tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57642938822084431492024-03-05T05:51:08.555+01:00Geoff's Poetry BlogGeoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-4988580205641106932021-11-06T22:51:00.000+01:002021-11-06T22:51:43.950+01:00Illustrating My Poetry<div><span style="font-size: medium;">Recently I started a project, the purpose of which was to do my own illustrations of selected poems that I've written over the years. Some were </span><span style="font-size: large;">written </span><span style="font-size: large;">very recently and others were written over 40 years ago. Here's the first 5 of the selected poems with their illustrations. (The text of two of the poems have been scanned in from a slim volume of poetry, 'Behind The Mask', that I had published in 1981.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Psychology Of The Legion Within</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Why do those memories of embarrassment and shame</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Touch some people who dwell inside this house?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Why do they wish to compromise on some worthwhile aim</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And drink the dirty water instead of some fine wine?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The mediator looks to find the spouse</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And tries to urge all the imposters to resign.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The house is where, along with dozens quite unwell,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Good householders and stewards also live.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">They work and help those victims of a hypnotic spell</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">To find the rightful places for fulfilling all their needs.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">In taking there's the kindness that we give</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">When closing off the doors to where indulgence leads.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Impressionist and comic, footballer and fool,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Actor and singer climb on to the stage</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Where each will reign for just a little while as a rule,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The rule that not a single one of them can see</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">But then he enters and he turns the page,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The master of the house brings home the will to Be.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtUV1xbM5tBQeTSdwgA2ilG_DYix1f4mqbj1FxPlbAQLmQbuzQgB19DgcX76HHQi2g7o8NwEZnXG9_xfmnEcydeyytAnoLuf5owY3ainQ1Ncw9KCLuyQydZ1dXWE4UvFMlgKl6AOEdI8/s2048/Balanced+Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1742" data-original-width="2048" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtUV1xbM5tBQeTSdwgA2ilG_DYix1f4mqbj1FxPlbAQLmQbuzQgB19DgcX76HHQi2g7o8NwEZnXG9_xfmnEcydeyytAnoLuf5owY3ainQ1Ncw9KCLuyQydZ1dXWE4UvFMlgKl6AOEdI8/w400-h340/Balanced+Man.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QBrCIe-8YOyAfVSZReCovcZMbfE7XylwzmztpIljV5iaPY_El1KusqNVnlTYqD4JPmIxn9CsTxLtB7VPZf92Nv0s1YlLP0UgifspJfHBM9WrjuSWiaxxEz2qyXUT5rRQFFM6mrYzDVs/s1920/Animal+Sense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1655" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QBrCIe-8YOyAfVSZReCovcZMbfE7XylwzmztpIljV5iaPY_El1KusqNVnlTYqD4JPmIxn9CsTxLtB7VPZf92Nv0s1YlLP0UgifspJfHBM9WrjuSWiaxxEz2qyXUT5rRQFFM6mrYzDVs/w558-h640/Animal+Sense.jpg" width="558" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTTA650s2hH7vOVgafd_3LTiaJc6okCimpKNt1ZQkrMAtV_1FtfWrAV2xh_Yaeo61ZZTRa2aZGG4IpNeQDIcP_j8NOWkDNZcR4S9Kp2uLtVBkNCcobEvW0_MpzcoLEXC-3DkyWIQ6ccs/s2048/Animal+Sense+Drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1371" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTTA650s2hH7vOVgafd_3LTiaJc6okCimpKNt1ZQkrMAtV_1FtfWrAV2xh_Yaeo61ZZTRa2aZGG4IpNeQDIcP_j8NOWkDNZcR4S9Kp2uLtVBkNCcobEvW0_MpzcoLEXC-3DkyWIQ6ccs/w400-h268/Animal+Sense+Drawing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: times; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: times; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: times; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Empty Vessels</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none !important; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; transition-property: none !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">To win a friendship back</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Lost, through the tangled overgrowth</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Of motives misunderstood and feared</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">It is difficult. It is difficult.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">But not impossible.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">The faith which moves mountains</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Does not move mountains</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">It merely watches them slide away</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Clear the decks, round the vision</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Answer to the soul</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">With a curious precision</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">For longing and wanting</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Are symptomatic of division</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">And Being is beyond</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Where conflict has no hold </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">And empty vessels</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Carry gold. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtvj9NIRGCK2cyfTg4v35n_0yIB0TVyN_bYxmeW0lGkPsWh70WT1LiKzeHSwkJmqfqqKsmAHTN3pcdwLmbyJIHWNHMb8VVaso_FK1HcrDh3wwV7zy-dhujFZNpWo9GwE5sWF5iYh94d9Q/s2048/Empty+Vessels_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1211" data-original-width="2048" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtvj9NIRGCK2cyfTg4v35n_0yIB0TVyN_bYxmeW0lGkPsWh70WT1LiKzeHSwkJmqfqqKsmAHTN3pcdwLmbyJIHWNHMb8VVaso_FK1HcrDh3wwV7zy-dhujFZNpWo9GwE5sWF5iYh94d9Q/w400-h236/Empty+Vessels_0002.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;"><br /></div></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: times; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Trolls And Keyboard Warriors</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none !important; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; transition-property: none !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">How can I hate a stranger I've never met?</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Only it is not 'I' but 'it' that hates</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Because 'it' only relates</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">To black or white and yes or no</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">And is really rather slow</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">To acknowledge any debt.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none !important; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; transition-property: none !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">So if not 'it' then who am 'I'?</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">'I' live beyond the opposites</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">And put together all the broken bits.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Albeit being hard to reach</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">It is only 'I' can really teach,</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;">Give comfort, create and unify.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghV8juAQlgkQRy-V13XYfw8v-wvrUF55LGkFf0kMRfiiVnnFLzKPpX2M-RXcsllclOvZaaIXgVkdrZ73m8to18Pc6sEoig4Gi2TV8HQe-JLP-BLX29L5wfWcakLGTWbVspw683KrmJ520/s2048/Poem+For+Trolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1246" data-original-width="2048" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghV8juAQlgkQRy-V13XYfw8v-wvrUF55LGkFf0kMRfiiVnnFLzKPpX2M-RXcsllclOvZaaIXgVkdrZ73m8to18Pc6sEoig4Gi2TV8HQe-JLP-BLX29L5wfWcakLGTWbVspw683KrmJ520/w400-h244/Poem+For+Trolls.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; transition-property: none !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlzml1S78RgevL7poH5VlYy8b8vYQr5X2WCicYVwM-ygdfc1yfhJiaVChe-5eep12WtPyZ6JKVzCy553ImdR02mSK-suwpiAoDsfdXb8UuPLU2EOzoeYZxi1lBUauTmzzgWEhjcYZFpY/s1661/Poem+At+The+Breakfast+Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="1661" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlzml1S78RgevL7poH5VlYy8b8vYQr5X2WCicYVwM-ygdfc1yfhJiaVChe-5eep12WtPyZ6JKVzCy553ImdR02mSK-suwpiAoDsfdXb8UuPLU2EOzoeYZxi1lBUauTmzzgWEhjcYZFpY/w400-h250/Poem+At+The+Breakfast+Table.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div></span></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikA3trywWWIMOs_dd_vVNGam86xRUdoCbMAQIU1BhEROv7G3TiUsecKsowrGYnGw9uSJudmUVM-OraRJY7FknfkMXqnqvfwCw9lNEOes-9Z3zzU0s-du-YyEa3sHX5stpC5Ow7-Wy2o4I/s2048/Broken+egg+shell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="2048" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikA3trywWWIMOs_dd_vVNGam86xRUdoCbMAQIU1BhEROv7G3TiUsecKsowrGYnGw9uSJudmUVM-OraRJY7FknfkMXqnqvfwCw9lNEOes-9Z3zzU0s-du-YyEa3sHX5stpC5Ow7-Wy2o4I/w400-h241/Broken+egg+shell.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">© Geoff Davis</span></span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-3328094569492447762021-01-22T18:17:00.000+01:002021-01-22T18:17:33.028+01:00Psychology Of The Legion Within<div style="text-align: left;">Why do those memories of embarrassment and shame<br />Touch some people who dwell inside this house?</div><div style="text-align: left;">Why do they wish to compromise on some worthwhile aim</div><div style="text-align: left;">And drink the dirty water instead of some fine wine?</div><div style="text-align: left;">The mediator looks to find the spouse</div><div style="text-align: left;">And tries to urge all the imposters to resign.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The house is where, along with dozens quite unwell,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Good householders and stewards also live.</div><div style="text-align: left;">They work and help those victims of a hypnotic spell</div><div style="text-align: left;">To find the rightful places for fulfilling all their needs.</div><div style="text-align: left;">In taking there's the kindness that we give</div><div style="text-align: left;">When closing off the doors to where indulgence leads.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Impressionist and comic, footballer and fool,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Actor and singer climb on to the stage</div><div style="text-align: left;">Where each will reign for just a little while as a rule,</div><div style="text-align: left;">The rule that not a single one of them can see</div><div style="text-align: left;">But then he enters and he turns the page,</div><div style="text-align: left;">The master of the house brings home the will to Be.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;">© Geoff Davis 2021</span></div>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-63482283047387725222020-08-30T10:55:00.000+02:002020-08-30T10:55:20.225+02:00I Fear For The Country<div style="text-align: justify;">I fear for the country in which I was raised. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear for my friends and relatives there. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In government and press the dark actors scare</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And fools and con men are being praised.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear for the country in which I was born.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear that Britons forever will be slaves,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Manipulated into digging the graves</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of conscience and listening, on which they heap scorn.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear for the country which gave me life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear that its arrogance and lack of remorse</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Will blow its future so wildly off course</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That division and violence will surely be rife.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear for the country from whence I came.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I fear its delusions about having clout</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the unwise language being bandied about.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One day we will suffer from having no shame.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2020</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-7830665496971049082020-05-31T10:25:00.000+02:002020-05-31T10:26:33.771+02:00Poem For Trolls And Keyboard Warriors<span style="font-size: small;">How can I hate a stranger I've never met?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Only it is not 'I' but 'it' that hates</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Because 'it' only relates</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">To black or white and yes or no</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">And is really rather slow</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">To acknowledge any debt.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So if not 'it' then who am 'I?'</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">'I' live beyond the opposites</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">And put together all the broken bits.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Albeit being hard to reach</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It is only 'I' can really teach,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Give comfort, create and unify. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2020</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-69224599477459784892020-02-01T11:11:00.000+01:002020-02-01T11:11:51.467+01:00There Is No Healing Or Democracy <i>(I started to write this just five hours after the UK left the EU )</i><br />
<br />
There is no healing or democracy<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> Without conscience and impartiality<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> If my unconscious reactions get the better of me<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> Without being manipulation or propaganda free<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> If 'active' listening is alien to me<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> With division and intolerance in ascendency <br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> While red tops provoke fury and negativity<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> When money talks through ever more profanity<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> With people's lives just a game or strategy<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> If elected representatives show no integrity<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> When information given is shorn of honesty<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> When service gives way to hostility<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> if it's lies and deception that lead to victory<br /> There is no healing or democracy<br /> If a head of state speaks with clearly discernible insincerity.</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2020</span></span>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-50239691616997290342019-08-10T11:01:00.000+02:002019-08-10T11:01:51.346+02:00Home Thoughts From Abroad In The EU<i>Last night I woke up at four o'clock and couldn't get back to sleep because there were all these lines of original verse entering my head, which I was powerless to stop. An hour later I got up, made myself a cup of tea and put everything that was in my head down on paper. (Then I went back to bed and slept for another four hours.) So, having tipped my hat to Robert Browning, Clifford T Ward and Dylan Thomas (but not to the present UK government) this is the result:-</i><br />
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<br />
<b>Home Thoughts From Abroad In The EU</b><br />
<br />
With the dimming of the faulty Albion light<br />
PM Boris has ignored our plight<br />
But then I hate my country, so a commenter said<br />
On social media for the living dead.<br />
<br />
With the dimming of the faulty Albion light<br />
Who else is there has ignored out plight?<br />
The purveyor of standards, the BBC,<br />
That beacon of objectivity!<br />
<br />
With the dimming of the faulty Albion light<br />
There are hedge fund managers who express delight<br />
At the falling pound. They don't give a shit<br />
If our savings and pensions sink with it.<br />
<br />
With the dimming of the faulty Albion light<br />
They do not go gentle into that good night,<br />
Each crashing out like a raging bull<br />
And their intestines now are more than full.<br />
<br />
But when I peer into a crystal ball<br />
I see a poorly assembled cabinet fall<br />
And the Telegraph, Mail, Sun and Express,<br />
Their reputations trashed, oh yes!<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2019</span></span><br />
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<b> </b><br />
