Ingeborg Bachmann (25/6/27 - 17/10/74 ) - Five poems

Born in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, on the 25th of June 1927 Austrian poet and writer Ingeborg Bachmann , the first child of Mathias and Olga Bachmann (née Haas). Her father was a middle-school language teacher and later principal.  Ingeborg Bachmann saw Nazi troops march through her town when she was 12 years old, after the annexation of Austria. a traumatic experience in which she wrote “The pain came too early and was perhaps stronger than anything since. . . the monstrous brutality, one could feel it, the yelling, singing and marching, an attack, the first, of deathly anxiety.”  Like the poet Sylvia  Plath of “Daddy” and “Little Fugue,” this  Aryan poet came to despise her father (in Bachmann’s case a bona fide Fascist) and to identify with the Nazis’ Jewish victims.
During her lifetime Bachmann, was known first and foremost as a poet, but she ceased to write poetry in the 1960s and focused on prose. In these later works feminist themes came to the fore. Bachmann was a reclusive, but socially engaged writer. Most of the fifties and from 1965 onward, she lived in Rome. She studied law at the universities of Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna, where she completed her doctoral dissertation on the philosopher Martin Heidegger in 1950. During this period she had a love affair with the poet Paul Celan.There close and personal intellectual relationship would endure until Celan's death in 1971.In September 1950 she will mention her first nervous breakdown and tell Celan that she is lost, desperate and embittered. She wrote: "I have such desire for a little comfort " and she entreats him: "Please try to be good to me and hold me tight!"

                                           Bachmann and Celan.

Often in her work she used  death as a motif and with reflections on the hidden forces of violence and oppression in society. She was appalled and yet fascinated by the fact that crimes against humans were being committed on such a large scale also outside of the boundaries of war. "Since long have I pondered the question of where fascism has its origin. It is not born with the first bombs, neither through the terror one can describe in every newspaper … its origin lies in the relations between a man and a woman, and I have tried to say … in this society there is permanently. "

Bachmann worked as a scriptwriter and editor for the radio station Rot-Weisz-Rot plays between 1951 and 1953. Her first collection of poetry, Die gestundete Zeit (1953), was awarded the Group 47 Prize.After meeting the German composer Hans Werner Henze in Niendorf, Bachmann moved to Italy, where she lived with Henze on the Island Ischia,  working on poems, essays and short stories as well as opera libretti in collaboration, which soon brought with them international fame and numerous awards. She also spent some time as a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the United States. While in Italy in 1954-1955, she wrote political columns under the pseudonym Ruth Keller for the Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung. In 1958 she met the Swiss writer Max Frisch in Paris; their relationship lasted until the early 1960s. Following the end of her relationship with him she suffered a nervous breakdown. It would have a big impact on her.

In 1961, Bachmann published her highly influential autobiographical work, The Thirtieth Year, which was awarded the Berlin Critics Prize and the Georg Buchner Prize in 1964. Her first published novel, Malina (1971), deals with a number of feminist issues. Malina, the protagonist of the novel, has a relationship with Ivan, a younger man of Hungarian descent. The relationship becomes psychologically complex as Malina has recurrent nightmares of her father as a Nazi who kills her in a gas chamber, nightmares that seem to contribute to the deterioration of her relationship with Ivan. Malina also confronts the theme of national memory and national identity in postwar Europe. The issues of ego and alter ego and with the subtle influence of the memory of genocide create a powerful combination. The novel was highly praised and remains an excellent representative work of German postmodernism.

From 1962 Bachmann lived  variously in Munich, Berlin, Zürich and Rome, breaking her somewhat reclusive lifestyle with her social and political activities. Bachmann was a member of a committee that opposed atomic weapons, and she signed a declaration against the Vietnam war.

At the age of 33, Bachmann was appointed to the newly created position as chair of poetics at the University of Frankfurt, where she lectured on poetry and the existential situation of the writer. She only published  few poems over a period of almost a decade. In mid-1960s she travelled in Egypt and Sudan. On the invitation of the literature critic and professor Hans Mayer she travelled in 1960 together with Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Walter Jens to the German Democratic Republic.
For her partly autobiographical work Das dreißigste Jahr Bachmann received in 1964 the Berlin Critics Prize. In the same year she also received the prestigious Georg Büchner Prize and was introduced into the West Berlin Academy of Arts. Four years later she was awarded the Austrian National Medal. In the spring of 1973 she gave a series of readings in Poland and visited the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Bachmann's poetry showed the influence of classic antiquity, surrealism, and such diverse writers as Klopstock and Rilke. She often dealt with the difficulties of love, guilt, and mindless forces that can break frail human relationships. The tone of her poems, written in precise and formally elegant style, is mostly somber. Dark, powerful images refer to private anguished experiences, problems of identity, contemporary social events, and mythology. "Great Bear, come down, shaggy night, / cloud-coated beast with the old eyes, star eyes. / Through the thickets your paws break / shimmering with their claws, / star claws." (from Anrufung des Großen Bären) Often she had visions of future catastrophes: "Worse days are coming. / The time allotted for disavowals / Comes due the skyline. / Soon you will lace up your shoes / And drive the dogs back to the marshes." (from 'The Time Allotted')

After 1967 Bachmann almost stopped writing poetry and turned to prose  In her prose works Bachmann moved more on the social level, although her writing were highly introspective and used lyrical elements. Fascist threats, the interplay of ego and alter-ego, and women's experiences in a hostile, patriarchal society, were recurrent themes.
Bachmann died tragically in Rome on October 17, 1973, aged 47 three weeks after she had been badly burned in a fire in her apartment attributed to an unextinguished cigarette,combined with complications to her addiction to prescription drugs. The German tabloid BILD wrote of the news of her death: "She died, as if she had thought it up herself." In 'Curriculum vitae!
Since the publication of her collected poems in 1978 the characterization of Bachmann as a lost poet  has been increasingly challenged by a more politically charged view of social and literary concerns.She would become an inspiration to later feminist writers because her work probed the issues that defined the agenda of women writers. She is considered today one of the mot talented German - Austrian writers of the 20th century. I find her work profoundly moving, delicate that have over the years struck a chord within so on what would have been her birthday here's a few poems from her. Hope you enjoy as much as me.

A Kind of Loss

Used together: seasons, books, a piece of music.
The keys, teacups, bread basket, sheet and a bed.
A hope chest of words, of gestures, brought back, used, used up.
A household order maintained. Said. Done. And always a head was there.
I've fallen in love with winter, with a Viennese septet, wiht summer.
With Village maps, a mountain nest, a beach and a bed.
Kept a calender cult, declared promises irrevocable,
bowed before something, was pious to a nothing

(-to a folded newspaper, cold ashes, the scribbled piece of paper),
fearless in religion, for our bed was the church.

From my lake view arose my inexhaustible painting.
From my balcony I greeted entire peoples, my neighbors.
By the chimney fire, in safety, my hair took on its deepest hue.
The ringing at the door was the alarm for my joy.

It's not you I've lost,
but the world.

Translated from the German by Mark Anderson

To the Sun - Ingeborg Bachmann

 More beautiful than the remarkable moon and her noble light,
More beautiful than the stars, the famous medals of the night,
More beautiful than the fiery entrance a comet makes,
And called to a part far more splendid than any other planet's
Because daily your life and my life depend on it, is the sun.

