“…And Number One, deep in its steel case lashing at forests, at continents, at cities, befouling ocean, air-wave, blood-stream, raising hordes of zealots to slaughter their fellows in the name of a phantasm, breeding the will to deceive, tending the urge to piracy and plunder, nurturing despair, aiding inertia, working deep in, working slowly to the very core, paring, particularising,… continue reading
The Shaming of Tiddalik
The election lost, we wander round the ruins and embers, still shell-shocked. And with Labour’s Miliband having resigned so swiftly, the contest for his successor gives no cause whatsoever for comfort or for hope. Who are these people jostling now to replace him ? What brought them to this position ? Has anyone yet had time really to think things… continue reading
Dying Aside
She’s 95 and in a side room with tubes up her nostrils and eyes without iris. Death can be pain-free these days – shrieking no longer on the menu. Only she pants like a woman in labour snatching at the air as the waves consume her. The door stands open. She hears the nurses chat and their hot feet patter… continue reading
Day Naught (Friday 8th May 2015)
We wake to fangs and lowered eyes and a few new sound-bites for breakfast. Davie.orc sees true that five more years of effing tories call for a sugary word or two to sweeten the toad of his venomous victory. “Talk ‘fairness’ chaps,” he glows to his new cabinet. “Sound all nice again.” Round the corner, IDS slides his tongue between… continue reading
Now What ?
If you look at the map of political power in the UK now – with red for Labour seats won, blue for Tory, Yellow for SNP – you see some very clear divisions and deployments : Almost all of Scotland : SNP Much of the North of England, the Midlands and Wales (though much less than before) : Labour Almost… continue reading
Re-uniting the United Kingdom
My partner has begun to dread the subject of Cameron. Cameron fills our heads and house far too often. What if, after all, Cameron retains power this Thursday, or sometime thereafter ? Another five years of this, she wonders ? But what if Cameron doesn’t ? What then ? Where will all this anxiety and indignation go ? Who is… continue reading
Anger Uncaged at Election Time
Over the last few weeks I have been sharing the Parrot’s cage with him. On finishing my version of John Skelton’s poem “Speak, Parrot” (see post below), I felt galvanised by it, amazed both to have come up with it (riding on Skelton’s shoulders, admittedly), and also at its topicality. It spoke for me and also – I thought –… continue reading