Category: Thinkings and poems
Mary and the bed
Mary picked up her mobile phone to ring for a cab..On it,there was a message
.You have missed a call from home.Mary shivered.
Has Stan come back?
Then she recalled she had rung her own mobile before coming out.Her mind sagged like sheet of rubber suspended between four tall trees in the jungle..
Hello,It’s Mrs Tan.Can you do a me cab from the dental surgery to my home? It’s right by the doctor’s surgery.
She stepped outside into the warm air which felt like a caress on her poor numb face.
When she got home she found Annie in the kitchen looking at her collection of cookery books.
Do you want to get rid of any of these, her friend queried.
I am thinking of learning some new recipes so I can invite those awful therapists across the road for dinner.But I have to be sure that what I serve has no hidden meaning especially aggressive or sexual.
Well,Mary said,don’t you think that people differ in what they find sexual?
Beats me,said Annie meaningfully.I fancy doing beef in beer with French bread and mustard baked on the top.
I used to do that,Mary said.Why did we stop doing that cooking? Penguin brought a new book every month.I have most of them and ,at the weekend, I’d study them for ages looking for things like apple mousse and different stews.
When we first got married I used a kind of cheap women’s magazine approach and most often as a pudding I did tinned peaches with cinnamon sprinkled on grilled till hot and spicy.Eventually, Stan got fed up with it and so I got into cordon bleu and using real cream not Carnation milk
Her blue eyes gleamed in excitement and were rendered even more remarkable by the teal and turquoise eye shadow Annie had forced her to wear which matched the sea blue mascara she already had.Annie said.
it will be good for us both to meet new people especially educated ones
Mary disagreed.I like ordinary people because a certain amount of education makes some people very conceited and only real scholars or mystics realise that the more we know the more we realise our own ignorance.Will such folk like makeup?
Perhaps one of the psychoanalysts will be a mystic,Annie retorted loudly.
But would such a person want to visit us? Mary bleated childishly.
Why not? They have to eat and they may need a new love interest or someone sympathetic who will know how hard their job is.Someone like me,beautiful funny and willing to look after a man when he needs it.
How about a man who might look after you,Mary said brightly
Well,it’s not quite the same.I like looking after men whereas you prefer reading about Fourier series and infinite integrals.And knitting patterns,she added hastily as if omitting that interest would severely anger Mary.
I think we’ll invite two men and two women ,all single.They can bring their cats for Emile to play with if they want.And we’ll eat in the kitchen to make it more relaxed.
Thank God,said Mary as the dining room was full of paper and books.
Why don’t I have a study,she pondered.Or ,if I slept in the dining room, my bedroom has a lovely view and I have an old desk somewhere.
Mary ,in her younger days, had often moved the furniture around and had even slept on a camp bed on the lawn one summer but she no longer did this as looking after Stan had worn her down to a shred of her former self.
But beds do take up so much room.Without them ,the house would be quite spacious.And how about tables and chairs… her mind ran on as she quite fancied a new start without moving house.
With fewer clothes ,she could ditch a wardrobe… on the other hand ,she could not afford such quality clothes again on her widow’s pension.
To think she might have to stop wear Bowlands of Wrath was a rather painful thought.Still most of humanity have got hardly anything so maybe Mary will think more deeply about donating some to Oxfam.
Suddenly the doorbell rang.Dave the paramedic was outside
Are you both ok?I’ve not heard from you lately,he remarked as he powdered his nose.
Well,I do have an old desk that you can carry upstairs for me,Mary told him thoughtfully.Then we need the floor scrubbing.I’m sure the NHS will pay.After all dirt might make us ill!
And so pray all of us
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In the window
I was sitting in the window of a coffee shop called Joe’s
I was sitting in the window when the rain turned into snow
I saw my own reflection in the glassy window panes
When my reflection smiled at me, I thought I was insane
When I looked again there was nobody out there
Then I saw my sister she was looking very fair.
She gave me lots, of money, it was silver it was gold
She sat down here beside me, she grabbed my hand to hold.
You’ll be alright now baby because I am here with you
I was fragmented and flying, then she brought me back to earth.
Everybody’s fragile but we know what we are worth
She put me in a basket, holy Moses, where’s the Nile?
She said she got my number and she’s put it in my file.
I am happy I am sad cancer drove me mad
I felt fifty shades of grey but it’s not entirely bad.
I’m still alive I’m still alive and I will sing my songs.
So she went into the kitchen and soaked up something wrong.
Good is bad and loss is gain. Whatever shall we do
We’re coming back with Cohen, he can sing the blues
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My sister
My sister’s eyes were sea green and deep
Like pools in the Irish sea off the coast off Anglesey.
Moelfre where she swam ,despite the cold,
Like a small seal.Night times I told her stories,
She lay and dreamed them till schooltime
But we grew beyond my storytelling
When adolescence drew us apart.
Years later
As I sat with her child
At my knee,
Weaving stories for her
Around the Russian horse
From the antique shop in Aldeburgh,
I saw my sister leaning towards us,
Her green eyes full of long-lost yearning.
I realised she was still my loving little sister,
From long, so long ago, her green eyes,
In the deep caves of her inner sea ,filled with longing.
I felt she wanted to get back
Into the magic circle
Of the arms of the mother we
No longer had to hold us.
So, I took her inside my heart,
And hold her there always
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Compulsory deodorants in the UK
If the government gets its way anyone who smells can be put in prison.
I wonder who defines exactly what constitutes a smell? If you are wearing a perfume like Poison some people might think that is a smell.
Just looking for new meaning to the phrase
Poison is dangerous.
Come to that being alive is dangerous especially for the homeless. Where do they imagine they’re going to have a wash and apply a deodorant?
