https://www.independent.co.uk/news/alarm-over-secret-catholic-mason-group-1122460.html

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-the-full-list?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I spent my adult life in puzzles mazed
No more to play in parks or climb green hills
Wondering was it true that Jesus saves.

On green hills, the Herdwick sheep would graze
While in the town, the people swallowed pills
I spent my adult life in puzzles mazed

On the sunny side,old people prayed
For pensions were too small to pay the bills;
Some wondered in which Bank the Saviour saved

I may have been obsessive in my ways
Keeping my accounts was quite a drill
I spent my entire life in puzzles mazed

How many sins.such thoughts would prey
Of self torture,I have had my fill
Wondering is it true that Jesus saves

Jerusalem upon its rocky hill
Cannot show but maybe it can tell
I spent my adult life in puzzles mazed
Wondering if it’s true that Jesus saves.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/12/thousands-of-mental-health-patients-readmitted-within-a-month-in-england?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I am ashamed of this country and the way we treat people with mental health problems and their families who are among the most vulnerable people in this country and they were unlike to make compliance because of their health and their suffering

While my husband kissed me in our bed
Our cat would lounge on top and lick his head
No matter what gyrations that cat saw
All he did was pat us with his paws
The happy days of learning how to feel
How to entertain withv spicy meals
Of walking by warm rivers hand in hand
Watching coots and moorhens ,washing pans
Buying an old kettle, then a house
Driving out to Ongar ,stubble fires
Smokey Essex cornfields, insects’ pyres
Driving down the Saxon Cliffs at Hythe
Soft teal Sea,Capel le Ferne, men’s eyes
Happy in a cottage in the wilds
I sang like some small bird, we walked for miles
Kersey where the ducks bathe in the street
Kissing in the hedges was so sweet
Getting our own garden, growing beans
Growing spinach, lettuce and snap peas
Picking our blackcurrants, making tea
Making jam from raspberries. yes please
This proves that when you marry you need pans
Cooking dinners talking with our friends
Wearing jeans and hair so long it flowed
My husband liked to brush it till it glowed
I dream some nights my hair is still like that
And how the cat slept with his paws in it
How his father died and mother grieved
Life is not all positive, we see.
On we went and love was what we grew
Though anger did rise up and strain the glue
First the cat died, then my man went too
Can’t I adopt a beast from Whipsnade Zoo?

I see the pavement and each well cracked stone

I know the privet hedge now soft with rain

I plucked a leaf I sipped its moisture green

I saw the window with its one cracked pane

the ginger cat once sat outside the door.

He sucked the eggs laid by our neighbour’s hens

He ate the budgie while we were at school

My mother never fed him, bought no tins.

No children play upon this once bright Street

No marbles roll the gutters, no boys play.

Skipping ropes abandoned, slowly rot

The past has left few Shadows for today.

In my mind I see the ancient scene

Children sing the rhymes, the coltsfoot gleams

https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/beef-olives-true-comfort-food/

Give me food and give me drink.

I’ll tell the truth, just give me ink.

I had a husband in my bed

I confess that he is dead

Give me water give me wine

Tell the world that you are mine

I love a man I love a lad

I love my cat, for he is bad

We Will All Mourn, and We Will All Be Mourned https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/opinion/why-we-judge-each-others-grief.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

I lose myself in heather scented earth
The sun, the sky, the happenstance of you
No more to be a rival for love’s birth

The bees fly in and out of mirth
The distant Tees,the farms, the longer view
I lose myself in heather scented earth

What is life if not experienced first?
To lie in arms of love,to feel renewed
No more to be a zealot for love’s birth

We roll towards the edge, the ending cliff
Are saved by buzzing bees from avenue
We lose ourselves in heather scented earth

Never will there be another mist
A fog of love that fills the endless pews
No more to be a beggar for love’s birth

We sunk into the soil and out of view
We knew each other well, till we were through
I lose myself in darkly scented earth
No more to be a threat to love’s new birth

The cyclamen, the lily and the earth
The potted plants ,green leaves , distil the air
The lily is for peace. the rose for worth

Let no human live in pain or cursed
Let the golden light en-wrap them here
The cyclamen, the lily and the earth

The waxy flowers of cyclamen bring mirth
Bring gratitude in winter when all’s bare
The lily is for peace. the rose for worth

I feel my hands are reaching for a brush
The watercolour paints bring their allure
The cyclamen, the lily and the earth

Then I see a flower trod on and crushed
It seems to bleed like Jesus,tears my eye.
The lily is for peace. the rose for worth

Nature has its truth and so do I
Many times I weep, bewail and cry
The cyclamen, the lily and the earth
The lily is for peace. the rose for birth

Turn back, live again, he asked of me
Do not wander in the darkness anymore
One false move might give death victory

We are each connected to that tree
The sunlit top, the roots hid in earth’s floor
Come back, live again, he asked of me

While we live, we’ll live with dignity
Not scrabbling for the gold in blood and gore
One more step will give hate victory

The kindness of the golden light was clear
And left sweet feelings in my heart’s deep core
Come back, live your life, he then soothed me

Do not wonder now why you are here
We’re here to live and living shall restore
What our suffering self has found so dear

I had never seen the Light before
Only Christ the Tyger with his roar
Come back, live through pain, he asked of me
That first step will give love victory

L

Grey, damp, dark, a winter day describe,

Though sunshine comes with white and wintry frost.

