I’ll think I’ll have to make myself more tea

I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea
But first I’ll scan a photo of my love.
He looks just like he looked when he met me.

How hard can scanning photos truly be?
I pray for aid to helpers from above
I’ll think I’ll  have to make myself  more tea

I see him now so vibrant by the sea.
He bought me Chanel soap and leather gloves
He laughs just like he laughed and joked with me.

If he were here he’d remonstrate with me.
Obsessed by a desire that pulls and shoves.
I ‘ll have to make  a sandwich and  more tea

I took such photos when we sawTralee.
And Cornwall, Benidorm and Ladbrook Grove
He smiles just like he smiled when he saw me.

Why did Cohen sing of holy doves?
Why are joy and woe so finely wove?
I think I’ll make myself a pot of tea
My husband looks in reverie at me.

 

I see the acers coming into bud.

Rain falls lightly in the winter wood,
Dampening stones that make a pathway through
The overgrown, the old trees and the new.
The odour of the rain on grass is good

I see the acers coming into bud.
The daffodils are waving as I view.
The lily pond is lonely without you.
We used to feed a robin when we could

 

After Mass on Sunday mornings then
We’d drive to woods  and walk to lessen strain.
But now I cannot write, I clutch your pen.
My inspiration gives me life again.

 

Without your hand in mine, I walk quite lame.
The dampness on my face is tears, not rain

 

 

 

Want to try writing a sonnet?

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How to Write a Sonnet Poem in 7 Steps

 

“The poem, “My Letters! all dead paper…”(Sonnet 28) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is an example of an Italian sonnet. The rhyming words are shown in bold, and the rhyme scheme is represented in the letters at the end of each line.

My letters! all dead paper, mute and white! (a)
And yet they seem alive and quivering (b)
Against my tremulous hands which loose the string (b)
And let them drop down on my knee tonight. (a)

This said he wished to have me in his sight (a)
Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring (b)
To come and touch my hand. . . a simple thing, (b)
Yes I wept for it�this . . . the paper’s light. . .(a)

Said, Dear, I love thee; and I sank and quailed (c)
As if God’s future thundered on my past. (d)
This said, I am thine�and so its ink has paled (c)
With lying at my heart that beat too fast. (d)
And this . . . 0 Love, thy words have ill availed (c)
If, what this said, I dared repeat at last!.”(d)

The English /Shakespearean sonnet has the following, looser rhyme scheme:

  • abab
  • cdcd
  • efef
  • gg

Let’s look at a Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18.” Once again, the rhyming words are shown in bold, and the rhyme scheme is reflected in the letters at the end of each line.

Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day? (a)
Thou art more lovely and more temperate (b)
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a)
And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date: (b)

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c)
And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d; (d)
And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c)
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d: (d)

But thy eternal Summer shall not fade (e)
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (f)
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, (e)
When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (f)

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, (g)
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (g)”

Let the eyes graze till they change the forms

 

In order to create  we move the lines
The  boundaries or the edges of the  forms
Co-created, neither  yours nor mine

 

Who was it who made the first designs?
To start with it is frightening then  more calm
In order to create  we move the lines

 

How we do it,  can we now define?
Let  the  eyes  graze  till  they leave the norm
Co-created, neither  yours nor mine

 


Let the colours wander  till  combined
Reverse the   ground  and let new figures form
In order to create, arrange the lines

 

If it’s common keep it unrefined
Don’t  impress with artificial charm
Co-created, neither  yours nor mine

 

Like Picasso, you may cause alarm
Keep the secret locked  away from harm
In order to create  we move the lines
When created, it’s both yours  and  mine

Write your own villanelle

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Capel Manor Horticultural College

[I don’t do it the way below   with the rhymes chosen first but try it]

 

http://classicalpoets.org/how-to-write-a-villanelle-with-examples/

 

I find it easier to build two rhyming metered lines. For this example, I have chosen to use friendship as a theme, and I am going to use iambic pentameter… not because it’s required for the form, but because I like the cadence it produces.

With this in mind, after some deliberation, my two refrain lines will be:

(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

This meter decision and the creation of these two lines is the most difficult part of the villanelle crafting process. Once you have written these echoing lines that fit together, you can create the framework of poetic feet that will comprise the poem itself. Following the villanelle’s pattern, I get:

Note: in this pattern, (-) will represent a soft syllable, and (=) will represent a hard one with (|) as a separator between feet.

