Artscape: Poets of Protest - Manal Al Sheikh: Fire Won't Eat Me Up

Poet, editor and activist Manal Al Sheik, says it is now lethal for her to be a writer in her home town of Ninewh, Iraq. We follow her as she prepares a new poem for a public reading in Norwegian.

Happy Autumn Equinox

Every day, the season air humming, for some can be numbing, walking on the edge..... beyond the weight, voices talk, voices share, navigate between imperfect intervals and mornings rush..... towards a mutlitude of possibility. Shadows become a thousand words, and the roaring continues , the wind is never silent.


Happy Autumn Equinox

heddwch/peace.....

Nick Clegg Says Sorry - The Remix

I like it when people say  sorry, it can't be easy.But sometimes it just happens to come a little too bloody late. Is this for the country or is it for his party's conference this weekend. His original apology did not sound very heartfelt either, I prefer this version
Not sure if it will change anybodies opinions about him though. Don't think he's goin to win any popularity contests any time soon, either. ****R

Kelvin MacKenzie doorstepped over Hillsborough

Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie declines to answer question from Channel 4 news  reporter Alex Thomson on  his record over the papers coverage of Hillsborough football tragedy.
This video has now been watched on youtube over 64,000 times.
Here's a response to it.

Kelvin Mackenzie Dorstopped Remixed

Sarah Ahmed (b.1969) ) On Solidarity

" Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves committment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies we do live on common ground."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Ahmed

Mgicineni Noki  at Markan Mine, addresssing his comrades in an act of solidarity  before he and 34 of his fellow miners were shot dead.

Jack Clemo (11/3/1916- 25/7/94) - Outsider

                                          image, Tricia Porter, National Portrait Galllery
                                                                            1975

Outsider

You are so civilised, so alert
In your tunnel, arching the drilled brain;
So  desterous in control
Of the tricky signals, the obvious gain.
I am outside, a truant soul,
Deep in the Word, stung by the dirt
Of primal clues which you disdain.

I cannot be a comrade
To you who claim your victory
In affliction's craft and trade.
I am angry with your tunnel life,
For a free wind, out here, storms the base
Of resignation, topples the perch of suffering.
Slits like a knife
The bladdered boast, the wan, competent face;
And it seeks you also, but you hide from its sting.

I pioneer for you,
But the gulf is too wide
And you cannot see my clue.
I do not have to overcome,
I do not face the worst, I do not accept:
I just speed home
With no flakes of darkness admitted or defied.

Your skilled courage is not for me:
I have overstepped.
By God's grace, some mark or boundary
Where faith branches higher
And its vagabond thrills never cool.
I am wild with expectation, full of strange fire
That would scorch a mundane tool.

You miss that fire through your efficiency:
Your triumphs only prove
You are too sleek for miracle. It takes
An unkempt faith to make a mountain move:
Unsheltered savage trust, bare to the mud,
Till your ego's clay-seam quakes
And the kingdom seethes in your blood.
This fierce old pilgrim's way I have known,
But you despise it, so I sing alone.

Reprinted from Penguin Modern Poets 6
Jack Clemo, Edward Lucie-Smith, George MacBeth
1964


On a personal note I lost my faith many moons ago
but still believe in tomorrow, but hey that's another story.

Remembering 30th anniversary of Sabra & Shatila massacre

Video including testimony of journalist covering the massacre

This week the world has remembered the victims of 9/11. But this weekend also marks the 30th anniversary of the massacre of Sabra and Shatila, so a moments silence please.
This massacre took place between 16 to 18 September 1982. It is now considered  to be the bloodiest single atrocity committed against the Palestinian people in living history. Similar in magnitude to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US,which left close to 3000 innocent people dead according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, more than 2,750 Palestinian/Lebanese,  men, women and children were massacred in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut, by Christian Lebanese Phalangists while  the city was occupied by the Israeli army .
Israel for a while denied it had conspired in the massacre, yet as a result of international condemnation it launched an inquiry in 1983, known as the Kahan Commission  http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/kahan.html this found  that the Israeli military were completely aware of the massacre taking place, but had done nothing to stop it. The Commission subsequently regarded Israel of being part of the 'indirect responsibility' for the massacre. and Ariel Sharon, then Israel's highest military leader, later the country's Primeminister of bearing personal responsibility for the massacre because he did not prevent the Lebanese Phalangist militia from entering the camps.
One of the reasons why people still talk about Sabra & Shatila, is that no one has actually ever apologised for this crime against humanity, which this incident surely was. Also no one has ever stood trial or been  held account fot this crime.
 We should not forget any crime against humanity, either, all are of equal importance. It is unfortunately part of us all a  history and legacy that is  both shameful and bitter.
On all accounts this was not an isolated incident, and to this day Israels oppressive policies towards the Palestinians continue. We still see the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which has made the Gaza strip one of the biggest prisons in the world.
Every September since then hundreds of Palestinians and friends from around the world gather now in Shatila at the Martyr's Square  to remember  and mourn, and mark the events that had previously occurred.
Even contemplating this dark anniversary, I never give up feeling that their is still much hope in the future for the lot of the Palestinian and their ongoing plight is not simply forgotten.

Justice for Hillsborough?

