Artists organize to support striking Palestinian prisoners / Salt Water Challenge

The more than 1,500 hunger strikers include circus trainer and performer Mohamed Abusakha, who,  has been held without charge or trial for the past 16 months.https://artistsforpalestine.org.uk/2016/12/13/mohammad-abu-sakha-in-prison-for-making-children-happy/
Speaking from the West Bank, British writer and comedian Mark Thomas calls on artists to support the Palestinian prisoners: “I want my fellow artists and comedians, and all artists of every country, to show solidarity. If you’re politically engaged, you have to be aware of what is happening here and you have to support.”  (Full report Wafa Palestinian News Agency).
The New York based artist/activist initiative Decolonize This Place, that organizes around indigenous struggle, Black liberation, Free Palestine, workers and de-gentrification, launched a #Dignitystrike initiative. The Dignity Strike solidarity project, “Visibility Sustains the Struggle,” brings together artists, writers and other cultural workers to raise the profil of the strikrs, and expose the truth about the denial of their basic rights. See the report in art magazine Hyperallergic.
UK Artists: organise in support of Palestinian Hunger Strikers and let Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network know! For basic information about Palestinian political prisoners, read this briefing by War on Want.
The occupied territories of the West Bank, and Gaza especially, are often referred to as open-air prisons, but Israel’s own detention facilities are the most extreme examples of colonial subjugation. Information about the colonial and apartheid conditions in these prisons (where Palestinians are treated entirely differently from Israeli prisoners) is not widely accessible. And for good reason, because they involve violations of the basic rights of incarcerated persons, as they are recognized worldwide. Among the thirteen demands of the strikers are calls for improvements in conditions and an end to solitary confinement, heavy restrictions on family visits and administrative detention – prolonged imprisonment without charge.
 The Palestinian prisoners stand in the lineage of hunger strikers throughout history; Cesar Chavez, Alice Paul, Bhagat Singh, Bobby Sands ( who died on 5/5/81 http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/35-years-since-death-of-bobby-sands.html,) the Tiananmen students, and countless other, less famous, movement figures. Their strike for dignity and freedom calls on all of us--including cultural workers--to amplify their struggle in confronting the tyranny of jailers. Today, we begin the work of supporting them through art and action in all their forms.
Since 1967,  more than  800,000 Palestinians  has been detained  under Israeli military orders. This number  constitutes approximately 20 percent of the total Palestinian  population in the Occupied Palestinian  Territories. Virtually  every Palestinian family has been subjected to having on or more members incarcenated, subjecting the Palestinian people to the highest rates of incarcernation in the world.
Human  rights organisations such as Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/israel-must-end-unlawful-and-cruel-policies-towards-palestinian-prisoners/ have called  on Israel  to end 'unlawful and cruel' policies towards Palestinian prisoners. This includes the use  of torture during interrogation, solitary confinement, numerous cases of acute health issues, alongside the routine denial of visits.
On May 6th as the strikers enter the 20th day of the strike a day of solidarity with the prisoners,is taking place across the UK. Join us outside the Israeli Embassy in London as we stand up for the rights of the Prisoners in an act of solidarity.


http://decolonizethisplace.org/dignitystrike

Salt Water Challenge

Palestinians take on' Salt Water Challenge' to draw attention to plight of more than 1,500 prisoners on hunger strike.

A social media campaign highlighting the plight of more than 1,500 hunger striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has gone viral, with people from across the world posting videos of themselves on social media drinking salt water in solidarity.
Similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral in 2014, the Salt Water Challenge sees supporters of the hunger striking prisoners drink a mixture of salt and water. The participants then challenge others to do the same.
Since April 17, Palestinian Prisoners' Day, many prisoners in Israeli jails have been on an indefinite hunger strike protesting prolonged imprisonment without charge, medical negligence, administrative detention and limited family visits among other charges.
The prisoners have refused to eat food until their demands are met and they are only consuming salt water as a means to steady their health.
The salt water campaign was launched with a video by Aarab Marwan Barghouti, the son of imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving five life sentences over his role in the second Intifada against the Israeli occupation.

Barghouti has spent nearly two decades of his life in Israeli jails, and spent almost three years in solitary confinement. According to a 2013 interview, his tiny windowless cell denied him aeration or direct sunlight and was infested with cockroaches and rats.
"My father, along with 1,700 other political prisoners started the Hunger Strike for Freedom and Dignity in demand for human rights and humane living conditions in the prisons," Aarab Marwan Barghouti said in the video.
The clip then ends with Barghouti nominating 'Arab Idol' winner Mohammed Assaf and others to take part in the challenge.
Hundreds of Palestine supporters all over the world, including journalists, activists and students, even celebrities among others, have joined the trend and taken the challenge in order to bring attention to the striking prisoners. Many Palestinian, Arab and international celebrities and public figures have shown solidarity with the prisoners by taking the challenge.
British theatre director Joe Douglas and pro-Palestine English comedian and political satirist Mark Thomas accepted to be a part of the challenge during their visit to the city of Ramallah. Thomas argued that world activists, comedians and artists should join the fight against Israel’s illegal policies against Palestinian prisoners. He said it is important for the whole world to know about Palestinians, because Israel, an apartheid state as he described it, is yet to treat people like human beings.

UK Comic and cultural boycott supporter Mark Thomas takes Salt Water challenge for Palestinian Political prisoners.

