https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/1806756/it-matters-if-you-want-it-to-matter?utm_source=Poetry%20Foundation&utm_campaign=5ba1007582-POETRY_FOUNDATION_NEWSLETTER%3A_THE_DAILY_MUDDLE&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ff7136981c-5ba1007582-185545637&mc_cid=5ba1007582&mc_eid=548544474a

  I lost my hand in an accident

Down in et old coal mine.

And now I can’t afford too eat. They treat us poor like swine.

I wander round et roads and streets Where us childer used to play.

And as I walk ahm wonderin’

Where I’ll get fed t’day.

Yet I know there’s magic for I saw Ten thousand angels filled with joy

Their voices ,soft like molten gold, Just as the Bible had foretold.

I saw three Shepherds cross our street

Though us folk have no flocks of sheep.

I saw three Magi comin’ here

They were stood right over there. One had gold and one had myrrh, Frankincense the third King bore.

As I’ve no job to tie me down

I followed them to Bethlehem town. And in a manger lay the Christ,

As round the world,your rich men diced.

Mary touched my wounded soul. Jesus’ life has made me whole You see a tramp beg in your Malls, You don’t see Jesus Christ at all. Yet I, a tramp,a worthless man, Have seen the heart of Bethlehem

One day Mary decided to take an IQ test. To be completely honest ,it was her best friend Annie who wanted her to take the test because she believed that Mary was the most intelligent person in Knittingham

Mary foundthe test rather boring but she completed it in four hours approximately.

Then Annie marked it for her using a booklet supplied with the test

You have got a score of 65 she said souvnding annoyed

The average score is 98, 65 makes you an imbecile.

How on earth did you learn to read and write when you are an imbecile?

Well Mary told her in a kind voice

The main point is I did not know that I was an imbecile and so I just learned to read the way all the other children did and since my father did ornamental gold lettering in churches, I must have inherited is talent for beautiful handwriting.

Why don’t we have a nice hot cup of tea said Annie thoughtfully.

She had always believed that Mary was more intelligent than she was but now it seems that Mary was just more hard-working and had a stronger desire to learn

I think because Mary wore glasses she thought to herself she must have lhought she had to be an intellectual. After all people never read books rarely wear spectacles although that may change now with the advent of modern technology.

Emile was very puzzled because neither of the women had dialled 999 for an ambulance today and he was very keen to see Dave the paramedic and to find out how he was coping with the hot weather.

So  he bit Mary on the leg

You imbecile, she shouted.

Well that’s a compliment said the cat because you are an imbecile and yet you have been to university and got two degrees.

Twi degrees of what  he thought to himself but as he was a cat he was used to keeping secrets and so he did not say anything

In fact he was relieved because he thought that as Mary had two degrees her temperature must be low and therefore she was not getting sepsis.

Because when you get sepsis your temperature usually rises rapidly and dangerously although occasionally it can fall very low and at the same time as that the blood pressure drops.

The organs begin to struggle and indeed wherln Mary had sepsis she did not pass any urine for 36 hours which was very fortunate because she was on a trolley in the corridor all that time.

Similarly she is delighted when she friend have blood pressure was low not realizing it was a sign of danger

After all many older people feel their doctor would only be happy if their blood pressure was zero. And if they were dead well does it really matter? After all like Mary maybe I’m an imbecile too.

So don’t worry about your intelligence level because 

imbeciles r us

It’s interest, enthusiasm, desire and work that get you to somewhere worth going to.

As long as you can read and write the world is your oyster or you don’t like horses replace it with your own favorite food although it doesn’t sound very wise to say the world is your Weetabix all the world is your meringue so please let me know what you would like me to put instead of oyster

Please lie down.Tell me what brings you here
Not literally?            [ could be autistic]
No, you are always here in a sense.
Well, you know English is not my first language [ excuses]
No,  you were here before language.How hard to imagine.
I have come here because of my guilt   [ trying to be human ]
I’ll be judge, I’ll be  jury, said cunning old fury

