Make your stand today

If you stand for nothing. You fall for everything. Make your stand today. There's a lot of injustice spreading  across this land ( and most others too)  don't just stand by. Do something. Join others and fight injustice together. 
In life things change, imagine for a minute if everything stayed the same, month after month, year after year. We should always be determined to stand firm, stand strong, in order to make a better world. Never be afraid to use your voice for honesty and compassion, use it to speak out against injustices, lying and greed,  that is daily spread but not in our names. Be a weapon of good.
Now is the time to make your stand, because if we don't the rot will continue. Don't remain silent, speak out against injustice, large or small, and share the voices of those who continue to expose them. Do not be discouraged, be a force for change. It is too easy to sit back and do nothing, we can't afford to keep quiet, for a more equitable society to be achieved, we have to lend our voices to the invisible.
Hail all that make a stand against injustice. So stand up, speak out, and I will stand together with you. 
They will try to make you falter, try to make you fall, but we will strive forward because there is no other way.

Why I choose to wear a white poppy.

                               for all those who have died fighting for the wealth of a few

On 11 November and the days around it, many people choose to wear a red poppy as a symbol for those who have given their lives in battle.
The red paper poppy was initially adopted as a symbol for those who fought in the First World War, and was introduced by the American Legion in 1921. Today it is more commonly used in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The flower was chosen because it grows wild in many fields in northern France and Belgium - where some of the deadliest battles of World War One took place.
When it was first adopted, it represented mourning and served as a pledge that war must never happen again. Indeed, the words “never again” were emblazoned on the original design.

The red poppy appeal, organised by the Royal British Legion (RBL), specifically represents remembrance associated with the British Armed Forces.
However, a number of issues have caused people to feel uncomfortable with it , with many believing the red poppy symbolises remembrance of British armed forces and its allies rather than enemies and civilians who also died in wars.
Others feel the red poppy has become politicised over time,in Northern Ireland, for example, it became regarded as a Protestant Loyalist symbol because of its connection with British patriotism, and that politicians use it to help justify war,and  has become a symbol of death.
Personally speaking  people have the right to wear a red  Poppy if they choose to, but I am  put off by the red poppy, to  much association for me, with the glorification of war, and all its bloodshed, a mere marketing brand, used as a tool to promote current wars,  but do acknowledge that  many people choose to  wear them  to remember lives lost in conflict.
But there are alternatives, to this mass imposed red flower, that acknowledges the many civilian lives too. It is called the white  poppy. Designed by the Co-operative Women's Guild in 1933 and adopted the following year by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) as a symbol of anti-war and pacifist sentiment. There are three elements to the meaning of white poppies: they represent remembrance for all victims of war, a commitment to peace and a challenge to attempts to glamorise or celebrate war, the PPU website says. White poppies symbolise the conviction that there are better ways to resolve conflict than through the use of violence. They embody values that reject killing fellow human beings for whatever reason. The white poppy recalls all victims of all wars – both combatants and civilians of all nationalities – seeking to bring to an end "the exclusion of civilians from mainstream Remembrance events".It aims to promote the idea that there are different ways to avoid conflict than through violent means, with the PPU stating: "The best way to represent the victims of war is to work to prevent war in the present and future."
To wear one is not to be unpatriotic or anti British, or disloyal, it is I guess just a badge of pride. The White poppy not just on show for  one day. but bought and sold all year round, used to remember all victims of war, acknowledge  that over 85%  of casualties and deaths are civilian. This year alone has seen the rise in childrens deaths, with thousands of others made homeless.
We who choose to wear the white poppy do not claim that the lives of servicemen and women are of any less value than those of others. After all, all life is sacred.
I also acknowledge  too all those conscientious objectors who chose not to fight and kill and truly honor their choice. I refuse to accept the current narratives, refuse to join in with  jingoism but will continue to show my respect. The greatest tribute to those who have sacrificed all is to carry on working for peace, remembering all the victims.
There incidentally is also a black poppy, that remembers all  those who who died in, and all those who resisted and continue to resist, the capitalists’ wars. To those who mutinied, went on strike, shirked, refused to kill. For all those they executed for deserting.
Rememberance was intended to be a pledge that war must never happen again, not to be used  to glorify or sanitise war. Arms dealers are currently still make profits out of war, from slaughter and mass misery, not  sparing a thought to  the carnage they’ve brought, but they'll still  wear their red poppies with pride. On November 1I  I will wear a white poppy with peaceful intent.