Come to think of it they might prefer being in person as they will have showers and regular meals and definitely a bed
But I would have thought you’d need to commit some kind of a crime to get put in prison and smelling however unpleasant is not a crime as yet.
I don’t like the idea of a policeman coming to my house and asking to sniff my armpits all my crotch or will there be some kind of a distance like can their smell me from three feet away or two feet away.
Maybe if it’s only that they smell you when you’re 10 feet away I think will be a crime.
And in any case I thought Britain’s prisons were overcrowded. With middle aged women shoplifters, and.. starring pregnant women and men who soft it was a good idea to break the window of the supermarket just to get .. a few bottles of brandy and a glass of red wine.
I hope they don’t put babies in prison because they often smell even from the best homes
The solution is this that they should put everybody in prison straight away and then there will be no more crime at all.
There will be sin no doubt but there will be no crime because you can’t commit crime in prison can you?
Of course this will break up families,.. friendships and lovers.
Churches will not be needed…. Most shops can close down and altogether it will save a lot of money because you won’t have to pay for your own heating anymore nor food.
The few people who are not in prison like the royal family might be a little bit lonely but they will get used to it and some of them might deserve to be imprisoned might I add nervously.
Well think about it …it makes sense doesn’t it
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Before and after
Before you and after you
There was a world with no you.
Before you has gone and after you has only just started
Before you there were parents brothers cousins
And after you, who is left but me ?
There is no red fire with a whistling kettle
There is no mother knitting
There is no father polishing shoes
Not even a cat playing with wool
After you I am still here but am I still me?
I thought that you were part of me but now you have gone.
After you, after all,I am alive.
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My old phone
I found my first phone in the drawer by chance
C 1 -01, a Nokia, coloured pink
Memories of my flower photographs
We look but we don’t see,oh,happenstance
Now I shall pour out the tea and drink
I found my first phone in the drawer by chance
I saw cats and dogs but no giraffes
Now I might just sit to muse and think
Of memories and my flower photographs
We walked around those gardens holding hands
Saw the iris and the rose.oh God be thanked
I found my first phone in the drawer by chance
You preferred the sea shore.edge of sands
The waves ran on our feet, the fishes winked
Oh memories ,oh all our photographs
Like the fish, you also sent a wink
Just before you died, a smile , cheeks pink
I thought you looked much better,but no chance
Blessed memories of our lives in photographs
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Redress the balance: Being steady on your feet – Reader’s Digest
https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/health/wellbeing/redress-the-balance-being-steady-on-your-feet
There are three components to balance. The first is the visual system, which shows us whether we’re tilting. Then the vestibular system in the inner ear sends information to our brain about the motion of our head in relation to our surroundings. Thirdly, proprioception is our body’s ability to sense its location, movement and actions.
“People with ear problems that cause dizziness […] are more likely to have balance issues”
People with ear problems that cause dizziness, or with joint problems or muscle weakness are more likely to have balance issues. If you suffer from dizziness, see your GP to find out the reason.
Get your strength up
Exercise goes a long way to helping you stay steady on your feet
But there’s a lot you can do yourself to improve physical strength. If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game. One study found that a group that did 32 weeks of resistance training improved their ability to stand on one foot by 25 per cent and another group that did 32 weeks of aerobic exercise increased theirs by 31 per cent.
” If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game”
null
Otherwise, improve your balance by walking, cycling or climbing stairs – this will strengthen muscles in the lower body – or by practising yoga, pilates or tai chi. Or simply practise balancing on one leg – hold onto a chair to begin with, if necessary.
Read more: Sex and ageing: Fact or fiction?
Read more: How to protect your hips
Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter
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Can gossip be good for you?
5 Ways regular exercise keeps your mind fit
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Reader’s Digest is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK’s magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors’ Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards, please contact 0203 289 0940. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors’ Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit ipso.co.uk
There are three components to balance. The first is the visual system, which shows us whether we’re tilting. Then the vestibular system in the inner ear sends information to our brain about the motion of our head in relation to our surroundings. Thirdly, proprioception is our body’s ability to sense its location, movement and actions.
“People with ear problems that cause dizziness […] are more likely to have balance issues”
People with ear problems that cause dizziness, or with joint problems or muscle weakness are more likely to have balance issues. If you suffer from dizziness, see your GP to find out the reason.
Get your strength up
Exercise goes a long way to helping you stay steady on your feet
But there’s a lot you can do yourself to improve physical strength. If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game. One study found that a group that did 32 weeks of resistance training improved their ability to stand on one foot by 25 per cent and another group that did 32 weeks of aerobic exercise increased theirs by 31 per cent.
” If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game”
null
Otherwise, improve your balance by walking, cycling or climbing stairs – this will strengthen muscles in the lower body – or by practising yoga, pilates or tai chi. Or simply practise balancing on one leg – hold onto a chair to begin with, if necessary.
Read more: Sex and ageing: Fact or fiction?
Read more: How to protect your hips
Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter
RELATED CONTENT
CBD oil: Benefits, uses & best UK brands in 2021
5 Types of bodily pain – Marietta, GA
Can gossip be good for you?
5 Ways regular exercise keeps your mind fit
null
COMPANY
ABOUT
FIND US ON
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS
SIGN UP
Enjoy all the latest stories, tips, news & advice
Reader’s Digest is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK’s magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors’ Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards, please contact 0203 289 0940. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors’ Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit ipso.co.uk
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Metaphors?
But metaphors are not merely things to be seen beyond. In fact, one can see beyond them only by using other metaphors. It is as though the ability to comprehend experience through metaphor were a sense, like seeing or touching or hearing, with metaphors providing the only ways to perceive and experience much of the world. Metaphor is as much a part of our functioning as our sense of touch, and as precious.
