Category: Thinkings and poems

How many more children must die before we fix England’s social services?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/26/england-social-services-children-uk-austerity-pandemic?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I don’t know if there are more incidents children being killed by their parents or step parents and I will look up the stitches but I feel that it’s happening more often in the last three years while we’ve had the pandemic possibly because children weren’t at school and it was easy to stop them being seen by teachers or social services.

The social services in particular need more money and more training today with the decline safety of children in their own homes

Nearest at the bus stop

Mary stood at the bus stop in her chocolate wool winter coat which Stan had always loved very much.
It hangs so well, he had told her.
The optional imitation fur collar had been removed as she preferred natural garments made from wool with no ostentation.As a matter of fact, she has one of Stan’s woollen vests on under her gold silk top.Her hair fell in light blonde curls around her pensive face and her eyes looked as if she were seeing a mysterious vision of the Matterhorn in midwinter while on heroin.
Suddenly she realised the bus was there and she put her card up to the machine before looking for a seat.The bus was rather full so she sat down next to a youth with an i phone hanging from his hand.Suddenly it rang.His chosen theme was,
Please release me, sung by Tom Jones.
Mary smiled as, if she were near Tom Jones she would need no invitation to free him.The youth began to speak rather louder than normal.
Mary tried not listen but it was impossible.She was too hot as well.Wearing Stan’s vest was a mistake as the bus was overheated.She turned pink like a sunrise over ICI in Billingham for, perceive it or not, the pollution had a beautifying effect.
I’m sorry I wore your vest, she told Stan.
I should have given them away but I was trying to save money on heating.Still, I will be home soon.Oh,for some fresh tea.
Where’s your microphone, the youth demanded in a light voice?It must be one of those new tiny ones, I guess
A microphone? Mary said curiously.
Yeah, he cried.I assume your phone is in your pocket.
Actually, it’s in a pocket in my knickers, she informed him in a manner resembling that of a mildly dotty scientist.We used to wear these knickers in the gym at school.
Did you not wear a top? he enquired, his eyes running over her hourglass figure like pure rainwater water falling off High Force in Teesdale. in a summer storm.
Well.I didn’t have a bra until I got my grant to attend university,she told him sensitively.
Well, that’s news to me,he said.
So you had to wear a bra at University? That was before feminism,of course.Did you burn it later?
Certainly not, said Mary.I’d been longing for one but my mother didn’t seem to notice my development which was her way of coping with adolescent girls.Of course others may have noticed but they were too nervous to tell Mother I needed any support.We were all so shy and afraid.Anyway be quiet now, I want to speak to my husband.
Have you had your phone on all this time? he asked anxiously, worried about her bill.
No, I don’t need it to talk to him, she responded.
Why, where is he? the youth enquired sardonically.
He’s on my knee, Mary informed him.In this bag.She pointed to her hessian shopping bag.
I have just been to the Coop for him.I ought to have got a cab as he is quite heavy.
Jesus Christ, cried the youth, hastily pressing the bell before leaping off the bus into a small pond that had been created b Hurricane Desmond.He swam away into the cold night.
Well. that shut him up, Mary said to Stan.
Mary, don’t become less gentle and kind, Stan said in her ear.
I can’t be gentle now, she said.It’s a nasty tough world without you to help me and tell me what you think of Jeremy Corbyn.And do I need to have a roast dinner at Xmas or just some toad in the hole?
I am sorry, sweetheart he murmured.Maybe you need assertiveness training.
I’ll just get more aggressive, she replied.Micro-aggressive perhaps.
You’ll need more than micro in this era, he continued.Mary forgot to get off the bus and found herself in the Leisure Centre by the River Tranter
What about the river, Stan, she asked.
Would you like me to throw you in
.A policeman standing nearby ran over.
Madam is it suicide or murder, he asked her awkwardly.
No, it’s a life sentence, she said humorously as she put her hand up her skirt to get her phone.
That’s a silly place to keep your phone he said.
Anyway don’t call a cab, I can run you home in my car.Have you got any China tea?
I could kill for a hot drink.
I have some lapsang souchong, she told him.Do you fancy that?
I do ,called Stan from the bag.The policeman passed out.
I told you not to get a boyfriend yet, Stan continued to Mary.
I’ll do whatever I feel like, she said rudely.I could use a comforting arm around me.
Stan sobbed as only a holy soul can.
She said, quickly
Don’t worry.I’ll get Emile to sit on my knee.Goodbye, for now, darling.
Goodbye whispered Stan faintly.
Good bye…. goodbye….good bye…….