R.S. Thomas - Pact.

Britain fell silent today, to mark the eleventh day of the eleventh month to honour those who died in conflict and those still fighting for freedom, to mark the time when in 1918 gunfire ceased on the Western Front and the First World War ended,and the idea of ending all wars. A fact our leaders have not heeded.
So I consider the following poem, most apt. Heddwch/peace.

This is my child;
that is yours. Let
peace be between them
when they grow up.

They are far off
now; let it not
be through war they are brought
near. Their languages

are different. Let them both
learn it is peace
in the hand is the translation
of peace in the mind.

WARNING :- Serious proposals to Library services in Ceredigion to to be discussed by Council Cabinet tomorrow.

It has been drawn to my attention ( someone kindly passed me on an internal memo) that tomorrow, 9th November , Ceredigion County Council Cabinet  in Aberaeron to discuss proposals  to discuss options for changes within the library services in Ceredigion. I am alarmed that no one seems to know what is going on, let us hope those with responsibility will allow wider consultation with the wider public.
I guess the reasons for the consideration, is due to the severe cutbacks made by the Conservative Government to local Government funding and expenditure to public services occurring across Britain at the moment. Whatever happens the authorities have a duty to keep us informed with their proposals.
There are 3 proposals to be discussed. :-

1. Closure of Llandysul library and reduction of the mobile library by two vehicles ( one large and small vehicle)

2.Closure of Llandysul and one further static library

Reduce the number of static libraries by two through the closure of Llandysul and either Cardigan, Lampeter or Aberaeron. The Mobile library service would be re-designed to provide a service for the towns where static libraries have been closed but the frequency of visits across the county would be reduced.

3.Closure all static libraries, bar Aberystwyth.

Reduce the number of static libraries to one, Aberystwyth only and re-design the mobile  library service to provide a service across the County  but the frequency of visits to all Towns would be reduced.

All the above options will also include an element of staff reduction through automation and support processes.

In my opinion all above, very alarming and worrying, in a county that is bilingual, keen to promote its identity and language access to free literature and services in their own language I would have thought would be paramount.
Libraries are places  of intellectual freedom, places of learning, I believe access to them is a basic human right, knowledge after all gives us power.
People in the community on any income level can daily access information via books or computer, for those of us who cant afford to go elsewhere.
Local library's also act as an essential hub in the community, where service users gather, to read newspapers, catch up with friends, to feel a sense of belonging, providing safe and friendly environments for young and old for social networking. With dedicated hardworking staff always on hand, who seem to have been kept in the dark about the plans, with minimum amount of consideration or consultation.
Also provide the first gateways to a childs pathway to learning. A place to keep warm, a  place that really change lives. Also provide the first gateways to a childs pathway to learning. A place to keep warm, a pl;ace that really saves lives.
Furthermore currently the library in Cardigan ( I know this, because I use it everyday, I write as a loyal library user)  is the only service that provides free source of internet access to poorer members of the community. It is used to apply for and access benefits, job hunts and fill in job applications, and source any level of government information. I am aware that a significant part of the community who cannot afford to buy a computer or pay for broadband to access the internet in their own homes. My own partner found her current home accessing the services of Cardigan library. The only opportunity that some of us to  access the internet at the moment, is in the library.
Without our library services a significant percentage of Ceredigion's community would be disenfranchised, from these essential services and resources, and I say nothing about the poets, the bloggers and creatives amongst our numbers.
I sincerely hope that when the cabinet meets tomorrow to discuss their proposals, they have the tenacity to take on board some thoughts contained within this post. My mind really reels that they are actually thinking of these proposals, that they may actually come into being.
Our libraries should remain and continue to play an important and pivotal role in our community. Books are essential to survival for society and the individual. Surely there must be other things the council could be looking at.


POST UPDATE 

10/11/15

They have decided to put it out to public consultation,  put the onus on us, we must demand and shout loudly  that we want the service that we have and need , a free public library for one and all.