(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

 

As you can see, we need 5 (a) lines, and 6 (b) lines to complete the poem, and these must flow within the theme. Since I already know the rhyme sound for (a), I chose the following list:  you, too, blue, new, view

I then chose six keywords that rhymed with each other that felt like good accents to this list:  comprehend, friend, pretend, send, mend, end

By plugging these into the pattern, and then creating iambic feet that rounded out the meter, I was able to build a nice poem that fit the theme.

 

Hold My Hand In Yours

Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
If life becomes too hard to comprehend,
for no one understands me like you do.

Along life’s lonely road, I’ll walk with you.
When times are hard, please know you have a friend.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

I’m here for you. You give me your strength too;
my courage is no longer just pretend,
for no one understands me like you do.

My friend, I’ll cheer you up when you are blue,
A smile, my heart to yours will always send.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

If I am down, you make me feel brand new
You know the way, my broken heart to mend,
for no one understands me like you do.

Though oft times life presents a horrid view,
Together we can face the bitter end.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through,
for no one understands me like you do.

© 2016, Dusty Grein

 

It may not be Dylan Thomas, but I kind of like the result. It could stand a bit of editing and some polishing, but it is a solid foundation.

As you can see, the crafting of a classic metered poem, even in a form as rigid as the villanelle, is something that can be challenging, yet fun. Writing metered rhymes in these types of forms will help you grow as a poet, and I encourage you to challenge yourself, and see what happens.

Other Villanelles published by the Society of Classical Poets

Apes or Angels
Gospel According to Hoffman-Laroche
Villanelles for Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China
Coming Out, a Holocaust Vilanelle
Camino D’Oro

 

Dusty Grein is an author, poet and graphics designer from Federal Way, Washington. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where his 15 year old daughter is hard at work securing her college degree while still in high school, and raising him right. When he is not busy writing, he donates a great deal of his time and graphics talent. In honor of his grandson Eddy, lost to SIDS at 13 weeks old, he creates free memorial images for bereaved families, with a special focus on infant and pregnancy loss. His blog, From Grandpa’s Heart… is followed by fans around the world.

When it’s here

 

 

When sick with flu,  Lord Death  feels all too near
it is indeed a sleep by will desired
Without distress nor shedding of a tear

 

  Perhaps our destiny has brought us here
 Those who ‘re   often truthful  are still liars
 At certain times we feel  the death dance near
In the dark, the demons seem to leer
As wrestlers now they throw us on the pyre
Show no distress nor shed a single tear

 

We won’t  inhabit life  in  subtle fear
We’ve been thrown and pinned onto barbed wire.
At evening  time we feel  our breath draw fire.

 

 
If only  those I loved   had  lingered  years
That I have been estranged in ruined choirs
Hiding my distress In sheets of tears

 

There is no rescue from these gnarled  briars
  Let God and nature   warm me with sun’s fires
Winter- tired and weary, death  lurks near
Greet the end quite calmly when it’s here.

Trying and failing is simply the way ….

I remember someone, possibly Edison saying, I have not failed 150  times I have experimented in 150 different ways and I believe that trying and failing is simply the way we get to know the problem better if we do everything right the first time we do not learn as much.  Vision and perception are crucial in solving problems or in creation. True perception takes time. it is not instant.And we make mistakes which we learn from.Otherwise we go stiff like unused joints

The Difference Between Lack and Absence


by Annie Diamond

Both mean not having, but one means missing too.
Absence can be welcome, but lack implies desire—
the absence of some noise, a lack of you

might be a good example. And it’s true
that lack makes judgment, means that we require
the thing that’s gone (a constant aching, too)

while absence just reports; we can make do
with smaller things; it doesn’t sound so dire.
Who needs the noise? (But I need you.)

Absence lets us start anew,
while lacking keeps us laced to its dark pyre.
Both are not having, but one is missing too,

and wanting nothing more than to undo
whatever sins caused lacking to transpire.
The noise is done, and so, I guess, are you

with me. In verse I struggle to subdue
my restless heart. (The lacking makes me tired.)
Both mean not having; one means missing too—
the absence of some noise, a lack of you.

