He cooked his own goose with one stroke and hit the nail on the head.Which is more than one can say for her.
There’s no smoke without a fire, as the farmer said to the pig. In my view, I’m not a racist I’m British and proud of it. The empire was of great benefit to the natives on all sides. Well, look at it with my lack of perspective.
Confession of the day
Bless me Father, I have twins.Through my fault, through my fault , through my most enjoyable grievous fault. No need to boast.Just keep the home fires burning if you’ll pardon my depression.
I just can’t cry anymore. Too many crooks spoiled the broth and I can’t blame them as we’ve all been in the same position more or less, bar the missionaries of course .I’ll tell you what I think; we’re all mad as that hatter who lived in a shoe.And he didn’t know what to do by a long chalk. He wasn’t Jewish, which was a shame.It wasn’t his fault.I blame his parents.Definitely. What could he do? He had psychoanalysis for thirty years but was never circumcised so he couldn’t pass for Jewish even with his hat, beard and vocabulary.If only he hadn’t gone to the gents he could be praying in the synagogue right now, although admittedly it was burned down by that Himmler chap and his cronies.That was in the most civilised country in Europe… it makes you think, doesn’t it?
There was always something of the barbarian about those Nazis… say what you like but I’d never trust one further than I could throw him, in a manner of speaking.Though with Drumpf we may have trouble
You know what I mean; it’s horses for courses although I don’t know any Jewish jockeys myself.I think they prefer lions or possibly antelopes.Have you ever seen a gazelle pulling a cart?Me, neither.That makes two of us. Great minds and so forth.Well, I can’t keep listening all night.I’m off.I have other fish to fry.I’m so popular I’ve been framed. Why do women talk so much when they could be scrubbing the floor.It’s innate, you know.genetic.They’re wired for it and love a few brillo pads for Xmas or Channukka…say what you like but God did impregnate a lady of Hebrew ethnicity…life’s a puzzle to all of us but more so to men as we have no hearts to speak of. For God’s sake, be quiet or I’ll call the police.
A dead sheep, drowned, was washed up on the sands Not treasure from the deep brought to the land We came to Morecambe Bay for time and peace Noone can escape from unfelt grief
The Arnside Knott had given me new views As if it were that green hill were Christ mused I saw the Langdale Pikes, now small and far Affecting me, their pulling like a star
Sheep can’t safely graze on Salisbury Plain The Army tests it weapons there these days Man and Nature do not see the need For slow creation, not excessive speed
Every blade of grass is trodden down Not symbols of creation nor its crown
Mary went into the staff room at 10:30 a.m. where one of her colleagues asked her if she wanted to play Bridge at lunchtime.
I’m sorry but I don’t know how to play bridge, she answered mellifluously. Besides I’ve never seen any women playing with you
Well most of the women are not very mathematical or logical but you are, Mary
That’s what you think she thought to herself as she ambled rapidly away to the lecture room.
Hello, she cried to the students I was am really looking forward to giving my lecture today.
The student stared blankly as if to say, well we are not.
Where are your lecture notes Mary?
Asked Bryan a student rather like Mick Jagger in his youth
I don’t use lecture notes or any other memory aid. I just have the key points in my mind and then I pretend I am telling a story
I can’t understand how you can do that with mathematics because there are no people there no relationships no conversation.
Yes I understand what you mean but I have to do certain things to grab your attention for example I am wearing red corduroy trousers today. That will make some people look at me even if they think it’s a foolish choice.
And then I kind of talk myself into it well for example
Does the order in which we do things matter ?Yes it does for example you make the bed before you get into it not after you’ve got into it usually.
What is true in ordinary life is also true in mathematics if you multiply a number by 50 and divide by 1.9 I think you’ll get a different answer than if you divide it by 1.9 and multiply by 50 but I might be wrong
Yes I am wrong it’s the same answer because the order does not matter for those two operations but when we’re getting into more advanced mathematics like matrix algebra it does make a difference.