The enmity of night

The darkness and the enmity of night

Invite the wild projections of the mind

The lack of trust the need for saving light

The nightmares of the deep our terrors bring

The promise of the dawn the sun alight

Bring vomfort to my heart when I’m alone

And yet with hidden mystery we fight

We try to read emotion from a stone

The pilgrimage we need to make our life

From avenues to footpath to the fall.

Rewarding conflicts undo human spite

All together we shall hear the call

In the suffering dark we see the sparks

We catch the flames of love to heal the breaks

All awry

His beauty moved me like owl at prayer
I’d better share my love of birds on here

He touched me like a marble falls down drains
Thank God we then had lots of heavy rain

He told me he was angered by my face
I drowned on his tweed jacket spiced with mace

I read so fast the teachers were amazed
My secret was adrenalin and haste

I never loved my neighbour as myself
For I was deep in love with someone else

We think we long for love but I say
IIntimacy rots if we can’t play

I wish we were on Sutton Bank again

O

I wish we were on Sutton Bank again
The Cleveland Hills with heather, home of bees
We lay down in the heather in the sun

We hitched a lift, Osmotherley, a van
Another day was Whitby and the sea
I wish we were on Sutton Bank again

I wish that you were near, my loving one
Your suffering face was very sad to see
We lay in purple heather in the sun

What shall I do, what am I to become?
I waken up too early, make my tea
I wish we lay on Sutton Bank again

Our backs ,warm earth , our faces smiled as one
The heather a warm bed, no shady tree
We once lay in the heather in the sun

I miss your face, your eyes, their loving plea
The sun above, the windswept leafless tree
I wish we were on Sutton Bank again
We‘d lay down in the heather but you’ve gone

How we long to speak,why are we dumb?

How we long to speak and yet we’re dumb
Fearing we shall sound like ignorant fools
Waiting for our first communion

When will we feel safe, not quiet nor numb?
Alexithmyic,affectless,how cruel
How we long to speak, why are we dumb?

How we odd ones value every crumb
How we want to learn , to use our tools
Waiting for our first communion

By the weight of politics undone
This was never taught in any school
How we long to speak, why are we dumb?

Economic miracle,. God’s come!
No log like this was ever made for Yule
Nor for our own first communion

Stay away from Logic and George Boole
Poetic life needs metaphors not rules
How we long to speak, why are we dumb
Struggling for the lost communion?

Sitting in a plant pot

I was sitting on a plant pot in my grandads old backyard

He used to be a  miner, so he had a love of birds

Grandad loved canaries I liked little wrens

We had few up in Manchester, we had big mills and rain,

Grandad had no deck chairs that’s why we sat on pots

When we went to Blackpool we had deck chairs by the lot

We went to Southport on the train, the sand was like sick dust

The sea was just a mirage, go there if you must.

The people were all friendly they called each other cock

If you go there in the morning I wish you you much good luck

I was sitting in the plant pot hiding from the dog

Grandad called her lassie, she died at 6 oclock

I played within/ upon my mother’s face

Still within her Arm I stood to gaze

Enraptured by the light upon her face.

With my little hands therein I played

As she held me with her fond embrace.

I put my baby fingers in her mouth.

I pulled her lips from side to side north south.

I felt her smile with joy I had not known.

In many hours and days I felt alone.

I squeezed her nose and pulled it side to side.

I did all this for on her knee I rode.

