Dannie Abse - Poet Doctor R.I.P (22/9/23 - 28/9/14)

' The human race is the only one that knows it must die and it knows this only through its experience. A child bought up alone and transported to a desert island would have no more idea of death than a cat or a plant .'  - Voltaire

It is with sadness that I  have heard of the passing of poet, playwright, doctor  and novelist Dannie Abse at the age of 91.
Born and  bought up in Cardiff, he  drew on his career as a doctor, his Welsh roots and his proud jewish inheritance to establish himself as one of Britains most popular poets. Many of his themes  were international  in outlook,  combining  elements  of loss, love, the passing of time, his rich medical understanding and its moral implications. This  gave him a compassion for  the suffering of the world. His awareness and humanity gave him  a conscious awareness.
The brother of Labour M.P Leo Abse, much  of his life was spent in loving devotion with his wife, Joan who tragically died in a car accident in 2005, and like many of us he struggled to deal with his grief, but managed to write elonquently a lovely collection called the  'the Presence' which won the Welsh book of the year award in 2008.
His two autobiographies 'Ash  on a Young Man's sleeve'  and 'Poet in the Family' are now rightly  considered to be classics. I recognised his account of his medical training  through my own fathers who was to become a G.P. Alongside a deep understanding of the world, ran an overwhelming sense of humour, awash  with  an experience of thought.. Like Dannie Abse I also undersood some  of his themes of exile, he moving from Cardiff to London  and personally me having at a very young age moved from Cardiff to here in West Wales.
There is a richness at the heart of his work  that  I will forever  cherish, which I also know will continue to endure.I have been fortunate to hear him read  on a few  memorable occassions.
He died surrounded by his family after a short illness. The Welsh  nation and the world  has lost a truly great poet of real conviction.
Dannie Abse R.I.P

from Anniversary

' What happens to a flame blown out?
What persists? Only the view,
never my  my magified hand  in yours.'

Dannie Abse - A Simple tribute

Dannie Abse reading poems for Oxfam

Specks of hope

Yesterday  I was  one of thousands of poets around the world  who participated  in 100-Thousands  Poets for Change day. I took part in a reading  organised by my local  live literature group, the cellar bards, in conjunction with   our local  community bookshop, Leafed Through   in an event   that took place between 4 pm and 5pm, at  Prince Charles Quay here in Cardigan, West Wales.In an inspiring event  we gathered to celebrate and promote peace and sustainability  and call for much needed serious social environmental and political change with poems written on postcards. It was good to be involved in something so positive, with hundreds of cities representing and  over 100 countries signed up to the 100 TPC global initiative.More details here :- http://100TPC.org
The poem I read is included below.

Specks of hope

With this pen
no walls are drawn,
unity's breath spins
cancels out division,
solidarity's comfort lifts
and a strong flame burns,
showering the earth with reason
releasing leaves of hope,
gently  painting the sky
in rivers of language,
opposing injustice
in whirling devotion,
planting smiles on an ugly world
spreading seeds of peace.

Why the UK parliament should say no to bombing Iraq

David Cameron  will ask MPs in the UK parliament to vote to join the US bombing campaign against Iraq, Chris Nineham from Stop the War coalition, interviewed by the BBC on 24 September 2014, asks, has nothing been learnt from the disasters of wetern inttervention in Iraq, Afghanistan  and Libya. He urges MPs to vote  no,  like they did last  year, when Cameron wanted a bombing  campaign against Syria. To save lives  and protect human rights the genocidal fundamentalists  of Isis must be stopped, whose barbarity shows no limits but surely there are other ways. Do we  repeat past mistakes, do we all become complicit in the end. Ultimately war is  not civilised, war is failure.
There are no  easy answers. But there is this certainty, killing people rarely kills peoples ideas.

The illusion of choice

The above chart might look  familiar, that’s because it originates from a well-circulated report that Oxfam International puts together to show consolidation in the mass consumer goods industry.
I am sharing it because I believe it is important for you to be aware of who is supplying the different brands and goods served on your dinner table.
Click to enlarge it shows that most products  we buy are controlled by just a few companies. Despite a wide array of brands to choose from, it all  comes back to the big guys.Ten mega corporations control the output  of almost everything you buy; from household products to pet food to jeans. These corporations create an illusion of choice, a chain that begins at one of  10 super  companies. Lets not forget that 90% of the media is now controlled  by just six companies,  down from 50 in 1983. Yes it is indeed a funny old world. Daily now I continue to consume and use social media platforms run by globalists like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc but be switching off in bit and heading back to the garden, But Globalisation is just another word for monopolisation. Do we actually have a choice in choosing , or is it just the case of free market capitalism destroying any  real sense of freedom?  

