Ode to rhubarb

Oh tang of tangs

Mouth puckering
Pink stemmed     

Tongue tantaliser

Whose slender naked

soury stalks

Be'nt fruit nor root

And not shoot neither.

Delectable
With duck
Or whipped
to blushing fools
A nation springly munches
Upon your petioles.

At thine sugar-soaked
Becrumbled best
and full cream
Custard drowned
There's not a tastier

Tartish treat on Earth

(Or I'd have found it. )

SHELL DARUWALA 2014

Listen to me read my ode to rhubarb:

http://soundcloud.com/rockvocals/ode-to-rhubarb

Links:

• The Guardian | How to make perfect crumble
• recipewise | Vanilla custard

Lost ideals

Cynics are simply lost idealists who cannot see a way to their dreams.

Shell Daruwala, 20 November 2013

Love's irony

the
        DEEPER
                          I
                               fall
                               feel.
                          I
         TALLER
the

Shell Daruwala 2012

Home roast: a short poem

Seeds spin green to warmth and whirr. Now golden their translucent skins dance skyward on sweet honeyed air. A crack, a pop replete and brown. The job's complete - let them cool down.

Shell Daruwala 13 November 2013

Bonfire night

Some twice his height they cowered
On Lewes' burning streets
Reduced to quaking shadows among the ancient beams.

Calmly the boy soldier smiled
His torch flaming high
As fiery hell's own maelstrom shook the very sky.

Shell Daruwala 
6 November 2013

On ego*

There is no such thing as a "healthy" ego.

Ego is a disease of the soul, consuming those it inhabits and condemning them to misery and isolation. 

The most beautiful gift of humanity - LOVE - cannot coexist with ego.

This is one of the most valuable lessons I have learnt so far in life.

Always remember that you are no more special than anyone else; whatever your position, however talented or fortunate. All our strengths are checked by our weaknesses - such is the inevitable balance of life.

Learn to laugh at yourself - while you don't others surely will, and good humour brings people together.

Take pride but shun arrogance - it won't win you friends.

Don't lay blame on others without first looking closely in the mirror.

And finally, drop the ego and let love in - None of us can do this alone.

* The term ego has many uses, but these observations refer to the inflated sense of self-worth.

Llanbedrog Bay

The Llyn Peninsula in North Wales is a magical place, and a place to which I know I will return many times over the years. The quality of light, and the natural beauty of the area and its surroundings (the peninsula is across the bay from Snowdonia National Park) is unique in the British Isles; though there are many other places as uniquely wonderful in their own ways!

I shot a series of shots with my Ricoh GR4 on an overcast morning at Llanbedrog Bay, then stitched them together to create this panorama. The line of brightly painted beach huts, in their bold primary colours, to the left of the bay, always brings a huge smile to my face.