Spearheaded by Marwan Barghouti, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Fatah Central Committee, as well as Karim Younis and Maher Younis, the oldest and longest serving detainees held since 1983, and Diaa al-Agha, held since before the signing of the 1993 Oslo accords, the strike has been joined by prisoners from all Palestinian political factions and, according to sources, will continue to attract more prisoners who are expected to join the strike.
The prisoners are demanding to be moved to prisons in the occupied territories as per the Fourth Geneva Convention, which would make it easier for their families to visit them, as well as lifting restrictions on family visits and better treatment at military checkpoints.
Other demands include: An improvement of access to medical care; increasing visit duration from 45 to 90 minutes; families of women prisoners meet without glass barriers to allow mothers to hold their children; an improvement in detention conditions including easing restrictions on the entry of books, clothing, food and other gifts from family members; restoring some educational facilities; and installing phones to enable prisoners to communicate with their families.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, since the start of Israel's occupation 50 years ago, more than 750,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned by Israeli forces.
About 6,500 Palestinians are currently in Israeli jails, 300 are children.
Palestinian leaders have denounced Israel's refusal to negotiate with the hunger strikers, warning of a "new Intifada" if any of them die.
Demonstrations have been held in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to support the prisoners, with Israeli forces firing tear-gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at protesters.

alistair hulet and jimmy gregory - the internationale

Following my previous  post another one : This one makes me think of the connections between the two ways of thinking that I am drawn to, the balance between being part of a greater whole, solidarity, oneness, and then the importance of diversity and individual freedom.
As its International Worker's Day here's  Alistair Hulet and Jimmy Gregory doing Alistair's  version of the 19th century left wing anthem  that came out of the Paris Commune : The Internationale." (French: "L'Internationale"). It has been one of the most recognizable and popular songs of the socialist movement since the late 19th century, when the Second International (now the Socialist International) adopted it as its official anthem. The title arises from the "First International", an alliance of socialist parties formed by Marx and Engels which held a congress in 1864. The author of the anthem's lyrics, Eugène Pottier, attended this congress.
The original French refrain of the song is C'est la lutte finale / Groupons-nous et demain / L'Internationale / Sera le genre humain. (English: "This is the final struggle / Let us group together and tomorrow / The Internationale / Will be the human race.") "The Internationale" has been translated into many languages. It is often sung with the left hand raised in a clenched fist salute and is sometimes followed (in English-speaking places) with a chant of "The workers united will never be defeated." "The Internationale" has been celebrated by socialists, communists, anarchists, democratic socialists, and some social democrats.
The original French words were written in June 1871 by Eugène Pottier (1816--1887, previously a member of the Paris Commune) and were originally intended to be sung to the tune of "La Marseillaise". Pierre De Geyter (1848--1932) set the poem to music in 1888. His melody was first publicly performed in July 1888 and became widely used soon after.
Today many will be singing  it on May Day,  honoured by labourers and the working class, promoted by the international labour movement, socialists, anarchists and communists alike . The celebration of Mayday as a working class holiday evolved from the struggle for the eight-hour day in the USA in the1880’s. In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions passed a resolution stating that eight hours would constitute a legal day's work from and after May 1, 1886. The resolution called for a general strike to achieve the goal. With workers being forced to work ten, twelve, and fourteen hours a day, rank-and-file support for the eight-hour movement grew rapidly, despite the indifference and hostility of many union leaders. Revolutionaries believed in the struggle for an eight-hour day. A protest and rally was called in Chicago on the first of May 1886 after trade unionists had been hanged and imprisoned. Over one million American workers demonstrated for an eight hour day; despite being fired on by Chicago police, they succeeded in their demands
By 1890, the initial protest in Chicago had spread into an international protest for worker’s rights.
 Leaders of the Second International requested an international day of protest to be in held in May 1890. The UK demonstration took place and in Hyde Park, London alone – attracted 300,000 protesters. It was originally intended to be a one-off protest but it created a boom of trade unionism. It has since  helped advocate renewal, revival and of course that  powerful  trait known as solidarity, a time to organise around issues that are of vital importance today. This celebration is as relevant today as it was in 1890, a time to remember our triumphs and past struggles. Today more than ever we have to stand up to workers rights.  You only have to look at the Tories' approach to workers’ rights to see how our hard-won gains are at risk as they seek to remove  regulations that protect us.

A Poem for Beltane

I have written previously about International Workers Day's origins, it's emergence from working class struggle,https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-origins-of-may-day-international.html  but today I look at it's pagan root's.
Beltane is a Fire Festival. The word 'Beltane' originates from the Celtic God 'Bel', meaning 'the bright one' and the Gaelic word 'teine' meaning fire. Together they make 'Bright Fire', or 'Goodly Fire' and traditionally bonfires were lit to honor the Sun and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun's light to nurture the emerging future harvest and protect the community. It is the transition from spring to summer. Beltane is a celebration of the potency of the earth and the forces of nature. This is the beginning of the most active part of the year and the beginning of summer. All of life is rising, birdsong fills the air and growth is everywhere.
Beltane is the last of three fertility festivals. The other two being Imbolc and Ostara. Beltane is the second main Celtic festival of the year (Its counter part being Samhain). They divide the year into it’s two primary seasons, Winter (Dark) and Summer (light). As Samhain honors death, Beltane honors life. In Pagan times, Beltane Fires were lit to encourage the sun’s warmth.,On Beltane Eve all fires were extinguished and then lit again on Beltane day. The fire celebrated the return of life and the fruitfulness of the Earth. It was believed that these fires could heal, protect and purify anyone who jumped over their flames. The ancient Celts marked the coming summer with feasts and rituals that honored fertility and the beginning of open pasturing, such as driving cattle between two bonfires,a custom that was believed to magically shield the animals from disease before they were led into summer pastures.

This is a day when the light half of the year is waxing and everything is growing and blooming. It is the last of the Spring Fertility festivals and a time to prepare for the warmer months ahead. The May Queen as well as the Roman Goddess Flora were ways to represent the Divine Feminine aspect of this day. Flora was regarded as one of most ancient goddesses of Roman religion. A goddess of  flowers, vegetation and fertility. The Divine Masculine emerges as The May King or “Jack in the Green.”
This tradition was celebrated throughout Europe  but the church and state did not take kindly to these celebrations, especially during times of popular rebellion. Mayday and the Maypole were outlawed in the 1600's. Yet the tradition still carried on in many rural areas and the trade societies still celebrated Mayday until the 18th Century. The Maypole the popular and familiar image of May Day and Beltane was a phallic pole, often made from birch, was inserted into the Earth representing the potency of the God. The ring of flowers at the top of the Maypole represents the fertile Goddess. Its many coloured ribbons and the ensuing weaving dance symbolise the spiral of Life and the union of the Goddess and God, the union between Earth and Sky, a marriage between the masculine and feminine aspects of life..This union has merrily been re-enacted by humans throughout the centuries. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action.,the rituals surrounding Beltane like dancing around May poles, courting rituals, honoring the blossoming of flowers and greening of trees, symbolize the energy of new growth and fertility evident in the natural world during this season. Beltane is also a time of  transition and purification, a time to reflect on where we are in the cycle of life, a liberating occasion  to rekindle what is inside as we celebrate the season's splendour. Happy May Day and Beltane to all. .