Stand up for the Earth - Gary Snyder( b 8/5/30) on Ecology and Poetry Parts 1-4

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Throughout his life the poet and activist,Gary Snyder has used his work to act as a  strong voice for the planet, using a simple message, that is  beyond urgent,  it is so  necessary right now. Above he  talks about a great  number of issues and also discusses, some of his work and his beliefs. This week an international conference  for climate change meets. At the end of the day will anything shift, now is the time  the world needs to reorganise, I fear  though that it is already to late.
Because of this I feel, we cannot  fail to ignore  the urgent issues that Mr Snyder brings up. We must keep working together to put an end to the destruction of the Earth by forces  of human greed and ignorance, and remember too the devastating effects of capitalism  upon nature.

Threads

Poem  read out at above event, this afternoon where I joined  over 150 people gathered  at ParcAberporth to mark Intenational Day of Peace. A symbolic 'drape the drones' took place,   and we called  for an end  to militarism, no to drone warfare,  and a halt to plans to spend £100b of  taxpayers money on rplcing the Trident Weapons system.

Standing together
threads unwrapped,
impenetratable, not complicit
we  remember innocents lost
to remote controlled  killing machines,
from within sources of passion woven
richness of colour, keep us dreaming
stitches of time, spinning,
searching clearly for waves of hope.
As winter grows near
something already is being changed,
tomorrow will be time, for light to shine
together tracing unity's  breath,
touching horizons. North, South, East and West
from this place, like singing birds
faith is restored, love rekindled,
as voices  float freely through the sky,
we continue following paths of  heddwch, peace.

wonder who this could be

Sad... no not really

Well I  have not slept for a couple of days, better then, than the other week, in South Wales when I only managed in a week to get about an hour a day shut eye. And  oh that reminds me,  the  last time I put on the television  left me feeling a tad miserable. Yet despite  this, and what they are saying, there has been a huge vote for independence, despite media manipulation a large percentance of the population of Scotland  rejected the corrupt undemocratic Westminster system in an unprecedented number.
So though very tired, had a sublime night of dub music by the magical Maya Mitten  down  in my local, the cellar bar, I remain faithfully optimistic for the future. I think  that with  creativity and diversity  we can create a brighter future, beyond   the neoliberal consensus and bullshit, that says no   to cuts and austerity, to nuclear missiles, yes to the N.H.S, together we reject  political parties that offer us no choice, so wee keep on fighting for some real change, and will not rest until, the day comes, that we will win.

Give the Tories a benefit cut they will never forget.

Some final thoughts. The establishment is running scared, the government,  big business and the banks have bought  out their big guns to try to scare the Scottish people, but  its inhabitants seem to be wide awake, despite the propaganda being spewed against them, they have been taking to the streets, organising, winning hearts and minds. I really hope they have not left it too late, and that they are brave enough to kick Westminster in the guts and win their freedom, and  that they remind the rest of us , that it is ok not to be complacent.
We need to  remember that the Tory government has no mandate, was not voted in, least of all the Lib Dems, who are have been propping them up, a  government still fixed on austerity whilst lining their own pockets and that of their friends. So I really hope David Cameron gets a big message - Fuck off now. I really hope these seeds  of discontentment grow and the hope  for a fairer more caring  and prosperous  society spreads like a virus,  reflecting a growing  disillusionment with Westminster led policies, a river of change that leaves the status quo shaking  in its boots. A yes vote on Scottish independence would plunge Cameron  into a leadership crisis  that could force him to quit. It's up to the rest of us to finish the job.

