So, here we are into the seasons of long dark hours. I've been trying to keep the mind distracted – listening to radio shows, reading quite a bit (I spent October on the 1000 or so pages of Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman, for example). I probably wouldn't have stuck to it without lockdowns (too much else to distract the brain and it’s a fiddly read, most of it just one sentence…) but with the limited options available I did plough my way through it (every word, including all the “the fact that”s). It is an amazing achievement as a piece of writing, but I’d have to say I preferred the (shorter) sections about the mountain lion to all the lengthy meanderings of the human woman’s mind (too close to home perhaps...). Her mind is like all the bins combined (here we have food caddy, paper and cardboard - blue, other recycling - burgundy, garden - brown, other waste - grey and we take bottles to bottle banks ourselves), except the contents of her mind are: old movies, baking, 4 kids, US politics, her small baking business, her childhood, her parents, chickens, her 2 husbands, local people, illness, history…
Now in November I’m reading a few things that couldn’t be more different to the (carefully structured) rambling of Ducks. One is Helen Macdonald’s Vesper Flights (beautiful, precise, poetry without the line breaks) and Dara McAnulty’s Diary of a Young Naturalist (a very special book, written about and during the year when the author went from 14 to 15 years old, and covering birds, insects, school, moving house, family life and much, much more). Once we’re adults I think maybe we become too keen on the idea that children and teenagers can’t know much when often they know (and appreciate and understand) a lot more than we care to consider (even if some, unlike this particular young naturalist, don’t have the language, confidence or even desire to communicate that to the rest of us).
All of which reminds me of a theory I was introduced to (in a training session…) back in about 2001 when I was working as an English GCSE tutor for a local authority project in West Yorkshire. The theory was about different kinds of intelligence (something like this I think) and as someone who falls mainly into the linguistic-verbal group (and therefore found it fairly easy to do well in our education systems) it was quite an eye-opener. I learned how for some sitting in classrooms is a lovely, easy way to learn but for so many others it is a kind of temporary prison (some learn better outside, hands in the mud, we learned; others learn better if they can be active and just run around as regularly as possible). Dara writes about this very well (“I think of all the technical advances humankind has made over the last hundred years, yet the way we’re educated has stayed more or less the same. With rows of bodies sat rigidly behind desks. Sitting still.”). He writes about how challenging school is with autism but the different types of intelligence theory suggests there are other issues at play here too. Any young people who connect better with the outside natural world than the human indoors one will learn better out in nature and should be allowed out there as much as possible.
All of which reminds me of another great spokesperson for kids and the outdoors. Author Michael Morpurgo set up the charity Farms for City Children in 1976 and it’s still going strong (though needing support right now, like so many people and organisations…) and one of my current favourite listens just now is Michael Morpurgo’s Folk Journeys (all 4 episodes on the BBC iPlayer now). In it he looks at the traditions of four types of subject in song (war, protest, love and home/migration). Contributions come from, amongst others, Scotland’s mighty Karine Polwart (another keen naturalist and part of the brilliant Spell Songs project). KP manages to have more of a foot in the pop world than some folkies (her Scottish Songbook album, for example, covered a great selection of Scottish pop songs from different eras) and her views on love songs in this series were especially interesting. My other favourite radio listen just now is actor Cillian Murphy’s current Limited Edition show on BBC 6 Music. I love many shows on that station but Cillian’s is such a treat (particularly good on headphones if you can’t sleep). His taste in music is great and his presenting style (from his basement) is very low key and friendly.
I opened this post with the intention of starting to write about my own next project ideas (hence the photo at the top, that’s me in 1970, aged 3) and finally here is a paragraph about it. I intend to take part in the Fun A Day Dundee art project (FADD) again in January and I have been homing in on a direction for that in recent weeks. Last January I wrote a 31-word poem and illustrated a word a day (round-up here) but this time I have other plans. Many of us have spent a lot more time than usual in our homes this year (if we are lucky enough to have one) and I realised that I have lived in 31 different places/homes in my life and that coincidence kept nagging away to be used. So, my plan is to write 31 poems (1 for and about each home/place I’ve lived) and there will be some kind of visuals to go with them. I started looking at old photos (hence the one at the top of this post – that’s me on the steps of the first place I lived in Middleton-St-George near Darlington in England). I was actually born upstairs in that house in 1967 and we lived there until Dad died in 1973. The building also housed Dad’s GP surgery (in the days when it was only one doctor per surgery, certainly in areas like ours, though there was another surgery and doctor over the road as it was a big village). There will be some natural history content to the poems (I think the opening one is going to be called First nest) but it will be mixed in with a lot of whatever I can remember about the people, fixtures, fittings, emotions, smells and sounds of each home experience too. I’m not sure how much ‘fun’ it will be (for me or anyone else) but they don't disqualify you for not being fun in this group. So far I have rough drafts for the first 8 poems - I plan to do drafts now and then fine tune the words and incorporate the visuals each day in January. I think the whole thing will be called 31 Postcodes. I really enjoyed being part of the FADD group last year, seeing all the work online (mainly Instagram) and even meeting a few of the folk before the Lockdown Age began. This winter those of us not actively involved in saving lives need creativity and activity and music and nature more than ever to keep us out of trouble (internal and external). Don’t you think?
