Loving each other:science and poetry

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https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/poetry/2016/06/love-affair-between-science-and-poetry

Extract

Frontiers in Neurology reported that the expression of science through poetry could enrich and better kids’ understanding of science education, in schools. According to the research, it encouraged use of their imagination to deconstruct and reconstruct their learned knowledge. Critiquing and analysing thus could facilitate learning.

Emily Dodd, aficionado and writer of scientific poetry and screenwriter for CBeebies science programs tells me: “There’s something to be said for communicating science creatively and seeing how much knowledge is retained or if people are interested enough to look for more information afterwards.” What she wants to know is why we lose that desire to understand and how we can bring back that desire and the joy that comes with discovery.

This very tendency to reduce things to their minute components is science’s premise and so it is sometimes criticised for losing sight of the wholeness and larger human meaning. John Keats, who trained as a surgeon and apothecary before committing himself to poetry, famously said:

“There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:

We know her woof, her texture; she is given

In the dull catalogue of common things.”

This roughly translates as science ruins the beauty of things by dissecting it into its components. It’s worth noting, though, that Keats was a part of the Romantic era wherein poets were confronted by the Industrial Revolution and the idea that science and technology would pave the way for the future was for them, terrifying.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is perhaps the biggest exception to the norm.  A German, and born in 1749, he was a writer and a scientist but he always regarded his contribution to the science of colour far greater than any literature he wrote. His work includes poetry written in a variety of metres and styles, prose and verse dramas; memoirs, an autobiography, literary criticism, papers on botany, anatomy, and colour and four novels.

One of his biggest passions was the study of clouds and in an act of pronounced love and respect between a poet and scientist, he wrote a poem about each of the different classifications of clouds (nimbus, cirrus, cumulus and stratus) and an ode to the scientist who devised them, Luke Howard, as a declaration of his admiration for Howard’s scientific skills.

“To find yourself in the infinite,
You must distinguish and then combine;
Therefore my winged song thanks
The man who distinguished cloud from cloud.”

Stan takes in a parcel

Stan was leaning over, cleaning the new bath.When the doorbell rang,he rushed downstairs and opened the double front door.
“Will you take this parcel in for the lady next door?” The postman asked wearily.
“Oh,fine Stan stuttered.He was trying to avoid Annie but here she was,coming down the road of superior semi detached houses suitable for ex-headmasters ,small businessmen,econometricians,surgeons,pie salesmen and theologians.
She was wearing perfume, and green sandals from TK Maxx,light khaki tencel cropped combat trousers with a purple silky over-blouse, not to mention her matching raspberry and cream underwear .Round her neck hung a miniature grandfather clock on a solid gold chain,and she had three imitation gold and silver watches on each of her three wrists making a total of 333 watches according to Carnap’s theory of logic and Russell’s terrible handwriting. Stanley didn’t know that she had a mobile phone stuffed into her bra—one advantage for the larger sized woman.In fact she had 4 down there in her raspberry coloured glamour bra,as she had a phobia about their batteries running down all at once
The more she had the lower the probability of her being without a phone whilst out and about the town and countryside.So she reasoned in her womanly way. Just then one phone rang.She rummaged around to the consternation and turmoil-uation of Stanley and the postman.She plucked out a pale blue phone.
“Hi,it’s Annie” she murmured.
“Hi Annie it’s Dave the paramedic with carpentry skills. You’ve not rung 999 lately so we were wondering if all was well!”
“Oh,I’m terribly sorry.I’ll try to phone later on.Thanks,Petal.That was Dave,our ex-transvestite converted paramedic”,she informed the men.The postman galloped off on his donkey, his bags full of undelivered males.It’s a tough but interesting life in Knittingham. Would you like a male delivery?Contact Parcel Force without delay.
Annie went into Stan’s house and demanded a cup of coffee.
“Won’t it make you put weight on” Stan quipped ironically.
“Do you think I’m too plump?” she responded anxiously..
“Too plump for what?” he quipped amiably.
“To attract men,of course!”
“No,my angel,you are just perfect”he quacked definitively.”Nor are you an angel,strictly speaking,as I have good reason to know.Thank you,my beloved for services rendered so generously and freely.”
“Oh,my goodness I must get home to render the fat from the beef and to make some gooseberry jam.” Stanley looked uneasy.
“I wonder why babies are left under gooseberry bushes?
The thorns are so big it’s quite dangerous getting them out,or so Mary told me when Lyra was born. She was covered in scratches and wouldn’t come near me for months.”
“Why don’t you come upstairs to look at our new purple bathroom suite.Since the Royal Wedding it’s the in colour.The gold taps were expensive but they do go well.”
“My God,let me out.” she bawled,”It reminds me of the Vatican and that’s no place for a lady”,
“Not even a gay lady?” Stan muttered parsimoniously, as he licked her eyelashes gently.
“Stop that.I’ve got my Yves St Laurent mascara on.”
“I prefer the taste of the Chanel,”he disclosed privately in an internal secret memo.[available in 50 years]
“Why not lick my neck instead?” she enquired curiously as she tripped over Emile the cat, who had slipped into the bathroom as usual to see what they were up to,you know what I mean, you catch my drift?
She fell floppily into the bath and banged her head on the taps.
“Oh,gosh,better ring 999” Stan said to Emile.
“Have you got your catphone warehouse mobile on you?”
“Yes ,it’s in my y-fronts”, the cat amiably miaowed.
“Hi Dave,this is Emile.Can you come quick.Annie is unconscious and what is worse,she has scratched the new bath.”
In fact it was Emile who had scratched the bath that morning but since Stan had not noticed he hoped to, callously, pass the blame onto poor Annie.How cruel can a cat be? Ask any mouse! Still in the end God made all of us and what a terrifying and beautiful world it is.