.Metaphors we live by
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
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Against sadness
J
Against sadness:no-one here can weep
Nor lounge about in melancholy deep.
Was Van Gogh senseless to permit his muse.
For his masterpieces ,was the price too steep?
We see the yellow chair but not his views
Nor his mind where technique made such leaps.
Nor was his journey broadcast on the news.
Against sadness.
Happiness or joy is hard to find
When we rest, the News preys on our minds
Yet some are cold towards the slaughtered priest
His nose a beak of bone in old face lined
Now Muslims go to Mass and join Christ’s feast
Against sadness.
What rages in the mind make men kill thus?
In Syrian wars the innocents fare worse.
But these are our near neighbours so we weep
And wonder how to end the frightening curse
The sins we once committed hold us deep
We hold our hands out wanting to be nursed
Against sadness
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Coming back to earth is very hard
Coming back to earth is very hard
When a loved one’s gone, the heart feels charred
You took them to the gate but had to leave
And now you know at last you are bereaved
Why get better, what is there left now?
The Holy One has vanished,gone somehow
Should there not be sentries of the heart
To pull one back before it is too late
Maybe cruelty’s kinder to those left
To punish us when we feel we’re bereft
Is there noone else when God has gone
Taking in his arms your most loved one?
The form may be grammatical and right
Yet what it says is nonsense in daylight
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Come live with me and be my sweetheart now
L
Come live with me and be my sweetheart now
I’ll share my only bed with you and how!
If you let me love you
I’ll darn your old wool gloves 4 you
If you come and meet me brow to brow.
Come live with me ‘n teach me all you know
About poetic licence and Defoe.
I’ll mend your vacuum cleaner,
Learn expressions meaner..
How cheerfully the hours to come will go
Come live with me and be my lover true
Without one, whatever shall we do?
I’ll mend all England’s railways
Wreck the works on weekdays
Come live with me and I will sweep your flue.
Come live with me in Norway on a fjord
I’ll play my Canon PowerShot if
I ‘m bored
I’ll watch the flowers growing
And see the waters flowing
How happy Wittgenstein’d be if he’d knowed
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They move with ease the body, say the Mass
Feelings need geometry to form
Not to spill like water from dropped glass
Feelings running wild may do great harm
Yet inhibition,tense lacks any charm
Love and hate need ritual,compass
Feelings need geometry to form
Ballerinas, skaters melt their bones
They move with ease the body, say the Mass
Feelings running wild may do great harm
Will power out of place can cause alarm
Create tensions, acts so evil,crass
Feelings by geometry inform
Restraint and sculpting, waiting through impasse
Like Jesus gives up all upon his Cross
Feelings running wild may do great harm
Here we find the rhythm and the task
We feel the rawness; feel the utter risk
Feelings need geometry and form
Feelings like wild bulls can do us harm
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Thought to me is vision without words;
Thought, the vision of the inner eye,
Peers behind the mask of mundane view
A choosing of the best of what comes by
Not the monsters on the Daily News
Thought to me is vision without words;
Needs silent presentation and review.
The words translate the images that surge
Then fall back to the ocean where they grew.
Like coloured visions of the deep seabed
Where fishes reel and dance, where life is new.
What we mean with difficulty’s said
Yet evocation summons it to view.
Let my words evoke my love of you;
And answer me with many kisses new.
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Stan and the green jumper
Stan was feeling somewhat glum,nay even despairing,on Monday morning.
Mary had gone to work on her new folding 6 gear bicycle with own basket and an extra basket from Wells-next -the- Sea 1995
[the wicker basket now somewhat grey in hue.]
He was left at home sorting out all his art work and materials as well as doing the baking,cooking and bathing Emile,the delightful yet trying male cat.
Sunk in dark misery,Stan sat in an old uncomfortable chair in the darkest part of the room, while Emile snored on the rug by the bright French windows
.Stan went through all the possible reasons for his state of mind.Was he guiltyabout his flings with his alluring next door neighbour Annie?
Could it be his failure to toilet train Emile? Or his omitting to carry out the penance given by Father Brown after Stan confessed to stealing sweets on the way to Confession in 1956?
The longer Stan brooded the more reasons he found for his depression.
He could hardly get up to make a cup of coffee ..even instant seemed too much trouble.Would he even clean his teeth which somehow he’d failed to do?
The doorbell rang… it was a new cord for his laptop as Emile had been chewing the current one ,and 29 books in a sack from Amazon which his wife must have ordered,as he had no recollection of any such foolish spending.
How would they pay the bill on the credit card? he ruminated.
Later in the day.Annie peered through the window.She tapped on the glass with her well manicured blue finger nails.
Let me in she cried.
I’m too tired for any hanky panky he murmured lovingly as he ran his fingers through her thick red tresses.What is this delightful perfume,beloved,he questioned her.
It’s Poison! she replied.Oh no,sorry it’s Iris and Jasmine Eau de toilette from the Bodyshop.
Despite his lowly sunken state Stan loved this perfume.He sniffed rabidly at her well rounded form
.Well,shall we have some tea,she enquired.
Stan sat there hand on chest.I’ve been feeling a little gloomy,he muttered.She peered at him.
You look terribly pale,Stan.Where’s your angina spray?
I can’t recall,he said.Oh,here it is in my vest.
What a strange place to keep it,she responded.
Mary made pockets for all my vests.at one time you could buy vests with pockets
She’s good at sewing despite being so clever.In fact she loves doing things with her hands.
Annie got the GNT spray out and handed it to him.
Have you got a pain?
Well,yes,now you mention it,I do,he replied verbosely.
Well,in the name of God, use the bloody thing,she whispered endearingly into his left ear.
