raj808 3Speak Podcast

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/tgrlclmt
This morning I wrote a song called I’m Grateful that my Eyes are Clear.

The Buddhist sentiment of acceptance and gratitude runs deep through the verses of this song, however there is an element of sadness to it.

"The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness by what it chooses to compare the experience with. If it chooses to compare it to something worse then it will create happiness, gratitude and pride but if it chooses to compare it to something better then it will create unhappiness, bitterness and envy."
Gautama Buddha

I hope though, that in the main the song is uplifting.

While recognizing the negatives of humankind's duality, I hope that it shows the equal positive nature of our continuing evolution. The quote from Buddha above exemplifies how I see gratitude: the sad (or negative) things in life teach us needed lessons, while the posative things bring our attention to the joy that is at the heart of life.

This is how I view acceptance and gratitude 🙂🌿

Below are the lyrics and chords if anyone wants to play the song themselves.

C F
I’m grateful for the friends I’ve made
C F
I’m grateful for the friends I’ve lost
Am F
because if they’d have lived on
C F
they’d have paid a greater cost.

C F
I’m grateful for the gulls that cry
C F
at dusk and when the day is young
Dm F
I’m grateful that the cancer shrunk
C F
inside my mother’s tumescent lung

C F
I’m grateful that my eyes are clear
C F
to see beyond the war and fear

C
But still I cry
F
But still I cry
Am
But still I cry
F
I’m grateful, why?

C F
I’m grateful for the mistakes I’ve made
C F
I’m grateful for the sun and shade
Am F
I’m grateful for the sacred earth
C F
Where seeds I planted found their birth.

C F
I’m grateful for the will to strive
C F
when illness drives me to my knees
Dm F
I’m grateful for the seven seas
C F
that lull my sleep in prescient dreams.

C
But still I cry
F
But still I cry
Dm
But still I cry
F
I’m grateful, why?

C F
I’m grateful for life’s tapestry,
C F
I’m grateful it’s not all a fallacy
Am F
I’m grateful for this human family
C F
That can imagine such fantasies
C F
And when I die I’ll happily
C F
be grateful for our capacity,
Dm F
to love and hate equally
C F
and humour born in tragedy…

C
And so I smile
F
And so I smile
C
And so I smile
F
And so I smile
Am
I’m grateful, why?
F
It’s because I smile
C

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/pqimwqcw
The salt air kissed my face,
the breath of the sea
thrown up by
the lap of the waves.

The boat sailed on
as I watched the horizon.

Day waning, the sun burned low,
the afternoon sweltered aglow.

I scanned the water
looking for telltale lines
of white, the sign of the reef.

Relief, pearly brine on port side,
I swung the tiller and set my sights
on that salty singing maelstrom.

As the anchor descended
I stared through azure aqua,
once it bit, grabbing my spear gun
I dropped silent into the blue.

I placed my face in the water,
lifted my head, then counted...
one, two, three deep breaths,
calm like water in the bay
at the end of the day.

I strapped my goggles on
and took the plunge.

Beaked parrot fish sailed by
as I sank slowly like a stone.
Mirror-scaled Jacks
hugged reef wall drop-off,
moray smiled gaping gap-toothed
grins from cracks in the corral.

I set off into the turquoises sheen,
sailing through this garden
of bright corral cauldrons
and soft coral trees.
Hunting in the drift
of tidal memories.

The Breath of the Sea is a poem which employs various free-verse poetic techniques such as in-line rhymes, alliteration, assonance and experimentation with language/grammar.

It is also a persona poem, a type of poetry where you take on the mind-set of another person, or even as some poets have attempted an object.

In the case of 'The Breath of the Sea' it is inspired by my own scuba diving adventures, knowledge and love of tropical reefs. I have also been spearfishing in Belize, a somewhat dangerous undertaking as the local bull sharks are known for stealing spear fishers catches.

Although this didn't happen to me, I was told “just give up the fish and the shark will leave you alone” 🦈😂

These experiences have gifted me the memories to write this poem from the perspective one of the many tribes of South East Asian sea gypsies, some of whom subsists by free diving on reefs and spear fishing for their daily meals.

Thanks for reading 😉 🌿

CC license Media used:

Thumbnail:
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-reef-fish-ocean-sea-8328042/
Video:
Video by Alexander Bobrov: https://www.pexels.com/video/drone-tracking-of-a-wooden-motor-boat-used-for-fishing-3277598/
Video by Adrien JACTA: https://www.pexels.com/video/school-of-fish-in-the-deep-blue-sea-5358755/
Video by Vladimir Koshenkov: https://www.pexels.com/video/man-snorkeling-underwater-4612115/
Video by Tom Fisk: https://www.pexels.com/video/variety-of-fishes-under-the-deep-ocea-1457037/
Video by Gram Film: https://www.pexels.com/video/dropping-an-anchor-at-sea-2850617/
Video by Tom Fisk: https://www.pexels.com/video/fish-and-turtle-under-the-sea-1151962/
Music:

'Filaments' by Scott Buckley is under a Creative Commons license Attribution 3.0 Shared by BreakingCopyright — Royalty Free Music

I would like to give a big shout-out to @stickupcurator (and @stickupboys) for their amazing contribution to supporting music, art, imaginative writing, and all things creative on hive. If you haven't already, you should go check out their account for music, crypto podcasts and much much more 🙂👍If you would like to read the fiction I have published on hive, I've published 83 short stories on the blockchain catalogued in my Hive Book Store.If you have enjoyed this post you can check out my other work on my homepage @raj808.Click banner to visit the community page

Find us on twitter by clicking the banner above.

