That great creator of quotable quotes, A Non, is once alleged to have said “if you’re not a socialist at 20 you’ve got no heart, if you’re still one at 40 you’ve got no head.” I definitely have a heart (it belongs to my Muse but she lets me have a free rein with itContinue reading “Red ’til I’m dead and I’ll keep that banner flying all my life”
Category Archives: My blog
Sweet treat from big brother helped me over a birthday party disaster
When do we become aware and do we remember the moment or is it just another step along life’s highway when we take so many that we cannot recollect them all? There are those who feel they became aware soon after birth (some even believe it happens in the womb) and they can “recall” thingsContinue reading “Sweet treat from big brother helped me over a birthday party disaster”
North South East West – which direction will be the best?
When you reach a point on your travels through life where the track diverges and none of the paths is a direct route to your objective you have to decide which way to go. The moment I discovered my Muse was mother to a six-month-old baby, with the strong possibility that Daddy was still around,Continue reading “North South East West – which direction will be the best?”
Love is . . .
or is it? Maybe we should first ask: What is love? Dolly Parton claims: Love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh. Roy Orbison says: Love hurts, Love scars, Love wounds and mars any heart. It takes a lifetime to learn the truth and in the end it appears they wereContinue reading “Love is . . .”
A momentary muse upon a Muse meant soon I would meet my Muse
Once ensconced in my new abode high above Basildon town centre (was this a metaphor for the way I viewed the town, looking down on it and its inhabitants?) my next move was to make friends. In my past where had I found friends? At school – but those days were long gone. At theContinue reading “A momentary muse upon a Muse meant soon I would meet my Muse”
New home in a New Town – and it really is Brutal
I had been working on the Basildon newspaper for six months before I was actually offered a flat by the development corporation. Travelling to and from Burnham-on-Crouch every day did not make it easy to form new friendships outside work. The keys to the flat, on the fifth floor of Brooke House in the middleContinue reading “New home in a New Town – and it really is Brutal”
We’re baby boomers ‘cos our parents went to war
Nowadays they talk about baby booms as occurring nine months after a specific incident – such as a national blackout – but the baby boomer generation refers to those born after the end of the Second World War. In the US they give it a 20-year span with the first boomers born in 1946, basedContinue reading “We’re baby boomers ‘cos our parents went to war”
Love her or hate her you have to recognise Sylvia Plath’s poetry
Sylvia Plath, the tortured poet of the mid 20th century, has been dead for almost twice as long as she lived yet, almost 60 years after her death, the very mention of her name can start a literary war. Plath is is as close to Marmite woman as you can get. There are very fewContinue reading “Love her or hate her you have to recognise Sylvia Plath’s poetry”
Heaney: a taste of nature
Seamus Heaney could turn a moment’s thought into a naturalistic poem of pure joy. He may be an acquired taste but he’s worth it. Oysters by Seamus Heaney/ Our shells clacked on the plates, My tongue was a filling estuary, My palate hung with starlight: As I tasted the salty Pleiades Orion dipped his footContinue reading “Heaney: a taste of nature”
Wonderful to meet you – just sign here please
We meet many people on our journey through life – most are the type we meet every day: neighbours; local business people; fellow shoppers (not so many in the last 18 months); local sports personalities; or national personalities. As a journalist it is possible I have met more people, no matter how fleetingly or forContinue reading “Wonderful to meet you – just sign here please”
Robin's Nest 