A Persistent Peace

As leaves lie fallen on the ground
and people remember, stand in silence,
in every city, town and village
carrying the weight of sorrow,
an insistent echo keeps ringing

choruses of amity everflowing,
beyond the wasted bloodshed
and the pity of war,
in dark days, brings light
gives purpose, for us to achieve,
upon every week, upon every month
upon every year, on all occasions,
breathing on our arms and different skins
peace's persistent kiss, could disarm us all,
softly, carries on calling
releasing message strong,
on dawn, break of day and sunrise
there is nothing that it fears.

Shot at dawn in the First World War and the Welsh opposition that seems to have been forgotten.

During the First World War some 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were shot for mutiny desertion and cowardice. Most of them were sentenced after a short trial at which  no real opportunity for defence was allowed.
Today, it is recognised that several of them were underage when they volunteered and that many were actually suffering from shell-shock or post traumatic disorder. Andy Decomyn's statue ' Shot at Dawn' is modelled on Private Herbert Burden of the 1st Batallion Northumberland fusiliers, who was shot at Ypres in 1915. aged only 17. His name and the names of who suffered the fate of being shot at dawn are listed on the stakes arranged  in the form of a Greek theatre around the statue, symbolising the tragedy that those events signify. The location of the memorial in the most easterly point of the Arboteum means that this is the first place to be touched by the dawn light.
He was one of 306 young British soldiers who met this  cruel fate, including 15 of my own fellow Welsh countrymen, induced by the horrors of the Great War, that at least Jeremy Corbyn has had the tenacity to acknowledge. I remember too  how the late Keir Hardie duel M.P for Mertyr Tydfil and Aberdare raised his opposition to this cruel war. What is also forgotten is around 200,000 miners in  the South Wales valleys  went on strike at the height of the First World War. Not everyone signed up to the  jingoistic version of patriotism that continues to be spread.
There were between 700-900 conscientious objectors in Wales during this period, it was no soft option. It meant tribunals, imprisonment and hard labor. Conchies as they were  known faced with humiliation, called cowards and shirkers. By 1916 Home Office intelligence reports revealed the extent of anti-war, revolutionary opposition in South Wales, it was large.
After the 75 year secrecy Act was lifted, members of the Shot at Dawn Organisation started campaigning for pardon. This week as rememberance Sunday approaches I remember them all not as cowards or traitors, but as victims of injustice that were not given the chance to survive.
I support all those that strive to ensure that a radical anti-war message remains fully embedded in our hearts, without disrespecting others that fell. So on Sunday I will proudly wear a white poppy. Remember these other  heroes that time has forgotten.
Finally in the words of Harry Patch the last WW1 veteran in Europe (1989 -2006)

' War is organised  murder and nothing else. Politicians  who took us to war should have been given the  guns and told to settle their differences themselves instead of organising nothing netter than legalised murder.'

                                      World War One Conscientious Objectors                             

And so it is.

  ( I try to avoid rhyme in my poems, but with this little one, made the effort. I do not understand either, why some poets resort to using  rhyming dictionary's online or in  book form, I believe a poem should come from the mind and heart of the of the poet,  so I choose not to use them.)

There are days of gladness
swimming alongside grains of sadness,
living attentively, passing time with no regret
following things beautiful, among earth's scent,
allows me moments to release poems bright
tales, sometimes whispering with disquiet,
as the world contains me, I try to protect delicate skin
the pulse and echo weaving among humanity's din,
following endless rivers of transformation                              
carried under the moon and sun,
the unquenchable thirst of longing
this voice, so far never conforming, 
falling apart sometimes, but somehow clinging on
in this world of constant transition, 
messages escape to spread freedoms mission
allow me to surrender wild imagination, 
until that fateful day, when wings rip 
and I will fall upon a landing strip,
as death calls and takes me far away
in departure to sail on horizons distant fray.

98th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration

Lord Balfour

Today marks the 96th anniversary of the cursed Balfour promise or Balfour 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. Lord Balfour bought about a promise that marked  the confiscation of the Palestinians homeland with displacement of its people. Balfour I believe will continue to turn in his grave  because of the historical injustice which Britain committed against the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian conflict does not begin in 1948 but in 1917, with this  declaration. It is necessary that we go back to this crucial watershed in the history of the Middle East and the roots of the continuing betrayal of the Palestinian people.As a result Palestinians were evicted from their ancestral  homeland to be expelled to refugee camps, to live in exile across the globe, to this present day.The continuing seperation of the people of the West Bank andthe open prison that is Gaza.
 Because of the broken promise, Britain can be given the blame for setting the stage for the conflict that exists today.We are approaching soon the 100th anniversary of this grave injustice. And in this moment in time the current gravity of the situation in Palestine cannot be overstated.
Britain must accept its  full responsibility in  moretheless creating this current situation, which has left a legacy of deceit, injustice and oppression..
I also acknowledge that Balfour was not unique in history in giving what he did not own to those that were not entitled to it. It is time for Britain to apologise for the Balfour declaration.