Beautiful sun that rises, his work not forgotten,
And completes it, most beautifully in summer, when a day
Evaporates on the coast, and effortlessly mirrored the sails
Pass through your sight, till you tire and cut short the last.

Without the sun even art takes the veil again,
You cease to appear to me, and the sea and the sand,
Lashed by shadows, take refuge under my eyelids.

Beautiful light, that keeps us warm, preserves us, marvellously makes sure
That I see again and that I see you again!

Nothing more beautiful under the sun than to be under the sun . . .

Nothing more beautiful than to see the stick in water and the bird above,
Pondering his flight, and, below, the fishes in shoals,

Coloured, moulded, brought into the world with a mission of light,
And to see the radius, the square of a field, my landscape's thousand angles

and the dress you have put on. And your dress, bell-shaped and blue!
Beautiful blue, in which peacocks walk and bow,

Blue of far places, the zones of joy with weathers that suit my mood,
Blue chance on the horizon! and my enchanted eyes
Dilate again and blink and burn themselves sore.

Beautiful sun, to whom dust owes great admiration yet,
Not for the moon, therefore, and not for the stars, and not
Because night shows off with comets, trying to fool me,
But for your sake, and endlessly soon, and for you above all

I shall lament the inevitable loss of my sight.

I step outside myself - Ingeborg Bachmann

 I step outside
myself, out of my eyes,
hands, mouth, outside
of myself I
step, a bundle
of goodness and godliness
that must make good
this devilry
that has happened.

I know no better world  

 Who knows of a better world should step forward.
Alone, no longer out of bravery, not wiping away this saliva,
this saliva worn upon the cheek
as if to a coronation, as if redeemed, whether at communion
or among comrades. The weak rabbit,
the rat, and those fallen there, all of them,
no longer alone, but as one, though still afraid,
the dream of returning home
in the dream of armament, in the dream
of returning home.

Stay

Now the journey is ending,
the wind is losing heart.
Into your hands it’s falling,
a rickety house of cards.
The cards are backed with pictures
displaying all the world.
You’ve stacked up all the images
and shuffled them with words.
And how profound the playing
that once again begins!
Stay, the card you’re drawing
is the only world you’ll win.


 
Earlier post can be found here :- 

 https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/ingeborg-bachmann-25626-171074-every-day.html

Black Friday

I woke up this morning devastated.Since then it's all felt weird and out of sync as I seek to understand and contemplate how  a climate of  fear has beaten that of hope , fiction has beaten fact and our country has been catapulted into the unknown and .deeply regretting  that the  people of Britain have been deceived and manipulated into believing that Brexit will bring about relief from the grinding austerity that is destroying lives and communities. This is the wonders of democracy, that before  the gloaters get carried away  voted 51.9% voted for Leave; 48.1% for Remain.But only 37.5% of the electorate secured the result for Leave. We should remember the 62.5% who did not show their support.for Brexit who will also now have to suffer the consequences.A hollow victory for Murdoch and money men hiding in the shadows .
Yep I'm not very happy, had Noman effing Tebbit on the TV earlier  telling us all to  calm down, but how can oh we, when we have woken to such a fractured country and it seems their are many out there gloating in this situation, taken in by the likes of farage and co, time now to heal, but how, .... as Donald Trump arrives happy as a *** of **** this master of division, and the forces of racism and far right nationalism already bleeting... yes tears have been rolling down my cheeks this morning, a feeling of great shame, so Cameron has resigned whoop whoop, are we supposed to thank him now, after all it was him who engineered all this shit,and his mates in the Bullingham Club still happy as larry, and time to make room for Boris, and poor old Jeremy Corbyn will probably be ousted now, the media will seize their chance and any hope of the Labour Party  to become a party that tries to push for progressive radical change will be lost  as the forces of the right sneakily emerge to take advantage as they certainly will.. Unless their membership stays on course, decide to find someone else geared up for the fight ahead, or  bravely carry on regardless, with principle prepared to continue the fight for social justice,fairness, not just for the  privileged few.
In the meantime lets get ourselves ready for loss of wages, loss of jobs, loss of NHS, loss of Rights and Laws that protected us,the many vital rights at work in the UK that were derived from EU law, guaranteeing things like paid leave entitlements, protections from being forced to work excessive hours, discrimination protections and rights for working mums to be that might now be lost.and will see even more loss of services and even more assets sold of to line their own pockets, get yourselves prepared  for more austerity and other brutal changes that are going to come at us  inn a blink of the eye. But it could now see now Scotland pushing for independence, a vote on Northern Ireland leaving the union to form a unified Ireland, a general election in the UK, a Labour Leadership election and a Conservative Leadership election and .then perhaps Wales too,  might take time to reflect . UKIP  will now though need a name change as the idea of a United Kingdom ceases to exist anymore in this fractured divided country.
Rant nearly over,  though a tad bitter I remain forever an optimist  theirs still glimmers of hope among these days of uncertainty, so here's to those that keep trying to build a better world based on equality and humanity. to another future, a  moment of time that feels safer than now, a place that for many that no longer seems to exist. hope too that the trust of  neighbors can be regained  friends ,who can remind us every day that we have more in common than that which divides us and that a better world is possible..
Hey ho iechyd da, pob lwc x

Jo Cox friend of Palestine

The British Labor Party MP Jo Cox, who was brutally  killed last Thursday in broad daylight, on the streets of Birstall, a West Yorkshire village in her constituency on June 16th was a devoted compassionate friend of Palestine, refugees and immigrants,champion for the less fortunate; for the socially ostracised, for women; and for diversity.who dedicated her life to helping lives of people on the other side of the world, for human rights and advocated for the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. She often spoke against Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian children and called on Israel to end its practice of detaining young underage Palestinians. Mrs. Cox - whose 42nd birthday would have been today frequently advocated for the rights of Palestinians' to self determination and for enforcing international human right law to protect the rights of young Palestinian children -both in her charity work and as an MP.She said in February that moves by they that moves by the Conservative government to use legal threats to curtail the boycott of Israel were “a gross attack on democratic freedoms. It is our right to boycott unethical companies.”
Jo was a true humanitarian. Who used her own voice to give the voiceless a strong, powerful voice and used hers  to hold governments to their humanitarian obligations a huge loss, the Palestinian people have lost a true friend and defender of their rights.long may we remember her.
In the following link she speaks on the arrest detention and treatment of children in occupied Palestinian territories :-.

http://www.jocox.org.uk/2016/01/07/jo-cox-on-the-arrest-detention-and-treatment-of-children-in-occupied-palestinian-territories/ 

"Parliament held an urgent and thought provoking debate this week about the way in which children are arrested, detained and treated in the occupied Palestinian territories, writes Jo Cox.

Westminster Hall, the overspill venue for backbenchers to hold debates when time pressures on the main Chamber won’t allow, was jammed with MPs keen to contribute and listen to what was a fascinating, deeply troubling discussion.

Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military court and the differences between how Israeli children and Palestinian children are treated are stark. For example, an Israeli child subject to civil court proceedings has to have access to a lawyer within 48 hours. Yet a Palestinian child can be left without legal guidance for as long as 90 days. This, and many other disparities, underline the existence of a two tier justice system operating in the West Bank. One where Israeli children are subject to the rule of law; Palestinian children are not. This disparity of treatment, along with the estimate that 59,000 Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military since 1967 are likely to have been physically abused in one way or another, is deeply disturbing. It is also a clear and fundamental abuse of basic human rights and international law, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

There are a number of very worrying trends that impact upon these Palestinian children and during the debate I raised the issue that 65 per cent of children report being arrested in what are often ‘terrifying’ night raids by the Israeli military.

Night raids cause a huge amount of distress to children and their families. UNICEF have powerfully argued that “all arrests of children should be conducted during daylight, notwithstanding exceptional and grave situations.” A short lived Israeli pilot scheme, unconvincingly implemented, involved issuing summonses in place of night-time arrests. But these were increasingly served after midnight defeating the intended purpose.

Personal accounts provide an insight to what children are subjected to – they are often arrested in the middle of the night by armed soldiers, their hands are bound, they are blindfolded and taken away on the floor of a military vehicle. There are also reports of them being subjected to physical and verbal abuse throughout.

Another worrying trend is that almost three quarters of children detained report not being informed of their right to silence, the fundamental right afforded anyone arrested on suspicion of a crime. This is to stop the risk of self-incrimination, a particular concern for vulnerable children.  One case documented by the organisation Military Court Watch shockingly reported that a Palestinian child was told by one interrogator that he had the right to silence while a second told him he would be raped if he did not confess.

Thirdly, the issue of transferring detainees en masse from occupied territory is a very serious issue, and is, in fact, a war crime. Yet monthly data released by the Israeli Prison Service shows that almost half of the detained Palestinian children from the West Bank are transferred to prisons inside Israel.

This is a breach of the Geneva Convention. The added human impact is that these unlawful transfers mean families struggle to visit their children often over many months.

Estimates put the number of Palestinians detained since 1967 at 850,0000. Of these almost 100,000 are children. Between 500 and 700 children are prosecuted each year, with stone throwing the most common charge. This often brings with it a sentence of between 10 and 20 years.

And worst of all the number of children involved is increasing. As of last month the number of children in detention was up to 470 – over a 200% increase since last September.

These abuses have been going on for nearly 50 years. As my colleague Sarah Champion MP, who sponsored the debate, said – this situation requires decisive action to ensure we meet our international legal obligations."

Remain

This referendum is about the type of country we want to live in. Been pondering about this for awhile but in past week my mind has firmly been made up
I'm objectively against the concept of the EU. The current leadership in Brussels is dominated by political forces that seek to erode the social gains won in the past. Their is the issue of trade deals like TTIP that would hardwire privatisation and deregulation into our political system.Many of the member states remain wedded to austerity economics and have imposed their destructive policies on the people of southern Europe. I was disgusted by the way it imposed oppressive austerity measures  on the people of Greece and Spain, and it is after all another corporate superstate, hugely undemocratic and unrepresentative,decisions affecting every man, woman and child on the continent are being made in ways it is increasingly difficult to understand and some profoundly reactionary interests dominate the EU institutions, aligned with big business and elite interests, the EU is in dire need of reform and more democracy,  it's all a bit of a mess quite frankly. The anti capitalist argument against the EU has a good case  yet at the same time the the EU does an awful lot of protections like workers rights, maternity leave, human rights and environmental safeguards,  health and safety legislation, holidays, regular breaks etc. Things I don't trust the UK to keep up with. Certainly not under Cameron. And do you really trust the likes of Farage and Johnson  when it comes to workplace rights and human rights.In fact, many of the worst EU policies, like TTIP, are precisely the ones that the UK government is most supportive of and would retain, emulate or even expand if Brexit were to occur.
Ideally we wouldn't be at the mercy of the EU or the UK government but whilst they still have such a strong say on the lives of normal people I will always choose the lesser of the evils. At the end of the day whoever we vote for the powerful always seem to get what they want. I will not be voting for the EU, per say but Brexit I don't think is the answer.
What has really consolidated my view is what has been going on recently. The campaign terrain has been marked out by the right wing eurosceptic Tories and by their outriders in UKIP. The British electorate has been told in increasingly strident terms that British “national sovereignty” is at stake.Another, slightly less subtle, message is also being delivered. Unless “Britain” rejects continued membership of the EU, the ethnic and cultural integrity of the nation will be threatened—the argument goes. The UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, has warned us of the dangers of waking up and finding Romanians have moved in next door. The implications, we will be told, are clear: for as long as the country is part of the EU, “the swamping” of the indigenous British population by alien migrants from the other EU countries cannot be halted. The noxiously chauvinist tone that has ­characterised so much of the debate about immigration invariably takes on an openly racist colour particularly when applied to the Roma people from EU states in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Leave campaign have created such a mood of toxicity in the country that resembles the one in Germany when Hitler won his first election. It has increasingly taken on a dangerous edge, warped poisonous and hysterical. It is horrifying to think where Britain will be heading if the Leave win. Every day I thank my lucky stars that I live where I do. I can't imagine how it must feel to be a refugee. To feel rejected and unwanted with no home to go to. I want to live in a country where people truly care about other human beings and who can show compassion. I want us to work together with our neighbours for the good of all people. 
There can be no doubt that if Britain leaves the EU many European regulations restricting working hours and other employment and social reforms will be scrapped. The anti-EU right also demands a rolling back of the powers of both the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) and—more urgently—of the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR). The British Tory establishment has been outraged by some of the rulings of the ECHR in particular,for instance to give prisoners in jail the same voting rights they have elsewhere in the EU. Even more objectionable to the Tories have been ECHR rulings to protect the human rights of immigrants at risk of being deported by the UK. The ECHR is itself outside the remit of the European Union. But the ECJ is bound by the overarching decisions of the ECHR when ruling on matters of specifically EU law. The Tories want a “British” convention on human rights to replace the European convention. Anyone doubting this would deliver a serious blow to civil liberties and human rights in Britain is not living in the real world.
It is possible that the vote on Thursday could produce a democratic fracture in UK politics. It is not the most likely scenario but it is possible. The only thing we know for sure is that after Thursday the winner will have been a member the Bullingdon club. Staying in however we can keep on pushing for change and reform working steadily in solidarity with our European friends as part of a  Europe-wide movement against austerity, racism and xenophobia, not left alone and isolated from our European neighbours.
The above reasons are  why I am voting to remain. We have far to much to lose.
 SHARE this if you believe Britain is at our best when we’re outward-looking, inclusive and we stand together.

Halfway there ( a poem for the summer solstice)

      

                  
                        ( in time of rising hate, fear and division, a moment of contemplation)
                                                          happy summer solstice   

Surging through veils,
to enhance, to heal,
recharge, renew, reveal,
time to celebrate,
through spirit, mind, and heart,
the turning of the seasonal wheel,
under the influence,
of a full strawberry moon,
swirl in peace for awhile,
solitary or in company,
kiss goodbye to the last shades of spring,
pay homage to forces of nature we trust,
as earth's darkness returns to light,
and summertime is reborn.

