Meanwhile back in Basildon . . . After the few days of excitement at the National Union of Journalists’ ADM in Wexford things seemed very quiet back at work. My personal life was still going well at this stage. Quite a lot of it centred on the Basildon Arts Centre, some of it as anContinue reading “Fun and frolics at the theatre when uppity stars get their comeuppance”
Category Archives: My blog
Where was Britain when Rome blew out the candle – in the Dark Ages
We know the Romans occupied parts of Britain – what is now Wales, the West Country and as far north as the border with the lands of the Picts – for almost 500 years. We also know that in 1066 a Norman duke brought an army from across the Channel and defeated the English kingContinue reading “Where was Britain when Rome blew out the candle – in the Dark Ages”
Birds of Passage
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882 Black shadows fall From the lindens tall, That lift aloft their massive wall Against the southern sky; And from the realms Of the shadowy elms A tidy-like darkness overwhelms The fields that round us lie. But the night is fair And everywhere A warm, soft vapour fills the air, And differentContinue reading “Birds of Passage”
Tiny Feet
by Gabriela Mistral 1889-1957 A child’s tiny feet, Blue, blue with cold, How can they see and not protect you? Oh, my God! Tiny wounded feet, Bruised all over by pebbles, Abused by snow and soil! Man being blind, ignores That where you step you leave A blossom of bright light, That where you haveContinue reading “Tiny Feet”
Ice and Fire
Edmund Spenser 1552-1599 My love is like to ice, and I to fire: How comes it then that this her cold so great Is not dissolved through my so hot desire, But harder grows the more I her entreat? Or how comes it that my exceeding heat Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold, ButContinue reading “Ice and Fire”
No more paddling in the shallows as I dive headlong into union politics
There are many forms of addiction – drink, drugs, gambling and more. They nearly all start small but many lead to disaster. As one drink leads to another, as one pill ends with a needle in your arm, or a flutter on the Grand National reaches the point when you put all you have leftContinue reading “No more paddling in the shallows as I dive headlong into union politics”
Somewhere there is a simple life
Anna Akhmatova translator: Judith Hemschemeyer Somewhere there is a simple life and a world, Transparent, warm and joyful . . . There at evening a neighbour talks with a girl Across the fence, and only the bees can hear This most tender murmuring of all. But we live ceremoniously and with difficulty And we observeContinue reading “Somewhere there is a simple life”
In Petrovsky Park
by Vladislav Khodasevich 1886-1939 He hung without swaying Thin belt on branch’s bend. His hat – a black remainder Marred freshly combed sand. Left palm pierced by the nails, Of still yet stiffened hand. The sun ascended slowly For noon its horses set, He faced the morning Helios In somber tet-a-tet. The man with frozenContinue reading “In Petrovsky Park”
Against Love
by Katherine Philips 1632-1664 Hence Cupid! with your cheating toys, Your real griefs, and painted joys, Your pleasure which itself destroys. Lovers like men in fevers burn and rave, And only what will injure them do crave. Men’s weakness makes love so severe, They give him power by their fear, And make the shackles whichContinue reading “Against Love”
The Prisoner
by Emil Brontë Still let my tyrants know, I am not doom’d to wear Year after year in gloom and desolate despair; A messenger of Hope comes every night to me, And offers for short life, eternal liberty. He comes with Western winds, with evening’s wandering airs, With that clear dusk of heaven that bringsContinue reading “The Prisoner”
Robin's Nest 