The sun sends sideways glances to our eyes
Approaching winter, we fear lthe ong  cold nights
With the  sun we go down low, then rise

Annually frost  will brings us great surprise
We complain about a  lack of light
The sun sends sidelong answers to our eyes

Do we think all past  cold winters  lied?
That nevermore would snow and   sharp cold bite?
We with the  sun must  go down low then rise

The day is shorter,go to bed with sighs,
Unless you have new lovers to delight
The sun sends  longer shadows to our eyes

Those with  lover hot must  wear disguise
As jealous  neighbours might just pick a fight
All with sun must go down low and then rise

Death and resurrection  multiply;
Infinite the  wakings to new life
The sun sends   shattering glances to our eyes
We see the shadows,  destiny is  ice.

 

 

Trying to see things from another person’s perspective means

1.We acknowledge there are other people on this earth and not only here in our country.
2.Their point of view is  of value at least some of the time unless they are drunk or sick or some other problem affects them
3 Imagination and willingness to try to look at the world differently and to be polite to those who differ from us if possible [Don’t declare war]
4 And letting them know why you see things differently if appropriate

 

Mary was looking through the  front window trying to guess whether her  neighbour’s car was there; she did not want to meet him if she went outside.  To her surprise she saw her neighbour on the other side, Annie walking down the road wearing a brand new  and lovely sheepskin coat
I wonder where she has got that coat from, Mary wondered to herself
She never mentioned that she was going to buy an expensive coat for the winter. perhaps she’s been lucky in a second-hand shop, but even second-hand it will be pretty expensive
She opened the door and called out,Hello. Annie  came running in just like Dave the paramedic.

Hello Mary is there something wrong  and she asked her gently?

Nothing is wrong I am just  envious of your coat.

Why would you like to be my coat? Are you a lesbian?
Do you want to keep me warm in a manner of speaking

I should have said I am jealous but that doesn’t sound right  either does it; what is the right word? I wish that I could afford a coat like yours is that envy or jealousy?

Said Annie I don’t know. I never used to listen to  the nuns when they were talking about Ethics and morals I used to stare out of the window and imagine what it would be like lying on the grass with Fred Astaire or  Leonard Cohen

 I wish I was  able to do that,said Mary .but my father died  when I was 8 years old and it gave me a feeling of guilt which has never really left me. So I always paid careful attention to all the sins  the nuns told us about ; then I would make list of sins or feelings and try to understand what they meant
But envy and jealousy are quite difficult
No they are not said Annie ,jealousy is a three person : you have your husband or boyfriend but you worry another woman might tempt him away

Well you  tempted my husband  away,Mary told her ruefully

Why, were you jealous ? said Annie.At least he was near home  and you knew that I was looking after him while you were at work>What ever looking after him means she said, thinking of Prince Charles and his first wife Princess Diana.

Envy is a two person relationship , you envy  me my coat and you will kill me to get it or destroy me and the coat and knock my house down

Don’t worry I don’t feel like that, said Mary but I’d like to know where you got it from as the weather has gone very cold and it might be just the thing for me

Well I stole it said Annie cunningly

My goodness you are a very wicked woman how do you bear the shame i

Why are you still friends with me ,asked Annie  her politely?

I don’t really know. I suppose I like you and  Stan was bored being at home all the time except for Emile so I suppose I got used to it.  I found the whole thing quite intriguing I wish I had got married again so that you could have had an affair with my second husband but unfortunately I don’t seem to  know how to get one .
Where do women get them from?

God Only Knows  cried Annie in a rude tone of voice;s you can’t buy them in  a shop ;some find them online at places like tinder and other people flirt with all the men at work until one of them gives in

My problem is I don’t know how to flirt ,Mary admitted nonchalantly

You do know how to flirt Annie said. You must
No I don’t
I thought it was genetic .are you telling me it is down to the environment?

That makes it sound rather like IQ ,Mary told her

I just never felt free enough to wink and flutter my eyelids,How did  you learn,Annie

I don’t really know it just seems part of my personality. Maybe it would have been better if I had studied Hebrew and Greek but unfortunately I failed all my examinations except those is  involving men’s bodies

You are awful, said Mary I  have only seen one man’s body and that was my husband’s

Well if are you happy with your husband what’s the point of loooking at  other men’s bodies?

