Category Archives: Society

Final Game!

Churning stomachs,

Frayed nerves,

A rollercoaster-ride with each ball,

Whack-it, smack-it, glide-it into/over the boundary;

Keep the runs ticking;

Whatever you do, just don’t give your wicket away!!

Watching your team play a world cup final, can seem like experiencing a near-apoplectic nightmare!

Suddenly however, the tension eases:

When you see your opponents are far more tense than you are;

When all goes well;

And, lady luck shines her spell,

The elation hits you for a six so high,

You don’t ever want to come down!

(In)Sanity of Men

The sanity of men is at borderline at best,

Patience is temporal,

Tolerance is a luxury;

Fairness is an illusion and justice is a delusion,

When gangs roam the streets with long-knives calling for blood,

No one knows the cause,

Some such thing or other,

Does it really matter? When mad men stalk your door;

Nowhere to hide, nowhere to go;

Except to resign your fate to the mob;

With heads bowed, for cruelty is at large;

Politicians are opportunists given a platform;

Never forget: Institutions, the courts, and all safeguards, are manned by men,

Capable of turning their backs for self-serving ends,

Leaders, lead as well as they mislead,

Those who thrive in times of luxury, will also end up victims in anarchy;

The divide is as thin as a sharpe blade that cuts both ways;

This is not a dystopia nor a post-apocalyptic scenario,

For, it isn’t like it hasn’t happened before, or will again(!)

Tolerated


Would you feel more comfortable if I turned a shade more lighter?

Make the timbre of my voice more oak than teak, so it would ring a little more familiar?

Does it irritate when i speak of customs, traditions, gods & celebrations of foreign climbs?

Do you truly believe in a multi-ethnic & pluralistic identity or prefer a monothistic way of life (where all look, do & say like you than i)?

Travelling through modern day inner city Britain, do you become concerned all of a sudden that you are the only white Anglo Saxon within sight?

An over-saturation of numbers & unfamiliar – foreign – faces;

Gradually, turning your ancestral home into a foreign, third world, annex-

In the heart of western decadence, wealth & profligacy,

Sleepwalking you out of a home & stealthily de-possessing you of your identity,

Engulfing what was once ‘Great’ in Great Britain in times gone by,

Turning it unrecognisable, full of unfamiliar sights & sounds-

Far removed from the place you used to call home, with pride, since you were a child?

Then make your long held-back plea, out of a misguided adherence to political correctness & courtesy,

Now finally demands airing in hushed fervent hope –

‘Oh, Queen & Country, your grand majesty, restore pride to our people; be rid of this resent infestation of foreign discolouration!’

‘Do this & our Greatness will be restored once more, to rule the waves with pride, again!’

‘Where will they go?’, an unhelpful voice utters-

‘I care not, just be rid of them- that is all!’, came the swift reply with gusto and whim

If you feel this way, i hate to break it to you:

If these ‘foreign’ faces were made to disappear overnight, you would be rapidly increasing this country’s decent into terminal financial decline-

Yes, that may mean very little (if anything) to you, but imagine for one moment that you wake one day to find martial law has been declared-

For the government has no money to pay the million plus (& more) permanent jobless nor for those maintaining essential services,

And, has had to keep the hungry & disgruntled at bay by strength of arms-

Any savings will soon be exhausted or rendered of no value, and your assets (if any) will struggle to find a buyer –

Making life far more difficult to lead than even in the present difficult & demanding economic times,

Yes, I agree, I do not know this for certain,

My hypothesis is a guess, just like yours, conditioned by my experiences,

And, what will happen in either case, I (wholeheartedly) agree, no one knows for certain,

But, if you truly love this country, as I do, would you really tolerate such intolerable possibilities & ruination, because of colour & comparatively minor differences?

Only you, and time, will tell, I suppose.

Viking: Resilience

Darkness envelopes the land,

Leaving folks at mercy of long crippling winters, and fleeting summers;

When even seasoned farmers must take up arms,

To guard their stores and each other from raiders or rivals of every variety;

And abide the long nights,

When, savagery is the only birthright,

For, in this unforgiving cold:

You fought and lived, or resigned to die;

No room for the weak, when the divide is so slight;

Hope guides the hand,

And in that calloused grip is an axe drenched in blood,

Wielded decisively in the heart of battle,

In a practised ritual of blood sacrifice,

For the Gods’ are rarely merciful,

And an honourable death, worthy of the glory of Valhalla,

Is the only vaunted prize.

Divinity of the Dancer!

A goddess on the dance floor;

Rhythm is her divinity

If this place be the cradle of life;

And music is the root of all self-awareness,

She is the first to experience the beat of the drumming and mimic her body into motion,

Inspiring all to answer her call to arms by standing-up-right!