World Refugee Day

 
Today the world commemorates the strength, courage and resilence of millions of refugees. World Refugee Day was first marked in 2001.Tens of thousands of people around the world take time to recognize and applaud the contribution of those forced to flee.The annual commemoration is marked by a variety of events in over 100 countries, involving government officials, aid workers, celebrities, civilians and the forcibly displaced themselves.Never before have the immediate needs of vulnerable children and their families been so great. Some 20 million refugees half of whom are children, have been forced to flee violence, poverty and persecution from places such as Syria, Somalia, South Sudan and Central African Republic taking perilous sea voyages over the Mediterranean. According to the International Organisation for Migration, over 20,000 migrants have died in their attempts to reach or stay in Europe since 2000, and according to the United Nations, only one per cent have been resettled. It is imperative that they should be given help, protection and long term solutions.
Together, we should be creating an outpouring of compassion and show individual refugees that they are welcome here.but the persecution of refiugees continues, whipped up by forces of racism spreading fear and misinformation about security and terrorism.The EU Referendum campaign has sadly contributed to this unleashing some of the most heinious manifestations of racism we have seen in generations. Those on the far right across Europe are eager to use the crisis to further scapegoat immigrants.Last week UKIP leader Nigel Farage had the audacity to stand in front of a poster chillingly reminiscent of nazi propoganda depicting long queues of refugees heading for Europe. Earlier he stated that violence would be the 'next step ' when people felt that nothing could be done about immigration through democratic means.
It should be pointed out that despite whatever one thinks of the European Union it is a leading global donor of aid. It gives more than one billion euros a year for humanitarian assistance to support those forced to flee their homes. This funding is vital, providing access to shelter, food, healthcare, sanitation, education and other essential services. A necessary humanitarian response to one of the worst crisis's since the Second World War. In the circumstances, it could be argued and more than justified that they contribute even more. The EU is morally, and indeed legally, obliged to share some of the refugee burden
In light of this as continuing tragedy unfolds, some of the countries most able to help are shutting their gates to people seeking asylum. Borders are closing, pushbacks are increasing, and hostility is rising. Avenues for legitimate escape are fading away.Since the beginnings of civilization, we have treated refugees as deserving of our protection. Whatever our differences, we have to recognise our fundamental human obligation to shelter those fleeing from war and persecution. It is time to stop hiding behind misleading words. Richer nations must acknowledge refugees for the victims they are, fleeing from wars they were unable to prevent or stop.History has shown that doing the right thing for victims of war and persecution engenders goodwill and prosperity for generations. And it fosters stability in the long run.
The world needs to renew its commitment now to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its principles that made us strong.To offer safe harbor, both in our own countries and in the epicentres of the crises, and to help refugees restore their lives.In this context it is sad to report  that on Saturday 18 June 2016, the Convoy to Calais was refused entry to France. Over 250 vehicles carrying many tonnes of much needed aid for refugees in the 'Jungle Camp' stuffed full of desperately needed aid; food, sleeping bags, tents, clothes; love were turned away at the border by the French authorities. The reasons given for refusing the convoy entry were spurious, including the 'State of Emergency', football hooliganism and the threat of terrorist attack. None of these had any connection with this humanitarian mission.While two lorries and a handful of cars and vans managed to get through, less than half of the aid collected was delivered.
The organisers of the Convoy to Calais made it clear to the French authorities that there was no intention to cause any disruption or hold any kind of demonstration or protest, when in France.This was a convoy delivering aid and solidarity to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet who governments across Europe are trying to forget. A truly shameful state of affairs, a dangerous reaction, short-sighted and morally wrong.
Today and tomorrow we must continue to stand up for refugees.We must remember that arms trade helps exacerbate the crisis,plus poverty and inequality, war and conflict, we need to build bridges not more obstacles and borders.
In the meantime please consider signing the following petition :-

 https://t.co/8emWi22DWc


Aziza Brahim performs refugee Blues

Amnestea

.

Please Come for tea and Cake! this Sunday 19th June 2016 2.00–5.00pm  
Raise some money for Amnesty International's human rights work.

Merlin’s Lair, 
Capel Iwan, 
Newcastle Emlyn 
SA38 9LS                   

Everyone welcome - Croeso i  Pawb

*Relax to Live Music by L’Attitude  *Bookstall  *Plant Sale *Jewellery Sale 
Come whatever the weather, always a lovely event, friendly and hospitable.

Amnesty is non-political and does not accept money from Government, however the Government will double any money we raise (from the International Aid Budget).

We are raising money for an Amnesty project in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone where Amnesty is working to help local communities to organise themselves to stop child marriage (girls as young as 10 forced to marry old men) and FGM, 

32 years anniversary of the battle of Orgreave

On this day in 1984, the battle of Orgreave took place when striking miners faced off against thousands of police under the jurisdiction of Margaret Thatcher as they attempted to blockade the Orgreave coking plant. The police showed the lengths they would go to break the strike with violent attacks, mass arrests and deliberate but fortunately unsuccessful attempts to fabricate evidence and frame miners. The insult was added to by the BBC reversing footage of miners defending themselves from police attacks to try and make out that the police were attacked first. 
It was one of the most brutal attacks by the state on its own citizens of the last 20th Century.It saw the police  going berserk under state orders, repeatedly  attacking  individuals  wherever they sought refuge,  as they fled into a nearby Wheatfield and into the community of Orgreave, where the police  carried on their pursuit through the streets. A scene of ugliness, fear and menace, as  all concepts of Law and order that  the constabulary  were supposed to withhold abandoned all its basic principles.
 At the end  the day  over 100 people were arrested, for no crime whatever, with many  more being injured along with  the Miners leader Arthur Scargill. Following Orgreave, the police  conducted a deliberate  and co-ordinated  attempt to frame arrested miners  for one of the most serious events  on the statute book - the offence of Riot. No police officer has ever been prosecuted or even disciplined for their role in the terrible events that occurred.

 The  miners strike of 1984 was one of the longest and most brutal in British labour history. A community fighting for jobs and survival was wholly denigrated and depicted as violent by the majority of the media. 32 years later  many still seek some form of justice.Today all the victims  of this bloody confrontation,are simply asking for an apology for the actions taken out against them. We should never forget, today the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) are calling on supporters to join them in a march and rally for truth and justice  at 5pm at The Old Bridge, Orgreave Lane, Sheffield S13 9NE. Supporters are encouraged to commemorate the day when 95 miners were arrested and wrongfully charged and many others were violently assaulted and wounded by a police force charging on horseback and wielding truncheons.
The huge demand for a public inquiry  since  the Hillborough  verdict  should help  to expose the real truth of what happened on that day, achieve justice and make it easier for both the mining community and the police to move on

For  further details of the Orgreave Peace and Justice Campaign

I refer you to this excellent site

http://otjc.org.uk/

An earlier post on the 30th anniversary of the Miners Strike can be found here

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/30th-anniversary-of-miners-strike-their.html

The following is a pamphlet by a striking anarchist miner :-

https://libcom.org/history/tell-us-lies-about-miners-dave-douglass

The horrible threat of fascism must be thwarted.

