(I am currently grieving deeply for a loved one, but in the meantime thought it would be cathartic to release the following poem that has recently arrived.)
Waiting to go go ( some reflections on Death)
What is it about Death
That makes us hold our breath,
We are all waves of consciousness
Passing through the corridors of time,
From the moment of birth you and me
All of us waiting to go go,
It can't be hidden, sadly there's no escape
Try not to pretend not to see, or be afraid,
It might be tonight or some time tomorrow
So while we can, best laugh and smile,
Until it's time for our very last dance
When the music and lights start to fade,
In the meantime lets talk about the weather
Cling on to Love and peace and all things nice,
Seize the day and carry on resisting
Show some allegiance to noble causes here on earth,
Until that fateful day Mr Reaper man comes
And releases our grip makes us take that final bow.
Today, 30th March, is Land Day in Palestine and is marked by Palestinians wherever they live. Land Day is held on the anniversary of March 30, 1978,when Palestinian
villages and cities across the country witnessed mass demonstrations
against the states plans to expropriate 2,000 hectares of land in and around the Arab
villages of Araba and Sakhnin as a part of a plan to "Judaise the
Galilee".Israel's Galilee region. In coordination with the military, some 4,000
police officers were dispatched to quell the unrest. At the end of the
day, six Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed, and over one hundred injured by state security
forces.
The Day of the land - or Land Day marked the first mass mobilization of
Palestinians within Israel against internal colonialism and land theft.
It also signalled the failure of Israel to
subjugate Palestinians who remained in their towns and villages, after
around 700,000 of them were either expelled or forced to flee battles or
massacres committed by Zionist armed groups in 1948.It's commemoration is a reaffirmation that the Palestinians who
remained in the area on which Israel was declared in 1948, are an
inseperable part of the Palestinian people and their struggle.
This important day in Palestinian history commemorates the Palestinians sense of belonging to a people, to a
cause and a country, to stand united against racial oppression and rules
of apartheid,and the discriminatory practices of the Israeli
government, giving continual potency to the Palestinians cause , its quest for justice and Palestinian rights, and its resistance to injustice,who never cease to fight for their land while holding passionately to their history and identity. It is the right of return, recognised in the United Nations Resolution 194, that drives Palestinians to continue with the commemoration of Land Day - regardless of their geographical location.
The day is commemorated annually by Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and further afield in refugee camps and among the Palestinian diaspora worldwide, with demonstrations, marches and by planting olive and fruit trees. Land Day is typically
met with violent Israeli repression. Today many of the Land Day protests against the theft of their lands focus on the Negev
region, since much of the land that has been marked for appropriation
in the Galilee has already been confiscated. The Palestinian Bedouin
citizens of Israel also now face the appropriation of 800,000 dunams of
the Negev by the Israeli state.The housing situation for the Bedouin remains dire. Settlements that
house 160,000 people are deemed "illegal" by Israel, and risk
demolition. The issue of land allocation and housing for Palestinian citizens of Israel has now reached crisis point.
Land Day
therefore continues to be poignantly relevant as Israel continues to confiscate land, expand their
colonies, and continue to build their illegal settlements in flagrant violation of all international conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.Land day is a Palestine day, a day for its people to proudly declare that they are one from
the River to the Sea. The Land Day strike inspired the following powerful poem by Tawfiq Zayyad, Palestinian poet, writer, scholar and politician, that continues to resonate across the Palestinian generations.
Here we will stay - Tawfiq Zayyad ( 7/5/ 29 - 5/7/ 94)
In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain
like a wall upon your chest,
and in your throat
like a shrad of glass,
a cactus thron,
and in your eyes
a sandstorm.
We shall remain
a wall upon your chest,
clean dishes in your restaurants,
serve drinks in your bars,
sweep the floors of your kitchens
to snatch a bite for our children
from your blue fangs.
Here we shall stay,
sing our songs,
take to the angry streets,
fill prisons with dignity.
In Lidda, in Ramla, in the galilee,
we shall remain,
guard the shade of the fig
and olive trees,
ferment rebellion in our children
as yeast in the dough.
Link to poem by Mahmoud Darwish on the same theme :-
So Theresa May has now signed the official letter, article 50 of the Lisbon
treaty, which formally begins the process of leaving the European Union.
For many milllions of people, this appears to be a colossal act of self
harm. Ending decades of integration with our neighbours. May has also chosen the hardest and most divisive form of Brexit,
choosing to take us out of the Single Market before she has even tried
to negotiate.Membership of the Single Market was not on the ballot paper last June,
yet without a mandate she has chosen to rip Britain, our businesses and
our people out of the world’s biggest market. I was always a Euro sceptic,always thought that it was in need of reform, but thought we should stay, these were my own thoughts on the subject earlier :- https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/europe-should-we-stay-or-should-we-go.html
The following is from our unelected Tory Prime Minister. Who with her party have now taken us back 60 years.The following words if they don't scare you, well you need to look up what the Tories have done so far.
"This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back -
Britain is leaving the European Union - we're going to make our own
decisions and our own laws, we're going to take control of the things
that matter most to us. And we're going to take this opportunity to
build a stronger and fairer Britain that our children and grandchildren
are proud to call home."
We already live in a divided nation run by an incompetent government that is
encouraging the rich to become richer, and the poor to becoming
poorer, while trying to kill our NHS and welfare state. Once out of Europe
they will feel they have mandate to do anything they damn well like.I do not stand by a Brexit
deal that will punish the most vulnerable in society even further, I do not stand by
a Brexit deal that will put more people into poverty, I do not stand by
a Brexit deal that will destroy our country, and take away our
already basic human rights! It is simply a failure of epic tragic proportions and a sad day for Britain as we leap into the abyss and become a poorer, small-minded xenophobic place to live. Britain has now officially stepped into the worst decision its ever made as Donald Tusk receives UK's article 50 letter.
