Author: Katherine

Poetry writer and author

Saying much with little in poetry

 

https://allpoetry.com/column/7541033-Compression-Saying-Much-with-Little–by-micol

 
Extract:

Of all the parts of speech, then, prepositions (and their accompanying nominal phrases) most often work against tightness, compression, and clarity in poetry. Lines needn’t be stripped down as far as I have taken this one, but on almost every level, particularly in early drafts, finding prepositions and prepositional phrases, identifying the underlying verb, defining the actor performing that action, and restructuring accordingly may at least present new alternatives for expression.

Rictameter #2

Bushka's avatarAutumn Ambles

IMG_3541(WP)

Petite,
Fair-haired damsel,
In light-grey suit attired,
Demure smile gracing her fetching face,
Ambled down spacious college passageway,
Turning admiring, ogling heads,
Young student ventured forth,
Good Morning Ms
Petite!

©Meanderings 2016

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The Caged Thrush Freed And Home Again (Villanelle) – Poem by Thomas Hardy

wood_thrush_565221

You can hear poems read out on Poem hunter including this one

“Men know but little more than we,
Who count us least of things terrene,
How happy days are made to be!

“Of such strange tidings what think ye,
O birds in brown that peck and preen?
Men know but little more than we!

“When I was borne from yonder tree
In bonds to them, I hoped to glean
How happy days are made to be,

“And want and wailing turned to glee;
Alas, despite their mighty mien
Men know but little more than we!

“They cannot change the Frost’s decree,
They cannot keep the skies serene;
How happy days are made to be

“Eludes great Man’s sagacity
No less than ours, O tribes in treen!
Men know but little more than we
How happy days are made to be.”

Garden

Soft rain is falling
Pink honeysuckle rises
Looks like crocuses

Growing on shed roof
It was “suitable for shade”
But it climbed over

Until it found  sun.
The wisteria has moved
To a tree next door.

I can see upstairs
How it drapes and dangles from
A young rowan tree.

The apple blossom
I’ve not noticed it again
But I saw the wren.

The wren  is near now
Hides in weigelia
With its wren babies.

My friend saw a thrush
We’ve not seen one here lately.
Only the blackbirds.

The sole of wit

Naivity is the  soul of wit

Business before  treasure

Caesar’s wife must be above  collision

 Bees: the  fray

Charity begins to roam

Charity covers a multitude of bins

Cheaters make us sin

Children and fools tell the truth

Children should be keen and not stirred

Christmas comes but once a care

Avoiding Windows 10

Microsoft Strikes Again – How to NOT Upgrade to Windows 10

Windows 7 is being given updates till 2020.If you are told you need new hardware  to get Windows 10 it may be cheaper to buy a new laptop instead,apparently.

From a website:safety

A tech tip that might help catch burglars

20 Replies

I mentioned last time about how I managed to get lost (I mean, take an unusual and more interesting route) on the way home the other day. And it sparked an email from a reader with what I think it a brilliant idea if you use a Sat Nav.

He explained it perfectly, so here’s what he said:

I have a “Home” destination permanently set on my SatNav so, no matter where I am I just press “Home”, as easy as that. Except that that is not exactly true.

My “Home” destination is a supermarket car park some five miles from my actual house. Of course I know my way from there. But the real reason for choosing a location away from my actual “Home” is security. If my car is broken into, all the thief needs to do is activate the SN, select “Home” and follow instructions, knowing that I am stranded and he should have an empty house to rifle through, except in this case he will just end up in a car park with a good chance of the local law waiting for him if I spot the loss in good time.

Others that I know have programmed the local police station as their “Home”.

Intellectual humility

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/valuable-intellectual-traits/528

Excerpt:This is more important than IQ

Intellectual Humility: Having a consciousness of the limits of one’s knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one’s native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively; sensitivity to bias, prejudice and limitations of one’s viewpoint. Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one’s beliefs.

 

Gust and gusto

gust

play

noun GUST
PrevNext

Definition

: keen delight

Examples

“He was pleased to find his own importance, and he tasted the sweets of companionship with more gust than he had yet done.” — Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Godolphin, 1833

“… the more pampered burgess and guild-brother was eating his morsel with gust, or curiously criticising the quantity of the malt and the skill of the brewer.” — Sir Walter Scott,Ivanhoe, 1820

Learn a new word every day. Delivered to your inbox!