A Poem for Beltane

Caught between the twilight of spring and summer

Among apple blossom and bluebell's corridor,

We give a nod of respect to the old ways

Hail Beltane, time now to leap the fire,

Jumping flames,time to throw away inhibition

Passion  released as we dance round and round,

Feasting on colour ,in celebration of all shades of life

Emerging triumphant out of the depths of death and dreaming,

The goddess awakening, abundant, joyful, and benevolent

There is beauty in the world, so much power lies in the land,

Bringing joy to cancel out sorrow, to lift us with change

Sacred elements of air, fire, water, earth and spirit,

Let Beltane's warmth in and feel magic unfold

Forget the cares, that worries often bring,

May your songs soar into the night

Your dancing be full of life and strength,

Earth mother opening up to the fertility god

Queen of may and jack o'green laying on the grass,
Sap rising with the embrace of longing
With love in hearts, people bonding,
Petals unfurling releasing the scent of unity
Seeds are sown, rich and poor join in  revelry

All night fires will spiral, hilltops glimmer
Far above the stars shine and shimmer,
Towards the brightening horizon of dreams
Let the blessings of the season be to you and yours..

' There are many complex reasons why people go to foodbanks ' - Theresa May

The BBC gets a lot of criticism, most of it deserved, but Andrew Marr did a brilliant job here this morning on his show  quizzing Theresa May about food banks, where she does not seem able to answer the question.

Andrew Marr: We have nurses going to foodbanks , that must be wrong?

Theresa May :  'There are many complex reasons why people go to foodbanks.'

Yes. Survival is complex and people simply do not have enough money for food.
No wonder she does not want to debate, she simply cannot defend her record or answer a single question properly. Her arrogance  is breathtaking, at least she did not have the tenacity to call them strong and stable fooldbanks. I find it incredible that anyone votes Tory; just what does it take for people to see the damage they are doing to this country!
When will the people of this country realise  the only people the Tories want to serve  are the richest among us .There another  simple reason people use foodbanks  - Capitalism. Another world is possible. We are now in a position were social workers make telephone calls to food banks to see if they have enough food left to give to their clients. The people they are helping are quite often the families who have had their benefits stopped for 12 weeks by the DWP. Vulnerable people who are already desperate. In a civilised society no one should need foodbanks. It's obscene..
Remember people's lives depend on nurses, midwives and junior doctors. Utterly disgusting to freeze their pay. Meanwhile, billionaire oligarchs run the MSM, and David Cameron has just bought a garden shed for £25,000. As a human being I could never vote Tory.

Figures show link between suicide and welfare re-assessments

The government has flagged dozens of deaths of people subjected to welfare reassessment as “possible suicides,” it  has admitted following a written parliamentary question from the Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson two days ago that  revealed that the DWP carried out 15 internal reviews into suicides or alleged suicides of so-called DWP "clients" in 2012/13.

Fourteen reviews were carried out in each of the following two years, with 11 reviews in 2015/16.
This then fell to six last year.
These  figures will certainly reignite the debate on how DWP treats vulnerable benefit claimants.
"Families who've been left in the dark need to know everything the DWP knows about these cases," Ms Johnson said.
"Most importantly, we need a welfare system that supports, rather than victimises, the poorest and most vulnerable in our society."

Work and Pensions Minister Damian Hinds confirmed the government has carried out internal reviews relating to 60 deaths over the last five years. In his answer he said the internal reviews were carried out in relation to suicides or alleged suicides.He had previously told Labour MP Luciana Berger: "Suicide is a tragic and complex issue which we take extremely seriously.
"If information is received that a DWP client has attempted or completed suicide and it is alleged that DWP activity may have contributed to this, we carry out an internal review to establish whether anything should have been done differently.".
The Hull North MP said she was “appalled” that the figures had been unpublished until now.
“Ministers have repeatedly claimed there to be no link between suicide and welfare reassessment whenever figures have come to light,” she said.
“If there was no link, there wouldn’t have been 60 reviews of suicides in the past five years.
“Families who’ve been left in the dark need to know everything the DWP knows about these cases.”
Rethink Mental Illness charity head Samantha Nicklin said: “People with mental illness consistently find the welfare benefits system — the interview, the sanctions, the number of assessments — stressful and harmful to their health.
“Currently the system is fundamentally unsuited to supporting people living with mental illness.
“We hope that the next government will use this opportunity to conduct an overhaul of the system to ensure that people are not needlessly penalised and everyone can get the support they need.”
Last year campaigners led by the Disability News Service successfully appealed to a tribunal that these internal reviews should be made public.
Recommendations from these reviews showed that DWP staff repeatedly failed to follow strict guidelines on how to support benefit claimants who had expressed thoughts of self-harm or threatened to take their own lives, which were introduced in 2009.
Anita Bellows, from Disabled People Against Cuts, which was among the groups that launched the appeal, said it was not surprising there were further cases that DWP had needed to review.
She added: "DWP now admits that the peer review process lacked 'robust governance' and has decided to improve its processes.
"It is too late for these claimants who took their own lives and it might be still inadequate if DWP is not prepared to look beyond procedure compliance."
All this comes as new figures show private companies that run the assessments on behalf of the DWP are set to rake in more than £700m from their five-year contracts .Also in January, a National Audit Office report revealed that the Tories are spending more taxpayers’ money on assessing whether Britons are fit to work than they are saving in reductions to the state’s benefits bill. The study found that while assessments conducted for the government by private firms have skyrocketed in cost, providers are struggling to meet required performance standards.