A new European Parliament report though shows that the UK can still change its
mind on Brexit, so if Theresa May’s deal is not good enough, the people of
the UK should have the chance to say so.We should remember too, that it was not a mere minority who declined to support this event that we are all supposed to be celebrating now, it was nearly half of the country, many of whom will today be experiencing an immense feeling of sadness. Brexit is simply not the will of the people. As May continues to refer to the 48% ( of which I was one) in her quotes about unity, we must
resist. We must say NO, Theresa. Not only do we not see or support your chaotic views, we don’t support this callous, needlessly extreme Brexit one bit and we never will. Now more than ever we must stand with migrants and continue our fight to defend the freedom of movement for all .Brexit. Not in my name. Please sign the following petition and show Theresa that she is not speaking for you!
They will offer you
a handful of inflated emotion,
tie you up in knots
having eaten their fill,
will not do anything you ask for
whilst continuing to deliver soundbites,
eager to show that they do really care
will carry on giving you handshakes,
full of lies and deceipt
with warped sense of logic,
as the pain frosts over our breaths
offer us scraps of austerity,
whilst hours draw by keep us unsatisfied,
continue their games to bend and shape us
apart from a few, most of collassal self-importance,
with their rhetoric full of emptiness
deliver to us, utter complete disrespect,
it is up to us to stir their will
in sweet sheer defiance,
carve a new domain
into which, us they must serve,
instead of corporations and lobbyists
and others with a lust of power,
deliver us human foundations.
built on concepts of truth
that can be seeds of future's rebirth.
Brilliant piece of culture and art - The powers that be make this song
so relevant , many years since this record came out, fair
gain for the elites, this song sums up Britain so much.
Here in Britain, politics is racing at breakneck speed. We have Theresa May as an unelected prime minister.The PM also stands accused of closing the door on child refugees after reneging
on a pledge to allow 3,000 stranded in Europe into Britain.The Tory's are ploughing on with the benefit cap and other measures which are driving working-class families into the dirt, and no plans to seriously tackle this were made in Hammond's autumn statement. It is planning £22 billion-worth of savage cuts to the NHS, using the mechanism of the so called ' sustaainability and transformation plans' (STPs). The end result, if they are allowed to get away with it, will be the wholesale closure of local hospitals. We are also wirnessing the rise of the far-right and xenophobia on the rise again, combined with Post Brexit we could be living in a nightmare that we can't escape, it will see many people waking up to the political economic consequences of leaving Europe, and realising they have been duped.We are currently sailing into a future that does not look too rosy.Scary times indeed.
Yet the Tories will be screwed if Scotland and Northern Ireland still decide to remain in
the EU. Scotland, having previously voted to remain in the UK and the
EU, cannot now do both. The irony if the unintended consequence of Brexit could be a break up of Britain , with the result a new Anglo-Welsh world super power that we could call Wengland.We are certainly facing more days of shock and waves of uncertainty.
In the immediate future, the defense of migrants, including those yet to
come, celebrating diversity is fundamental to opposing the swing to the right post-Brexit. Let or future not be steeped in shame..Only saying.
.
Chinua Achebe was a great Nigerian novelist. poet and short story writer of global significance. He is best known for his first novel “Things Fall Apart” which has been translated into 45 languages. His poem “Refugee Mother and Child” is a celebration of motherhood. It is set in a refugee camp somewhere in Africa. The representation of human suffering and the picture of a mother's tenderness for her son, that she soon will lose, is truly moving and compelling.. Refugee Mother And Child
No Madonna and Child could touch
that picture of a mother's tenderness
for a son she soon would have to forget.
The air was heavy with odours
of diarrhoea of unwashed children
with washed-out ribs and dried-up
bottoms struggling in laboured
steps behind blown empty bellies. Most
mothers there had long ceased
to care but not this one; she held
a ghost smile between her teeth
and in her eyes the ghost of a mother's
pride as she combed the rust-coloured
hair left on his skull and then -
singing in her eyes - began carefully
to part it… In another life this
would have been a little daily
act of no consequence before his
breakfast and school; now she
After the tragic attack in Westminster on Wednesday. night, many are now expressing their shock. It was terrible because people lost their lives or were horribly
wounded,due to the actions of a sick and depraved individual fuelled by hate, Kent-born Khalid Masood, 52, who ploughed a car into
pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it into railings and
then running into the grounds of Parliament, armed with a knife.There he stabbed PC Keith Palmer, 48, before being shot dead by armed police.Pedestrians
British national and mother of two Aysha Frade, 43, and US tourist Kurt
Cochran, 54, died in the incident on Westminster Bridge, while 40
people remain hospitalised, with seven in critical condition. There has naturally been an outporing of gfrief and anger .
In light of all of this though I recommend the following clip from journalist Simon Jenkins talking sense on Newsnight about how the media irresponsibly creates frenzies of
publicity around incidents of terrorism. It feeds racism and
Islamophobia, it feeds a climate of relentless fear, when there is no
justification for such fears, and it gives the terrorists what they want
- the oxygen of publicity, the very climate of fear the media stirs up, and, they hope, the disruption of normal, everyday life.https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/844903739324555264
Also it is worth pointing out what did not make the headlines, only the day before this cowardly attack, an airstrike by the US-led coalition on a school in Syria killed at least 33 people.And last Thursday another US strike on a mosque complex in the north-west of the country killed at least 43 people, are not all lives of rqual value. In addition Palestinians, Syrians, refugees, those fleeing war certainly do not feel
safe every minute of their days, remember
also the many governments that could be defined as terrorists, but rarely are by the
media, and arms companies on a daily basic who aid and fuel murder and war, in
their blood lust thirst for profit Now more than ever we can not let these attacks be used by the racists to divide us.
Already, the far right group Britain First have used this attack as an
excuse to call a 'march' in London to spew their racism, hatred and
division.An additional attempt to capitalise on the events came from Tommy
Robinson,former leader of the English Defence League, who while ambulances and other emergency vehicles dominated scenes, had appeared within minutes of the incident occurring seeking to exploit the tragedy and the victims of the attack for his own propoganda purposes, shouting aggressively at those who challenged him and launched
into a scathing analysis of the incident for his own personal camera crew. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/23/far-right-exploit-westminster-attack-london-wont-let-it Stand Up To Racism has called a unity vigil in London today.There Co-Convenor Weyman Bennett said in a response to
the attack: “Our thoughts are with those killed or injured in the
Westminster attack and their families. We need to stand together against
all those who seek to divide us. We are black, white, Muslim and
Christian living together.We have to remain vigilant against those who
want to profit from division, especially the far right. It is crucial
that we stand united in such difficult times. I urge people who feel the
same to join Friday’s vigil.”