Annie Diamond is a student at Barnard College, a private women’s liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University. She has also studied abroad at Mansfield College, one of the constituent colleges of Oxford University in England. She recently completed her sophomore year at Barnard College, where she studies English and creative writing. Her work has been published in Apt, Avatar Review, Clockwise Cat, The Columbia Review and The Lyric. She was awarded first prize in The Lyric‘s College Poetry Contest for her villanelle “The Difference Between Lack and Absence.” The same poem later won the Lyric Memorial Prize and was named the best poem to appear in The Lyric for the year 2013. Her favorite writing spot is the Hungarian Pastry Shop on New York City’s 111th Street, and her number one life ambition is to appear on Jeopardy.

“It was my honor and pleasure to judge The Lyric‘s yearly and quarterly awards. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my favorite poem for the year 2013 was written by a college student, Annie Diamond. I believe she has a very bright future.”—Michael R. Burch

A Poison Tree by Wm Blake

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I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water’d it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

From American Life in Poetry

 Here’s Carol V. Davis of Los Angeles, pitching horseshoes with an admiral. This poem is from her most recent book, Because I Cannot Leave This Body, from Truman State University Press.

Admiral Nimitz

Every day in summer I’d cross the border;
he’d nod, pick up the horseshoes,
hand me one, triple the size
of my palm, and say, You first. We’d play
away the afternoon. Few words
punctuated the clank of horseshoe
against stake, until the fog rolled in
and I’d retrace my steps home.
I was five or six; he, white haired,
however old that meant.

One evening my father sat me down,
spoke in the exaggerated tone
adults adapt for children, asked
if I knew who he was.
Admiral Nimitz, of course, though
I knew nothing of his command
of the Pacific Fleet and was less impressed
than if he’d landed a horseshoe.

He was a calm man, a useful attribute
for sending young men to their deaths.
The only time I saw him upset,
raccoons had invaded from their hideouts
in the hills, attacked the goldfish in his pond,
leaving muddy footprints as they escaped.
As far as I knew, this was his only de

The number of things in your house is not infinite

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You may be surprised to learn that some of the ideas in religion can help you control your home and your possessions.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” is part of the Sermon on the Mount but also Jesus said to the rich young man to give away all his physical  possessions
I don’t think we can give away all our possessions if we live here in 2017 but we can certainly give some of them. It will help the poor , as I said when I  gave away my winter coat that someone else will be glad of it.The  fewer possessions  we have the less storage space we need and also it will save time  in  caring for these  possessions and give us time for creativity, meditation and fun

Before we start on creating more storage space or tidying up what we have it is sensible to look at our possessions and see if we have duplicates or just too many things.  I have got too much cutlery now. Before you give away possessions that you once needed for entertaining, show yourself some mercy because you may be sad over the fact that you can no longer entertain people in the way that you used to do.
You may find that you have a lot of maps and guidebooks about places where you used to holiday and it may be just as well to give these away. and likewise, if you are retired you may be able to give away books or other possessions relating to your job [if you are fortunate enough to have had that kind of job.]
Little by little wander through your rooms thinking the unthinkable. Have you got broken lamps or broken electrical goods that you intended to have repaired but you never did?
I decided to make some images with my camera which of these broken objects as a project of images which symbolise that we will never be other than broken as people ; that we will never be perfect .When I have finished this project I will give away these objects or put them into recycling
If it’s possible to get rid of a lot of your thingsyou may not need as much extra storage space  as you think
Do think you why you might need more storage space? I was a teacher and an ardent learner of new ideas I would tend to buy books without thinking if I had space for them. now I need to reconsider getting more bookshelves  or getting rid of books.

If  you have acquired a lot of clothing because your size has changed then you may want to rationalise your wardrobe. See you what you wear over a period of a month and then look what you haven’t worn and consider it.You can donate to a charity shop where other people will be very glad  to get it.
At one time people never wore second-hand shoes unless they were very poor but now that many of us have  got a lots of  shoes some may not be worn  and can be given away if you for no longer wear heels or fashion shoes .  the remainder you will have to take to the recycling centre
These activities are going to take time and if you have visitors to your home while you are in the middle of this rationalisation, do not be surprised  if they pass rude remarks about your entire house because  doing this kind of work will initially create more and  chaos as you stack the clothes and books  and put them into suitable heavy duty bags