I started writing this on holiday in Argyll in September. I was sitting by the Firth of Clyde, in a garden, playing a Stevie Wonder song on my phone (quietly, not disturbing anyone, no headphones to hand...) and the resident robin came to see what on earth was going on (the same robin that made it into a poem in the previous post too). I particularly love the song (Love’sin need of love today from Songs in the Key of Life). Here it is:
In January this year I took part in the Fun A Day Dundee art project by producing a piece of art every day for 31 days and posting a photo of it online (mainly to Instagram and Twitter). This week there are online events to celebrate the project (which has been running in Dundee since 2011) so here are some more details about my contributions, specifically information about all the musical references. This is my idea of fun... I did used to be a DJ and music reviewer in a previous life after all.
Step 1
At the end of December 2019 I wrote a poem with 31 words and no word repeated. You can read the poem back here (or square by square on Instagram or further down this post).
Step 2
I did an illustration every day for January 2020 with a word from the poem at the centre and all kinds of references to songs/musicians. I posted one illustration every day to Instagram and Twitter. I have done very, very little drawing and illustrating in my life so this was really something new for me. If I had realised in January that I was going to use a 7 inch single format to display them I would have made my squares that size in the first place (I didn't, I randomly went for 15 cm squares instead).
Step 3
I started getting ready for the Fun A Day exhibition, got little record sleeves and was planning to display the illustrations (a) on the wall (as you see records displayed in record shops) and (b) in a little record box so you could flick through them (also like in record shops). I had some slightly enlarged versions of the illustrations printed by Urban Print so they would fit the record sleeve display idea better.
Step 4
The on-wall exhibition was cancelled due to you-know-what and this weekend there is an online exhibition instead (see samples of all the participants' work here). My new contribution is a video of me and the poem filmed yesterday (apologies to Mr Dylan):
And here is a pic of all the illustrations together (on the floor, they haven't made it to a wall yet...):
And here are notes on the musical references for each one:
Start (1st Jan)
Just one musical link here – ‘Start’ by The Jam (released 1980). This has always been one of my favourite Jam songs. It makes me feel like a teenager (I was 13 in 1980).
with (2nd Jan)
Not much drawing on this one but wordy references (round the edge of the square) to songs by Hot Chocolate (‘It started with a kiss’, 1982), U2 (‘With or without you’, 1987), Stardust (‘Music sounds better with you’, 1998), Dusty Springfield/The Tourists/lots of others (‘I only want to be with you’ 1963/1979 and others), Stealers Wheel (‘Stuck in the middle with you’, 1972) and The Beatles (‘With a little help from my friends’, 1967).
fun (3rd Jan)
This has one reference – ‘Big Fun’ by Inner City (1989). I was a career raver between 1989 and about 1997 so had to get some house music into this (note the wee hoose in the corner). ‘Dance the night away’ comes from the track (and I did, many, many times).
and (4th Jan)
Here we have ‘And the beat goes on’ by The Whispers (1979). 10 million views on the YouTube video of this track so evidently it is still going on (and on and on). I got a tiny bit more adventurous with my drawings here (all with ‘beat’ or ‘whispering’ links).
make (5th Jan)
Suddenly my illustrating ambitions went up a level for this Motown record label-inspired drawing and link to ‘I’m gonna make you love me’ (various versions but best known Motown one by Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations in 1968). This reminds me of teenage big fun sitting with a friend in her room in a Middlesbrough suburb in the 1980s, listening to her older sister’s soul records and singing along REALLY LOUD.
a (6th Jan)
The Jackson 5 and ‘ABC’ (1970) for this one. Also the little heart in the corner is a reference to Amy Winehouse as it is one of her tattoos (the easiest one to draw by some distance…).
mark (7th Jan)
This was the hardest to choose for many reasons and I ended up listening to lots of tracks to find the right one. In the end I picked a song I didn’t know before called ‘I was here’ by Beyoncé (‘I will leave my mark so everyone will know, I was here’, on ‘4’, 2011). The bee is hers of course and the other symbols are various different marks linked to musicians (Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Prince...). I chucked in a treble clef for good measure, partly I think because I always enjoyed drawing them as a child when I played recorder (angrily), piano (badly/impatiently) and guitar (very briefly). Also I like trees (hence the trunk).