Dr Shazad Amin, CEO of http://mend.org.uk/,(Muslim Engagement and Development) said: “We are shocked and saddened by
the act of mindless violence that took place at Westminster and our
thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones and with
those that were injured during this incident. This act of violence is
utterly deplorable and one that will find no room in any community.
“We stand firmly against anyone who wishes to use this tragic
incident to create fear and divisions in our society. Only last weekend
over 30,000 people marched in solidarity against all forms of hate, and
we reiterate our commitment to Stand Up to Racism, Anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia and all forms of hate.”
In a statement last night, shared on Twitter yesterday, HOPE not Hate the anti-fascist charity in a statement said on twitter yesterday https://twitter.com/hopenothate?lang=en:“Resolve can be shaken in the aftermath of such
incidents. Calls for revenge can abound. But we mustn't let the
terrorists win. Nor those who welcome the hatred they bring.In the coming hours and days, there will be some who call for more hatred. Who want nothing more than to meet violence with violence. That is the path to ruin. Please don’t be intimidated. Don’t give in. And don’t listen to haters.We’ll stand firm against all those who call for division; and with your help, we’ll expose those who call for terror too.”
In an apparent reference to people who might have double standards on political extremism, it adds:“London won’t be cowed, and neither will we. Please help us stand firm.Help us expose those in ALL communities who want to sow division and terror. In the face of tragedy and violence, help us bring hope and unity.”
Brendan Cox the partner of Jo Cox, a Labour MP, who died after being shot and stabbed outside her constuency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire on 16 June by far-right extremist Thomas Mair has also urged Britain not to let itself be divided by the Westminster attack saying the assailant no more represents British Muslims than his wife’s murderer represented the people of Yorkshire.Also saying‘ that the person who did this wants us to be fearful and divided , let’s show that we are neither’. So let's not let the racists divide us. Now more than ever we must stand
in solidarity and diversity in these difficult times. and must reiterate our commitment to Stand Up to Racism, Anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia and all forms of hate and try and focus on what unites us.
Stand Up To Racism unity vigil against hatred and division, Friday, 6pm, Downing Street, www.facebook.com/events/192258647941643/ Unite Against Fascism counter-demonstration: Don't let the racists divide us - no to fascist Britain First! Saturday 1 April, central London. Details tbc go to www.facebook.com/events/1291586427589114/ There will also be peace vigils across the country.
Quick plug for this film, on tonight at Small World Theatre , Cardigan a jaw dropping yet hopeful anti-arms trade documentary with panel speakers.Based on the book The Shadow World, vy Andrew Feinstein this feature length documentary
is an investigation into the multi-billion dollar international arms
trade.
Exposing the global arms trade, the vast sums of
money that are made and the corruption that creates. Fascinating
interviews reveal the shocking realities of Britain’s central role in
this dirty trade that counts its profits in billions and its losses in
human lives. Based on Andrew Feinstein’s globally acclaimed book this is
extremely good at clearly presenting information and then showing the
consequences. Masterfully edited and well illustrated with pertinent
clips, this deftly weaves the multiple strands of its
global story into a compelling case against the guilty parties. In the
hope that if we better understand what really goes on, we can see
through the horror, and create a better future. The arms trade spreads its tentacles far and wide, ensnaring politicians
in a web of malpractice that rarely comes to light. This film deserves to be seen by anyone who
wants to see light shining on such a shadowy world. The timing is impeccable because it comes ahead of the DPRTE arms fair which will return to the Motopoint Arena in Cardiff on March 28, 2017for the third time. Join a day of action against the arms fair on 28 March, and show the arms industry there’s no welcome for it in Wales.
In 2016, huge protests and a successful day of action
caused havoc for the DPRTE arms fair, forcing organisers to claim it
“was not an arms fair”. However, with many of the UK’s biggest arms
companies in attendance and the event geared towards “showcasing
products and services” along all parts of the supply chain, it seems
that’s just a difference of language: the event is designed to help arms
industry networking in order to make business deals, and the effects of
these deals are felt across the world as UK weaponry plays a leading role in conflicts which destroy homes, school and communities from Yemen to Gaza.
Campaign groups Cardiff Stop the Arms Fair, Campaign Against the Arms
Trade and Welsh language group Cymdeithas y Cymod (Fellowship for
Reconciliation) will be among those protesting against the Defence
Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability (DPRTE) event. We have to stand together against this immoral trade. One anti-militarist campaigner has said: “This event is unacceptable in
so many ways. It totally blurs the boundary between government and the
arms trade and uses taxpayers’ money to promote unethical profiteering
in the private sector.“These ruthless businesses build their wealth on the rubble of
schools and hospitals and on the dead bodies of the children targeted by
the weapons of mass destruction they manufacture and sell across the
world.
“DPRTE has no place in Cardiff and the city should be ashamed of
hosting these dealers in death. We call on anyone with a conscience to
join us on 28 March to shut down this arms fair!”
“ . . .
superb, gut-punching exploration of the global arms trade is the sort of
catalyst to energize politically-minded viewers.” Variety
Winner of the Best Documentary Award Edinburgh International Film Festival
Please book tickets in advance, thanks. £6 Concesion £5 Please bring proof of concession. For information on this year’s WOW Film Festival and participating venues, please visit wowfilmfestival.com
" reality and dreaming are different things. dreaming is beautiful because dreams are nearly always the predecessors of what is to come, but the most sublime is to make life beautiful, to mould life beautifully." - Nosrotos, Anarchist Daily, Spain, March 1937. Have been trying to deal with a bout of depression, but dealing
with daily battles can give us at the end of the day some kind of hope,
we can all build new pages, a society where all people are equal and free,
our dreams do not need revision, they can reinvent, bring a new logic
of existence, where chains and bondage are broken, can overthrow
constraints, forge a new order, lands full of promise, wild ambition,
shifting sands. Where reality is always negotiable, today I
caught a glimpse of sunshine in the rain, life can be bittersweet,
but allows us all to live the dream, my mind is like a garden, overgrown
but free. Be careful to avoid alienation try and find sustenance , but beware of the weight of consensus prohibitions , follow kindred spirits rather than governments that can lead you feeling isolated or powerless. Keep on believing, embrace diversity, follow the paths of liberation, take refuge among people that care, and continue to dare to dream.
