There are Things I Have to Do. I went for a yomp to feed moorhens and swans (and shed lard - I go out with a weighted jacket - ten kilos of 1 and 2 pence coins and also, latterly, a backpack with a few bricks) to map out some of these TIHD, and avoid... Continue Reading →
Kayfabe, Cleopatra and Cavafy
How we got here; I am reading Ovid's Metamorphoses (just finished book 9, 6 to go). At the end of book 9, Iphis and Ianthe, the translator I'm reading (Horace Gregory) mentions a poem by Constantine Cavafy. Cavafy is perhaps best-remembered for his poem Waiting for the Barbarians, which provided the title for a slender... Continue Reading →
We only handle so much truth
We only handle so much truth Before we label those ‘uncouth’ Who seek to widen views on wealth And worry on the planet’s health. We block our ears, avert our eyes And fill the broadcast slots with lies - With pretty tales of golden times - To stop us seeing earthly crimes. And little pigs... Continue Reading →
Of Earthworms, Kings and due appreciation
There is a relationship between those who do the work and those who get the credit. Mostly it is an inverse relationship. That's how power - of men, of 'history' etc. work. More broadly, we focus on gaudy and big stuff, and are contemptuous/dismissive of the day-in, day-out, because they remind us of our fragility,... Continue Reading →
“The systems all flicker” – a limerick
It’s not climate or covid, or “both” But a blast past the limits to growth The systems all flicker The “leaders” just bicker And repeat their grow-tesque kind of oath. On flickering - see this from Monbiot, October 2023.
Essential Poem- “Against Entropy” by John M. Ford
via here The worm drives helically through the woodAnd does not know the dust left in the boreOnce made the table integral and good;And suddenly the crystal hits the floor.Electrons find their paths in subtle ways,A massless eddy in a trail of smoke;The names of lovers, light of other daysPerhaps you will not miss them.... Continue Reading →