                                     
                                            Thomas Mair, fascist murderer.

Do you know what sorrow is? A pool of blood where resentment clouded in hate devoured hope.It's been a horrible week, where we've seen the consequences of bigoted hatred.
It's looking increasingly apparent that Thomas Mair (the Killer of Jo Cox MP) was a far-right extremist with links to various fascist groups.The media are trying to put his actions down to his mental health, ignoring his political beliefs, despite Mair saying "death to traitors, freedom for Britain" in court this morning it points out that the attack was not some random act of violence, but a politically motivated targeted attack on someone who had spoken out in support of the people pictured in Nigel Farages recent ' Breaking Point' poster. Believe it or not, there are millions of people with mental health issues who don't go around committing politically-motivated acts of terror. An individual fired up by those who propogate. hate and division who deliberately set out from his home armed with a firearm and long knife, to commit a politically motivated murder. According to a US civil rights group, he bought a handbook from an American-based Neo-Nazi group with instructions on how to build a homemade gun in 1999.
Sick white supremacist ideology has driven many to do this is the past (David Copeland, Anders Breivik, Zack Davies) and if the far-right aren't prevented from spreading their poisonous message, many more will probably follow.
By not calling Mair's actions terrorism , the media has been inconsistent and has helped fuel Muslims communities that they are treated differently.Remember that this kind of thinking emerges and spreads in our own communities,sometimes amongst people we know. It's important to recognise this threat and to know who these people are so that we never have to experience the worst consequences of fascist extremism.Those that seek to spread blood on our streets for their own hateful agendas. Certain politicians  are responsible for stirring up the toxic debate on immigration in which the dreadful murder of Jo Cox took place combined  with those who have deliberately whipped up racism and anti-migrant feelings.  .
I have no hidden political agenda, I just have a dreadful  fear of the rise of fascism in a political atmosphere that was febrile and fetid long before Jo Cox’s death and is still being spread.
The lessons of history is that we must all unite to oppose fascism wherever it lurks, we must  stand firm against this vile ideology of hate, defeat it and make a better life for all .Remember that an injury to one is an injury to all., so as we remember Jo Cox we must stand together in solidarity with all victims of fascist violence. Never should this disgusting ideology be given acceptance of any kind.
We must continue push back any growth by the  forces of fascism as has been done repeatedly in the past.

Inner Terrestrials - White Nightmare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTE8y7z3-aw&feature=youtu.be

Well this is a story about the war,
This is the futures to unfurl.
And this is about the fate of millions,
Under attack by evil's minions.

This song is about the fascist threat,
And a history full of regret.
And this is a tale of countless dead,
Because of the lies on which we're fed.

A white nightmare
A white nightmare
A white nightmare
The great white nightmare

You know we're taught to believe in our sovereign rulers,
Just one of the lies on which we're nurtured.
Patriotism, blind faith in the state,
Relate to xenophobia and race hate.

The innocents died when the war flags flew
Are scared human beings, no different from you
In god and mercy's name, they'll have to be cleansed,
The commies, the subverts, the gypsy, the jew.

A white nightmare
A white nightmare
A white nightmare
The great white nightmare

You know they're still there fighting for a new world order,
Built on fear and children slaughtered.
And i can't think what they hope to gain,
When the rivers turn to blood, and joy turns into pain.

With a crooked pride in germanic roots,
Swastikas, shaved head, steel toe capped boots.
They're warped ideal is a nazi nation,
Born of loss and bleak frustration.

A white nightmare
A white nightmare
A white nightmare
The great white nightmare

Have they forgotten the lesson of the past?
With their misplaced pride and their aryan path.
Can the rotten see that inside their heads,
Hatred grows and hatred spreads.

Before you realised in had begun,
The world is under threat from nazi scum.
So on your feet now, do us right,
It's time to spread the love, and block out all the lies.

A white nightmare
A white nightmare
A white nightmare
The great white nightmare

You know i look around and i don't see mugs,
Who'll take this xxxx from fascist thugs.
We need one heart, one soul, one nation,
To save us all from annihilation.
We suffered from too many wars,
We must never break under their laws.
We've been hurt enough, we'll take no more,
We must defeat the fascist core.

A white nightmare
A white nightmare
A white nightmare
The great white nightmare

Thoughts on the death of Jo Cox M.P

I am deeply saddened by the tragic news of Jo Cox Labour MP's senseless horrific murder in her constituency in Birstal the North of England yesterday. My thoughts go out to her family and friends at this difficult time.
It appears to have been a right-wing politically fuelled hate attack, the alleged killer named as a local man named Thomas Mair, 53 is said to have shouted Britain First, a reference to a far right fascist paramilitary organisation of that name as he launched his attack. Piece by piece, a picture is emerging of a quiet, troubled man with a history of connections to far-right groups.Mair did have far-right affiliations, so this horrific attack can legitimately be called an act of terror, driven by an ideology of hate that grows from the fertile swamps of white supremacy and xenophobia, such as Nigel Farage’s new “breaking point” advert against the EU and refugees.
In my opinion we have far more to fear from nationalists than from immigrants. The latter often simply want a better life while the former tend towards reactionary xenophobia authoritarian thought and blaming others for their own failings.Their brains are almost devoid of empathy circuits and lack the capacity to feel genuine compassion. They therefore find it easy to dehumanize the "other" and treat their fellow human beings little different than used furniture. They place a high value on authoritarianism and care very little for fairness. At its very core, authoritarianism is a denial of the Golden Rule. They believe that any compromise represents complete capitulation. Their minds are sick having been poisoned by a steady diet of hate. Instead of making a better argument to counter yours, they try to silence you. in this tragic case sadly.forever.
Killing the messenger won't silence what she stood for, I am hoping that if anything, Jo's death would not have been in vain. She was a committed Bremainer and activist and on all accounts she was a wonderful, compassionate lady, mother of two , pro-equality MP who had made several superb speeches in Parliament, brilliant on immigration migrant issues. A rare kind of MP in days like these.. Her murder could well be a game changer for undecideds and those already considering Brexit. 
Cox, 41, was raised in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire. Her mother Jean was a school secretary and her father Gordon worked in a toothpaste and hairspray factory in Leeds, the Yorkshire Post reported.
A mother of two, she was married to Brendan Cox, an activist and campaigner who was formerly a senior executive at Save the Children and was the adviser on international development to Gordon Brown when he served as prime minister. Jo Cox had studied at  Cambridge University before becoming head of global policy for the international aid organization Oxfam. She was the first in her family to graduate from university.Jo was co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party Parliamentary Group and an active member of parliamentary groups working on issues involving Pakistan, Kashmir and Yorkshire’s regional economy. She was working toward trying to find a solution to Syria’s years-long civil war. Frequently speaking out about issues that concerned her like Palestine.
In a statement on Thursday following her death her husband said: "Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous."
Could the news this week get any sadder. From the numbed people of Orlando to the numbed people of Britain, we must continue to send our love, our support, our compassion and our solidarity in our grief and determination to overcome fear, ignorance and hate. It is also worth noting that mental illness seldom functions as a reason in and of itself, especially if the label is applied so selectively. Lessons need to be drawn from what is happening.
The dark  forces of isolation, fear, false bravado, and, above all, just plain cowardice must nor be allowed to win.
Rest in Peace Jo Cox.

