Poetry

The morning arrives

~ admin

From the pleasant haze of the morning mist
The col called out to the towering tor:
In your deep shade from the sun let me tryst
With the dews of the dawn who water my floor.

The tor replied with a deep sounding tone:
Nothing is hidden from the light of the sun.
He comes out of night’s tent to fly alone,
To enter the race daily which he must run.

How can I help you? He rides in the sky
Far over my head and the white clouds that fly.
His beams shall arrest and dry out the air,
The grass and the flowers that long for his care.

They are not without sun and dew replete
So let them their work now the light and rain do.
The years they pass, they are ready to fleet;
May this new one refresh: the Lord be with you.

墨田川–梅若之古事 (Sumida River: The Ancient Story of Umewaka)
月岡芳年 (Tsukioka Yoshitoshi)

It is a dangerous thing

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There was a recent article in the Grauniad⁰⁰ in which it was suggested by one of the correspondents that it is a dangerous thing to expose a spy, even if you are able to do so. Whether it is or no, I leave to your judgement. For my part the question, if it becomes a question, is to remain unanswered.

There are other dangerous things to do. In some places the very mention of what actually happened if it does not accord with the official description in every detail may be considered to be fake news, the disclosure of state secrets or even as slight as a stirring up of arguments or discontent – beware then if in the civil service canteen when the cook has put too much salt in the soup that you do not complain. The penalty may be greater than you expect.  So, to make reference to words which had been posted in a public place, which often concerning similar posters Coco does complain when driving for they are also dangerous things, which can be clearly seen by drivers, who then become distracted and wish to read them. Of course it can be even worse than a simple static poster. The LED screen catches your eye and then changes before you have interpreted the one you saw at the first. How distracting this is. We are not permitted to have our own distracting LED screen, but anyone else can place an A00000 road sign which flickers and flashes its images and words demanding the attention of every passing driver, insisting that they take their snoopy eyes off the road ahead.

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The winter’s past

~ admin

A winter’s tail may yet in spring
Be seen upon the wall
But mare’s tail found agathering
Where roses should be, all

The cold icicles of winter
have done their work in stone
Whilst rootlets in the earth prepared
to make their presence known

And we have felt the icy blast
With rain upon the head
But hearts with pleasant thoughts were warmed
And nothings only said.

Now to this day, as long ago,
We quickly do repair
Another year, the old doth wane,
Refresh you with due care!

Butterfly Flower, Bowling
1915 Charles Rennie Mackintosh – Fleming Collection

Press on

~ admin

On the first January 19891 Philip asked us whether we were ready for a new year as men count years, but recognising that we are creatures of times, pressed this home upon us, as we consider the old year and the new year, how things are and how they ought to be, are we considering the most important thing? Moses considered the most important thing when he asked Jehovah to show him his glory. This is the most important thing: God himself. Do we consider that?

Two and thirty years later on the eighth August 20212 he asked another almost equally important question, having in mind that it is God himself who is at work in us:

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As summer departs

~ admin

As summer yields her hidden fruit
And autumn cedes her golden charm
To winter days and frosty nights;
As long hours of aestivation
Through equal days of light and dark
To long shades of hibernation
Do resign; to escrivation
My pen does now with will embarque
To inscribe for you a meet word
To which with good will all shall hark:
For in august tones on a summer day
The new year’s ingression shall not inveigh,
But rather for your health and good essay.

Almond Blossom, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

An auspicious date

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Nothing happened

The day has arrived*; the dragons are unleashed. How excited are you? Two bank holidays and a weekend, and still it is May the twenty second for some. It is time to reveal the finale, having come across Lambton Worm, a tale about a young squire who went fishing on a Sunday morn when he should not have done with terrible consequences for the people who lived on both sides of the Wear, Coco thought Coco would paraphrase some of it with another dragon tale about a different young squire (young ‘un) in a not so proper dialect sung in an awful Geordie accent.

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Lambton Worm

~ admin

Coco came across the Lambton Worm recently, in proper dialect sung in a wonnerful Geordie accent. It is a tale about a young squire who went fishing on a Sunday morning when he should not have done with terrible consequences for the people who lived on both sides of the Wear.

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Another year

~ admin
Shimada Mitsufusa

Come all you virulent strains
Of singers to unite.
Vibrant songs bring hymns of praise
In joyful aires tonight.
Delightful is the day
Perhaps we may reflect
And ponder in a way
Regarding time elapsed,
‘Til at the end we do repair
Soon to rejoice – another year.