The Argument
You could not.
Yes, I could.
You would not.
But, yes, I would.
You should not.
Why?
You will not!
xxxxxxxxxxx!
Friday 8th December 2017 11:59 am
Cynthia at Manchester Central Library, Dec. 7
So many persons asked to be informed if I ever did Grandpa Died Suddenly again. This is late notification. Sorry! Time: 6:00 to 8:00. No charge.
Sunday 3rd December 2017 4:55 pm
Worthless Women
In our sophisticated societies
even today
there are men
who 'breed' sons as a re-issue of themselves
for inheritance of power;
and daughters as bargaining chips
for the extension of power
by amalgamation of resources.
Children whose worth is solely dependent
upon their value in 'the Tribal Game'.
Through ignorance or denial
the value of a woman
lies in the male'...
Wednesday 1st November 2017 10:12 am
The Moon is a Thing
The beauty of the moon's lovely light
Pours equally
Upon king or slave, castle or cave.
Birth or death.
It suffers not the moral skeins
Of lies and truth -
That purview of Power.
The moon is a thing.
And this amazing thing
Has fired human imagination
To evolve esoteric meaning
From Forever ... whenever that was.
Surely a sense of humour
In the Unive...
Wednesday 11th October 2017 12:37 pm
May I say, today ...
May I say, today, how much I value WOL.
Tomorrow I might be dead.
I have enjoyed fine friends
Heart to heart, touch to touch,
And I still do.
But thought committed to hard copy
Is another dimension entirely.
Faceless, WOL 'friends' may be
But formless they are not.
I find the essence of 'life'
Pulsing through these electronic pages.
Thank you for such courage ...
Thursday 5th October 2017 2:09 pm
Playing With Baby
'eyes and nose … fingers and toes'
She sing-songs softly
touching lightly
the baby folded in her arms:
a feather of feeling
like moths upon a flower;
caress of sound -
the sough of gentle wind.
Cooing and smiling
they play with each other.
Nothing in the world
more beautiful
than that tiny mouth
those bright eyes -
the pressure of response
with its...
Sunday 1st October 2017 12:52 pm
Fireflies
Fireflies on a summer's night
Are a wondrous sight
Flitting from weed to flower
Casting long across the lawn
To a far bed of blossoms and herbs
flashing … flashing ...
their little lanterns.
Reflected in our eyes grown wide
Our mouths little tunnels of 'OOOH!'
We watch, silent as grass
As twilight deepens
And the tiny bugs pass
flashin...
Wednesday 27th September 2017 1:08 pm
WAR KIDS (Prime Parental Reproofs)
DAD'S
'Use your head for something besides keeping your ears apart!'
Probably my favourite; it had such punch, with flair.
'A stitch in time saves nine. It also saves lives. Keep your gear in shape.
It could be the difference between life and death.'
A bit harder to follow, but very applicable to almost anything with a little imagination.
'The bugs will get you fas...
Thursday 21st September 2017 12:22 pm
Reflections on Humanity (and Other Things Too)
The potential of the plant is in the seed.
The potential of the animal is in the egg.
How could I perceive myself
As greater than the seed or the egg?
Just because I'm human?
The 'thinking' animal, you say.
Reason and dexterity – and all that jazz!
Minute manipulation of mind and limb
Spinning the wheel of species' progress.
But, you know, if you put a mark on a whe...
Tuesday 29th August 2017 5:12 pm
'Puttin' on the Ritz'
One of my mother's favourite stories
told to four young daughters
while driving to Grandma's house
passing the miles away with riveting entertainment
she, sitting in the front, angled round to the back seat
where we, all feet and elbows, are absolutely agog.
'It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in midsummer.
My girlfriends and I dressed up
to stroll the promenade by...
Tuesday 15th August 2017 8:46 pm
The Farmer's Wife
'Easy, Boss....So-oo-oo, Boss.'
The small barn is dim, stuffy with rotting wood
the smell of summer hay, urine and fresh excrement
of rich hot cows their breaths meadow-sweet.
The building rustles with little movements
in the rafters, the old plank walls
restive animals cropping in their troughs.
Three sloe-eyed cats sleek with mice and milk
sit and mewl, and they wait
s...
Saturday 22nd July 2017 2:54 pm
The Lighthouse (a romance)
The flashing beam of the holy eye
Commanding the coast
Sweeps the sea and cries with Light:
'Be cautious, O Traveller!
The snarling waves about your prow
Are not so great a threat
As the devil’s teeth
Gnashing against my feet!
Steer wide. Steer strongly.
Keep your charted course
Far from the briny jaws
Howling for meat upon my fierce rocks.
Wipe the spray f...
Thursday 20th July 2017 6:17 pm
One Standard Poodle
When I was a young teen
I visited a good friend in another city.
She took me to spend a night
with acquaintances of her parents.
Dog breeders these people were - poodles especially.
In the house I met only two small dogs
both of them hyper with excitement
prancing about like puppets on strings.
I was to see the kennels in the morning.
We had a huge supper and lots ...
Saturday 8th July 2017 9:51 pm
Three Kids Having Snacks
They sit at the kitchen table
a little puffed from their brisk walk
munching biscuits, sipping drinks
the dog already snoozing on her pillow
Mummy in the lounge with her feet up.
Nobody talking.
Two sisters and their young brother -
a twelve-year-old who 'knows everything', unasked;
a nine-year-old who contradicts this presumption every time;
and the boy, six, some...