<br />Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-6690709716238628602019-03-29T18:14:00.000+01:002019-06-27T16:07:16.448+02:00Privileged Sons And Potted Plants<i>This morning, while online, I kept on coming across the fact that the conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg had once referred to people who were educated at state schools as "potted plants" and implied that they weren't likely to be able to write a literate letter. So it inspired me to write a poem which, as so often happens, ended up a little more abstruse than I intended!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<b>Privileged Sons And Potted Plants</b><br />
<br />
"Youth is wasted on the young!" is attributed to Oscar Wilde<br />
Or George Bernard Shaw, who really knows?<br />
There are privileged sons on whom the gift of literacy is wasted.<br />
Potted plants are immeasurably less defiled<br />
Than a one dimensional intelligence that shows<br />
How real understanding has never yet been tasted.<br />
<br />
If manners maketh man it is also true that they conceal<br />
A reigning chaos in those unconscious parts<br />
Where devils, angels, simpletons and intellect collide.<br />
The persona is reluctant to reveal<br />
The habitual nature of some darker arts<br />
Where service of the ego feeds the individual pride.<br />
<br />
"The potted plants, they have no minds so there's nothing they can change.<br />
Mass hypnosis fodder, all of them you see!"<br />
Ah, but if some should question, breathe and move and wonder<br />
If there is something really rather strange<br />
About force feeding suggestibility,<br />
A privileged son may find that he is torn asunder.<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2019</span></span><br />
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<br />Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-3485339297129802582019-03-19T19:29:00.000+01:002019-03-19T21:00:25.077+01:00Poems Inspired By My Parents' Final Years<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's almost six years since I wrote a post for this blog but the other day I was looking at a series of poems that I wrote during the final years of my parents' lives when I was acting as a carer for them. Many were so personal that I didn't want to share them at first. However, it's now well over a decade since I wrote them so there's a little more distance from the intense emotions that I was experiencing when I wrote them - anger, frustration, fear, regret, love, hope, despair and so on. Not all of the poems are of the same quality and there are certain things that I wrote then that I still feel a bit uncomfortable about because the targets for some of my anger seem inappropriate. Anyway, here they all are in all their naked glory!</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Going Home</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was once a community here.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now all these lives seem unconnected,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The middle-aged and strong</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have turned elderly, infirm</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And that strength which so affected</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And comforted me in growing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Has given way to dependence</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On Home Care and relatives’ giving</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And refuge in old-fashioned song</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And a zimmer frame in the corner of the Living-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Room where books and sentiment affirm</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How difficult the simple and pragmatic</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seems to be.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Old age has to struggle through the gloom</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of indifference and invisibility.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Able-Bodied for Eighty-Five Years</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Able-bodied for eighty-five years</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then there’s breathlessness and tears</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Osteo-arthritic groans</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And a need for cordless phones.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Culture Clash</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Are you ashamed of your mobile phone?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No, I’m ashamed of that commercial,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The messages and signals that it gives,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Its hollow, shallow, worthless tone</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Imploring us to spend, spend, yes - spend!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On items that we do not need,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ignoring common sense and balance</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Desensitising Conscience</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So that we laugh instead of cry</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At Alzheimer’s victims binning old men’s dentures</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(Now isn’t that drole!)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the NHS hospital ensemble ward</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For the elderly rational and irrational alike;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And anomalous targets are the main control</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">From a one dimensional blinkered intelligence,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oblivious of subtlety and nuance.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How you fools betray</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The doctors, nurses, care workers,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Therapists and physios</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the twilight world</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where theory and abstraction flows</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And confrontation with dismay</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Touches us only briefly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And not long enough to act</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Freely, unaffected by formulas and networks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or crumbling infrastructures.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yes, crumbling infrastructures,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That 21st century cliche</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is still a depressing fact.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Corporate</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Corporate dress and corporate speak</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And corporate strength is corporate "weak"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But corporate "weak" will cause its death</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Through all-polluting corporate breath.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dial-A-Ride</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The elderly man dialled a ride</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the dial-a-ride driver came to call</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But the dial-a-ride driver stood and watched</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As the elderly man took a fall.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He took a fall and broke his arm,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The dial-a-ride driver was most upset,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As well he might have been; his sleep</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Allowed him somehow to forget</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When dealing with the old and frail</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How it should be incumbent on</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Each one of us to help and guide,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not watch like an automaton!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Things Of Priceless Value</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let us patronise the elderly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And poke fun at them. After all,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a grouping they are not protected</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By what is and by what is not PC.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let us be indifferent to their needs,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Practical and financial,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And forget about their dignity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their knowledge is outdated,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their experience irrelevant</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And their outlook misdirected.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You see, evolution feeds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On energy and bright ideas and</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The drive to forge ahead,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not making jam and planting seeds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nor giving an attentive quality</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To outmoded crafts</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nor even an active effort</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To understand!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When will we all wake up and see</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That change is merely change in detail.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That’s all.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No worse nor better usually</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But different, although</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We seem to have developed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A certain recklessness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In letting things of priceless value go.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Investors In People</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Investors In People, they wear that badge with pride.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now am I missing something or</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is that worthy title being rather misapplied?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If it were investment in staff and larger salaries</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then good, but the fashion for cosmetic window dressing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Has to leave me far from sure.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The corporate gloss which doctors spin,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Transparent as a windowpane</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With promises of greater blessing,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is laughable to care workers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Working with the elderly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On hourly rates of little more</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Than the minimum wage.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now what a way to treat those souls</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who choose to serve and help</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And in so doing, perhaps,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have sacrificed what might appear to be</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A much more glamorous stage!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Mother</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When you witness your own mother unable</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To cook and clean and dust,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And set or clear the table,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your Conscience shakes you</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With all those memories of</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Youthful laziness and folly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When self-indulgence takes you.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I must try</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In my own small way</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To give what I can</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As she gave,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Giving for the sake of giving.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And whatever ego driven plan</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have to put on hold,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Without resentment,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Without fear,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And simply do</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whatever may be necessary,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No matter how my natural rhythms</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Come into play</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And wish to interfere.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Thank You My Employers</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thank you my employers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For writing to tell me</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of the importance of a dress code.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yes, I shall wear a tie</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On my return</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But news of paid career breaks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Would have been more welcome</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So this reminder</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I shall have to burn.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You see, mum has trouble breathing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When she tries to walk</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And dad struggles not to fall</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Without his zimmer frame</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So what you think important</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is to me</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rather trivial, rather tame.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Until We Question</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until we question the culture we’ve created</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where status carries more weight than Being,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where the lust for consuming has blunted</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our intuitive sensitivity to need,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are incapable of seeing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which impressions feed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Us with wholesome food</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And which corrode our insides.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until we question our justifications,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our fixed ideas and bias</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And our artificial guides</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are incapable of Knowing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That silent space within</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which confides</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In a greater, all embracing Silence</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which knows the ephemeral nature</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of noise and clutter.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is there and it is not there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And momentarily perhaps</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We can banish violence</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But not the ether, nor the air</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until we question.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>I Never Dreamed</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I never dreamed that I would feel nostalgia for</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Those Saturday morning outings,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With mum at eighty-one and dad at eighty three,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To the Central Library</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then a tea or coffee with cake</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the Cathedral Refectory.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their bodies stooped,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The walking pace was slow</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But still their steps, at least, were sure</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And that was just four years ago.