He opened his mouth,raised his tongue and with his hand resting lightly on his chin he pressed the button with his forefinger.
His head began to throb.
Annie appeared with a cup of Earl Grey tea and a biscuit.
Why,you look a little better.Do you need another dose?
No,I feel much better now.I’ve had it before.
He drank the tea but didn’t eat the biscuit which he threw out later in crumbs for the field mice in the shed.
His spirits began to rise.Why did he always forget that physical ailments can worsen a mood?He still felt a trifle glum but nothing a meringue wouldn’t put right.
OK,what shall I make for Mary’s supper? he enquired.
You sit there in the window and I’ll just make my special spaghetti,Annie replied gaily,as long as I can stay too.
Yes,I’ll open some red wine he said youthfully,and we can have fried apples and bananas for pudding with non fat Greek yoghurt.
What a wise choice she murmured gently into his ear………that will use up some of the newly picked apples,the bananas were from Lidl’s as usual.
Well,Stan you look better.said Mary happily,You’ve been pale all weekend.Was it Annie who cheered you up,not to put too fine a point on it?
Actually it was nitroglycerine,he said roguishly,but Annie made me use it.
But for us women you’d be dead,she replied equably.
But for you delightful creatures I wouldn’t be here at all,he moaned ecstatically.
Now then Stan,control yourself she urged,After all we have a visitor,Annie!
What a hoot,he thought as he twisted spaghetti round his fork in a careless manner splashing tomato sauce all over his new green acrylicjumper.
Thank the Lord for washing machines,Mary said.
I didn’t know Jesus invented them,Annie said with a tone of mild sarcasm but no-one bothered to reply.
As told by Emile to the local paper.
And believed by all of us
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Port hostages
Some misunderstanding?
1.A man must wear a cat at all times,except in bed when he may wear pyjamas over his head if he wants to [unless his wife likes his face] I was told this by my neighbour who is now a widow.Why?
2.One must never eat pork hostages
3.Women must be immodest so that men can pick and choose
4.Men must prey at least 5 times a day except on the Sabbath .She always was bad at spelling.
However, one can pray mentally [but not while eating dinner]
6.A man must love his neighbour but is it the right hand one or the left hand one?It sounds like musical chairs.Do women love their neighbour? It’s transitive
7.A man must not convert his neighbours’ wife to a new political person
8 No-one may hero worship a golden oldie or their neighbour’s calf or heel
9 Women are both seen and heard whereas men make scenes. and gird their loins
10.If you worship a golden owl ,don’t tell anybody as the cat may be jealous.Not to mention the Divine
Advice:.If a burning bush appears,keep still and listen respectfully then run
And never kill your nanny’s goat unless she orders it
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Sunlight at Easter
The Easter sun came through the rich stained glass
A little child illuminated passed.
The shining floor below the roof above
The glowing light a symbol of deep love
At this moment normal time had gone
Absorbed into the mysteries of the sun.
Then the child ran off, a cloud came by
Eternity has passed with just a sigh
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From cats to evil
Mary wants to get a letter
This means she’ is feeling better.
Here’s the postman with his sack
Coming up the garden track
she hears the letterbox go bang
The postman seems to talk in slang
Ear ye are pet ain’t got much
Oh dear Mary mind your crutch.
I have no crutch I have a walker
You are just a nosey parker
No I’m from Warsaw,madam dear.
Well you speak English without fear.
Yes I know I’m feeling proud.
In this country it’s allowed.
Yes said. Mary I know that.
If you’re not sure I’ll ask my cat
Emile opened one green eye.
I’m not here to be a spy.
If Eastern Europe is is in trouble
Get the cats out at the double
That’s what Mrs Johnson said
She saw Boris on the bed
She brought her cat a golden collar.
That’s why Boris’s face turned yellow
There are babies and young children
Little faces all a- quivering.0
See they look like Jews tormented
By the Nazis men demented.
But would you have had the courage.
To stand up to the Nazis savage
How long will we support Ukraine?
Let us not ignore their pain
The Russian wolf is riding high
Threatening Europe from the sky.
The Jews and Yiddish have all gone
From Europe to Babylon.
We heard we must show more courage
But who hears the voices savage?
We feel like children in our hearts
Prepare us adults that’s a start.
Survival as a moral wreckage
Comforts Satan sends a message.
You do not want to know the worst.
The human race may be accursed
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The changed face of Britain
I wish I were in Walsingham again
The great arch of the abbey standing near
The silver stream, the bridges and the path
I wish that you were near,my love,my dear.
I wish we were in Brancaster today.
The cottage on the coast, the sea so near
We were running on the sands the tide was high,
The yellow gorse had thorns, the scent was pure
We saw the swans at Wells we saw the barge
No refugees were housed there,now I’m scared
Will they store folk in a jumbo jet and fly
I cannot count the rumours I have heard
I wish we were in Norfolk by the sea.
Hosting refugees for Easter tea
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Mary and God
Mary was in the hall watering her rose scented geranium; she decided to move it into the kitchen as the hall might be a little too drafty.Mary was very anxious to make sure that this plant survived because it was a present from her cousin.
Suddenly the phone rang. perhaps it is Annie wanting to go out on some Christmas shopping expedition ,but no it was Mary’s cousin Bob who she knew had been very ill and although he seems to be recovering she knew he was quite anxious about dying
His voice was very faint and weak. Perhaps he is going to die, she thought. he does seemed to be frightened .
Do not be afraid.God is waiting for you and he knows everything
,He knows how you looked after your sister when she had a breakdown and how you used to change the curtains and make the room look beautiful to try to help her and yet she did not thank you .She was very unpleasant but you never gave up ; eventually when she died during her sleep it was both a relief and a loss
God remembers everything and he is full of love for you . I do not know why God allows some people to suffer so much[ which is a constant theme in human thinking since the book of Job was written.]