It’s a bit like having psychotherapy. I imagine at the beginning you reveal  many painful feelings and you may feel worse than you did but hopefully  with the aid and support of the therapist you will learn how to deal with these feelings better than you did before so in the end, we hope that we will feel better  but  in the middle of such things or when we are in the middle of grieving and mourning  we do not believe things will get better in time
Fortunately getting rid of some possessions is not as painful as grieving  for the death of your mother.
I believe it is better not to criticise oneself for having been too extravagant or wasteful. We must be kind to ourselves because it is painful enough getting rid of possessions without beratinging ourself at the same time. We are only human and then in a consumer society,  it is sometimes hard to  resist buying things that we do not really need. If you decided when you were 21 never to buy anything that you didn’t really need then of course you  wouldn’t have this problem of  giving things away

After you have given away as much as you can from  the  first room that you are tidying then you may need to consider whether you need to need an extra storage for what remains. It may be that you can put some of them into storage that already exists in another room. I have a lot of storage in my dining room but I don’t turn to working there so much now partly because it’s facing East and the sun is too bright in the morning but I can still use the shelves to store my books which are now in the sitting room .I t would make sense to make one room always ready for having a friend round or simply to go into in the evening to listen to music and relax no longer irritateded by the books  in heaps

Hermodactylus-tuberosus-MS7

Photo by Mike Flemming

What do you plan to use your house for?

It is sensible to think about what activities you may want to use your home for. If you want to have people to stay with you then consider if you have a spare bedroom is it   suitable  for  having a someone sleeping in there? This may sound silly but I have got a lot of things on my spare bed which I have not yet had time to sort out. but if it’s a priority to have relatives to stay then sorting that out might be very important. but probably what is more important for most of those is having people round for a meal in which case you will need to clear all the things that you leave on the table and make sure you have the  dining chairs available. I sometimes take them into the other room.

Then, of course, you need somewhere for people to sit down in the sitting room that seems obvious. If you’re like me you may use one of the arm chairs for keeping things on that you need while you are working like your diary your phone, your camera , your sketch pad and so on. In this case, it might be wise to have a bag which does not look like a garbage bag into which you can put these things if someone comes to call but at the very minimum, you should have one  chair  clear all the time and ideally a sofa.;my poor husband used to throw his coat and his possession  onto  the Sofa  when he came home ;that  needs  thinking about :where you do put the things like your coat, briefcase, handbag  andso  when you come into the house from a trip or from work  throwing things  onto the sofa puts a sofa out of use and will need somebody to move the things elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be better not to put them on the sofa in the first  place?

You can buy attractive looking over the door hooks wish you could put on the back  of the dining room door or the kitchen door if you don’t have enough room  for hall storage and it’s also somewhere you can hang visitors coats as well  temporarily. There are also useful for temporarily hanging clothes that you have just ironed if you still do  iron  your clothesI hear that if you dry your clothes in a electric clothes dryer or tumble dryer you may not need to iron them but I do not possess these. if you slightly disabled it is quite possible to iron while sitting down and if you are not too tired if it’s quite soothing why I might almost call it meditation. knitting can also be a   soothing  activity  as long as you don’t mind  undoing it from time to time when you notice that you have made a mistake

I remember someone , possibly Edison saying, I have not failed 150  times I have experimented in 150 different ways  and I believe that trying and failing is simply the way we get to know the problem better ; if we do everything right the first time we do not learn as much.  Vision and perception  are  crucial in solving problems or in  creation. True  perception takes time. it is not instant.And we make mistakes which we learn from

I read a book that said that you only need one sheet and one duvet cover for your bed because you can take them off in the morning put them into the washer dryer and then put them back on  in the evening  and so you will not need a cupboard full of sheets etc.  Well that might be alright but I think I’m  like one  spare set. if you have children or if you have an older person he may suffer the odd leakage then you certainly more than one  set of bedding. but remember to check it every year because it is easy to forget what we have in the airing cupboard or the wardrobe  and then to buy more without realising it is unnecessary.

Fritillaria-sewerzowii-Green

What is the minimum amount of spare  bedding that you can live with? one of my friends sleeps in a sleeping bag and the bag can go into the washing machine and the dryer or you can use a sleeping bag liner made of fleece which dries very quickly

if you collect a lot of knick knacks  then   charity shops  do like that sort of thing so put it into a bag and I bring joy to someone else’s heart
We never had many knick knacks in my home as a child but my husband’s family did and  do so my house is similar to  theirs. I have a lot of seashells and other interesting objects which I used to use when I was going to  art classes

