Saturday 30 July 2011

Coastal Path


on this wind-blasted coastal strip
with their backs to the waves
small trees bend
to look like scraggy crabs
marching onward
though crabs walk sideways
and the invading trees come fearlessly forwards
keen about their business
covering the land as best they can
taking positions on this sandy hill
on that smooth hillock
on those strange humps
in this cutting of shells
gorse and hawthorn defending the shore
supported by heather under fire
marram grass on dunes
and the few rough-coated sheep
ignoring old wire defences
and keep out notices
surround a smashed gun battery
take over a deserted lookout post
like soldiers coming into the lines
to meet projectiles hurled in their direction
defending territory between sea
and the golf course
with its battery operated buggies
generally having a rough time of it
inquisitive rabbits
peer from the burrows
and the council truck
with its theodolites
brings up the big guns

_
gw2008, 2011(revised)

Friday 29 July 2011

a colour of water . . .


sky's
reflection
a darker shade of silence

500,000,000 YouTube clicks for RT


RT (motto "Question More") becomes the first 24-hour news channel to hit 500million views.

There's a link to RT on this blog. RT is the channel for getting the real news out of Japan. Reporter Sean Thomas is risking his own health over there to bring the world the real story of the scandalous Fukushima cover-up! Where are the others, you might well ask? Why aren't they delving into the human tragedy behind the worst ever nuclear incident. The answer is: Nuclear money talks.

Well done, RT! Please, for all our sakes, keep your questioning light shining into the world's dark corners.

haikushima 7


invisibly spark-ling
they are biting the child
and the tree

invisible snakes


_____
haikushima 7 is based on a recent statement from nuclear power researcher Dr Christopher Busby recently returned from Japan

Poetry Society may be in Meltdown


The Poetry Society, a 102-year old institution, the English equivalent of America's Poetry Foundation, appears to be melting down faster than the Fukushima Daiichi reactors. For all we know, the melt-through stage has already been reached.

George Szirtes is desperately circulating a petition to save the Poetry Society. Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy has added her 'By Royal Appointment' signature to the steadily growing list of save the society campaigners.

So what exactly is going on? Nobody seems to know, or at least nobody is telling. The whole affair is shrouded in secrecy and misinformation of almost TEPCO proportions.

There are surfacing allegations of shady board meetings, hushed-up money-go-rounds, the misappropriation of grant money - that is public money!, intimidating behaviour by certain trustees, and secret deals being struck behind the ex-director's back.

And all this may be only the steam from the corium.

A fog of secrecy is drifting over the scene like the clouds leaving TEPCO's reactors at night. Someone should get in there and investigate. And they should do it NOW!

If I was a member (thankfully I'm not) I would call in the Fraud Squad.

Silkworms Ink is reporting developments.


Thursday 28 July 2011

Events

Events
often cast their shadows before them

There's a lot to read in the Norwegian crusader's 1500 page manifesto titled 2083 but I don't propose to read it. I shall rely on others to do that and also the time consuming analysis. I recall hearing the news. It was that a bomb (or something) had exploded near the Norwegian Prime Minister's office. The situation was unclear. Two people may have died. Before long another newscaster broke in and said that the American intelligence services had named the Islamic organization responsible. He even gave us the name. I forget what it was, it was very long. As the day wore on and another truth was revealed I found myself thinking of Peter the Hermit . . .

Proverb


The Bird
that's free to sing
in the bush
is worth
more than the one
you hold
in your hand

gw2011

A White House with Neat Lawns


- as advertised on the box

THE essential communications tool
comprehensive and easy to use
comes complete with all the features
that have made it the trusted name
and the single most effective tool
for people communicating new ideas
for speakers wanting to be more forceful
for leaders searching for just the right words

gw2011

Diametric


the storm clouds
that darken the symbols
highlight the light


image: click to enlarge

On Reading Christy Brown


Long may the harlequinade spin out if
it takes us away from the tumbrel
- Christy Brown

I thank you Christy Brown
although you do not know me,
I feel I will always know you or
at least that magical part of you
I find in the verses you kindly left
with your photo
inside the sleeve of a
book's jacket.

I thank you Christy Brown
although you do not know me,
I thank you for old Miss
Mahaffey's rainbow fall of silk;
and the colours of the four
winds and your patchwork bag
of magic and even Michael Joe's
crying as no child.

I thank you Christy Brown for
your snails and skylarks
and your music and, yes, I
come softly to your wake.
With my calm togetherness of
hands I break the rugged crust
of your friendly bread and
drink the winepress of your stars.

I thank you Christy Brown for
the gleam in your eyes.
In your small photo I see the
secret in your kind face.
Long and long may your
harlequinade spin out
and take us all from the dark
and into the place of song.

_______
gw2008,2011
from the collection Genteel Messages

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Greilenstein Castle


Silhouetted darkly
in the cold November fog
an avenue of old trees; crumbling
gargoyles in crippled harmony,
holding on like two lines of soldiers
back from a war; still standing
but not to attention.