Losing?

It might be good to lose weight or to lose your prejudice against certain other people

But it’s not so good to lose everything.

What would it be like to lose everything?

It’s nice sometimes to give up smoking or taking lots of painkillers 

It’s not good to give up completely. On the whole

It’s good to take up a new interest unless it’s gambling

But maybe not so good to take up with the wrong sort of people, whatever that might mean to you

Sometimes they say why not get a new interest like going to an art class

But don’t start stalking somebody however interested you may feel in them.

Sometimes we just long for more things especially on black Friday

But as the Bible says

What’s the point of gaining the whole world if you have to lose your own soul in the process?

Rabih Alameddine wins National book award for fiction with darkly comic epic spanning six decades | Books | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/nov/20/rabih-alameddine-wins-national-book-award-for-fiction-with-darkly-comic-epic-spanning-six-decades

Mary gets a letter

Digital art by author

The postman was very late coming that morning. Stan was asleep in his armchair whilst Annie was analysing some data on the political alignments of the over fifties group in Knittingham.Mary was upstairs daydreaming. Hi. Mary…Annie called.There’s a letter for you from the hospital. Mary came down, her face a little pale with anxiety.She opened it slowly.Inside it had the following announcement Your appointment on 5th October at 8 am with Dr Paramour has been cancelled.. We can offer you he following appointment: 5th October 2014 at 7.59am in the usual clinic This will be with Dr Paramour unless he goes on holiday again.He will remove your tumour and your humour 📷 Stan read the letter. Why have they sent this? he asked bemusedly as he blinked with his kind blue eyes. Mary phoned the hospital.She spoke to a charming young man. What does it mean? she enquired.Why give such a silly letter out. It means nothing,the man said,It’s the computer. Computers follow programmes.We’ve had this type of stupid letter many times in the last 6 months….it’s using paper and postage apart from the worry.Why can’t someone alter the programme? I don’t know,the pleasant man replied.I think nobody understands it. Don’t they realise that keeping patients calm and trusting is part of the healing process? No,they don’t he answered despondently. We have to answer the phone all day long.So we can hear how upset some people are. Stan called out,it’s in the government too.They wasted millions on a new system which was scrapped before it was ever used… Where are all the intelligent people? That’s what I have been wondering,thought Emile as he hid behind Annie’s new green handbag hoping a field mouse might come by I am sure if I planned the the computer programmes I could fix this,said Mary.But I will never be given a job now.I don’t think I’d want it now with my eyesight. Well,Mary,you are still very beautiful,said Stan.I think I want to go to bed with you. Stan, how can you say it in front of Annie? Well,she can come as well if she likes,he replied tactfully. And what about Emile? Oh, alright then.We’ll all go to bed even he … we need a life changing experience.And I do not mean another daft letter from that blooming hospital,The Royal Wee. We could paper the walls with them. I would not enjoy seeing the walls like that,said Annie. I am just making a point… that they waste so much money…. and time answering the phone to correct their errors………. it’s like Alice in Sunderland. I never knew she was a Geordy, mioawed Emile… I just like to think of her that way,answered Stan. Anyway,upstairs and off with your clothes… we must make love before we die even if it kills us or we have to go to A and E with angina,migraine,a broken rib or other unmentionable discomforts. And being obedient they all want upstairs,got undressed and fell asleep side by side in Stan’s large soft bed… except for Emile. I thought they were going to have a love in,he thought.Perhaps when they waken up,who knows? Maybe the NHS are trying to make people mad so they will pay for private treatment…. Mary was dreaming she was back at Lamebridge teaching real analysis to a group of frightened first year students…what a pity they are so nervous,she thought.They’d do better working in a garden centre or a zoo. And so would all of us