But what we don’t understand said the student is why anybody would want to do matrlix algebra
Well it’s a bit like this if you were studying Hitler you would not just begin with where Hitler was born and who his parents were you want to study the social and economic factors operating in Austria and Germany at that time and in Europe more widely namely the advent of the first world war and the defeat of the German empire which was very hard for those living there. It was hard because it was not in their minds a defeat it was an armistice and yet they were treated they had been beaten.
There was a revolution and the Kaiser of Germany was deposed
This led to grudges and hatred and envy madness and murder
The Versaillat treaty was thought to be unjust by many people including Hitler.
So you can’t always explain everything before you begin to learn but you will gradually get closer you knowing the subject as time goes on.
So now I’ve told you that I can’t tell you why we study algebra before we begin to learn it I will expect you to read chapter 1 of modern algebra by Birkhoff and McLean
Go through it by yourself and then meet another student from the group and discuss what you have learned with them before you come to my next lecture.
Just then she saw her friend Annie slipping into the back of the lecture hall.
Good grief something must be wrong for Annie to come into the room.
But no nothing was wrong except that Annie had decided to go to the university to study mathematics and physics.
This dear woman had no concept of time whatsoever so she did not realise that when you do something you have to begin at the beginning.
And that the time to Make preparations is before you begin
So before you go to any lecture you will buy some paper and a pen.
You will need something hard to put your paper on and I do not mean your head, hard though it may be.
Of course some of you would have paid 500 pounds to buy a tablet and i a digital pen so that you can take notes on the screen but is it really worth all that money?
You also need to get out of bed and get dressed before you come to the university as well
I think you understand what I’m saying don’t you because if you don’t understand this you’re certainly not going to understand algebra.
Well that’s all for today students. I’ve given you a bit of motivation so go away and study that book that I have recommended
And do you know they did
Leaving Anna trying to explain to Mary why she had decided to start at university when she was already over 75 years old
Perhaps she thinks it will make her younger.
If you heard of general relativity then this is what is confusing her and everybody else except for professor Mary Brown. Because nothing confuses Mary except other human beings.
Mary went into the kitchen walking very slowly because she was wondering what to have for supper. Now that she was alone she had so much more choice but appetite had not returned after her husband had gone on holiday with his mistress Annie who live next door.
Well I suppose we all need our freedom at times but to do it so blatantly was wrong. Still the fact that he’s already had an affair with this woman next door made it less surprising.
The problem was that he normally cooked the supper so Mary was not used to thinking about the menu. When she was a student she bought a
steak pie in a tin but she didn’t know whether you could buy things like that anymore and anyway Marks and Spencers and it’s chilled food was usually a lot more tempting than tins of meat pies. But she had not planned ahead. She had not remembered to go shopping. she remembered that cats had some very nice food which look like beef pieces in jelly.
Later Mary and Emile were sitting at the table eating beef pie made with frozen puff pastry.
It’s very good Mary cried. Do you like it Emile?
Yes I’m quite converted to pies I’d like a sardine tomorrow or how about making some bread dough and we could have a sardine and mushroom pizza.
So Mary said to him you know I don’t eat fish.
Well don’t worry I will eat the entire pizza for myself,the cat told her. I wonder if pizza express do them? You could have a vegetarian pizza mother.
Yes alright then we can have that tomorrow with one provision that you eat yours outside on the patio
Alright I agree I know that you want to spend some time alone because you are very angry with Stan and Annie.
But we all know exactly well that Stan died some years ago. Is Mary losing her marbles ?
Then the phone rang. Hello it’s Annie they heard.
I don’t like Blackpool much especially my being alone. So I’m going to come back tomorrow and on the way from the station I will call into Marks and Spencer’s food shop. I’ll buy some lovely food and bring it around tomorrow evening so I can tell you about my adventures in the Blackpool Illuminations.
Well am I going mad, thought Mary.
Never mind no one will notice because I was already very peculiar but I’ll be careful not to speak to anyone who doesn’t already know me. Or I will take a vow of silence and say I am a nun. I’m going to build a hermitage in the garden.