Very adroit [Shows off his skills]
What’s  that?
The opposite of maladroit
Why did you send the Flood over the earth\~
I pressed the wrong button.                [Teases me]
That is absurd. There were no buttons then
Not even on coats?                    [Pretends to be ignorant]
Well you should know
I don’t like little  details in my creatiity           [ Thinks he is superior]
Come on, tell me whatever comes to mind
I like playing with water and fire as well          [ Melanie Klein  come here]
You tell me
It’s such fun                         [ emotionally stunted]
Like War?
It was not so bad to start with { always an excuse…. lacking in adult responsibility]
What, even Cain and Abel?
Very sad but it’s just a story      [ Derrida,Levinas, Enid Blyton]
Don’t tell me you are a post modernist
I can be what I want , for  fun you know    [ repeats himself]
I didn’t know God has fun
Well you do now           [ Humour]

Right that is £120

What, you think I should pay?           [ feels superior]
I have to live,Lord.I have a family [     childish plea]
So  did I once             [Sarcasm and grief]
Well,  any alternative?
I’ll  give you  an indulgence/
How about Martin Luther?
Should he have one?
Why not, he’s just human like you.
But Hitler?
I retain the right to silence        [ knows the law]

Well when you stop sulking make another appointment
Can no-one help me?
Don’t give up hope.
Goodbye for now.

I wish we were in Blythburgh again .

By the floodlit church on holy nights

The angels in the roof eternal, pure

A gift to eye and heart and mind and sight 

Down the river near to Southworld town 

The ferryman will row you in his boat. 

For just 10 shillings you can get across. 

Already in my purse I have some notes

We sat high on the harbour wall one day

Beside the marsh the footpath gave delight

You could hear the crickets’ wings and you could pray

Ahead was Southworld and its built delights

I see it now but in my own mind’s eye

For you are gone and I have said goodbye

You are smiling on the pier above the sands

The rippling waves stretchef out like children’s hands

You look so strong I cannot comprehend

Your fatal illness and its grievous end

You were never  patient on dry land

You were living well and  feeling grand

We crossed the road ; I held your cold thin hand

  I suffered so much torment,would I mend?

I saw a fluid shape as dark it pranced

Through the open door it swiftly danced il

With the  well known wiles of Tudor kings

Hoping they can make it on the wing

I learned with grief , it came to take you back.

Across the river wide ,my love, my lack

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/heatwave-how-to-cope-in-hot-weather/

Stepping Stones

I loved the stepping stones near Ambleside
The river Rothay runs into the Mere
Mingling with the Brathay day and night

In my childish state I wished to die
To make the joy eternal, evermore
I loved the stepping stones near Ambleside

But we went on to Grasmere,Wordsworth’s guide
The river Rothay never suffered here
Mingling with the Brathay day and night

As a child I often was denied
The joy of nature,love but never fear
I loved the stepping stones near Ambleside

The rivers make no effort, down they ride
so should humans live and love sincere
Mingling with our Natures day and night

Life may be a mountain or a mere
The rivers flow, the stones are waiting clear
I loved the stepping stones near Ambleside
Crossing this dear water day and night

Oh,doctor I am in a flap
I cannot turn this childproof cap
I cannot take my medicine
So I shall chuck it in the bin

The beta blockers make me down
So I am in a study brown.
The mini aspirins make me bruise
And my mind is quite confused.

The ibuprofen hurt my heart
Yet without one I can’t start.
The thyroxine has no effect
So what rot may I select?

The codeine fails to make me high
I’m not addicted,though I try.
I’ll have to take a shot of gin
And alcohol will make me sin.

I’ll go to parties in a dress
That makes men’s hormones more or less.
I’ll take a big one home with me,
And give him poison in his tea.

And when I am in jail, at last,
I’ll feel remorse for all my past.
For as I suffer dreadful pain
God has hit me yet again.

It’s not enough that I’m half blind
And suffer terrors in my mind
Not enough that lovers cruel
Give me stick instead of jewels.

Or maybe life does not make sense
Especially when one feels so tense.
Maybe random are my days
and my life has gone astray.

I think that I shall buy a cat
And love it tenderly and chat.
But if my cat gives me a scratch…
I’ll light its tail up with a match.

All the world must me obey
Else I’ll be enraged all day.
I want my own way all the time.
Other people must conform.

I am here and full of ills
What do you think of those blue pills?
If they take away my heart
That at least will be a start.

Then they can remove my brain
To help me with this ghastly pain.
Why not kill me straight away
Then I’ll be from pain astray?