From puzzles to politics

The world that we live in is a very different one from the tiny world of the su doku puzzle.

But there are certain things they have in common.

It seems that everything within the puzzle is  connected to everything else so if you’re trying to fill in all the number ones and you can’t do it it doesn’t matter which other number you choose to follow instead because they’re all very closely linked indeed you could say they are chained together.

So wherever you start from or wherever you go on the way you will get to the same place in the end.

Human life may be looked at this way although it may be metaphorical rather than literal

Everything is connected and if you are having a difficult time dealing with a problem in your life which seems insoluble then you could follow this idea and try to deal with a different problem in your life instead. This will take your mind off the problem that you are stuck with and give your brain a rest. You may find afterwards that you can see the way to go forward with the first problem.

Also I imagine that if you do something bad unless you can resolve that in any way that’s possible that may very well affect you in other parts of your life.

I’m not sure if that’s what people call karma but I do think there is a connection.

What  you give Life to will help you and what you destroy may ultimately destroy you.

It’s worth thinking about because otherwise these puzzles are rather sterile. I like to look at them from a different perspective a wider perspective or to use them as a way of dealing with more difficult problems

After all there are no straight lines in nature but in geometry there are straight lines and triangles squares and parallelograms that’s because it’s too difficult to deal with curves as they are straight away

So we look at something simpler than curves known as straight lines which don’t actually exist in reality. They’re a great help in geometry and also in architecture and mechanics and all parts of physics

It’s not surprising that we have to invent ways of simplifying the world before we  can understand it or deal with it because it’s very very complicated.

So we pretend it’s simpler than it really is.

I have not yet talked about how this could relate to politics

But I think I will do that one day

Creation and death

I am afraid to go again to that dark place

Where life and  death, creation and decay

Give us  some new words so we can pray

Yes, I am frightened of its dark embrace.

In the roots of trees, the roots of hearts

In the dark black soil which gives us life

We lose our self, our husband or our wife.

Newness only comes when thoughts depart.

When we reach the depths of life we know

Still I am afraid to linger there.

I tried to run away, I don’t mind where.

There is no lower place where we can go.

Yet my other self will not desist

Until we find the place where life persists

That golden light

Wrapped in your smile,I saw the golden light
By a chance, that time God’s love revealed
Our spirits touched, our sorrows sent to flight

In that space, our worries did not bite
The trees were shelter, losses were each healed
Wrapped in your holy smile,I saw the light

Do you learn there is a second sight
From heart and soul , the ancient bells shall peal
Where spirits touch ,where sorrows quickly fly

And who but you would see my inner plight
Would know the false from what is right and real
Wrapped in your smile,I felt warm golden light

No army with its metal and its might
Can win the final war , love conquers steel
As spirits touch ,as sorrows say goodbye

We learn it’s hard to feel what others feel
And not draw back from grief, from loss revealed
Wrapped in your holy smile ,O golden light
Our spirits touch, our eyes weep their delight

The wolves that howl

The straight line and the curve, the circle,square

Incommensurable yet real, they’re everywhere .

