A needle, pen or life itself have points To sew, to write, to beautify or haunt. Our hands and minds, creative in intent Give our lives their point, their way. their bent.
The long hands of the clock to numbers guide The fingers on the the gun this life deride. The hand of fate without our will can point The demons in the dream may rudely taunt.
Our lips may tighten when we are enraged When others in our lives direct our page Our words are stuck, we cannot let them out So we never learn the truth ” about”
Fingers pull the trigger,use the switch The world destroyed in pointless rhetoric
Do not leave me for the desolate grave. Do not leave me here when you are gone Do not leave me to whom love you gave Do not leave me
My tender arms, I stroke and gently bathe To soothe my mind , when near me there is none. Do not leave me for the desolate grave Do not leave me
For our humorous love ,I ever crave A founding ground we have built upon Do not leave me to whom love you gave Do not leave me
A sorrow deep convulses like a wave Washes me of hope, of memories done Yet do not leave me for the desolate grave. Do not leave me
I love not the charisma of men suave I loved your voice and all the loving done Never leave me to whom love you gave Never leave me.
In my heart, your name shall be engraved In my mind, you circle like the sun Do not leave me for your desolate grave Do not leave me for death’s dark embrace~ Do not leave me
Old man,bending over, arched like a fallen moon in a dark lilac November sky. joy and pain wrestle my heart across the emptiness and toss it up like a damp rocket to fall in a hidden corner where mice live. Would that not be a good ending,to be dust to these little creatures nesting in my chewed green twine and my tartan basket? They have eyes and shiver in my hand when I rescue them from the cat… as any heart might. Now night falls on the newspaper basket where the damp Times and the Guardian mix into glue and tomorrow the sun will rise and it will just be the garbage with no poetic undertones nor deathly hushes.. Heather and a silver light you stand on a hill top like a god looking over his domain. Strong and now weak it’s the humane condition Everlasting life is too dangerous for humans. Silent,motionless,home of beetles bit by bit we fall away into the mother soil with cracked jugs and dropped coins for a future academic to dig into. Transparent hand touches me. Whose might it be
Wordsworth’s poem is delivered by a strong speaker, but not a very intimate one by our standards. Contemporary poetry, and the poetry of twentieth-century America, shifted the footing of much poetry to the conversational and the highly mobile speech register of one ordinary person speaking confidentially to another. Here is the opening to Eleanor Lerman’s poem “Ode to Joy”: Four drinks after nine o’
The life boat crew are safely home They’ve brought the shipwrecked sailors too. The storm has passed, the wind has dropped The sea is swaying softly now.
Wrapped in soft night clothes, their offspring Are all in world of dream still lost. Their fathers’ safely home this time. They save wrecked ships despite the cost.
Will any lifeboat crew be there To help less blessed ones from despair, And lives, too many , spent in care No fathers and no mothers near?
The sea we certainly must fear, But more we fear the acts of those Who try to buy our minds and wills, for votes in the election booths.
Oh hush my baby, go to sleep, It is your mammy’s job to weep. I wish I knew just what to do To empower the lives of wains like you.
Sleep well, sleep well, my little child. The sun will rise, the air is mild. We’ll trust that when we all set sail Our love and courage will not fail.
Oh,hush my sweet one, I am near. The world’s too big for bairns to bear. We’ll do much better this time round. We’ll not let this boat run aground
October 28, 2019 Walking on the long white shore with you The perfect sands, the sky and sea so blue The rippling waves made patterns on our shoes Oh,come back,sweetheart ,I can’t bear your loss
The church at Old Hunstanton has a pond Ducks and geese were waiting for more food The silence was enormous, like the sky Interrupted by a wild bird’s cry
At Brancaster we nearly met our deaths Cut off by a wave behind our backs Young and green ,we knew no panic then But now I feel it as I walk alone
Without my anchor I may float away A little speck of dust in that wide bay
If you ever bring yourself to clear out a lot of your possessions you may if you do it slowly and properly you may come to love the empty spaces in your home and you enjoy the freedom from having to organise and sort out your possessions.
The rich young man was sad when Jesus told him to sell his possessions and I think the reason why Jesus did that was not because it’is inherently wrong but it is a burden when caring for your possessions takes up most of you spare time.