I suppose you  had better come inside and let me try that  coat on

Alright  said Annie. I didn’t steal it that man in the house with a tartan wallpaper gave it to me, do you remember him. I was trying to get him into bed but he wanted to marry me ;I didn’t want to get married again so he very kindly buys me many presents like coats and silk underwear

Do you think it’s right to accept such expensive presents from an old man who wanted to marry you?

Well if we were married I would have spent a lot more,Annie informed her geometrically

I guess you’re right said Mary. if he wants to give you something  it’s not evil although it might make some people think that you are a kept woman

 They both burst out  laughing at this old fashioned name  and walked into the kitchen where Emile was looking at a goldfish in a bowl as if  it was the Pearl of great price

And do you know, it was.

I was struck by your words
I hope they didn’t make holes in your face
Think nothing of it
It’s hard to think of nothing
I meant, don’t keep  brooding
Hens brood
But you are not a hen
Well,I’ve been called worse
Worse than what?
Anything you can imagine
I never imagine
Do you mean you don’t day dream?
I control my mind with a rod of iron
But your mind is not a physical object
Well, what is it then, a spirit?
Descartes said so
I’ll drink to that.Pass the brandy

https://nataliejabbar.wordpress.com/tag/poems-about-stillness/

Extract:

If we weren’t unanimous
about keeping our lives so much in motion,

if we could do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would
interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death,
perhaps the earth is teaching us
when everything seems to be dead
and then everything is alive.

Now I will count to twelve
and you keep quiet and I’ll go.

Pablo Neruda

What makes a single cell  defy its death?
One should die to make way for the new
Will it show  symbolically our  wrath?

Chance mutations ,errors   make a path
Like a man with  ringing axe might hew
What makes a single cell  deny its death?

Is the immune system prone to gaffes?
Needing not so many, just a few
Why show  symbolically our fear or wrath?

Noone  who gets cancer will then laugh
Our insides  turn around   till all’s a stew
What makes a single cell  defy then death?

O cruel sun that burned my skin no less
In a way unnoticed but to few
Why show  symbolically our fear or wrath?

Accept  emotions, do not self accuse
Accept the anger do not harm  arouse
What makes a single cell  defy its death?
Why  endanger self  with fear or wrath?

 

I cannot heal my wounds by power of will
Unconscious kind  intelligence is king
I can use my will power to sit still

While we meditate, our heart can fill
Till all the body cells together ring
I cannot heal your soul by power of will

When weary do not climb the desperate hill
Why risk the heart or shudder in trembling
We must use our will power to keep still

As the water force works   in the mill
So by harnessed nature we may bring
Healing to  the soul , absent our will

The other self in me  will quietly tell
What I need if I have trained hearing
I must use my will power to sit still

In the forest, make a broad clearing
Then the soul reveals herself to sing
I cannot heal a wound by power of will
All is given free if we sit still

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelianism

 

¨Aristotelianism (/ˌærɪstəˈtiːliənɪzəm/ ARR-i-stə-TEE-lee-ə-niz-əm) is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. This school of thought is in the modern sense of philosophy, covering existence, ethics, mind and related subjects. In Aristotle’s time, philosophy included natural philosophy, which preceded the advent of modern science during the Scientific Revolution. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic schooland later on by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle’s writings. In the Islamic Golden Age, Avicenna and Averroes translated the works of Aristotle into Arabic and under them, along with philosophers such as Al-Kindi and Al-Farabi, Aristotelianism became a major part of early Islamic philosophy.

Moses Maimonides adopted Aristotelianism from the Islamic scholars and based his famous Guide for the Perplexed on it and that became the basis of Jewish scholastic philosophy. Although some of Aristotle’s logical works were known to western Europe, it was not until the Latin translations of the 12th century that the works of Aristotle and his Arabic commentators became widely available. Scholars such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas interpreted and systematized Aristotle’s works in accordance with Christian theology.