In the clearness

The night was black as a raven's wing,
The sky felt tragic and undone,
Slicing through the power of reason,
The world  seemed split in two,
Like a heart when the love affair has ended
Too much darkness and hatred
Time now to turn untangle,
Find in contemplation,
The edges of the world,
where loves spirit never fades.

A point of focus to remind us,
To join  together as one in hope,
Clinging on, taking time.
Booking further reservations,
To look, seek and find,
Destroy the bad, the good to make,
To recount yesterday,
Extinquish desolation,
Igniting desire and emotion.

Peace comes quietly
But surge in spirit is clearly felt,
Carried on the healing balm of day
Delivering the bright bliss,
Of tomorrow's resurrection,
Fold up your calendars,
They will not be needed,
When our dreams become the future,
Walking beside us - unafraid..

Solidarity with Orlando

ISIS is above all a mentality, a result of an international system of fascism. Of course ISIS’s mentality is against a certain way of life – the explicit targeting of an LGBT venue by an individual inspired by their twisted ideology is illustrative of bigoted hate and fascism,. We must not be afraid to call out on its roots, when every day people are murdered as a result of this.
No false flags here, this was a deliberate attack on LGBT people in an LGBT venue. It was a homophobic terrorist attack. Omar Mateen  hated queer people and deliberately picked a club because it was full of people he regarded as deviants and committed a mass shooting. He was just another typical right-wing, homophobic, religious nut, sharing the same DNA with most of the Trump voter base. ISIS and Trump are two expressions of the same violent hate; this country, the United States, made this killer. It has been making killers like him since the Mayflower. The worst mass shooting in US history, if we can conveniently forget countless massacres perpetrated against First Nations peoples like the US Calvary’s massacre of 150 Lakota at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1890.

Omar Mateen is not a foreign threat. Omar Mateen is America. Yet again, an astonishing act of violence that has us wondering what has become of this society, and why it tolerates such easy access to firearms, this shooting exposes so many of America's faultlines :- http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/jun/12/orlando-shooting-reaction-us-gun-laws-islam-homophobia?CMP=share_btn_tw
When people are considered deviants and deserving of a murderous assault for their sexuality, a trait all of us in the community share, we cannot but come together in sadness and in mourning.Stand in solidarity with the LGBT community who struggles for existence on an everyday basis, solidarity with unjustly targeted Muslims, solidarity with the brave heroes, especially women, who fight against ISIS fascism in the Middle East and remember that in the Muslim world, the Rojava Revolution shines out as a beacon of hope against its own local version of that bigotry - ISIS. The armed forces of that Revolution - the People's Protection Units or YPG, have of course issued their own heartfelt statement in solidarity with the dead, wounded and mourning of Orlando.

We must resist those that seek to use this slaughter to demonise and and scapegoat the muslim community, most of them deplore terrorism as everyone else. We must always stand up to hate. Whatever its motivations. Informed by values of reason and empathy, love and kindness,we can stand up to hate and bigotry. No matter how bigoted a person is we will continue to survive, we will continue to resist, we will continue to live. Together in global solidarity we shall not live in fear. A time for us to unite and stand firm against homophobia, racism and Islamophobia.

" There is no simple monoliths solution to racism, to sexism, to homophobia. There is only the conscious focusing within each of my days, to move against them, wherever I come up against these particular manifestations of the same disease." 

 - Audre Lorde

Rabbis powerful speech to humanity at Muhammad Ali's funeral.

At a time when there is so much hatred and fearmongering directed against Islam and American Muslims by prominent politicians, it took Muhammad Ali’s funeral to bring  humanity together.The world's richest countries can and should do much more to help the worlds most vulnerable people together to remind us of our higher ideals, reminding us of our society’s problems with racial and religious prejudice, opening our eyes to  racial and religious universalism. Am currently still blown away by the powerful social justice speech from a respected Rabbi that has taken world leaders at the memorial service of Muhammad Ali by storm.
Longtime interfaith activist Rabbi Michael Lerner sparked uproarious applause and repeated standing ovations when he addressed mourners at Muhammad Ali’s funeral on Friday with a rousing call for social justice, denouncing the occupation of Palestine, the U.S. drone war, rampant Islamophobia and the mass incarceration of African Americans.  had a hard time loving themselves” and calling for an end to Islamophobia. .
Thousands of friends, family, celebrities, and political figures attended Ali’s traditional Muslim memorial service in Louisville, Kentucky, which spanned more than two days.
  “If Muhammad Ali were here today, I’m sure his message small battles – put your life energies and money into fundamental systemic transformation,” said Lerner, who is also a
political activist and editor of the Jewish magazine Tikkun. Lerner also said that what made Ali a hero was his courage to stand up to the “immoral” war in Vietnam by proclaiming himself a
conscientious objector. Lerner was an anti-war activist along with Ali, who refused to serve in the US army and was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title in 1967.
“Knowing he would lose his title, knowing he would face the racism of American society that would be heaped upon him forsaying no to the crazy war in Vietnam,” Ali said no to the war,
Lerner said. “He spoke truth to power – we must speak truth to power,” he added.
 Lerner’s eulogy, and the entire memorial service, had a strong interfaith message:
To honor Ali, he said:
"We will not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims,"“Tell the one percent who own 80 percent of the wealth in this country that it’s time to share that wealth," he continued. "Tell the politicians who use violence worldwide and then preach nonviolence to the oppressed that it’s time for them to end their drone warfare and every other kind of warfare, to close our military bases around the world, to bring the troops home.”“Tell judges to let out of prison the many African Americans swept up by racist police and imprisoned by racist judges,” Lerner continued, raising his fist and pointing his fingers. “Tell the leaders of Turkey to stop killing the Kurds. Tell Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that the way to get security for Israel is to stop the occupation of the West Bank and help create a Palestinian state."
“The way to get security is for the United States to become known as the most generous and caring country in the world, not the most powerful,” he said. “We could start with a global and domestic plan to once and for all end global and domestic poverty, homelessness, hunger, inadequate education, inadequate health care.”
He ended by affirming his “commitment to the well-being of all Muslims on this planet, as well as all people of all faiths and secular humanists.” Said Lerner:
"We Jews, as well as our non-Jewish allies in all religions and secular humanists, wish to pay honor to the Muslims of the world as they continue today the fast of Ramadan, and join with them in
mourning the loss and celebrating the life of Muhammad Ali, a great fighter for justice and peace."
A Beautiful tribute, talking Islamphobia, Vietnam, Palestine, and justice. Ali's legacy will be kept alive by those who dream of  justice, equality and freedom for all. Ali knew the secret of the butterfly was to transform itself, we too have a continuing part to play in transforming the world. Catalysts for change that keep standing up for the most vulnerable among us, holding the powers that be to account.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they've been  given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's not a dare - Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." 