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/uoootqix
In the whispers of the sea
sun-drenched memories
play like waves on a forgotten shore,
innocence captured in cadence,
of musical laughter in salt spray.

The beach a prairie of sand
cushioning soft cat-cub feet,
padding golden grains gently,
like a million miniature worlds
tickling toes as the earth sighed
speaking without words, unnamed.

The ocean a mirror of fantasy,
as sun lotion cakes my back
turquoise depths form visions
of tacking the whale road.

As I wade into those waves
aqua-stigmata flakes sorrow
away in the oceans embrace.

Waves, rhythmic like a heartbeat,
crash, splashing my face,
I dived into sloping walls of water,
surrendering to the wild grace
as salt-spray rainbows played in their wake
and Ra's fire refracted in pleated god rays.

Seagulls cried in freedom's symphony,
hanging on upwelling summer air,
wings white flare in the bright sunlight.

Sandcastles like medieval keeps,
scattered the beach like molehills
grains carefully formed with skill
until as day waned the tide's advance
laid low even the strongest castle to heaps
in testament to the power of dreams.

As the sun began its melting decent,
indigo sky cried for the love of the sea,
a collage of melding gold glint clouds
married with amaranth fading to pink.

A memory etched into my soul,
a sacred seas-scape,
a sliver of me forever remained
on that beach at the age of six
with sand between my toes
salt on my lips, the car ride home
and a dinner of fish and chips.

Thanks for reading 🙂🌿

Creative Commons Sources:

Title picture by kordula vahle from Pixabay

Video 1: Video by Taryn Elliott: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-mother-and-child-standing-in-the-beach-water-throwing-rocks-3327105/
Video 2: Video by Taryn Elliott: https://www.pexels.com/video/mother-helping-her-child-get-up-from-a-stumble-cause-by-the-sea-waves-3327104/
Video 3: Video by Kampus Production: https://www.pexels.com/video/people-having-fun-in-the-beach-8622081/
Video 4: Video by Free Videos: https://www.pexels.com/video/playing-kickball-at-the-beach-during-sunset-854131/
Video 5: Video by Taryn Elliott: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-mother-helping-his-son-collect-rocks-from-the-beach-shore-3327103/
Video 6: Video by Kindel Media: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-kid-building-a-sand-castle-7850097/
Video 7: Video by Kampus Production: https://www.pexels.com/video/kids-enjoying-playing-on-a-beach-8622074/
Video 8: Video by Ruslan Khmelevsky: https://www.pexels.com/video/video-of-people-swimming-in-the-sea-4697520/
Video 9: Video by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/video/seagulls-waiting-for-fishes-856799/

Music:

'Filaments' by Scott Buckley is under a Creative Commons license Attribution 3.0 Shared by BreakingCopyright — Royalty Free Music

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/owqxovdm
To fast forward to the performance of the song skip to 0.45 in the video.

As I mentioned in the video with this week's theme - "Let's Defeat The Distance" (Derrotemos A La Distancia)" - I could only go with one artist, and that's the king of good vibes Bob Marley, and a cover of his song One Love People Get Ready.

This was actually the first time I have ever played this tune on guitar, so please forgive me if my chord skills aren't quite as polished as other open mic entries... as to my singing voice 😂 I am trying to become more confident singing while playing guitar, but I still feel like I have a long way to go.

Lyrics included below.

One Love People Get Ready

One love, one heart

Let's get together and feel all right

Hear the children cryin' (one love)

Hear the children cryin' (one heart)

Sayin' give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right

Sayin' let's get together and feel all right.

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (one love)

There is one question I'd really love to ask (one heart)

Is there a place for the hopeless sinners

Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?

One love, what about the one heart, one heart

What about, people, let's get together and feel all right

As it was in the beginning (one love)

So shall it be in the end (one heart)

All right! Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right

Let's get together and feel all right, one more thing

Let's get together to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (one love)

So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (one song)

Have pity on those whose chances grows t'inner

There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation

Sayin', one love, what about the one heart? (one heart)

What about the, let's get together and feel all right

I'm pleadin' to mankind (one love)

Oh, Lord (one heart) whoa

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right

Let's get together and feel all right

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right

Let's get together and feel all right...

Let's get together and feel all right.

I hope you enjoyed my rendition of 'One Love People Get Ready' by Bob Marley.

Let me know what you think of my cover in the comments.

Thanks for reading 🙂🌿

All media in this post is either my own, or shared for reference (as with the Hive and 3speak Logos) fair use.

I used DaVinci Resolve video editor to create this song and add some effects.