hold (8th Jan)
I loved En Vogue’s ‘Hold on’ when it came out in 1990 and remember hearing it played regularly on Leeds pirate radio stations like WYBC. The suitcase and the glass are just things you can hold… but the waves reference a song called ‘Hold back the tide’ by Northumberland musician Johnny Dickinson (on his album ‘English Summer’ 2005). I saw Johnny a couple of times at the folk club in Montrose and he was an amazing singer and guitarist and I still listen to his music regularly (I even have his ‘Hear me calling’ as my mobile ringtone). Sadly he died in 2019 after a long illness.
your (9th Jan)
Somehow friends and I ended up singing Hazel O’Connor’s ‘Will You’ (1981) on Hogmanay 2019. So luckily this gave me an idea for ‘your’ (‘You drink your coffee and I sip my tea…). ‘Breaking Glass’ (the film) was a big deal in the UK in 1980 (so I remember).
nerve (10th Jan)
I suspect the daughter (who loves musicals) helped me with this idea (‘if I only had the nerve’, Cowardly Lion, The Wizard of Oz, movie, 1939). She even wrote about lions and musicals recently (see here).
don’t (11th Jan)
I couldn’t decide on a song for this one so I just put ‘don’t’ in the 'search' of our music library and copied a whole lotta song titles. If it’s hard to read there are song titles on here from Jewel, Laura Marling, Billy Joel, Thin Lizzy, Miles Davis, Etta James, Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore, Whitesnake, Sinead O’Connor, Crowded House, Ella Fitzgerald, Dusty Springfield, Harry Connick Jr, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, Yazoo, Awesome 3, Kirsty MacColl, Beyoncé and Jack White, Norah Jones, Karine Polwart, Martin Simpson, Rhiannon Giddens, Elton John, Dionne Warwick, The Streets, Catatonia, Barbra Streisand, Fleetwood Mac, Stone Roses, Steely Dan, Bob Dylan, John Martyn, The Be Good Tanyas, Felix, Simple Minds and Elvis Costello.
fear (12th Jan)
As a teenage rocker with two older brothers (both big into rock music) the first thing that came into my head for this was Blue Oyster Cult’s ‘Don’t fear the reaper’ (1976… but played long after that in our house). Not the most cheerful illustration for this one, I’m afraid! I did try to give the reaper a face but it wasn’t working so I went with moody and mysterious instead.
the (13th Jan)
I have a real soft spot for the song ‘The man that got way’ as sung by Judy Garland in ‘A star is born’ (1954). So when I needed a ‘the’ I went for a line from that song (‘the night is bitter’). My Mum and daughter were both partial to the ‘winning parts in musicals shows’ of the noughties (‘How do you solve a problem like Maria?’ etc.) so I watched them even though they weren’t really my thing. In the ‘Oliver’ themed one (‘I’d do anything’) the now very well-known actress Jessie Buckley sang this song as her big number (and did a fantastic job). She’s a star, that’s for sure. And she’s in the biopic ‘Judy’ (2019) though not playing the lead. Everything comes back to Oz one way or another.
dark (14th Jan)
‘The lights come on…’ is from ‘Blackout’ (1989) by Lil’ Louis (he of ‘French Kiss’ fame). ‘Dancing in the dark’ (1984) is another boss (Bruce Springsteen). I wasn’t a fan of Springsteen growing up but I have come round to him, bit by bit.
open (15th Jan)
I adore Corinne Bailey Rae’s first two albums and the line here (‘my heart’s an open door’) is from ‘I’d do it all again’ (2010) from the album ‘The sea’. I’m not really sure where the caravan came in (Isley Brothers link maybe…).
boxes (16th Jan)
I knew ‘Little boxes’ was a Pete Seeger song (1963) but I didn’t know it was written by someone else – Malvina Reynolds (in 1962). For the illustration I went for record boxes (and record sun) because I was a club/radio DJs for some years in my 20s. The Teletubby colours are from another period in my life I think (childrearing in my 30s and 40s).
turn (17th Jan)
This word turns up in lots of songs and I named one of my publications ‘Turn’ so I went through a lot of possibles for this one. In the end I went for a song I really don’t like (though it has been around for much of my life) – ‘Total eclipse of the heart’ (1983) by Bonnie Tyler – mainly because I was ending up with lots of circles in my illustrations and I liked the idea of an eye from the lyric ‘Turn around, bright eyes’ (it’s green because I have green eyes). This song was written by Jim Steinman (he of the Meatloaf songs) and I certainly did like them (in the late 70s/early ‘80s anyway) and still know most of the words. They seem very musical theatre in retrospect and there is indeed a ‘Bat out of hell’ musical out there somewhere (fairly recent I think).
