Day: June 17, 2019

The clouds must hide

Clouds like herring bones line up to die
Interspersed with clouds of other kinds
Above the Western reaches of the sky

The sun is setting ,troubling tender eyes
Sinking full of pride , impressed on minds
Clouds like herring bones line up to die

In  the West , stand hills where Satan cries
Asking for  submission  to his  binds
Below the Western reaches of the sky

Now all colours gone, the clouds must hide
As in anxious  dreams our teeth may grind
Clouds like herring bones will shiver, die

Across the fields I see a horse go by
His hooves make patterns, but to them he’s blind
He knows  now,  bewitching  is the sky

For the childhood vision we have pined
Dreams mixed with reality make eyes
Clouds like herring bones line up to die
Above the Western reaches  on they fly

 

A silent UTI makes you get very depressed

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/silent-urinary-infections-serious-consequences

I have a silent UTI
My bladder’s sick but I deny
I sat down  on a wall I cried
I sobbed and wept and then I dried
My tears all full of stress hormones
Ran away and wet the phone
I  maybe am incontinent
My self esteem had not got dents
If I’m wet then I’ll be shunned
I don’t care,I ‘ll be  a nun
I’ll take a vow of poverty
And give it to O’Doherty

Is it its?

 

 

rose of sharon seed pod

Some people mock those who write, :that cat ate it’s dinner.

But  that is related  just to  what is customary:

the cat ate its dinner …. means its own dinner

“The cat ate it’s dinner” means another being called “it”  had its dinner eaten by the cat.Alas.

But usually the context tells us.

“I have lost my head” might confuse some of us.It’s most often a dead metaphor.

I lost my head and told my husband I regretted ever meeting him.But my head was screwed on the right way later.

She lost her head and swore  at the Rabbi who gamely swore back  to keep their friendship alive except it was all in his head.She didn’t even know he was a Rabbi, but believed he was  a soft toy with a missing tee.That’s life.For some of us

Language rages

man in knight raising his sword
Photo by Maria Jose Bueso on Pexels.com

 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/17/language-wars-18-greatest-linguistic-spats

Are you really disinterested?

Use this word at your own risk. If what you want to say is “lacking in interest” then brace yourself, because there’s an army of people who will point out that it should be “uninterested”, and that “disinterested” must mean “impartial”. They are sticklers for what they regard as the correct meaning, and have taken up columnist William Safire’s command to “rear up and rage, rage against the dying of an enlightening distinction”. The problem is that if a word is more frequently used to mean one thing than another, then that’s effectively what it means: you can’t fight a linguistic consensus. The news for pedants gets worse, however. The OED tells us that the use of “disinterested” to mean not interested or unconcerned has been around since at least the 17th century, used by no less a stylist than the poet John Donne.

English and Maori versions of the Treaty of Waitangi had important differences.
 English and Maori versions of the Treaty of Waitangi had important differences. Photograph: Ian Paterson/Alamy Stock Photo

The Waitangi swindle

In 1840, the British government and more than 500 local chiefs signed a bilingual agreement that made New Zealand a colony. English missionaries had translated the draft of the Treaty of Waitangi into Maori but the two versions had important differences. The New Zealand Ministry of Culture explains that “in Maori it gave Queen Victoria governance [kawanatanga] over the land, while in English it gave her sovereignty over the land, which is a stronger term”. The English text also assured the Maori that they would have “undisturbed possession” of all their “properties”, whereas the Maori translation merely gave them tino rangatiratanga (full authority) over taonga(treasures) – a more nebulous term.

Tips for poets

27067324_1065257550280789_1277755180664167940_nimg_20190311_122518https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/20-best-tips-poets

 

Extracts

1.

The second thing I’d say is you must read old stuff. Dante, Herrick, Donne, Pope, Dickinson…Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore. Read voraciously! And read aloud.” – Aaron Belz, author of Glitter Bomb”

2.

“Always be writing the next poem.” – Amorak Huey, author of Ha Ha Ha Thump

“Do. Not. Take. Rejections. Personally.” – Amy MacLennan, author of The Body, A Tree

“Be kind. Be aware. Be brave.” – Bryan Borland, author of DIG

“Writing is what makes you a writer. Not a book contract or an award, so don’t let anyone make you feel less than. And don’t quit.” – Christina Stoddard, author of Hive

“I would tell (poets) to honor their truth, whatever it may be, and to write it. Trust the poem. Don’t try to force it or control it. Let the poem take you where it wants to go.” – Beth Copeland, author of Transcendental Telemarketer

*****

Mary’s obsession

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Copyright

Mary went  out shopping as usual on Saturday.She didn’t need much but liked to watch people  passing the Coffee Shop window and give a rating to their  appearance though the number of women in transparent beige leggings was rather  high.Why not wear thicj black ones, she wondered? They look much better but maybe the poor can’t afford good quality
She herself wore a  dusky violet coat and blue shoes.She had forgotten  to comb her hair!
She saw Annie  her late husband’s mistress so  she knocked on the window and Annie came in.
I’ll have a coffee too ,she said jovially
,It is quite expensive but I like the people here
I love that olive green  jacket, Mary informed her.Where on earth did you find  the eye-shadow to match?
I got it up in Wigan. You know, that outlet store I love
But the train ticket must  be expensive Mary tried to calculate how much but gave up
Well, I love Southport so I do go up now and then to Formby Sands
You didn’t tell me.Have you got a boyfriend up there? Sand Dunes are good places to hide.
I know I am very attractive to men, however there are other things in my life like shopping, clothes, make up, hairdressers and manicures.
Why don’t you read a book!
There are so many I can’t decide where to start
Well  don’t bother with Fifty Shades of Grey,Try Mary Wesley.She began writing when she was 70. I can lend you one.Or did you like Jane Austen?
Was she at our school?
No, she’s dead
Oh,I am terribly sorry.Was she a friend of yours? I realise now people are taking  it into their heads   to  succumb to illnesses they managed to ignore for years

No, she was not my friend.She was a writer  who wrote many years ago.
Some have been televised. She is one of the best English writers.Try Persuasion
I am already good at that especially with handsome and intelligent men
I am getting tired of how you keep thinking  about men.Are you not too oId now?
No, I am not but I’m sorry if I offended you.I can’t think of  what else to chat about
Shall we got to a shoe shop to see if they have any olive green shoes  to match that jacket?
That’s your obsession, shoes,Annie answered angrily.Why not dye your hair, it looks dreadful.
Well  I like my hair this colour as Helen Mirren has it the same
We must accept each other as we are.At least we don’t gamble or  take cocaine.Or try to be the next Prime Minister,Mary murmured optimistically.

And so say all of us. Mioaw  cries Emile.

Where is Oxford,on the Tomes?

Where is Ipswich, what is true
Where is Norwich, deja vuP1000005
Cambridge juggles counterpoise

Here’s the  train, is it full
Will there be a cord to pull
Is it diesel, is it steam?
It’s atomic in its beams

I can sit and Sudoku
I’ll sing and whistle as you coo
Let’s not read  the Gaza  strip
Cartoons make old people sick

Is it real, is it  true
Jesus sat down next to you
He abhors the Holy Land
He prefers the Southport sands.