- Muhammad Ali 

Solidarity with the Burghfield Blockade

I sends congratulations to Trident Ploughshares and all those who have participated in the very successful blockade of AWE Burghfield this week. This is the site near Aldermaston which works on the development and production of Britain's nuclear warheads. The protest aims to raise awareness of the forthcoming parliamentary decision on replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.
The new warhead factory at AWE Burghfield will cost the taxpayer almost £2 billion. Parliament has yet to vote on replacing Trident.
Campaigners have blockaded one of the gates, day and night, since Monday, stopping all traffic to and from the site in the process.
 Former Labour Euro-MP for Leeds Michael McGowan says
“At a time when people in our city are depending on foodbanks, it is just abhorrent that we should consider spending such astronomical sums on a weapon that we could never use. Nuclear weapons are not just immoral but totally outdated and it’s time that we got in line with most countries in the world and disarmed.”
During the day the blockaders have been joined by many supporters from across the country and internationally.Activists from France, Belgium, Germany and Finland as well as Scotland, Wales and England are continuing to block the gates to the construction site at AWE Burghfield in Berkshire. No work has gone on there since the action started on Monday morning. But the same group of people have been staying overnight to maintain the blockade. Now they need to leave! More people are needed at the site to take their place. Are you free this weekend and can get to AWE Burghfield, West Berkshire?

Love and support to all seeking to stop wars and bombing innocents.

If you can lend a hand please contact Angie on 07456 588943 or email admin@tridentploughshares.org

Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested in joining the protesters.

Click here for more information on the blockade, which continues throughout the month.

Click here to see The Guardian's coverage of the protest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-h6fCNVEqI

Europe:- Should we stay or should we go?.

 
The EU is far from perfect, but there’s so much at stake in this referendum. Lots of our rights at work and many people’s jobs are dependent on the European Union, and leaving could even mean lower wages.
I have huge sympathy with the anti-capitalist  argument for leaving the EU, the EU like Westminster serving the vested interests of the rich representing the hegenomy of old, and we now have the opportunity to break it but am not sure about getting into bed with the xenophobes and racists either, like Farage and his dodgy crew and if we leave David Cameron will get rid of the human rights act, he's already tried. I don't want to give these other dark forces any credence.
On the one hand , remain to defeat the hard right, preserve rights enshrined in the EU and fight to reform the EU. On the other hand , leave to strike a blow to fortress Europe, and stand apart from a neoliberal alliance and organise on the basis of true workers' internationalism across and beyond Europe . I recognise that the EU is a rather undemocratic organisation, a flawed institution in serious need of reform , it was responsible for forcing austerity on the people of Greece and Spain, but has also been an influence in restraining our own far right Government from its worst excessess, which is why those from the looniest fringes of the right want us to leave. 
I acknowledge that thanks to the EU it does help protect workers rights, Maternity leave, health and safety legislation, holidays, regular breaks, things I don't trust the UK to keep up with. Certainly not under Cameron. Leaving the EU would put all that at risk. Would you trust the Tories to protect those rights if they didn’t have to? Ideally we shouldn't perhaps be at the mercy of the EU or the UK government.
At the end of the day none of this is the world I want, I don't want any borders and want freedom of movement, internationalism not based on national sentiment or interests. But I have to  admit I'm pretty foxed by it all so still pretty undecided.When you get down to the nitty gritty, there's many unanswered questions by Brexit. Leaving would be one hell of a jump into the darkness. We have to think long and hard about the future,and  not be seduced by the politics of fear. Yes  I don't have any concrete answers, hopefully though  have offered you  some food for thought.
Perhaps when it comes down to it, I will just draw a smiley face on the voting slip. At the end of the day the rich and powerful always seem to get what they want.

Hope is a thing with feathers - Emily Dickinson (10/12/1830 - 15/5/1886)

.Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Rest in Power Muhammad Ali (17/1/42 -3/6/16) - The greatest heavyweight poetical champion of our time

The lyrical heavyweight showman Muhammad Ali who thrilled the globe with his sublime boxing style, unpredictable wit, and gentle generosity sadly died yesterday after a long brave fight with Parkinson's disease. Tragic news. He was 74. Ali, the former Cassius Clay, was not just an athlete who embodied the times in which he lived. He shaped them. His conscientious objection to the Vietnam war, and reasoned rants against a country fighting for freedom on the other side of the globe, while its own black citizens were denied basic rights of their own, energized a generation. Ali refused to serve in Vietnam,and in 1967, three years after Ali had won the heavyweight championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges; he was stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was eventually successful. Ali had changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975. By the late 1960s, Ali had become a living embodiment of the proposition that principles matter. His power no longer resided in his fists. It came from his conscience. He would become a tireless human rights ambassador and philanthropist, his devotion to charitable causes would feature prominently for the rest of his life whose impact has been felt worldwide.Being a person who championed humanity, justice and civil rights.
Ali would go on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these were three with rival Joe Frazier, which are considered among the greatest in boxing history, and one with George Foreman, where he finally regained his stripped titles seven years later. Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, epitomized by his catchphrase "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope. Ali brought beauty and grace to the most uncompromising of sports and through the wonderful excesses of skill and character, he became the most famous athlete in the world.
Growing up Muhammad Ali had such a huge empowering impact on me . A beautiful man. His brave stand against U.S. imperialism and the vile institutional racism that was  in the U.S that still sadly exists, but Ali. was an inspiration for millions fighting injustice and oppression across the world. No doubt the U.S. establishment will now try and bury their systematic and brutal attempt to silence him.
Muhammed Ali belongs to the oppressed. Let's not let his oppressors rewrite our history.
"What Muhammad Ali did—in a culture that worships sports and violence as well as a culture that idolizes black athletes while criminalizing black skin—was redefine what it meant to be tough and collectivize the very idea of courage. Through the Champ’s words on the streets and deeds in the ring, bravery was not only standing up to Sonny Liston. It was speaking truth to power, no matter the cost." Dave Zirin (in the nation)
But for me he was also also a poet. His passing has reminded me of the time when I was about 7 or 8 in the mid 1970's when I first  first became aware of him, I remember his passion and energy his lyrical playfulness, and even though I subsequently never got that into boxing or fighting and have always tried to avoid violent conflict whenever I can, even though my nose is bent out of shape, and other tell tale signs , tells another story,of my own inability to duck and dive, I loved the fact that Ali was able to wax lyrical spontaneity without  rhyming in the usual traditional settings, using an almost beat phraseology to release  rhymes from his heart with an unpredictable wit that made him a lyrical heavyweight too. 
The world famous boxing champion when not jesting, could be undoubtedly serious too, who  once appeared in an interview which was televised in Ireland, in which he recited a poem he wrote about the 1971 Attica prison riots.
These  riots which took place 46 years ago resulted in the death of 39 people, including some prison guards. It all started on September 9, 1971, when a black inmate was killed while trying to escape the prison. Over the following four days, up to 2,200 black prisoners rebelled against the prison guards, taking 42 of them hostage. Nelson Rockerfeller, the then governor, refused to negotiate with the prisoners demands for better treatment and conditions. Soldiers raided the prison facility on September 13, dropping teargas and then shooting randomly into the smoke for two minutes non-stop. 29 prisoners were killed on the spot. 9 prison guards were also killed on that day, some with slit throats, suggesting that the prisoners had killed their hostages in retaliation for the raid. 1 hostage died of a gunshot wound later on.
After reading the poem, Muhammad Ali related the struggle of the Afro-Americans for freedom and justice to the struggle of the Irish against British imperialism. The transcript of the poem can be read as follows :-