Spiritual growth needs time to reflect on your life and if that is too painful for you you may feel your life with objects or even having more children simply to fill your up and not to feel the dreadful pain of the emptiness. So it’s clearly going to be difficult to do this but you will get rewards of space and time. You can’t buy those with money
To fulminate against the hands of fate To vent our anger on sweet beloved friends Will not repair our ills and our mistakes But may bring friendships to a bitter end. For who are we to know what is the best? Who are we to choose when loved ones die? And do not think this is a needed test. As if on us God wastes his time to spy. Once we were a joining of two cells The lively sperm, a salmon riding high. The egg awaiting without a need for bells Is fertilised and grows that which shall die. Astonishing that we should live at all. Unsurprising, that a loved one falls
For someone non-existent God has power To wreck the world he learns from every hour. He is not here or there or where at all And yet we do have evidence of Fall.
Why must men be angry as they boast, They can prove there is no Holy Ghost? No benediction, blessing, nothing good No meaning, nothing sacred, never Love.
For who is zero, who’s in the empty set? God seems ever harder to forget Men argue with red cheeks and suffer strokes While God sits back, enjoys an evening smoke.
While Nothing shall remain and nausea sighs Let’s enjoy the madness and the lies.
Please make your will before leaving the restaurant.
Are the gunmen just outside the door?
2
I can’t wait to get married. Paying bills, worrying about the mortgage or rent. Doing the washing and ironing men shirts. Wondering if we can afford hot water. Ditto children.
Being too worried to feel desire lust or greed I need to see a psychotherapist. Is there an open air zoo where I can see them in their natural habitat ?
3
I would like to seek asylum
Where are all those old mental hospitals that you could live in for years free of charge and that’s what you’ll be like after you have had ECT. It doesn’t charge you up.
Please play before parking your car Don’t go home without your dripping Please use a different credit marred Please be police to other passengers on this plane Do as you would be stunned by Don’t be anti-specific in this Motel Keep Britain Pernicious Are you a Fascist? Free tuition in the UK Please drive your car to the Brexit gate before decaying Keep your seat polished in Church Don’t leave the IOU today Johnson said, “what EU” to my cat The Sermon on our doubt Are you racist about God? What a Gnostic! It’s Greek to me.Gnow,gnow. The Church of England is praying in Europe this week Leave the memories be kind My sister likes to pray on her piano every day What’s on the TV? Just the cat I’m afraid. Income Tax goes out! You can’t fool glee.
The ghosts of failures past make tears flow down They run inside the wrinkles of my skin The faces of the old and savaged ones.
The child teased for her foreign accent frowns. Does she have the strength of mind within? The ghost of failure now makes tears flow down
We thought the old were wiser, never conned. Yet we ourselves feel bombed by thinner skin. Our faces old and ravaged, tortured ones.
For the poor in money, loss abounds They blame themselves, they did not ever win The ghost of failure past makes tears flow down
The poor in spirit to their Lord will run Is this world of terror caused by sin? Their sorry faces traumatised, undone
The crucifix will be uncrossed again. The Holocaust in nuclear fires may come The salt of failure’s cost make tears run on The faces of the living, savaged ones
Wurt’zmicat= where is my cat Wurzmidinner= where is my dinner Midadsmokes= my father smokes Deyelikekippers= are you a maths teacher?
Avityeroanway= have it your own way Amgointechurch =I am going to church Yecanseesatanin’t mirror= one can see Satan in the mirror Izzitrainin= is it raining? adoantwant t’ gotoskool=I am menstruating pizeanirrationalnumber=I am going to Confession Izzgodtranscendental= can we pay the rent? Amgoint’etbuzzstop=I am leaving home Alostmibuzzfairmam=I am a thief
From the miles of flatness and the fens Comes . the hill where this Cathedral stands Everyone can see this floodlit site When the moon is out and there is night. I saw it through the window as I turned It’ struck me down with beauty never learnt. As I lay surprised upon the stair I absorbed the beauty I saw there Should we worship beauty such as this? It strikes us with a hammer not a kiss
We saw the view from Langdale to the sea Windermere, a riddle ten miles long Coniston a question of degree Old Man standing like a God to sing
The risky climb, the tough hand that saved me The energy of youth and the unknown The boldest child, the future poetry By the shape of hills ,I’m overthrown
The shock of beauty and the cliffs of rock The slope as sheer as ecstasy, the poem The sturdy heart that startled with its knock The pensive soul that brought these wishes home
On the highest peak’s edge, we lay down~ Closed our eyes to hear the sheep bells sound
I wonder why laptops are usually black or grey or silver.
I would like mine to be blue,
Do you think I could have it spray painted?
Similarly why are raincoats beige? I’d like one in blue and red stripes but please don’t make it the Union Jack as a shan’t feel safe going out in that.
Nationalism, fascism,war and civil war.