Did You Know?

You’re no doubt familiar with the simple gust that means “a brief burst of wind.” At least a century and a half before that word first appeared in print in the late 16th century, however, a differently derived homograph came on the scene. The windy gust is probably derived from an Old Norse word gustr, whereas our older featured word (which is now considerably rarer than its look-alike) comes to us through Middle English from gustus, the Latin word for “taste.” Gustus gave English another word as well. Gusto (which now usually means “zest” but can also mean “an individual or specific taste”) comes to us from gustus by way of Italian.

Everyone has a vocation: To be who they know that they are.

 

I think my vocation is sacred
I keep seeing visions of God
He’s like a bright light
Exceedingly right
Does anything seem to be odd?

I have a calling to follow
I just do not know the details
I pray and I wait
By yonder lychgate
Do vocations ever get into the Sales?

I would like it if I could buy one
I’ll give you all the money I’ve saved
Sell my idea?
My dear,no fear!
Just consider how well I’ve behaved.

Everyone has a vocation
To be who they know that they are.
Yet I am not me
Without you to be
Here in my arms by the fire.

I’ll get an answer tomorrow
As I dream of God during the night
She will give me an image
And the much needed courage
To go on till I see the Light.

The problem is one of translation,
For God speaks in symbols not words
Symbols are wells
in which truth dwells.
And the Spirit swoops down like a bird.

Why not find your vocation?
It’s possible whatever your age.
Attend to your dreams
and how your life seems
Vocations are now all the rage.

Oh, what art

The gift for  imitation   is an art
Needs eyes and face and mind to work as one;
And who would dare to play the darkest parts?

To reproduce another being’s heart;
To manifest a self  till acting’s done.
The gift for imitation is an art

To  play another, may one’s soul contort;
Although a little demon may be fun.
But who would dare to play the darkest part?

I’d sooner play a demon than a tart
Especially if I had a  piper and a drum
The gift for imitation, oh,  what art.

When we play  adult games we have no charts
And we know too many use a gun
But who would  dare to play the darkest parts?

We  face a trump and devils may become
Our fellow citizens   till all’s undone.
The  gift for  imitation   is an art
Yet  will  he dare to play the darkest part?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theodore Roethke:The Waking

https://youtu.be/IxY2g4mR8Xk

 

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

Villanelles:what I think so far

Let’s start with one of the most well known poems by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Form: Villanelle

I enjoyed writing some villanelles;I found it hard too.One reason is clear.
Look at the first three lines in the above poem.Lines 1 and 3 are going to be repeated several times.They also come together to end the poem.
This means they have to be good.These lines  in Thomas’;s poem are often quoted.As it happens I disagree with them as advice but I think they are marvellous as poetry.And who takes advice from poets?
So thinking of  two good lines before you start… or even one good line to begin with is something I have found more difficult than I do with sonnets.Of course I only began last week so I can’t be surprised by my lack.
However I found the repetition and the sounds were very enjoyable and memorable.More so after I had tried to write my own.And that is one good reason for writing poetry.You  will enjoy other people’s poetry much more, if it is good.As we don’t see what Dylan Thomas threw away we don’t know how much effort  and work was involved in writing his beautiful poem.Sometimes I have done nearly 30 revisions to a poem.Sometimes I put one on Facebook,not for my family to read,but just moving it and re-reading it often suggests an improvement.Sometimes  someone reads it but not always.But it’s good for me.
If I can think up another first line,I shall continue  my study.

 

 

How to pronounce ” awry” 

SecretBunker

My best friend and I both came across this word in books as children and thought it was pronounced aw-ri.So we were amazed to hear people say “a wry”

Nr 1:How not to pronounce awry

I could tell you a nice little story
But awry is not pronounced aw-riii.
That unsettles my mind
Which is somewhat unkind.
And what’s more Lowry doesn’t rhyme with story either so I am stuck here on the page for ever
.
Never mind,I weren’t hopin’ for’t glory
.[ That verb usage is common in Lancashire]
Nr 2 for correct pronunciation of awry
My bedroom is all awry
My bed is an tart apple pie.
But it’s cosy and warm
And does me no harm
Though sometimes in a dream I up-fly
Is your marriage awry like mine?
Is your partner somewhat less than divine.
Well give thanks to the Lord
For indeed it is hard
To live with a god all the time.
The bedroom was indescribably neat
Nothing was awry but a sheet
It lay on the floor
inside of the door
Just where I put my black feet.
My awry home was disliked by the doc
Yet he wore an unmatched pair o’ socks
But being full of tact
I never told him that fact..
I just made certain our eyes never locked.