Now, I don’t say that you are Job ,but I do know what you have endured. I have seen you being humbled in cruel ways, I have seen you being ignored when you knew much more than the people who were talking
You cared your your cat with utmost kindness until it recovered from its ill-treatment at those nasty neighbours of yours.
You have suffered too through cancer and not being able to eat foods that you liked but you have recovered. You have worked in your garden and grown beautiful flowers and vegetables Your fruit trees have been v productive and your whole garden is a testament to the fact that you love every living being, except your brother David, of course.,
There’s always trouble in that kind of set up when the mother prefers one child to another and it has been a constant torment to you throughout your life. I have noticed since you have both been older. you seem to have a more productive life now and I know you make wine and jam and mend all you can
I know that you did win an award when you were in your 20s for your research although you never told anybody. I wonder why you were so shy about telling people. You never did like to boast and I think I am similar to you.
I let Stan have his mistress next door because I know that not every man is interested in Wittgenstein especially when it’s his wife who wants to talk about him when he wants to take her to bed and enjoy her charms, tickle her and laugh merrily and I only wish that you had been able to meet someone yourself who would have valued you as a human being and felt warmth and attraction as well.
I do think you tried to make the most of your capabilities limited as we are by economic,health and political factors alas
Bob said to Mary :you have made me very happy
2 Days Later Mary heard that Bob was much better and the doctor says he will soon be home again
What a disappointment for God meowed Emile, Mary’s little cat. God got everything ready
Well no doubt God had some help,. Mary cried., that’s what I need . need some help ;this house is in a terrible mess as if my fate is to constantly keep trying to tidy up and yet the next day I have to start all over again.
I don’t mind cried Emile I think it’s wonderful I like a mess it makes me feel like playing more and having fun but when it’s all tidy and clean I feel terribly inhibited
Good grief Emile, you sound as if you’ve been to Oxford.
I did once to go on a day trip to Oxford, the the cat confessed .Annie took me in her handbag on a coach
Well all I can say is ,she must have got a very big handbag
Don’t be so rude Emile told her, you have got some big handbags and you’ve got about 50 handbags in the wardrobe even now when you are a widow
That is a woman’s privilege Mary told him like getting a new hat is Easter; a handbag is a very important thing because it enables men to make their wives carry all their wallets and keys so that they could have fun when they went to the seaside
Yes I can remember mother struggling along from Blackpool North station to the beach with a gigantic handbag and a shopping bag full of sandwiches while everybody else ran on in front of her
I don’t know what we saw in Blackpool except the sea; the beach was so crowded you could hardly see the sand.
I guess the airwas cleaner, the cat informed her in a manly way
I think I need a cup of tea said Mary go and get Annie.
She won’t make the tea
No but she can drink some with me while I tell her all my thoughts and my feelings and I couldn’t free associate while she showed off her new makeup and jewellery and her strangely coloured Christmas outfits.She is off to Wigan to visit the make up factory next week.If only it were in Southport I’d go too.
Well I’m in love with Annie. I wish I was a man so I could marry her and make it home for her
I’m sure you would have made a very good husband said Mary but God wants you to be a cat although you are a rather extraordinary cat and it is my good luck to be your owner or shall I say your mistress?
Aand so ask all of us
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The ice cream,a story
So why are you eating that layered chocolate icecream,Mary,asked Annie her dear neighbour charmingly attired in a light purple skirt and blue silk top with butterflies embroidered round the neckline and hips covered by a silk dressing gown in light orange
Well, it’s a rather a strange story;it all began when Sainsburys had no slots for delivery
That’s not very interesting,said Annie foolishly
It is to me, Mary muttered plaintively.I wondered if there was anywhere else to get milk and bread delivered as my neighbours were not so keen to get my last prescription
Why, was it for heroin? Annie teased her, her smiling face ruined by a too pale foundation by Hercules of Paris and Dalmatia with crimson lipstick from Boots adorning her wrinkled lips.She looked ready to star in Death in Venice
No, it was for cystitis, Mary cried.Anyhow I went on to Deliveroo and they have a store that sells food from Marks and Spencers.Only a limited range, of course
Mary’s oval face flushed with a pink glow and her singular blue eyes flashed like imitation diamonds at sunset in Weston -super-Mare
In contrast she was wearing a heather tweed skirt and jumper of pure new wool
And her green trainers and matching tights
But they had no milk so I continued with them on to Morrisons who again have a small selection
of food and drink
In half an hour they were at the door and all was well
Then one word came to my mind
What was it, Annie asked her nervously, her fingers twisting her newly washed hair into ringlets so fast it looked as if she was destroying the roots
Eggs,Eggs! They had no eggs,Mary confided.
Have you none left?
Yes but Emile fell off the window sill onto the work surface and crushed them all
Do you believe it was an accident? Cats have been known to suck eggs,Annie whispered
Wow,I didn’t know that, Emile miaowed furtively
Stay away from my eggs,Mary scolded him.Lay your own.I wish I could
So naturally I went to Deliveroo where the local Coop was selling food
I got eggs,crumpets, marmalade and then I noticed they sold icecream.Chocolate icecream.
You never eat it.Annie told her
But I like it, so I thought,I’ll just get one as it is Easter
Well, the man came to the door and I saw he had a very small bag
I took it and it said, “sorry, we have no eggs so we have sent 6 icecreams”
That is illogical ,said Annie.You can’t bake icecream nor eat it boiled with toast
So then I thought I”ll either fly into a rage or I will eat the icecream
Then tomorrow I will phone them and say, those eggs you sent were off
I have been sick all night.I want a refund
This is not like you,Mary, her friend said.You don’t cheat and tell lies
Not up till now but we have to change.Not just ethically but also
we have to curse and swear
Your fecking eggs were off.