I suppose that if you ever do any dusting  or wiping surfaces down that is a good time to look at your little objects and ask yourself if you could live without them. I plan to do that starting today. if you find it difficult to stand up for very long because of arthritis put a chair near the table or  surface you want to clear and then you can concentrate on what you are doing without being overwhelmed by pain. I have got a shopping trolley which can also be used as a seat and I keep it in the kitchen or you can buy cheap folding chairs that you can carry around  easily and put it  next to the place you want to sort out.

if you don’t have a car, ask to your friends to take your bags to the charity shop or find it a charity shop which does collection this I have found one a few miles away which is raising money for children’s cancer research and I tend to call them to come and collect things which are in good condition so that they can sell them in their shop. the British Heart Foundation even collect furniture and I think the Salvation Army also will take things like blankets on larger objects and if  you tell yourself while you are giving the things away to think about the people who are going to receive them it will help you not to be sad but you can’t keep  everything because if you keep it all you may have to build more storage or live in a very untidy  house>
The Bible says is good for our spiritual health not to love possessions which of course is quite right . The question is can you use your home for the purposes that you want to use it for   sitting down, sleeping ,eating, entertaining ,writing, hobbies ,watching TV etc and if you can’t then you must start to do something about it even if it’s only half an hour every day. it may seem onerous but remember the number of things in your house is not infinite and therefore in time you will be able to reduce the number and it maybe that you would even have some spare space instead of being overwhelmed by your possessions

So what  the Bible says is good for our spiritual development namely poverty of spirit is also  connected to actual poverty in the sense of  not being greedy and not owning too many things.

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When I see a story of a wealthy person being mugged as they walk down the street wearing diamond necklaces and rings I do not believe the mugger was right to attack them but on the other hand they are flaunting their wealth and flaunting your wealth and flaunting your body may make other people feel envious  or angry. I know we are supposed to be free to wear and do what we want but I think we should consider how it will affect other people around us.I only had one ring which had any value whatsoever  which my husband bought me but it was stolen by someone who offered to help me to clean the house I am pretty sure .I did not do anything about it because I had no proof. if you do you have anything of value then put it somewhere safe and only use it in safe places well it will not be a temptation to others. That’s my point of view as  long as society is so unequal.That causes a lot of suffering.

Look out, not in, and find salvation there

WatercolorPainting.com - Reference - Pigments

Now therapy usurps the place of faith

And into our own minds we’re told to delve

Whatever we now think , we have to say it

In that way Freud thinks we find a  truer self.

The therapist is like a looking glass

They  just reflect whatever we have bared.

But if we look to long, it comes to pass

That Satan and his devils are prepared.

They may enchant us  into false self-love

To value pride  and then deceive  our souls;

Yet  to  humble people comes the  holy dove

And self-forgetting is what makes us whole.

Confused, alarmed and  reckless with  despair

Look out, not in,  and find salvation  there

I am washing my lair.

I can’t go out,
I am boiling my mittens
I am washing my lair.
I am retiling the ceiling
I am freezing the cleaner.
I am filing a grudge
I need a new body of work.
I am rhyming worse.
My ghost is calling.
The phone is dead.
The computer is asking for my vital  head tricks
I am a liar
Believe me.

A rain of roses from the sky above

 

If I were to choose a flower for my love

A rose of perfect form would be my choice

A rain of roses from the sky above

Might express what I can’t yet voice.

I might well choose a daisy with no thorns

I might choose lush lipped tulip for design

But never would I send a flower forlorn

Should you reject this loving heart of mine.

But, no, I choose these roses for your bliss

For Blake wrote of a tiger not a dog;

Yet if I am made bloody by a kiss,

I shall be turned at once into a frog.

The rose with other names would still be sweet.

So, to you , with fragrance I entreat

Then numbness folded round me like a wheel.

A strange and lonely feeling held my heart
Gripping like some pincers made of steel.
From my beloved, I had had to part
Then numbness  folded round me like a wheel.

And quietness loved,  has now turned into threat
Nero-like, I  fiddle with my  tunes
Pie Jesu’s not made top ten yet!
Larks’ ascents aren’t worth much to a loon!

I phoned a friend, her voice did me no good
It echoed in the chambers of my mind
Where metal walls echo the coursing blood
And escalate these feelings so unkind

Though he l loved has gone and is now dead.
I  see his face upon my  heartless bed

A day can take to flight as does the Spring

A  day as warm and bright as in the Spring
The pine cones shiver in the gentle breeze.
The trees in bud, the birds  revel in song .