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/triolet

Triolet
The summer weighs us down with sullen heat
Even cats and dogs sit blank as stones
Gone are lovely flowers with fragrance sweet
Late summer weighs us down with bullying heat
The hot flagstones return my angry beat
As gaudy people sweat with ears to phones.
How summer weighs us down with sullen heat
Now all cats and dogs are turned to stone

A triolet is a short poem

It has two lines which  will repeat

Others which are free to roam

A triolet is a short poem

It comes from wise yet stable home

Make it tart or make it sweet

A triolet  is a short poem

It has two line, it has a beat.

As hidebound as a leather chair-

As thoughtless as a broom;

He is more stuck  than is despair

Which hovers round his room

Hurt by  bullies in his school.

He made protective rules.

Never go out  with a girl

Never aid a fool.

Never vote in case you err

Never wear red  socks.

Be angry that life’s  so unfair

Live inside a box.

Always say your prayers at night#

Never read in bed

And never ever think about

What  you might do instead.

His menu was so regular,

From  change he gained no pleasure

He cut his meat up with  an axe

To make it hard to measure.

He counted every step he took

And every time he  wheezed.

He wrote it in his diary

And this act made him sneeze.

He was allergic to the air;

Allergic to the sun;

At least the tickle in his throat,

Made him laugh in fun.

He had a job with a big bank

He always wore a suit

Till one day his colleague said

That only plants had roots.

The implication seemed to be

He was in stasis glued.

He always wore the same old clothes

And ate the same old food.

Could he help himself and how?

Could he be softer skinned?

He dreamed he climbed up a great cliff

Despite  the gale and wind.

And so he  left the bank and moved

To work in a coal mine.

He crawled along the tunnels black

And measured them with twine

.

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• Villanelle for an Anniversary By Seamus Heaney
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• Apostrophe poem

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«

What the hell,a villanelle!
It looks too hard for such as me
Still I will write ,yes,I write well

I have a story I can tell
It’s from the English who love tea
What a hell,oh villanelle

I saw a man with a sea shell
I asked him for a pod of pea
I write well.yeah, super Nell

I often wonder if I smell
As I drink so much greenish tea
What’s s to tell ,my villanelle?

But worry makes life into hell
And it’s bad for those who see
I write well,but who can tell?

I must take much charity
If you ask, what is your fee?
What the hell oh villanelle
I write well but life is hell.

Famous poem by Matthew Arnold

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43592/isolation-to-marguerite

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43588/dover-beach

BBC News – ‘Rare’ paintings in Piccotts End cottage under threat – BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-26548451?app-referrer=deep-link

When Mary came out of the ‘chiropody clinic, she walked round the corner to the new cafe where she ate a piece of cake and had a cup of tea .The cafe was almost empty and the waitress seemed delighted to see her ;she sat gazing at the old Tudor wall across the road. The cake was delicious, indeed it was sinful to a normal person and deadly to a diabetic.
After drinking her tea she went into the Polish shop to buy some of their wonderful bread. The only problem with their food was that all the labels were in Polish and Mary decided that she had enough to do without learning Polish
As she approached the till by the door, a young woman seemed to be having some trouble with her groceries. She looked in her purse, she looked at the assistant she seemed to be trying to remove some other groceries but could not make up her mind which to keep and which to leave behind ; she took a credit card out of her bag but it was not accepted
Mary realised that this young woman could not actually afford to buy the food that she needed and Mary’s arthritis was very bad. Selfishly, she asked the young lady if she could not pay for her food.
No I can’t ,said the lady anxiously
And do you have some children at home Mary asked her ?

Yes the lady said
Mary turn to the shop assistant and said “I will pay for this lady’s food and for my loaf. then she turned to the woman and said to her
“You can give this money to the poor at Christmas” thinking to herself that it would not seem so rude to pay the bills and assume that the young woman would do nothing in return
Isabelle, as this Polish lady liked to call herself, was amazed by this old English lady with excessively short hair standing on end like the head the toothbrush

