Yesterday, a grand and often very beautiful funeral was held, following the death of a likeable, shrewd and vivid man.
It is of course hard to separate the image we are given of Prince Philip, or ourselves put onto him, from the man he actually was.
He surely had a similar problem, himself. Who was he, apart from his public… continue reading
The Death of an Old Man
How to Speak in Times of Clamour
A long time ago, I went away to Greece and spent three months there alone in a hut, facing the rock pictured above. By now, I had lived a youth and much of an adulthood and this was a time for reflection, in case I could make some sense of all that living, never to be repeated or recaptured, all… continue reading
Where You Live
This poem was finished on the day of Joe Biden’s Inauguration, January 20th 2021. It does not have the glitter and panache of Amanda Gorman’s poem recited on that day, but I think it carries a great deal of the relief so many of us will have felt on receiving Biden’s clear signals that sense, sanity and integrity were back… continue reading
So where have we got to, so far, in 2021 ?
So where have we got to, so far, in the year 2021 ? Locked in, locked down, sundered from outer family – again. And everywhere, the virus and its effects, spreading yet further, pressing wider and deeper. The masked face, still – and ever increasingly – the image of our time. In the US, a few days ago, that enormous… continue reading
A Severed Edge
In the rush and flood of falsity and ill-doing that enter and surround our everyday lives, among all the mis-steps and momentous errors born of that rush and that falsity, I keep returning to certain physical landmarks that at least give the appearance of standing firm and of meaning something worth standing for.
One such landmark is St Aldhelm’s chapel.… continue reading
Across the Way
“The Reader” is a national charity.
“From its global Shared Reading movement, to its Calderstones Park home in Liverpool… “The Reader” builds lively communities that bring people together and books to life.” And my project “Poems for…the wall” and “The Reader” are exploring ways we might collaborate a bit.
In the meantime, one of “The Reader’s many projects is to… continue reading
A Letter to my MP
My local MP is new to politics, was recently a lawyer and is a Tory. The following is a copy of a letter I sent to that person quite recently. (I have had a reply since, which I found of no account, and I shall not bother to reproduce it here). Now, this afternoon, our toy Prime minister Mr Johnson… continue reading
Message to Keir Starmer
Dear Keir Starmer,
I’m a Labour member and a strong supporter and admirer of your leadership. I am sending this email message – and will upload a copy on my blog – fully aware that there is no prospect that you will read it. But, maybe, one of your team will.
I can see, of course, that a Brexit Deal would… continue reading
Let’s Hear it from Janus on the Union
The Roman god Janus had two heads, two faces. They are usually depicted as looking in opposite directions.
And the UK has a Gaffe man and a lying Toad for Prime Minister. He says, “Call me Boris” but perhaps “Call me Janus” would ring a little truer. And those two heads are not only turned in opposite directions – all… continue reading
What a Funny Time to say Goodbye to the Chaos Maistro
So now, suddenly, it’s off with his head, the maestro, that shiny hate-filled spear-head of Brexit. He conducted his own removals, exiting through the front door of course, in full view of the cameras, delivering insult to the last. Not so long ago, a raucous parrot I know, a “bird of paradise” who insists on the liberty to speak, had… continue reading