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So four years on</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Advanced old age digs in</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And neither now sets foot outside</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their own front door,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Clinging by a slender thread</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To independence in their home</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of forty-three years.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I witness the painful ruthlessness of time</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And do my best to ease</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The discomfort and the dread</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of what’s to come.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The painful ruthlessness of time is evident</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In all those photo albums where I see</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">An incredibly good-looking couple</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Smiling out at me,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Walking along the front at Weston-Super-Mare</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or outside a chalet in Westward Ho!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I owe my life to what they had then</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the nineteen-forties and fifties</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And all my life they have been there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And when they go</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I know</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That I will never see them walk again</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My conviction and belief</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is that I shall weep as much in gratitude</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As I shall weep in grief.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Respite? Ha ha!</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The cost of five hours respite care</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is more than the weekly rate of Attendance Allowance then.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There goes my day out.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will have to knock it on the head.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wonder what someone on the Rich List,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(That the media so kindly gifts us with),</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Does in my position.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Do they have any tips for me,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These shining beacons of light</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And models of humility</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And of restraint?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You see, I have a salary</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pro rata, of just over 15K</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which in the context of a third world state</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is hardly cause</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For justifiable complaint</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But here in good old Blighty,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With the newspapers’ fondest game</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seeming to be to speculate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On what fantastic money</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Everybody on TV</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or in entertainment</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Gets but surely doesn’t earn,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It rather sticks in my throat,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Especially now, as I choose to work part-time</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To enable me to give</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Help to those closest to me,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Invalided by old age</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And perhaps betrayed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By economic theorists</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And puppet politicians</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whose persuasive tones and justifying lines,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Articulated well,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And voiced as blueprints</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For a future heaven,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Are oblivious of patterns and important signs</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And bring to some,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who’ve lived pretty blameless lives,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">An undeserving hell.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The Afternoon Show and the Visit</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was driving home to the afternoon show</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve Wright was talking to Russell Crowe</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About Professor John Nash and A Beautiful Mind</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And how the poor genius’s health declined,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The support of his wife who lived with his pain</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And how he adapted and triumphed again.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then Russell said how hard it must be</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For any couple to stay and to see</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Through forty years together, of life,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Honouring commitment as husband and wife.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That evening I went with my mum to see dad.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Over fifty-three years of marriage they’d had.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He was recovering in a hospital bed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I told them both of what Russell had said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Staying together was hard? Not for us.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We just got on with it all without fuss.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some people may have a spouse who will try</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To impose their own views and their thoughts, but then why?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We allowed each other to have our own minds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And to go with the flow as each moment unwinds."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then mum stopped and paused for a while</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And looking at dad she said with a smile,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"What would I have done without you dear?"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A cliché I know, but very sincere,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It made me feel strange and humble and proud</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To "be" in this moment our misfortune allowed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Administration</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are more unpaid carers in this Country</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Than paid care workers in the NHS</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So someone said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And for every administrator</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There isn’t even a hospital bed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So someone else remarked.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But never mind, if you’re young</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You could go private instead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the elderly?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They’d be better off dead!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dreams Of Happiness And Bliss</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We all dream of happiness and bliss,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Will grant us this</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I am tired of how haphazard</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And how erratic all this is.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I do not want to know celebrity gossip</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or who is in the A-list</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or to learn about the details</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of their phenomenal wealth.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It makes my stomach turn</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I’m confronted with the fact</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of the ailing health</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of those of modest means</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whose lifetime of honest toil</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Invokes little gratitude</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or concern.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Young Man</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Young man,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Adrenalin-fuelled twat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Behind the steering wheel</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of a car driven recklessly,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I would rather see you dead</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Than the gentle old man</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who can still sense and feel.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His sudden disability</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Compromises his dignity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But still he can smile and respond</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With kindness and courtesy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Geoff Davis © 2002</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Two Worlds</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His sheets are soaked in urine again</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While the world reads about celebrity strain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Washing machine or the laundry for that?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While the world feeds upon celebrity tat.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Must wash my hands since I’ve handled it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Paparazzi have snapped a celebrity tit!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But do leg-bags and catheters exist</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the world of the celebrity double A-list?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If one day their world should turn rather flat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then normal people will rejoice at that.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Thoughtlessness And Sleep</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Acts of deliberate evil are comparatively rare</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But thoughtlessness and sleep are always there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Married to a seeming innocence</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which proves destructive,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The haphazard energies it drives</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Plays havoc with our lives.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So thanks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To all those charlatans and cranks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who warned us of the dangers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of thoughtlessness and sleep;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While academics, commentators, politicians too</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These types are not afflicted</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their thoughts are so profound and deep</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so it is that they are strangers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To the world of thoughtlessness and sleep!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2002</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Let Us Plunder The War Chest</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let us plunder the war chest</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And avoid frying Iraqi soldiers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And collaterally damaging (ha!) the innocents.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No, let us use the money and invest</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In more peaceful interventions.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, for instance, several billion pounds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Would really boost our old age pensions</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And help pay carers for the elderly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">More like what they deserve.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I say, "Fuck you George W Bush and fuck you Tony Blair!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I rather think you have a nerve</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When you give us all this bullshit</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About how you really care</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And pretend you have a conscience</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When it clearly isn’t there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although your pseudo conscience speaks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With a somewhat tainted odour.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Obnoxious? Yes, it reeks!"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2002</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Uncomfortably Limiting</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I do find it distressing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How the lives of those</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who gave me sustenance,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With the onset of advanced old age,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Appear uncomfortably limiting.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We continue to make assumptions</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About how we are evolving</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When there is much</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which is regressing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The degenerative stage</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of the physical body</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mirrors something in the collective psyche</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And where it is naïve</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About such</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Issues as problem solving,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shifting taboos,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The inevitability</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of conflict;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And it’s struggle to believe</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With conviction</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How egoism is disastrous for us all</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And we all lose.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>A Photograph From 1948</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of late</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have been looking at a photograph</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">From 1948</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And what is it I am seeing?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A beautiful young couple</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With an extraordinary chemistry between them</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which ensured</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That I came into being.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Shit</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shit in his trousers and shit in his pants</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shit on the seat and shit in the pan.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shit, shit hilarious shit</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which isn’t so funny for this elderly man.