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/igdotmrh
To fast forward to the performance of the song skip to 1.56 in the video.

As I explained in the video I had a bit of thinking to do with the week's Hive Open Mic theme as I am an atheist, and so the theme - "Al Dios Que Adoramos" (The God We Worship) - seemed a none starter at first.

But when I thought about the central commonalities between all religions, once you get past the idea many religions push that 'their god' is the one true god (meaning everyone else is wrong 😂), once you get past that, the core idea that all religions share is that of faith.

I have religious friends - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and a practising Buddhist friend, and all of them describe faith in almost the same terms. Although they may express it in slightly different ways, it comes down to trust and love of their god along with the belief that their god is looking after them, or guiding them in some way out of love.

Once I realised this I decided to enter this edition despite not being religious, because the one thing I strive for in my life, and think that humanity as a whole needs to embrace and value more, is love.

Giving love unconditionally is one of the most positive and important human traits which we should nurture until it grows to become the dominant drive behind what we do as a species. Love negates conflict, if more people in the world expressed love rather than a constant need for competition; we’d live in a more peaceful and less divisive world.

Anyway, I don’t pretend to understand faith completely, it seems to me that you either have it or you don’t in a religious context. But I would strongly argue that non-religious people can have faith in ideas or concepts as I mentioned with my belief in the power of love as a force for good in the world.

I hope you enjoyed my rendition of 'Perfect Day' by Lou Reed.

I include a YouTube version of Lou Reed's original for comparison... lol I don't do it half the justice it deserves but I tried my best.Despite the fact Lou Reed wrote that song inspired by something completely different to what it inspires in me, I love that song. It encapsulates that feeling of a perfect day filled with love, laughter and joy.

But I'll stop now with all this before I reach level eight on the Richter scale of cheesiness 😂

Let me know what you think of my cover in the comments.

Thanks for reading 🙂🌿

All media in this post is either my own, or shared for reference (as with the Lou Reed song) fair use.
I used DaVinci Resolve video editor to synch the lyrical audio to the instrumental and create the split screen effect.

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/gzjupjng
I was inspired by the prompt for this week's Hive Open Mic "Hasta El Extremo" to cover The Pixies song 'Where is My Mind' as I explained in the video it seemed to fit nicely with the two translations I could find into English of 'To The Extreme' or 'To The End'.

I always remember the scene at the end of Fight Club where the buildings are blowing up all around while the character’s Tyler Durden and Marla Singer sit and watch from the top of a nearby skyscraper. Where is My Mind is playing in the background and as the financial system collapses along with half of the major corporations in a America, I realised that this film spoke to a lot of the hidden mechanisms of power that keep patterns of control alive in this world.

For those who don't know the movie or ending I'm talking about here is a version of the ending I found on YouTube:

The Pixies 'Where is my Mind' does seem to encapsulate the theme that author Chuck Palahniuk sets out in Fight Club. For me it expresses the prompt "Hasta El Extremo" in its translation 'To The Extreme' as the whole point of the movie is one man's splitting of personality and fracturing of societal conditioning, building a cult-like following who finally take down the major institutions of the American state.

It is an anarchists dream written expertly, to the extreme, with skill and pathos.

I am a massive fan of Chuck Palahniuk as an author and highly recommend his other books, especially Choke and Survivor both of which are stand out for me, but not for the faint of heart.

Thanks for reading and listening to my version of 'Where is my Mind'.

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/upwfdaaw
As I said in the introduction to this cover, some people might think me completely crazy to cover Hurt (originally written and performed by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails) with the theme of this week’s Hive Open Mic 153 as Tú Estás Conmigo (in English: “You Are With Me.”).

There is no other time when I want my friends with me than at these times of loss, and although there is a strong overtone in the song Hurt (and there has been a lot of debate) whether the original artist Trent Reznor was writing about the loss incurred by, and caused to others, by drug addiction, the Johnny Cash version speaks to me of loss of a loved one, rather than loss of self.

It is literally the tune I play when I need a cathartic release, and it got me through the hardest loss I ever had to deal with when my best friend died eight years ago of alcoholic-related blood poisoning. It was Johnny Cash’s version I always play and was trying to emulate in my cover.

Johnny Cash Version:

So, I’d like to say to anyone else out there who has lost a loved one, or is morning right now “I Am With You.” I hope that through Hive we can reach across national divides, oceans and whole continents so that anyone reading or listening to this song can feel: You Are With Me, as I am with you!

It is a universal truth that we all grieve, and we all need support in this grief.

I’m sorry to be so depressing... I shall try to come up with a more upbeat song for the next hive open mic where I submit a song 😅

I include both YouTube versions of the original by Nine Inch Nails (which does contain a curse word) and the Johnny Cash cover which Trent Reznor praised for its “sincerity and meaning”, adding “that song isn’t mine anymore”.

Nine Inch Nails Version:

I can’t pretend to have done justice to either version.

I find it impossible to play the guitar and sing together while keeping my voice in tune. This is why I had to split the lyric audio and guitar before splicing them together in DaVinci Resolve video editor.