Every star in the sky is beautiful
all the pebbles on the beach atone,
for what we all have lost
every moment of life is precious,
fill it with cherished emotion
keep on releasing as much as you can,
sharing, caring, keep on believng
we are all a mixture of deep devotion,
from different walks of life
sometimes cools or intense like fire,
a collective roar in the universe
along the streets keep on wondering,
try to tear down bridges and walls
clasp hands together in unity.
'Chinese trailblazing dissident artist Ai Weiwei launches his largest single work
ever,focused on refugees. Called "Law of the Journey", the
70-metre-long (230-foot-long) inflatable boat with 258 oversize refugee
figures is on display at Prague's National Gallery. Called Law of the Journey, the show features a 70-metre-long inflatable boat with 258 oversize refugee figures.
It is a tribute to the thousands who have drowned
crossing the Mediterranean, the piece is Ai’s biggest-ever installation.A topic Ai has been particularly vocal about in the past.
It will be on display until the end of the year. It certainly makes a particularly powerful statement. The site-specific installation that went on exhibit last Thursday and was made in
a Chinese factory that produces dinghies used by actual refugees,
“My message is very clear: being a politician or
a political group, you cannot be so short-sighted, you cannot have no
vision, you cannot sacrifice human dignity and human rights for
political gain,” Ai said.“My message is very clear: being a politician or a political group, you
cannot be so short-sighted, you cannot have no vision, you cannot
sacrifice human dignity and human rights for political gain,” Ai added..
The Czech Republic and the other post Communist central European
members have rejected EU plans to allow Muslim refugees on their
territories throughout the migrant crisis. According to the European Commission, the Czech Republic has so far
accepted 12 migrants for relocation. Data from the International
Organisation for Migration shows that over 1.2 million people have
crossed the Mediterranean to Europe since 2015.
“If we see somebody who has been victimised by
war or desperately trying to find a peaceful place, if we don’t accept
those people, the real challenge and the real crisis is not of all the
people who feel the pain but rather for the people who ignore to
recognise it or pretend that it doesn’t exist,” said Ai.
“That is both a tragedy and a crime,” said the 59-year-old painter, sculptor and photographer.
Ai spent the last year visiting such migrant and
refugee hotspots as the US-Mexican border badlands to the
Turkish-Syrian frontier and crowded holding camps on Greek islands.
An outspoken critic of the
Chinese government, Ai was detained in 2011 for 81 days and had his
passport confiscated for four years.He later travelled to Berlin where his wife and son live.Recently
he has staged several high-profile exhibitions inspired by migrants,
including decking out the columns of Berlin's Konzerthaus with 14,000
orange life jackets from Lesbos, which is.an entry point for many migrants trying to reach western Europe from Turkey.
Last month, he said he
looked on in dismay at the Trump presidency, the US entry ban on Syrian
refugees, the attempt to deny visas to citizens of several mainly Muslim
nations, the pledge to build a wall with Mexico and invoke mass
deportations.
People are already finding it a particularly powerful statement.
Comments underneath Ai’s Instagram posts of the installation show how much of an impact his work has made.https://www.instagram.com/aiww/?hl=en
They
include “Deeply moving! The enormity and profound silence” from
@moniqueloveringstudio and “An astounding and emotionally charged work,
it’s beautiful too, which it has to be to represent the sad story. Thank
you as always for what you do,” from @michaelbirtphoto.
Ai Weiwei slams 'harmful' politicians ignoring refugees
Derek Walcott, a Nobel-prize winning poet known for capturing the
essence of his native Caribbean who became the region’s most
internationally famous writer, died early Friday at his home in the
eastern Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, aged 87,according to his son,
Peter after battling a long illness. “Derek Alton Walcott, poet,
playwright, and painter died peacefully today, Friday 17th March, 2017,
at his home in Cap Estate, Saint Lucia,” read a statement the family
released later in the morning. It said the funeral would be held in St.
Lucia and details would be announced shortly This was confirmed by his
publishers who noted on social media: "Derek Walcott was a true presence
who filled the literary landscape and did so with a delicacy of touch.
We have lost a giant of literature." In “Omeros” (1990), an epic poem considered his most ambitious and
accomplished work, he invoked Caribbean voices through Greek myth,
drawing on Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.Two years later, this prolific and versatile poet was awarded the Nobel Prize, after being shorlisted for many years
and in its citation, the Swedish Academy said: “He has both African and
European blood in his veins. In him, West Indian culture has found its
great poet. He would later win the TS Eliot prize for poetry in 2011, followed bythe
Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry lifetime recognition award in
2015.Born in 1930, he studied at the University of the West Indies in
Jamaica, before moving to Trinidad in 1953, where he worked as a theatre
and art critic.He first attracted attention on St Lucia with a book of
poems that he published himself when he was 18 entitled 25 poems.Walcott’s breakthrough came with the collection In a Green Night: Poems 1948-1960
(1962), a book which celebrates the Caribbean and its history as well
as investigating the scars of colonialism and post-colonialism. Walcott,
who was of African, Dutch and English ancestry, said his writing
reflected the “very rich and complicated experience” of life in the
Caribbean.His ancestry wove together the major strands of Caribbean
history, an inheritance he described famously in a poem from 1980's ' The Star-Apple Kingdom'
as having "Dutch, nigger, and English in me,/ and either I'm nobody, or
I'm a/ nation." Both of his grandmothers were said to have been
descended from slaves, but his father who died when Walcott was only a
year old, was a painter, and his mother the headmistress of a methodist
school - enough to ensure that Walcott received what he called in the
same poem a' sound colonial education.' His work earned him a
reputation as one of the greatest writers of the second half of the 20th
century. He compared his feeling for poetry to a religious evocation.
Derek Walcott found that he was often defined as a black writer. That is
not how he saw himself. He was, he said, first and foremost, a
Caribbean writer. “I am primarily, absolutely a Caribbean writer,” he
once said during a 1985 interview published in The Paris Review.