The ground of being and a true life line.

I was hers and she was always mine.

Transfiguration comes, love feels divine.

The artist brush must open up the mind.

And lets us see a world with our wide eyes.

Eternal love may cone in this disguise

In my dream, I gave birth to a child

In my dream, I gave birth to a child
The doctor said that   he would die quite soon
My feelings overwhelming made me wild

The Nazi doctor threw him on a pile
I lay  there unmoving as I keened
In my dream,I gave birth to a child

A week passed  by,I knew that death beguiled
Frozen  lips    made no sound, song or tune
My feelings overwhelming made me wild

I had to rise and say my  black goodbye.
My baby  with the others;horror loomed
In my dream I gave birth to a child

I picked him up , when suddenly he smiled
I held him to my breast, my songs I crooned
My feelings overwhelming  drove me wild

I had to   carry him, the landscape  gloom
A desert  grey aand rocky like  some moon
In my dream I gave birth to a child
In terror I  had walked  yet  love consoled

Can you give anything to other people of your time or anything else that you have to give?

f you have some free time and if it is safe please volunteer to be friends someone in your area which I think you can do vua Age UK

But there I think there are different organizations which around these things and it’s very well worth it because it’s very rewarding to bring comfort to an old person who is probably feeling very lonely after the pandemic and spends a lot of their time alone. The time from 6:00 a.m. awakening to 9am breakfast is a long long time and if you don’t sleep well it’s much worse the nighttime can be frightening to but I think if people have had a visit in the daytime then the nights will be much better.

I miss your hand

I
” A poem about memories of love ”

Photo0915
I miss your hand that used to hold my hand
I miss your eyes that used to smile at me
The needs of love don’t feel like a demand
I miss the hand that caressed my held hand
I miss your love and miss you as a friend.
When you gazed, your eyes lit what you’d see.
I miss the hand that used to warm my hand
I miss the eyes that used smile at me.

I miss your arms around me in the dark
I miss the morning when we rarely spoke
On Purbeck Hills, we heard the singing lark
I miss your arms around me in the park
Poole Harbour’s beauty was a living spark
Sharing silent glances as we walked
I miss your arms around me in the dark
I miss the mornings, though we rarely spoke

Silent sharing; company in love.
With strangers; oh,that manufactured talk.
To be silent; dome of sky above
To be silent; spaciousness of love.
Strangers, how their talk can jolt and shove
I held your hand; caressing as we walked
Silent caring; sympathy of love.
No stranger, blindly snatching in the dark.

What do you mean?

She said I will lift up mine eyes to the hills. So I said can you carry a bit more than just your eyed

He did guide me to the right password once. I don’t know whether he was a shepherd

I don’t want goodness and kindness to follow me I want them to catch up with me.

If there ts nothing that you want it will be hard to buy you something appropriate for Christmas. I’ve got some very nice golden candlesticks. Would Jesus like those?

It would do the government good to walk by some restful waters. That means the English Channel is out.

I wouldn’t walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I would run. Why haven’t they built a bypass?

We have to live in the Lord’s House because it’s so hard to get mortgage now. I’m not sure whether the Lord would want us forever and ever. Not when he hears me humming all day long

Mary is sarcastic

Hello Mary what are you doing today?

  •  it was Annie, Stan’s  mistress when he was alive. Quite what her status was now is hard to imagine. However she remained on friendly terms with Mary and indeed  had helped Mary a good deal while she was grieving,mainly by being present in an understanding manner  not to mention making frequent cups of tea

 I’m going to see the Pope in Rome Mary cried out

 Are you being sarcastic, ironic, or have you gone mad? Annie  replied

Well I was trying to be sarcastic but I am not very good at it yet but I hope to improve as time goes by because research shows being sarcastic improveyour creativity

But can you be sure which part of your life will become more creative Annie ask her thoughtfully

 For example you might become more creative in the way you trying to attract men

 Well that would not be difficult said Mary as I do nothing to try to attract  them at the moment and on the other hand it could be rather time-consuming

 Would it improve my ability to write in a creative manner or to be more creative in what I cook

 I have no idea Annie  told her. the only problem is is that if you practice on me it might affect our friendship

 You are far too  childish Mary told her. Is that sarcastic?

