“Shall I Sit Out This Dance”? can be found in my collection of poetry, “My Old Clock I Wind”, which is available (in paperback and ebook) from Moyhill Publishing (moyhill.com/clock). It can also be found in the Amazon Kindle store and is available (in braille) from the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
There was a young lady named Flair
Who entered the wolf’s lair.
The wolf heaved a sigh
Then, with a tear in his eye
He devoured that young lady Flair …
—
There was a young lady named Flair
Who entered the wolf’s lair.
The wolf being a bit of a lad
Said “I am really most glad
To have you here in my lair …
Why do certain sounds bring
Sadness to mind?
I find
That when birds sing
And engine’s notes are in distance
Lost, that my resistance
To melancholy
Is low
And I go
In search of Keat’s Nightingale.
Yet tis folly
I think
To drink
Too much of Keat’s brimming cup.
But o how sweet it is to sup
At melancholy’s table
Provided we are able
To partake of her store
For a while,
Then, with a wisthful smile
Withdraw.
I agree with much of this post and, in particular with the following statement:
“We fail to find comfort in genuine human connection now, seeking instead to find a virtual connection. Real life communication has changed to “DM’s” and
“tweets”. I am not saying these are bad, but rather understand that a balance must be made and if you find yourself clinging to each like, hoping to reach
a certain number, it may be time to reflect”.A week or so ago, I received a comment consisting of a link to a new WordPress user’s blog. Simply that, (no other comment), nor did the blogger “like” my post. Needless to say I did not approve their comment. I did, however email them explaining that I realised that they were new to WordPress, wished them well but pointed out that their behaviour was “rude” and highly likely to result in others spamming their comments and not exploring their blog. I heard nothing back.
While I understand Kyle’s point about promoting positive messages on one’s blog, this is not applicable to all websites. To take an obvious example, writers will produce content that raises uncomfortable issues, some of which will offend some of their readers. Writers need to be true to themselves and produce their best work which will not appeal to everyone and which may (on occasion) cause offence.
Kevin
We live in an age of connectedness but none of us is really “connected”.
Social media has brought us closer together, letting us communicate with those we normally would not be able to speak with. Through bringing together the globe, we are able to find our niche and communicate with those who share our similar interests.
However, why do we find ourselves seeking for validation off others? Why do we base our worth of “likes”? Is that what we have settled for, a virtual currency that we define our sense of worth off of?
We fail to find comfort in genuine human connection now, seeking instead to find a virtual connection. Real life communication has changed to “DM’s” and “tweets”. I am not saying these are bad, but rather understand that a balance must be made and if you find yourself clinging to each like, hoping to reach a certain…
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There was a young student from Stroud
Who wrote “death be not proud”.
His teacher Matt
Said “Donne penned that!
You plagiarising young man from Stroud!”.
Can the poet avoid the Sword of Damocles
Suspended above his head
By the thinnest thread?
His pleas
To those who he has offended
That he is merely speaking the truth
Will not prevent
The descent
Of sword from roof.
The poet’s curse
Is to write verse
That will
Sometimes chill
His readers to the heart.
They will traduce
Him for his art,
But the sword of truth
He must brandish high
Else he will die
On the cabinet, next to my bed, is a talking alarm clock with a big yellow button which, when pressed announces the time.
We walk the cliff path of Brexit
And pass
A mock-up of the empire
And Oxford’s dreaming spire.
The exit
Is down or up?
On reading that the Chinese government has banned George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm”, (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/china-bans-the-letter-n-and-george-orwells-animal-farm-as-president-xi-jinping-extends-grip-on-power-a3777686.html), I was reminded of Lord Acton’s remark that:
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are
almost always bad men,…”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton).
The Acton quote, jostled in my mind with that famous quotation:
“Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad”, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whom_the_gods_would_destroy).
I have visited mainland china or, to give that country it’s full title, The People’s Republic of China (PRC). While there, I found the people whom I came into contact with both friendly and helpful. I did, however feel an underlying sense of unease, a feeling which I can best describe as a sense of being observed.
Today’s China is not that of the country which suffered under the dictatorship of Mao and which is so chillingly described in Jung Chang’s “Wild Swans”, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Swans). It is, however a society which, on the on the one hand wishes to embrace the market economy while, at the same time shying away from the values of individual freedom which (at it’s best) distinguish liberal societies from authoritarian ones.
There will, no doubt be those who say what do values of individual freedom matter when, at bottom people are concerned with their own material comfort? Sitting here, writing this with no fear of the midnight knock Ion the door, I, for one know the answer to that question.
K Morris - Poet 