Being poor [USA based but relevant to other countries

 

https://benirwin.me/2013/12/03/20-things-the-poor-do-every-day/

One thing than makes me angry is when rich people blame poor people for being poor.Some of course  do have problems but many  work hard at more than one job paid the minimum wage.

Liminal and subliminal

Broad-bodiedChaser2016

 http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

Liminal [Merriam Webster]

play

adjective LIM-uh-nul
 PrevNext

Definition

1 : of or relating to a sensory threshold

2 : barely perceptible

3 : of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition : in-between,transitional

Examples

“Kipling is drawn to images of his characters sitting in perilous places, because he aims to communicate a liminal anxiety about identity and imperial history.” — Tom Paulin, The Times Literary Supplement, 8 Mar. 2002

“Solnit suggests that separating the feeling of becoming lost from a feeling of fear leads to a certain kind of spiritual growth. In that liminal space, between what we know and what we can’t imagine, we are remade.” — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 24 May 2016

 

Did You Know?

The noun limen refers to the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to be produced, and liminal is the adjective used to describe things associated with that point, or threshold, as it is also called. Likewise, the closely related word subliminal means “below a threshold”; it can describe something inadequate to produce a sensation or something operating below a threshold of consciousness. Because the sensory threshold is a transitional point where sensations are just beginning to be perceptible, liminal acquired two extended meanings. It can mean “barely perceptible” and is now often used to mean “transitional” or “intermediate,” as in “the liminal zone between sleep and wakefulness.”

From the New Yorker

Recent DNA studies suggest that cats entered the human sphere during the Neolithic period, at the dawn of agriculture, when Felis silvestris lybica, the Arabian and African subspecies of wildcat, developed a high tolerance for living among people. (In 2004, researchers in Cyprus found a cat skeleton carefully buried with a human in a ninety-five-hundred-year-old grave.) As grain storage became common and mice became a problem, cats wandered into settlements in the Fertile Crescent. And when the technology of agriculture was transferred to other cultures cats went with it: the genetic fingerprint of all domestic cats can be traced back to the delicate wildcats that decided to improve the human experience with their presence about twelve thousand years ago.

Sufficient

The  rippling of the branches
In front of the  gentle white clouds
Seems to have little pattern
Yet the  red sun governs all
Both the swift and the slow
In the heart of the dark shrubs
Insects work patiently
Follow their inner logic
Like mini-computers
Reproduce as appointed
If only my computer could
Reproduce;what a saving
Of course we’d need updates
It is not the survival
Of the fittest computer
But the prices ;what will sell?
Computers don’t make love nor
War.They are patient like
Tombstones. by the ancient wall
Of Tudor brick near the path.
Can laptops be cremated?
Will the patient churchmen know?
This is a new one for them.
Jesus had no computer
It is inappropriate
To even ponder such   houghts.
He spoke and people listened
That is what makes us human

So sorrow’s ale brings memories of joy

 

The art of musing isn’t hard to learn
Instead of tablets,screens,electric toys=…….
A spacious mind may entertain  the spurned

We sometimes  learn this when we need to mourn
As  companions leave, of sympathy  devoid
The art of musing isn’t hard to learn.

As milk ‘s transformed to  butter  as we churn
So sorrow’s ale  brings   memories  of joy
A spacious mind  may entertain  the spurned

 

 

 
The art of living is  one art  we earn
By patience and  with tempers un-annoyed
The art of musing isn’t hard to learn

 

As life goes by,how greatly we may yearn
For lovers lost in  wars akin to Troy
A spacious mind can entertain  the spurned.