What ,you are paying for my food ?
Definitely said Mary thinking to herself that she had just spent 5 pounds in the cafe when she didn’t really need a piece of chocolate cake
Suddenly Isabelle came to Mary and asked her her name ;she hugged her closely and whispered I will pray for you as she kissed Mary’s cheek
Thank you so much, said Mary. She gave the shopkeeper a note then she took the bread and walked up the road past the shop selling baths and lavatories in amazing beautiful white china;there were lots of school boys standing in groups chatting and laughing
I’m glad you’re all having a good time, Mary said to them with a smile
I don’t think I’m going to tell Annie about this, she thought to herself ;she might think I’m stupid for paying somebody else’s bill but isn’t it nice to think that we can do these actions purely because we are suffering from arthritis and can’t stand in a queue
So it looks like illness does have certain benefits like making us more generous to other people
At the bus stop a crowd of wet and damp people were waiting and unfortunately it was quite dark as well
I wonder if I will be able to get on the bus, thought Mary. she stood there in her light teal coloured woolen winter coat from Lands End in the sale last year with a pink fleece hat meant to protect her from the rain and at the same time to completely ruin her hairstyle
On her face she was wearing a moisturiser which was also a sun screen and on her full lips she wore coral coloured lipstick from Reverend Makeup for ex Christians made with holy water blessed by the Bisho of Bath and Wells. in the West of England as it ran down the road
Her mascara was said to be waterproof but eating the chocolate cake in the cafe had made her weep with joy so her mascara had run down her face making her look like a zebra in human form
Fortunately, Mary did not know about this and she stood at the bus stop or rather sat at the bus stop on a horrible plastic seat. Imagine how bl she looked…… rather peculiar but then Mary always has looeds peculiar even when she was a young woman with golden hair that ran down her back in ripples like waves breaking on the seashore except that they did not make any sound as they waved in the Breeze and had no deep melancholy roar,as Mattthew Arnold might have written
It is quite true that the sea of faith seems to have disappeared but maybe there is a pool of faith somewhere were some goldfish might be Baptised By the parish priest now that the number of people going to church had declined dramatically.Sexual misbehaviour and even rape had destroyed a lot of young people who had trusted the priests and so never were able to enjoy a normal sex life with a chosen partner
No doubt many people do not have much love and sexual pleasure and they may be too shy to approach anyone .Why is life so hard? Some people have luck and others have terror and hunger,even torture

The bus drove up the road in the dark with a neon Street light flashing in a horrible manner; she did not like that colour and wondered if anyone might want to change it to something like silvery gold especially at Christmas time
When Mary got home she rang her old school friend Margaret.
Margaret, I am so selfish I paid a woman’s bill so I wouldn’t have to stand behind her waiting to pay or to come out of the shop without any bread at all
That’s a funny way of looking at it said Margaret it was very nice that you suggested that she give the money to charity at Christ.mas because then it’s being passed along from one person to another to the benefit of everybody
You are so clever, Margaret. I wonder what Annie will think. I wonder what Emile will think also being a cat he is not very expert at dealing with money or shopping ;he thinks that we should go out and kill something that we found in somebody’s in back gardens and then we can eat it raw and so we won’t have any washing up. If ever there was something other than snails and worms in Mary’s back garden maybe she would have taken the cat’s advice

What would I eat Mary thought.. a fox, a hedgehog, a lion, a dog ? I’m afraid I could only eat the leaves off the forsythia and maybe some holly berries since it’s Christmas I don’t think that will be easy to digest. not much protein in that. Maybe I’ll eat Emile and then we’ll see what he thinks!
I think I might be getting dementia she thought to herself.
I’d better go to McDonald’s and have a cheeseburger and a large portion of chips followed by a large tub of ice cream I’m sure that’s better than eating things in the garden.

I wondered if Annie would like to come to McDonald’s? it will be a change from the kind of food we normally eat like roast beef and Yorkshire puddings or lamb chops on a bed of onions and tomato. Topside with green peas or Lancashire Hotpot yum yum I wonder if they sell steak an kidney pudding anywhere in a restaurant?
When Mary hung up she was so tired she fell asleep on the sofa and when she woke up it was late; she had some Weetabix protein and went to bed where Emile was already lying trying to warm it up for her and to save her money from using the electric blanket too much
Emile is a very thoughtful cat ;perhaps he would like to go to McDonald’s as well in Mary’s handbag.
I shall ask him in the morning she thought and then she dreamt about the bottom of the ocean and all the beautiful fish that swim ; she saw Stan trying to explain social statistics to a mermaid.
What a terrifying sight. So that’s where he is, she cried not in heaven with Jesus .l I think Jesus would understand that some old men still love women even after they have died and any women around might be mermaids who have been living in the sea of faith for 2000 years and will be living there much longer we all hope
And so say all of us

).