Assessment for benefits has been for a long time  controversial  for the DWP, particularly the effects they can have on those with mental health issues. It also established, through dozens of in-depth interviews of people who had been through the tests, that "in the worst cases, the WCA experience led to thoughts of suicide" The work related assessments mean people get ill and fall into sanctions and rent arrears. It has led to some committing suicide –this is irrefutably the case.

Alice Kirby, a disability rights activist, says she was asked in her assessment for disability benefits why she had not killed herself.
She told the Press Association: "It's important we hold the department to account on this, especially when people's deaths are caused by, or linked to, benefit cuts and sanctions.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the number of reviews carried out does not represent the number of cases that should have been looked into."

If you are having suicidal thoughts, you can call Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit their website www.samaritans.org.

80th anniversary of the horror that was Guernica

                                  Pablo Picasso's Guernica

April 26 marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. During the afternoon and early evening of Monday, April 26th, 1937,  the German and Italian fascist air forces destroyed the Spanish town of Guernica in a raid lasting three hours. The war crime was ordered by the Spanish nationalist military leadership and carried out by the Congor Legion of the German luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazone Legionairre. Designed to kill  or main as many civilians as possible, Operation Rugen was deliberately chosen for a Monday afternoon when the weekly town market would be at its most crowded. Guernica, in the Basque  country where revolutionary sentiment among workers was deep, was defenceless from the bombers, which could fly as low as 600 feet.The airplanes made repeated raids, refuelling and returning to drop more bombs. Waves of explosive, fragmentary, and incendiary devices were dumped in the town. In total, 31 tons of munitions were dropped between 4.30 in the afternoon and 7.30 in the evening. In the aftermath of the raid, survivors spoke of the air filled with the screams of those in their death throes and the hundreds injured. Civilians fleeing the carnage in the fields surrounding the town were strafed by fighter planes. Human and animal  body parts littered the market place and town center, such , such horror.Guernica was effectively wiped of the map. From a population of 5,000 some 1,700 residents were killed and a further 800 injured. Three quarters of the buildings were raised to the ground. Farms four miles away were flattened.
The destruction of Guernica was part of Franco's wider, brutal campaign against the existence of the Spanish Republic. This campaign led not just to widespread destruction of property, but thousands of civilian casualties too, as well as widespread displacement. Many sought refuge abroad, as many as 3,800 Basque children were evacuated to England and Wales for the duration of the war. The British Government at the time callously refused to be responsible for the children, but  throughout the summer children were dispersed to camps throughout Britain. Eight of these colonies were here in Wales. They were received with a mixture of hostility and kindness, but they had all managed to escape the grips of Franco's fascist Spain.
The significance of Guernica is that it was the first time that civilians were deliberately targeted in an air attack; it was the first time that a population centre was carpet bombed from the air; and it was one of the first times that a population was used as a target from the air by a foreign power  to test the effectiveness of its aircraft and the effectiveness of terror on the civilian population.Guernica changed the mode of war. Before then, civilians in cities and towns away from the front were by and large relatively safe. In wars before then air power was not capable of such bombing attacks. In World War I, by and large, troops slugged it out in trenches on the front and there was no air war.
Picasso immortalized the bombing of Guernica in his mural, a raw and anguished anti-war statement, a haunting piece of work that  still became a universal howl against the ravages of war. On a large canvas more than seven metres (23 feet) wide, he painted deformed figures of women and children writhing in a burning city.A broken sword in hand, a dismembered fighter lies with wide open eyes, an impassive bull, a wounded dove and an agonising horse nearby. Picasso did not agree with Franco´s regime and he was living in France for a long period of time until his death in 1973 when he was 91 years old. One of the most famous passages about his life is when he was interrogated by the Gestapo while the Nazi occupation  in Paris. When the officers saw the Guernica  they asked him “Did you paint that?” and he replied “No, you did”
Picasso's picture still resonates with tragedy, capturing the full terror and horror of this terrible moment in history.The Reina Sofía Museum, in Madrid is marking the anniversary with an exhibition. called ' Pity and terror in Picasso.' The show which opened on  4 April which will run for five months  will examine the making of the black-and-white mural, as well as its critical reception at the Paris Exposition in 1937 and display at the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 1939. That same year, Picasso transferred Guernica to the care of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. It toured the US throughout the 1940s and then headed for Brazil, travelling there from 1953 to 1956.
The exhibition will explore the painting’s role in Spain’s post-war reconstruction and as an international image of peace as well as its influence on contemporary artists. Guernica returned to MoMA in 1957 and remained there for 24 years. The painter gave the museum clear instructions — the canvas belonged to the Spanish people and would only be given back “when they have recovered the freedoms that were taken away from them.”
Finally in 1981, the painting arrived in Spain, which was transitioning to democracy after the death of Franco, and went on display at the Prado museum after democracy was restored to the country. In 1992, it was transferred to the Reina Sofía museum.
At the United Nations last year, French Ambassador Francois Delattre compared the destruction in the Syrian city of Aleppo to Guernica.“Aleppo is to Syria what Guernica was to the Spanish war, a human tragedy, a black hole destroying all we believe in,” he said.
It is important and timely to reflect on this tragic occasion  in this context given the emphasis on bombing in the past couple of weeks: the bombing of Syria “in retaliation” for the use of chemical weapons; the Mother of All Bombs being dropped in Afghanistan; and the threats by North Korea to pre-emptively use nuclear bombs. In these strange and worrying political times we are going through,  the anniversary of Guernica is still very poignant.  Guernica must be remembered , for our time, and for future generations, a terrifying rendition of the slaughter of  innocents. Lest we forget.

Guernica - Norman Rosten  (1/1/15 -7/3/95)

In Guernica the dead children
Were laid out in order upon the sidewalk,
In their white starched dresses,
In their pitiful white dresses.
On their foreheads and breasts
Are the little holes where death came in
As thunder, while they were playing
Their important summer games.
Do not weep for them, madre.
They are gone forever, the little ones,
Straight to heaven to the saints,
and God will fill the bullet-holes with candy.

