In all our sanctuaries we sit at risk

Category: Europe

  • A Brief Word from the Parrot

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    Let the Parrot have a brief word from the top of his tower, that cage with a view, overlooking a nation still suffering from its flood of lies. (for the reference, see ‘Parrot Addenda‘ in the right hand margin of this home page !) It looks as if, at last, Mr Toad (of a newly…

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    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…

  • Unworthiness Amok at Number Ten

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    After a week-end of celebration in praise of an honourable Queen, we in the UK are now entering a week which might prove quite troublesome for a dishonourable Prime Minister. He, his allies and their works remind me of a sentence on the back of a novel called “The Possessed” by Fyodor Dostoevsky : “The…

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    Footnote : The words at the head of this poem, from Shakespeare’s play Henry VI, are spoken by the man about to become Richard III. In the play, he has just finished murdering the rightful king, Henry VI.        … continue reading

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    Photograph by Dimitar Dilkoff : AFP via Getty Images       Reproduced by permission of the poet and translators. Find the translation of the whole poem here. The “Poems for…the wall” website has a bilingual version on its home page. It can be viewed (and downloaded from) here. Thanks to the PEN Ukraine team…

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  • Mr Johnson’s True Name

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    These days, a growing number of people are coming up with rude names for Mr Johnson, the UK Prime Minster. I too have a name for him which could be described as rude. But, in my case, I would argue that the reason I use this name is not just to vent my exasperation or…

  • UK ’21 – Resumé from the Cage

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