This was just my attempt to let out some of the hurt that I’ve felt the last two months with some more friends passing away, and maybe Tú Estás Conmigo (you are with me).

Thanks for reading 🌿

All photos and media design used in this post is my own.
Camera used: Samsung S7 Smart Phone.
To see me perform on-screen please visit my YouTube channel Mainly Poetry.
To hear more of my poetry please visit my SoundCloud channel Mainly Poetry.

I would also like to give a big shout-out to @stickupboys (because they asked me to tag them) and also for inspiring me to try my guitar-based busking once again on hive.

The last time I performed in the open mic we were still all posting to that suspect @ned owned network steemit rather than hive. If you want to check out the only other entry I ever made here is a YouTube version of an Irish folk Ballad called Shanagolden – an Irish folk song which is basically a love song from a widow to her deceased soldier husband, killed in the ancient wars against the English.

Skip to 1.09 to go right to the song without any intro.

I hope you enjoy/ed the music boys… after watching your entry I can see were on a whole different level. I.e. I’m the busker you see on the street and think ‘dude maybe think about another line of work’ and you guys are real musicians 😂

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/hbdwppcw

About the Poem

Diving with Dolphins is a poem I wrote many moons ago after a very special day’s scuba diving at the end of a weeklong Liveaboard scuba diving trip at the red sea in Egypt.

As we returned from diving open ocean sites such as Daedalus and Elphinstone Reef the captain stopped at a particular reef where he said a resident pod of dolphins often interacted with scuba divers.

The Egyptian boat crew had acted as lookouts and with smiles were shouting at us to gear up as dolphins were only twenty metres from the boat.

I can still remember the excitement as I put on all my gear and did my safety checks with my buddy at the time… I wasn’t to be disappointed.

After jumping in and descending to around ten metres the curious pod of dolphins passed above us at breakneck speed before circling back and swimming past us so close you could feel the backdraft from their powerful fins.

One young especially curious dolphin spent around fifteen minutes turning circles around us, hanging upside down above us and generally showing off how nimble it was to our clumsy human pod

I remember being sure that this guy was playing with us, and the intelligence in its eyes was undeniable. It is experiences like these that convince me that the majority of humankind has got it completely wrong in how they assess other animal species. Dolphins are perfectly adapted to their environment, highly social and exhibit both behaviours of teaching/learning and play.

We would do well to apply a different methodology in studying creatures like these by assuming they are as intelligent as we are, and then working backwards to find the truth of the matter rather than inventing experiments that assume they are of a lesser intelligence.

I have personally become convinced through interactions like these that it is not a matter of levels of intelligence, but rather types and applications of intelligence.
Please do check out the video reading, and let me know what you think in the comments.
Unfortunately, I didn’t own any dive camera during that trip, and the scuba divers who did weren’t open to giving up the footage they caught so I’ve had to use stock footage from pexels.com to illustrate the poetry film.

What do you think… does the poem and film adequately express the experience I had when scuba diving with a pod of wild dolphins?

Let me know in the comments 🙂

The poetry in this video is:

Attributions - All sources are creative commons.

Music: the music used in this track is in the public domain, free to use under copyright law. Link: Source

The digital art used as thumbnail in this post was made by me using a combination of deep dream generator & to GIMP to add titles. If you have enjoyed this poem you can check out my other work on my homepage @raj808.

Video Sources from Pexels.com:

https://www.pexels.com/video/a-pod-of-dolphins-hunting-sardines-5607991/
https://www.pexels.com/video/a-pod-of-dolphins-hunting-a-school-of-sardines-5607992/
https://www.pexels.com/video/group-of-dolphins-swimming-underwater-5277928/
https://www.pexels.com/video/video-of-a-under-the-sea-with-dolphins-4592360/

Thanks for watching 🌿

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Editing Poetry Videos

I spent some time today learning how to use DaVinci Resolve basic video editing suit for this poetry video, and I've got to say it is one hell of a decent bit of kit for a free editor.

No watermarks, plenty of effects/transitions and an intuitive user interface. Anyway, I'm not working on commission from blackmagicdesign.com who made the software, so I'll leave the big ups to a minimum 😂

About the PoemOpus of the Seasons is an original poem I wrote about the feelings inspired by the cyclic nature of reality and the changing of the seasons. It explores themes of renewal and the rhythmic patterns that nature engenders in the soul. The unending cycle of growth and decay that takes on a beautiful significance as we get older.

I find that the natural rhythms of the turning seasons can bring great comfort throughout life, in observing them we can come to terms with our own mortality on a much more profound level.

Anyway, enough of my poetic ramblings… the poem says it better than I can in prose.

Please do check out the video reading, and let me know what you think in the comments.
Do you find that the changing of the seasons elicit philosophical musings on the nature of existence?

The poetry in this video is:

Attributions - All sources are creative commons.

Music: the track is called Ashes, by Radical Face from noisetrade.com

The picture used to create the art in this post is from pixabay.com, creative commons. Please follow link to credit. I used deep dream generator to modify the image and GIMP to add titles. If you have enjoyed this poem you can check out my other work on my homepage @raj808.