The Doublespeak of the Conservative Party

In light of the forthcoming  election thought I'd mention the language of  what is  known as  “newspeak” also known as “doublespeak!” as demonstrated in George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 . As George himself said " Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.. " We will be hearing far more examples in the next month and a bit. Politicians will use language to deceive and manipulate, through concealment or misrepresentation of the truth, desperately and deliberately using euphemistic or ambiguous language as they have been doing ad infinitum.
At this point I will point out my  own personal bias, it has been well established that the Conservative party lies. In fact, it’s probably their second most identifiable characteristic after being nasty.These lies are not accidental , it is a deliberate exercise to try and keep in control. When they claim  to understand, this simply means they don't care at all, and when they talk about building a stronger Britain, it wont be for all of us, those less fortunate, it will for all their friends at the top of the pile. They have overseen a 11% or more increase in the wealth of the richest, while everyone else has seen their income stagnate at best - or in most cases sink. They have introduced vile, vicious policies attacking the poor; whether employed, jobless or sick/disabled - which have led to a vast increase in poverty, and homelessness, including a 2000% rise in foodbank use (from 48,000 to 1 million plus users.) They will continue to issue platitudes that  they say will be the benefit of us all while presiding over policies that have the opposite effect. We have to keep challenging their distorted narratives and their plain to hear " doublespeak."
You would  be an absolute  fool to accept any further  lies of  this government and  then choose to accept them. We cannot afford to allow them to continue with their tactics of public obfuscation and diversion.

St George the Palestinian hero.

The above picture is from  the Ghinass children centre in Bethlehem depicting the dragon  as the Israelis  build their apartheid wall, with St George leading the Palestinians to slay it.

St George's Day , the national day of England whereupon true patriots celebrate their total ignorance of their origins and history  because St George was actually born in Cappadocia, part of modern day Turkey into a noble Christian family in the third century, around 270 CE, whilst Wikipedia has him born in Lydda, Syria Palaestina  (Lodd) – 23 April 280 CE. His mother was a Palestinian. She came from what was then the larger area of Palestine (Israel and the Occupied Territories today.) and she took George back to her homeland after the death of his father.
The Roman Empire had at the time spread all over this region. George joined the Roman army, becoming a fairly high-ranking officer. But he fell foul of the Emperor Dioletian, who, fearing a plot against his pagan second-in-command, embarked on a systematic terror against all Christian believers. George refused to bow to Diocletian and abandon his religion. Anticipating trouble, he gave his property to the poor and freed his slaves. He was imprisoned, tortured, and finally beheaded at Nicomedia, on April 23, 303AD.
His example, as a man of courage in defence of his religion and a helper of the poor, spread throughout the world. For the Palestinian St George is revered today, as a martyr  who fought against oppression, intolerance and injustice and stood up for his beliefs. Also known as 'Al  Khadr' (the Green) and is associated with fertility and growth.He is revered in Palestine as a hero , a fact that many right wing idiots in the UK fail to remember, demonising immigrants and multiculturalism while forgetting that St George is not actually English. Both muslims and christians in Palestine, today take part in celebrations in honour of him. Although St George lived four centuries before the birth of Islam, his wide appeal, beyond borders or races, has made him a figure sacred to Muslims and Christians alike.In Palestine he symbolises Christian Muslim unity and shared Arabic culture.There are still tens of thousands of his successors in Gaza and the West Bank - 100,000 at the last count and with its associations of courage, gallantry and honour, the Christian name, George, remains one of the most common in the Palestinian Territories.There are also  many churches in the West Bank and Israel that bear the name of St George - at al-Khadr, Lod and in the Galilee, for example.
Oh and St George also happens to be  the patron saint of Lithuania, Portugal, Aragon, Germany and Greece, as well as cities including Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice.The episode of St. George and the Dragon was clearly a legend  brought back with the Crusaders to Britain.There is so much information around about St. George it’s hard to tell fact from fiction but  it's  fair  to  say he  never visited  England  and  if  he was around today and tried to come to England to seek refuge he  would  probably  be  deported..  

Happy Earthday - Captain Beefheart

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network http://www.earthday.org/ and  is celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.
Today me and the Captain honour the rich vast Earth , that's sustained generations before us and continues to nurture life and inspire wonder. I personally honour also my dear beloved, who though gone remains a sacred particle of this Earth, she loved nature and the plants that helped sustain our mother earth. And when our planet becomes broken and unsafe, and  we have no other planet to move to., and when we no longer breathe the air, drink the water, or grow food on the land, we will all perish too.
The earth very precious,  and undertaking a savage battering as I type, but we can do all we can to sustain and protect it. It belongs to everyone of us, not the corporations who  currently seem with their greedy thirst for profit, seek to destroy it. We must continue to challenge  the complex problems that it faces, like climate change, hunger, war, corporate colonialism, extinction, depreciating ecosystem services, etc. This is a fight that we cannot simply choose to ignore.
The following is the final recording made by Captain Beefheart / Don Van Vliet. Sung over the phone in the early 2000s.
Happy Earthday.;

Observatory Crest - Captain Beefheart

Poem for my Grandson : Five Years old today

I have thought about this little one today
spared hardly a thought for the Queen,
though one is five today,  the other 91
this one pictured far more important,
I got him a little place of adventure
Thunderbird's Tracy Island,
previously owned but in good condition
with lots of figures and machines,
came with rockets  and sound effects
even included  some trees,
a perfect playground for a super kid
my beautiful rascal grandson,
turning  5 today getting rather big
and very smart  too hope he has a treat,
unlike her royal  highness
I hope he inherits the world,
and in the future bright
finds himself living in a republic,
maybe he could get himself elected
and become the head of state.