Our memories   cannot store the very thing
The air on skin, the feel  of blossom trees
A  day as dear  with light as is the Spring

On  days like this, once more we do belong
And nature will respond to make us pleased
The trees in bud, caressed with new bird song.

The sounds  of earth are silenced when phones ring
Our flesh has turned to ashes long deceased
A  day  can take to   flight as  does the Spring

We  are betrothed, the bridegroom’s in the wings
The new act starts, the play’s by  conmen seized
No consummation now, but for  the winged

I  wish that I had written more to please.
And yet the air is fresh  and we still breath
A  day of charm  may revolution bring
The trees still bud,  yet birds rebel in song.

And if love ‘s good enough, we may survive.

We need to self-deceive to stay alive
To function in this  terrifying world
And if  no trauma comes we may survive

If we watch the shadows in the cave
We have our  story ready  to unfold
We need to self-deceive to stay alive

We follow rules on how we must behave
As if into a void we might be hurled
And if  no trauma comes we may survive

The adages and  proverbs  satisfy
Unless we are attacked in our own world,
We  cannot self-deceive, are traumatised

We need the hold of  friends who’re kind and brave
We need this love that  rises when it’s shared
And if love ‘s  good enough, we may survive.

We will not scratch our wounds if we are wise.
We will not  rush to speech while wounds are bare
We need to self-deceive to stay alive

The words that mother said we can embrace
That we are loved,  despite fragmented face
We need to self-deceive to  function right
And if  no trauma comes we may survive

We live on earth and act in plays we write

We live on earth and act in plays we write
The  shadowed  drama unfolds  scene by scene
In Eden,  sin brought knowledge to our sight.

Then Freud desired to  bring the dark  more light
It’s  hard to suffer, harder still to learn
We act on earth in plays we partly write

We each have lived in ways without much light
But fire brought power and light  then  darkness gleamed
In Eden,  sin brought knowledge to our sight.

Christ was born, and yet we lived in flight
From guilt about the apple bit unseen
We act on earth in plays we   try  to write

Our play  with good and evil  has  its might
For meaning’s worthy of  our human schemes
In Eden,  wrong brought knowing to our sight.

We look and see the Christian story failed.
For the Holocaust  itself was not derailed
We live on earth and act in plays we write
The Christian play we had gave  slight insight
As refugees, as children drown who fights?

 

Going to confession:That was one topic we never did in the cemetery.

Pray Father, give me some washing.I’ve got Wikileaks and a new obsession.
Tell me more, my child.
I think someone has been inside my computer.
They can’t be human.
Why not, Father?
Well, we are not thin enough to get into the computer.
Ah, they turn themselves into particles and come in with the current
when it’s high tide.
Do you mean tied?
No, Father.I’ve not been reading that book.
Neither have I but in the confessional, I’ve heard it all.
And how does that make you feel?
Why pay to read a fantasy when you can dream up your own?
Some are born dim… others become dim…….
Well, any sins tonight?
I’m so sorry.I was planning to tell a lie but I forgot.
There’s a list of sins in the Missal…
Yes, I’ve not tried most of them yet… just got a pang of anger
when a brick fell on my head.
That’s natural, my child.
Has a brick ever fallen on your head, Father.
Not yet but I’m only 97.
Wow,you look much older.Are you longing to diet?
Why, is there no food in heaven?
I wonder who cooks.
Maybe they live on manna.
Does God eat food
That was one topic we never did in the cemetery.
Do you mean the seminary.
At my age, it’s all one.
You have reached Nirvana….congratulations.
Well.I’d prefer a cup of tea.
You English!
What are you?
I’m a great Dane.
Did you say a grey Dane.
That too.
Well perk up; the show’s not quite over till the gnat really stings.
Do gnats eat string?
String… it’s my passion.Love it or mate it…get involved.
Live a little.
And for your penance… you must have a bath…
Why?
I don’t like the way you smell.
Well,I am a dog.. we like a sniff.Can I borrow your hankey?
Definitely.
I’ll wash it for you.
Well, it’s not over till that gnat gets a sting!