But Annie shouted: they will say
We don’t sell fecking eggs we only have pickled eggs
Then I will shout: pickle off cried Mary
That icecream has made you go crazy,Mary.,Annie informed her
Am I schizophrenic? Mary asked politely
Not yet but Emile might be if you carry on
I’ll make us some lovely PG Tips Tea, that will restore our sanity
And make some for all of us
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A herd of cats
Mary was sitting looking at the execution of Mary Queen of Scots on TV while also mending some moth holes in her skirt.The only thread she got into the eye of the easy thread needle was blue but nobody was going to examine her with a microscope, she told herself gently
She also was thinking of her winter coat.Was raspberry really a good choice? Would dark grey not be more useful?After all she often sat down on garden walls while taking photos or even on old wooden benches.What she needed was a folding cushion or a small thick towel.No wonder woman have such big handbags.
Annie her neighbour came in the back door with a bag of broken biscuits.
Look at these!We used to get them in the market years ago.So for old times sake, I have hit these with a hammer!
What sort of hammer, Mary asked.
Why, are there different kinds?
Yes,but I expect yours is just the usual medium size.
Actually, it was Ben’s.When he ran away he left it behind.
I suppose it was too heavy to fit into his suitcase.Where did he run to?
I don’t know, said Annie but as his sister in law went with him they might have gone to Australia.
Do men in Australia often love their sisters in law? Mary pondered
Who knows? The point is nobody would recognise them.Although if I went on Saga holiday I might!More people travel now.My friend Jim went to Borneo last year,said Annie in a tone of wonder
So if we became lesbian lovers we could not hide in Borneo!Where could one hide now with all this travel?
Disguise might be best, Annie whispered.You could dress like a man!
You must be joking, at my size.
Well, there are plenty of fat men!
But would they have a shape like mine?
So the two friends while away Saturday afternoon, both now darning Mary’s other clothes.
Why don’t you just buy new clothes, Annie murmured kindly.
I can’t afford this quality.I shall have to keep combing Emile until I get enough fur to make into a thread.Then I can knit a scarf!
How ridiculous, You’d need a herd of cats to get enough, Annie informed her with pity.
What a lovely idea, Mary cried.But Emile might be jealous.Or he might enjoy meeting a lady cat… or two.
I don’t think you could have more than six cats here and with food and bills it would be cheaper to buy wool
Still, a ball of wool is not so good to sleep by as a cat,Mary pondered slowly.And it has no loving eyes to look at when one comes in from the shops.
I suppose just holding wool in the hand might be very soothing,Annie retorted logically.
Otherwise,we could join Soulmates she continued fluently.
Would men be attracted to a lady with darned moth holes in her clothing? Mary enquired humorously
Well, it would show you were economical and thrifty, Annie cried sensitively
Surely that is not the main reason men choose a woman partner, said Mary wonderingly.
I suppose they like a woman with a gentle sensitive nature.Annie screamed
Well.Denis Thatcher didn’t, Mary informed her delightedly
So true, but was she different once?
No, he wanted to be dominated.Mary decided.
I wonder if he liked being whipped, Annie thought having read 5o shades of whey
She could have used the Government Whips, Mary chortled.
Both the women burst out laughing so much that the sofa fell over and flung them onto the thick red and purple striped acrylic carpet
That sofa is unstable, Annie shouted.We could have died
Perhaps it’s us.Mary shrieked
Emile ran out into the kitchen and bit a piece out of the Xmas cake.
I can’t help it, he mewed.They are both getting madder by the day
And so say all of us
Emile’s a jolly good yeller
So pray for all of us.
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Wealth is community
The opposite of poverty isn’t property. The opposite of both poverty and property is community.
For in community we become rich: rich in friends, in neighbours, in colleagues, in comrades, in brothers and sisters. Together, as a community, we can help ourselves in most of our difficulties.
For after all, there are enough people and enough ideas, capabilities and energies to be had. They are only lying fallow, or are stunted and suppressed. So let us discover our wealth; let us discover our solidarity; let us build up communities; let us take our lives into our own
hands, and at long last out of the hands of the people who want to dominate and exploit us.”
― Jürgen Moltmann, The Source of Life: The Holy Spirit and the Theology of Life
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What matters?
Affect matters more than numbers do
Reason without love ,so blind to ends
Rational means were used to kill our Jews.
Searching Europe’s “haystacks” for a clue
Reason makes its wondrous, obscene blend
Affect matters more than numbers do
When Belsen was relieved, who bought the glue?
The bones of suffering dead might,did offend
Rational calculators tortured Jews
Was Jesus rational, what the end he knew
See his mother Mary, weeping,kind.
Affect matters more than numbers do
By the Christians, Jesus was abused
His brothers and his sisters barred, disdained
Factories were used to gas his Jews
. How to see what matters in the end
Hate outweighed by Love, controlled not blamed
Affect matters more than numbers do
Rational calculations ,G-d, oh G-d, Jesu.