Yesterday after 23  years the full scale of the establishments cover up over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster was revealed.Finally the truth seems to be coming out, as it always does. The Police, the Conservative Government of the time, the Stadium management and the press,  all have colluded to keep us from what actually happened at the tragedy that was Hillsborough.
But, even yesterday our Prime minister, David Cameron claimed that there was ' no cover up at governmental level' but we have finally have now found out that Tory M.Ps helped the police cover things up becauset Margeret Thatcher was so  concerned that her beloved loyal anti-miner police would be presented in a bad light. Well what  Mr Cameron said,  has proven to be a lie, the same regime today   trying to soften up the damage  implications to their friends.
The truth is , that the names of the dead at Hillsborough have been lied and slandered to, time and again.

Kevin McKenzie pictured above, sanctimonious git supremeo, sanctioned the making up of 'quotes'  we all make mistakes, but most of us stand corrected, this individual has repeatedly repeated the same lies time and time and again, a pathetic , wretched individual who only seems to make half apologies in order to further his own self interests.The sun newspaper repeated the police's lies and attempted to blame the victims. Shame , shame, shame.......
Remember too, that 164 police officers lied, 14 of whom were awarded millions of pounds of compensation between them, the Hillsborough familres have not recieved a penny.Also since this terrible occasion some Police Officers have even been promoted to senior positions.
Pressure now is mounting for criminal charges to be brought against  Police Officers involved  in this sordid affair. The pessimist  in me, fears that they will never hear the word guilty laid against them in this rotten land.
Thatcher's Conservative Government too created a culture of impunity, who needed a partisan police force, because they wanted to protect their own self interests, the people now demand justice.
This state of affairs only serves to highlight the complete disregard for the plight and disregard the system and it's friends has for the plight and dignity of working class people. Their has been no apology to this day by the police for their actions, compounding the suffering of the families involved.
The Police, the Sun Newspaper, Thatcher, McKenzie all equal of blame in the trauma and distress that has been caused to the victims and their familes. Time and time again, truth has been concealed. Their should be no let up now in the pursuit of justice.

 Solidarity & Justice for the 96, lest we forget

Hillsborough Justice Campaign
http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/

HILLSBOROUGH FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP
http://www.hfsg.net/

Still

Still, here.
different name than on facebook
still a faint echoe
in this spinning world.

Still feeling numb
still got my eye on a page or two
in the library
watching humanity fly.

Still got time
to wonder about
stuff and things
finding ways to connect and survive.

Still here in the wild sky
armourless among the branches
a fair weathered friend
still pointing the way towards another reality.

Still here, distant and far
revealing a message or two
still fizzing, smouldering
still have not found a way, to stop the clocks.

Still getting older, getting fatter
a desperate drum beat
wine stained, leaving a mark
still slightly dangerous, still under the cloudy sky.

Still believe it's possible for the world to change
still following loves order, still free enough to apportion blame
still looking for some change, still moving forwards
still waiting, still  here tomorrow, hopefully!

Still safe here, beyond the rivulets where I have strayed
still groaning under the stars , still foaming at the mouth
still the music calls , and the echoe returns
still politicians stall, still deceit brings its tears.

Still the questions feed, looking for answers
still discovering ideas at the edge
still little by little, replacing old heirarchies
still got time to breathe, still the essence is what is imagined.

Still a flame , flickering in existence,
still considering, still following resistance,
still finding  momentary vision
still  have not surrendered, still running free.

Charles Bukowski( 16/8/29 -9/3/94) - The Genius of the Crowd

Charles Bukowski reading his poem The Genius of the Crowd 1969
capitals Bukowski's

There Is Enough Treachery, Hatred Violence Absurdity In The Average
Human Being To Supply Any Given Army On Any Given Day

And The Best At Murder Are Those Who Preach Against It
And The Best At  Hate Are Those Who Preach Love
And The Best At War Finally Are Those Who Preach Peace

Those Who Preach God, Need God
Those Who Preach Do Not Have Peace
Those Who Preach Peace Do Not Have Love

Beware The Preachers
Beware The Knowers
Beware Those Who Are Always Reading Books
Beware Those Who Either Detest Poverty
Or Are Proud Of It
Beware Those Quick To Praise

For They Need Praise In Return
Beware Those Who Are Quick To Censor
They Are Afraid Of What They Do Not Know
Beware Those Who Seek Constant Crowds For
They Are Nothing Alone
Beware The Average Man The Average Woman
Beware Their Love, Their Love Is Average
Seeks Average

But Their Is Genius In Their Hatred
Their Is Enough Genius In Their Hatred To Kill You
To Kill Anybody
Not Wanting Solitude
Not Understanding Solitude
They Will Attempt To Destroy Anything
That Differs
From Their Own
                  Not Being Able
                  To Create Art
                  They Will Not
                  Understand Art
They Will Consider Their Failure As Creators
Only As A Failure
Of The World

Not Being Able To Love Fully
They Will BELIEVE Your Love Incomplete
AND THEN THEY WILL HATE
YOU

And Their Hatred Will Be Perfect
Like A Shining Diamond
Like A Knife
Like A Mountain
LIKE A TIGER
LIKE Hemlock
          Their Finest
          ART

From Genius of the Crowd
1966

More Bukowski from this blog
 here http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/charles-bukowski-16820-9494-no-help-for.html and here http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/charles-bukowski-captain-is-out-to.html