Straight and  curved the human world is couth.

In relationships like this we see the truth 

Every circle must obey the law

Large or small no matter what you draw

Pi is a  real number without end.

Beyond the rational numbers it transcends

In mother nature there are no straight lines

Nature prefers curves for her designs

The petals of a rose, the wings of owl

The fangs of wolves, the music as they howl.

We cannot  think without distinctions fine

You make yours and I shall still make mine

Death danced through the door

I saw the shape of death dance through the door

I wish I had not opened it that day

I know that I shan’t see you anymore.

We have to pay the price, death is a whore

I may have the words, but I can’t say

I saw the shape of death dance through the door

When death comes, he takes someone away

I know I will not see you anymore.

I could study books and learn the lore.

But I can never make death go away

I saw the shape of death dance through the door

I have never seen death’s shape before.

It’s not a game that I would want to play

I know that I won’t see you anymore.

Death will  snatch us all, the rich,the poor

We’d better get prepared without delay

I saw the shape of death rush through the door

I do not know the words of any prayer

Death will come and loss will leave us bare

I saw the shape of death come through the door

I’ve lost so much I can’t lose any more

When we are the warp without the weft

Sometimes sunshine makes us feel bereft
Rain and shadowed clouds would suit our mood
When we are the warp without the weft

As if we are the pen and no ink’s left
As if we hunger yet there is no food
Sometimes sunshine makes us feel bereft

Our mind slows down and all we do is drift
Evil thoughts into the soul intrude
Like we are the warp without the weft

Let the eye and all its muscles rest
With wider focus we may cease to brood
Sometimes sunshine makes us feel bereft

Do not try with will power nor it test
Relaxation brings back knowledge of the good
We take it in like babies at the breast

We must not test the will but let it go
Trust the ocean and eternal flow
Sometimes sunshine makes us feel bereft
Sometimes sunshine brings its golden gifts

Adam Phillips: ‘Taste is problematic when it is a militant and aggressive narrowing of the mind’

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/09/adam-phillips-interview-the-vulgar-fashion-redefined?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I heard her laughter

The hedge was very big but the light came through

I heard that laughter, knew that it was you

Happy  sound that  surprised me with its joy

I had not heard such laughter since you died

I looked right through the hedge it had no leaves

The laughter was such comfort in my grief

Then I heard your voice you called hello

You sounded happier than I’ve ever known

Instead of a cramped coffin there was space

Everything was open with such grace.

Instead of deep black soil I saw this light

In my dreams I felt you near that night.

Instead of  tense contraction I felt free

This little dream was beautiful to me

And if I close my eyes I see it still

Though god himself had died upon a hill.

Eternal life is here on earth I knew

With such  gifts we  learn a different view

I’ll love you till I die to

‘Twas but a reptile passing by.
It flew across the deep blue sky
Why do reptiles fly so high?
I’ll love you till I die.

“Twas but a cat under the moon.
Did you have a silver spoon?
Why can’t cats all waul in tune?
I’ll love you very soon

‘Twas but a wooden legged man,
Carrying a  brass saucepan.
Can’t men do what women can?
I’ll love you better than.

Why are adverbs?
What are nouns?
why do circuses have clowns?
I’ll love you lying down.

Where do dreams go in the day?
What game can we adults play?
Can you or can you not say?
I’ll love you,in my way.

‘Twas but a verse that seemed so free.
It floated over my oak tree.
I have eyes but cannot see.
I’ll love you when I be.

Sudoku puzzles habits and being alive

Although I have recently done probably two or three hundred Sudoku puzzles I have never liked them. Why would I do something that I don’t like?

Sometimes you don’t have a lot of choice. If you are ill but tired of reading and not sleepy enough to sleep… It may be something that appeals to you.

Suddenly thought while I was doing one I know why I don’t like them it’s because they could be done by a robot.

In a way they are a bit like jigsaw puzzles. But Jigsaw puzzles also appeal to the senses as they usually are an image with colour and shape and you have to find out what that is by putting it together.