 Tell me, the ex mistress of your ancient husband

 What do you mean ancient he was only 23”

 23 what? said Annie?
Are we being sarcastic?

  Well if we can’t  know the answer then we are not being sarcastic because I am sure we would realise if we were

 I am glad you  can express yourself in such a brief manner

 What have briefs got to do with it?

 I just found a bag full of dry ones and I have been Folding them  and  putting them into the draw.er

 Do you mean knickers?

 Yes I do but I couldn’t remember the name

 You’re pulling my leg

 No I’m not I’m nowhere near your leg

 Don’t tell me that you are not familiar with the expression meaning that you are joking

 Why do you assume I am not familiar with anything?

 I am giving you the benefit of the  doubt

 Doubt is a very dangerous State of Mind

 Shall I wear the pink knickers or the blue ones I spend  all morning trying to decide so it is best not to doubt anything but to believe that what you do must be correct and everybody else is wrong

 That’s alright as long as you’re not stealing people’s husbands

 If they can be stolen so easily  what does that tell us about the state of the marriage?
nothing nothing at all, men are so easily beguiled that is in the best of marriages they’re not be enough to keep them faithful  for ever

 Don’t be so horrible
I was trying to be sarcastic
Should it not come naturally  like  loving

 What kind of  loving do you mean?If you mean physical loving it doesn’t always come naturally to  human beings’many couples go for help in having a baby and the doctor discovers but they didn’t realise what sex was

 They thought by sleeping in the same bed the wife will get pregnant

 It seems very hard to believe but compared to thinking about Donald Trump

 and his lies it is nothing
Shall I put the kettle on  said Mary

 That is sarcastic Annie said  because you know that I always put it on when I am here
it is more like dropping hints  Mary cried
All these things are very hard for scientists. you don’t solve mathematical problems by dropping a hint nor does anyone drop hints  to you whereas  in interpersonal relationships it is very important to be able to drop hintd and to be able to take hints when they’re dropped in front of you
Mathematics and physics much easier than everyday life because they contain no sarcasm no irony and no hints whatsoever
I wonder if Wittgenstein would agree with you>

 as he is dead we cannot know

 I was just being sarcastic that’s all!

 It seems like that Mary and Annie are going to have to spend much longer  practicing sarcasm before they were able to go outside and be sarcastic to neighbours or Friends

 well Emile’s view is that he will not accept sarcasm from anybody

 he will bite the hand that feeds and in necessary

 because he knows that Mary will forgive him when he apologizes

 

On the other hand it will be easier if  he didn’t bite  anyone As God might be angry  with Emile  for being trying animal to live with

Hello Mary what are you doing today?

  •  it was Annie, Stan’s  mistress when he was alive. Quite what her status was now is hard to imagine. However she remained on friendly terms with Mary and indeed  had helped Mary a good deal while she was grieving,mainly by being present in an understanding manner  not to mention making frequent cup see if resumes of tea and putting out the washin

 I’m going to see the Pope in Rome Mary cried out

 Are you being sarcastic, ironic, or have you gone ma? Annie  replied

Well I was trying to be sarcastic but I am not very good at it yet but I hope to improve as time goes by because research shows being sarcastic improveyour creativity

But can you be sure which part of your live will become more creative Annie ask her thoughtfully

 For example you might become more creative in the way you trying to sttact 

 Well that would not be difficult said Mary as I do nothing to try to attract  them at the moment and on the other hand it could be rather time-consuming

 Would it improve my ability to write in a creative manner or to be more creative in what I cook

 I have no idea Annie  told her. the only problem is is that if you practice on me it might affect our friendship

 You are far too  childish Mary told her. Is that sarcastic?