It’s not very amusing at the moment is it?
Why can’t we have civil love?
Why can’t we have civil arguments?
Why can’t we listen to each other?
We have our neurotic defense mechanisms which is Which actually make us selectively deaf or .blind
This is quite worrying how different people perceptions are of an event.
Recently I have some visits from a physiotherapist. The first time he came he said I will not give you any exercises to do because walking about the house and up the stairs is enough exercise for you. With certain conditions too much exercise is worse than too little.
When he came the second time he said, you told me last week that you don’t want to do any exercises
I was very surprised that he had a memory so different from mine. And this is a non-contentious topic.
No wonder there are wars.
I didn’t argue with him because I could not see any purpose in it but I was very interested that he had such a different recollection of what was said the previous time.
However he did say that they were amazed at what I have achieved
I hope that if I see him again he will not say
I tell you that we were very disappointed in your lack of progress m
This is quite possible so in future I shall write down everything such people say to me. Even then they may not believe it.
Fortunately the man who came to put a handrail in my porch remembered exactly what I wanted.
The driver of the bus lives far away His home is mobile,but not smart like our phones He lives in a small caravan, he says Yet of all the drivers he’s the one.
He always waits till I ,crippled, sit down Advised me to sit until he stops He has a smile and rarely makes a frown Though sometimes in his words some anger’s wrapped.
Alas, he unsurprisingly believes That all the money goes to foreign folk By the tabloid press he is deceived Yet due to pain, his hidden fires must smoke
The least men are the kindest to the weak Believe me,I know well what I here speak
Mary was washing her rug on the patio watched by Emile who had pondered over the notion of leaping into the warm water in the big bowl.Fortunately, he had seen Mary was using biological detergent, What will happen to my fur if that gets onto it? he asked his human mother It will kill all those bacteria on it, she replied.And if you lick it then it will taste nasty, Mary’s new boyfriend was coming for tea and she wanted the house to look clean. I will give you a bath too Emile as Ron wears linen trousers.He will be angry if you leave footprints on him. I am not interested in Ron , Emile replied.I wanted a lady cat to canoodle with. I am sorry Emile but there are no websites for love deprived cats.You will have to run around the town until you find another lady friend.You are very handsome and your amber eyes are a true beauty to behold Emile sobbed.I miss Stan, he cried. So do I, Mary murmured, but we have to move on How can you have found another man so soon.You are still grieving Well, it’s just chance, Ron fell over a brick on the pavement and landed in my arms.I didn’t know about the brick and thought he was an acrobat like Norman Wisdom.I imagined he must like me and invited him to have coffee in the Mathematical Symbols Cafe otherwise known as the Pie Shop. Ahaha, went Emile.That’s a good one.Who paid the bill? The manager was so pleased to see me look happy he didn’t charge us a penny That is unusual, Emile purred.I bet he was not English I believe they are Turkish, Mary told him.They are very kind and polite And how about Ronald? Did he like them? He thought making pies was unusual for Turks.He has been all over that area and seen the wonders of the world. The doorbell rang.It was some secret Catholic missionaries asking Mary if she read the Bible. Of course not, she said, Catholics like me can’t read the Bible.It’s full of sex. Is it really, an elderly red faced man exclaimed.Can you give me the references? Try the Song of Songs she said and then look up Sodom and Gomorrah I’d want something easier, he told her.I am still a virgin. Well, that is a surprise.Did you never get married? Being married does not always lead to sex, he informed shyly.My wife was very timid Why did she marry you then, Mary said anxiously I am very rich, he said and she liked my car That is a silly reason for getting married.Did you never cuddle or canoodle on the sofa? No, her mother always came with her wherever we went Did that not tell you there was something odd about her? I didn’t know what to think. I hope her mother did not share your bed?That would be a sure way of making sure you were both virgins.Although her mother was obviously not one.She sounds what we call ” Intrusive”.If you marry again, make sure her mother is dead first! You seem a very charming lady.Are you married? I am not but I have a boyfriend. Are you engaged? Do people bother now? Yes, he cried as he knelt down and offered her a large diamond ring he had in a little box Will you marry me?You have such beautiful eyes. You don’t even know my name, Mary shrieked. Does it matter, he responded hopefully Just then Ron arrived with a big bunch of red roses. What is going on, he asked Mary plaintively This gentleman wants me to become Catholic, she said politely Do they give everyone a diamond ring? Ron enquired softly Well, actually I am Jewish, the man told them.But my mother never