While on my paper curving shapes inscribe

The alphabet I learned at childhood’s cost

Humankind can’t bear too much of night

Hallucinations,dreams, symbols confused.

We like the sunny sky where birds take flight.

In warmth soft air, our tension are defused.

Accepting night is one of our sad tasks

Light and dark needs balance in this world

In the light of sun. our sorrow’s masked

We feel false ecstasy as colors swirl.

God created light and darkness first

Their divided unity is blessed

Annie the nubile,sexy and colour fancying neighbour has persuaded Mary that as Stan has run away shem should find someone else.Mary is doubtful
First of all,Annie cried,you need some new shoes.No man will be charmed by those chunky comfy flatties.Nor do your socks show sophistication
She herself wore a pink tweed suit and some high heeled boots in purple patent leather.
Well,Mary,answered,I thought I should be myself because a man might be annoyed being tricked like that.I believe in honesty.
That’s their problem said Annie rudely.
Well.where do I get the sort of socks a man would like,if indeed all men are the same in that way?I’d stick with silky black ones,said Annie kindly.Then some smart black pumps.
But if I look at Soul-mates online the men will not know what shoes I have got on.
That’s true,said Annie.At least until you meet one.
Anyway if it is called Soul-mates,why does my body matte
Don’t be so literal,dear.You know it’s just a way of indicating they want a lover.
Well.in that case it’s my lingerie that matters.
See here,said Annie bossily.With those shoes and socks nobody will want to see your lingerie.
Just as well said Mary.I don’t have any.
Are you telling me you have no underwear on,n,Mary whispered Annie cried franticaly
I am wearing some woollen vests and underpants I got for Stan,Mary said shyly
People might think you are a transvestite,pardon the pun re vesI have heard of transcendence but not transgender,Mary admitted ruefully.I
did used to have a purple bra, she continued nervously.Anyway, what about my job?
Don’t put anything about maths on the form.They hate clever women.
Surely they are not all the same,Mary answered.
Mary Archer is very clever.And Jeffrey is very rich.
You can’t generalise from one example ,Annie informed her academically

How about my love of Wittgenstein,shall I allude to that?
If you wear men’s woollen underwear and love a dead gay philosopher it will cut down the pool of men available,one might guess,Annie shouted.
to you
I don’t think I’ll bother,Mary whispered.I’d rather have a cup of tea.Or maybe I’ll enter a convent and never come out again
.
So Annie put the kettle on and they did the Times Crossword from November 12 th 1956.Eventually they will crack it.Or die trying.

Thanks for all those calls and letters
Thanks for caring that I’m here.
In my darkest, lonesome moments
These replies will keep you near.

Thanks for answering all my emails
Thank you for the hours you give.
Thanks for sharing heartfelt thoughts
And being so generous with your love.

Thank you for your wit and grace,
Thank for your funny face.
Thank you for your deep blue gaze and
Thank you for your warm embrace.

Thank you,thank you,thank you,thank.
Love you,love you,love you,Love.
Thank you,thank you,thanks to you,
Because,because,because,Because

https://talkingwriting.com/richard-zimler-the-subversive-side-of-my-personality

https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/warsaw-anagrams

The little tree dreams in the drizzle of the night

Slowly growing higher, and deeper too

The ground is full of roots twirled around like hair

Here’s one with a head full of worms dangling like ornaments

But there are no eyes.

The Ants crawl silently carrying the injured to the nest

The moon that hung over my father’s grave can’t fly away like a bird.

My eyes are leaking again.

Now I dream, I see children climbing the tree and look they are picking apples in the middle of winter

All this year erratic winds have blown
Cold in winter,humid in the spring
Whirling human minds like little stones

Ethics,truth,humility disowned
In their place what will the demons bring?
In this era, winds erratic blow

All the owls and other birds have flown
They sense the truth, there is no lingering
As whirl our human minds like pebblestone

In the blackbirds garden, they say :go
As they flutter on their open wings
Even in that place, winds strange do blow

Under masks of sweetness, poison shows
Bombs are nuclear, once mere arrows stung
As whirl our ancient minds, as mothers moan

On the cross, the Christ in grief still hangs
Underneath, the proud snake shows its fangs
All this year the monstrous winds have blown
Stirring up our patterns,seeking form

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/jan/04/the-experts-artists-on-20-easy-mind-expanding-ways-to-be-much-more-creative?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

When Mary woke up she couldn’t remember where she was. She seemed to be in a corridor with no distinguishing features at all except that there was a large desk behind a glass panel with a small hole and at the desk set a large black woman.