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shit on the carpet, shit on my hand</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And shit on the tube to his catheter,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So shit! Let’s joke once again about it</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because it’s a laugh when these things occur!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He’s never had this problem before</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So what on earth has now gone wrong?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Was it the lactulose solution and</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The movicol were a little too strong</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For relieving constipation then?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ll have to take a shower so</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The shit on my arm and shit on my cheek</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Will hopefully wash away and go!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>This Man Is My Father</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This man is my father</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And how I feel his lack!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He does not smell</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The fragrance of spring’s early bloom</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or walk as well</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As I do.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It hurts to see his sadness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It hurts to see him weak,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This old and noble man</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whose blameless life</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Deserves a kinder closing scene.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I only hope and pray</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That God will intervene</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And guide him peacefully away</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or fill him with the strength</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To stay.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The Day My Father Died</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The day my father died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The staff nurse from the hospital telephoned to let us know</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Your father passed away," she said, "ten minutes ago"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I cried.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The day my father died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I walked to the Post Office and back</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And every voice and sound</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And revving car engine</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Seemed to lack</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Any sort of Conscious Life;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I wondered if this world</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’m passing through</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is the real world of death,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Driven by a restless energy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Possessing and controlling us</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In contrast to the peace and stillness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of my father’s face</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">After drawing his last breath.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The day my father died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I lay awake upon my bed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At some mid-evening hour</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And my tiny room was host</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To an energy of such</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rare quality and power</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That I could sense</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The circulation of my blood</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And every ounce of flesh</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">From head to toe.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Something so immense,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">An in-pouring of love and gratitude</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which fast became a flood.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Comforter was there,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Whatever you perceive</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Comforter to be,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Turning my bereavement</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And my sorrow</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Into an other-worldly ecstasy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The day my father died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hated you, Professor Dawkins</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then I laughed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At that proud intellect</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So one-dimensional and unintelligent</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In a wider sense</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And blind enough to say</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That any extraordinary experience,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which ordinary language</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And scientific formulas</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cannot convey,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is illusory.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Professor Dawkins,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My father knew</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He was no Pythagoras</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And nor are you.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Three Weeks Later</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Something’s come over me," he said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three weeks later he was dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I don’t believe in anything," he said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three weeks later he was dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I don’t want to do anything," he said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three weeks later he was dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I don’t think anything matters," he said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three weeks later he was dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"You think things matter," he said</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I paused and scratched my head.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Most of the things that we think matter," I replied</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just three weeks before he died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Don’t matter in the least," I sighed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just three weeks before he died.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"But some things matter," I replied</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just three weeks before he died.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"And there is never nothing," I replied</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just three weeks before he died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"There is always something," I replied</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just three weeks before he died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"So I believe in something," I sighed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just three weeks before he died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Even if I don’t know what that something is," I said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three weeks later he was dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Yes," he said. "There’s always that."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And that concluded our little chat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I like to think that discourse gave</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Something he took with him to the grave.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>We Lie</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Beyond our network</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of family and longstanding friends</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are strangers, all;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prone to swift judgement</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We build a wall</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Beyond our comfort and our space</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And closing up, we fall</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back into the land of labels</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where she’s too frumpy or too brassy,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Much too common or too classy:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He’s an arsehole or a prick,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His accent tells us all he’s thick.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the terror of the situation</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We lie,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Impartial judgement can’t apply.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Personal Development Portfolio</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are neighbours</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who are kind</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there are Public Service procedures</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which are blind.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is giving</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which responds to need</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there is accounting and administration</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which follows an entirely different creed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is sensing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there is active feeling</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there is automatic reaction and behaviour</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which is sadly revealing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Intuition and innate sensitivity,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You know,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Doesn’t always come with</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A Personal Development Portfolio.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dear Father (After Your Passing On March 5th 2003)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Despite my grief, bereavement and my pain,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And how your passing left me so distressed,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps in passing when you did, dear father,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You were blessed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And although I miss your ego-less humility,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now you’ve shuffled off this mortal coil,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You never witnessed the killing that had no connection</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With oil.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You were spared the horrors on the TV screen,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The splintered skull with brains poured out</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And Iraqi children discovering there were limbs</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They were without.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You were too sensitive, too kind for such a time,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your keen intelligence never drove you where</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your ambition and "integrity" almost forced you</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not to care.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And driven are those men who authorised</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The use of force to deal with Iraq</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who dared to trade its oil in Euros. "Impertinent!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Attack!"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Weapons of mass destruction." " Sexed up dossiers!"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You never used such hyperbolic terms.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You lived for painting and the garden that you shared</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With worms.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And now another man of simple dignity, like you,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A scientist almost thirty years your junior, has died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because we do not value the sacrifice of vanity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And pride.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nearly forty years ago, dear father, you wrote a play</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In which there were no actors playing any dark games.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We children then, perhaps, were sheltered from their cruelties</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And aims.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No more.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Geoff Davis © 2003</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>They Brought Me Up My Mum And Dad</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They brought me up my mum and dad</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And really did the best they could</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And whatever faults they had</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My ego never understood.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They brought me up my mum and dad</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And rooted for me everywhere</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And in essence I was glad</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At what would be intrinsic there.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So did they fuck me up? Well, no.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They helped me see another side</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Away from all the crap on show</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which nowadays is deified.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They brought me up my mum and dad</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With home made jam and works of art</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And all the books and games I had</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Played such a joyous, crucial part.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Brief Sketch</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He was fascinated by the weather</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And Victorian illustrations,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Phiz " and lenticular clouds;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Indifferent to status and expectations</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or the coming together</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of warring crowds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While his eyes were betraying</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A colossal indifference</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To spin and global brands,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And offering a healthy irreverence</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which seemed to be saying:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Asinine demands!"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Essence</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our essence is who we are.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our essence is the seat of the unconscious,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A creature sometimes needing to be tamed</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But never rationalised.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I remember the old man speaking candidly,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unashamed,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unable, and unwilling to hide.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Acquired aspects of personality</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Had loosened their grip,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Freeing him almost of false pride.