemporal dementia, 
I'm most concerned about keeping my shit together 
and not becoming some snarling reactive beast 
as the condition progresses. 

I'd hate to join the rabble.  

Heat hoping to birth existence

Numerous natural and unrestrained departures wound - 
to bloom entirely,
alas,
reaches the destination
'understanding', 'finished', 'clear', 'squandered'
or 'burnt offering'.

The Xia Dynasty, summer, magnificence and tea?
Seasonal.
 
A pool giving 
scatters anything that exists.

To approach or flee
a full-blown flower?
Insufficient, an addendum or obduracy.

Proximity, essence, death and nature?
Remoteness, that which is innermost, the enemy and ancient.

Causing attainment awakening?
Entering a village exclusively brilliant and agreeable.

Into completion -
the time that is the change?
Phenomena.

To live coarse, thick-witted, dull or stupid?
Into death foremost -
the second stage of a dialectical process
in which the thesis is negated.

Delight, deliverance and happiness?
The 'life' of humans.

Flee 'useless', 'ineffective' or 'cruel' -
set in motion
blessed and happy states.