I found a postcard I had sent myself

I found my HP Stream  upon the shelf
The “Guide to Cumbria” paused in my still hand.
Tidying up does peanuts for the health

It’s an ancient book, yet is my wealth.
The mountains and the moors are my own land
I found  a postcard I had sent myself

If I change the sheets, I   bless myself
A clean  bed is  much better when unplanned
Tidying up  may aid  your mental health

 

If you do good , do it all  by  stealth
If you sin then do not tell your friends
I found my laptop screaming  uon the shelf

If you need to,   always ask for help
What is often borrowed can’t be lent
Tidying up does  wonders for the health

If you see a  burning bush  then quickly  bend
Then, from the bare mountaintop, descend
I found my books  I lost  upon the shelf
Tidying up can startle  mice and selves

McName,McBath

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From Messiah to Hitler, What You Can and Cannot Name Your Child

While reactions to the Messiah order have centred on the questions of religious freedom and free speech, the inspiration behind the name seems to be a common one: the appeal of alliteration. Martin said she thought the name was unique and complemented the names of his two older siblings: Micah and Mason.

Wilting  Joe Coward
Bull Goring
Aeons Era Long
Iron Longs4Filings
Izz Rayle Hear.
S. McDeath
Just Call Menne
Will Hugh Shut-Uppe
Bee Quiet.
God-Bless  Hugh Dear
Courtesy Queen
Joe Zens Peep-Hole.
Kind Rabid
Yvonne Wolffman-Spaceship.
Pall O’ Stein.
Ami Overjord-Now
Rollin’ Heights
Syria Plath
Ted Who?
Sue I.Sighed
Overa Dose

If the charts were right, the sailors cried.

The street is still, the windows brim with eyes.
Everyone is looking, no-one sees.
These eyes are tainted by their owners’ lies.

As we age, our innocence will die
But saplings grow between the older trees
The street is still, the windows speak by eye.

If the charts were right, the sailors cried.
Eyes  gazed out  across  the unknown seas
These eyes distorted by  old, telling lies

A spectacle, a triumph, who and why?
Who displays their riches, who will flee?
The street is still, the windows weep like eyes.

The Arche de Triomphe for the French, I sigh.
Was defeat imagined Victory?
Their  thoughts distorted by  old worn out lies

Was the blame borne by the true and free?
Who was hanging on the shadowed Tree?
The street is still.Look, window-fulls of eyes.
These dark eyes  are  crying  for their lovers lies

When you have no partner your opportunities for committing sins are greatly reduced.

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You know, I  think I want to go to church again and I must go to Confession before I go to Mass.But the trouble is that when you have no partner your opportunities for committing sins are greatly reduced.Especially if you don’t go out much
You can’t have a row with them about what TV programme to watch or which side of the bed you sleep on nor about whether they pull the duvet off you in the middle of the night.So you can’t blame them when you feel tired.
You can’t get angry when they ask you to wash their trousers again either or about them wearing a cashmere sweater in bed.Also you see less of their relatives and they were always good for producing sins like envy, rage, jealousy and so on.In fact their relatives change and become saintly so it’s even worse.I suppose that might make me sin.
It’s really hard, though, to commit a sin now so I am wondering   if I should get  a partner purely for the purpose of becoming a sinner who can them be saved by the Sacrament of Confession.I always thought it was odd because if God exists he must know our sins.. in fact  he might know more than we do.He must.
With that in mind, I  wonder about going into therapy as surely that would make  me aware of all the questionable things I have done.Which is better: therapy or getting married? I suppose if I married a rich person they could pay for psychoanalysis for me but it would be a sin to marry purely for that reason.Is that Russell’s Paradox?
Or if I got 2 cats  I could be unkind to them and  not let them sleep on my bed.But I have to admit I cannot be unkind to cats.And I don’t like dogs in the house.Too much work.You might as well get married again as have a dog to care for.Although dogs don’t wear clothes and can’t shout and scream and demand sex at 3 am.Barking is not quite the same
.I suppose I could become a Quaker instead because it might be  tough to find a husband  who is happy for me to study Wittgestein and Sylvia’s  Wrath.My hair is no longer what it was.. my eyes are still blue  but now I have a scar on my face.I thought maybe no-one would notice but the dentist said,
Wow, he’s done a great job hasn’t he? Fantastic, there’s just a little lump here…. what little lump? She’ll have me back in Dermatology as soon as take my teeth out.It was a  little lump that began the whole damn business as it was a bit like a Russian Vine invisibly covering [ part of ] my face.Well I can proudly say I had 23 injections of local anaesthetic  in my face but the surgeon was very handsome.Greek…
Anyway I went out today with no sun cream on and that is really wicked when you’ve had what I had but the hypothalamus gland needs sunlight so my brother tells me.I have three brothers plus my aide P so I have plenty of men to tell me what to do or not to do.Still you can’t marry your brother can you? I wonder what the priest would say about that.I rest my case.By gum, it was heavy.I’ll take to drink

I HAVE desired to go

http://www.bartleby.com/122/2.html

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89).  Poems.  1918.
2. Heaven—Haven
 http://www.bartleby.com/122/2.html
A nun takes the veil

http://www.bartleby.com/122/2.html

    I HAVE desired to go
      Where springs not fail,
To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail
    And a few lilies blow.
    And I have asked to be         5
      Where no storms come,
Where the green swell is in the havens dumb,
    And out of the swing of the sea.
See Notes.