Then again it reminds me of studying a skeleton but what is most interesting about us is not in our skeletons. Not many people may know what is most interesting about us but we know it’s got to do with being alive and aware of conscious of others and having warmth.

Of course the man who invented the proof that there is no complete set of axioms which determine a set in mathematics in which all questions can be answered within the system.

It’s very very complicated and the poor man Gödel was not very happy to start with and after working in this field for some years he became paranoid and probably mentally ill afraid of being poisoned and died young.

It doesn’t attract one to study that kind of mathematics for more than one hour a day.

Not everybody who’s good at mathematics is autistic but it’s not unusual and good luck to people of different find a career that suits them and does not make too many demands of the wrong type

I heard someone on the radio being interviewed and he said he was a mathematician in a an American university and it only discovered he was autistic when he was 54. The interviewer said but did your colleagues not notice anything different about you?

No he said because they were all very similar to me.

Anyway I have decided if something can be done by a robot then let a robot do it but it’s not my idea of creativity or fun or joy

It could just be a habit but welter Pater so that habits where a kind of living death

Where would we be without our habits of drinking tea at certain times of the day, going to church on Sunday

Habits come provide a skeleton for a life but we don’t like to go to bed with the skeleton and we don’t like to be too habitually addicted to various ways of passing the time which in a way is a form of death

How much life can we bear to feel? Our emotions unless they’re very conformist maybe labeled as ADHD or borderline personality disorder etc when maybe having strong emotions and feelings anxiety, rage anger love kindness tenderness are all forms of life.

Mind you I would say that rage is very dangerous if it is not held in check sometimes but lots of feelings are just unpleasant for us to bear so we would rather be numbed by drugs or drink or by doing Sudoku puzzles..

We need to understand the skeleton but it’s not life itself is it?

It’s the flesh that is alive. The flesh the nerves the muscles and the mind. The brain itself is flesh.

Now I have become habituated to doing these puzzles.

When I was very ill it took me 3 hours to do a simple one which I can now do in 9 minutes so it’s a way of seeing how I’m feeling but apart from that I don’t think it’s something that I want to concentrate on for the rest of my life, however short that might be

Can the onset of a virus make you feel sad or lonely ?

https://www.google.com/search?q=can+the+onset+of+a+virus+make+you+feel+sad+or+lonely&client=ms-android-motorola-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&inm=vs

With nerves that wave.

