Cleaners find
Traces left behind.
Their bachelor boss so staid
With a pretty maid,
They see in their mind’s eye
As fresh sheets are laid
On the stolid old bed.
When cleaners dust
And discover a girl’s misplaced jewel
Perchance they may
Ponder on lust
And think their master a fool.
But, being paid to clean
They leave the ring,
Or some such thing
As though unseen,
In the same place.
While their imagination runs wild …
On a sunny afternoon
I heard
The bird
Of night,
And thought how soon
The light
Fades, in woodland glades.
And how the owl does prey,
At the closing of our day.
A young lady named Jane
Wields a mean old cane,
Whilst her friend miss Kipper
Prefers the use of a slipper.
And Shane he’s sweet on Jane!
Flowers on either side
Of the path.
I
Can not decide
Whether to laugh
Or cry.
Flowers live and die
While I
Smile
And pass
By,
Seeing through nature’s glass,
You and I.
When a young lady named Jane
Said, “your verse is far to mundane!”.
And I wrote a poem about her
And my mistress who’s called Claire,
I got warned by Jane’s lawyer Lorraine!
When a loose young lady named Bell
Said, “many men have here fell”.
And I said, “on yonder path?”,
She said, “are you having a laugh?”.
And then, dear reader, I fell!
An elderly gent living in a tent
Said, “I have all my money spent
On good living and young women
And now my hair is thinning.
Sir, could you pay my rent?”.
I stand half-apart
My heart
Distanced, from the fray.
I love the night.
But, sometimes, I pray
For the light
Of day.
Do I play
At art?
My heart
Does say
“Long
Before civilisation came
There was birdsong.
The birdsong
Will remain”.
Yesterday evening, Owen Jones (a Guardian columnist and supporter of the former leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn), posted the following tweet regarding books displayed on the shelves of Cabinet minister Michael Gove:
“Why does Michael Gove and his wife own a copy of a book by David Irving, one of the most notorious Holocaust deniers on earth”.
Whilst Jones is correct that Irving is a “holocaust denier”, ownership of a book in no way implies that the owner subscribes to the views propounded therein. As Stephen Pollard points out in “The Jewish Chronicle”, to understand views with which one profoundly disagrees, one must read works that express those opinions, (see https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/one-stupid-tweet-by-owen-jones-confirms-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-hard-left-1.499433).
Other than poetry and works of fiction, my own bookshelves contain:
V. I. Lenin’s “The State and Revolution”,
Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto”,
Engels “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific”,
Lord Kenneth Baker’s “The Faber Book of Conservatism”,
Lord David Willetts “Modern Conservatism”,
J. S Mill’s “On Liberty”,
Herbert Spencer’s “The Man Versus the State”
And various other works of politics, including writings by the Anarchist theorist Proudhon.
What should one conclude from the above? That I am a Anarchist/Conservative/Marxist/Libertarian? or that, as a student of politics I have an interest in political theory?
My bookcase also contains “The Selected Poems of Rudyard Kipling”. Does my possession of this book make me a racist/imperialist or whatever other word careless people might choose to fling around with gay abandon?
In short, the possession of books does not imply that the possessor agrees with the views being expressed. Indeed (in my own case) where I to subscribe to all the opinions contained in the books on my shelves I would be a highly confused individual in need of serious psychological help!
If anyone of my readers would care to share what lives on their shelves, I would, of course be interested to know. Although I promise not to draw any sweeping conclusions about you!
When a young lady of a philosophical bent
Invited me into her leaky old tent,
And she said, “men are full of lust,
And we are all but whirling dust”.
I said, “you should fix this leaking tent!”.
K Morris - Poet 