 

Unlike  that  mistress tempted to be coy,
We open up our our minds to marvelled joy
The art of musing isn’t hard to learn
A spacious mind  may  entertain  the spurned

 

 

 

 

 

Days

Some days are days for losing

Diaries,letters,lovers.
Some days are days for losing
Fathers,money,mothers.Some days are days for finding
Mobile phones and patience.
Some days are days for finding
New friends and old relations.

Some days I feel at sea for hours,
Some days I feel so lost.
Some days I know that life’s worthwhile
Whatever the emotional cost.

Days are special units
In the journey we call life.
Days are short so don’t waste time
In needless haste or strife.

Watching televisions is not hard

 

Watching televisions is not hard

They can’t walk.

Talk ok and take your views

Of the News.

Flat ones can’t have a  plant on top

alongside the wooden birds

I preferred

As I say,I keep my eye on it.

Watch it secretly when no-one is here

Or near

I’m waiting for it to speak its real words.

Or to ask me a question.

Who are you?

Why do  you watch me?

Have you no shame?

If a television could speak

We wouldn’t be able to understand what’s sad about it.

Jovial limericks.

We don’t hear the word jovial today
As we seem to be caught up in a fray
In Europe or out
We never doubt
Birds sing and horses still neigh.

Jovial belongs to the past
Where men rode and girls were thought fast.
But now it’s a ll gloom
Until very soon
Politics will leave us aghast.

Jovial: the origin

photo11831 2
http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

Merriam Webster :Word of the Day :

Jovial

play

adjective JOH-vee-ul

Definition

1 : (capitalized Jovial) of or relating to Jove

2 : markedly good-humored especially as evidenced by jollity and conviviality

Examples

He was fondly remembered for his jovial temperament and generosity.

“Inside, the crowd was boisterous and jovial, the young and fashionable sharing space with old regulars, all of them out despite the cold….” — Michael Snyder, Saveur, 13 June 2016

Learn a new word every day. Delivered to your inbox!

Did You Know?

Jupiter, also called Jove, was the chief Roman god and was considered a majestic, authoritative type—just the kind of god to name a massive planet like Jupiter for. Our word jovial comes by way of Middle French from the Late Latin adjective jovialis, meaning “of or relating to Jove.” When English speakers first picked up jovial in the late 16th century, it was a term of astrology used to describe those born under the influence of Jupiter, which, as a natal planet, was believed to impart joy and happiness. They soon began applying jovial to folks who shared the good-natured character of Jupiter, regardless of their birth date.

Wisdom

  • Chiffchaff_1A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return.
  • A mother understands what a child does not say.
  • A pessimist, confronted with two bad choices, chooses both.
  • As he thinks in his heart, so he is.
  • As you teach, you learn.
  • Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.
  • Don’t be sweet, lest you be eaten up; don’t be bitter, lest you be spewed out.
  • Don’t look for more honour than your learning merits.
  • First mend yourself, and then mend others.
  • He that can’t endure the bad, will not live to see the good.
  • If charity cost nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists.
  • If not for fear, sin would be sweet.
  • Make sure to be in with your equals if you’re going to fall out with your superiors.
  • Not to have felt pain is not to have been human.
  • What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t invent with your mouth.

Read more at http://quotes.yourdictionary.com/articles/funny-jewish-sayings.html#VJ6PygiAu8ZJeKoL.99

Stan and the meringues

Stan and Annie were clearing a big desk to make space to study government

statistics.Despite this Annie was dressed as brightly as a mad

peacock on l s d. in turquoise cotton trousers and a teal blue

viscose and polyester [with 5 percent elastane  V necked striped top

She chose the V neck was because she thought it made her look

slimmer but if that were so it was contradicted, somewhat

paradoxically, by the clinging induced by the elastane in the

fabric.What a problem dressing is nowadays she murmured

Her bedtime reading was “Contradiction, Paradox,Woman and Society” by the

unknown,unseen yet internationally famous author

Dr K. R.  Kraithbaite: Paradox and contradiction are the route to understanding” was

the  last sentence she had read before she fell asleep last night

Then she had dreamed she saw a mouse eating a lion.No wonder she had

indigestion today”Shall I make the coffee” she said to Stan.

“No,dear.I’ll do it if you can get the graph paper sorted.”

Stan stood up and walked across the room with a dazed expression.