Can I be a nun as well said Emile?
Well at the moment a man cannot be a nun but if the rules change I will let you know Emile.
After dinner Mary and Stan often went for a longish walk.They liked to go to a road where the richer people of Britain lived.,where there were some Georgian houses and one Tudor house. At dusk they would stroll by ,looking into the lighted windows to see how the rooms were decorated.And if the front garden was large sometimes they crept in to see more One beautiful house they liked from the outside was spoiled for Mary by the garish tartan wall paper. What sort of people would live there, she asked Emile who was in her handbag.with his head peeping out Well,they have a cat called Percy,he mewed softly. Why Percy?It is a noble name from the British past of course,she answered… Earls of Percy were involved in affairs of state. Well.Percy is a Chinese cat,Emile said to her wittily. He ought to be called Hu Ar U then,Mary joked ,or tried to as her sense of humour was somewhat lacking or maybe just odd.Still she looked lovely despite her moth eaten clothes bought in Sales in colors nobody else wanted like purple and lilac and bottle green. She and Stan crept slowly up the garden path and peered nervously into the empty sitting room trying to identify the paintings on the walls. All of a sudden, acompletely naked lady came into the room and lay modishly on a sofa as if she were a trained dancer.She was a sight for sore male eyes. Are they about to have a drawing class,Stan whispered? She must be a model for a Life Class or an abstract woman ,with cat ,if Percy gets into the frame,Mary mused Percy might scratch her then.Stan muttered.She could scream. Suddenly a loud voice was booming at them. What the bloody hell are you doing in my garden? There stood a big man in plus fours and and an oversized red jumper with matching cheeks We were admiring your wall paper,Mary said.I think it is very unusual. He smiled in gratification. I chose it,he cried.All by my self. But why is there a nude lady on the sofa,Stan enquired. I am so annoyed, the man told them.My fiancee likes to walk around nude but she forgets to draw the curtains first. Does she want to make an exhibition of herself,Stan enquired hopefully? We wondered if it was for a life class, you know,students learning to draw and become artists of note. Well,that’s a good idea said Arthur thoughtfully. The woman got up and came over.She opened the wondow.To their astonishment she was Annie,their neighbour and Stan’s mistress too.Stan might have known but he had kept his face immobile after years of practise. Fancy seeing you here,Annie whispered creatively in her sweet little voice I am trying to seduce Arthur but with no success so far except a marriage proposal. You need to be more discreet and indirect, said Stan. If you act like this he will think you are an artist’s model and likely to be featured in the Tate Modern Annual Show of Infamy .Now, would a man like this marry or even sleep with such a woman as you appear to be walking around like Eve before she ate the apple? I don’t know said Annie but my clothes are all in the tumble dryer,anyhow. Did you wet yourself? Mary asked her kindly.It’s nothing to be ashamed of.We all do it now and then especially since public conveniences were shut down across the UK.And now ,even winter coats are machine washable. Well,I knocked over some lemon barley water in a big jug and so I decided to wash all my clothes. while I was here as Arthur as a tumble dryer That’s a very strange tale Arthur told her.You look ravishing hanging out of the window with your nipples pointing up.Let me take a photo of you.Say,Cheese But will you put it on Twitter,Annie asked anxiously. No,dear.I am not so cruel.Why don’t you get your clothes and make us all some tea . I can’t make tea,she yelled and without pausing she dialledd 999. What is it Fire or Ambulance the lady receptionist asked politely. It’s a kettle. Is it on fire? No,it won’t boil.Can you send Dave the paramedic ,please, as he makes good tea. We are quite busy so it may be two hours or more she was told. I thought this was an emergency service,Annie said. But who defines what an emergency is? the lady asked her philosophically. I will die without this tea,Annie informed her in a ringing tone Ok ,hang up and I will send the ambulance now. Arthur seemed a little surprised I have private medical insurance,he cried.But they don’t make tea not even for old people. Well,in the UK tea has always been essential to the National Health But it will soon be drying up and we shall get flasks from the dustmen on Sundays instead. I just don’t believe it,Arthur said and he then passed out on the rug which stood in front of a bookcase full of leather bound volumes of poetry. Will he live?Read more tomorrow.Free on the NHS!