“The English language is nobody’s special property. It is the property
of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself. I have
never felt inhibited in trying to write as well as the greatest English
poets.”He was also an accomplished painter and playwright. His life though was marred with controversy.He taught at US universities, where two female students accused him of
interfering with their academic achievements after they rejected his
advances. This was said to have counted against him when he was passed
over for the post of poet laureate in 1999. He was also forced to
withdraw his candidacy for the post of Oxford professor of poetry in
2009 in a case which also forced the resignation of his rival Ruth Padel
only nine days into her term. Prior to his retirement in 2007,
Walcott taught for decades at Bostom University and spent time in New
York and Boston as well as St Lucia. He married and divorced three
times, and he had three children - Peter , Elizabeth and Anna. He is
survived by his children, grandchildren and his companion of many tears,
Sigrid Nama. The world has lost one of its most noted literary icons.
He helped illuminate the world, RIP. The poetry society described his
death as terrible news and encouraged others to read his poetry in
memoriam.https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/a-tribute-to-derek-walcott/ A full -length obituary has been published by the Guardian newspaper.https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/17/nobel-laureate-poet-and-playwright-derek-walcott-dead-aged-87
Love after Love
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Dedicated to all the people of the world who still search for freedom, in all our different struggles against oppression, we must continue to hold on to our humanity.
Thank you Linda for reminding me, let us continue to endure and overcome and keep spreading seeds of possibility and hope. Continue to support peoples pride, in waves of solidarity.
It has become customary of me to mark the passing of Rachel Aliene Corrie a 23 year old American Peace activist from Olympia, Washington who was crushed to death by an Israeli military, caterpiller D 912 bulldozer in 2003, while undertaking non-violent direct action trying to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition in Rafah in the Gaza strip. Justice has never been served for her, along with others killed under the Israeli occupation. Today I reflect upon Rachel's brave stand in Gaza 14 years ago today and her courage to resist and all those who continue to live and struggle there, and all those passionate change makers across the globe who each day act with conscience, work tirelessly to try and make a difference. Remember that what is happening in Palestine which we keep on witnessing is an equal cycle of violence as seen in apartheid South Africa. Being against this injustice is not anti-Jewish anymore than being against a British governments military aggression marks you as as anti-British. Rachel Corrie understood these links and connections and would have known about an active Israeli peace movement, and of the hundreds of Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied territories, many of whom have been jailed for their stance. Israel has invaded Palestinian land in breach of international law. Rachel died while attempting to prevent a demolition of a home, a common practice of the Israeli army's collective punishment that has left more than 12,000 Palestinians homeless since the beginning of the second uprising in September 2000. A practice that violates International Law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.The struggle against demolition and occupation of Palestinian homes and lands continues unabated. So here's to the memory and bravery of Rachel Corrie a true American hero but another pointless death.Bulldozed and suffocated her memory though will remain. http://www.rachelcorrie.org
A member of the Royal family maybe visiting Israel in an official capacity later this year, on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, according to British media reports.Though members of the royal family have travelled to Israel in the past on personal visits,an official visit of this kind would be a historic first, and would mean breaking decades of precedent in which invitations to visit have been previously rejected.
President Reuven Rivlin extended the invitation at a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in Jerusalem last week, citing the importance of the Balfour centenary. According to Whitehall sources, such a visit could take place this year, the Independent reported.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-campaign-israel-royal-visit-israel-netanyahu-israel-prince-charles-a7620251.html
The invitation comes on the 100 years anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.On November 2, 1917, the then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour
wrote a letter in what is now known as the Balfour Declaration in what is considered to be the first political recognition of the Zionist aims by a foreign government. This cursed declaration, by means of which those who had no ownership
(Britain) permitted those who had no right to establish a national
homeland on an established country Palestine, inevitably bought about a
promise that marked the beginning of confiscation of the Palestinians homeland and
displacement of its people. I personally believe it is time not for Royal visits but a moment that my
rulers apologise about this historical injustice which Britain
committed
against the Palestinian people.
UK Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour
Palestinians believe the Balfour Declaration marked the beginning of a
series of moves by the British government in Palestine, which
facilitated Jewish migration in Palestine, which initiated a campaign of
ethnic cleansing in Palestine in 1947-8, which led to the displacement
of some 750,000 Palestinians.The population of Palestinian refugees today currently stands at 6,000,000 and
their issue is considered the longest standing in the world. A statement by the London based Balfour Apology campaign (BAC) http://balfourcampaign.com/recently said that :-
"
The royal family visit to Israel is seen by the campaign
and Palestinians under occupation and in the diaspora as ‘unhelpful’.
Such visit will only encourage Israel to continue its human rights
violations against Palestinians and provide free publicity to cover
Israel’s ongoing settler colonialism, occupation and apartheid
policies.”
.
Surely it is now time for the Royal family and the British Government to simply say sorry for what has
bought untold misery through nearly a
century of conflict, ethnic cleansing, ongoing human rights abuse,
brutal occupation and apartheid.It has a responsibility and duty and to
redress the pain and suffering of individual Palestinians that have had to
endured ever since, and keep up pressure on the state of Israel as they keep continuing to breaking international law and finally apologise for distributing land when they had absolutely no right to do so in the first place and redress the historical injustice that Britain committed against the Palestinian people .This surely would be a sensible approach to reconciliation and the road to peace.
Here is a petition you could sign if you wish, cheers :- UK must apologise for the Balfour Declaration and lead peace efforts in Palestine:- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/184398
Today is the 20th annual International Day of Action for Rivers!
For two decades, communities all over the world have gathered to defend,
protect and celebrate their rivers as sources of life and renewal. It’s
an amazing moment of global solidarity, for an event to join, discover this interactive global action map.
Each year, this event reminds us that we’re not alone in the struggle
for our freshwater. We share a common purpose with sisters and brothers
all over the planet who are fighting for their rights and their rivers. It is a day to educate one another about the threat facing our rivers, and learn about how to protect them. Here's a little poem I wrote for the rivers.
