Category Archives: Life

Day Dream, Folklore, Life, Uncategorized

Starlight: Twilight

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The stars that bore witness to your birth, make up your star sign;

It means that every nuance of your life, death, and your previous lives, are chartered-

Like the detailed maps guiding ships across vast oceans, by twilight,

Entrusted by sailors with their lives, since ancient times,

Silent sentinels standing unflinching witness to the happenings of human, animal & nature alike,

Undoubtedly, filling volumes with the detail of their observations of our lives-

Like scientists taking turns to obsessively record every little happening on a Petri dish ,

Adhering to strict control measures, at all times:

Observing cells form, meander & replicate, under microscopes,

Like watching a plant gradually grow from seed to flowering;

Measuring the passage of our centuries in milliseconds,

And charting the individual strands that makeup the course of our lives-

Creating an ever-evolving Muriel that belie the scary & beautiful human truth that is:

We can *all* change the stars of our lives!

Blogroll, Consumerism, Life, Society

Abattoir of Hope

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Welcome to this place; the end of all hope;

May be heaven’s gates are permanently opened over this place,

I am a herbivore: I have harmed none, yet, I have been bred on a diet of grass and stale feed,

My mother works in the stocks, forced to make milk; her udders clamped to pumps draining her till all strength in her is gone,

My father was sent away soon after my half-siblings and I were born,

Some were taken from us at a young age to the Great House, from where none return

I was fed & fed, until my legs strain to keep up my bulky frame to rival a Belgian Blue,

And, I was led to join this final queue- from where (like all who preceded me) I do not expect to return;

In the stockades of a night the sorrowful ballad of fellow captives sing songs of a better place, a better time, a proud ancestry (is it a fever-fuelled dream or was it ever real?),

No matter, it’s all over now:

The final embrace of the Life-Stealer awaits me; he will make it quick & painless as possible, it is said among the kettled herds;

For a man used to killing for his daily bread is not, as a rule, habitually cruel,

Great Lord of the Plains, whatever I come back as, I have one small request:

Let it not be as human:

For, while they may make me into meat and eat of me, I would like not to be of them;

Admittedly, I have not seen them at their best;

But, whatever this might be-

I have truly come to abhor  their general casual neglect.

Aged, Blogroll, Consumerism, Life, Society

Death of Compassion

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When did it happen?

Truly, I need to know!

As a nation, we are compassionate,

That much: is- a- fact;

We lead the global list of per capita donations to charity & worth-while causes,

And in the wake of disaster and need,

We respond wholeheartedly,

Often, without restraint!

However, in the quiet corners of this nation-

The aged live isolated (even, neglected) lives;

If the curse of debilitating ill health should visit you in your old age,

Likely modern medicines will keep you alive and prolong your life,

Thereafter, it seems it’s down to random luck if you will be entrusted to carers with compassion and understanding, or not,

A frequent topic of discussion of call-in talk shows, which, each time, unearth frightening and disturbing accounts of neglect & maltreatment,

Suggesting the problem is neither isolated nor localised,

A frightening prospect, then:

Which, at its worse, could condemn you to suffer in silence, making pleas for help to unsympathetic deaf ears, or worse till your end of days,

Perhaps even left un-cleaned in your own excrement, to likely develop bed sores;

To face an unimaginably painful dread end;

Where is the imbued compassion of years old?

And-

Why has the death of compassion allowed to become so widespread?

They’ve given their best, only to be treated like consumables past their prime and cast aside!

Lying in a human equivalent of a landfill site (with a marginally better hygienic regime), waiting their turn to die;

Why is this so? When in other (perhaps less developed) nations, this is not so?

Is it a by-product of our hectic, busy-busy, over-sophisticated lives?

Or, does obsession with self, rather than the whole, mean-

We are individually less generous with our time, patience or understanding, than even with our money –

A national disgrace no matter what positive spin is put on it by those in authority;

Who will likely compare favourable statistics with unfavourables, deftly playing the well-practised numbers game;

For, unlike other less developed but better performing countries or societies on this front-

This country can afford to do something about this udesirable phenomenon, but chooses not to;

Because, it should never be forgotten:

That not every problem can be fixed with money and you cannot (no matter what you believe) pay another to care about one of your nearest and dearest, as well as you would.