Behind leaf-scrolled iron gates
in rusting baroque of fruit and wine
a theatrical production is underway
with dwarfs and lions
snakes and nymphs
and thick-lipped negroes
carved in suspicious stone
the dramatis personae; surreal
under obelisks, grim in the fog;
a frozen scene from some sylvan caper.

Magpies shriek from the treetops
and I shuffle through the fallen leaves
of dismal Greilenstein.

______
from 'Genteel Messages' pub: 2008

It is now more than 3 years since my first poetry collections, the pamphlet Mavericks and the book Genteel Messages were published. The book is out of print. I have therefore decided to share here a selection of 20 or so of my favourite poems from the book. The pamphlet is still available as a free download at Poem Hunter (see icon at right).
-
The castle's location: Waldviertel, Austria - 100kms north of Vienna
-

Tuesday 26 July 2011

"Please, please don't run away. Please test this urine. You promised you would."

Imagine the invisible plutonium fuel fleas . . . now 4 months escaped . . . where are they?
A man throws out his arms and blocks the exit door at a public meeting when a handful of politicians and experts who refuse to answer questions attempt to flee. A small middle-class crowd is in pursuit, running down the neon-lit concrete stairs, people are shouting, "Shame! Shame!"

The politicians finally escape in the elevator.

Mothers had called for their children's urine to be tested for radiation. They were ignored.

On the 19th July 2011 the children of Fukushima City were officially ignored; and people were told that they have no rights when it comes to nuclear radiation. Or to evacuation. They must fend for themselves.

These people are frightened and desperate. And they have nowhere to go.

Why isn't the truth about the greatest ever nuclear disaster being shown worldwide on all the mainstream media?


_

TOP MARKS TO RT NEWS FOR STAYING ON THE CASE!
_

Monday 25 July 2011

Why did he do it?


VANITAS VANITATUM OMNIA VANITAS
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees,-
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt around my head
and singing softly to myself:
'I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!'
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades,-

Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?

_____
lines from Danse Russe
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)

Yahoo news report here

Saturday 23 July 2011

My zen tour of Erin

Not long ago my companion and I were on the roads of Ireland. We had no agenda. In the town of Galway we asked a man with a greyhound to suggest a place to stay overnight. He directed us to the house of a lady I shall call Mrs M.

She showed us a room and we took it.

In the evening we asked for a front door key in case we were late returning. There was in prospect an evening of famous Irish hospitality; the musical revelry and the beery jollity of the wonderful pubs we had heard so much about and which we were eager to experience.

Key? Why do you want a key? I've lived here for 50 years and never locked my house. Not so much as a handkerchief has gone missing! exclaimed Mrs M. And so we took no key.

Our walk soon brought us to a fish and chip bar where the tables and chairs spilled out onto a street full of banter and blarney and we found ourselves sitting next to a man I shall call Mr S. You know, said Mr S, when you leave Galway you should go to Kilfenora. There you will find me in the pub on Tuesday. I'll find you a place to stay.

And so it was that we arrived in Kilfenora 3 days later.

And it was in this way that we made our way around the Emerald Isle with no particular agenda in mind - merely following the next person's directions, crossing the land, from one town or village to the next - until our time in Erin was finished and sad-but-happy we left.

And in all that time, it only rained once.

Friday 22 July 2011

In less horrifying journalistic days?


In 2005 there came with my copy of the Irish Independent a special magazine titled '100 Years in the News 1905 - 2005'. It's a marvelous creation and I never tire of reading it. I often find myself turning there to research some item of yesterday's news or often simply for amusement or to marvel at the wonderful photographs.

Today I mention the publication because within its pages there's a wonderful and insightful story from the pen of the editor Dr Vincent Doyle. It reminds us that there were times (pre-Murdoch) when there was an almost innocent smoke-filled public house romance attached to journalism. The secret whispers were to be found within the racing pages.

Here, briefly, is Dr Doyle's story (the headline is mine) :

The vanity of prominent politicians

Over the years I have always been fascinated by a common trend linking prominent politicians - vanity. I remember one lunch given in the boardroom of this paper . . . by the late John Meagher . . .

Our guests were Charles Haughey . . . and several of his shadow cabinet. After the usual pleasantries he (John Meagher) turned to Charlie Haughey and said: "Now Deputy Haughey have you any questions you would like to ask us?"

. . . Haughey's mood visibly darkened.

The hooded eyes swivelled around in my direction and Haughey growled: "Yes, as a matter of fact I have a question."

"We have just come through a bruising four week election campaign and every time myself or the other fellow* were mentioned in the main headline he was always Garret and I was Haughey. Do you consider that fair and reasonable?"

. . . I explained . . . as the typography and layout . . . only allowed us to use seven to eight letters the name FitzGerald was impossible to fit whereas Haughey fitted just perfectly.

That, I said, is the explanation.

"Well that," thundered Haughey, "takes the f****** biscuit."

The lunch went downhill from there.

-
*Garret FitzGerald

Thursday 21 July 2011

MYSTERY SURROUNDS WHEREABOUTS OF FUKUSHIMA WORKERS

NHK BREAKING NEWS

Off the ticker:

The operator of the Fukushima plant has refused to confirm the whereabouts of 198 workers...

