Monday 31 October 2011

because she's beautiful


You look down. She's looking at you.
You look away.
You look again.
She's still looking.
Don't stare because she's beautiful
but because you're lost in thought.
Every moment counts.

________________________
text: Tim Love 'Love at first sight'
image: Gwilym Williams
muse: Jim Murdoch
A review of Tim Love's latest collection can be found at The Truth About Lies - see blog update links >>>

Hatyooselves argh happyhallooooooe'en

Many thanks to all my readers for your 7,713 visits to this blog during the month of October.

Next month this Poet-in-Residence blog, which began life in mid-November 2007, will celebrate its 4th birthday. During November I shall take a little time out to plan the way forward for the blog. One thing you can be sure of is that I will continue to not take adverts, a policy which is important to retain the blog's irresponsible independence and its free spirit.

Meanwhile back to the pumpkins. Enjoy yours!

haiku and intentism





daily her bread

is always sold out

but her smile remains





I composed this haiku after reading about intentism on George Szirtes' blog. Does the intent of the author actually matter? Some readers may miss my intended word play, using the sound of the words 'but her' for example and still enjoy the haiku. Another writer may decide to run with this haiku and rework it in some particular direction having perceived my 'intent' as being a statement (a) for the small bakery businesses (b) against the growth of impersonal supermarkets (c) that to smile is as easy as to spread butter (d) that traditional home baked bread is healthier than mass produced bread (e) that people who smile sell more bread (f) for something I didn't intend. And all these are legitimate, even the last. The last especially, for it's the reader or critic or the next writer who will have the final say. The original author writes and then lets go.

Sunday 30 October 2011

Roll over Beethoven!

Beethoven's grave in Vienna's Zentral-Friedhof

As in life so in death. At the time of his death he lived in an apartment in Schwarzspanier Straße in Vienna. He was laid to rest in a local graveyard in the 9th District of Vienna.

Later, along with the composer Schubert and the playwright Nestroy, Beethoven and the monument marking his resting place were removed to the Vienna Zentral-Friedhof.

Notwithstanding its claim to be 'central' this enormous 'central' cemetery is located 7 kms away from the city centre.

During the irreverent process Beethoven's monument was badly damaged. Perhaps Beethoven, recalling the great storm which struck Vienna on the night of his death, raged against this terrible disturbance of his peace and took appropriate symbolic action? I like to think so.

Be that as it may, a copy of the original monument was duly made and this is the one now in situ. Beethoven and Schubert remain the closest of companions just as they were in their previous resting place. In fact it was Schubert's last wish to be buried next to his hero Beethoven.

In the Musician's Corner of the Zentral-Friedhof there is also to be found the supposed grave of a certain W. A. Mozart. But in reality Mozart is not there. The grave is empty. It awaits his unlikely arrival. In reality it is a piece of macabre theatre.

Mozart, it is generally believed, lies in a communal grave in Vienna's St. Marx Friedhof, an old graveyard with guided tours, situated on the outskirts of Vienna. If that's where he really is then the music of cars and trains are his constant companions.

Also in Vienna the composer Vivaldi is another case of missing presumed dead.

Note that composer Josef Haydn's head was stolen by grave robbers on behalf of unnamed others. The theft was only discovered when it was decided to remove Haydn's body from his grave and transfer it to a purpose built mausoleum.

Josef Haydn's head was stolen in order that a secret phrenology examination could be carried out at Vienna University. The head then disappeared again, but was 'found' in recent times at the Musikverein; that is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Beethoven the prodigious wine-drinking grandson of a Belgian emigrant was a peripatetic man who lived at many and various addresses but nearly all in the Austrian vineyards; charming places like Grinzing, Döbling, Heiligenstadt, Mödling and Baden.

He suffered and died for his sins due to lead poisoning, whatever the doctors of the time have said. The lead was commonly added to the red heuriger wine to give it body.

Tchaikovsky? Even the Beatles got it wrong!

Roll over Beethoven and tell Franz Schubert the news.


haiku


the sun
on the mountain
below the cloud




An haiku accompanied by an illustration (or these days it may well be a photo) is called a haiga. But there's a skill in finding the image. Not any sun with cloud and mountain picture would fit to the above haiku with its mysterious riddle wrapped in an enigma. I appear to have outfoxed myself. I let it stand alone.

Friday 28 October 2011

The Magician

We are such stuff as dreams are made on. (Prospero - The Tempest - Shakespeare)


Imagine that everything you know and take for granted is wrong. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that nothing exits. Not even you or me. Not even time or space. Not one atom. Suppose that everything is only illusion. A kind of magician's trick or a kind of dream. Where would that leave us? How would that affect us if it was discovered to be true? And what would be the purpose of such an illusion or dream?

In the above sculpture the two figures appear to be one behind the other. In fact they are side by side.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Japan Earthquakes - trend and analysis

At the outset I must tell the reader that I am not a seismologist and have no seismology qualifications and that my opinions regarding earthquakes carry absolutely no weight in any scientific circles. That fact must be understood and agreed with before reading on. I say this because of the recent trial of several seismologists in Italy.