up (18th Jan)
Two song links in this one. The first is an old song ‘Up, up and away’ (1967) by the 5th Dimension which is another of those that has, literally in this case, been around my whole life. The second is newer - ‘Cranes in the sky’(2016) by Solange (lyric ‘I ran my credit card bill up’). I suppose the balloon is also a little reference to the film ‘Up’ (2009).
proud (19th Jan)
So why is Mary Poppins on that skateboard you ask? Because she’s ‘rollin’, rollin, rollin’ like a river.’ ‘Proud Mary’ is a Creedence Clearwater Revival track from 1969 and then there were various other versions including Ike and Tina Turner’s in 1971 (though it is now mostly associated with Tina Turner). It crops up all over the place (wii Just Dance anyone? Quite the workout). There are little nods to other Marys in the illustration too – Mary Quant top left and Mary J Blige bottom right.
burn (20th Jan)
After venturing into vaguely figurative art I moved from magical nannies to Scottish poets with this illustration featuring Rabbie Burns in a disco suit (influenced by the Trammps ‘Disco Inferno’, 1976 and its ‘Burn baby burn’). The witch’s hat in the corner is a nod to ‘Burn the witch’ by Radiohead from their album ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ (2016). I didn’t love Radiohead in the early days but I live with a fan and I have come to appreciate them. Way back I wrote a poem called ‘Not tonight, Radiohead’ that even mentions disco so that’s an odd link for me too.
down (21st Jan)
Two musical links on here – one to ELO’s ‘Don’t bring me down’ (1979) and one to ‘3 miles down’ (1978), a song about miners by one of my longtime favourites Gil Scott-Heron. The latter isn’t one of GSH’s better known tracks but the live version is particularly good.
sadness (22nd Jan)
Watch out! Here comes Van Morrison and some links to his song ‘Have I told you lately that I love you’ (1989, lyric ‘Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness’). It’s a gloomy (if cheeky) picture but it’s probably one of my favourites in this pack.
play (23rd Jan)
I had something else in mind for this but then I heard ‘Play the game’ (1980) by Queen on the radio at some point in January and ended up working around that instead (Freddie Mercury and Brian May on a playing card). There are a few little unspecified nods to playing games and playing music on there too.
out (24th Jan)
I first heard Michael Marra play, speak and sing in Montrose in 2006 (I think) but he was from Dundee (where I live now) and I heard him perfrom live here too (as well as a few more times in Montrose). He was such a great performer and songwriter that I struggle to put it into words. He died in 2012, which seems an incredibly long time ago already and I can’t believe he’s been gone that long. I had to get one of his songs in here somewhere and ‘Take me out drinking tonight/When these shoes were new’ (1980) was the one that seemed to fit. The little portrait (top left) doesn’t look much like him (only the headgear…) but the pub theme also reminds me of some of his other songs that mention pubs. He lovingly painted musical portraits of all Dundee life. For me he is up there (in both senses) with some of my faves (Nina Simone, Gil Scott-Heron...).
loud (25th Jan)
Mainly the musical link here is Kate Bush and ‘Snowflake’ (2011) but also a little bit of Stevie Wonder and ‘Do I do’ (1982, ’Your love talks to me so loud…’). I had to get Stevie in somewhere.
help (26th Jan)
It’s the Beatles. And they need help (look at them, their faces have disappeared...).
is (27th Jan)
Again I wanted to get David Bowie in somewhere and I managed it here. I did really love ‘Space Oddity’ (was fascinated by the visuals on Top of the Pops in 1975 when it was rereleased and went to number one) and I squeezed it in here (and you will notice I had had enough of trying to draw faces by this point…).
art (28th Jan)
I spent ages trying to choose a song I liked for this one. In the end I went for ‘Mona Lisa’ – best known as a Nat King Cole song from 1950. It was first written for a film (‘Captain Carey, USA’) and I probably know it best from another film (‘Mona Lisa’, 1986) which was popular in the ’80s but I haven’t seen since.
just (29th Jan)
I needed to have a Nina Simone song in the set too and one of my favourites is the live version of ‘Just in time’ (1962) that’s used at the end of the film ‘Before Sunset’ (2004). The song was written by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green and first showed up in the musical ‘Bells are Ringing’ in 1956 (musicals get everywhere!). Just to be fussy I set the clock in the illustration to the time of sunset in Paris on 29th January 2020 (because ‘Before Sunset’ is set in Paris).
take (30th Jan)
More circles in the illustration here… and a very vague link to ‘Don’t take away the music’ (Tavares, 1976) and ‘You are my sunshine’ (‘don’t take my sunshine away…’, numerous versions). And the radio? I’ve listened to so much music radio in my life (cheesy commercial radio in my teens and then later pirate radio, folk shows, 6 music…) that I had to get a radio in there too. Radio is a door to so much music.