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Good morning,Ms Brown
Gosh,you are s politically correct ,doctor
In my view,it matters only for us to be medically correct,dear.And grammatically,of course.
How true, noble sire.
Now, what’s the problem today,madame?
It’s my nerves,doctor.I hate them so much I feel almost derisory..which is totally crackers nowadays with so many street drugs to take one’s mind out of this world.
What’s wrong with your nerves to make you feel like this all of a sudden?
I think they are too big,mein herr.Can I have plastic surgery on them to replace then with plastic ones .I mean artificial like dentures are for teeth that drop out?The dentist told me my nerves are double the average size. for humans,
But what is the standard deviation? Averages are no use alone.I wish people learned this in school
How dare you say that! I have never deviated in any way.And I’ve never been average… and surely double the average size must mean something gross is going on?
What a pity this is.You are a very charming and glamorous lady…I say that only to comfort you,not to seduce you which is illegal anyway,even if I wanted to do.Which I deny absolutely;
Well,my nerves feel like long wild grasses waving in a cold westerly breeze in a great big meadow in Hartland,North Devon where many lips have cracked.And sailors drowned off shore too…why some even drowned on the shore and their ghosts still wander below the sheer and terrifying cliffs of alabaster and silver.
Have you ever though of writing narrative or lyrical poetry or even romantic novels?
What,write poetry with nerves like this?Do you think I’m a masochist or what?
Well, you could try using a pen or a keyboard,you know. Now,God has given some of us larger nerves than others.It’s an evolutionary advantage to have some sensitive people about,like the canaries in the coal mines.They feel trouble coming before the rest of humankind
That’s hardly any use to me as I am childless and can’t pass it on.
God didn’t know that when he created you.Or if he did,he knew with nerves like this motherhood would be perilous and at least you can be a human canary
Well,is there any surgery to help me or any other amelioration to my symptoms?
Apart from removing your head there’s not much I can suggest right now, if you want a verdict,perhaps you can plant some wild flowers amid these long waving grasses and enjoy the beauty that you will perceive in summertime if you can be patient
You’re an odd doctor compared to the usual one.
Actually I’m really the computer repair man.The system has crashed and so has the doctor…temporarily
I knew you looked different but I put it down to my giant nerves disturbing my vision…
So will you come back to see the doctor later?He is just in the pub drinking blackcurrant liqueur for his nerves!
What’s it got to do with you if I come back again or not?
I love your mind,I love your body .I love your tentacles,receptecles and all your past and future particles.I love every bit of you especially your nerves.I always liked a woman with very big nerves.
Really? Well,that’s cheered me up a great deal.I like the beast in man.How about my wild grasses?
I love those too.Why,I’d like to lie down amongst them if you catch my drift.
Can you read between the lines or write between them?
Have you ever thought of taking up psychotherapy?
I prefer to help computers.Hearing sad stories from disturbed folk all day must be draining as you can’t run out when you get overwhelmed like you can at parties
Yes,but it would be horribly fascinating to hear all these stories.And now I am off to the garden centre to buy some flower seeds.
I’d give you some seeds myself but it would be wrong to sow your field here in this office and the doctor might come in any time now which would be a trifle unseemly.
Well,he could sow his wild oats as well!
What a wicked woman you are;I love your mind.You seem quite out of the orddinary… please keep your big nerves.
I am only offering this with the aim of calming those huge nerves .I am not thinking of enjoying lust or of how romantic you seem and how artistically brilliantl you are dressed and your golden curls and blue clothes.And your cleverness.
I quite understand.I shall keep it all under my hat. if you see what I mean
It’s an amazing red hat.Are you a Cardinal?
No,I stole it off one
I’d love to hear the whole story….who,when and where?
Well,I hope to publish it on Swindle soon.
We can’t wait.

Neither can I

From Humboldt’s gift:Sloth [Author Saul Bellow]

P8300804[1]

“Some think that sloth, one of the capital sins, means ordinary laziness,” I began. “Sticking in the mud. Sleeping at the switch. But sloth has to cover a great deal of despair. Sloth is really a busy condition, hyperactive. This activity drives off the wonderful rest or balance without which there can be no poetry or art or thought — none of the highest human functions. These slothful sinners are not able to acquiesce in their own being, as some philosophers say. They labor because rest terrifies them. The old philosophy distinguished between knowledge achieved by effort (ratio) and knowledge received (intellectus) by the listening soul that can hear the essence of things and comes to understand the marvelous. But this calls for unusual strength of soul. The more so since society claims more and more of your inner self and infects you with its restlessness. It trains you in distraction, colonizes consciousness as fast as consciousness advances.The true poise of contemplation or imagination, sits right on the border of sleep and dreaming. ……….and hoping for redemption by art, I fell into a deep snooze that lasted for year.

Language and social class

 

 

Photo0425

Home of   over-educated working class sloth

 

http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/bernstein.html

 

http://hubpages.com/education/Social-Distinctions-in-Language

 

 

At first it seems like summer

At first it seemed like summer once again
When cats curled up on cushions drowse  and dream
Yet second seeing finds the sun  estranged
Makes autumn bring out ancient  colouring schemes

 

The world, intense,  is full of new born dawns
At first it seems like summer still remains
We love the greeny grass of ancient lawns
Yet second seeing  learns the sun’s disdain

 
While cats curled up on cushions drowse  and dream
While little children play with whip and ball
Then autumn brings out ancient  coloured schemes
As we begin to view the  full filled Fall

 

So  older people’s minds  weave new  and lost
And cats curled up on cushions drowse  and dream
We  notice how the sun  has burned the grass
While autumn paints its ancient  coloured themes

 

Round the wheel turns at a steady pace
Yet it seemed like summer  had remained
Nature does not enter any race
Yet second seeing finds the sun estranged

In my end is  origin and growth
For the racing hare and weary sloth

 

Edna O’Brien on turning 90: ‘I can’t pretend that I haven’t made mistakes’it

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/13/edna-obrien-90-ireland-greatest-writer-final-novel?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Mary and the shoes.

