In all our sanctuaries we sit at risk

  • The Bird of Paradise Danced Last Night

    The poet John Skelton lived in the reign of Henry 8th. He apparently wrote his satirical poem “Speak, Parrot” in the precincts of Westminster, from the sanctuary still precariously available in the minster there. In the poem, Galathea is a lady in waiting who plies the parrot with almonds and dates, as she tries to persuade him to speak from his gilded cage, “true and plain”. For the parrot, this exotic bird of paradise hopping from bar to bar, is sharply observant and – according to Skelton –  is “my own dear heart and my dear darling”  and “speaks all languages aptly.” And Skelton pleads : “I pray you, let parrot have liberty to speak !”

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  • The Dreadful Achievement of Cameron and May

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  • May Dance

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  • The Parrot, the Cage and the Pulpit

    The tower pictured above is of the Tyndale Monument. This is situated north of Bristol, on the Cotswolds escarpment, above the village of North Nibley. The tower was built in Victorian times, for it was only then that people realised the extent of Tyndale’s influence over, and contribution to, the English of the King James’s Bible. At that time, North Nibley was thought to have been Tyndale’s birth-place (scholars are now less sure). The photograph of the tower is by Matt Bigwood. Reproduced by permission.

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  • Parrot Writes a Letter

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  • The Soaring Bird

     

    The soaring bird did ok last night. It soared all round the Clifton branch of Waterstones. So did the name of the late Pat Boyden, to whom the book is dedicated. Even Maybot and the American Minotaur made an appearance, since this is the world we live in now, but they were each well in control for a change and short while, the chaos they both represent and foster held firmly within the bounds of traditional rhyme royal stanzas. Click here for the full array. And now look, Jez has arrived to join to the party :

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  • Of Animal and Other Meetings Book Launch

    The book itself is already online and for sale on this blog to the right of the home page.

    It is a collaboration between me, the author of the poems, and the members/artists of the Portugal Prints community, who produced the illustrations. Portugal Prints is based in Camden and run by Brent, Camden and Westminster Mind. PP community members and staff  also designed and formatted the book from cover to cover and published it on the Blurb Book website. That collaboration between us all has for me been one of the greatest pleasures of the enterprise.

    Any profits from the book will be split half and half between Mind and “Hyphen-21” a small charity I run which holds any funding which the project “Poems for…the wall” attracts. I have been running the project for the past 20 years or so. All its material is available from its site. For the address, see the bottom of the little poster above.

    The book is dedicated to the late Pat Boyden, my aunt. When I was 21, I read her the first version of the book’s first poem. The poem describes a barn owl caught out in the daylight, being mobbed by crows. Pat and her husband John ran a farm and had opened their home to me at that time of my life. I read the poem to Pat in their sitting room.

     

     

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  • Parrot on the People’s March

    The people marching in London today were without a prime minister, or a leader of the opposition, or for that matter an effective political party to represent their interests. With jumped up fantasists from the bottom league running this nation, the people out on the streets today were giants and restored the nation’s honour, reminding the world and ourselves of our sanity.

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