In the 7 months and 2 weeks that have elapsed since the Japanese 9.01 quake of 11th March 2011 there have been only 20 days without significant Japanese earthquakes.

From 21st April 2011, an arbitrary date but it is roughly the date, as far as one can tell, when the initial aftershocks settled down into a fairly regular and almost predictable pattern, I have been following the energy levels shown on the Japan Energy Release Graph (see side-margin link).

We may now consider the dates on which the daily energy release levels exceeded 63.1 TJ (another arbitrary figure but there's a horizontal line on the graph which makes these dates easier to pick out). The 63.1 TJ figure is equivalent to the energy released by a 6.0 quake.

The following is the result:

Date - Energy - Time
21/04 - 6.33 (7 days)
23/04 - 6.06 (2 days)
05/05 - 6.11 (12 days)
14/05 - 6.20 (9 days)
03/06 - 6.30 (20 days)
23/06 - 6.71 (20 days)
10/07 - 7.00 (17 days)
23/07 - 6.40 (13 days)
25/07 - 6.22 (2 days)
31/07 - 6.30 (6 days)
01/08 - 6.25 (1 day)
17/08 - 6.22 (16 days)
19/08 - 6.30 (2 days)
15/09 - 6.20 (27 days)
17/09 - 6.78 (2 days)
21/10 - 6.10 (34 days)

The shortest period between one 63.1TJ (or greater) date and the next = 1 day
The longest period between one 63.1TJ (or greater) date and the next = 34 days
The average period between one 63.1TJ (or greater) date and the next = 12 days

An interesting and perhaps a significant statistic is the following (at the time of writing):

Longest time spans (using above list) between 6.0+ quakes.

Apl - 07 days IIIIIII
May- 12 days IIIIIIIIIIII
Jne - 20 days IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
July - 17 days IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Aug - 16 days IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Sep - 27 days IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Oct - 34 days IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The above graphic shows a more or less steady progression of increasing interval times between major (6.0 or greater) quakes. Hopefully this trend will continue.

The Date-Energy-Time table shows (highlighted) that there is a period when a 6.0 (or greater) earthquake might well happen (in Japan) and this is during the 48 hours immediately following a magnitude 6.0 (or greater) earthquake.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

National Day (Vienna, Austria)

What embodies a nation's National Day? Is it the sword? And why does a nation feel the need to have a National Day anyway? Is an official National Day a sign of insecurity? Or is it a sign of pride in a nation's achievements? Is it perhaps a search for an identity? Or is it merely a pretext; an excuse for a holiday; a piece of street theatre? In Britain should St. David's Day, St. George's Day and St. Andrew's Day be designated as National Days in Wales, England and Scotland respectively and celebrated with holidays and local displays by the military? Or is this kind of thing divisive? There are 27 countries within the EU. Should they all celebrate their National Days on the same day?

I ask myself
these questions
in the silence
of this misty morning
as the thousand soldiers
stand in ranks
and wait
(what do they think?)
in this gray
and slanting rain
falling soft on Hero Square; the square
named for those
who died
(it is said with valor)
on a field
of Prussian blue; this square
that hosted
the overture
to

the Thousand Years of Reich.

And when
its Leader
played his part
and spoke in tones
that thrilled
the Sieg Heil! crowds
they handed him
their Alpine lands
and raised their hands
and swore to carry out
whatever things
that Leader
of the Third Reich
willed.

And each year
on that Leader's birthday
all were tuned
to the manic
rants

emerging
from their radios. These
bellicose birthday broadcasts
were now
their National Days.

Until that Leader's end.

And then.

There was a period of erasure.

And then.

There was a period of reflection.

And now.

An elected president
appears
before the thousand waiting troops

they swear an oath
and salute
the National Day.

A plane
starts circling
overhead.

gw2011/

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Someone stole the last piece of cheese said the maid to the cook with the (recipe) book



On the clock in the house
Not I said the mouse

Not I said the rat
Tipping his hat

Nor I said the crow
The crow in the snow

Not I said the cat
Curled-up on the mat

Not I said the dog
Outside in the fog

Not I said the sheep
For the sheep was asleep

Nor I said the girl
Twiddling her curl

Not I said the boy
Playing with his toy

Not I said the youth
A little uncouth

Not I said the soldier
For I was not here

Nor I said the priest
A priest on his knees

Not I said the judge
A judge with a grudge

Nor I said the banker
And not without rancor

Nor we said the king
And they all kissed his ring

gw2011/
Mickey Mouse clock
photo courtesy e-bay.