Monday 3rd July 2017 8:28 pm
What Do the Children Think?
I seriously wonder if
the mores by which we conduct our adult lives
are assessed and implemented
by Ages Nine/Ten.
Kids have innate character.
They are observant and honest, decisive and brutal.
They judge by the keenest survival principle:
'cause and effect according to ME!'
I think the impact of prime birthdays
19/20; 39/40; 59/60 etc.
are about quantity not q...
Sunday 18th June 2017 2:27 pm
The Art of Japanese Flower Arranging
Through a flower breathes the Law:
Harmony in motion to ideal.
A blossom’s beauty mirrors intuition
Our need to press the secret mind of plants
That spirit far beyond mere shape and colour.
Once picked, the power of plant
Is dispossessed of earth.
Lost is the energy of seed
Sun, wind and water
Of growth precise in given space.
A plant does not begrudge our p...
Friday 2nd June 2017 12:58 pm
Beauty
I do not know the official definition of 'BEAUTY'.
I could look it up, but - No.
I shall think a bit, and consider my own criteria.
I don't see why discussing 'Beauty' should be snooty.
Therefore: 'What is Beauty?'
(And I'm off – maybe with more guts than good sense.
Join me if you wish, or say 'To hell with it' right here.)
BEAUTY is a famous Universal
probably jostli...
Tuesday 9th May 2017 12:37 pm
The Question
One moment fast asleep
final depth before daybreak
when suddenly
quietly spoken but precise
this question:
'If I lived in an old stone cottage
on the Yorkshire moors
what colour would I paint my door?'
Instantly the vision
eyed from hovering hawk:
a stalwart little house
set deep among green hills
in clean blue isolation.
And the question so clear
...
Monday 1st May 2017 12:34 pm
It
Ah … the primitive id
buried drive of sex and aggression
so thinly civilized
our basic Beast growling
claw flexing, eye fixing
ready to pounce
in dreams
slips of the tongue
flashing anger
free association
In Art -
shadows in a painting
tone of a story
plumb stone of a poem
architect's angles
bass pacing heart beat -
subplots in metaphor
...
Sunday 23rd April 2017 2:41 pm
Garden Party
It was an afternoon gathering - a family shindig
BBQ – beer – strawberries and cream
People drifting about drinks in hand
All teeth and ears mooching for entertainment
Muted chorus of shrill soprano, booming bass
Staccato yaps of children, and the dog.
To an auntie at my elbow, I said quietly
'My daughter has a fine little tree over there -
that one with the furry tru...
Saturday 8th April 2017 5:16 pm
Girl in a Lake
over somnolent eyes the full moon cast luminous shadows
of shifting cloud swan path shafting seductive to the shore
where she dropped her clothes by the stony shallows and
entered liquid light on jewelled feet icy lustrous pale arms
uplifted wide eyes of unwavering clarity gleaming she sank
to her knees in the bitter midnight water open palms thrust
upward reaching offering ask...
Tuesday 4th April 2017 4:54 pm
Picnic
The twins were out of the car before Dad switched off the engine.
Four years old, faster than foxes, slippery as fish.
There were rules about the park, no quarter given:
'Don't go under the fence; the wood is full of splinters.
Don't go over the top; the wire is full of barbs.
Daddy will open the gate. Wait for him.
Got that? Understood?'
They nodded and bolted.
They stoppe...
Wednesday 15th March 2017 9:38 pm
Healing Waters
the secret, gentle, drippling brook
dropping down from stony height
sliding under flower and fern -
a cool arcanum of delight to soothe the troubled heart
the swollen ever-mounting swells
breaking in from northern seas
born in Arctic's windy caves -
a cold arcanum to appease the restless, heated mind
from long slow swells of tropic climes
a final lisp o...
Tuesday 7th March 2017 5:29 pm
OOPS!
I spread the curtains wide to winter sunshine
and paused – as always - to absorb the sheer beauty
of my tall tree across the street
its black trunk writhing high with long groping branches
their twigs arching to myriad filigree.
A large crow arrowed into the neighbourhood
scoping the street - big, black and bold.
It dropped confidently into my tree
very high up
...
Monday 20th February 2017 12:56 pm
Laugh Control Button
We all have control buttons in our brains:
'Laugh! Don't laugh.' 'Cry! Don't cry!' 'Say something! Shut up!' etc.
Reactions appropriately monitored - usually.
I'm pretty good with these buttons, except for ''Don't laugh.'
I don't laugh at other people's expense - usually -
but if I myself am the butt of the ridiculous
laughter leaps out brazenly -
oh - what a word! - neve...
Saturday 14th January 2017 3:56 pm
The Shoe Seller
Under hot Bermuda sun one summer afternoon
my ten-year-old niece and I were strolling down a boutique-y street
window-shopping a long block of small, interesting stores.
We paused at a display of footware to admire the colourful shoes
when I spotted a man inside watching us, surely the owner-operator,
and so I smiled.
In two bounds he was on the entrance steps
rubbi...
Sunday 8th January 2017 2:08 pm
The Spanish Girl
One Saturday morning in early May she was brought to me
a seven-year-old girl fresh from Spanish Dominica
for 'help with English' in her new life in Bermuda:
a child of grace standing tall before me
chocolate skin lightly flushed as flower petals
lips like rubies and black bayonet eyes.
On her thick plaits bounced yellow ribbons
pleated as crisply as her daffodil frock and w...
Tuesday 3rd January 2017 4:35 pm
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