Video Sources from Pexels.com:

https://www.pexels.com/video/a-raft-of-ducks-paddling-in-a-lake-4094960/

https://www.pexels.com/video/side-view-of-a-rapid-in-the-fast-flowing-river-5605957/

https://www.pexels.com/video/leaf-floating-on-water-854420/

Thanks for reading 🌿

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I have a tradition of selecting and creating a video reading of a famous poem at Christmas.

This year I’d like to share Ring Out Wild Bells by Alfred Tennyson, which I chose for its uplifting theme of redemption.

Although Tennyson was describing a religious redemption, and return to Christ, I find this poem ultimately profound in the context of our modern day society. Lines such as “Ring out the narrowing lust of gold” and “Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace” speak to a universal hope for humankind. Even outside of a religious context, these hopes hold true.

This is the power of Tennyson’s Christmas poem – to remind us of those truths eternal.

Ring Out, Wild Bells is part of Tennyson’s long elegy ‘In Memoriam’, which was published in 1850. This poem pretty much concludes Alfred Tennyson‘s elegy for his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly in 1833.

The poem encompasses themes of redemption and rebirth, reminding us of the new life that springs forth from the shadow of dying. In more immediate terms this poem shows the poet regaining his faith and overcoming his grief when hearing the bells ringing in Christmas Day.

Ring Out, Wild BellsRing out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.Source: poets.org

Creative Commons Licence Resources used to create this video:

Video by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/video/hands-festival-party-music-4440821/
Video by SwissHumanity Stories: https://www.pexels.com/video/footage-of-the-sunset-and-the-tower-of-the-church-3718052/
Video by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/video/hands-festival-party-music-4440825/
Video by Michael Bradley: https://www.pexels.com/video/video-of-a-stained-glass-art-8787194/
Video by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/video/stenciled-shadow-of-words-on-a-board-projecting-in-a-wall-3831767/
Video by Amar Preciado from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/soldiers-of-special-forces-13721791/
Video by StefWithAnF: https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-view-of-crystals-jewels-and-gold-6208744/
Creative Commons Music by Daniel Birch: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Daniel_Birch/Ambient_Bells/Glacier_Bells/

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bell-jar-gold-golden-ring-1015468/

Image by Gerhard Janson: https://pixabay.com/photos/bells-chains-isolated-christmas-2988754/

Image by Gerd Altmann: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/christmas-stars-ice-crystal-935458/

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This is a video of me performing two of my rare poems of a political nature.

These poems have been in development for quite a long time, and have gone through numerous edits, with the help of some very kind and knowledgeable friends who were on the same creative writing degree course as me.

I generally write poetry about nature, mythology, spirituality (meditation), haiku, and fantastical poems that fit in with the fantasy fiction novel I'm working on.

But when I do get political I pull no punches, and there is a small amount of swearing/curse words in these poems, although I would not call them NSFW. As a lifelong anarchist (the type of anarchist who rarely votes because there is literally no party out there that represents my ideals and views) these two poems reflect upon exactly why I don't prescribe to our current political systems.

These poems highlight how 'career politicians' are tied in with perpetuate industries like the arms trade, drivingthe mititary industrial complex and how international banking thrives on 3rd world debt slavery.

I have haevily edited this recording to included text within the video, and I spent a lot of time using audacity sound editing software to try and reduce the background noise, and music coming from the upstairs section of the bar. But I include no text version within this post as these two poems are being submitted to poetry journals that publish alternative and counter culture poetry/art.

I blurred out my face during this poetry reading due to the nature of the poems, and my desire to remain anonymous online on all platforms.

Thanks for watching.

All pictures in this post are my own, taken at the venue at the poetry event.

Poetry is:

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/johroqcw

Hive is full of ‘self-proclaimed’ crypto experts. It is also full of conspiracy theorists... and yes there are one or two crazy people out there as well.

Occasionally the two collide.

And that’s the case with master mentalist, conquistador of crazy and a warrior for the truth that they don't want you to know!

Crazy Pete!

After all... what is crazy? And what is a conspiracy? A conspiracy is just a truth that they don't want you to know!!

Please welcome Crazy Pete to 3speak where he's going to speak some truths about institutional investors of Bitcoin that might seem a little 'out there' 🤣 Of course Crazy Pete’s not talking about @theycallmedan, Crazy Pete has only respect for hive whales... Dolphins and Orcas... but no time for Musk Oxe's or Jack Rabbits 😉

Check out Crazy Pete's first video from way back in the day in November of 2018 - Crazy Pete’s Crypto Conspiracy - Futures Manipulation (Comedy Open Mic Round 39).

I'm afraid Dtube has dropped a massive turd on all of the videos I ever uploaded to their platform, so the original is not viewable at that link above. But fear not... crazy Pete shall not be silenced and some of what he said at the beginning of the bear market bears (excuse the pun) uncanny relevance to what we're seeing in the crypto markets today. Here is Crazy Pete back in 2018, the new video is listed at the top of the page published using the 3speak network, the home of truth and sticking it to the man 😂

I'd say it's worth watching this masterpiece in the art of the rant before moving on to the terrible truth of what is happening now with Bitcoin manipulation in the 3speak video at the top of the post.