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Nice View Of Spaniorum</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Nice view of Spaniorum today,"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He’d say.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now, beyond the hills and trees</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He sees</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The promise of something new</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ensue.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>They Think You’re Stupid If You’re Old</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They think you’re stupid if you’re old.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s the gammy leg and frailty,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You see?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They think you’re stupid if you’re old.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How can their world, so out of date,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Relate?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They think you’re stupid if you’re old.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She’s reading Buddenbrooks? My God!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How odd!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The Enemies Of God</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">All those who kill</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While proclaiming they do God’s will</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are the enemies of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some profess religious faith and yet</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These Western leaders soon forget</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That cluster bombs will maim and kill</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But still proclaim it as God’s will</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are the enemies of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And all those fools who beat the drum</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For suicide and martyrdom</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They really pay a heavy price</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And enter hell not paradise</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are the enemies of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Those whose arrogance will not see</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bulldozing homes as cruelty</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then endorsing murder, they</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Will justify the sad melee</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are the enemies of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And those pretending it divine</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To lay a new oil pipeline</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Through the Caucasus or Afghanistan,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Such men are hardly nobler than</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The enemies of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Contemporary man is poor at seeing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The measure and the worth of Being</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where Conscience speaks unsullied by</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The necessity to justify</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For Conscience is Presence, is Divine Will</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And Conscience, it can never kill</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And this a Truth which may seem odd</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To the enemies of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My father</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Was the enemy of no one.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2003</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dear Tony</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dear Tony</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You really should have understood</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That whereas Irwin Stelzer will always be more wealthy,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Well-connected" and "influential"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Than my daddy ever was</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He will never be as good.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then, we have Think Tanks that attract</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The pompous and self-important, but</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In terms of the stature of their Being</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They all come from Liliput</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That’s what my daddy used to say.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I believed him.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I still do.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Once I Was Weak And He Was Strong</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once I was weak and he was strong</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then I was strong and he was weak.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We drifted unobtrusively along</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As time was altering each physique.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His warm protective hand held mine</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then my own would comfort his.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The flesh is always subject to decline</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And what once was no longer is.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2004</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Tired Of Clichés</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am tired of clichés,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of being asked to walk that extra mile</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the world of corporate silliness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where any sense of real perspective</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is lost.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will walk that extra mile for my mother.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I tried to walk that extra mile for my father</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I cannot be unduly concerned</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">About the cost</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To my pocket or to "status".</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I do not wish to play the game</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In which the criteria for promotion</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is questionable at best</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And is laughable at worst.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am "highly motivated",</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With all the obligatory zeal and zest,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When it comes to helping</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My own flesh and blood.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"The pursuit of excellence"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Has to be sensed and felt</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And consistent with a real aim</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which comes from within,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Organic, true to whatever hand</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That destiny has dealt.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Cult Of Celebrity</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Several months before he died</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I asked dad if he knew who David Beckham was.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Is he a tennis player?" he replied.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think he deserved a medal for that.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His indifference to the cult of celebrity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Was not an affectation,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was complete.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Any sort of undue adulation</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Left him bewildered and bemused,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The thought of being famous anathema,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Its appeal something</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That he could never understand,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A promised land</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That he never wished to meet.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2004</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>We Are Blighted</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are blighted</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By our inability to adapt,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our inability to accept frustrations</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As an inevitable consequence of living,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our inability to empathise</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In crucial situations</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which demand rather more</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Than just a token "giving".</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are blighted</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By our inability to moderate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our expectations,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our inability to see the wonder</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In what is superficially mundane</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until the experience of suffering</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Helps us to perceive</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A little more objectively</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Again.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>We Can Afford</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We can afford useless gadgets and consultants’ fees</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fat cat pay offs and inflated salaries,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The squandering of our emotional and mental energies</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On worthless crappy superficialities.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the elderly? Well, the financial burden there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is such that we cannot afford to care.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We can afford all the wastage from murdered trees</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And leaflets offering credit facilities,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The obscene enormities of legal fees</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And costly commercials that everyone sees.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the elderly? Well, the financial burden there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is such that we cannot afford to care.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We can afford to pay millions to those luminaries</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who continue to grace the screens of TVs</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With their presence and smiles and endearing qualities</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which merit more zeroes on their salaries.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the elderly? Well, the financial burden there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is such that we cannot afford to care.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Geoff Davis © 2004</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>There Is A Gentleness</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a gentleness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which is neither soft nor sweet</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But emanates from strength.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a gentleness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which stills the storms and violence,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The anger and the lashing out,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The search for scapegoats and excuses.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And when the all familiar folly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shapes to repeat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a gentleness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which silences the neurotic</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And silences the lout.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even if in some strange context</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They both can have their uses.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a gentleness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which works from inner silence,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Soothing and hypnotic,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The inner chattering falls away</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And then</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a gentleness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Which is reflective in the face of loss,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Allows a real Conscience</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To speak.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is only when violence and frustration</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Come into play</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Again</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That I should ask myself</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Why am I so weak?"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2004</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Girl With a Pearl Earring</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Girl with a pearl earring</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mum and I watched the movie on DVD</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And how we’d wished that dad had been here,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With his extensive knowledge of Art History,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To feed the interest we were discovering</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the life of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer -</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Evoking memories of a funeral</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When dad was gazing out over the cemetery.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Think of all the knowledge that these people had."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He said. "Is it really lost for all eternity?"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And reflection soothes the unbearable</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With hope discovered in something sad.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2004</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The Morning After Kennedy Was Assassinated</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The morning after Kennedy was assassinated</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was playing football with other nine-year-olds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the patch of grass between Gilslake and Okebourne</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And not knowing how to feel somehow,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sensing the impact on the grown-up world.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Words like "shock" and "devastated"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Were ringing in my ears from the news bulletins</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Broadcast on the radio and TV.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mum and dad were younger then,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Younger then than I am now.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And now, over forty years later</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How strange that I’ve returned</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To the scene of my formative years</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To be a carer to my mum</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just a few weeks after dad had passed away.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is just over three hundred yards</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">From mum’s house to my flat.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I walk it several times a day</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And watch as a new generation appears</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And still the children play</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the same patch of grass</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although several trees have grown there now</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the girls join in the football</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And do keepie-uppies just as we used to.