 

A  melancholic character  to gain
Is hard  if you  dislike sin,dirt and grime
Practising deep sadness with grey hope
We toy with food and wildly,  madly mope
No aid for those who love a gentle rhyme

No interest in the world ,it’s all’s the same
No love for fun nor learning any games
No studying   or learning how to cope
Oh, melancholy

 

We see too  many people we can blame
For  fog that came down like a sudden crime
As fast in speed as fearful antelopes
While  elephants phlegmatic stand and gawp
My mind is reeling from the knee deep dark
Ah, melancholy

https://www.penwellgabeltopeka.com/Blog/6245/Melancoliesculpture

Melancholy, the emptiness that incapacitates us through grief

Melancholy, a sculpture created by Albert Gyorgy, portrays the void that grief leaves us with. The sculpture depicts a figure made of copper sitting on a bench slumped over, with a giant hole in the center of it. This hole represents the massive void that we all feel when we lose someone dear to us, and many people have expressed their appreciation for this sculpture for it portraying the exact emotions they feel, but perhaps haven’t been able to quite put into words.
Albert Gyorgy felt intense sadness and isolation with the loss of his wife and went on to create this beautiful piece of artwork as a way to cope. A photo of this sculpture has been shared on Facebook over 200,000 times by various people who’ve suffered a loss in their life. Strangers have united to share their unfortunate experiences with loss, and have expressed words of sympathy to one another. .
Many people feel they can relate to this piece of artwork in various ways, through grief, but also through mental illness. The void in this art can represent a multitude of emotions that we all face. It is relatable as we have all likely felt lost and empty at some point in our lives, and it brings people together knowing they’re not facing these hardships alone.
As dark as this artwork may be, it serves as some sort of comfort to those who’ve experienced a loss, as they feel they identify with this sculpture. This famous sculpture can be found at Lake Geneva, Switzerland, and proves to be a popular tourist attraction. If you find yourself on a European vacation, consider paying a visit to this beautiful sculpture and grasping the deep meaning it portrays.

See the original Facebook post here.

My sister painted this picture a few months ago.

Oh,melancholy you are always near.

http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/11/28/against-happiness-melancholy-wilson/

I

It may be a surprise to some English people or British people that black nurses in the hospitals are paid the same as the white nurses

Everyon whose first language is not English needs to pass an English examination even if they are fully qualified in their own country.

Nursing is not a job for unqualified and thoughtless people

We have nurses from other countries here because there aren’t enough British ones and no not all unemployed young people are suitable to be nurses and even if they are it would take four years to get them qualified.

Nurses also need to be numerate because they have to give out medication and drugs

https://theconversation.com/eight-ways-to-sleep-well-in-hot-weather-285434

My photo

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/jun/18/poetry-can-heal-it-helped-me-through-depression

Extract:

For me, poetry is medicine. The poet Les Murray writes: “I’d disapproved of using poetry as personal therapy, but the Black Dog taught me better. Get sick enough, and you’ll use any remedy you’ve got.” In the 19th century, people in asylums were encouraged to write poetry, while William Cowper (1731-1800) wrote that, in his depressions, “I find writing, especially poetry, my best remedy.” Orpheus was both healer and poet and his lyre could vanquish melancholy.

Against sadness:no-one here can weep
Nor lounge about in melancholy deep.
Was Van Gogh senseless to permit his muse.
For his masterpieces ,was the price too steep?
We see the yellow chair but not his views
Nor his mind where technique made such leaps.
Nor was his journey broadcast on the news.
Against sadness.

Happiness or joy is hard to find
When we rest, the News preys on our minds
Yet some are cold towards the slaughtered priest
His nose a beak of bone in old face lined
Now Muslims go to Mass and join Christ’s feast
Against sadness.

What rages in the mind make men kill thus?
In many wars the innocents fare worse.
But these are our near neighbours so we weep
And wonder how to end the frightening curse
The sins we once committed hold us deep
We hold our hands out wanting to be nursed
Against sadness