 Tell me, the ex mistress of your ancient husband

 What do you mean ancient he was only 23”

 23 what? said Annie?
Are we being sarcastic?

  Well if we can’t  know the answer then we are not being sarcastic because I am sure we would realise if we were

 I am glad you  can express yourself in such a brief manner

 What are briefs got to do with it?

 I just found a bag full of dry ones and I have been Folding them  and  putting them into the draw.er

 Do you mean knickers?

 Yes I do but I couldn’t remember the name

 You’re pulling my leg

 No I’m not I’m nowhere near your leg

 Don’t tell me that you are not familiar with the expression meaning that you are joking

 Why do you assume I am not familiar with anything?

 I am giving you the benefit of the  doubt

 Doubt is a very dangerous State of Mind

 Shall I wear the pink knickers or the blue ones I spend  all morning trying to decide so it is best not to doubt anything but to believe that what you do must be correct and everybody else is wrong

 That’s alright as long as you’re not stealing people’s husbands

 If they can be stolen so easily  what does that tell us about the size of the marriage?
nothing nothing at all, men are so easily beguiled that is in the best of marriages they’re not be enough to keep them faithful  for ever

 Don’t be so horrible
I was trying to be sarcastic
Should it not come naturally  like  loving

 What kind of  loving do you mean?If you mean physical loving it doesn’t always come naturally to  human beings’many couples go for help in having a baby and the doctor discovers but they didn’t realise what sex was

 They thought by sleeping in the same bed the wife will get pregnant

 It seems very hard to believe but compared to thinking about Donald Trump

 and his lies it is nothing
Shall I put the kettle on  said Mary

 That is sarcastic Annie said  because you know that I always put it on when I am here
it is more like dropping hints  Mary cried
All these things are very hard for scientists. you don’t solve mathematical problems by dropping a hint nor does anyone drop hints  to you whereas  in interpersonal relationships it is very important to be able to drop hintd and to be able to take hints when they’re dropped in front of you
Mathematics and physics much easier than everyday life because they contain no sarcasm no irony and no hints whatsoever
I wonder if Wittgenstein would agree with you>

 as he is dead we cannot know

 I was just being sarcastic that’s all!

 It seems like that Mary and Annie are going to have to spend much longer  practicing sarcasm before they were able to go outside and be sarcastic to neighbours or Friends

 well Emile’s view is that he will not accept sarcasm from anybody

 he will bite the hand that feeds and in necessary

 because he knows that Mary will forgive him when he apologizes

 O

On the other hand it will be easier if  he didn’t bite  anyone As God might be angry  with Emile  for being trying animal to live with

Hum for Your Health: Why Humming is so Healing & How to Do It

https://www.flowly.world/post/hum-for-your-health-why-humming-is-so-healing-how-to-do-it#:~:text=1.,shown%20to%20reduce%20blood%20pressure.

Humming stimulates your vagus nerve

This plays a key role in activating the parasympathetic nervous system- otherwise known as your “rest and digest” state. Because your vagus nerve runs through both the larynx and pharynx in your throat,  humming creates a vibration that stimulates your vagus nerve and can increase your vagal tone (aka the health of your vagus nerve!).
‍

A hen wouldn’t like being in the fridge

We have too many eggs in the fridge
Well, buy a hen and give her a nest,Then we”ll have some chickens
But they won’t fit in the fridge either!

Why do we eat eggs every day?
What else could we do with them?

Is it legal to throw eggs over the wall?
Not the iron wall

Some people believe they are good for our hair
Like hairdressers, you mean?

Just think.We can’t get our hair cut
Well, we can’t get our toe nails cut either
A bit dangerous in bed, then
Hair never harms anyone
If it were long it could strangle your lover
A nice way to die

I curry eggs, I stuff them, I cover them in sauce
What’s wrong with that?
I am bored of them
With them?
No, they are not bored.
How can you tell?
Intuition

English is the language of the spy

What is my crime that placed me in this cell?

What is my sin that I must never tell

I did not know my guilt for I felt none.