“I hope he’s not been trying self hypnosis again” she thought

quixotically.He returned with two large mugs of steaming hot

coffee.”Would you like a meringue” he enquired.

“I’d love one.”

“So would I,” he answered glumly.”But we have no cake at all.”

“I blame Tony Blair.”

“Why him?”

“Well,I have to blame someone,don’t I?”

“Why not blame yourself”

Stan began to sob and moan.

So Annie rang 999.”Can you send a paramedic.My friend needs a

meringue.” she said in a friendly tone.

“What do you think the N.H.S. is ,a cake shop?” the receptionist

replied assertively in ringing tones.

“Well,we older folk need cakes!”Annie cried.

“How old are you,” the lady said.

“Why is there some cut off point?” Annie retorted……..

“Yes,we only supply meringues to centenarians!” she was told.

“Well really,whatever next,” Annie cried in shock.

“I suppose they have to economise now and can no longer supply cakes

and ale to pensioners like they used to do.”

But we could send you some toasted mouse sandwiches,” she was

told.”Don’t bother,” she cried fortuitously.

The heat had made her makeup run and small rivers of turqouise,black

and blue were crossing her face giving it the appearance of a large

bruise.She wished she had followed the advice her mother had given

her,”When in doubt,leave it out”

Or,was it “when in doubt,say nowt”

or even “when glum ,keep mum

“I would have kept Mum,”she thought resentfully, “but the law won’t

let you once they die”.

“Why do we have so little freedom here in England?” she asked Stan

querulously.”I can’t tell you” he croaked mysteriously

“Why not? It’s forbidden by the Official Secrets Act.”

“After we finish the statistics on unemployment and mental health we could look

into Official Secrets,” he promised her mellifluously.

“Stan, you are so good.” she shouted gratefully.

Will you wash my new jeans?” he asked.

“Why can’t you do it?” she fretfully quizzed him

“I don’t want Mary to see them.”

“Gosh it’s 5pm .She’ll be back soon.”We’ve not got far today,

I expect we can make up for it tomorrow.”

Not wanting to contradict him she remained silent whilst he studied

her face like an a psychologist trying and failing to see meaning in

an ink blot.

Then the doorbell rang.It was Dave,the paramedic with a tray of mouse

sandwiches.What a surprise

Suffer- the meaning

Canterbury Cathedral (c) Jane Risdon 2015

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

http://jamesjoyce.ie/james-joyce/life/  [About his life]

http://literarydevices.net/villanelle/ [About poetry]

A villanelle marked to show the rhymes and repetions

Are you not weary of ardent ways, (A1)
Lure of the fallen seraphim? (b)
Tell no more of enchanted days. (A2)

Your eyes have set man’s heart ablaze (a)
And you have had your will of him. (b)
Are you not weary of ardent ways? (A1)

Above the flame the smoke of praise (a)
Goes up from ocean rim to rim. (b)
Tell no more of enchanted days. (A2)

Our broken cries and mournful lays (a)
Rise in one eucharistic hymn. (b)
Are you not weary of ardent ways? (A1)

While sacrificing hands upraise (a)
The chalice flowing to the brim, (b)
Tell no more of enchanted days. (A2)

And still you hold our longing gaze (a)
With languorous look and lavish limb! (b)
Are you not weary of ardent ways? (A1)
Tell no more of enchanted days. (A2)

Villanelle for an Anniversary By Seamus Heaney

350th Anniversary of Harvard

CanadaGeeseCOPR111905_2228

A spirit moved. John Harvard walked the yard,

The atom lay unsplit, the west unwon,
The books stood open and the gates unbarred.

The maps dreamt on like moondust. Nothing stirred.
The future was a verb in hibernation.
A spirit moved, John Harvard walked the yard.

Before the classic style, before the clapboard,
All through the small hours of an origin,
The books stood open and the gate unbarred.

Night passage of a migratory bird.
Wingflap. Gownflap. Like a homing pigeon
A spirit moved, John Harvard walked the yard.

Was that his soul (look) sped to its reward
By grace or works? A shooting star? An omen?
The books stood open and the gate unbarred.

Begin again where frosts and tests were hard.
Find yourself or founder. Here, imagine
A spirit moves, John Harvard walks the yard,
The books stand open and the gates unbarred.