Freedom - Better Now
Better far— from all I see—
To die fighting to be free
What more fitting end could be?
Better surely than in some bed
Where in broken health I'm led
Lingering until I'm dead
Better than with prayers and pleas
Or in the clutch of some disease
Wasting slowly by degrees
Better than a heart attack
or some dose of drug I lack
Let me die by being black
Better far that I should go
Standing here against the foe
Is the sweeter death to know
Better than the bloody stain
on some highway where I’m lain
Torn by flying glass and pane
Better calling death to come
than to die another dumb,
muted victim in the slum
Better than of this prison rot
if there’s any choice I’ve got
Kill me here on the spot
Better for my fight to wage
Now while my blood boils with rage
Less it cool with ancient age
Better violent for us to die
Than to Uncle Tom and try
Making peace just to live a lie
Better now that I say my sooth
I’m gonna die demanding Truth
While I’m still akin to youth
Better now than later on
Now that fear of death is gone
Never mind another dawn.

Powerful stuff indeed, which leaves me to remind you of his other often light hearted rhymes that he often used in his pre-match hype, to try and  'trash talk his opponents, which  I am grateful to an acquaintance named Barac Zita whose facebook post earlier today inspired this post :-

'Float like a butterfly
Sting like a bee
The hands can't hit
what the eyes can't see'



"Everyone knew when I stepped in town,
I was the greatest fighter around.
A lot of people called me a clown,
But I am the one who called the round.
The people came to see a great fight,
But all I did was put out the light.
Never put your money against Cassius Clay,
For you will never have a lucky day."

— In 1962, when Ali was still Cassius Clay.

 "Now Clay swings with a right, what a beautiful swing.
And the punch raises the Bear clear out of the ring.
Liston is still rising, and the ref wears a frown.
For he can't start counting 'til Sonny comes down.
Now Liston disappears from view.
The crowd is getting frantic,
But our radar stations have picked him up. He's somewhere over the Atlantic.
Who would have thought when they came to the fight
That they'd witness the launching of a human satellite.
Yes, the crowd did not dream when they lay down their money
That they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny.
I am the greatest."

— Part of a poem before his upset title victory over Sonny Liston Feb. 25, 1964.

"Joe's gonna come out smokin',
But I ain't gonna be jokin'.
This might shock and amaze ya,
But I'm going to destroy Joe Frazier."

— Before losing to Joe Frazier in their first fight March 8, 1971.

 "You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned?
Wait 'til I whup George Foreman's behind.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
His hand can't hit what his eyes can't see.
Now you see me, now you don't.
George thinks he will, but I know he won't.
I done wrassled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale.
Only last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick.
I'm so mean, I make medicine sick."

— Before regaining the title by upsetting George Foreman Oct. 30, 1974.

"I got speed and endurance.
You'd better increase your insurance."
— To Larry Holmes before his one-sided loss in a bid to become a heavyweight champion for the fourth time Oct. 2, 1980.

Then there is this one about his famous rumble in the jungle with George Foreman, Ali and Foreman may have been adversaries in the ring but became firm  friends.

Last night I had a dream - Muhammad Ali

Last night I had a dream, When I got to Africa,
I had one hell of a rumble,
I had to beat Tarzan's behind first,
For claiming to be King of the jungle,
For this fight, I've wrestled with alligators,
I've tussled wih a whale,
I done handcuffed lightning
And throw thunder in jail.
You know I'm bad,
just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalised a brick,
I'm so mean, I make medicine sick,
I'm so fast man,
I can run through a hurricane and don't get wet.
When George Foreman meets me,
He'll pay his debt,
I can drown the drink of water, and kill a dead tree,
Wait till you see Muhammad Ali.

I'll leave you with this rather nice one :-

He took a few cups of Love - Muhammad Ali

He took a few cups of love,
He took one tablespoon of patience,
One teaspoon of generosity,
One pint of kindness,
He took one quart of laughter,
One pinch of concern,
And then he mixed willingness with happiness,
He added lots of faith,
And he stirred it up well,
Then he spread it over a span of a lifetime,
And he served it to each and every deserving person he met.

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision.” - Muhammad Ali

Undoubtedly the greatest, Boxing  poet, and champion of civil rights of our time. 

Rest in Power Muhammad Ali

There's wisdom in her eyes

                       
               ( photo courtesy of Stephanie Burgess, a poem for Jane, the mighty furbster )

There's wisdom in her eyes,
Kindness in her heart,
Laughter and faithfulness,
She carries a familiar strength,
That urges sadness to depart,
Brings me peace and light.
This mighty furbster flower,
Precious loving being,
A dream within a dream,
Encourager and friend.
Dear gentle beautiful soul
Who in life has bought good fortune,
Many blessings delivered to my door,
Taught me how to remain positive,
Filled the days with grace,
Her presence makes the world,
                            a better place,
I will follow forever all her days,
The wisdom of her eyes,
Ever clear, ever sacred, ever bright.

Skanda Vale Hospice Benefit Gig

Looking forward to this Saturday, when a favourite local band of mine, psychedelic troubadours Sendelica will be playing a benefit Gig for Skanda Vale hospice. An amazing place staffed, almost entirely by the most wonderful volunteers from all around the world. They provide care and respite at their beautiful site for people with terminal illnesses. The hospice is run by volunteers with all services being completely free of charge to anyone over the age of 18 diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. It is a true jewel of my local community, a multi-faith monastery that provides, hope, comfort and dignity to people at the end of their lives. Many patients have to travel long distances to get the care they need, this hospice is ideally located, near the borders of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire to serve a large number of local people.
Please come along on Saturday at Cardigan Pizza tipi, 7.30 pm admittance only a fiver, so please come along and support these amazing people.

 http://skandavalehospice.org

Walt Whitman (31/5/1819 - 26/3/1892) - Poets to Come

Walt Whitman is an arch-figure in any list of great 19^th century writers – original in both form and content, continually surprising in his experimentation, and continually evocative in the sensuality of his words. A master of the love for everyday life. Whitman’s  poetry with its espousal of comradeship  across class lines, and advocacy of a utopian democracy has long inspired, with its interlocking themes of shared values, expressing the divine light in every individual, an almost organic view of society. A big influence on another writer I admire Edward Carpenter. Whitman’s philosophy expressed a divine light in every individual, the value of the individual en masse, can be grabbed for our own times. An early DIY advocate who sold his Leaves of Grass door to door  and self published his own books. A man of deep  deep passion whose birthday I celebrate today. His words still continuing to enrich the earth.

" the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others… re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul…” - Walt Whitman

Here I offer this poem from his pen :-

Poets to Come

POETS to come! orators, singers, musicians to come!
Not to-day is to justify me, and answer what I am for;
But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental, greater than
before known,
Arouse! Arouse--for you must justify me--you must answer.

I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future,
I but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness.

I am a man who, sauntering along, without fully stopping, turns a
casual look upon you, and then averts his face,
Leaving it to you to prove and define it,
Expecting the main things from you.