FULL OF ONESELF? HOLIER THAN THOU? IS WILL POWER ENOUGH FOR THE GOOD LIFE?

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“Holier than thou” is an interesting phrase.Holiness was a state we were taught we should aim for.But how should we aim for it? Can one become holy by will power?
I suspect not.Though one could be wicked by will power though I suspect most  people don’t usually want to be wicked.And I don’t believe babies are born evil as I was taught.But we do wicked things.Pride is often involved.So what are some qualities that may help us to become ,not holy perhaps, but better.The first is one thing doctors have to agree to:

Do no harm.

How can we do no harm? Well paying attention is a possible beginning.If we are not attentive to ourself and the lives around us we don’t have the basis for  choosing how to act.Then there is the quality of our perceptions.To a large extent these may have been formed by our experiences in infancy.If we are insecure and anxious we will perceive mainly danger,This leads me to think that we need to gain trust in either God,the Universe,our deeper selves….. something beyond us.If we have little trust we will live on guard and see things in relation to our own safety…..Somehow we will have to move to a wider perception/How many of us truly see others as people who  are just as valuable,just as interesting,just as worthy of respect as we are.That when we kill a person physically or emotionally we are killing a whole world.Each person has their own world…..I believe.

If we trust we can perceive and as we perceive so we can act justly, caringly or in the best way possible towards that person.And we hope to receive it back.There is also grace which  is a gift… if we live well and are open then grace may come from  another source which  may help us.But only  if we are empty enough for it to come in.Being “full of oneself” is  unlikely ro be good.Self forgetting, absorbtion in the other,the world,a task,a creation may be the best part of life.562732_10200197585195760_396877548_n

S

 

I found it interesting to make a link between being able to be aware of other people as real people like ourselves and being secure in our inner being.That security or trust enables us to have an attitude  called,”Submission to the will of God” in Christian teaching.I am sure it is common to many other religions especially Judaism.And for atheists it can be acceptance of reality,
Without trust in others, life is much harder as we are always concerned with keeping ourselves safe.I am not sure how much we can change our attitude from Fear to Trust.And I read today that paranoia is becoming more widespread  probably because the government and other people can spy on us easily or find out where we are etc with modern technology
I recall  a friend of mine dying when I was 15.We were  taken to the Requiem Mass.I just recall the priest saying in the sermon something from the Bible
he Lord has given and the Lord has taken away
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
In other words,we can’t understand.Life and death are a mystery but we accept this is the will of God
At the time I’m not sure if I believed it.But i think acceptance of pain and grief helps us to cope with it even with the terrible suffering with losing a child.I was the last classmate to see her.It was late October.We left school and walked about 1/2 mile.I lived there but she had to then catch a bus fro a 4-mile journey
I still see her smiling face.Eight days later she died.
When you suffer a lot it’s hard to trust God,the Universe and all else.And depending on the circumstances it’s easy to be bitter or vengeful.But that will not help.
What I am wondering is:
How much can we change our attitudes by will power.Pr is there another way of changing?
Changing the way we see something may give us a different attitude.Talking to a good person may help.Sometimes we can only endure patiently.Sometimes God comes to us in the wilderness of tragedy,grief and pain.Because  he can get in when we are still and silent.
I suppose going to the desert or on a Retreat may give us the same opportunity.Sometimes we can’t verbalise our suffering but that is not a problem.I found after seeking many ways out that as many people have said:~
The way out is through.
But we struggle like hell to avoid i

Spring is here

I have not written new poems today as I  went to the hospital owing to a horrible cough.It was a side effect of the antibiotics and they were not working un any case, so now I have got different ones.I should soon feel ok again

Photos by Mike Flemming  today!

DrySandford2017-4DrySandford2017-3http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB//viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7459&start=720&sid=8b14bb686870247d71879f08abbe54ce