In my dreams I travel deep and low
Into the loving world of long ago
The jacket on the chair ,it smelled of smoke……
The funny tales, he sang, he laughed, he spoke
So faint the memory, strong are its remains
Security and love in our domain
The brushes and the stipplers all stood by
For no-one told his tools that he would die.
On his shoulders, like a queen I rode
So safe and happy on the path he trod.
His voice was clear and he could whistle too
In those days men were used to do
And love shone from him on my mother dear
She smiled and made us cakes for Sunday tea
What tragedy to leave his children five
But in that distant space ,he is alive
The fire as red as any glowing rose
We were dressed so well in home made clothes
Too happy, needing no words to relate
Our sense of being in this generous space
I can’t get back to them, I cannot swim
The passages too wet , the light so dim
Yet I feel it in my body faint and clear
Death is not the end of those so dear.
Deep inside our minds, ancestors live
And to out hearts a depth and breadth they give
Yet missing him,I hover near the place
Where I might dive into his dear embrace
The table where we banged our little heads
The chairs so close together like a bed
The teapot always full, the sugar bowl
The fire, the kettle , pussy cat and coal
The fireplace had its oven nice and warm
Looking at hot coals made me feel calm
The children seem to play in that far space
And all around is love and on and on I gaze
“Your eyes are like deep pools in the Indonesian ocean” Stan murmured into his mistress Annie’s ear.He gently took hold of her and pulled her down onto his thin knee. Just as he did , his new Habitat chair collapsed and they fell onto the floor.,the chair in many bits around them like a jigsaw puzzle in three dimenstions, Have you got your smartphone,my sweetheart “he whispered romantically “I think you’ll have to ring 999. “OK,my angel” Annie prattled, ” Operator,it’s my lover’s chair .It keeps collapsing;can we bring into A and E to be fixed? Well he can’t get into to bed anymore as he is 107,so we really need this” Just then a pebble hit the window,it was his wife coming back from Sainsburys” She’s lost her keys in her book bag yet again Oh,wonderful,just at the right moment” he shouted,”Hello,Mary,here is Annie,she’s a chair surgeon!” “Oh,that’s good”,Mary muttered enigmatically. ” Do you ever fix beds?” “Why do you ask?” Annie cried sweetly “Well, ours is always collapsing’it’s yet another of life’s mysteries.” “Why,you are so beautiful, Mary.You are mesmerising.Come and show me your bed.We’ll leave Stan here.He’ll soon be in that ambulance” “Annie,your eyes are like deep salty pools in the Dead Sea .” “Have you both been on the same creative writing course?” Mary spouted satirically. “I aim for satisfaction.Here’s my gun.I’m going to shoot you” Annie called “But we have no guns in the UK” Mary whispered under her breath “Well you have now.” Annie said logically. Just then the emergency ambulance arrived with its siren scaring the cats nearby but not Emile as he heard it so many times. “OK. which chair is it this time” the trisexual paramedic Dave enquired foxily. “Have you ever thought of making it in the bath?We’re getting really worried about you in Casualty,at your age.” “Worry no more” Anne screamed emphatically, firing the gun repeatedly into the chair’s remains. “I’ll make sure he never sits in it again.And now Habitat’s gone bust,he can’t buy another.’” “Cheers ,mate!”whispered the paramedic dramatically. “Has anyone ever told you,your eyes are like deep pools in the Sea of Tralee”. “Oh,no not another one!”Anne moaned tentatively,”You need to raise your whole game,not just change the name of the sea” “You’re so intelligent too,lady.Can you teach me truly creative writing?” He yelled quietly,by the way I am Trisexual. ” What a funny name.Come upstairs” she murmured in reply, “and we’ll see what sea we can see up there,tonight”. “Thank you so much and please send me home in a stamped addressed envelope when you are done with me.” he responded quixotically “Whatever” she sighed spontaneously.”Let’s get on with it or you’ll be here all night” Does it matter? he called.”I am paid by the flower” Emile the little black cat who had hidden in the wardrobe was disappointed that the light went out as he hoped to take a photo. And so did all of us
As Mary was sitting in the sitting room she realized that when she put her jumper on she had carried out two operations
The first operatiob was to turn the jumper inside out.
