This is being written a few days after Gary Lineker refused to back down. He won’t read these words, but I feel the need to declare here to whoever might be visiting my deep admiration and gratitude for the position Lineker has taken and held, both on a disgraceful and abhorrent government policy (and the motives for, and the framing… continue reading
Category Boris Johnson
Truth cf. ‘Impartiality’
Here is another of those Rhyme Royal stanzas. Mr Toad of Toad Hall is, of course, a character in Wind in the Willows, that famous Edwardian children’s story by Kenneth Grahame. Any suggestion that Alex Johnson, our disgraced and disgraceful recent Prime Minister, might remind me of Mr Toad, or that this Rhyme Royal recurrence might be the result… continue reading
Putin’s Mind
It is hard to put yourself in Putin’s mind. But how hard ? Is it impossible ? Maybe not. He looks out at the world and is much concerned with maintaining control and his own footing and security there. Consequently, he has always been pre-occupied with strengthening and extending borders, creating safe distance between him and Other ; and he… continue reading
This poem is another written recently and pretty fast, though some aspects of it have been fermenting for quite a while, I suspect.
But the immediate catalyst was Prime Minister’s Question Time last Wednesday (November 30th). Starmer talked about Winchester College (public school) and the exemption from VAT enjoyed by these long-established playing fields (and citadels) of wealth and privilege.… continue reading
For relevant Notes, see previous post !… continue reading
Notes :
The Parrot has been speechless for quite a while now. But in the fairly recent past, leading up to the UK Brexit vote, this bird in a cage had quite a lot to say. See Parrot-Addenda-distilled-2.pdf (roganwolf.com)
The Parrot is an old friend of mine, borrowed from John Skelton, a poet in the reign of Henry 8th. Skelton… continue reading
September 6th was, of course, the date on which Mr Johnson stood down as prime minister of the UK. On the other hand, the poem (in its two parts) might be described as a celebration of adolescence, a developmental stage in which the growing human being discovers and explores self, its wonders, its powers and its boundaries.
But human society… continue reading