Tories Out: No more Austerity

Thirty two Tory MP's are currently facing election fraud and Maggie May has called a snap election for 8 June,she and her party are simply taking the piss but some of you might still vote for them. May hopes to opportunistically take advantage of the polls, and to see off inconvenient prosecutions of Conservatives alleged to have broken election spending laws in 2015. But this election won’t fix our broken politics. All signs are that we’ll continue to have a government with too much power, elected on a minority of the vote.Already, the Prime Minister is trying to treat democracy as a formality - she’s ruled out TV election debates despite them being hugely popular with the public. We are facing deeply turbulent times, more than any other in recent memory, this election will be about Britain’s place in the world. After years of a Tory Government our public services are on their knees, our NHS is in crisis, our schools are underfunded, thousands rely on food banks to feed their families, people are on poverty wages while prices soar, the most vulnerable have been hit again and again. If the Tories get back into Government things will get much much worse.Last year, up to half of mums under 25 skipped meals to feed their kids; two-thirds struggled financially; one in four resorted to food banks.20% of households are already deprived, with the Department for Work and Pensions counting 3.9 million children living in poverty in 2015. This was itself an increase of 200,000 on the previous year. More cuts are planned, more privatisation, more misery for the majority. We simply have to stop the Tory's now more than ever, we can't let the main architects of austerity remain in office any longer.Their toxic policies and their conscious cruelty is hurting our communities. As manifestos are drawn up, I would hope that all political parties stand up for the principles and laws that protect the rights of ordinary people across the UK. That whoever ends up in power continues to commit to protecting our Human Rights Act and maintaining our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights. I sure don't trust the Tories to do this. I don't tend to support political parties generally , but this time the stakes are to high, so if you really want change and believe in social equality, justice and peace then vote for Labour,(I am not a member). I don't think Jeremy Corbyn, should dilute his message either, we need a radical shift in another direction,that represents a better future, for most ordinary people,or maybe vote tactically for another progressive candidate if they have no chance of getting in,in your constituency, we have to much to lose, if the Tories get in again , they will simply be uncontrollable, we have to get rid of this vile Tory Government and begin to repair our public services, confine the rotten Tory's to the dustbins of history . We owe it to our children, our grandchildren and ourselves. With there right wing measures and continuing attacks on trade union rights, asylum seekers, benefit claimants , the poor and the vulnerable,wealth inequality, asset stripping,there attempts to destroy the welfare state, they deserve to be kicked out.They are a party of the elite, only serving the elite, while making the rest of us suffer. We can't allow the Tories another five years to savage us with their cruel policies, it is time for a fundamental change in society run in the interests of the majority instead of for the profits of a few. The Tories crippling austerity measures have simply failed, Tories out; No more Austerity.

Bicycle Day :Happy birthday LSD

On this day, April 19, 1943  Albert Hoffmann, a 37 year old chemist for Sandoz, in Basel, Switzerland, ingested intentionally a  minute amount—just 250 micrograms--of a compound derived from the ergot fungus thus synthesizing  lysergic acid diethylamide for the first time.Three days earlier, he had absorbed a small amount of the drug either through his fingertips or by accidentally ingesting it. Anyway, less than an hour later, Hoffman began to feel strange and noticed sudden and intense changes in his perception. He decided to pedal home from his laboratory. His bike ride accompanied by strong hallucinations developed into a real trip. Hoffman turned on, tuned in, becoming the first human to trip on LSD. This is how Hoffman learned about the effects of this substance and  experienced all its heavenly and hellish effects.

 Hofmann realized he had made a significant discovery: a psychoactive substance with extraordinary potency, capable of causing significant shifts of consciousness in incredibly low doses.He wrote about his experiments and experience on April 22, which was later put into his book LSD: My Problem Child. He saw the drug as a powerful psychiatric tool,  because of its intense and introspective nature, he couldn’t imagine anyone using it recreationally.

Hoffman admitted that the substance would be dangerous in the wrong hands. Look at the sad tale of Syd Barrett and others, we've all probably encountered, the same drug that awakens us can also enslave us or drive us mad.

Albert Hofmann  had first synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in November 1938, while researching lysergic acid derivatives. The main intention of the synthesis was to obtain an analeptic (a central nervous system stimulant).

Researchers were looking initially  at ways of identifying and synthesizing chemical compounds from plants. Hofmann chose ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other cereals, which was formerly used by midwives to stop bleeding after childbirth. It also causes ergotism, a form of fungal poisoning, which was a common complaint among medieval pilgrims.
Hofmann managed to isolate some of ergot's active substances, including a drug that stops post-natal haemorrhaging.But he is best remembered for his accidental discovery of LSD ..

After Hoffman’s discovery, psychologists clinically researched the drug throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, with the Swiss company Sandoz Pharmaceuticals distributing free samples of the chemical for research purposes.Alfred Hubbard read a report discussing the hallucinogenic effects of the then-obscure drug and tried it in 1951. He became known as the first true proponent for LSD outside of the research world after realizing that it could be used to explore the depths of the human psyche. He began researching and distributing the compound, eventually swapping his LSD for psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical in certain mushrooms, being studied by a Harvard psychologist, Dr.Timothy Leary.

Leary went on to become the most high-profile researcher and proponent of the drug, eventually losing his position at Harvard for the controversial nature of his advocacy. He published The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead with Richard Alpert in 1964, a work that compared the nature of tripping to the spiritual experience of birth and rebirth detailed in the Tibetan tome.Leary identified phases of the psychedelic experience with the Bardo stages of consciousness outlined in the Tibetan Book of the Dead,from "complete transcendence" to " routine game reality " and indeed the arrival of LSD coincided with a surge of interest in mystical and esoteric subjects He advocated for students to “Turn on, tune in, and drop out,” a message that was picked up by the counterculture and perpetuated with the rising prevalence of acid parties.

Ken Kesey served as a medical guinea pig testing LSD and other psychoactive drugs in the 1950’s (at the time, the CIA was also testing LSD as a weapon as part of its MKUltra program, thinking that it could be used as “truth sermon” or to incapacitate enemy forces). After publishing One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 1962, a book detailing his experiences during the research project, the financial success of the book allowed him to move to California, where he began hosting a series of “Acid Tests” in San Francisco along with his gang of Merry Pranksters. Enter the Grateful Dead, then known as The Warlocks  who served as the house band for these tests, during which attendees dropped acid and explored LSD’s mind-altering effects.

The 1960's,  saw LSD use became widespread among people who sought to alter and intensify their perceptual experience, to achieve insights into the universe and themselves, and to deepen emotional connection with others.