For the Rivers
From their source, delivers hope
helps release joy instead of sorrow;
into the sea allows freedom to grow gives us hope for a brighter future,
currents moving more precious than gold
forever running, constantly turning,
rippling inspiration, reaching horizons of
another tide
the rivers trace generations of memory,
constant treasures full of magic
veins of life that help sustain the planet,
we must conserve these flowing waters
help them replenish our mother earth.
Some wise words from the late British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer, Doris Lessing.
“Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout
his or her school life is something like this: ‘You are in the process
of being indoctrinated. We have not yet
evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We
are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here
is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular
culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these
must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to
accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their
predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are
more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and
find ways of educating yourself — educating your own judgements. Those
that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being
moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of
this particular society.”
Doris Lessing - extract from, The Golden Notebook, 1962
' " the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live,
mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time
the one's who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn,
burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across
the stars in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everything
goes Awww!' - Jack Kerouac.
Today is
the anniversary of visionary, iconclastic writer and poet,Jack Kerouac being born.
The shaman of the Beat Generation arrived today as Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac to a French-Canadian
family in the factory town of Lowell, Massachusettsus USA. Variously called
the Beat Generations apostle, poet, hero, laureate, saint? Through his
own life story he created a work of fiction .Soared so high, that in
the end unfortunately found his own human skin, then found himself out
of his depth in bottled delusion, where the burning ship had become his
own.
Kerouac learned to speak French at home before he learned English at
school. Reportedly he did not learn English until he was six years old . His father Leo Kerouac owned his own print shop, Spotlight Print, in
downtown Lowell, and his mother Gabrielle Kerouac, known to her children as Memere,
was a homemaker. Kerouac later described the family’s home life: “My
father comes home from his printing shop and undoes his tie and removes his1920s vest, and sits himself down at hamburger and boiled potatoes
and bread and butter, and with the kiddies and the good wife.”
Jack Kerouac endured a childhood tragedy in the summer of 1926, when
his beloved older brother Gerard died of rheumatic fever at the age of
9. Drowning in grief, the Kerouac family embraced their Catholic faith
more deeply. Kerouac’s writing is full of vivid memories of attending
church as a child: “From the open door of the church warm and golden
light swarmed out on the snow. The sound of the organ and singing could
be heard.”
Jack would earn a football scholarship to Columbia University, and planned
to work in insurance after finishing school, according to the Beat
Museum,http://www.kerouac.com/ which goes into detail about Kerouac’s rise to literary and
cultural stardom. But his life only took a more hectic turn once he
arrived in New York City, and he quickly clashed with his football
coach. Jack dropped out of school, joined the Merchant Marines and then
fell in with New York’s literary crowd. Around this time, Kerouac took several
cross-country road trips with friend Neal Cassady that would later
inspire his seminal work, “On the Road.”
In his life, he had been part of a culture and people, who
burned like meteors. Jack Kerouac was the Beat Generations very own
mythologiser, he and his band of brothers helped redeem a bit of
America's soul. His legacy, like that of the Beat Culture, still alive,
still relevant, still taking root.
This influential poet and writer who originated the term “beatific” as a the
defining term for the group of artists and writers of the Beat
Generation, who along with his friends, GregoryCorso, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferllinghetti, Gary Snyder etc, paved a way for a whole host of dreamers searching for risk, some
form of adventure. Colouring our worlds with their crazy visions, their
minds in revolt, searching for future's possibilities. Hand in hand with
rebellion, against the conventions of the times.
Jack Kerouac in
his eighteen books and many others under Jack's influence were to me
important epiphanies on my own path of self discovery. He taught me
about "Spontaneous prose." - writing without revising....... He called
this " a spontaneous bop prosody." which is a bit like a jazz musician
taking an improvised solo, and he took it as far as he could go, with no
editing and no pause of breath. Sometimes what is left, has no meaning, a
void, but often their is a glimmer, that spells hope, that can become
endless, can run off the page, infinite but still accessible.
On my
bookshelf at home Kerouacs influence groans on my bookcases, his own
works, sharing spaces with others , that were touched by his
inspiration. I a very grateful to a friend called Charlotte who recently added more to my personal collection.
There is something about his tragic, magic life that
still resonates, hums, there will always be new connections, outhouses
where seeds will forever drift. New poets will emerge, to
experience, among the whole wide world, words will dance, impulsively
between time, forever and forever. Enthusiasm will be shared, thoughts will be exchanged, and
for some the personal will always be political.Passion will ignite.
Jack had a wild spirit, but such a dazzling voice, who through his writing revealed him as a believer in humanity, a dreamer, a doer and an explorer
of metaphysical depth. He was however also a recluse, socially awkward, a
drug abuser, an alcoholic and a man who became so overwhelmed with his
own fame it ultimately destroyed him. Still yearning for his mother, but lost in a catholic
guilt, that had always consumed him. Stuck in a sad exile,this mystical
breath had grown tired , what was once beautiful had begun to drift
towards bitterness.
Jack was not immortal, though for me his words are, and he left this planet
on October 21 1969, 47 years, related to alcoholism According to the San Francisco
Chronicle, Kerouac “was known to consume 17 shots of Johnny Walker Red
per hour, washed down with Colt malt liquor.” and because of this his search for inner lamentation was cut
tragically far to short.
There are two types of people in this world; those
that ‘get’ Kerouac, and those that do not. I am in the first category,
of course, so happy birthday Jack, your impact
continues to be felt , your satori breath released , and your legacy today is stronger today than ever ... om switchin on....
tomorrow's dawns chorus echoes,anesthesising the sky.... sentences
littered with wild perception, language as a spell that leaves
us forever hooked. In human existence our contradictions will
abound, freeze framed, on the road to nowhere. Kicks joy darkness.blessed be you in golden eternity., and as Jack said "Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now."
William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, 1953
Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Kerouac,
Greeenwich Village, 1957.
Jack Kerouac on the Steve Allen show 1959.
Jack Keroauc: I'm sick of myself, I'm not a courageous man
a rare interview of Jack in French with English subtitles to a Canadian Television show where he explains how he came up with the name that described the literary movement of his generation.