To spread the fun and inspire some more hive comedy open mic madness I'd like to nominate @generikat & @buttcoins.

The opinions of Crazy Pete should never be considered investment advice. Crazy Pete is not a financial adviser and has no official qualifications. The opinions of Crazy Pete are not the opinions of raj808. Crazy Pete does not exist... or raj808 does not exist... or none of us exists. It's all a conspiracy!

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/iwndhfun

Unless you've been hiding behind a rock the last few weeks it has been impossible to miss out Elon MuskOxe's latest shenanigans.

Challenging Putin to single combat… the stakes, Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.

😂 to be honest I neither like nor dislike Elon Musk... he's a billionaire, they all act based on their preconceptions that the money/power they wield allows them leeway to do pretty much whatever they want.

But out of the lot of them Elon is at least entertaining, and he has some good ideas and vision around cleaning up (or at least slowing the destruction of) the planet.

Anyway, his latest twitter stunt did have me choking with laughter on my toast this morning so I decided to make a farcical comedy video of imagined reaction interviews from both Musk and Putin. Recording and placing the voiceovers on the videos was something of a labor of love and took me most of the afternoon.

Check out the video and let me know what you think in the comments... too soon? 😂

P.s. I apologise in advance for the terrible accents 😉

Thanks for Watching

The music used in this video is creative commons licence, by band Omniman, entitled The Reek of Madness

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/skocuzci
The poem I perform in this video was inspired by a trip I took to Mexico in 2016 where I was privileged to snorkel with Whale Shark near to Isla Mujeres.

Before I visited Mexico I was unaware what a group of whale sharks were called, in fact, I couldn’t even imagine what a group of whale sharks would look like or why they might gather!

Every year between June and September the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula near to Isla Mujeres (Women’s Isle) sees the greatest aggregation of whale sharks ever recorded. The world record of 420 whale sharks were observed here in a single aerial survey. The whale sharks were all gathered in an elliptical patch of ocean approximately 18 km2.

This cacophony of shark is attracted by a mass spawning of little tunny (tuna offspring). Throughout the summer months, the sharks can be found languidly swimming at the surface scooping up gargantuan mouthfuls of the microscopic tuna roe. Manta rays, golden eagle rays, sailfish and marlin are also common visitors to this feast throughout the summer months.

I can still remember the bumpy 5 am ride from my hostel in Tulum to the marina where the boat was moored at Puerto Morelos. After a 1.5 hour commute, I was raring to get on the boat and out on to the water.

The tour operators, Mexicowhalesharktours were very professional and insisted on going over the rules before we set out. When I first researched the tours that operated these snorkelling trips, my primary concern was for the wellbeing of these majestic creatures. I wrestled with my desire to swim with the whale sharks and the potential disturbance that we would be creating to their natural environment.

After a good deal of research, I discovered that the authorities in Cancun had recently put regulations in place to limit the number of boats allowed per day in the aggregation area. Additionally, there are fines to enforce these regulations. I felt satisfied that the benefits that eco-tourism brings (eliminating any chance of illegal shark fin fishing in the area) far outweighed the disturbance to the sharks. You can read more about responsible swimming practices when in the water with these gentle giants here.

As can be seen in the video poetry reading the boat powered over the waves, its bob and sway loosing butterflies in my stomach as I stared at the horizon to counter any motion sickness.

Seeing whale sharks is near the top of every divers bucket list and my excitement was bubbling over as I chatted with the other tourists and the boat operator. There was a young marine biologist from Cancun University along on the trip, I tried to chat to her about feeding habits and age ranges of the whale sharks in the area but her English wasn’t very good so most of our conversation was lost in translation. I remember thinking how much I regret giving up my Rosetta stone Spanish studies.

As my trip to Mexico was at the beginning of the season and I was flying back to the UK the next day it was not guaranteed that we would see any whale shark, the boat captain and the tour operators were explicit in stating that it was 50/50 at this time of year. I strained my neck to look over the bow of the boat as we powered along and eventually after about an hour of wondering and waiting I saw 3 boats in the distance! The captain spotted them at exactly the same time and as I pointed he grinned at me and nodded, “good sign”.

We approached slowly, the engine now a melodious purr as the other boats grew larger and suddenly they were all around us. To port and starboard large shapes could be seen gliding through the water. Only their mouths can be clearly seen above the water and due to the refraction of light, the scale of these creatures is not immediately apparent.

I counted at least 15 whale shark that I could see and as we marvelled at them swimming around the boat the marine biologist re-stated the rules and explained the procedure for swimming safely with the shark. The captain would move the boat into the path of a whale shark, and then we would jump off the side of the boat; 2 snorkelers at a time and the guide. The guide explained that the shark would veer to side past us and then we were to swim as fast as possible next to it.

As I leapt off the side of the boat I have to admit to feeling a little flutter of nerves. Whale sharks are harmless filter feeders and despite their massive size, they command a serine and gentle presence in the water. I swam for dear life! Finning manically next to this wonderful goliath, the sheer power of the shark astounded me! They move in a languid dance, a perfect balance between power and motion and their tails movement can be felt in the wake of the current.

