Friday 30 September 2011

One fine day



- a summery poem for freeasabee1 -

I was tripping
the daddle
in an eglantine grove
when I caught
the wind
of the word
of a bee

its message
was clear
as my bottle

of sparkling
pomp
-aginis

to me

born in the bosom
of a queen
its heart
was as warm as a
dog

or
a
honey
-suckle
rose

until
it suddenly
stung

the tip

of my
nose!

gw2011/

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Under




Civilization degrades the many to exalt the few - Bronson Alcott

Under
the stars
in the night

the metallic
mechanical
cries
in the street

and the nightmares
go

on

under the pillows under

the windows

the slamming
shut windows
for

you don't
care
anymore

don't
want to know
anymore

it
is only your cats
who cry
how
they feel

how they
honestly feel

who cry
what they want
who cry

why they want

who cry
when they want

who cry
where they want

who cry
who they want

under
the
stars

in the dead
of
the
night

and under the stars

in the night
of
the
dead

and under

the mechanical
stars

_____
gw2011/

Monday 26 September 2011

haiku


he cuts the hedge

and a moth falls out -

it pretends to be dead

gw2011/

end of summer

of the invisible clouds

no end in sight

gw2011/

haiku


the ruins
the mountain
the race and yesterday


Thursday 22 September 2011

haiku


unheard in the wilderness
the occasional clicks of the stones
interrupted by silence

gw2011/

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Mind your heads!

The 20-year old UARS satellite is due to crash into the Earth any day soon. Unfortunately NASA doesn't know the exact date or place the satellite will come down. It could come down as early as the day after tomorrow. And almost anywhere between the latitudes of Cape Town and Aberdeen.

The satellite will break up into many pieces, perhaps a hundred or more, on re-entry. The heaviest piece will weigh about 300 pounds which is roughly the weight of 3 average sized humans.

Several large brightly glowing pieces of junk and dozens of accompanying smaller bits and pieces will be traveling at a fair rate of knots. A veritable display of fireworks in the night sky is possible.

With luck it will all finish up in the sea.

A worst case scenario doesn't bear thinking about.

Mind how you go.

UPDATE: NASA says UARS will not hit USA - may fall to Earth on FRIDAY!
UPDATE: Possible time/location, 2300GMT FRI to 0300GMT SAT Pacific Ocean.
UPDATE: Final resting place unknown. Might be in Western Canada or Pacific.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

I was just wondering . . .


When God gave the world his ONLY son
some people took Him to be circumcised
- the perfect son of God hath need to
give a piece of skin?

When God gave the world his ONLY son
some people took Him to be baptised
- the perfect son of God hath need to
be baptised?

Monday 19 September 2011

Immune system

A poem in praise of Greenpeace and i.m. of Fernando Pereira - murdered in 1985

Sail the seven plutonium seas
and see for yourself
how the waves
of alarm
are now hooked
for generations
to the toxic tribes
of the steam driven turbines
and the spent fuel rods
of MOX radiation
and the permanent cargoes
of leaky yellow drums
now poisoning the planet
and the fish
you used to eat
but dare not
complain
or even monitor the dose
for they'll send a secret agent
with a limpet mine
and he'll stick it
tight under
your
boat

gw2011/

Saturday 17 September 2011

The Creative Politicians Pocket Rule Book - rule no. 1 - pretending to be clean


one
one
hand washes
hand washes
the other, and both
the other, and both
wash the
wash the
face
face

-
dedicated to the honest few

Wednesday 14 September 2011

at pre-dinner cocktails



/
fails to impress hoste$$ & ho$t
.sticks to his point. doesn't
do small
talk.
|
|
≠≠≠≠≠

i.m. Thomas Bernhard - author of Woodcutters.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Psalm 46 for 9/11

The President of the United States recited Psalm 46 in that clipped way of his at the recent New York 9/11 ceremony. Here is Psalm 46 from the NIV* Holy Bible. The 9/11 recitation, which is slightly different, can be viewed on a plethora of YouTube sites.

Psalm 46
- For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into
the heart of the sea,
though the waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake
with their surging. - Selah

There is a river whose streams
make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most
High dwells.
God is within her, she will not
fall;
God will help her at break of
day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms
fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth
melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our
fortress. - Selah

Come and see the works of the
LORD,
the desolation he has brought
on the earth,
he breaks the bow and
shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with
fire.

