Getting a double dose of rugby this weekend – well a dose and a half really because I watched the second half of the France/Scotland match before settling down to see the dragons lay siege to Fortress Twickenham. In fact the England/Wales match was not so much a siege in the first half as aContinue reading “Sorry to see my top teams lose but a young Welsh side shows promise”
Author Archives: Robin
The Fish
by Marianne Moore wadethrough black jade.Of the crow-blue mussel-shells, one keepsadjusting ash heaps;opening and shutting itself likeaninjured fan.The barnacles which encrust the sideof the wave, cannot hidethere for the submerged shafts of thesunsplit like spunglass, move themselves with spotlight swiftness,into the crevices -in and out, illuminatingthe turquoise seaof bodies. The water drives a wedgeof ironContinue reading “The Fish”
Round the houses and jumping through hoops – just to get a vote
Life wasn’t meant to be easy and when I look back I can see many rocky patches on my path through life so far. Some are little potholes others are yawning chasms, yet somehow I passed them all. Some of the big ones I have described elsewhere, or they may still be to come, butContinue reading “Round the houses and jumping through hoops – just to get a vote”
A Prouder Man Than You
by Henry Lawson If you fancy that your people come from better stock than mine,If you hint of higher breeding by a word or by sign,If you’re proud because of fortune or the clever things you do -Then I’ll play no second fiddle: I’m a better man than you!If you think that your profession has theContinue reading “A Prouder Man Than You”
On Death
by Anne Killigrew Tell me thou safest end of all our woe,Why wretched mortals do avoid thee so.Thou gentle drier o’th’ afflicted’s tearsThou noble ender of the coward’s fears.Thou sweet repose to lovers sad dispaire,Thou calm t’ambitions rough tempestuous care.If in regard of bliss thou wert a curse,And then the joys of Paradise art worse,YetContinue reading “On Death”
One And Twenty
by Samuel Johnson Long-expected one and twentyLing’ring year at last has flownPomp and pleasure, pride and plentyGreat Sir John, are all your own.Loosen’d from the minor’s tether,Free to mortgage or to sell,Wild as wind, light as featherBid the slaves of thrift farewell.Call the Bettys, Kates and JenneysEv’ry name that laughs at care.Lavish of your Grandsire’sContinue reading “One And Twenty”
Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Sorceress to Live
by Helen Ivory Exodus 7:11 For her neighbour’s sicknesswas more than merely unnatural;for he sang perfectly without moving his lips.For she is intemperate in her desiresand pilfers apples from the orchard;for she hitches her skirts to clamber the fence.For her womb is a wandering beast;for she is husbandless, and at candle timebrazenly trades with theContinue reading “Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Sorceress to Live”
The Man He Killed
by Thomas Hardy Had he and I but metBy some old ancient inn,We should have set us down to wetRight many a nipperkin!But ranged as infantry,And staring face to face,I shot at him as he at me,And killed him in his place.I shot him dead because -Because he was my foe,Just so my foe heContinue reading “The Man He Killed”
I’ve seen them at their best and at their worst but I still love Wales XV
It’s quarter to five, it’s Saturday, 3 February 2024, and I have just watched the kick-off in the third Six Nations championship of the weekend as my beloved Wales host my second favourite XV, Scotland. I have supported Wales as far back as I can remember and often sat with my father in our loungeContinue reading “I’ve seen them at their best and at their worst but I still love Wales XV”
First Memory
by Louise Gluck Long ago, I was wounded. I livedto revenge myselfagainst my father, notfor what he was -for what I was from the beginning of time,in childhood, I thoughtthat pain meantI was not loved.I was loved.
Robin's Nest 