Do you want some new shoes for the autumn, Annie cried excitedly to her neighbour Mary, who was sweeping the front path which had been covered by red leaves from the local trees?

Well it won’t be autumn for much longer and moreover my feet are painful

Well do you want some new shoes for the winter?.

I would like some Brogues. I used to have some from Potters of Wiganbl and Stalybridge.

What happened to them, Annamie said brightly?

I put all my comfortable shoes into a bag to take them upstairs and  someone must have thought it was rubbish and put them into the dustbin because I can’t find them anywhere.

Well it wasn’t me mioawed Emile Mary’s delightful cat.

And it wasn’t I  cried Dave the adorable paramedic as he ran through the front door and into the kitchen wearing the green and red striped dress which he adored.

Well I have looked up and down and high and low and in and out and roundabout ai I have completely given up.

Let’s let’s all have a nice cup of boiling hot decaffeinated tea preferably earl grey! (The author did the same and scalded herself)

I would love one said Dave seriously.

When Annie carried in the tray of tea she heard Mary explaining to Dave that her feet were very deformed and she could no longer wear new shoes because they were too stiff.

Well you could buy some second hand ones from eBay or vintage ones  or who knows!?

They’ve not made any for several years but maybe somebody’s been wearing them and they’ve got nice and battered and she’s decided to get new ones.

So she’s going to sell them for five pounds to someone either very poor or with terrible feet 

I used to like beautiful shoesvsaid Mary but now I am  in this terrible pain from arthritis I wouldn’t mind as long as I can get them on and they don’t hurt otherwise I can’t go outside especially in the winter because sandals might be comfortable in the summer but even then when your feet are deformed sandals don’t give enough protection

Well we’ll have to go on to Google and put in some old brogues wanted

Or Anny thought to herself would we prefer some old rogues?

Perhapa she would but she’s not saying anything to the others sometimes Annie can feel a bit hurt by the way that her friends treat her as if she’s not as good as them because she hasn’t read summs theologica or Hitler’s diaries on the other hand they might be interested in the recent discovery of Hitler’s DNA

Again the dear lady remains silent.

Perhaps she is undergoing a metamorphosis meanwhile Mary has found some grey brogues for sale and they look very well worn

But we can’t look in the Guardian for what to wear with a pair of worn-old brogues when all the Guardian shows is what to wear with your new knee-high boots or what to wear with your sheepskin mittens. The entire outfit will cost about 935 pounds which tells you something about the salaries of journalists!

Is there any newspaper or magazine that would advise you what to wear with a pair of second-hand battered old brogues you know they are made by a very good shoe company? Would the Queen wear them instead of trainers?

You never know. look at least Mary we will be able to go outside when she gets these old shoes otherwise you’d have to cut the toes out of her present shoes and that’s not very nice in the winter is it? 

Well many people like Michael Rosen the wealthy poet are criticized for using their  free bus pass even when they are age 79 and have nearly died of covid. And who defines wealthy nowadays question mark is Mary wealthy because she has a house?

Why someone like Michael Rosen gets attacked on Twitter or X is a great puzzle with it only goes to show that noone is safe;after all:look what happened to Jesus Christ and they didn’t even have mobile phones in those days let alone social media thought for the day

The better kinder more thoughtful you are the more likely you are to be attacked especially on social media.

So if you lose your London bus pass for pensioners do not put it on x I’m X keep quiet about it and just ask your friends what to do  You don’t need to ask entire world for advice

Very wise meowed the cat

And so said all of us

Meditating over the dale’s edge

short-eared durham owl
meditating over the dale’s edge,
shadows the fields and folds
in elegant diurnal flight.
on wind-side,careful sight,
may swoop to prey
and away.

your yellow broad-eyed look,
at once both sharp and distant,
holds me.
oh,silence,
oh,wind on green,
oh,earth,
sky.

immense your held vision,
sphere without center,
pied geometer of flight,
oh, swift descent and ascent.
trees bunched by dry stone wall
call heart home