Blogroll, Consumerism, Life, Society

City of Pygmies

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This city stands in grand scale, near-eclipsing the sky

Huge monoliths of steel, glass & concrete;

Testing the boundaries of modernity’s ambition,

Vying against the known limitations of engineering & architecture: 

Like Stonehenge, the Pyramids, & the Taj Mahal, in ages gone by; 

Whereas the latter, were in praise of the rulers of life, death and/or the afterlife;

The former, are altars in praise of the God of wealth, opulence and an overt manifestation of self-pride

Delivered to you through acolytes, filled to the brim with avarice in their eyes; 

Termed variously as ‘art’, ‘impressive’ or ‘achievement’ by its followers:

Their ambition is to mesmerise, captivate, enthral; & seduce you into rapture,

To allow the proselytisers of this new religion to exploit, in converting new followers into believing:

Money, wealth and consumerism, is:

The meaning of life(!)

Day Dream, Life, Links

Living on a Cloud

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One overcast day, I got to thinking:

If i lived on a cloud,

I would be without a home most of the time, in sunnier climbs

If I lived over the lands of Britannia & her Isles however, it would not be all that frequent at all,

I would be secure & content to live free & sail my home wherever i pleased,

Though i would likely avoid concentrations of human habitation on such days,

For the shades of my sprawling cloudy foundations, would tend to shimmer & reflect on each of the faces of the folks  below! 

Alas- the sight of so many (vitamin D-starved) gloomy faces, would do little to brighten up my reverie as I go about my own day!

Were I the selfish sort however, I would not care or dwell over-long on such thoughts however,

For I would be living on the *opposite side* to such arguably worthwhile antagonisms,

And facing a permanent clear blue sky basked in glorious sunlight!

All I’d need to worry about then is:

Acquiring a permanent tan (which, thankfully, I already have!) ;

And, catching the occasional cross-winds off-balance, so as not to fall off the edge!

Heaven forbid the latter, I beg!

For to bask in sun’s majesty at leisure in company, is a memorable holiday; 

But, to do so solitarily from vantage of a mobile cloud (I’d imagine) would, be, just, heavenly! 

East End, Life, Links

A Charmed Life!

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 I’m a geezer about town

Always partial to a bit of banter ‘n’ a laugh with the lads, 

That occasionally ends up in a scuffle or four!

Knocking heads, buckling legs;

You can always find me afterwards, nursing a beer in hand,

With an ever-ready smile, that instantly says to every lady (if you’d care to overlook an occasional black-eye):

‘I care that you’re here’

‘And you’ve made an effort to be beautiful’

‘I’m yours, if you’ll have me’;

‘And, I’ll treat you like the true lady you are’

Honestly, Gov: I live for Friday nights!

Nursing a hangover on most Saturdays;

I consider Sundays my day of rest; 

When I make an illegal homemade brew, that’ll surely make your balls explode!

Other times: I’m a wheeler-dealer; an artful dodger,

I’ve got my fingers in a few – strictly, non-legit – pies!

I make a living by taking my wears from door-to-door!

Lasses love me, 

Their asses feel my pain for 48 hours or more,

I always aim to please, 

But, the optional after-service is always free!

Y’see: it’s how I maintain a competitive edge in these hard economic times,

32 fags a day, I, insist:  keeps the doctor away

I scoff down cockles, jellied eels, mushy-peas &  fish ‘n’ chips, religiously;

Like the East End kid I am, through & through!

A charmed life I’ve led,

Skirting danger at every bend,

Likely facing an almighty brutal final end,

But, all said and done:

I’d rather rock out, than fade away, like most!

Life, Links, Love

A Meadow in Bloom

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In the tapestry of memories of my mind, I dwell, waiting for you

 

Whilst I wait, I remember a walk in St James’ Park,

 

To an accompaniment of music delivered by nature’s, gentle, melodious  harp, 

With a flute harmony ‘n’ banjo thrown in, to accompany a pigeon pursuing another in walking, whirling circles;

In  lustful abandonment!

A chorus of sounds,

A tulip for your troubles; a rose, for its nettles; all beneath a silken sky,

Providing an animated backdrop, to an old-fashioned love story… stirring awake-

Like: a breath of air turning kindle gently into flame,

Two good friends began this walk, no longer *just* good friends, when its end came round,

Love, is a concept of loyalty, compassion, understanding & a term of art,

Populating the long halls of your memories with vivid master-works, like a prized gallery of vaunted treasures;

To occupy your restful days, with wonder, at a life spent in the company of beautiful souls (both within & without),

To reflect on the precious truth, that, is:

I have been truly blessed, for I have been loved.