part (31st Jan)
This is another one that took a while to choose. Mostly this refers to ‘The Parting Glass’ which I have heard various people sing at folk clubs and concerts (and there is lovely version on Cara Dillon’s 2008 album ‘Hill of thieves’). The song ends ‘good night and joy be with you all’ and it seemed a good way to end the run. Other musical references on the illustration are to Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Reasons to be cheerful part 3 – ‘why don’t you get back into bed’ and ‘summer buddy holly’), Joy Division (‘Love will tear us apart) and Fergie ‘A little party never killed nobody’. Oh and the curtains are parted. Ah ha!
If you got this far thanks for reading and come and join in the fun in 2021! I really enjoyed taking part and it is a great, friendly group.
One of the things that struck me reading about Covid-19 in the early phases was how relatives who couldn't visit loved ones were sending messages to be read aloud to them (or were reading messages aloud to them via phones, tablets etc.). Many mentioned sending or reading poems, in particular, and I have been wondering (since then) what poem I would send to someone in this kind of situation or what poem I might want to be read aloud to me. I haven't come up with an answer but I have come up with a poem (which is partly inspired by someone* I know who has been ill for some time, not with Covid-19, and who has the biggest and best of hearts).
In a whisper
Hush, hush, sweet one,
Hear my sound at your side.
Your breath’s hard won,
Still your heart’s open wide.
Like the best kind of pet,
On your bed, here I lie,
Here to soak up some pain,
And to never ask why.
We can dream where we've been,
Let the long slideshow play,
Fattest suns, loudest laughs,
All our lives in one day.
As we sleep, you and I,
Let this moment survive,
We are here, flesh to flesh,
This is us, love alive.
RF 2020
*July 2022: the someone I was writing about here was Fi Munro (and her husband Ewan). Fi died in July 2020, not long after I posted this. She wrote books and blog posts and all kinds of things – she was quite a powerhouse. Some of her online content is unavailable just now but her Instagram is still working here and you can read an article about her cancer campaigning here.
I got a
Twitter account quite late in the day (my first tweet was in June 2017 and
Twitter started in 2006). Perhaps because of the format (and the original limit
on characters) I thought I would try to use it for very short poems (hence the
handle @4littlelines ).
I had just finished a project in mid 2017 (putting together my pamphlet 'Turn')
and I was ready for a change of pace. Also I have always liked trying to say
something big (or small) in very few words (you can read some of my much older
short poems here).
They've
not exactly reached a big audience but recently I thought I would collate the
Twitter poems so far on the blog here and who knows maybe someone will want to
read them. They are mostly responses to topical/political issues (mainly UK,
but not all) over the past few years. I have deleted one or two from Twitter as
I've tweaked/spring-cleaned the profile here and there but this is most of them
(quite a few). It's possible I started with this one (though it's not on the
feed now so I must have tidied it away for some reason):
4 little
lines
4 little
lines can say it all,
Scratched
4 eva on a toilet wall,
Write or
type, just hear the call,
Rhyme if
you want to, it’s not mandatory.
On 8th
June 2017 we had a UK election and at some point after that I tweeted
this response to the fact that our MP (in Angus in Scotland where we lived at
the time) changed from the SNP's Mike Weir (thoroughly decent bloke) to the
Conservatives' Kirstene Hair (predictably disappointing and tiresome). I
retweeted it when her she was up for reelection in 2019 and am very glad to
report that Hair lost her seat and it reverted to the SNP. I'd love to take the
credit for this but really it's because she was a terrible, terrible MP.
Angus
Blues
Blue is
the colour of my county's wallet,
The
ribbon is too and the sky is grey,
The
clouds hang low like a broken bonnet,
Sad is
the song for our bairns today.
On 19th
June 2017 I posted this Brexit poem for Nigel 'hold the bucket while I
vomit at the mention of his name' Farage. This one is still up on Twitter
because I still hate him and everything he stands for. Nigel is doing his best
to spread hatred wherever he can and in that sense it is definitely working
because I really do hate him.
Stripes
Nigel
Farage, halt your hole,
Pinstripes
can confuse the soul,
You have
championed quite a rift,
Bitter
Britain is your gift.
On 20th
June 2017 UK Prime Minister Theresa May was not doing well.
Theresa’s
times
Oh dear,
what can the matter be?
Stumbling
on from horror to tragedy,
I just
wanted someone to look at me,
Life is
so very unfair.
On 21st
June 2017 I
posted a poem about the fire at Grenfell Tower in London which had taken place
on 14th June. The event was so horrifying and all the more so because it was
completely avoidable.