At the helm of the counterculture revolution of the 60s and beyond, increasingly, the government became worried about the use of the drug, associating it with the anti-war sentiment and viewing it as a threat to American middle class, traditional values. After Dr. Sidney Cohen, a doctor who tested the psychoanalytical capabilities of the compound, testified before Congress in 1966 and declared that the drug was dangerous in the wrong hands, LSD was made illegal in 1967.

 Hofmann called LSD "medicine for the soul" and was frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis," he said, adding that the drug was hijacked by the youth movement of the 1960's and then unfairly demonized by the establishment that the movement opposed.

While the counterculture raged on, with time the popularity of LSD subsided in the 80s, as other drugs became en vogue. However, as the turn of the new millennium approached, so did the youth’s interest in the psychedelic compound, with the drug reemerging in popularity in the 90’s and into the 2000’s through to now.

 Psychedelic enthusiasts  across the world now commemorate Hoffman's discovery of LSD's effects every April 19, a.k.a. "Bicycle Day. "  The first celebration took place in 1985. It was initiated by Thomas B. Roberts of DeKalb, Illinois. 

Albert Hoffman's amazing discovery  has subsequently contributed to countless works of art, literature, and music. Releasing a rich banquet of inspiration that still manages to fuel our senses today.From the books of Aldous Huxley, Kurt Vonnegut , Jr, to the music of Jimi Hendrix, my local heros Sendelica, acid still catches the imagination. I've personally taken a few trips in my time, not for a while though, never seem to come across  it,  perhaps people are hiding it from me, because they've seen me under the influence, managed to hitch to glastonbury from west wales, under the influence , stopping on way back for some respite in a field by the motorway for a while, to gather my senses and spend time talking to a tree. happy days. Oh and I have a flying frog in my living room called Albert. 

 

 My frog who goes by the name of Albert

Albert Einstein : ( 14/3/1879 -18/4/55) A powerful voice of social conscience and humanity that still resonates.

 

The legendary theoretical physicist, author, philosopher, moral leader Albert Einstein   was born at Ulm, Wuerttemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879  and is now regarded  as the most influential physicist of the 20^th century, who  made such great contributions to the scientific world, for which  he received the 1921 Noble Prize in Physics for his services to Theoretical Physics. 

In letters, and articles, Einstein wrote that the welfare of humanity as a whole must take precedence over the goals of individual nations, and that we cannot wait until leaders give up their preparations for war. Civil society, and especially public figures, must take the lead. He asked how decent and self-respecting people can wage war, knowing how many innocent people will be killed. Throughout his life he used his professional fame to promote his  strong voice of social conscience,including crticism (while living in Germany) of Germany's role in World War I.Because of his fame, Einstein was asked to make several speeches at the Reichstag. and in all these speeches he condemned violence and nationalism, urging that these be replaced by and international cooperation and law under an effective international authority.
Einstein believed that the production of armaments is damaging, not only economically, but also spiritually. In 1930 he signed a manifesto for world disarmament sponsored by the Womans International League for Peace and Freedom. In December of the same year, he made his famous statement in New York that if two percent of those called for military service were to refuse to fight, governments would become powerless, since they could not imprison that many people. He also argued strongly against compulsory military service and urged that conscientious objectors should be protected by the international community. He argued that peace, freedom of individuals, and security of societies could only be achieved through disarmament, the alternative being “slavery of the individual and annihilation of civilization”. He also lent his voice in support of pacifism, anti-militarism,and was also a socialist  who believed that a socialist planned economy was the only way to eliminate the inequalities of capitalism, he also strongly opposed Adolf Hitler  His deep disapproval of racism  and hate having been born from suffering and because of his Jewish identity.
He also condemned  America's use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,  stood against Joseph McCarthy-era restraints on freedom of speech, in June, 1953, he wrote a letter to a school teacher in which he characterized certain tactics of a Congressional investigating committee as "a kind of inquisition" that "violates the spirit of the Constitution," and advised the "minority of intellectuals" to refuse to testify on the ground that "it is shameful for a blameless citizen to submit to such an inquisition." Faced with this evil, he said, he could "see only the revolutionary way of non-cooperation in the sense of Gandhi's." he also  had a strong disapproval of racism having suffered from it because of his Jewish identity.. Scientific expertise was of no value in most of these cases, yet Einstein's words were taken seriously and reached a large audience.
In letters, and articles, Einstein wrote that the welfare of humanity as a whole must take precedence over the goals of individual nations, and that we cannot wait until leaders give up their preparations for war. Civil society, and especially public figures, must take the lead. He asked how decent and self-respecting people can wage war, knowing how many innocent people will be killed.
For his efforts, he was threatened with assassination several times, was in danger of deportation from the United States, and accumulated a huge FBI file. He even was denied security clearance to work on the WWII atomic bomb project. Einstein's courage in his public activities ran on a track parallel to the boldness of his scientific work.Throughout the remainder of his life, in addition to his scientific work, Einstein worked tirelessly for peace, international understanding and nuclear disarmament. His last public act, only a few days before his death  on 4th of April 1955, was to sign the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, warning humankind of the catastrophic consequences that would follow from a war with nuclear weapons. Since his death  he is know considered one of the outstanding thinkers of his generation, a symbol of the human spirit and its highest aspirations, a fighter for social justice and human fraternity, a powerful voice of peace that still resonates. .
Here are a  few valuable life lessons that Einstein said :-

1. Follow Your Curiosity -
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

2. Perseverance is Priceless -
“It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

3. Focus on the Present -
“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”

4. The Imagination is Powerful -
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

5. Make Mistakes -
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

6. Live in the Moment -
“I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.”

7. Create Value -
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

8. Don’t be repetitive -
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

9. Knowledge Comes From Experience -
“Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience.”

10. Learn the Rules and Then Play Better -
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
 
11. Devote Your Life to a Cause -
 “Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.”

12  Serve the World  – 
“The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule. The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.”

13. Question Authority - 
" Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth."

14. Imagination is more important than knowledge -
 “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
 

 15. Never ever stop learning  – 
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.

16. We are all one -
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

17. Never stop Questioning-

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

" People like you and I, though mortal of course, like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live. What I mean is that we never cease to stand like curious children before the great Mystery into which we were born."