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No self ,no torturer, no sisters dear
Outside owa house ‘t new umbrellas drip
~Wun is red and wun is pretty beige
They’re owa sunshades, t’weather’s hit a blip
If A wer a child A’d sail a ship
Or dash in pools u’ water in mi rage
Outside wa house ,’t new umbrellas drip ; [Het means the]
Times there were Mam’s moods would get a grip
Then it wer quite hard to re-engage
Hide owa sunshades, mother’s hit a blip
Mam we’ clever but she lost her top
The hint of h’ mad sayings hasna wage
Outside wa house ,’t new umbrellas drip ;
Nuns told me off for speaking in my voice
To get to Oxford, I must Me erase
Now I am a foreigner down here
No self ,no torturer ,no sisters dear
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Our house
Outside owa house ‘t new umbrellas drip
~Wun is red and wun is pretty beige
They’re wa sunshades, t’weather’s hit a blip
If A wer a child A’d sail a ship
Or stamp in pools u’ water in mi rage
Outside wa house,’t new umbrellas drip
Times there were Mam’s moods ‘ed get a grip
Then it wer quite hard to re-engage
Hide wa sunshades,mother’s hit a blip
Mam wer clever but she lost her top
The hint of h’ mad sayings has no wage
Outside wa house ,’t new umbrellas drip
Nuns told me off for speaking in my voice
To get to Oxford, I must Me erase
Now I am a foreigner down here
No self, no mam, no sisters,just mi feah
This is called eye dialect: misspell words to make them sound like they do in your dialect.
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Little sister
Trying to keep a hold of you;
trying to keep a hold of you.
Don’t go,
Don’t go.
I’ll not let you fall down that gap.
I’ll always try to pull you back-
Little sister.
You slipped so far away from us.
You slipped because you knew you could.
You saw a gap and fell right down.
You were serious, my little clown.
Come back now.
Come back now.
My baby.
I sang all those songs for you,
But I needed a mother too.
A mother too.
If only I were stronger…
Stronger, stronger..
Would you have stayed here longer?
Little sister.
As you rocked in your little chair,
the demons of the home were there.
Your blue eyes shone,
Then you were gone.
My sister.
I saw you in a long blue gown,
With a golden halo, all wrapped round.
You smiled and said you didn’t know
That I had really loved you so.
You were sorry to leave like that,
And would I kindly feed your cat.
My sister.
When I woke up, the dream was gone;
But life and work must still go on.
If only I’d been grown and strong,
On this earth, you’d still belong.
Little sister.
I sang the song that you once sang,
But felt my tears made it go wrong.
Once you smiled and laughed with me.
Life was not all black, I see.
Sisters, sisters,sisters, three.
Now it’s two, just you and me.
But when we meet ,a shadow’s there-
I see a flash of her dark hair,
Our sister,sister,sister.
A gap remains for grief to fill
and on we mourn till hearts are still.
One day we’ll die too
And perhaps then we’ll be with you.
Little sister.
My sister.
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Three-D Politics 2021
Pie Jesu
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How writing poetry was compared to Perseus killing the Medusa Gorgon
When thy song is shield and mirror
To the fair snake-curlèd Pain,
Where thou dar’st affront her terror
That on her thou may’st attain Perséan conquest
Francis Thompson wrote those lines.. se below
I am interested in these lines from the poem below…. When thy song is shield and mirror To the fair snake-curlèd Pain, Where thou dar’st affront her terror That on her thou may’st attain Perséan conquest; I think the meaning is that by expressing what is in us creatively in poetry or other forms we can overcome what we are afraid of not by attacking and killing it but indirectly in the manner of Perseus who killed the Medusa Gorgon by locating her and seeing her reflected in the mirror of his shield.Others had been turned to stone by her gaze. Expression is the mirror/shield Read about Perseus below http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Perseus/perseus.html This is where I got the poem………Bartleby.com a good website re which I say go visit. Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. 240. From ‘The Mistress of Vision’ By Francis Thompson (1859–1907) WHERE is the land of Luthany, Where is the tract of Elenore? I am bound therefor. ‘Pierce thy heart to find the key; With thee take 5 Only what none else would keep; Learn to dream when thou dost wake, Learn to wake when thou dost sleep. Learn to water joy with tears, Learn from fears to vanquish fears; 10 To hope, for thou dar’st not despair, Exult, for that thou dar’st not grieve; Plough thou the rock until it bear; Know, for thou else couldst not believe; Lose, that the lost thou may’st receive; 15 Die, for none other way canst live. When earth and heaven lay down their veil, And that apocalypse turns thee pale; When thy seeing blindeth thee To what thy fellow-mortals see; 20 When their sight to thee is sightless; Their living, death; their light, most lightless; Search no more— Pass the gates of Luthany, tread the region Elenore.’ Where is the land of Luthany, 25 And where the region Elenore? I do faint therefor. ‘When to the new eyes of thee All things by immortal power, Near or far, 30 Hiddenly To each other linkèd are, That thou canst not stir a flower Without troubling of a star; When thy song is shield and mirror 35 To the fair snake-curlèd Pain, Where thou dar’st affront her terror That on her thou may’st attain Perséan conquest; seek no more, O seek no more! 40 Pass the gates of Luthany, tread the region Elenore.
