My old blue fountain pen allows The ink across the page to flow Like wet paint from an artist’s brush; And words come in a rush.
Enchanted by the hand that writes, Bewitched by art, beauty alights. The script is like a music score Through which we pass as through a door. Imagination’s home.
As,mysteriously,to you,to me, The spirits of our hearts are tamed, By rhythms of pen,of brush,of mind, They enter vision quite unplanned, Like moths to flutter softly round Fire joined heart and hand.
The pen slows down,the hand goes still And just as dreams at daybreak will, They shrink,they disappear,they’re gone.
I wish I could have a packet of crisps Mary whined imperceptibly to her other self
Isn’t this ironic that when we were children we could have eaten crisps but my mother wouldn’t buy them because she was very stingy and now I can afford them and I find they’re bad for you.
Are they bad for me asked Emile her cat.
Oh you wouldn’t like them Emile they are very salty and have no food value really.
Why do you want to eat them, the cat enquired wisely.
I think it must be that when you eat some cold beef you need something salty and crispy to counteract a flavour. Or what is more likely anything you were forbidden to eat or that was hard to get when you were a child retains an allure for many years afterwards
Like Walls ice cream
I like Walls sausages, the cat declared loudly.
But Emile we never eat while sausages here
I didn’t eat them here I found some in a dustbin in Knittingham road.
A dustbin Mary declared loudly something like Lady Bracknell in The importance of being Ernest when she discovers that he was born or found in a handbag on Paddington station.
You know, Emile, I am very angry with you because you are not behaving like a cat you are behaving like a rat or a fox.
Well, mother, we we men have to have some excitement and adventures in our lives and we have to break the rules sometimes and look I’m still alive I’m still well I’m strong and I can talk even better than I could before
Are you telling me that eating mouldy sausages out of a dustbin creates an improvemen4 your intelligence and then enlargea your vocabulary?
It’s possible, it’s possible the cat reply totally honestly and painfully.
After all penicillin was discovered in a mould in a saucer in a laboratory that someone had forgotten to wash the night before.
Well it’s possible that there are some wonderful things lurking in the kitchen when I forget to wash up said Mary nastily but I would not be able to recognize them, would I, that is the key poinr there maybe all sorts of things around us with wonderful properties but we just don’t know that they are there. Many people have sat under apple trees for hours and hours in the summer but only one person discovered the law of gravity
Yes that’s a very interesting idea, the cat replied and now mother I will show you a poem I have written about this exact topic
Don’t tell me you’ve been copying my poetry. I don’t want a cat that is a plagiarist especially when he plagiarises my own writing
If you are going to do it find someone unknown to copy otherwise a journalist will find you and make your shame public and there’s nothing I can do to protect you.
I don’t care what a journalist thinks because I’m not a human being.
At last, the truth Emile is not a human being. No he is something far superior that is Emile is a cat..
I recall now that I first came across ideas about gaps when studying art and what stops us from making it. Jan and Cora Gordon’s writing and Marion Milner’s books mention this.Even the best artists must have the experience of working on and even completing a work and finding that it is not what they had hoped for.
Certainly for beginners it can be very depressing and may be the reason why many people who did poorly at art in school never try again… as they felt this gap very painfully.But as with many of the painful aspects of life,it is better to accept and honour the gap.Strangely when we look back at some of our work we may find it has much more in it than we saw at the time.But wanting some pre-conceived notion of perfection we fail to notice the value of what we did in reality.
That may be true on other realms of life such as personal relationships.So don’t get divorced yet!
.
Turner’s late work was thought by some to be a sign of madness.This doesn’t mean our daubs are the next great advance in Art or Writing…. but we may need to be more tolerant of ourselves and our productions whilst also being genuinely critical or open to other’s helpful criticism.
Note on Marion Milner
9″She was also a talented painter, and in On Not Being Able to Paint (1950) she wrote an important book on creativity and on some of the forces that prevent it. As with so much of her writing, she was not afraid to reveal herself. Her authorial voice was itself an instance of her view that “the internal gesture needed is to stand aside”. The Hands of the Living God (1969), an account of a 20-year analysis, also focused on drawings and doodles, this time her patients’.” From her obituary
I’m in deep now,never been this deep before The world’s hollow like a shell and I’m out its door. In so deep, the ocean has its own startled floor. I’m down,down.down.never been so dark , so )
I can’t rightly tell how I got where I am I think I had an accident,fell over, then I swam. Sometimes it’s a loss, be times it’s my man. I guess I only do it cos I know some folk can.
I don’t know if the joy is worth the pain Would I choose to relive if, I was born again? The deep joy is the amazing gain. But the sorrow is damn sad, let’s admit it plain.
I’m in deep and it’s over my head What was I thinking of,when I fell out of that bed? I look up and the sea’s so turquoise like that mist is red When we get good and mad and wish some loon was dead.
At first, it was all just black,black pain But from the bottom of the well, I looked up with awed love again. That’s when I recalled,feelings are deep and sane Joy is much greater when we’re in the deep,deep zone.