The second was to turn it back to front so that the label was underneath her chin giving everyone who came close to her the opportunity of seeing where she had bought it. And of its composition
Now speaking as a mathematician she was saying to her friend Annie, Unlike many operations the order in which you do these things to your jumper does not make any difference
Trivial to you this may be, but in mathematics there are many operations which are not the same when the order is reversed
Even in ordinary culinary life this is the case. If you are making a cake the order in which you carry out a sequence of operations is extremely important
You do you do not begin by putting the cake tin into the oven for 40 minutes
You begin by creaming the butter on the sugar together by hand or with an electric beater
After this you add the eggs and it’s very important you don’t add the eggs before you beat the butter and sugar until they are soft and creamy
Suddenly Mary became aware of her train of thoughts
Why in the world am I thinking about that she asked herself?
Really you don’t need to keep having an internal conversation with yourself it’s quite alright to be silent with yourself.
She knew she ought to write this down in her notebook but her notebook was full.
Suddenly her front door opened and she heard the voice of her friend Annie.
I had better not tell Annie what I was thinking because she would tell me that I need more and do something exciting like go to play bingo or to a dance hall if there are any dancehalls left in this area of Knittingham
Even hopping around the room on one foot will be better than thinking such useless though logical thoughts
No wonder I get tired she thought as my mind is burning up all my energy and really who was interested in whether I put my jumper back to front first and then took it off until this inside out and would it be the same whichever order I did it in
I’m not sure that it would though if you turned this inside out and put it on the label would still be at the back then if you turned it back to front, it will be at the front.
Now you understand the nature of obsessive thinking :that you might think you have stopped thinking but you are thinking wrong because you are still thinking all the time
For goodness set put the kettle on she called to Annie I’m driving myself round the bend.
It won’t be the first time you’ve gone around the bend Annie replied in her challenging manner
But what is the bend I mean which bend is it referring to?
Could it be the bend in the toilet?
My toilet doesn’t bend
No,it’s the outlet.
There must be some other bends in the house. Room to room there are no bends in the bathroom except the u-bend in the sink
Well the bedroom has no bends in it
Maybe it’s not in the house maybe it’s referring to something historical or some famous Bend in history.
Does it mean when you’ve left the straight a narrow road and gone on the winding path to perdition?
When I was a child I used to wonder why there was no bus to Perdition
What about a skating rink?
If it’s circular you go off and when you reach the other side you gently turn around with the circle and come back to the beginning. so you are meant to go around the bend
Well somebody must know about it; you had better ring 999. Ask them
Hello do you want the five brigade or the ambulance or the police
I’m not sure can you send all over them at once.
What are you or who are you. Are you a crazy person ?
Well that’s the problem I don’t know because I think I may have gone round the bend but I’m not sure what the bend is or whether I can come back from the other side.
If I was you I would go to see a psychoanalyst
Can you send one here on the NHS?
I’m afraid that they don’t work for the national health service although some of them used to do in hospitals for example Adam Phillips used to work in the children’s department of a South London hospital giving help to children in difficulties.
Well could I go there?
I’m afraid he doesn’t work though anymore because the changes that came in during the 1980s and 90s were so draconic that he was no longer able to give children the help that they needed. You see they can do it on computers now it’s called cognitive behavioral Therapy and it just asks you questions like
What are you upset about at the moment?
Well I got ipset about the big pile of clothing on the chair in my bedroom which is driving me insane.
So what does that make you feel like?
It makes me get out of bed and go over to the chair and start sorting it all out.
I’m afraid you are not suffering from depression then and you do not need CBT.
That’s not very helpful.