The cost
Governments
can be terrorists too,
Save some
pennies, all for the few.
What
would Margaret Thatcher do?
Burn the
poor for a better view.
Also
on 21st June 2017 I posted a little poem about Boris Johnson
(currently making a terrible job of being UK Prime Minister but then busy with
Brexiteering and offending people under the title of 'Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs'). Looking back I think this poem is actually
unfair to pigs.
BJ
Boris
snuffles as he speaks,
Truffles
packed in bacon cheeks,
Where he
trots it always reeks,
Bubbles,
troubles, oinks and squeaks.
On 22nd
June 2017 the person others call Queen Elizabeth II wore a hat that
some suggested looked like an EU flag. No royals in an independent Scotland
when we get it, thank you very much.
Where did
you get…?
Who
picked that hat for Mrs Ma’am,
Now all
the rage in Buckingham?
Are there
new tricks up those old sleeves?
This is
the cat that never leaves.
Also
on 22nd June 2017 I wrote a little something about 'The Daily
Mail', one of the UK's nastier newspapers (and we have some corkers!). It is
currently the best selling paper in the UK apparently which says something
about the ignorance and aggression that feel too at home here. I can't remember
what they were up to to prompt this particular response. It could be any one of
a list of horrible campaigns.
In the
Mail
Got
something mean you want to say?
Fear not,
we put out every day.
They call
us Hate, we rise above,
Who wants
that dirty thing called love?
On 26th
June 2017 I put together a little something for far right campaigner
Katie Hopkins (she is currently banned from Twitter). The internet calls her a
'media personality' which seems all wrong. Apparently she first came to public
attention via 'The Apprentice' (a show I watched once in someone else's house).
I blame a lot of shit on that show.
Follow
the leader
Katie
Hopkins – foul and proud,
Poster
bait for kicking crowd,
Feed her,
fund her, let her show
She will
sink to any low.
On 28th
June 2017 tennis player Heather Watson was (like many others in the
public eye) getting a lot of crap from our brave anonymous online heroes.
Insult
tennis
Internet
trolls
Confuse
women with dolls.
This is
due to their lives
With
inflatable wives.
On 29th
June 2017 the UK's Conservative government announced a public sector
pay cap and, even worse, cheered themselves for doing it. They will clap their
little devil's hooves for you if you sacrifice yourself to save others in a
pandemic, sure, but don't expect any other recognition or reward. They are a
disgrace and why people continue to vote for them... well, see some of the
above.
The
Plunder years
Hear
their hoots
Across
the years,
Money
talks
Bullshit
cheers.
A few
days later I posted something about the BBC's main UK political 'debate' TV
show.
Rotten
job?
To tackle
one cause
Of
organised crime
Vote ‘Lie
Detectors
For Question
Time’.
On 2nd
July 2017 I took a break from politics and wrote a little Sunday
morning number.
Day of
rest
Don’t
waste yourself,
Let time
just rot,
The day
is long
But life
is not.
On 3rd
July 2017 I wrote one of many poems about Donald Trump. There's a reason
they made a big baby balloon of that man (because he is a big baby balloon).
And for anyone who hasn't watched 'Trump: An American Dream' (currently on
Netflix) I highly recommend it. I retweeted this one when he came to London in
2019 too.
Child
Poor
Donald is tired, he so needs a nap.
Poor
Donald is bloated, he’s packed full of crap.
Poor
Donald is angry, and raging online.
The
bigger the baby, the louder the whine.
This one
isn't up just now but it was about something else terrible that the
Conservative party did in 2017 (take your pick really). I guess I deleted it
because there were so many other terrible tories poems.
About
turn
Turn back
Tories,
Ain't
life funny?
Bankers
aren't the only ones
Who need
our money.
On a
similar vein from 5th July 2017:
Start
young
I’m a
millionaire and I’m OK,
Things
get sticky I just fly away.
I mess
with the medical, I fool with schools,
I play
pick and choose when it comes to rules.
And
on 6th July 2017, in the interests of fairness, I
wrote one for Tony Blair (for those outside the UK the Labour Party has
used the red rose symbol since the 1980s):
War roses
Roses are
red,
Sometimes
that’s true,
But Blair
did his best
To make
them turn blue.
This one
isn't on the feed just now but I wrote it about Trump and Putin in July 2017
(probably inspired by a photo):
Tough at
the top
Sit with
me a while, hear my plans and schemes,
No-one
takes me seriously, it might be all the memes.
Forget
the cold war, we’re just a pair of hot guys,
I want to
hold your hand, meet those dreamy eyes.
On 9th
July 2017 I posted this about my favourite radio show (Cerys Matthews
on BBC 6 Music, Sunday mornings):
Buzz
The
sweetest sounds,
In a
mighty mix,
All birds
and bees
Love
Cerys on 6.
