by Allan Ahlberg b. 1938 Here’s the rule for what to do If ever your teacher has the flu Or for some other reason takes to her bed And a different teacher comes instead When the visiting teacher hangs up her hat Writes the date on the board, does this or that Always remember, youContinue reading “The Supply Teacher”
Category Archives: My blog
Clown In The Moon
by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) My tears are like the quiet drift Of petals from some magic rose; And all my grief flows from the rift Of unremembered skies and snows. I think, that if I touched the earth, It would crumble; It is so sad and beautiful, So tremulously like a dream.
These feet were made for walking
Looking back over the last 50 years I see 1971 as a turning point in my life. Not just because I celebrated my 21st birthday (although by now 21 was no longer a magic number as in 1970 we were granted the right to vote at 18) or that I had ended my indentures andContinue reading “These feet were made for walking”
Echidna or egg?
In your mind which came first? or I am sure we all have a view whether it is based on science, or religion or just your own bloody-mindedness. Personally I couldn’t care less. What is more important is which of these came first for you? or I know that in this case the book obviouslyContinue reading “Echidna or egg?”
Always An Animal
by Luigi Pirandello (trans by Arthur D Vieli) 1867-1936 Without doing anything a lion is a lion: but hapless man must brave death to have the honor of being compared with that animal, strong, without limit. Nourished by the soaring thoughts of an afflicted soul, if one reaches an apex. A grand prize awaits. ThenContinue reading “Always An Animal”
A great day to be Welsh and proud
Today was a very good day to be Welsh. The chariots headed to Cardiff and were destroyed by the dragons. A Triple Crown already won and a Grand Slam on the horizon. It takes me back to those glorious days in the 60s and 70s when if we couldn’t make it to Cardiff a groupContinue reading “A great day to be Welsh and proud”
The Mirror crack’d from side to side
There was a time you could hold the Daily Mirror up to the world and see real life reflected in it. Hold it up now and all you will see is the fantasy life of plastic people who, we are told, are celebrities. To my mind a celebrity is an outstanding person in their fieldContinue reading “The Mirror crack’d from side to side”
An Elegy On The Death Of Kenneth Patchen
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) A poet is born A poet dies And all that lies between is us and the world And the world lies about it making as if it had got his message even though it is poetry but most of the world wishing it could just forget about him and his awfulContinue reading “An Elegy On The Death Of Kenneth Patchen”
Following up on a historical story
If you work on a weekly newspaper long enough it is likely some of the people you meet and write about will go on to be famous in the field of their choice. While working in Rhyl many of the people I knew socially, or met as part of my work, were either already knownContinue reading “Following up on a historical story”
Oh mummy, that’s not Boris Karloff
Celebrating the New Year in the Austrian Tyrol was quite a start to 1971 and my time in the classroom was finally over, almost six years after I parted company with my arch-enemy – the demon headmaster of my old grammar school. I still had to sit for my NCTJ Proficiency Certificate but that would,Continue reading “Oh mummy, that’s not Boris Karloff”
Robin's Nest 