Health service only gives stuff like that now or if you want to you could catch flu and come and lie in the corridor on a trolley for 48 hours that might make you feel better when you see the suffering of other people around you.
I’ve seen enough suffering in my life already.
Anyway you shouldn’t be talking to me you’re only a 999 phone operator
Well you’ve got me all confused : do you want animal vegetable or mineral or fire or ambulance or the police
I’ll have an animal because my cat Emile is lonely so I would like another cat.They have to be black and female.
Ok I’ll phone you when we get one in and you can come and pick it up or I can bring it around to you in a taxi if you like and the government will pay the taxu for you.
Oh it’s so wonderful now with this labour government:wait till I tell my friends about this.
No matter if you believe everything I’ve told you then you are really round the bend and you need to go to A&E on foot because I know there’s nothing wrong with you except that you need to get some mental health advice
But you have a lovely voice would you mind if I asked you have to have meal with me tomorrow when I’m not working? There’s a very nice restaurant opened about one mile away from here.
Well you can ring me tomorrow and see what I’m feeling like because at the moment I’m not accepting any invitations for dates or meals or anything at all except going to bed
Well I will go to bed with you if you like because you sound very charming and attractive
I don’t mean going to bed in order to make love and have sexual Congress with men I mean going to bed to sleep because I am tired of worn out and anyway I’m 91 tomorrow.
Are you really need it your voice sounds so girlish.
Well that’s the nicest thingsl anybody has said to me this week.
You need to go out and mix more
More what?
Mary put the phone down and picked up the cup of tea which her friend brought and it was absolutely delicious.
That has hit the spot she cried loudly
Don’t asj me what the spot is because I don’t know!
Stan awoke feeling very thirsty.My, this bed is too hard, he thought.He put out his hand and felt some wood not far away.It was his desk Emile was lying on his stomach purring You fell out of bed, the little cat miaowed.Luckily I clung on with my claws and I am ok sleeping down here….I can see any mice better.Well ,it’s not ok with me,Stan informed him gently .How can I get up? He picked up the Cambridge Companion to Sylvia’s Wrath and banged on his desk softly. Mary was awake and heard a strange sound.She got up and found Stan lying on the floor with his head by his wooden desk. Emile wanted to sleep by the wall, you see.,he told her. Then he rolled over and I fell out. That is logically and scientifically insensible,Mary told him. Surely Emile is not so big that his weight was enough to knock you out of the bed? Anyway, why don’t you get up? I like it down here, the old man lied to her. OK, Mary said,t hen she picked up the phone and rang 999. Hello, she said.My cat is very upset as he feels guilty for pushing my husband out of bed. How terrible for you, the man answered.I’ll send an ambulance right away. Mary opened the front door and left it unlatched whilst she lit the electric lights with a match. How do you feel Stan, she enquired. I am thirsty, give me so brandy, he ordered her in that way men do. They said not to let you or Emile drink or eat. Bloody ridiculous, he told her gently. Soon the ambulance arrived and the paramedics were running up the stairs. Mary fainted so they laid her on the bed whilst they comforted Emile. Then they picked up Stan and laid him right next to Mary. Why don’t you have a bigger bed, one asked Stan. Bigger than what, he responded academically. Well, if you were any fatter you’d not be able to get in with your wife. True,he replied but I am 96 you know.I have erectile mal-conjunction already and soon I’ll be bowled out. I shall make you some tea, the female paramedic told them. Well, you don’t seem to be hurt, the other one told Stan, but the cat may need therapy or counselling because of the guilt he will feel. He’s not a Catholic I hope. No, he’s Jewish, Stan shouted hopefully. That’s alright then.He can have concubines.How do cats get to be Jewish? It’s their souls, Mary said…they are all waiting up there for a suitable place to be reborn and some choose to be cats. But how can you tell? he asked wonderingly. They miaow in Hebrew, Mary said. Do you speak it? No, it’s just he hates bacon and pepperoni and always wears a hat so it seems he must be one of Jesus’s friends, but not Judas of course.I suppose Jesus wore a hat but it’s never been found as yet.Not even being sold as relics. Well, that’s intriguing.Do you think Emile might be the New Messiah? Oh , dear.We never thought of that.Will he have to go to Galilee and catch fish? No, he can go to Rome and tell the Pope that the Church is not what God planned. I hope they don’t kill him, Mary cried… God will not be very happy. I didn’t know God had moods, Stan said. He has post-creative depressive disorder….no wonder when we look around the world. Still, they did try, I’ll say that for him or her. And so say all of us For he’s a very good yeller, he’s a very good yeller. A cat’s life is a fuss.Miaow.:)