I dunno if I’m ever comin’ out. We can’t control it,ain’t that what life’s all about? I’ll never love with innocence again,nor not feel doubt. But I’m no teapot and the devil ain’t got my spout.
I’m swimming and the ocean’s so mysteriously bright Down here we don’t have no day nor no night Fish nudge me with big grins and teeth white Sea flowers fondle me and whisper,turn off that light
The journey to the heart is graced by love.
And those who need to seek obey their call.
Though virtue and her graces smile above,
We see steep paths ahead with risky falls
With willingness to cross fields deep in mud,
To struggle through the tangled wind bent wood.
Our soul within knows when there’s latent good;
Recalls old trees astonished into bud.
As flowers spring up to gently grace our toes
Encouragement is with much joy received;
And as we smell the fragrance of the rose,
At last we know our souls were not deceived.
For Virgil,fortune favours steadfast feet.
The journey may be long,the end is sweet.
Why should we want to wear a certain kind of clothing just because some famous person wears it?
Perhaps you don’t have any ideas of your own about what you’d like to wear. But these people may not have chosen the clothes themselves. They may be being paid to wear them by some firm or designer. They may not even like them
So stop looking at other people Do you not know what you like?
You may like to think about a few relevant possibilities.
For myself I like to wear colours that appeal to me I like blue. I used to like very bright colours and I still do up to a point. Does colour matter to you you?
Then wear muted colours such as grey especially if you are going out. Initial muted colour
Do you like to be inconspicuous in the street?
If it does not you could dress ini black or another neutral colour. Some people do this anyway because it makes life simpler. Other people wear just two or three colours like beige black and light cream.
Restricting the colours to two or three means that you will never have a problem matching clothes together
Similarly do you like prints and patterns or plain colours? It’s much easier if you leave out prints. You can get a scarf which has several colours in if you feel that would be fun to wear.
You need some shoes. You will probably already have got these but they should not clash with your clothing colours
Di you u fancy wearing bright red shoes and you know that’s what you want regardless of what other people wear ? Choose what you want
If you are are living on a small income you may not be able to wear exactly what you want but you can get near it.
If you have got clothes and you hate them, sell them on eBay or give them for charity
Save the money I’m sure you’ll find something you like later.
You don’t have to dress in avway that is dictated to you.
It’s better to enjoy your own choices f you have no interest in clothes just buy things in one colour and forget about it
Or go to charity shops and see if you can find something more interesting add to your very simple and plain outfits
We should try to enjoy as much of life as we can whether it is having good friends finding a job that we like or simply having fun bwith our clothing.
Though our colours mingled, the earliest remain.
Two watercolor paintings without frames,
Became one picture over time,
Yet two of us still there.
Our colours blended naturally,
Now all the hues are shared.
I love your colours flowing into mine:
Together they have made a new design.
A Watercolor painted by the rain;
We shall go, but our Watercolor Love will still remain
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”
― Jim Jarmusch
Leaves are the placet along with roots where communication happens.When we grow beans the plants at first have just two leaves and need warmth and light to develop…. and so do human beings,We need food as well.
There has more been written,probably, about Sylvia Plath than any other poet of the last century.Much of it is various attempts at her biography.The focus was on her actual life and its events.I had only read “Daddy” and “lady Lazarus” but lately I read more from her collected works and I am now impressed with her poetic gift and her hard work developing it.Perhaps she worked too hard.Who can say?
So I was ready to read some critical evaluation of her writing.This book is excellent if a little short. I found it quite easy to read even though I have no academic training in literature.
There is a summary of her life but the main focus is on each phase of her writing For someone of only 30 when she died she underwent remarkable transitions and growth of her poetic mind.I am also now re ading her prose which I had dismissed.
I recommend this wholeheartedly.There is another volume “The Cambridge Companion to Sylvia Plath”
Some people keep birds as pets.To me it seems so cruel… a bird should fly.I suppose making any animal a pet may be wrong but some want to be.Dogs and cats no doubt were better off living near humans… so they moved closer.And the Egyptians worshipped cats .Some people treat their spouse like a pet.But it’s a bad idea.People may enjoy it at first but no-one can be the propertyof someone else however benevolent.Control is not loving even if you shower them with gifts,caresses and kisses.We need to belong but also to be free….to a reasonable extent….I know some people get sexually aroused by games of dominance and submission but it’s not good to be like that all time,in my view.I know books like Fifty shades of grey sell.But why do we need others fantasies?Why not use our own minds?
Have you ever considered keeping a sheep as a pet? they don’t appear to bite or scratch,they would keep you warm ay night,they would not be in danger if you rolled onto them…I am unsure how much a sheep weighs….imagine wakening up and being between the woolly legs of a sheep ,held against its fleece.just what you need in a recession
As for grooming I am unsure what wild sheep do.They don’t have baths.Do they bathe in rivers?Do they leave it to nature?
And if things got really bad……….I hate to say this,but you could eat it!It would last for ages.I know it sounds cruel but it would have had a lovely life in your garden eating your lawn!