Yes/Meh ( some thoughts on the Scottish referendum)

David Cameron thought he was being  clever when  he forced Scotland to take a straight yes or no vote in  laving the union. But smugness is his middle name and this could be the most political gamble of his whole tawdry career..
With a day to go, he seems to be panicking as the vote looks as if it could go either way. Lets remember this vote is not about nationalism, it is about redressing some balance. It is about a nation that has been violently supressed, a working class that has been binded in chains, that  has been ripe in exploitation and oppression. This for many is now being seen as a vote against the Conservatives and their friends who have for years mismanaged Scotland's economy. The same Conservatives   who in Scotland are more reviled than since the days of Thatcher, who many blame for the  poverty that wreaks  daily misery on peoples lives.
It would not be heartbreaking if the people of Scotland chose a new beginning,  it would  just be part of a journey of recovery that  often people need to take. If not taken now it could be centuries before the opportunity arose again. It is  interesting how his so called opposition  both the Labour Party and Liberal democrats   leaders joining Cameron in calling for a no vote,  see how much these abusers of power have so much in common.
Whatever the outcome Salmod as leader of the SNP  finds himself in a win win position, even if he loses his vote Scotland could be granted new powers,  but a no vote would leave Scotlands hands tied, when  like all small nations what is needed  is their absolute freedom. I personally  as a Welshman have never seen myself as being part of the UK, I also reject the class system that this institution  is based on, believe  no borders are actually necessary that power needs to be given back to the people, we need to say no to sham democracy, yes to more equality, more autonomy.
I like the fact that the yes vote has   garnered new strengths of feeling, a kind of anti-capitalist rhetoric, bravely dancing towards a future, not dancing to  the intruments of division that has kept many people downtrodden in yesterdays memories. A fight for a different society, a fight for fairness and social justice, a struggle that could in the end inspire us all. A new future that sets a template about how our different wealth is shared.
New hopes where imagination is recaptured, dreams are  nurtured, a  different form of society is experimented with, for the good of all. Sadly the fact remains that  like all  governments,  a future independent Scotland  will nor be able to maintain the promises that is is making,   it might be unable  to share its wealth, protect the NHS,  like other governments,  will seek to attack  the unemployed, the disabled, outsiders, night get stuck in the narrow contstraints of nationalism,  but in the end  like any new democracies, opposition to its policies will still be encouraged.  It's gotta be better than the template already in place, some say I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one, and in all my hopes I  really do like the idea of Cameron and his coherts getting a real good kicking, and I support a new society that arises that creates   new possibilities, against the stagnation of the present system in place, a new era of radical change.
The Westminster  government   tells us we must   keep a 70 year old weapons  system called  Trident, operating from the West Coast Of Scotland, and Independence  threatens this,   but they don't say is that there are millions of pounds worth of oil and gas reserves here too, and that by removing Trident   these fields become more viable for the economic prosperity of Scotland as a whole, that could see it becomming one of the richest economies on the planet.
I truly wish more people were taking a stand and challenging the notions of the British state. A new politics that everyone is not afraid to engage with, that excites, and does not forget the power of the individual.more  power to the people. The powerful do not want to see anymore change, but the people daily are increasingly restless., and  with collective pressures for social, economic and political change, surely that can only be a good thing. Yes or No,  we need  people to  keep pushing  for a more caring society, some radical change, otherwise the status quo just sits back and smiles, carries on beating us, this political consensus and  our compliance I believe needs to be shattered, for the sake of us all.Voting does not  change thing, many of my friends say, but critical support for an independent Scotland is better than no change at all. This celtic cousin is holding his breath , hoping  for something that changes our political landscape forever, whatever the outcome, the way the UK is governed will  never be the same again, and the voters decisions in Scotland, whether they vote or not  will have a lasting impact on our lives here in West Wales too.

William S. Burroughs (5.2/14 -2/8/97) - We have a new type of rule now.

                                 Fabrizio Cassatta

In terms of   political philosophy, William Burroughs was never far from hitting the nail on the proverbial head. Hopefully these machines of order are finally losing their credibility.

' We have  a new type  of rule now. Not one-man rule, one rule of aristocracy or plutocracy, but of small groups elevated to  positions  of absolute power by random pressures, and subject to political  and economic  factors that leave little room for decision. They  are representatives of abstract forces who have reached power through surrender of self. That  iron-willed dictator is a thing of the past. There will be no more Stalins, no more Hitlers. The rulers of this most insecure  of all worlds are rulers by accident, inept,  frightened pilots at the  controls of a vast machine they cannot understand, calling in experts to tell them which buttons to push.'

- Interzone Viking 1989