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">These children turn cartwheels,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ride push- bikes, play cards</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A long way from shock and devastation</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And to be a witness gives me hope.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2004</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Received Wisdom</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While weird mystic cults</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Engage in the satanic practises</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of cookery, gardening, pottery and art</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Catholic politicians tell the truth</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With sincerity, integrity and heart.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The mystic-philosopher</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Brainwashes his victims into rejecting violence,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Forcing disassociation from the brute</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the ethically faultless tabloid press</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Will warn of the dangers of that route.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So desert your meditation practices!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And play computer games instead!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The received wisdom that you hear</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the lounge bar of each pub</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is so much better for your head.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Just After Mum Had Had A Stroke</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where has that voice and smile gone?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The delight at Stephen Gerrard scoring</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or hearing a Joni Mitchell song like</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Marcie or Both Sides Now?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She is old, I know, but how unkind</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That such a sudden fall should take away</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The speech which she relied upon</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At a stroke.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Clearly visible, behind</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The near fruitless efforts to communicate,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Is the fierce intelligence I knew last week,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The sum total of ninety years of life. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The years of cooking recipes and tending roses,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of reading Thomas Mann and Herman Hesse,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of being a mother and a wife</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who always cared and showed an interest</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And was obsessed with never being late!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Already I miss her voice</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the woman that she was</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And will never be again</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Or so the pessimist in me supposes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is a son's duty to honour and cherish his mother</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So Gurdjieff reminded us.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, I felt a sense of obligation</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I have tried, I have tried</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had no other choice.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>State Sanctioned Theft</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Deprived of the pleasure of eating and drinking</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(She cannot swallow, she cannot chew)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And deprived of speech she cannot talk.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She has right-side paralysis</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So she cannot sit up and she cannot walk,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Doubly incontinent, bed-ridden, weak</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now here is the cruelty which will set you thinking:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Her primary needs are not health care related!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wish I could say her case was unique</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But Governments and managers are criteria led</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">With little plain English communicated</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And anyway, the infirm elderly will soon be dead</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So what matters a home, what matters the law</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What matters the ruling in a High Court Appeal?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mother is stable, predictable you see</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So that Social Care is all it could be</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And that could authorise the state santioned theft</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of a home, by God, they will struggle to steal!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">© Geoff Davis 2007</span></span><br />
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Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-1567627469193309832013-06-02T14:04:00.001+02:002014-09-16T14:58:15.101+02:00Dreams Of Happiness And Bliss<div class="webs-bin" id="webs-bin-5190c41d0cf24fdc7460a319">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span class=" wz-bold">I wrote this poem over 10 years ago, while I was acting as a carer for my parents when they were very old and fragile, but re-reading it yesterday made me think how relevant the content is to what is happening in the world today, with a virtual mainstream media blackout on stories which show up governments in an especially bad light. I'm thinking especially about disabled and extremely sick people in the UK who have suffered as a result of the Work Capability Assessment as conducted by ATOS on behalf of the DWP.</span></i></span><br />
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<span class=" wz-bold"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span class=" wz-bold">Dreams Of Happiness And Bliss</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">We all dream of happiness and bliss,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">That the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Will grant us this</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">But I am tired of how haphazard</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">And how erratic all this is.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">I do not want to know celebrity gossip</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Or who is in the A-list</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Or to learn about the details</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Of their phenomenal wealth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">It makes my stomach turn</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">When I’m confronted with the fact</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Of the ailing health</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Of those of modest means</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Whose lifetime of honest toil</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Invokes little gratitude</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Or concern.</span><br />
<br />
© Geoff Davis<span id=""></span><br />
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Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-71004692816691977932013-04-01T08:46:00.000+02:002013-04-01T08:48:01.312+02:00The Powerful SlaveGive me control of a nation's money supply<br />
And I will control its people<br />
But I cannot control my greed<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my greed.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my arrogance<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my arrogance.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my bogus sense of superiority<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my bogus sense of superiority.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my negative reactions<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my negative reactions.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my habit of self-justification<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my habit of self-justification.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my unconscious manifestations<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my unconscious manifestations.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control the indifference to suffering<br />
Fuelled by my subjective opinions<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to the indifference to suffering<br />
Fuelled by my subjective opinions.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my violent temper<br />
Rearing its ugly head<br />
When confronted with opposing points of view<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my violent temper<br />
Rearing its ugly head<br />
When confronted by opposing points of view.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control a sense of false pride<br />
At my prestigious position in the big society<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to a sense of false pride<br />
At my prestigious position in the big society.<br />
I am not free.<br />
<br />
I cannot control my willingness<br />
To send people to their deaths<br />
Rather than concede that I could be wrong<br />
So I am not master of myself.<br />
I am a slave to my willingness<br />
To send people to their deaths<br />
Rather than concede that I could be wrong.<br />
I am not free.<br />
I am death itself<br />
Even though I walk and talk and breathe.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: small;">© Geoff Davis 2013</span></span><br />
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<br />Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-83463203902883840952013-03-09T09:26:00.001+01:002013-03-09T09:26:32.800+01:00Holy War<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><span>I was inspired to write this poem after watching a TV documentary "la guerra Santa" on the History Channel last night.</span></span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><i> </i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Holy War</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There is no
such thing as a Holy war</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For no war
is ever Holy, nor</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Can men,
who are more</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Than mad
machines, ever kill</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Or commit
indiscriminate mass murder</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Then
rejoice and shriek, “God is Great!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That is the
ultimate blasphemy,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
ultimate heresy,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
ultimate apostasy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Such
creatures are the true <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kafir</i>,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Light-years
away from Seeing,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Light-years
away from Being.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Who can
cure</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Their
psychological blindness and paralysis?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Whatever
you conceive God to be</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">God can
only ever be Great</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When “men”
struggle with their capacity</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For hatred,
hostility and contempt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">God can
only ever be Great</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When “men”
struggle with their tendency</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To judge
while justifying</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Their own
words and deeds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">God can
only ever be Great</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When “men”
struggle with their capacity</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For vanity
and misplaced self-confidence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">God can
only ever be Great</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When “men”
struggle with their tendency</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To be
impatient, self absorbed and intolerant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">God can
only ever be Great</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When “men”
question their certainties,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Stripped of
objectivity, those certainties</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Which all
that is false in them</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Holds dear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Those two
words: Holy War</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Were never
intended for the ears and minds</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Of mad
machines and literalist brutes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Perhaps we
should change our language:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Inner
Struggle is a term that suits.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">© Geoff
Davis</span></div>
Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-71305592062025780012012-11-06T14:26:00.003+01:002012-11-06T14:47:34.914+01:00Atos Kills (A Sort of Sonnet)<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Since I left the UK for Sardinia I've been keeping in touch as best as I can with everything that's going on back home. Few things have touched me, or made me as angry and indignant, as what appears to be happening to very sick and disabled people who are having their benefits taken away as a result of a very crude test by ATOS called the Work Capability Assessment. It astonishes me that very senior politicians like Cameron, Grayling, Osbourne and Duncan Smith are turning their backs on the fact that a large number of people, who have been found fit for work as a result of a WCA test, are dying shortly after the test (something like between 32 and 73 a week depending on what figures you believe.) It's as though these politicians wish to pretend that this tragedy isn't happening.</span></i> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here's a poem I've written about <span style="font-size: x-small;">it</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">:-</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Atos Kills</span> <span style="font-size: large;">(A sort of sonnet)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">ATOS kills, or so they say,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The tragedy and distress,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Subterfuge, unholy mess;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's like a William Shakespeare play.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The laws of decency can't apply</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To sufferers of cancer, heart disease</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Or schizophrenia, if you please;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Found fit for work and then they die.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Zero points. Go get a job! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If you die it's hardly worse</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Than sponging off the public purse</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You weak, pathetic, scrounging slob!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Just think of all the dosh we'll save</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">While you are resting in your grave."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Geoff Davis © 2012 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-61212966085741616222012-05-11T19:04:00.001+02:002013-03-09T09:36:30.103+01:00Opening Stanza from Choruses from "The Rock" by T S Eliot<i>To date I have been using this blog in order to share my own work but there's something so profound and beautiful about these words of T S Eliot that I felt compelled to share them -</i><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Opening Stanza from Choruses from "The Rock"</b><br />
<br />