I was not destroyed in blood or bone

Satan fed me scruples till I broke

My mind was cracked like some dejected bone

I wanted to attend some lectures free

I went to Oxford ate all that I could see

To revive my thesis I would have to pay.

Dirac married late, why such delay?

I wish that he had died at 33.

His equation was the death of me.

2 percent of Brits are Ph.D

How shall I win,with IQ 63?

If I worked hard and made a better case

Academic standards seem debased.

Anyone can win a Nobel prize.

If you can read and write and tell good lies

Love is cruel to those who are left

Love is cruel to those who are left

They have their strength,they have their health

But their grief is like a knife

That cut the husband from the wife.

Fortune favours those who die

For all alone they will not lie.

Every object, every place

Reminds us of the lost embrose.

Grief is anxious,insecure

We may have gold love’s not assured

Looking into unknown fields

May these rhythms some mercy yield

POIGNANT | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/poignant

is remarkably poignant, sombre yet comforting, evocative of distant associations, yet not too explicit.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The morphology of the village became a medium for the realization of another of the period’s most poignant and generative concepts, the open form.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Instances of undeserved pain and suffering provide us with our most poignant examples.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The understated nature of the coda, especially the pianissimo passage starting in bar 108, enhances one’s experience of the narrative as poignant, troubled and unresolved.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He gives a poignant and moving account of their last years together and the profound sadness following his loss.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The resonances of the questions are particularly purposeful, moral, heartfelt, and poignant.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their article, which includes highly poignant and well-observed case studies, demonstrates the seriousness of the problems encountered.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

His fieldnotes and letters back home were always filled with poignant observations, good wit, and honest introspection.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This short, poignant film seems to resonate perfectly with the mood and flow of the music.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

For an immersion teacher education setting, this is particularly poignant.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

About Alfred [January 2016]

King Alfred

Lately I have been   loaned by providence   a  graceful  beautiful cat.Early on he was a  shrinking, hunched and nervous creature who slept by the back door on the daily newspaper.He ate hungrily and drank  water with a drop of milk.

He was reluctant for a couple of weeks to venture further but as the tranquil peaceful time went by he began to sleep on a towel by the hall radiator and eventually on my knee.

The most striking change was in his size.As he ate more and was petted more  he relaxed so that when stretched by the fire ,more of his body was in contact with the floor and he looked larger all over.He was loosened up and comfortable.

If he were human I might say he had a good mother.He is affectionate and initially I feared his demands might be excessive.When he came onro my bed I was concerned.But after five minutes of  being stroked he went off to his own place again.

Sometimes when he’s been out in the garden he reappears with an air of  humorous triumph as if he has worked a miracle to enter through his door.Another time when I was reading in a different room  from  the usual one he appeared mid morning with a face full of more expression than I can easily put into words.

He was anxious and relieved,puzzled and afraid,happy and a touch angry with me.How can you do this to me? was his query.Suppose you had gone altogether?Oh,the insecurity of being a tame cat.

I wonder why cats do not miss their own species.Or maybe they meet them  outsibooksde.Often though they fight to defend their territory but fortunately they have no WMD as yet.I like to read and stroke him as I muse over my book,

An interview with Wendy Cope

Photo0316.jpghttps://www.poetryarchive.org/interview/wendy-cope-interview

 

“What do you see as the role of humour in poetry?

I don’t set out to write humorous poems it’s just sometimes my sense of humour gets into them – well quite often. As a reader I suppose I laugh when I recognise something – I think laughter often is when you recognise something is true but you’d never actually allowed yourself to think that or you’d never heard it put quite so well. I think it’s possible for a poem to be funny and serious at the same time and I get very annoyed with the assumption that if a poem is funny then it can’t be saying anything important and deeply felt. Some of my poems are just playful and could accurately be described as ‘light verse’ but I think in a lot of my poems, although there’s humour in them, they are saying something that matters and something that’s deeply felt and I don’t think…I think those things can co-exist in the same poem.”