I was listening to ‘The Unfolding’, a beautiful song (is it a song? it is… beautiful) by Hanna Peel and Paraochestra, and, lo and behold, a poem unfolded. Mind, it still is unfolding. Below you can read the current state of unfoldedness. The poem - for now surprisingly called ‘the unfolding’ - follows all the songs on the eponymous album, from the first song ‘The Universe Before Matter’ up until the last track ‘The Unfolding Credits.’
My suggestion would be to listen to the song ‘The Unfolding’ while reading the poem ‘the unfolding’, since ‘the unfolding’ (the poem) was born while listening to ‘The Unfolding’ (song). The poem feels somewhat orphaned without the music. The plan therefore is to record myself reading the poem, with the song playing in the background. First, the poem needs to unfold just a bit more. Or not. We’ll see what happens.
If interested, read the poem below. Suggestion: read out loud.
That is ‘the unfolding’ unfolding: part one.
But then, of course, the brain starts seeing patterns and connections unfolding within the unfolding. If interested in this specific unfolding read below below (below the poem). Hint: it’s to do with the Tao. And below that, so below below below, more unfolding. Nick Cave is doing that part. And below that unfolding, some Rumi unfolding.
Rest assured,
because then,
finally,
the unfolding credits,
roll.
—
the unfolding:
The Universe Before Matter
does it matter?
it didn’t matter
matter of fact
it didn’t do anything
doesn’t matter
before the universe
there was this one, wild, animal
you could say it was a wild animal
although you couldn’t say that
for before the universe,
before anything mattered
there only was
- Wild Animal -
and even the thought of it
didn’t exist
just
Wild Animal
it was wild
very wild!
don’t think about the wild animal
because then you can’t imagine
just
Wild Animal
and, sure, Wild Animal roamed
through eternal nothingness
through Passages eternal
through the Passage
called
Passage
it was a passenger
passing through a passage.
they were quite the couple
stop thinking about it!
just experience it all.
let it all unfold.
like the universe before matter
an unending and never beginning unfolding
the passage knew
at the same time
Wild Animal knew
this was
The Unfolding
awed and amazed, and yet also the opposite
in stillness revering
and also laughing at it all
The Unfolding
there it was
there. it. was.
all. nothing.
before time it was neither.
now, it was both.
dark and light, together, smiling
no reason.
just.
it was so fresh, so early, so young
infinitely old as well.
feeling wisely fresh, freshly wise
the unending years unfolding,
looking at the unending suns,
at the one sun,
timelessness found in time,
weeks, they were called,
looking,
the sun, the sun!
the early sun,
the early sun!
unfolding time,
what,
If After Weeks Of Early Sun,
it wasn’t timeless time that was watching
- what if it is you?
looking
seeing
watching.
not ‘you’
but you
the sun, just weeks old,
watching
were you happy, seeing it?
it must be.
me, as well.
together, watching this young sun
the young sun
just born,
infinite light
we, us, seeing
looking
watching
Perhaps,
Perhaps It Made Us Happy For A Minute
happiness before happiness existed
happiness before words
happiness before thoughts
perhaps it made us happy
minutes as weeks as unfolding time
are now
are water are earth
are us
we are
we are earth and water
here,
we are
part movement
part stillness
we are part liquid
We Are Part Mineral
we are part
apart
parted and whole
we are all
and yet, we need a break
a break from it all
from earth
from water
from now?
even from now.
from the sun?
from the sun
a cloud can be majestic
no thinking!
it’s what we do
we are part thoughts
part mountain
part mineral
part water
Part Cloud
will they part?
what is there?
what is there?
as before, now
now, as before?
the unfolding never stopping
even when
finally,
The Unfolding Credits
roll.
—
Whilst being swept away in all this unfolding business I read some Tao Te Ching, and it sort of kind of felt similar. It just keeps unfolding!
-
There was something
formless
and
perfect
before the universe
was born.
It is serene.
Empty.
It flows
through all things,
inside and outside,
and returns
to the origin
of all things.
Man follows
the earth.
Earth follows
the universe.
The universe follows
the Tao.
The Tao follows
only itself
-
MORE UNFOLDING,
from this book:
Sean O’Hagan:
That theme keeps recurring throughout our conversations - things finding their purpose or revealing their meaning through the doing. The creative journey as a series of revelations, almost.
Nick Cave:
Yes, now you point it out, that’s exactly right. Most of the time, I have no idea what I am doing while I’m doing it. It is almost purely intuitive. That should be pretty clear. But I do have a strong commitment to the primary impulse, the initial signaling of an idea - what we could call the divine spark. I trust in it. I believe in it. I run with it. The writing of this book, if that is what we are doing, is a case in point. It’s something that is just unfolding before us. I have no coherent idea what we are doing at this time, and I’m not sure that you do, either. There is a sense of discovery about it. Things unfold. this place of discomfort and uncertainty and adventure is where an honest, good-faith conversation can happen. It’s all the same thing.
-
And I’ll leave you with Rumi:
Be patient. Respond to every call that excites your spirit.
And then, I (Louis) would say, let it all unfold.
Even yourself!
Ciao