The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,<br />
The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.<br />
<br />
O perpetual revolution of configured stars,<br />
<br />
O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,<br />
<br />
O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying<br />
<br />
The endless cycle of idea and action,<br />
Endless invention, endless experiment,<br />
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;<br />
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;<br />
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.<br />
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,<br />
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,<br />
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.<br />
Where is the Life we have lost in living?<br />
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?<br />
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?<br />
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries<br />
Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442B7C000C070D">T. S. Eliot</a> (1888-1965),<br />
<a href="http://www.biblio.com/books/20152.html"><i>The Rock</i></a> (1934)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.wisdomportal.com/Technology/TSEliot-TheRock.html">http://www.wisdomportal.com/Technology/TSEliot-TheRock.html</a> </span>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-42628105466918943682012-01-03T17:42:00.000+01:002013-03-09T14:58:01.377+01:00Animal Sense<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLSWhm9Z3WqaLx9AajPED2xNFDlmnabwcERvareCMMD2ql20I7I2V8q5Dp64jSiwuQKDZfCc9RRpUH8Mg2zILgz6Ij0TvnKInvIUZYs3QnIIH0BxeoHcmyrTC4LkSRw-l4HanTebzYhz0/s1600/IMG.jpg" style="color: black;">This is a poem, from my smallpress collection <i>Behind The Mask</i>, that a lot of people seemed to like.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqQN6Lks5NhI4YfL61BE7nIFkGsoOZb0G6xPTPfV1avDTNUu39Nj_4bISlWH2VB0_kMQtuBlWzF9VQ5mPnvkXEKf5PfedY67LPIxBvVCrpIRRg8zq2HUgNzxC_fQYuMLu3KzazEYCMMk/s1600/IMGAS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqQN6Lks5NhI4YfL61BE7nIFkGsoOZb0G6xPTPfV1avDTNUu39Nj_4bISlWH2VB0_kMQtuBlWzF9VQ5mPnvkXEKf5PfedY67LPIxBvVCrpIRRg8zq2HUgNzxC_fQYuMLu3KzazEYCMMk/s640/IMGAS.jpg" width="418" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLSWhm9Z3WqaLx9AajPED2xNFDlmnabwcERvareCMMD2ql20I7I2V8q5Dp64jSiwuQKDZfCc9RRpUH8Mg2zILgz6Ij0TvnKInvIUZYs3QnIIH0BxeoHcmyrTC4LkSRw-l4HanTebzYhz0/s1600/IMG.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span> </a><br />
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<br />Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-49223347025381717922011-07-02T09:36:00.002+02:002011-07-02T14:10:18.914+02:00Che cos'è Dio?<i>(This is a translation into Italian of my poem <a href="http://geoffdavispoetry.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-is-god.html">What Is God?</a>) </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Che cos'è Dio?</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Dio è dove</span><br />
l'ego non ha voce,<br />
dove la Coscienza ha una oggettività<br />
più di una coscienza<br />
culturalmente o religiosamente condizionata,<br />
dove l'umiltà ha confidenza e innocenza e perspicacia<br />
che appartiene a tutti e a nessuno.<br />
<br />
Dio è dove<br />
ogni pensiero, sentimento e movimento violento<br />
sparisce in Silenzio,<br />
dove non c'e polemica<br />
nè spiegazione nè analisi.<br />
<br />
Dio è dove<br />
le parole e i numeri ballano,<br />
si scambiano i vestiti e i significati<br />
in un Universo che insieme confonde e delizia.<br />
<br />
Dio è dove<br />
le etichette che affibbiamo agli altri<br />
e a noi stessi<br />
non hanno valore,<br />
è dove noi persone<br />
stiamo provando a Capire e a Essere<br />
tanto quanto le nostre limitazioni permettono.<br />
<br />
Dio è dove<br />
i pensieri che girano in circolo,<br />
e ci tormentano,<br />
rinunciano e ammettono la loro propria impotenza,<br />
dove la reazione è sostituita dalla riflessione.<br />
<br />
Dio è dove<br />
il personale e l'astratto,<br />
l'allegorico e l'attuale<br />
si uniscono.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">© Geoff Davis. (Translated from the English by the author and M R Selenu)</span></div>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-82050632916092896962011-06-27T08:48:00.002+02:002011-06-27T09:28:52.899+02:00You Are A Gift<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Three years ago this very day a lovely Italian lady from Sardinia stepped off a plane from Olbia at Bristol Airport and Maria Rita and I met for the first time. It was a meeting that has completely changed the course of my life and something for which I will be eternally grateful. This is a poem I wrote for her a few days ago.</i></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">You Are A Gift</span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">You are a gift.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had resigned myself </span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">to such a gift eluding me</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">and then I witnessed</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">a miracle unfold,</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">an alchemical process</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">turning base metals into gold.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">You are that gold,</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">it emanates from every pore</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">and illuminates your face</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">every time you smile,</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">every time I catch those eyes</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">that lighten every burden</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">real or imagined,</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">every time I feel humbled</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">before your generosity.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">What have I done</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">to merit being brought</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">to such a perfect place?</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">My expectations did not run</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">to thinking I could meet</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">with such a blessing.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">How could I ask for more?</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">© Geoff Davis 2011</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzGEok9zsd7TOsav28DH8mIFwe-t4HFIKEps7tUtWtZ7Y5NUR1CafEeBypi72SOIOGAcgrf4tifVdJahevlgx1TGUY8f02b8ummVC5HxL0VzMpm-WWs7I4-vZNK8ILc2C9OtBrmejFhw/s1600/206830_10150214459318455_699253454_8771591_4848922_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzGEok9zsd7TOsav28DH8mIFwe-t4HFIKEps7tUtWtZ7Y5NUR1CafEeBypi72SOIOGAcgrf4tifVdJahevlgx1TGUY8f02b8ummVC5HxL0VzMpm-WWs7I4-vZNK8ILc2C9OtBrmejFhw/s400/206830_10150214459318455_699253454_8771591_4848922_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"> </div>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-83156022465323858502011-06-15T15:31:00.000+02:002011-06-15T15:31:49.599+02:00The Distance Our Reason Has TravelledWe should question the distance<br />
our reason has travelled<br />
when our reason cannot contain<br />
the force and the speed<br />
of negative emotional reaction<br />
afflicting us again and again<br />
with its often cruel expression;<br />
cannot divert its energy<br />
and enable us to feel<br />
more consciously, more objectively.<br />
<br />
We should question the distance<br />
our reason has travelled<br />
when our reason may lead<br />
to the smug self-satisfaction<br />
with which we justify our arrogance,<br />
confusing it with clarity,<br />
mistaking passivity for action.<br />
No clear thinking oasis can<br />
arise from the pitiless indifference<br />
of a universe or man<br />
shorn of conscience and compassion.<br />
We can only be intelligent<br />
when we feel what we reason.<br />
I have a long way to travel.<br />
You have a long way to travel.<br />
We have a long way to travel.<br />
<br />
Geoff Davis © 2011Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-21956926759054880222011-06-13T15:26:00.000+02:002011-06-13T15:26:02.436+02:00Just After Mum Had Had A Stroke<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><i>It's four years ago today that my mother died aged 90. So to honour her memory here's a poem I wrote about her just after she had had the stroke which eventually led to her death.</i><b><br />
</b></sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><b>Just After Mum Had Had A Stroke</b></sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Where has that voice and smile gone?</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The delight at Stephen Gerrard scoring</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Or hearing a Joni Mitchell song like </sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><i>Marcie </i>or<i> Both Sides Now?</i></sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>She is old, I know, but how unkind</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>That such a sudden fall should take away</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The speech which she relied upon</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>At a stroke.</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Clearly visible, behind</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The near fruitless efforts to communicate,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Is the fierce intelligence I knew last week, </sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The sum total of ninety years of life. </sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The years of cooking recipes and tending roses,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Of reading Thomas Mann and Herman Hesse,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Of being a mother and a wife</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Who always cared and showed an interest</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And was obsessed with never being late!</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Already I miss her voice</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And the woman that she was</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And will never be again</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Or so the pessimist in me supposes.</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>It is a son's duty to honour and cherish his mother</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>So Gurdjieff reminded us.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Well, I felt a sense of obligation</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And I have tried, I have tried</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>I had no other choice.</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: small;">© Geoff Davis 2007</span>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-42361111313916142552011-06-13T08:14:00.002+02:002011-06-13T08:31:14.017+02:00From the Voice of a Machine to the Quality of Being<i>I was fascinated to read recently how a central part of <a href="http://firstpeoplesvoices.com/morality.htm#language">Native American culture</a> is to exercise care and economy in their use of language. This is a poem on that theme. </i><br />
<br />
<b>From the Voice of a Machine to the Quality of Being</b><br />
<br />
"We must sharpen our barbs<br />
to the point where it really hurts"<br />
came from the voice of a machine<br />
which displays a lack of quality,<br />
no quality of feeling, <br />
no quality of thinking,<br />
no quality of any kind.<br />
<br />
The energy of hostility and contempt<br />
touches whatever labels<br />
the machine attaches itself to<br />
through whatever hollow victories<br />
its violence may find.<br />
<br />
The Native American likened words<br />
to beautiful stones<br />
which when lifted<br />
should be viewed from every side<br />
before their use<br />
and that tossing them around<br />
unconsciously<br />
without thinking or respect<br />
needlessly hurts<br />
irrespective of the artificial pride<br />
that claims the wounded<br />
got their just deserts.<br />
<br />
He was no fool.<br />
The fool is he<br />
who is dismissive of<br />
honour and nobility<br />
and whose mechanistic logic <br />
claims as palpably false<br />
the Great Spirit of<br />
a culture and mythology<br />
he does not understand.<br />
I repeat,<br />
the Great Spirit of<br />
a culture and mythology<br />
he does not understand.<br />
He is stupid who is clever<br />
when the cleverness<br />
is blind to seeing<br />
the quality of Being.<br />
<br />
© Geoff DavisGeoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-3943666854849731602011-06-11T17:59:00.004+02:002011-06-11T18:10:53.520+02:00My SlaveryHow I am drawn to my slavery!<br />
How I almost welcome <br />
its magnetic attraction,<br />
its sweet taste of familiarity;<br />
but the sweetness contained therein<br />
is free from any nutrients.<br />
I am disconnected, partial, dispersed<br />
until confronted by discomfort<br />
at how a certain quality of feeling,<br />
that my heart wishes to embrace,<br />
is lost in theory and thinking,<br />
imagination and sleep.<br />
There are too many words<br />
which serve as an obstruction<br />
to the realisation of Conscience,<br />
a Conscience not limited<br />
to the petty certainties<br />
of mechanistic logic<br />
and its veiled subjectivity,<br />
a Conscience which says:<br />
"I wish to Be,<br />
I wish to reconnect<br />
those disparate parts within<br />
which are dividing me."<br />
<br />
© Geoff DavisGeoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-76038570800846249112011-06-10T21:19:00.003+02:002011-10-27T14:21:06.153+02:00Empty VesselsTo win a friendship back<br />
Lost through the tangled overgrowth<br />
Of motives misunderstood and feared<br />
It is difficult, it is difficult<br />
But not impossible.<br />
The faith which moves mountains<br />
Does not move mountains,<br />
It merely watches them slide away<br />
Clear the decks, round the vision,<br />
Answer to the soul <br />
With a curious precision<br />
For longing and wanting<br />
Are symptomatic of division<br />
And Being is beyond<br />
Where conflict has no hold<br />
And empty vessels<br />
Carry gold.<br />
<br />
© Geoff Davis<br />
<br />
(Previously published in the anthology Poetry Now South West.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RIv9oOyY7To" width="420"></iframe>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-69322388369354927572011-05-31T22:44:00.006+02:002014-02-28T17:28:58.744+01:00Some Other Kinds of Poems - Songs by Geoff Davis<img border="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.11NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMDY4NzQ1MTYyOTUmcHQ9MTMwNjg3NDUyMTY2MSZwPTI3MDgxJmQ9dHVuZVdpZGdldF9maXJzdF9nZW4mZz*xJm9m/PTA=.gif" height="0" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><br />
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<br />
<br />
<b>Stay Around</b><br />
<br />
Can you lift me from this coldness<br />
This indifference, this distance?<br />
I've hurt too long and hard<br />
And I'm needing your assistance.<br />
Haggling and legal fees,<br />
The chill of bitter memories,<br />
Blackmail, its counterparts,<br />
Memorial to broken hearts.<br />
Can you help me open out again?<br />
<br />
Can you take this resignation,<br />
Can you help it gather rust?<br />
Can you show me a different way,<br />
A different world where there is trust?<br />
With cynicism outward bound<br />
Is tenderness what we've both found?<br />
Is it a kind of peace which starts<br />
And says goodbye to frozen hearts?<br />
Can you help me open out again?<br />
<br />
Chorus:<br />
Can you lift me, pick me up, dust me down,<br />
dust me down?<br />
Can you take me, give me hope, stay around,<br />
stay around?<br />
<br />
Guitar solo<br />
<br />
Repeat of Verse One and Chorus<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Who Are Your Tears For?</b><br />
<br />
Persuasive and so erudite<br />
You bully in an argument<br />
As worthless as a fistfight,<br />
Catching votes is your intent.<br />
Armed with statistics which<br />
Deceive but never lie<br />
The fixed ideas you ought to ditch<br />
Will once again apply<br />
So who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
For the schizos on the streets<br />
Whom every policy defeats<br />
Who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
<br />
Paraphrase and cliche rules<br />
The press must have its say<br />
And language thus the tool of fools<br />
Where truth can't find a way.<br />
You hypnotize with rhetoric<br />
Which reinforces prejudice<br />
The ad campaign is oh so slick<br />
Though substance it will miss.<br />
So who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
Can you hear the thousands sob<br />
Who have also lost a job?<br />
Who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
<br />
We must interrupt, assert ourselves so<br />
Cause ours is the view you must know.<br />
<br />
Imagination seems to be<br />
An excess of desire<br />
Over one's ability<br />
And so will feed the liar<br />
Who knows not where the secret lies<br />
With his vouchsafed monopoly<br />
On truth and all its alibis<br />
Which smack of slavery.<br />
So who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
For all those you take for fools<br />
Who would question all your rules?<br />
Who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
Who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
Who are your tears for now it's over?<br />
Who are your tears for now it's over?