There
are numerous pages and books devoted to Kerouac and the Beats , if you
look you will find what your looking for, the searching is part of the
journey In the meantime I offer you some of his poetry
POOR SOTTISH KEROUAC
Poor sottish Kerouac with his thumb in his eye
Getting interested in literature again
Through a mote of dust just flew by
How should I know that the dead were born?
Does Master cry?
The weeds Ophelia wound with
and Chatterton measured in the moon
are the weeds of Goethe, Wang Wei,
and the Golden Courtesans
Imagining recommending a prefecture
for a man in the madhouse
rain
Sleep well, my angel
Make some eggs
The house in the moor
The house is a monument
In the moor of the grave
Whatever that means
The white dove descended in disguise?
WOMAN
A woman is beautiful
but
you have to swing
and swing and swing
and swing like
a hankerchief in the
wind
149th Chorus
I keep falling in love
with my mother
I dont want to hurt her
=Of all people to hurt
Every time I see her
she's grown older
But her uniform always
amazes me
For its Dutch simplicity
And the Doll she is.
The doll-like way
she stands
Bowlegged in my dreams,
Waiting to serve me
And I am only an Apache
Smoking Hashi
In old Cabashy
By the Lamp
2111th Chorus
The wheel of the quivering meat
conception
Turns in the Void expelling human beings,
Pigs, turtles, frogs, insects, nits,
Mice, Lice, Lizards, rats, roan
Racing horses, poxy bucolic pig tics,
Horrible unnameable lice of vultures
Murderous attacking dog-armies
Of Africa, Rhinos roaming in the jungle
Vast boars and huge gigantic bull
Elephants, rams, eagles, condors,
Pones and Porcupines and Pills-
All the endless conception of living
beings
Gnashing everywhere in Consciousness
Throughout the ten directions of space
Occupying all the quarters in and out,
From supermicroscopic no-bug
To huge Galaxy Lightyear Bowell
Illuminating the sky of one mind
AND THEN THEY GOT HIM
The Oil of the Olive
Bittersweet taffies
Bittersweet cabbage
Cabbage soup made right
A hunk a grass
In a big barrel
Stunk but Good
163rd Chorus
Left the Tombs to go
and look at the
Millions of cut glass-
-a guy clocking them,
as you look you swallow,
you get so fat
you can't leave the building
-stand straight,
don't tip over, breathe
in such a way yr fatness
deflates, go back to
the Tombs,
ride the elevator-
he tips over again'
gazes on the Lights,
eats them, is clocked,
gets so fat
he can leave elevator,
has to stand straight
and breathe out the fat -
-hurry back to the Tombs
242nd Chorus
The sound in your mind
is the first sound
that you could sing
If you were singing
at a cash register
with nothing on yr mind-
But when that grim reper
comes to lay you
look out my lady
He will steal all you got
while you dingle with the dangle
and having robbed you
Vanish
Which will be your best reward,
T'were better to get rid o
John O'Twill, then sit a mortying
In this Half Eternity with nobody
To save the old man being hanged
In my closet for nothing
And everybody watches
When the act is done-
Stop the murder and the suicide!
All's well!
I am the Guard
Though my mind Is not like yours Slightly in tatters I still try to be a friend Here you can share my thoughts As the world spins round Making us dizzy As life rotates I will be what I am And you will too Carried by peaceful currents Unafraid, if you wish.
The Tories are taken us through the biggest cuts to welfare for 100
years, another vicious assault on people on benefits.Cuts to ESA Employment Support Allowance will see payments for many new claimants reduced by
around £30 a week, despite the Department for Work and Pensions
admitting those affected will have been found unable to work following a
Work Capability Assessment.
The changes, which come into force for new claims from April 2017,
affect those placed in the Work Related Activity Group of ESA and will
see payments reduced to the equivalent of Jobseeker’s Allowance.The Tory's claim that these cuts are a in a bid to encourage those living with a disability to find
employment, reducing the allowance to £73.10 a week, that of standard
job seeker’s allowance.But it is just another example of their conscious cruelty, which is deliberate and purposeful aimed to hurt many deeply.
Another attack on those already who are the hardest hit, disabled
people,the poor, the sick,the marginalised, and vulnerable.It really saddens me that those outside the comfort blanket of society, stuck in the quaqmire of insecurity are treated like pawns in a game of chess, sacrificed and abandoned so easily.These cuts will not help motivate people towards work,if
anything it will push certain people, already in difficult circumstances, faced with mental health problems further away from work and make it harder for
them to manage their condition and drive us all into deeper poverty, putting lives at risk, which does not offer even a morsel of hope to those that most deserve it.
On top of this Theresa May has plans to restrict access to disability benefits known as Personal Independent Payments.The courts recently ruled that people who find it difficult to leave the
house because of mental illness should be awarded the higher rate of
PIP. Rather than adhering to the rulings of two tribunals, the
Government announced that they would rewrite the law, hence denying benefits
for more than 160,000 people with mental illness.Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind,
said: “People who find it difficult to leave the house because of
anxiety, panic attacks, and other mental health problems are as
restricted in their independence as many people with physical mobility
problems, and face just as many higher costs in their daily lives as
other disabled people do.
This all comes after the government has
repeatedly stated the government is committed to building a country
that works for everyone, but the truth of the matter is they simply could not give a damn.
The Tories once again showing their complete and utter contempt for the poor, the
disabled and the vulnerable. During the Budget Chancellor Hammond still managed to press ahead with tax cuts on corporate profits, capital gains and inherited wealth. At least Jeremy Corbyn had the tenacity to respond with a very
powerful speech after Hammond delivered his cruel budget and raised
concerns that are affecting millions of people across Britain. He talked about the effects Tory austerity is having on the poor,
the disabled and the vulnerable. He talked about the effects welfare
cuts will have on the disabled and working families. He talked about the
crisis that is crippling the NHS. He talked about the Tories’ new ‘rape
clause’ which has been imposed on Child Benefit. He talked about the
effects Tory cuts are having on public services. He talked about
underpaid and overworked public sector workers. He talked about
inequality. He talked about zero hours contracts and low pay. He talked
about the social care crisis. He talked about tax cuts for large
corporations and the rich, while the self-employed get a National
Insurance hike. He talked about wage poverty and soaring utility bills
and inflation. He talked about the housing shortage and homelessness. He
talked about the lack of support for mental health sufferers. He talked
about cuts to Bereavement Benefit and how widowed parents will
struggle. He talked about the effect Housing Benefit cuts will have on
young people aged 18 to 21. He talked about women’s rights and the
effects Tory austerity is having on women and mothers. And he talked
about the pressures that are affecting ordinary people across the
country.