arranged a marriage though I did marry once and it was annulled.We never consummated it, you see. You seem to have left it late, Ron said nicely Do you think you might be gay?You can get married now if you find the right man who might be the love of your life. I might annoy the Rabbi, the man said.We Jews are keen to increase in numbers after the Shoah Did you know there are only 13 million Jews alive now?If we compare that to the number in the Roman Empire, then proportionately there would be 200 million He began to sob. You’d better come in, Mary said.What’s your name? Sol, he replied Well Ron, bring Sol through and I will make the tea. As Emile had been listening he ran into the drawing room and jumped onto Sol’s knee What’s your name, asked Sol impudently? Emile Tangent-Turnip, the cat replied. Wow, a talking cat.What next? Annie, Stan’s former mistress came in.She pushed Emile off Sol’s knee and sat there herself. What do you think of transcendental numbers, she piped up? I never heard of them but if you like them I will like them as well.Tell me about them,he demanded ardently I am afraid I don’t know, said Annie.I am a complete idiot.I thought men preferred that No, most Jewish men like educated, intelligent women, he solemnly informed her. But do you like large bosoms and makeup? I think you are getting impertinent, he screamed. into her ear.Most men like bosoms but we don’t like women who talk this way. Oh, dear, said Annie.I’m terribly sorry.You see I am a virgin and don’t know how to deal with men. Do the two things always go together, he enquired. It’s not being a virgin that stops you talking to men, it’s not knowing how to talk to men that keeps you a virgin.Though no man likes women who talk too much. Ron laughed.Who defines what is too much , he asked, like a professor of logic? Surely it depends on the topic.He winked at Mary who was carrying a large iced chocolate cake into the room. Emile ate a piece of cake as he watched the humans talk.Now if they were cats, he thought they would not all still be virgins at the age of 108.So being human stops people enjoying their bodies because they think Adam would still be a virgin if Eve had not offered him the apple.Then where would we all be?Nowhere, that is the answer. Ron got up and said he was going to ring 999 because Sol was looking peculiar, Do you mean he is looking at you peculiarly or he looks unwell or mad, asked Annie nervously? Do you want to go to A and E, she asked Sol. Why not?It will make a day out,he replied wildly. The thing is,once you get there you could be there for hours,Mary said. I once was there with Stan and at midnight the nurse asked me if I wanted to be admitted.He was still lying there with his eye bleeding,his nose broken and feeling weak owing to lack of food.He had passed out because of low blood sugar but they gave him no food.Very odd.I am not going to come with you. Sol looked anxious.I thought you might like caring for me, he told her petulantly Do you really think women like serving men all the time?Well, we only do it for men we love and as I’ve only known you for an hour in a non-biblical sense it seems a bit much to expect.Why don’t we play a game instead? Ron came in, what sort of game? Consequences,Annie cried! Too out of date. I think I’ll go to bed,said Mary And so say all of us.Except Ron.He doesn’t know what to do.Like the old lady in the shoe.What do you advise?
A villanelle is like a cable knit The lines repeated twist ,make strong ,make warm My mind is held by pattern as I sit
How can we find a subject that is fit To spend our time to make this unique form? A villanelle is like a cable knit
1 and 3 repeat while 2 rhymes with 1 and 3 make strong the cabled arm My mind is held by pattern as I sit
For few escape the glimpsed abyss Patterns,repetitions, keep us calm A villanelle is like a holy knit
Who hurts whom and why did Judas kiss? King David knew the darkness ,wrote his psalms My mind flows with the patterns as I sit
From life and death and injured pride we learn That noone who repents will suffer harm A villanelle from chosen words is knit My mind dwells in the pattern and the wit.
2. Return something that you recently bought from a large online store if you have not used it and please don’t be dishonest
3. Do something that you don’t like to do but it’s important that someone should do it
It could be the washing up or it could be writing an email to someone to whom you owe one but for some reason you are rather lethargic about doing anything
4. Get some playing cards and play Patience.
5. Pay a bill.
6. Phone an elderly neighbour to see if they would like you to visit them or get them some shopping
7. If you can walk go to the public library.
8. See is there any eBooks on a special offer. Not everybody can get to the library.
9. Do some exercises to strengthen your leg or arm muscles which is very important when you’re getting older.
10. Stand up go to the kitchen and try a new recipe if you are able to do this.
11. Why not change the sheets on your bed?
12. Write down five experiences that you remember from your childhood as being either very sad or very happy. Then meditation on this and see whether you can do any of these now.
13
Read your favourite book again. I find Nicholas Freeling very re- readable
How my heart sings 