After retreating under criticism from modern natural philosophers, the distinctively Aristotelian idea of teleology was transmitted through Wolff and Kant to Hegel, who applied it to history as a totality. Although this project was criticized by Trendelenburg and Brentano as non-Aristotelian, Hegel’s influence is now often said to be responsible for an important Aristotelian influence upon Marx. Postmodernists, in contrast, reject Aristotelianism’s claim to reveal important theoretical truths. In this, they follow Heidegger‘s critique of Aristotle as the greatest source of the entire tradition of Western philosophy.¨

My art

Alfred found  a bag of food;

Dried shapes drive  this cat  to brood

Alfred used his sharpest claws

He broke the cover with his paws

So now he’s in a mellow mood

 

 

 

Image made from a photograph by Katherine

Your painting arrested me.
There aren´t enough police -people any more.I am  PC, you see.Eyes see.

I mean it stole my attention
So now itś a thief!

I am trying to compliment you
Let me know what is complementary to a man like myself

I mean I not He
Who is He?

I am not sure.
Look,I prefer Aristotelean logic.
Do  stop showing off.I prefer it fuzzy.
Well, your hair needs combing. I see..
How do you spell Aristotelian?
Keep to the spoken word and no worries
But I write letters
Draw them instead.

I am not a magnet,you know
Well, who are your followers?
They are not stuck on to me
Magnetic force is not glue
So the sun is not glued to the sky?
Did you think it was?
Well, we ŕe getting mixed up with gravity
Better to stick to levity
Godś own glue.Don´t hesitate.Be saved now
I am not money!
But you use it!
He who would transient be
Can use a plaster
A plasterer is more handy
With your face I so agree

The chiropodist said she liked my feet.If only we could unscrew them, she could replace mine.
I found  the flu jab  less painful than seeing the government squabble
It´s best to think of what we can still do,not what we can´t
Does reading  about Brexit make one go blind?
The pharmacist said I was the only person willing to obey the  instruction to sit  down for 10 minutes after the jab.Such a rushed life

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2007/02/poetry-and-music/

Beginning:

The great lyric poets of the English language wrote — and, I hope, are still writing — words which have their own melodic quality, cadences which lure composers to add music to them. Shakespeare, Herrick, Blake, Tennyson, Burns, Yeats have been set to music by numerous composers, creating a lasting heritage of English song. A smaller but intriguing category is poetry that is not turned into song but is spoken to music. Grand master of this compositional genre is Jim Parker.

‘I was an orchestral oboe player,’ he says, ‘but I was always wanting to get away from that and do something a bit more creative so I joined the Barrow Poets, as an oboist and possibly to do some arranging. It developed from there when I started composing music specially for them. There were other groups of poets and musicians around, like the Scaffold, Roger McGough’s band, but they were writing songs. We set poems to music but we  didn’t really do songs because none of us could claim to have been a singer.’

In 1974, as a result of this, he was asked to write music for some poems by John Betjeman, to be read by the poet himself. And the fruit of that collaboration was the wonderful Banana Blush. ‘I didn’t think Betjeman could sing,’ remembers Parker, ‘so what I did was to write music that accompanies the words.

What can laws do without morals? Benjamin Franklin.Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin	15

The “word laundry” is very busy now:
The  “non involved,”  the children “used as shields”
Creating euphemisms and bloody how!

Certain words we cannot yet allow
Tampax, blood and women who, paid,  yield
The word laundry is very busy now

With a tiger’s cruelty we’re endowed
You should have seen the  rows of ” disappeared”
We’re using euphemisms,it’s bloody you.

Relationships are more than  winning rows
We saw the soldiers lying in the fields
The word laundry is sadly busy now

The sheep and goats will give you bible’s clues
The politicians lied, contempt revealed
We’re using euphemisms and Oh,God, how

 

In our minds we keep some facts concealed
Yet self  deception greys our days unreal
Your “word laundry” is hyper-busy now:
Creating euphemisms like ” blood is dew.”