Monday 24 October 2011

haiku


Dog on the corner
barking its head off
. . . I picked it up







By some it is said















By some it is said

that no other
intelligent life
may be found
down here
or in space -
they'd be here
by now
after all
the billions of years
gone around
since the first cloud
of gas
was exploded
by no one
knows what -
but the claim
that they would be here
by now
is a plot
and a dream -
it is thinking we are kings
of all
we can see
and forgetting
we are
newly arrived
on the scene

gw2011/

Sunday 23 October 2011

The line of communication


Devoid of colour
There was no time to the day
When Crow broke the silence,
One black communicant
In a Wide Land
With only three trees,

Crow croaked:
Meditate on your gray ghost,

And away he flew
Disappeared
Into the fog and the silence,

Left only some trace
Of the flesh
From the Roadkill.

gw2011/

Saturday 22 October 2011

Regime Change


replaced
the statue
of the leader

the square
and all the streets
renamed

banned books
up from the cellars
and off the shelves


gw2011/

Friday 21 October 2011

Fenced Wall



















for Homeland Security.
2, And it came to pass that they
built a Wall which they called a
Fenced Wall by name.
3, And the Lord saw that it was
good.
4, Then the Lord said: Now that
you have built the Fenced Wall
place a mark on your people so
that they may come and go and
no enemy may enter.
5, And when they had placed a
mark on the people the Lord
appeared again.
6, Then the Lord said: My work
is done. I am the Lord.
7, No man shall enter or leave his
house without he hath the mark.
8, No man, woman or child shall
buy or sell his goods without the
mark.
9, No man, woman or child shall
visit with their neighbour without
they both have the mark.
10, No child shall travel to school
without he hath the mark.
11, No


Thursday 20 October 2011

Homework


October
's blustery breeze
bends the tops of trees
and rattling showers of acorns
fall for laughing children
larking on their way from school
their satchels weighted down
with books of facts and figures
to digest before the dreaded morning bell
but what the hell! I'm out to play
and run about when tea is done
this day's too short to spend indoors
with pen and ink
it passes at the speed of light
and then it's night - no time to think!

gw2011/

Wednesday 19 October 2011

haiku






Goodnight
my friend the sunset waves
Auf Wiedersehen






gw2011/

Tuesday 18 October 2011

haiku




The moth

Hidden from the light

On the wall






gw2011/

Uncle Salvador's Cigar

This deceptively light collection fairly sparks off the page.

Gordon Mason is best known to me through his multi-lingual poetry website 'Catapult to Mars'. You can visit 'Catapult to Mars' via my 'updated blogs' link* (as many 'Poet-in-Residence' visitors will already be aware).

Gordon's latest offering Uncle Salvador's Cigar is appropriately a limited edition collection. It consists of 30 poems (or Lots) arranged in numerical order and bound in handsome cigar wrapper orange. It is published by Red Ceilings Press. It's about the size of a cigarillo packet and it's probably much better for your health than smoking.

Some of the poems have previously appeared in Red Ceilings, Menagerie and Raven Images.

Lot 26
a Mandolin Cantali labelled 'Alfredo Albertini'.

Albertini's mandolin
plucks roses from woodsmoke
that clings to a balcony
as an unfurled plaque.

String vibrations
ebb and flow, yes and no.
Notes tremble
under a naked blue sky.

Most mornings would stop
for a coffee to be killed.
A mandolin morning
drinks its own caffeine.

–––––
Lot 26 (c) Gordon Mason 2011

*unfortunately the Catapult to Mars link is no longer active


3 trees in 1


The tree of Knowledge
Is not a strobe lamp
For a State to hide behind
The tree of Life
Is not a sick Planet
Drenched in oil and plutonium
The tree of Freedom
Is not the false Flag
Of the War economy racket
3 trees in 1
Guard them all well

gw2011/

Saturday 15 October 2011

The Yes Men


See how they meet
in locations far flung
when they feel
something urgent needs to be done
and under the sun
and under their guises
and titles
these junkets proceed
one fix
to the next
with little addressed
but the postcards back home
with pictures of palmy tropical scenes
or mountains and lakes
and the pistes of your dreams

gw2011/


Thursday 13 October 2011

Friday 7 October 2011

Revolving doors

Life is nothing but a game of madness - Erasmus of Rotterdam "The Praise of Folly"
Life is nothing but a Monopoly board - PiR

Revolving doors
to volumes of law
leather look books
and out for more

if called to account
one enters here
and begs one's leave

to board
to play one's cards
- those up one's sleeves -
to go past Go!
to take the dough

Who took the world's money!
I said the shoe
swift as my stride

Who lacerated the economies!
I said the iron
when I glowed with pride

Round and round
the mulberry board
Tenures of war
and ten years more . . .

gw2011/
George Szirtes (bloglink at right) reveals that today is National Poetry Day and the theme is 'Games'. Hence the above. Thank you George.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Fall


Seeing those wasps
on the ripening pears
I picked an apple

gw2011/

A consolation haiku for all poets who didn't win the Nobel Literature Prize this time around. Congratulations to Tom the Transformer (alias Tomas Tranströmer).

Under the title 'Reaching' the same haiku i.m. Steve Jobs - another 'missing' from Nobel Lists!