Again
this isn't up on the Twitter feed just now but this was a second poem about
Grenfell Tower, written in July 2017:
Tower of
London
If walls
could talk
What
would they say?
Don’t
bury truth?
Don’t
turn away?
On 10th
July 2017 I posted this about online spats:
We vow
Let's
fight online
Till the
power dies,
Till
there's no one left
For us to
despise.
The next
one in July 2017 was about a British 'aristocrat' (read about him here). It was the first one that prompted a vile
response (if one in rhyme... poetic racists are still racists). It's not on the
feed now as I didn't want to leave the horrible response online.
Titled
untitled
What’s
that I see in a news headline –
‘Aristocrat’
you say, is that even still a thing?
Britain
stuck in a swamp as old as time,
Cruelty,
stupidity, all fit for a king.
Ben
Ashcroft wrote a book called '51 Moves' about his childhood and experiences in
the care system. He often invites people to tweet that 'Every child leaving
care matters' so I wrote a short poem for a tweet on 15th July 2017:
Shine
forever
Simple
things aren’t always simple,
Minds
struggle when safety shatters,
A simple
message shines some light:
Every
child leaving care matters.
On 15th
July 2017 I posted another one for former Prime Minister
Tony Blair (though I can't find a reference to whatever photo or Instagram
account I was thinking of at the time):
Looking
for likes
Tony
tries to win back powers,
Heads for
insta, Beyoncé-style,
No one
wants to see his flowers,
Never
mind that joker’s smile.
On 21st
July 2017 I wrote a little poem in praise of this song by Kim
Edgar:
Kim’s
song
Here’s
something good,
Here’s
something true.
Just
listen, love,
Feel less
like blue.
After a
wee while on Twitter I thought it was time to deal with this subject (on 23rd
July 2017). To be fair there is a fair bit of it on Facebook too (but I am
there less these days).
Death
threat culture
My tenth
since breakfast,
‘I
fucking hate you’.
I lose
track of life.
I type
it, it’s true.
I have no
loyalty or interest when it comes to the British monarchy. So much so that this
poem isn't even on the feed any more (but it must have been in July
2017). This was about Kate Middleton, I imagine, (is she called Windsor now
- who gives a hoot really?) and the tedious photos of her that stare out from
newsstands. I have to hope she is more interesting in real life than her image
allows. No monarchy in our upcoming independent Scotland please 😀 Did I
say that already?
Sleepy
Bring me
a princess,
Keep her
bland,
Velvet
gloves
On a
tired old brand.
I may
have watched the odd TV series. The writing in some of them is so great these
days. Poets don't stand a chance. (This poem 27 July 2017.)
Ambition
I want to
be a box set
When I
grow up.
I’ll make
it worth your time.
I’ll
never, ever rhyme.
On 29th
July 2017 I tweeted a little something on trying to write during
school holidays.
Brief
In the
longer days
Got to
keep it short,
Fitting
in writing’s
A
summertime sport.
On 30th
July 2017 there was a little poem in response to a photo by Shahbaz Majeed:
In and
out
I fall
again into the waves –
Restless
sheets, no good for sleep.
To toss
and turn in this old bed,
Is just a
dream that’s blue and deep.
On 9
August 2017 (school exam results day in Scotland) I wrote this in
response to the hashtag #NoWrongPath:
Slow lane
Life
isn’t one exam,
It’s more
a PhD.
And
rushing isn’t all
It cracks
us up to be.
On 13th
August 2017 I posted this in response to fascist activity in
Charlottesville, Virgina:
The real
thing
Real
white power
Fights
the fascist blight,
Knows
their sorry hatred
Isn’t any
kind of right.
This one
isn't on the feed now but it was around the same time with the same subject:
Killing
times
Because
their hearts are gone,
They hate
to fill the void.
Their
hopes are empty homes,
Where all
has been destroyed.
On 3rd
September 2017 I wrote about the new Queensferry Crossing bridge
between Edinburgh and Fife and the fact that Nicola Sturgeon walked it with a
crowd of locals on 2 September 2017 (though I believe a 'monarch' came up for
'official opening' a couple of days later). We crossed it (in a car) on 31st
August on our way to an open day at an Edinburgh university for the daughter so
I don't know what that says about us. Around the same time a book of Trump's
quotes/tweets (restyled) called 'The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump' by Rob
Sears was put out by Scottish publishers Canongate. Sturgeon, Trump, I know who
I'd rather have leading a country... Also 'quine' is a Doric word for 'woman'
or 'girl'.
Another
week in Scotland
A bridge
for a quine,
Our
leader divine,
Whilst
Trump’s every curse,
Now
immortal in verse.
