Ghosts
ghosts dance in my thoughts– the fog lifts, carrying them downriver
Source: Ghosts
On the brink with the narrow men!
On the brink with the narrow men.
The Cold War overshadowed much of my childhood
Fear was latched and hooked onto everyday things
It was the Reds they said would do us harm
It went on through my teenage years too
That continuous threat the nuclear arsenals posed
The bombers of all sides armed, ready to go
Submarines lurked in the oceans depths
Then Cruise missiles came a late addition
Something changed something called détente
The wars continued but they found a way
Around that inconvenience it was simple
They stopped calling them wars
But now they’ve all caught amnesia
Fear is spreading everywhere
Politicians can’t seem to help themselves
Ladling fear on whenever they can
It’s an all too obvious strategy
While the dismantling goes on
Of Education, the National Health Service,
Social Care and so much more
It’s easy to spot the distraction of fear
While the narrow men shout watch for the reds
But meanwhile get into the Chinese bed
There is a collective amnesia at large
And you have real reason to be afraid of that
Soon we’ll hear the justification for war
Soon we’ll hear the need for boots on the ground
In whatever land is decided by the narrow men
And the ramping up of the war of words
To justify, bamboozle and hoodwink
That the actual threat is not their stupidity
And we’ll be living in that fear time again.
Meanwhile the rich get richer
And nothing has been learned
Nothing has changed the narrow men.
RAC
Aberfan – Lets remember.
Regarding subversion
Regarding subversion
The words are like so many dried bones
Ossified. Dust collects on them
Laid out in their piles in ossuaries
I read briefly a few words, a few lines
And feel myself begin to dry out too
As if the dehydration is contagious
Simply by casting an eye in consideration
Words without meaning or relevance
Seem to threaten to invade my thoughts
I think of Flaubert and his dread of stupidity
Words that were viewed with some importance
Apparently by a particular favoured circle
Concerning kitchen sink dramas or the view
Or the intricacies of a morose sex life
Or the guilt of solitary masturbation
Or the endlessness of the doldrums
Of the middleclass way of life
The writers speak for a narrow few
Of endless shame, of existential threat
But hold nevertheless a stranglehold
On who will be treated seriously
There lies the trick do not be serious
Do not write about spleen or phlegm
Or write with any kind of reality
Or challenge those who helplessly write
But have nothing to say
About nothing in particular.
Subversion is needed no demanded
To bring the ossuaries down.
RAC
Afernoon sleep
Afternoon rest
Poplars
Fluttering
Leaves
Birch trees
Jackdaws unseen
Seeing us sleeping
Soft pink wooden walls
Our small school
Clouds pass overhead
Green canvas
Stretched tight
On steel tube frames
Old grey army blankets
Brought out of storage
Smell
Dampness
There is no rush
Time passes slowly
Lying watching clouds
Sleep again
Afternoon sleep again
Time to wake up
Red leather sandals
Grey socks
Green and red belt
Snake head buckle
Pale brown shorts
White cotton shirt.
Childhood has changed
God knows life was never simple
Growing up in a mining valley
But now a narrowing down
Childhood brings pressure early
The need to perform
The continual auditing
To ensure achievement
Of the goals of learning
In a modern age
Ignoring the needs of a child
So very young
To grow in their own time
In their own way
To socialise
Build friendships
That narrowing down
The increase of prejudice
The re-emergence
Of pre-conceived
Convictions
Of small minded
Preference
Of a previous age
Closing down
Instead of opening
Growing
And looking out at the world
Encouraging curiosity
Of life
This earth
And all who live in it
We cannot remain silent
There is much work to do.
Austerity Bites by Dave Rendle
There is something in the air and we breathe it everyday a war of attrition an ugly game of lies as the politics of austerity bites and pinches our lives. Today, this country is no gentle place th…
Source: Austerity Bites by Dave Rendle
Autumn Edge
Autumn edge
I count the species in the orchard hedge
Maple, Blackthorn, Hawthorn and Hazel thrive
Blackberry and Honeysuckle intertwine
Overgrown Elder pruned and cut hard
Two Oaks, two tall Maples break the line
A Red Admiral sits on a Buddleia leaf
Needing to find a place to hibernate
An idyllic scene a man laying a hedge
The clear blue skies under an autumn sun
But never far from my mind that other world
Of war in Syria, the unrelenting brutality
And the suffering of people in these times
And of the silence of people of my kind
And of the silence, the silent unravelling
Of the myth of the Wests superiority
Of the myth of the Wests democracy
Of the myth of the Wests morality
We assume the cloak of Pontius Pilate
And wash our hands of responsibility.
RAC
Afternoons work
Afternoons work
I like the business of working
With a hand tool that weighs
And feels right to the touch
The heft of a hammer or an axe
A wood handle and sharp edge
That balance in the hands grip
With the job of the day ahead
I hear the buzz of a chain saw
But I prefer the slow rhythm
Of what I can do over hours
That stretch through days’ time
I listen to the buzzard mew
Overhead and the jack ravens
Call of warning as I tread out
Into the orchards quietness
It’s a place I can feel the strain
And the connectedness again
Of mind and body and soul.
Preparing
Preparing.
In this quiet time before winter draws in the light
We prepare the ground for the months of rest
Bill-hooks, sickles and cutters are sharpened
And so it’s a day to shorten and lay hedges
Birch and poplar are shedding their leaves
Oaks begin to turn though the change is slight
I hate to look at the Ash my favourite of trees
Diseased leaves hang in blackened bunches
But now is the time for the heavy work to be done
And in bad weather winter days writing begins.
Celfypridd 