The bricks of the old wall while crumbling live Five hundred years of history passed them by While plants grew in the cracks below, above
Apart from people, this is what I love That ancient structures stand and do not die The bricks of this old wall while crumbling live
A little beauty will do well enough This cheers my heart and lifts my spirits high Wild flowers grow in cracks below, above
We fill our minds and homes with shop bought stuff Gaze on bricks and cracks, what will we spy? The bricks of this old wall while crumbling live
Like old complexions, older bricks are rough The Vicar cannot smooth them though they try Holes for plants inscribe these cracks with love
From generations past, ghosts wander. shy. Looking for their graves, they whisper,sigh The bricks of the old wall still crumbling live Tenacious weeds shall wave below, above
Oh we don’t do confessions anymore and the Catholic church.
I don’t care what other people do I want to confess my sins now.
Oh well if you insist carry on but you’re supposed to be in the confessional box so I won’t know who you are
Oh don’t worry about that.
Well what have you done wrong?
I used the wrong cutlery when I went to a meal in a hotel with some clients but that’s not a sin is it?
Well it could be a sin if you did it to try to humiliate somebody even to humiliate yourself.
But why would I want to humiliate myself?
Well you know people are very strange and many people are cruel to themselves
Well that is me something to think about. Making myself suffer all these years thinking it was a good thing and now I find it’s a sin.
Any other sins?
Well I need to look at a list really because I probably haven’t heard of some of them for example adultery.
Well you must have heard of it otherwise you wouldn’t have said it would you?
Very true but so many years I was puzzled about what it was I thought it was something that adults did which in one sense was true but I didn’t realize it was anything to do with sex.
Well what else could people vdo that was wicked?
They could hit somebody or swear at somebody or steal the housekeeping money from the wife’s purse
Why would you give your wife housekeeping money and then steal it back?
Well you wanted her to think that you were generous so you will give her the money but then in the night you could steal it back and she wouldn’t know that it was you
So it’s a combination of deceit and lying and theft my goodness in this carries on I’ll have to take you to the police station
The police weren’t bothered about this sort of trivia not when we’ve got young children being murdered in a dancing class.
Yes I do see what you mean nevertheless the existence of greater evil does not give us licence to commit smaller evils
Now do you repent of these sins?
Yes I do I agree it’s very wrong because it made my wife very unhappy and although it wasn’t a adultery in the sexual sense nevertheless it was very bad to do that to an adult especially while I’m supposed to love.
Well do you love her?
Yes when I’m feeling alright I do but when I’m feeling bad because I’ve lost my job or I’ve been gambling and bu lost money there then it’s harder too love anyone even my own children because my feelings of guilt and horror are too strong for me to be able to focus on anybody else.
Well if you don’t feel that you can stop doing these things then we’ll have to find someone to help you. There are places where gamblers can get help for example.
But suppose I don’t want to go
In that case you’re making yourself more likely to do bad things and to harm your family and other people
Yes it all seems so easy just talking to you here but when it comes to the crunch it is hard
But you see this is how you show your love for your family and your friends by being brave enough to get help for your weaknesses which otherwise will harm them not to mention harming yourself but that’s for you to think about
Alright I will absolve you from your sins as long as you promise me that you will never do these things again.
Yes I am very thankful I spoke to you. I know definitely will get help if I find I’m getting tempted too much.
Very well my child.