Would you mind telling me where I am asked Mary!

Go back to bed at once.

I didn’t know I had a bed here.

Stop acting so silly and go back to bed at once. You’re not supposed to walk about by yourself.

Well who is supposed to walk with me Mary asked her?

You’re supposed to have a crutch.

I don’t believe this.

Go back to bed or I shall call the matron.

Mary wanted through a door where she saw three ladies peacefully sleeping and fortunately she found an empty bed. Unless there was someone invisible already sleeping there and the state of Mary’s mind made that quite possible as it had changed so many times

She got into the bed and went to sleep still puzzled about her whereabouts. Since she had insomnia it was rather surprising that she could sleep in a place so unfamiliar and unknown without even Emile her little black cat to keep her company.

Who is going to feed Emile she wondered and does Annie knoe where I am and why?

In the morning some people came by and one of them said

I am the consultant.

I see that you had the antibiotics but be still got your nasty cough

I am sorry said Mary. I will try to make it nicer.

The doctors walked away the consultant turn round and shouted to Mary

Have you got schizophrenia?

Do you have to shout about my personal information in public?

Well answer the question.

Mary told her that she did not yet have schizophrenia but she felt something private inside her had been invaded this public questioning. Did she look as if she’s got schizophrenia well there’s no law or rule about exactly how someone with schizophrenia might look

What a lack of respect for the old people when if they said to a middle age or young man in public are you schizophrenics he will probably punch them on the jaw. He might even call the police to arrest the doctor for defamation. Though it’s calling someone schizophrenic an insult?

Schizophrenia is caused by a sevete loneliness and mental and emotional confusion. In our present as those are not unusual states of mind and perhaps we can help each other

Speak warmly except to your consultants in the geriatric ward.

If you have ah experience like Mary why don’t you ask the consultant whether they have yet solved Fermats last theorem or whether they have found Newton’s orchard.

And Mary thought I myst remember to treat people with respect that’s even more important than treating them warmly.

We all have an inner private self that must not be invaded by other people and their aggressive ways.

Whoever we are, we have a spark of life in our soul and nobody can take that away from us there’s sometimes it feels as if they have tried to.

Sometimes they have tried very hard and during the 20th century in the era of Stalin and Hitler it’s very possible that some sparks of life were permanently extinguished and leave a sorrowful gap in the heart of Europe

Once we become ill or have an accident we are in danger of no longer being the agent in our own life.

People assume that it we are over 70 that we’ve got dementia unless we can prove otherwise. My husband was badly injured in an accident which nearly knocked his eye out broke his nose and his cheekbones and caused his brain to bleed. Before going to the hospital the ambulance brought him to the house so that I could go with him. They were sorry that he got dementia but he had not got dementia

In the ambulance he was sitting looking in afraid and in pain and very puzzled while a young woman paramedic was screaming at the top of her voice.. Who is the prime minister?

I told this young woman to be quiet. I then explained to him that he had passed out and his head on the war memorial by the foot path he was covered in blood and they handing me later a plastic bag with his glasses in them and also a copious amount of blood
He was in a ward for a few days. On his first evening there he rang me up at 9 p.m. and asked me to take him some painkillers.
I rang the hospital manager and told him the situation and he went to the ward and spoke to the staff and they said well on the end of his bed there is a sheet of information and it says painkillers on demand.
Since he was in the bed without his glasses to see with and still covered in blood becaus he wouldn’t get undressed it seems very unlikely that he would walk to the end of the bed and read this notice.
And when a nurse came then said to him how are you? He did not realise that was her asking him if he wanted any painkillers so he responded if he did in real Life by saying he was fine thank you
h
How you could be fine when your eye had been at risk of coming out, your nose is broken and the cheekbone and another bone underneath your eye was broken I cannot imagine.
The final thing was the doctor saying to him
Do not blow your nose because your eye will come out.
Have you ever seen somebody with a broken nose blowing it because I haven’t and I don’t if I ever will but should I do so I will tell him do not blow your nose your eye mighr come out
How far does it come out? Is it completely loose like a marble that might come out and then roll away or is it attached in some way to the eye socket. Please don’t tell me I don’t want to know.
Anyway he died

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/02/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-giving-up-adam-phillips

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/01/100-tiny-changes-to-transform-your-life-from-the-one-minute-rule-to-pyjama-yoga?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other