MORE BREAKING NEWS CONCERNS:

22/7 - external power supply lost at reactors nos. 3 and 4 - trouble with transmission lines!

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Fukushima

NUCLEAR RADIATION WARNING

CHILDREN OF JAPAN
AVOID DANGEROUS HOT PARTICLES
TELL YOUR PARENTS AND TEACHERS NOW

Fukushima fuel fleas are highly invisible!
image: gw2011

- News you won't see on the BBC -

On 10th April 2011 Magister Heinz Stockinger, the long-serving leader of Salzburg's Platform Against Atomic Danger (PLAGE) was awarded the "Nuclear-Free Future Award" for his life's work and the fight against the nuclear threat, reports the summer edition (no.97) of the Austrian environmental magazine Natur und Land.

He shares the prestigious prize with Dr Helen Caldicott of Australia (visit the "Love This Planet Radio" LINK >>>). Previous winners include Martin Sheen, Manuel Pino, Henry Red Cloud and David Lowry (Wales).

"My earnest wish for the future is that EURATOM is reformed. If not, as happened after Chernobyl, the nuclear energy business will in three to five years of the Fukushima accident simply carry on as before . . ." said Stockinger.

In 1977, aged 30, Stockinger led a campaign against the building of the Austrian nuclear reactor near to Vienna - AKW Zwentendorf. The result of the campaign was that a national referendum was called. And in November 1978 in Austria the result was a resounding "NO" to nuclear energy.

There followed massive pressure from the pro-nuclear lobby from within and from outside of Austria but the Chernobyl accident in 1986 finally sealed the result of the referendum. To date there are no nuclear power stations in Austria where the government has recently announced plans to completely disengage from imported nuclear energy by 2015.

In 1985 Stockinger together with Hannes Augustin started a movement to bring to attention the enormous danger posed by plans to build a so-called "plutonium factory" at AKW Wackersdorf in Germany, almost on the Austrian border. Of the 800,000 objections to the Wackersdorf plan more than half came from Austrians. The "plutonium factory" plan was scrapped. Germany has also announced the closing down of nuclear plants, as has Switzerland. And recently Italy has scrapped plans to build its first nuclear reactors.
Only a day or two ago the German leader met with her Russian counterpart. You can bet that the Russian Gas Pipeline project was on the agenda and that it will now be vigorously pushed ahead.

In Central Europe a nuclear free future is on the way. And maybe it's time that the IAEA, currently at home in the heart of Europe, in the Austrian capital Vienna, reconsidered its future and left - the removal van is waiting outside.

----

Canis Major



The dog that barks at strangers
saunters by
to find his friends at the Coco de Mer

where an honest cat withdraws her claws
served with wholesome food
and vintage drink.

A remedy is found untried
in the deep spaced silence of the night

where the breeze that spins
the weather vane
ignores the light

of the lustral window in the starry night

____
gw2011
Note re my image:
I'm sure this is a friendly dog - I mean him no offence. He was guarding his master's bicycle which is not shown in the picture. According to Roman myth Canis Major was supposed to guard Europae but he failed and Europae was stolen by Jupiter. The bike, as far as I know, was not stolen.

Monday 18 July 2011

Busby in Japan


Dr Christopher Busby is in Japan to inform the Japanese public of the true Fukushima radiation facts and also to report on the fact that the Japanese government is not telling its own people the truth about the serious risks to health, especially the health of children.

Busby says that the UN's IAEA-WHO cover-up has already started.

"It's time for the people to save themselves!" he concludes.

Video of first presentation now at EX-SKF. Sound quality poor for first 10 minutes then good. A must view.


On the Feldherrenhalle Steps


God you are my refuge into eternity! - Sophie Scholl's last words (attrib.)


The munkle and rattle of an early Munich tram
lurches me suddenly
back
to sombre meditations.

Awake! from dreaming in your comfortable inner space
you brother of dragons
you companion to owls.

Hesse and Bukowski explored their themes
living (or existing) in the present
is one.

In the practical world empathy may aid digestion
when dining with your enemy

Rationality will not save you.

Something important had to be done
here
apart from maximising efficiency

I went and got the data
Re-examined the reasoning
Un-positioned the present.

You can never say never
and you can never change
human nature.

One of them told me it was all a Boys Own adventure
dreamed up at the Hofbrauhaus
when they tanked-up on Teutonic philosophy
fuelled by an addiction
to frothy beer, potato stew
and Wagner

A kind of cosy camaraderie around long tables.

And then handily placed
that brace of proud, crowd facing lions
mounted atop the steps
waiting for the up-and-coming orator

Glorious inspiration hung with bollocks
the size of grapefruits

They should fall off according to Newton.

To Hell! with the all-seeing eye of the agnostic.

I turn and see the girl holding the white rose
standing in a slow dolorous light
frozen vacancy in her eyes.

Is that the rumble of thunder?
Strange amphigory of cirumstance!

Exiguous memory:
We will not be silenced.

Subversion to the proselyte!

God, you are my refuge into eternity!

_____

gw2008, 2011
An earlier version of the above poem published in Genteel Messages and at the Recusant
_____