 

 I painted this then altered it with Artweaver software.Looks like a Xmas card 

I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89).  Poems.  1918.

https://www.bartleby.com/122/1000.html#3

3. The Habit of Perfection

ELECTED Silence, sing to me And beat upon my whorlèd ear, Pipe me to pastures still and be The music that I care to hear. Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb:         5 It is the shut, the curfew sent From there where all surrenders come Which only makes you eloquent. Be shellèd, eyes, with double dark And find the uncreated light:         10 This ruck and reel which you remark Coils, keeps, and teases simple sight. Palate, the hutch of tasty lust, Desire not to be rinsed with wine: The can must be so sweet, the crust         15 So fresh that come in fasts divine! Nostrils, your careless breath that spend Upon the stir and keep of pride, What relish shall the censers send Along the sanctuary side!         20 O feel-of-primrose hands, O feet That want the yield of plushy sward, But you shall walk the golden street And you unhouse and house the Lord. And, Poverty, be thou the bride         25 And now the marriage feast begun, And lily-coloured clothes provide Your spouse not laboured-at nor spun. See Notes.

Digital art by Katherine using Microsoft Paint

I hate the dark evenings
I hate  buying Xmas presents
I hate getting up in the dark
I hate winter
I hate heavy clothes
There’s nothing on TV tonight
Flu jabs make you ill
If you get a cold, it’s yout own fault
Cream cakes make you diabetic
All cake is bad for you
Why bake when you can buy cake?
Why cook a meal when  you are alone?
I can’t be bothered to invite anyone round
Everyone is selfish.Except me.

http://bostonreview.net/poetry-arts-culture/poetry-changed-world-elaine-scarry

Extract:

“Medieval poems helped to give rise to new civic institutions.

The Iliad is an epic ignited by the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon, and we are more likely to associate dispute with epic poetry or with plays, as in the drama contests of fifth-century Greece. But many other genres of poetry have the debate structure built into them, as we can see by the word “anthem”—derived from “antiphone” or “verse response”—which surfaces in the translations. That an anthem, or hymn of praise, holds disputing voice within it reminds us that there is nothing anti-lyric about this deliberative structure.

Many styles of poetry bring us face to face with acts of deliberation. The eclogue is a dialogue poem about the act of choosing, as in Virgil’s Third and Seventh Eclogues when a judge is asked to choose between the arguments of two shepherds. The word “eclogue” is derived from eklegein, meaning, “to choose.”¹¹ Another example is the tenzone, in which two poets argue “in alternating couplets,” as Urban Holmes describes in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.¹² The tenzone eventually took on other forms, such as the partimen or jeu parti, in which one “poet proposes two hypothetical situations.” One of the positions is then defended by that poet and the other by a second poet, each speaking in three stanzas.¹³ And in his translation of Dante’s Vita Nuova, Mark Musa explains, “The Italian troubadours invented the sonnet form [of the tenzone], still a mode of debate in which the problem is set forth in a proposta inviting a risposta (using the same rhymes) from another poet.”¹⁴

While in the tenzone two distinct sonnets are placed in dispute, an oppositional mental act is also interior to the sonnet itself, particularly in the Petrarchan form with its division into an octave and a sestet. While the volta, or “turn of thought,” is most emphatic in the Petrarchan form, it is also recognizable in Spenserian and Shakespearean sonnets¹⁵

I had  Jewish boyfriend who was sweet
Intelligent and charming to behold
He bought me a new watch  but did not speak

We saw  Port Meadow frozen, it looked neat
Yet I suffered greatly from the cold
With my  Jewish boyfriend’s lack of bleats

When he went away, a tear did leak
As if his love was garnished with much gold
He bought me a new watch  but did not speak

I wrung my hands till they developed pleats
I left my food uneaten, it grew mould
Oh cruel  Jewish boyfriend , I felt weak

Mentally deranged I  was dead beat
I am warm and like a man to hold
He left me  that gold watch  but did not speak

Into my wool blanket I then rolled
A sheep  alone without a home or fold
I had that  Jewish boyfriend who was sweet
He left me the gold watch  but did not weep

 

).

 

A  melancholic character  to gain
Is hard  if you  dislike sin,dirt and grime
Practising deep sadness with grey hope
We toy with food and wildly,  madly mope
No aid for those who love a gentle rhyme

No interest in the world ,it’s all’s the same
No love for fun nor learning any games
No studying   or learning how to cope
Oh, melancholy

 

We see too  many people we can blame
For  fog that came down like a sudden crime
As fast in speed as fearful antelopes
While  elephants phlegmatic stand and gawp
My mind is reeling from the knee deep dark
Ah, melancholy