"Be still and know that I am
God;
I will be exalted among the
nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our
fortress. - Selah

So what does it all mean, when the President of the world's most powerful military power, a nation with sufficient nuclear power to destroy the world in a day, quotes at some length from the Book of Psalms, in fact quotes a few lines from the mouth of God himself, before a worldwide TV audience? What are we, his world audience, to make of the President's choice of psalm? What, if anything, does it portend for mankind?

gw2011/
* NIV - New International Version

Monday 12 September 2011

haiku


love in the garden
the rustle in the undergrowth
fruit under the tree

gw2011/

The Mujech

- Happy is the man who is instructed by truth itself - Thomas Kempis

On Friday
they tell
him to pray

and so on

Friday he prays
as they say

On Saturday
they tell
him to pray

and so on

Saturday he prays
as they say

On Sunday
they tell
him to pray

and so on

Sunday he prays
as they say

What will
they do
with the rest
of his days?

____
gw2011/

Thursday 8 September 2011

9/11

Image: 'White House with Neat Lawns' (acrylic on card - Gwilym Williams)


Many millions of words will be written and spoken around this tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack on the United States of America and that nation's political and military reply to the attack. And of course the many and various conspiracy theorists will have their say too.

Here, I shall offer you the 'key' to understanding the events and the cover-up of 9/11 . It's to be found in a sentence of just eleven words. And it comes from an honest and courageous man. His name is Richard Clarke.

"I've been around people like George Bush for a long time."


s u p e r n o v a

They said
on the News
there's now a new star
to be seen
above the Plough's handle
- so into my field
with my glass
I did go

And lo and behold
it was there
to be seen
that promised thumbprint
of light
was hardly a star
it was more
of a smudge
an allusion
to something
indefinite
down here

I phoned
to my neighbour
whose place it was o'er
and he
promptly replied
he'd step out
and look up
but soon he phoned
back
with the news
that the star
wasn't over
his place:
"It's over
the tree
by the lake
on the hill!"

We both
went to look
but there
it was not
not even its fuzzy
reflection
- then it started
to rain
and we both
hurried
home

And when
the rain stopped
I went back
to my field
and lo and behold
I could see it

The star
was back
over
my neighbour

again!

gw2011/
*the brightest supernova for 40 years they had said -
and so naturally last night it was cloudy!

Monday 5 September 2011

Chance Meeting with a Snake

my route
was a scar
up the face
of a cliff
rising over
a forest
but soon
there was only
one spot
for my feet
(or my hands)
and there
on that stone
there was
coiled
a black snake
and sensing
my presence
she hissed
and she squirmed
but I had
no agenda
and she had
after all
prior claim
to that stone
so I then backed away
to seek
a new route
and I left her
in peace
with her scars

gw2011

Sunday 4 September 2011

haiku


shattered path
and there in the rocks
the signs


the next day:
flat stone to stand on -
the coiled black snake
writhing & hissing*

gw2011/
* the snake will only bite if disturbed say the experts; adding -the bite of the vipera berus is extremely painful but seldom fatal

Friday 2 September 2011

haiku

the sun warms the sand
he stands to attention
over a shadow

gw2011/

Searching for water
(I'd settle for a mirage)
No clouds in the sky

gw2011/

Thursday 1 September 2011

FORCE MAJEURE

UN-VELCRO-ING
THE EXOSKELETON
HE SCANS
THE LOCAL PATOIS
AND THE ECLOGUES
ON THE TOILET DOOR
NOT ALL
THAT INFRA DIG
FOR AN ARMIGER
IN DESERT KIT
TOO OFTEN
TROTTING
FOR A SHIT
AND READING
REAMS
OF TOILET VERSE
TO PASS
THE TIME
SPENT SQUATTING
ON THE PLANK
THERE'S HONOUR
IN LACONIC OUTCRY
SCRIBBLED HERE
WITH KNIFE
OR MARKER PEN
AND IN THE ASININE REMARKS
OF MEN
INDULGING IN THESE IMPRECATIONS
PASSING HERE
FOR LASCIVIOUS ART
ONE SUSURRATES BEFORE
THE PLOP
THE SPLASH
THE WIPE
OR IN THIS CASE THE FORCE
MAJEURE
'LE FART'

gw2011