Many millennia may have passed since that fateful moment,

Is it still any wonder these rhythms and movement resonate within you and I?

Her acolytes still gather to watch her sermons;

Her movements are the orator,

And her body is a testament to her dedication and artistry;

An idol worthy of worship, forged with grace and favour;

Are we not all misfits in comparison?

Looking on at this exquisite creature for answers,

With prayers and offerings for salvation;

A shadow dancer of old, making contortions in slow-motion ;

Leaving all that befall her fanatics enthralled and slack-jawed, even after all this time,

Belying the truth: we have not evolved as much as we’d like to believe;

And remain mesmerised by the beauty of movement given life!

Christmas Eve!

I’m making my way home for christmas, with memories swirling around,

Passing carollers, couples and families, making their way to midnight mass near Muswell Hill;

Some of the parishioners have the distinct whiff of pub-crawlers who’ve been turned out at last call!

An eclectic mix to be certain celebrating a common bond,

While I am not of this faith, I find my natural cynicism washed away by a wave of optimism in any case,

Fuelled by a shared heritage that’s crept up on me unexpectedly  over time-

I may not be a wide-eyed child any more, my fondest memories tend to still surround:

Turkey, gravy, crispy roast potatoes and stuffing with extra sage please!

Minced pies, Christmas pudding, doused with brandy, and set alight to a gentle blue flame-

Voraciously gouged down with generous dollops of clotted cream!

Accompanied by mulled wine and appetisers, until your stomach literally strains to keep it all in!

Watching the Queen’s annual message at 3:00pm feeling more uncomfortably full than civic;

Followed by the Christmas Movie and the Eastender’s Double Bill, joining in with a collective mock-gasp at the inevitable shocking end!

No, it’s not the food (though, I can’t help but look forward to it);

Or, the memories (which are a mixed bag, if I am honest!);

Or, even, the veneer that comes from reflecting through rose-tinted spectacles, at greener pastures, that weren’t truly green at all,

What I am truly looking forward to this christmas is: to spend some time with my family, and not a mention of work, if I am lucky!!

Spy


Spy

Nothing is a surprise

Every action supplemented by-

Trickery, half-truths, feints, pretence & lies

Deniability, the weapon of choice-

Acquisition, strict control & protection of ‘controlled information’, their 24/7 obsession

Maintaining an inconsistent narrative (with hardly an affinity to fact or reality) under the guise of ‘plausibility’,

Overstating the one, undermining the other, whilst appearing to be neutral & maintaining detached professionalism to onlookers (when you’re anything but),

Professional deceivers, confidence men (and, women) of sorts!

You don’t think so? Arn’t you just the gullible sort!

Designed to conceal, cajole, embellish & undermine-

The primary tools in their belt of surprisingly few tools/resources, save a preponderance & an over saturation of lies ,

For us homosapiens have changed very little since the beginning of time!

Maintaining order, parliamentary democracy is their publically-avowed objective & purpose,

The truth however, is likely a little more complicated to be certain!

What means & methods are employed & margin of discretion entertained (like with all positions of authority) is likely very wide,

Dependent upon an individual’s grasp of what’s right, not, & propensity to tolerate lies,

I am not saying you cannot be a good man (or woman) or honourable and a spy,

But this necessary secrecy of their occupation is likely eroding their sense of self slowly from the inside;

A little more each day with each concealment & miss-direction, authorised,

Gradually, turning you into a hermit by stealth or borderline schizophrenic, over time,

Or, find comfort instead in your ‘tradecraft’-

By sharing your secrets among your inner circles, keeping to your codes and self-made rules:

Carefully designed to keep persistent questions at bay,

To buy you a restful night’s sleep,

To assure yourself that, by your actions; you were not a cruel man (or woman) yesterday, nor complicit in torture today,

All you have done is what is necessary (which another would have done in your place or had you passed up the opportunity),

And, you have the support & backing of your superiors at the HO, MoD & FCO!

That is all well & good, & I wish you a contended, un-interrupted, restful sleep if that is your view;

However, what happens on the day, when the rule of unintended consequences flies a spanner in the works of this well-oiled & practised machinery,

Laying bare all the titbits for public consumption?

Will they be delighted or find the whole affair distasteful?

Whatever their view, be sure to hear the clamour to the door as you absorb the pragmatic volt face in recrimination, of this erstwhile diligently practised stealthy art of war!

Law is a Weapon

The law is a double-edged sword that swings both ways;

Use it wisely, & you’ll be glad of it someday

‘Rush in haste, & repent at leisure’, they oft-say (and, in this context, it’s true!)

For the law is a man-made *process*, administered by fallible men (like you and me),

Not to be mistaken for deliverance from all the vicissitudes of life (in Shakespeare’s words)-,

By something akin to divinity!