M.C. Newberry

At this stage
our talents fade-
what's left is me
and my old age.
😁

check your mail every day
there may be something important
like this news or
a summons for jury duty!
😃

finally back home.
feeling better.
will write more
as I progress.

thanks for your concern.

Surgery tomorrow.
Not sure when I'll be back.
but then again,
you may need a break!
haha

well said.
In fact you said it
better than I.

They want us to become nameless and subservient
so they can control us-
we shut down
we wear masks
we give up our jobs and businesses
Baa Baa Bah
we are now complacent sheep.

your sister has to endure therapy for years?
Yikes. Well now I do not feel so bad.
It's just that I hate hospitals and bureaucracy.
You can call for something and by the time they show up
you forgot what you called for. hahaha😁

what a great response!
"the eyes of Texas" are indeed upon me.
haha

Thank you for responding on my profile. I think every nation has something unique to offer. Learning to appreciate that.

do you still have that record player?
by now, it would be worth a fortune
signed with Your autograph!
😃

no, not a joke.
In America, this is what they are proposing.
Defund the Police is the new buzz phrase...
cut police budgets,
add more social workers and counselors.

yes, but did you ever pay off that record player?

don't mind getting wet.
it washes away bad poetry.

that's what they claim.
but I don't believe it.
Why does sweat still pour
into my summer eyes
and leave them burning
well into night?

When pain arrives
we feel sensation-
When will it decline?
upon cremation!
😃

I try to be creative
sometimes like Frankenstein
I create Monsters!
😃

Harry Day, the Royal Flying Corps First World War fighter ace, remarked that “rules are for the obeyance of fools, and the guidance of wise men". Harry Day was captured by the Germans in WW2 and repeated helped others to escape and many times attempted to escape himself. He finally escaped, stealing a VW car and driving it to Allied lines. Harry continually fought against the rules set against him, and in doing so, he saved many lives.

all in fun.
I really like beards.
Santa's is my favorite.
😃

I'll agree with you
if you agree with me
that I am right
as for you?
maybe.

😃

very clever response MC.
😃

that's a cute saying
Is it British?
or Bulgarian?

Thanks for your thoughts on Al Jolson, MC. It would make a great quiz question in a picture round to identify AJ not blacked up. Personally, I have no problems with him black facing in the 1920's. I myself have done it in the past for a James Bond fancy dress night. I'm sure he'd have second thoughts now. Just as I would.

Milksop:
a weak or cowardly man
First Known Use of milksop

14th century, in the meaning defined above
History and Etymology for milksop

Middle English, literally, bread soaked in milk

(i had to look it up.)

You got there just before I twigged the error and amended it of my own volition - good to see you were on the ball though just in case. I blame the hot weather. Keep well. P.

Thankyou for all your comments I keep saying I’m not going to write any more but I can’t help myself my mind is a whirlwind cannot help myself never had anything published don’t really know how to use my iPad There are lots of fascinating writers and love reading them Thank you love Wendy X

Hi MC, thanks for your perspective. Here's mine: I am not one for erasing the past, censoring and DVD-collection burning etc. In a country with as much history as ours, most long-lived institutions are going have histories that might make some modern heckles raise. However, do I think statues are a special case.

The people we choose to quite literally put (and keep) on a pedestal in our streets and cities for all to look up at are not always appropriate for the time.

It might sound flippant but if I had to pass a statue on my daily commute celebrating a historical figure who rounded up poets with ginger beards and slaughtered them or enslaved them - I'd probably feel quite unnecessarily awkward on a daily basis.

I do not think statues should be thrown into the sea either. Put them in a museum (it keeps them clean, safe, maintained, polished) and provide people interested in the history some context; the figure's pros and cons. And then let's have some modern, representational statues in their place; not just objectionable dead men. Maybe in 100 years, the new statues will need to be put in a museum and replaced too - so be it!

I'm not qualified to speak on what is and isn't offensive to minority groups in the UK, so it's important we listen to their voices and perspectives. We should be ready to act if the consensus is that dumb traditions (i.e. statues) need be challenged.

I love the range of views on WoL and the lively debate. I might see if I can write a poem about that... 😃 Cheers, Tom

You will get no sympathy,
nor will you get a refund.
You are out of date
and out of order!

Thanks for your comments M.C. I don't know the answer to policing any questions my poem raises. There is endemic racism in the U.S. but Britain also has its more than fair share.
I meant the piece not as a political statement but a account of an episode in my life that for me was positive. Its from a period quite long ago now.
Incidentally the conception of English people not being racist was transmitted to me on more than a few occasions on many many happy visits I have made to the states.

Observe and watch,
then Write!
😃

"everybody needs to get stoned".
-B. Dylan