I’m not really your child am I m after all you are a Catholic priest
No you’re not my child but I was married at one time and my wife died so I decided I would enter the religious life.
Do you think that was a good idea?
Yes I think so because I can help people who are in a sense like my children would have been in my wife hadn’t died and so I feel I’m using my paternal feelings and instincts to make society better. You can’t deny that God will be pleased if society gets better
I suppose that’s true but there’s so much badness.
Just start small that’s all you have to do. We might be weak but we can all do small things.
Snow clouds hang like canopies forlorn, Tinged with grey from lack of proper care, While from the Channel sing the dread foghorns
Sailors in the night long for new dawn Fear boats of refugees may still sail there Snow clouds hang like canopies well torn
A dinghy holds the Saviour lately born There is no space on earth safe from great fear F rom the Channel sigh the families drowned
From maternal’ space, Jesu is torn His father holds his arms around those dear Snow clouds hang, are lacy wings no more
The hearts of British ” natives” have turned sour Into Jesu’s side we thrust our spears Tune the channel.Requiems need scores
All lives now, and all of time is here Do not mistake the song of silent choirs. Snow clouds hang like canopies forlorn, While in the Channel, reckless are the horns
Known for using classical allusions to cast provocative light on contemporary concerns—including Northern Ireland’s “Troubles”—Longley’s poetry is also marked by sharp observation of the natural world, deft use of technique, and deeply felt emotion. His debut volume, No Continuing City (1969), heralded the arrival of a new voice from a region which had already produced recognized talents like Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon. Longley’s early influences were English poets like Philip Larkin, Louis MacNeice, World War I poets, as well as masters from the classical tradition. The critic Langdon Hammer has described Longley’s poems as masterpieces of “lucidity, economy, sincerity … by means of meticulous, unpretentious technique.” When asked in a 1998 interview about the formal discipline that helps him produce four- and two-line poems, Longley replied, “Was it Tennyson who said that a perfect lyric inscribes the shape of an S? That sense of a gesture, you know, the way you use your hand if you’re bowing, if you’re reaching out to shake somebody’s hand, if you’re going to stroke a cat, if you’re holding a woman’s hand to take her on to the dance floor.”
Longley’s work engages diverse subjects, including Homeric literature, the landscape of Carrigskeewaun, jazz, Walter Mitty, and the politics of Northern Ireland. On the public and political responsibilities of being a Northern Irish poet, he has commented, “Though the poet’s first duty must be to his imagination, he has other obligations—and not just as a citizen. He would be inhuman if he did not respond to tragic events in his own community, and a poor artist if he did not seek to endorse that response imaginatively.” Reviewing his Selected Poems (1993), critic Fran Brearton praised in particular Longley’s more political poems, noting his “use of a compassionate yet unsentimental voice, and an attention to detail which restores specificity at a point in history when it is most in danger of being lost in abstraction—numbers, dates, death-tolls counted beyond comprehension.”
Longley is married to the critic Edna Longley. They live in Belfast, Ireland.
Silence broken by the sound of apps
Telling me that someone somewhere laughed
The washer makes its usual gnomic cries
Will the clothes be wet before they dry?
Silence full of peace enhances life
So we will happy without strifel
Music is a silence all its own
The space between the notes is a good home
Silence in the company of friends
Speaking when we need to make amends
Poetry is music too I feel
And dancing is the music of the soul
Silence in the centre of our soul
Silence in the love that makes us whole
The blank paged notebooks where you used to write First with pencil then with ballpoint pen The Freeling novels you read in the night
These special objects bring you to my sight I see your face, you disappear again To blank paged notebooks where you used to write
The reading lamp showed in its small clear light Your telephone, your desk, your writing plan The Freeling novels you read in the night
My heart feels strange, my feelings re- ignite The fires of love quelled by the sudden rain Oh, blank paged notebooks where you used to write
I did not let you go without a fight But once accepted, I endured the pain I read the books that you read in the night
The force that makes the wheat produce its grain Also kills as freely as blood stains In blank paged notebooks where you used to write Where do you read now in endless night?
How my heart sings 