While he was doing this, the Tories just sat there laughing, jeering and heckling like the evil so and so's they are, as they keep causing misery to millions of peoples lives. This is certainly no laughing matter.They truly are a nasty lot. FFS sake enough is enough. In the meantime if you could sign the following petition, it would be much appreciated. Cheers.
Treat people with mental health issues fairly under PIP
There are times of trouble and stress
Just look at the state of the world,
It really is in one hell of a mess
Humanity repeatedly smashing itself into pieces,
Tension drowning us in sombre melancholy
Discordant notes dispensing division
Crushing hope and ambition,
As beauty and strength fades away.
Spring returns calling at your door
Bringing the flowers to bloom once more,
Can help put back a smile on your face
This game of survival, this seasons annual race,
Allows us stop a while, let our minds reflect
As friendship arrives again, never to tired,
Without hesitation we can set course on new
destination
Experimenting with home made cures and lotions,
Recording, adapting new dimensions of meaning
Mind awakened can carry on, not yet broken.
Everyone has the right to music, both as a mechanism of expression
and enjoyment. Freemuse, a Copenhagen-based international organization,
established March 3rd as Music Freedom Day, in order to
advocate for musicians’ right to freedom of expression; to carry out
their craft without fear of oppression, imprisonment, or censorship.
Between 2007, when Music Freedom Day was launched, and 2014, more than
100 partners and collaborators in 36 countries have joined the annual
event. The combination of campaigns such as Music Freedom Day, silent
diplomacy, and political developments has helped foster the release of
artists around the world.
Founded in 1998, Freemuse documents infringements on the rights of
musicians around the world. Since 2011 Freemuse has broadened its scope
to include projects advocating freedom of all artistic expressions and
initiated the global network Artsfex for the protection of artistic
freedom. Freemuse collaborates with associates around the world to
incorporate their research in nations’ Universal Periodic Reviews to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The right to freedom of expression is articulated in international
agreements on human rights. Article 19, of both the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and articles 27 and 15 of the UDHR
and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR) respectively, convey one’s right to music. These articles
include the right to freedom of opinion and expression via any media, as
well as the freedom to participate in cultural life and enjoy the arts.
These pieces of international law dictate musicians’ freedom to express
themselves through their art, as well as the right of all people to
experience music without fear or negative repercussions.
Despite its explicit protection in international law, the right to
music remains in jeopardy today. In every region of the world,
musicians are subject to persecution, censorship, and other threats to
their personal safety and freedom. The statistics for 2015
noted 469 violations in over 70 different nations, approximately twice
the number of cases from 2014. Censorship accounted for nearly half of
these infringements, followed by prosecution, oppression, and
imprisonment. Freemuse breaks censorship down into four distinct
categories: political, religious, corporate, and censorship against
women. While the historical majority of violations are grounded in
politics, there was a significant rise in religiously motivated attacks
on musical freedom in 2015.
Music Freedom Day (MFD) is a powerful, united manifestation to support
persecuted, prosecuted and imprisoned musicians, many of whose only
crime has been that they have spoken up against authorities and insisted
on the right to express themselves through their music. Worldwide,
musicians’ and composers’ rights to freedom of expression are violated,
but the strong support for Music Freedom Day every year demonstrates the
will to continue the advocacy and defense for the universal rights to
compose, perform and participate in musical activities.
Today March 3rd 2017 MFD makes a special focus on women performers and
female musicians. In some countries women are not allowed to sing or
play instruments and have been threatened, assaulted, persecuted and
even killed. Additionally women face especially difficult conditions in
many countries as performers and are often subject to discrimination,
sexual objectification and unfair industry conditions.In celebration
and protection of women’s voices, artists from Afghanistan to Sweden
stand in solidarity with women musicians who are censored, attacked,
persecuted, imprisoned or even killed simply for making music.
Join the global event here: Music Freedom Day 2017
Music can be a very powerful tool, it should not be a crime, it is also a human right.
Harri Webb was one of Wales's most popular poets, known for his
wit and erudition , for his historical perspective and awareness of
contemporary realities, and in Wales he enjoyed the status of People's
Poet. Born in Swansea, spent much of his life as a
librarian, in Mountain Ash and Merthyr Tydfil. In the 1970's he took
part in the BBC Wales programme, Poems and Pints. Though he was an individualist, his political slant was one of Welsh Republican Socialism. After a long period of illness he moved to St. David's Nursing Home in St.Helen's Road, Swansea. It was here that he died in his sleep on the morning of 31 December 1994.
The Red, White and Green reprinted from Harri Webb / Collected Poems Gomer, 1995.
On the first day of March we remember
St.David the pride of our land,
Who taught us the stern path of duty
And for freedom and truth made a stand.
So here's to the sons of Saint David,
Those youngsters so loyal and keen
Who'll haul down the red, white and blue, lads,
And hoist up the red, white and green.
In the dark gloomy days of December
We mourn for Llywellyn with pride
Who fell in defence of his country
With eighteen brave men by his side.
So here's to the sons of LLywellyn,
The heirs of that valiant eighteen
Who'll haul down the red, white and blue, lads,
And hoist up the red, white and green.
In the warm, golden days of September,
Great Owain Glyndwr took the field,
For fiften long years did he struggle
And never the dragon did yield.
So here's to the son of Great Owain,
Who'll show the proud Sais what we mean
When we haul down the red, white and blue, lads,
And hoist up the red, white and green.
There are many more names to remember
And some that will never be known
Who were loyal to Wales and the gwerin
And defied all the might of the throne.
So here's to the sons of the gwerin
Who care not for the prince or for queen,
Who'll haul down the red, white and blue, lads,
And hoist up the red, white and green!
By the way, I love Wales
But avoid the nationalism
I prefer the mystical, deep streams
Let no man be a slave - heddwch/Peace