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Quatrain for Robin HoodWhen Robin Hood hides in our wood I shall not turn him out I'll let his merry gentlemen Hang all their bows about. So when a swaggering M.P. Comes riding by alone The arrows of the hidden host Will ring against the stones. The horse rears up,the man looks round To see what's caused the stir And what he sees amidst the trees Is green men everywhere Let him complain to Sheriffs all. The green men will be gone. When soldiers come to hunt them out They've vanished every one. The forests of England are the home Of rabbit,deer and game. The green men live their natural life And we should do the same. let us all take to the greenwood life And feel the strength of trees They do not change at every poll, Nor do just what they please. In Nature all is linked to one And one to all extends. If we could change our cut throat ways Maybe all could be friends. The hearts and souls of all of us, Form a great human wood. So let the love we feel be shared, And heard for the common good. If everyone is given their place Then Robin could go home His men would not be in my wood, And M.P.'s could safely roam. Let us all sing,"Robin for King," "We all want Robin Hood." "He took the money from the rich To be spent for the common good. Copyright © Katherine Braithwaite | |
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A beam of lightA beam of light passed through my eyes And showed to me a world disguised So near,yet far,we do not see, Unless by gift of grace redeemed. That world is full of peace and calm Its colors mingle,like a balm. In such a moment all thought dies, Revealing Love which underlies. Colors caress my naked eyes. Sunlight blesses new designs. I stand enthralled,and do not wish For one delight,other than this. My breath slows down, and filled with joy, I rove my eyes with bliss to toy. Everything is just itself. This is now my living wealth. Beneath the noise of city traffic, This mellow joy,love soporific, This depth and peace, is always near When we choose Love and turn from fear Copyright © |
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Love too greatLove too great can drown the one adored. As if Jove sent tsunami as a gift Overwhelming all her personal choice. Little offerings gentle and deserved Will not frighten either be too swift Love too great can drown the one adored. Speaking kindly as we find our voice Not shouting love, when we ought to desist Overwhelming other’s personal choice. At other times a lover’s been devoured By that selfishness, we’re not impressed Love too great can drown the one adored. God alone can speak in such a voice By his truth, all other is expressed Overwhelming, merciful and right Eros, selfish, sacred, who resists? Keep your love in bounds, may it be blessed Love too great can drown the one adored. Overwhelming all their personal, unique worth Copyright © |
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He whom once I loved He whom once I loved I now do hate |
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And cultivate my hatred with my tearsShall I give home to grievance and to woe And cultivate my hatred with my tears? Shall I remember carefully each blow, And add this sorrow to my anxious fear? I thought by hating you I would have peace And surely I had reason without doubt. Yet rumination gave me no release.. For wisdom and compassion it did flout I remembered then past love and shared sweet words I gave them freedom in my anguished heart. I did it for your sake, yet then occurred A sweetness, joy and gladness in all parts. To forgive,repent and let go of such grief Helps us more than hatred’s legal brief |
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In my dreams he is alive againThe face that was familiar is no more Yet in my dreams ,he is alive again If ,by a chance, his life could be restored It would affect me like the hidden chord Which played, my own life force would go. That one must live and one must die is plain The face that was familiar is no more. Yet in my dreams ,he is alive again Copyright © Katherine Braithwaite | 2015 |
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She loved her adverb more than meMy wife has left me for an adverb. I don't know which one it is! Is it slowly,quickly, nearly? Life should not be like a quiz. She told me that she "nearly" loved me, When "dearly" was what I had hoped. Life is full of lost illusions... How do we 'reaved lovers cope I think I should have kept it secret, For now I sit and sadly grieve. Do you think my wife is cruel? What a strange excuse to leave! Would she leave me for a pronoun? Would she leave for a full stop? Would I leave you for a quote mark? Would I fall down in a black dot? Come back,darling for I love you. I have learned I must take care. I will go for grammar lessons. I am sure I can learn flair! We can write a poem together, You can choose the topic,dear. I will hold my pen and write for They say true love drives out fear. Did I fear her? Did I love her? Was she worthy of my heart? Did she dislike my hairy nostrils? Was that why we had to part? Come back Mary,come back Mavis. Come back Sunny, come back Sue Without my wife I feel so lonely. What is a left man to do? Shall I vote for love or money? Shall I throw my self away? Shall I get a new agenda? Will a new life start today? Come back Miriam,come back Sarah! Where have all the women gone? Come back Rivka with your grammar. I can feed you a cheese scone. I work hard and I can cook. I put fresh linen on the bed. I can pay my bills in full. But without my Love,my heart is dead |
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ReverberationsLike a piece of ground where bombs go off repeatedly, my inner landscape is perpetually marked by these explosions of sorrow, made all the worse by the lack of a listening ear, a warm open heart or an outstrerched hand. I have constructed a map but it's incomplete,by its nature; so even now,I might stumble into an old hole or a new one,created by reverberations underground; the noise like distant music, a constant drumbeat. We do not dance I might call it the Liturgy of Loss, a dance to the music of rhyme; Patterns abd shapes hold the feelings and express them.The shape of these forms is a container for the grief. In this way,I indicate that life will go on;I hear the healing music and sing to its melodies like a mermaid on the edge of the sea in winter when the water is cold and green like his eyes, and the rocks are hard like large fists. Nature can be a s ymbol for such emotion we cannot walk without a tear in ech eye and a softening of our hearts as tenderly we touch the world and are touched in turn by each other. Stretch out your hand to meet mine. We can hold each other better than each can hold theirself. Like in sex, the meaning is not the climax but the giving and being given; receiving and being received. The sacredness of the erotic needs no explanation to a gardener or a fisherman but may need it for the information saturated,postmodern who dwell in the fascist virtual reality we call life on earth today Copyright © Katherine Braithwaite | |
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When life seems greyWhen true love’s gone and doom hangs over head When life runs like a river to the sea Then shall I take new lovers to my bed? And with their carnal touch consoled be? When my love lies,so breaks my tender heart. When life seems grey and rocks bestrew my path. Then, shall I my life of evil start? And on the world shall I bestow my wrath? When true love lies and wrecks all loyalty. When puzzlement makes all my world seem mad. Then I shall upend causality And let myself do deeds which make me glad. For I have love’s sweet child inside my soul And I shall tend her till at last she’s whole |
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Watercolor loveLike watercolor pictures left out in the rain Our colors have mingled,yet the originals still remain. Two watercolor paintings without frames, Became one picture over time, Yet two of us still there. Our colors blended naturally, Now all the hues are shared. I love your colors intermixed with mine: Together they have made a new design. A Watercolor picture painted by the rain, We may go, but our Watercolor Love will still remain Copyright |
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How my heart speaks 