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Psychotic's Lament</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It seems as though the
chips are down</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You feel you wear a
madman's crown</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And all your so-called
friends are out of town.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">No phone calls or no
letters come</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And everyone you know looks
dumb</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Or could it be just you
they wish to shun?</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Chorus:</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And they say you're crazy</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Cause you've been away</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To a farmyard hazy</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So fun to stay.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The lady in the upstairs
flat</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You wonder what she's
staring at</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You've never seen a look as
strange as that.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And every job that you may
seek</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You've been refused before
you speak</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Your history has branded
you as weak.</span><br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
Instrumental and chorus<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So ostracized you may be
sore</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As each one drops the mask
he wore</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The pose of being friendly
and mature.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And then you find someone
like you</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Whose misconceptions are as
few</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You know your world of
dream is largely through.</span><br />
<br />
Chorus three times<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Carrie's Song</b><br />
<br />
You talk as though nobody could<br />
need somebody like you<br />
Why is it not understood<br />
that some of us can see<br />
Potentiality<br />
Heart and affection<br />
Giving kindness some direction<br />
Let it show and you'll know<br />
who loves you.<br />
<br />
You're looking to a stranger<br />
who one day will entrance you<br />
But remember the danger<br />
of the devil you don't know<br />
Who won't let you grow<br />
Friends maybe see there<br />
The you who wants to be there<br />
Let it show and you'll know<br />
who loves you<br />
<br />
I've always felt that you were one<br />
who had lots going for you<br />
When all the tears and brooding's done<br />
you sparkle and you glow<br />
And then I find you so<br />
So much fun to be with<br />
And it's something I agree with<br />
Let it show and you'll know<br />
who loves you<br />
<br />
Now I cannot deny<br />
that you do something for me<br />
Sometimes I wonder why<br />
you back off like you do<br />
When I aspire to<br />
Strength and understanding<br />
Without being too demanding<br />
Let it show and you'll know<br />
who loves you<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Message From The Other Side</b><br />
<br />
It's so sad when you act and play the fool<br />
The thoughtless and unconscious things you do which are so cruel<br />
It's so sad when you act and play the fool<br />
<br />
It's so sad when you cause another pain<br />
Through agitated feelings which you sometimes must restrain<br />
It's so sad when you cause another pain<br />
<br />
Chorus:<br />
Can you find yourself forgiving me?<br />
Can you see just who I am?<br />
What moves and what inspires me,<br />
Please look at if you can<br />
<br />
It's so sad when there's someone turns away<br />
Because of all those crazy things you didn't have to say<br />
It's so sad when there's someone turns away<br />
<br />
It's so sad when you're reaching out to touch<br />
But can't give unconditionally you find you ask too much<br />
It's so sad when you're reaching out to touch.<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
Instrumental break<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Somebody's Leaving</b><br />
<br />
All that irritation is looking for release<br />
So the fooling and the teasing, maybe it has to cease<br />
Well, light-hearted banter is fair enough I know<br />
But offending sensibilities, that's what has to go<br />
<br />
Chorus: <br />
And now somebody's leaving<br />
Who has sometimes done us proud<br />
So cry a little, yes, cry a little<br />
Some tears they are allowed.<br />
<br />
We have to remember not to give what we can't take<br />
And not push some poor child to the point where they will break<br />
And if we're friends together we can rise above in trust<br />
And show the force of friendship means we're here in more than dust<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
Some things can't be forgotten but are maybe best ignored<br />
If we hammer vulnerability calamity is assured<br />
So maybe we'll remember more the content of the heart<br />
Where it's pure and open is the point where we should start<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>If You Need A Friend</b><br />
<br />
It's so hard to trust, so hard to trust<br />
We scrutinise intentions, is it tenderness or lust<br />
It's so hard to know, so hard to know<br />
If someone's caring spirit is a pose about to go<br />
<br />
Chorus:<br />
But if you need a friend<br />
Who'll make you feel at ease<br />
I'll talk and share a coffee with you<br />
Any time you please<br />
If you need a friend<br />
Who doesn't want to take<br />
I'll always do my best to soothe<br />
Wherever you may ache.<br />
<br />
It's so hard to break, so hard to break<br />
Away from those who've hurt us with our foolish pride at stake<br />
It's so hard to see, so hard to see<br />
How feelings are ephemeral and they feed our vanity<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
It's so hard to win, so hard to win<br />
When we've let somebody get right under our skin<br />
It's so hard to let, so hard to let<br />
Go of something precious which we never could forget.<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Eagle And The Scorpion</b><br />
<br />
The eagle and the scorpion<br />
comes out to share a drink<br />
Her teasing eyes maybe don't see<br />
as much as she might think<br />
The yin and yang are muddled<br />
but they're sure to balance out<br />
We have to savour what<br />
so many others are without.<br />
<br />
Chorus:<br />
So look at the way through<br />
the hills and the valleys<br />
The open roads and<br />
the concealed alleys<br />
And listen to the voice<br />
which hails from within<br />
Cause God knows you can win.<br />
<br />
<br />
A smile so slight and yet so sweet<br />
may hint at what she knows<br />
Her guarded sensibility<br />
occasionally shows<br />
But now is all there is so now<br />
we might as well relax<br />
And deal the joker and the ace<br />
from our respective packs.<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
The whisky and the dry white wine<br />
were speaking at the time<br />
Discussing the significance<br />
of the number nine<br />
But still it seems there's such a large<br />
and unexplored domain<br />
The joy is in the gathering of<br />
the harvest from the grain<br />
<br />
Chorus<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
All lyrics © Geoff Davis<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="575" scrolling="no" src="http://www.cdbaby.com/widgets/store/store.aspx?id=qUjx%2fPLvAQzDLc6UhWAX4g%3d%3d&type=ByArtist&c1=0x4A180F&c2=0xD6D6D6&c3=0xFFA737&c4=0x9B1F1C&c5=0xFF6D3C&c6=0x94E9FE&c7=0xFFFFFF" title="Store Widget" width="100%"></iframe>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-11732628213947894462011-02-08T09:15:00.001+01:002011-02-08T18:51:52.996+01:00There Is A Gentleness/C'è una gentilezza<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><b>There Is A Gentleness</b></sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>There is a gentleness</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Which is neither soft nor sweet</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>But emanates from strength.</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>There is a gentleness</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Which stills the storms and violence,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The anger and the lashing out,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The search for scapegoats and excuses.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And when the all familiar folly</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Shapes to repeat</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>There is a gentleness </sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Which silences the neurotic</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And silences the lout.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Even if in some strange context</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>They both can have their uses.</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>There is a gentleness</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Which works from inner silence,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Soothing and hypnotic,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>The inner chattering falls away</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>And then</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>There is a gentleness</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Which is reflective in the face of loss,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Allows a real Conscience</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>To speak.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>It is only when violence and frustration</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Come into play</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>Again</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>That I should ask myself</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>"Why am I so weak?"</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>© Geoff Davis 2004</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><b>C'è una Gentilezza </b></sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>C'è una gentilezza</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>che non è debole nè dolce</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>ma viene dalla forza.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><br />
</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>C'è una gentilezza</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>che calma le tempeste e la violenza,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>la rabbia e l'agitazione,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>la ricerca di capri espiatori e scuse</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>è quando tutta la familiare follia</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>comincia a ripetersi</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><br />
</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>C'è una gentilezza</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>che zittisce il nevrotico</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>e zittisce lo zoticone</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>anche se in qualche strano contesto</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>entrambi possono avere la loro utilità.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><br />
</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>C'è una gentilezza</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>che viene dal silenzio interiore,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>rassicurante e ipnotica.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>I pensieri rumorosi vanno via</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>e poi</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup><br />
</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>C'è una gentilezza</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>che si riflette in un senso di vuoto,</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>permette alla vera Coscienza</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>di parlare.</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>E' solo quando la violenza e la frustrazione</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>tornano</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>di nuovo</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>che devo chiedere a me stesso:</sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>"Perchè sono cosi debole?"</sup></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup> </sup></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>(Translated into Italian by the author and M R Selenu - </sup></span></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>2011</sup></span></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><sup>)</sup></span></span><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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</sup></span></span>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-30596791160787017252011-02-04T20:58:00.004+01:002011-06-20T08:45:01.871+02:00Let No Man Say There is an End<i>'A poor poet imitates, a good poet steals' said <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot">T S Eliot</a>. I have to confess that I 'stole' a line or two of this short piece from T.S. Eliot himself (from <a href="http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/gidding.html">'Little Gidding' </a>one of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Quartets"> 'The Four Quartets'</a>) in the full knowledge that I was doing so.</i><br />
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<b>Let No Man Say There Is An End </b><br />
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Let no man say there is an end<br />
For no end fails to mark a new beginning.<br />
Mankind, bacteria of the Universal Mind,<br />
Subject to decay and death and re-creation<br />
Running through a river of relentless change.<br />
Expose the secret of vibration<br />
Then there is no end, and no beginning;<br />
There is everything.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">© Geoff Davis</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">from <i>Behind The Mask </i>(Outposts Publications) 1981 </span>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764293882208443149.post-48758998970003554322010-11-29T16:14:00.001+01:002010-11-29T16:16:29.995+01:00Beyond ReactionWhen I react I cannot really feel.<br />
When I respond I scratch the surface<br />
of an undernourished part of me<br />
that connects with what is real.<br />
When I think from the heart<br />
and my body is at peace<br />
I reconnect each disparate part<br />
of that thing we call the psyche.<br />
Sometimes I know and feel<br />
that all that ever was and is and will be<br />
is present here in the Eternal Now<br />
and every note of music born<br />
in fury or in scorn<br />
will reach an end and die<br />
and change its form and live and breathe<br />
in pastures new and pastures old<br />
where there are bridges<br />
that renew, revitalise<br />
and reconnect the active and the passive forces<br />
which fuse and give new birth<br />
to a creation cleansed of lies<br />
and the cul-de-sac of inner dialogue.<br />
There, where heaven and earth<br />
are of no account,<br />
is that realm beyond the two<br />
where neither superstition nor cold logic<br />
come close to what is True.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: small;">© Geoff Davis 2010</span></span>Geoff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778567195961477763noreply@blogger.com0