Turning Stones

Over 100 poems in a new exciting anthology by 26 Subud members.

Introduction

Having spent most of my life in the architectural world wishing I was in the musical world, it is only in recent years that I have found myself unexpectedly back with one of my first loves - literature - albeit chiefly in the form of editing other people's work. The process always begins with obtaining the material, so part of the job is to listen to 'gossip' as to who is quietly doing what and then to target and cajole work from the victim! I describe this job as lifting stones and exposing what is underneath to the daylight. Perhaps this may not seem a very polite way to describe the contributors, but what is meant is that in Subud we have a cross section of all aspects of society and somewhere, often relatively hidden, there is talent unknown to the membership at large. So the aim is twofold, firstly to provide a way for members who have something to say actually to be heard and secondly to enable members to discover more about each other, hopefully in an entertaining, sometimes even an elevating manner.

It is precisely in this spirit that this anthology has been collected and is now presented to the reader, whether a member of Subud or an interested non-member. For the title I have changed Lifting Stones to Turning Stones, which is more enigmatic and seems to resonates with several meanings. Turning stones into bread would be a suitable analogy for the creative process (and, of course, the production process can be a grind at times), while ancient standing stones are sometimes said to mystically come to life and dance... but, as usual, I give too much away. It is the individual's imagination which counts. When I wrote a lot of poetry, in my late teens. I often had no idea what the first words meant or what the poem was to be about, but there was always a feeling of joy associated with this outflow from one's inner, usually neglected, world. The development of this inner part of oneself is, of course, precisely what Subud is all about.

Having advertised for material. I sat back half expecting there to be little or no response. How wrong I was. Here is a collection of poems of every style and on almost every subject one can think of. For the benefit of any non-Subud reader I should say that the only thing the contributors have in common is that they all belong to the spiritual brotherhood of Subud. The rather coarse net I have used to trawl this 'catch' means that probably there are many more poets who have not contributed, but there is always the possibility of a second slim volume in the future! I have used almost everything which was sent to me, yet I can say in all honesty that there is not a single poem which has failed to give me something. I very much hope that you, the reader, will be able to say the same.

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