Link to post on 95th anniversary here :-

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/95th-anniversary-of-balfour-declaration.html

Dissapearing Palestine - Richard Hamilton

Despite the above, I still strongly believe that 'From the river to the sea'
one day Palestine will be free.

Remembering the 1910 Cambrian Combine Strike, the great Unrest and the Tonypandy riots.

On 1st November 1910, coal miners working for the Cambrian Combine began a ten month strike, because of having to exist on starvation wages, which which would lead to the Tonypandy riots. Also at issue was the  price to be paid for a new seam of coal. During this period in the early 1910's which is often  called " the Great Unrest.' the South Wales valleys were  experiencing its fair share of industrial tension and unrest.
30,000  miners in the Rhondda, Aberdare and Maesteg went on strike  or were locked out.
The strike would mark one of the few occasions in British troops were deployed against striking workers, ( I remember how Margaret Thatcher would later deploy the British police as her  own unofficial private army against the miners in the 1984/85 strike.)
On 7 November 1910, thousands of striking miners marched across the Rhondda valley,  they had walked  out over mining magnate D.A Thomas's decision to sack the whole workforce at  the Ely Pit in Penycraig, Rhondda. They demanded better pay and working conditions. After  one striker had been killed, a miner called Samuel Rhys and mass pickets had failed to stop  police from scab herding,( they had bussed  in scab workers from Cardiff to keep the colliery running,) tensions already high erupted, and an uprising ensured, which is  now known as the Tonypandy riots. (Incidentally my own grandads sister ended up living there) strikers attacked shops in the town who had  put families on a credit blacklists not allowing  them to buy enough food,  thus aiding the bosses. Blackleg trains were stoned and halted.
Winston Churchill. then Home Secretary sent in the troops. The striking miners ( many accompanied by their women ) fought back although  the troops were wielding rifles with fixed bayonets.
People were bludgened, kicked and maltreated , with many suffering serious injuries, such was the brutality inflicted. 13 miners  were arrested and prosecuted for their part in the unrest.
After almost one year on strike these brave miners who had had to endure so much hardship returned to work. Though their demands  were not met, the strike helped change the face of British Trade Unionism, still inspiring workers fighting for better conditions today, giving rise in South Wales to increased militancy, the growth of revolutionary syndicalism in the workers struggle against their bosses.
Winston Churchill would be despised by many in South Wales, for the rest of his life, for  the actions that he took .

Awakenings ( a poem for Samhein, Jane and Shaker Aamer)

 ( a poem for Samhein, Jane, and Shaker Aamer)

Today after waking early,
I noticed the trees of life,
natures guardians with deep roots,
watchers of time and presence,   
as I carry feelings of  love,
raptured  forms of ecstasy,
that are not illegal to possess.

I cross a bridge in Aberteifi,
no longer does its river,
entice me to plunge into its depths,
today a day  of celebration,
as the veil between the worlds of life and 
                                                     death lift.

I will travel soon. to see my beloved,
gentle soul, beautiful companion,
currently stuck in hospital in West Wales,
as I remember the dead,  still look after the living,
as precious petals cast away doubt,
on this spinning whirling day of divination.

As Hecate Queen of the witches,
walks with Persephone,
deep in the underworld,
above ground,
I drift in this world,
of light and air.

I walk with beauty,
she draws me close,
from afar,
two heartbeats ,
of companionship,
journeying  together,
side by side in unity.

And today I rejoice for another reason,
Shaker Aamer the last British resident,
of Guantanamo Bay  prison camp,
has been set free, home again where he belongs,
so today is also a good  day for justice and freedom,
a time of jubilation as innocent hearts smile,
hope exists on this  earth, so blessed be, blessed be,