I managed to have three encounters with these magnificent creatures throughout the day and each was as exciting as the previous. The whale sharks were all different sizes, although the largest was still an adolescent, maybe the size of a small single deck bus. On my final encounter, I was determined to free dive down to a reasonable depth to get a better perspective and maybe some better footage. Unfortunately, my fitness levels let me down as I found it difficult to swim at the surface to keep up while taking in enough oxygen to sustain any reasonable amount of time underwater. I did get some footage on the video but it is very shaky.

The day stretched on; a dream of grey and blue spotted mottled whale sharks, sculling through the turquoise fog of roe. I felt a contentment that I honestly believe was a kind of unconscious connection with the shark. As they idly zigzagged through the midday sun, caressed by the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea it struck me that this was an all-inclusive whale shark party going on right here and I felt privileged to be a part of it!

That night I returned to Tulum and decided to sleep on the beach. I have rarely felt so at peace than that night watching the sun go down and the murmur of the swell lapping at the tide line. I felt that unfathomable satisfaction when you realise a dream that you’ve held dear for a long time, when the reality is more fantastic than any of your previous imaginings.

It was while watching the sun set that I wrote the first draft of the poem ‘The Mother of Oceans.’

Thanks for reading 🦈

The music used in this video is creative commons licence, by Whitecat from the album: Beautiful Piano

All video footage is my own, filmed at the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico off the coast of Isla Mujeres in 2016.

Poetry is ©

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/eccgpzef
The Mersey's Lament is a psychedelic Stream Of Consciousness poetry video performance about the river Mersey and city of Liverpool.

I include a text version below for those who would like to read the poem as well 🙂

*The river flows through this dirty old town,

brown with rotten leaves of yesterday's autumns.

Streets choked with automatic thoughts

and lithe injections of conditioned perceptions.

Days merge with tides, a carousel

of cheese grater lines of poisonous powder.

The river runs through day-glow days

of pill hazed limited-by-nothing delusions.

Runs a roller coaster ride,

mind fried in the lap of desires.

Mountain mist christened in its depths,

where the city's breath expires.

The river runs a mile, spiralling reflected skies

until the whole opens out into sunset,

in grass scented cacophony.

The river flows in burs of trees,

murmuring breeze and whispered memories.

I take flight in that mingling murmur

of the Mersey, forging a path in its wake

from momentary life to memories echoed mistakes.

The river runs calico with sediment,

dreaming of rumbling buses

and a concrete lament.*

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/lzvqyulz

This poem is one of a series of poems that I wrote based in the ancient world. It is written from the perspective of someone in the Viking society and it deals with the transitory point between life and death.

The Space Between Worlds is a Ghazal, which is an ancient form of Arabic poetry. Its most well-known proponent is the Persian poet and Sufi master Rumi who was born in 1207. Rumi's Ghazal, and his poetry in general are amazing and encapsulate the mysticism of both divine and human love perfectly. If you want to read more of their work you can find it here.

The Ghazal as a form is expressed by in line rhymes and a repeated refrain at the end of each two (couplet) or three (tercet) line stanza. I decided to use a three line stanza, otherwise known as a tercet. This gives the poet more space to breath, and as I've deviated a little from form this was essential. Ghazal are traditionally made up of a sequence of independent stanza, which can all sit on their own as mini poems. As I wanted to tell a story and build a narrative this was difficult. I feel like I may have achieved independence for most of the tercet but one or two run on from each other to build a story within the structure of the poem. I did stick rigidly to the form in regards to the third line refrain which should be of one to three words that repeat, in this case branches of heaven.

I made this 3speak exclusive video reading as poetry is historically a spoken format, and is often more effective when performed by the writer. I especially wanted to perform this poem given that Norse mythology lies at its heart and to honour the Skald's (Norse poets) oral tradition.

I hope you enjoy the video, and poetry reading.

The media used in the video reading are creative commons licence. All images and video used are sourced from either pixabay.com or pixels.com, creative commons, check links to verify. Links: 1 2 3 4 5 and 6

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/wgrsbebd
The Legend of Danko is a Moldovan parable. There are different versions of this legend but it was first popularized by the Russian author Maxim Gorky who wrote his version as part of his work entitled Old Woman Izergil, published in 1895.

At the heart of the legend of Danko lie themes of arrogance and pride, along with love in the face of anger, and the power of the unwavering spirit. It also touches on humankind's deep psychological imperative to self-destruction and collective mania.

As with many legends, these themes resonate into the modern day. The wisdom in mythology has always fascinated me as the lessons behind them could act as a panacea for our collective mania, our modern day drive toward self-destruction.

I hope you enjoy the video, and poetry reading.

The music used in the video reading is from royalty free site, incompetech, please follow this link to verify. All images and video used are sourced from either pixabay.com or pixels.com, creative commons, check links to verify. Links: 1 2 3 4

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/bfhjgqtf
I recently read out three of my poems at a poetry night in my home city of Liverpool. The first of the three, “The Mermaid’s Sojourn” was very well received so I decided to make a video reading and share it here on 3speak.