On 12
September 2017 I wrote this little one about writing about other
people's tragedies:
Watch
It might
be poetic,
This
tragic scene,
But is
there a line?
And is it
mine?
This one
isn't on the feed just now. Peter Hitchens ('conservative journalist and
author') was moaning about something...
He
squawks hard for his money
Hitchens
is bitchin’.
So what
else is new?
Clueless
and clutching
To shreds
of a view.
Then a
second appearance for Boris Johnson in late 2017. Sadly he did not
'get tae fuck' and in fact got to fuck us up instead (in oh so many ways).
Go on
Johnson
Go on
Johnson,
Get tae
fuck,
Time to
end
Your
dirty luck.
In 2018,
a poem for New Year:
2018
Start
again, reboot,
Undry
some fruit.
Little
sparklers die
‘gainst a
giant sky.
On 20th
March 2018, a Facebook mention:
FB
Oh facebook
Might this be the end?
Time to unplug?
Unmask? Unfriend?
And
in May 2018 there was sunshine:
Mayday
Sun
I let sun
wash me warm.
Someone
tortures a lawn.
Dogs seek
out good shade
As the
daffodils fade.
On May
23rd 2018 Boris Johnson was talking about wanting a special plane. I
retweeted this again recently as there has been talk of the £900,000 spent on
said plane. I mean, after all, what else could we be spending money on right
now?
The
dickhead wants a plane
Boris,
you can have a plane.
Take our
money, watch it burn.
But we
have some Ts and Cs –
Fly away
and don’t return.
Not long
after that there was another Trump edition:
#TrumpInACage
Across
all the borders
You’ll
hear the same rage -
Don’t
lock up these children,
Keep
Trump in a cage.
And another
(about Trump and 'The Sun' 'newspaper'):
Big
orange ball
'The Sun’
is our shame
And today
most of all –
Its front
page an ad
For that
big orange ball.
Then
in June 2018, the Melania Trump coat story (I did an image for this
one):
Melania’s
fashion statement (June 2018)
I only
care about myself.
I found a
rotten golden key.
My heart
is empty, read my back:
One rule
for you, no rules for me.
Then a
bit of gap, and then in June 2019:
The worst
Leaders
come and leaders go,
They fuck
us up, this much we know,
Our
lessons burn, so sore and slow,
While
leaders come and leaders go.
And again
in the same month:
The worst
II
All of
the options are dreadful.
They
think themselves crème de la crème
But
really they’re not even dregs,
The worst
of the worst kind of men.
Then
on 23 July 2019, Boris Johnson was announced the new leader of the
Conservative party and therefore the UK.
Keep calm, you say?
We
laughed at their fool,
Orange
jester, no class,
But look
at us now,
Led by
our own ass.
On 7
August 2019 I tried this appeal to the Scottish First Minister:
Fop chop
Nicola,
free us from this fop,
He’s
heavy in the wallet but light up top,
With his
tiresome ‘trademark’ quirky mop,
Let’s
snip this tie, altogether now: ‘Chop!’
And
in September 2019 there was this on the tone of the BJ
government, Brexit etc.:
Loose talk
Say it’s
‘just a game’, just another debate,
Like old
‘Union’ days, ‘take it all on the chin’.
‘Come on
chaps, no one’s died, and the bar’s open late’.
Except
they did, someone died, and they will again.
In December
2019 the UK had a general election and King Liar Boris Johnson and his
Brexit bus won the day.
True blue
So it's
true, facebook true,
England's
drowning in blue,
Brexit
blue, passport blue,
Want to
leave? Join the queue.
And Boris
Johnson's Tory government has been such a success story (not really). I had
this in early 2020:
Handy man
He may be something like
a leader
of this land
but I
never, ever, ever want
to shake
his nasty hand.
And
on 16th April 2020:
Tory
Prayer
Do we
care?
Yes, we
do!
About us,
Never
you.
On 26th
May 2020 there was this fortory adviser in chief
Dominic Cummings (who seems to struggle with rules):
I spy
Tory lies
I lie for
a living
And don’t
ask why
Or I’ll
stick my hard brexit
In your
good driving eye.
And then
on 28th May 2020, because they've done such a great job in the
current health crisis, there was this:
Winners
We
thought our worst was Thatcher
But it
seems that's not the case,
Johnson's
evil arsewipes
Now
securely in first place.
And, most
recently, on 4th June 2020, when Boris Johnson said he was
very proud of how his government had handled the Covid-19 crisis, I tried this
(spoiler - no one agrees with him):
Boris
Johnson is proud
I am
proud of my bullshit,
my lies
and my luck,
so many
have died
and I don’t
give a fuck.
So, there
you go - a whole lotta little poems. And if you made it this far thanks for
reading.