The seed of inspiration for this poem comes from an ancient Cornish folktale is set in the village church of Zennor. I visited the church over ten years ago when the first draft of this poem was penned. It is a small humble church, beamed with ships wreckage; a gentle hill rises above the church leading to sheer cliffs beyond. I don’t want to say any more about Zenor or its history as that might ruin the effect of the poem.

More information about the Legend of The Mermaid of Zennor can be found here on Wikipedia.

All resources used to create this video are creative commons licence, free to use.

Please follow links to verify.

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Pic 5

Pic 6

Creative Commons Music:

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/pxbalttm
Feel the full pull of the hive power up day pudding by watching my subliminal gif-laden performance poem on the 3Speak video above. For those who prefer to read, here is the text version below.

Pudding Addiction I love hive pudding,

I eat it every day,

HPud morning, noon and night,

in each and every way...

scoffing a bowl of HPud

into these greedy guts,

makes me smile for a mile

while powering Hive up. I love hive in my pudding

with a sprinkle of HP,

for a tasty curation treat...

much better than msg. A cake with hive-icing

and HBD chocolate sauce,

when HPud day swings around

it's HPud for every course. Pancakes with maple syrup

curated in my dreams,

feeds my HPud gluttony

until I'm bursting at the seams

just like Mr creosotes

one wafer thin mint more,

and one more spoon of HPud

for the road

until... I'm groaning on the floor. If that powerful cautionary tale of Hpud pudding pop gluttony wasn't enough to convince you how much my love for pud runs deep like an eternal ice age of ice cream cake... here is a video from Aunty Donna which pretty much describes my house on Christmas day.

Mmnnnn... maybe a little bit more pud than that mate 🍰 😂

I powered up 530 hive today to bring my total Hive power to 14,006. I also bought and powered up 72 Leo (for a total of 596 LP) as I'm writing around 90% of my content now on @leofinace and have been accumulating Leo tokens in anticipation of an upcoming airdrop. For me today is a double whammy of Pudding. With HPud leading the way and a small helping of LeoPud as a pallet cleanser... ahhh, who am I kidding, I'm going to go break out the cake right now 😉

Hive power up day (HPud) was started by @ and is promoted by the Hive blockchain queen of gifs, @traciyork and the team at @hivebuzz. To learn more about hive power up day, check out Traci's announcement post - Welcome to #HivePUD (Hive Power Up Day), March 1st 2021.

The title image in this post was designed using a creative commons license source from pixabay and all gifs were ethically sourced from giphy.com.

If you have enjoyed this daft poem and promotional post, please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content.

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=raj808/rfqknhqy
First of all, I would like to say a big hello to everyone on the threespeak network. I have been creating content on steem (now on hive only) for nearly 4 years, but this is my first post on 3speak.

One of my main passions in life is creative writing. Short stories, poetry, novel writing, TV series pitches, comic books, graphic novels and script writing all fall under the category of creative writing.

Here on hive I post mainly cryptocurrency news, market analysis, tutorials, project reviews and opinion pieces on Leofinance. The shift to crypto-centric content came about organically. I know as a freelance writer that you need to write to a market, and that is primarily the market on hive right now. But I wanted to pay homage to my creative writing beginnings, and post something as an introduction that reflects my creativity while fitting in with 3speak’s ethos of free speech.

I spent some time this morning re-editing and adding new video and music to a spoken word performance of my poem, forty percent off.

Forty Percent Off explores disruptive themes highlighting the hidden costs of consumerism, the exploitation of 3rd world countries by the corporate west and the apathy of society toward these injustices. It is a wake up poem, expressing my anger specifically with how the fashion industry capitalizes on poverty and exploits people.

Threespeak is the platform of free speech, so this seemed like an appropriate poem for my first post here.

I hope you enjoyed the poetry performance.

All pictures, video and media used in this content are creative commons license from either pixabay.com, pixels.com, unsplash.com or YouTube creative commons music, please see links below to verify.

Meizong - Salt Mines (Creative Commons Music)

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/person-tying-his-shoes-857973

https://www.pexels.com/video/billboards-of-different-fashion-brands-1716043/

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/little-girl-playing-857837

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/woman-picking-out-clothes-853800

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/video-of-women-modelling-855563

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/city-at-night-timealpse-video-852379

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/aerial-shot-of-an-abandoned-factory-854412

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/black-and-white-video-of-people-853889

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/black-and-white-footage-of-train-station-853874

https://videos.pexels.com/videos/close-up-view-of-a-dollar-using-a-magnifying-glass-1797022

https://unsplash.com/photos/k7lWhRlO53U

https://pixabay.com/en/poor-child-labor-boy-little-3277840/

https://pixabay.com/en/child-sad-cry-help-hand-scared-1307653/

https://pixabay.com/en/letter-child-africa-poverty-2473799/

https://pixabay.com/en/bombed-building-destruction-war-932108/

https://pixabay.com/en/smoke-smoking-chimney-fireplace-258786/

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