18. Let nature be your teacher -  
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

19. There are no limits except those we impose on ourselves -  

“Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.”
“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”

20.  Dare to be your true self -  
“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.”

 At the end of the day, we will all experience successes and failures.So strive, fail, succeed and smile and remember, there is always room for optimism and  another world is possible. Thank you Albert Einstein for your valuable words.

MOVING ON : A Cut Up Experiment

                                 The River Teifi

It was fun, oh how we laughed, the driftwood floating,chasing moss, dreaming of schemes,counting the hours, unpadlocking the gates, half-in. half-out, a way to blue through a tunnel of zen.
Paradoxes unfurl  as we wade through time. Alcohol is an anaesthetic it numbs the pain of silence.It lifts the waking dead. Sometimes  things need to be  rearranged otherwise we keep moving round in circles with details left  pencilled in the margins. Last night, in the sorting room  of ideas , I broke out, instead  of  running backwards,  honesty wandered, memory upturned, weight of the west met east,where there is no home, moved forwards towards another summer ending.
Outside in , outside out, released some promises , regrets rising onwards to a faraway place. The secret is surprise, love is always  here, in the delusions of heaven,  fragile  heartbeats keep beating, constantly from deep within, and fights a way through the dark inside, screams aloud with lungs open wide, the miracle of life is what you give or take, we are all made in this world to live in, until time runs out, blows away circumstances, each different position  reveals, gaining inspiration as days go  by, growing  in progression. From ancient springs we gather, waiting for the dust to settle, the weekends will always laugh in secret release their streams of tears.
Acceptance is not surrender ,old ghost will always return, every day will wear out, sinking into dark corners to lick its wounds, glistening, silver with dew  in the early sunlight, we can all remember, from Gaza to Allepo, Calais to the streets of London , nothing should be taken for granted, the thunder crashes all around, the winds forever will cast a ghostly mourn, the fury of storms will play out, so be peaceful,  with no menace now, the dawn chorus will  keep welcoming for all to hear, towards a new beginning- another day.we still have a long way to go, off the point,a little reckless.

Music is a moral Law - Plato

I love music because it's good for me. It lifts my darkness and depression. It reminds me of others and is a source of nourishment and inspiration. When life is terrible, It is mostly cathartic, and picks me up , though what  some  people do to music can be bad for your soul,  but generally music itself is good and does not require moderation. I have deep respect for it. It is good for weekdays, the weekend, holidays, Sundays, cloudy days, sunny days, fast days, slow days, work or play, alone or in the company of friends, it is integral to the human experience , mostly therapeutic,that over the years has released hours of pleasure and comfort , boosting mood, happiness, and reducing anxiety.A powerful tool that has much healing capacity. Indeed I am looking forward to enjoying some live music this weekend, at  two local music venues here in Cardigan, tonight  the  wonderful psychedelica of  Sendelica and Here and Now down the Cellar Bar, and  tomorrow the folk music of Ida Wenøe and Gareth Bonello (The Gentle Good)   down the small world theatre, come and join me come say hello.

“Music is a moral law.
It gives soul to the universe,
wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination,
a charm to sadness,
gaiety and life to everything.
It is the essence of order
and lends to all that is good
and just and beautiful.”

-plato

Some Respite (After visiting Druidstone Inn, Pembrokeshire.)

The world, was filling me with sadness

In its woods' I could only find darkness
But deep within  a simple hope still resided
And after a friend took me to  a special place
With two ales and the glance at sea
Inspiration quietly returned
At home, scattered  more seeds for the bees
After  grateful, friendly encouragement,
Turned  Linton Kwesi Johnson up loud
On the edge of life, energy returned
Between one thing and another
Dubs deepness delivered passion
Soothing heartbeat and inner soul
Allowed me not to completely surrender
Listening to riddim allowed  me to smile
Beyond some bitterness
And oppressive forces
Nourishment was delivered
I Inhaled some magic
Released dancing feet  again
From moments of  hesitation
Respite was released
Like forces of victory
Spirits rised.

Edward Thomas (2/3/1878 - 9/4/17) - A Celebration of this Anglo Welsh Poet a Century after his Death.

This day marks the 100th anniversary of the death of 39 year old Anglo Welsh poet Edward Thomas at the Battle of Arras, who fell on what was then Easter Monday. He left a body of largely unpublished work that has since earned him a place as  one of Britain's greatest poets. He has since  become one of the most widely read English language poets of the 20th century.Nearly all of his poems were written in the three years between 1914 and his death in 1917. Sixteen of the 60-odd poems that later made up his collected works were produced in an incredible burst of creativity in just 20 days in January 1915.
Born in London to Welsh parents in 1878,his father, Philip Henry Thomas, was a Welsh speaker from Tredegar. Thomas made frequent trips back to Swansea and the Carmarthenshire areas of south Wales to stay with relatives. He had strong friendships with Welsh-language poets  and later attended Lincoln College, Oxford from 1897 to 1900, where he was tutored by Owen M Edwards, one of the most significant figures in nonconformist Welsh culture.
Edwards awakened Thomas’s sense of Welsh national identity, and after graduating he asked his former tutor “to suggest any kind of work … to help you and the Welsh cause”. Three years earlier, Edwards had called for “a literature that will be Engish in language and Welsh in spirit." and it seems that Thomas took up his challenge, declaring that: “in English I might do something by writing of Wales”.
Though he wrote in the English language; and almost  all of his poems were written about the English countryside, but his odes to melancholy, and longing seem to have a Welsh source. Throughout his short life he was inordinately proud of his Welsh heritage, and because of this it led him to doubt whether he could truly be "English". He felt that living in England
was “like a homesickness, but stronger”, and the closest he could feel to belonging was by spending time in nature: “I was home: one nationality/ We had, I and the birds that sang,/ One memory” (Home [3] 4-6)..The scenery of Wales and the legends of the country affected Thomas deeply. He wrote about them in various letters and in prose books such as Beautiful Wales and in his sole attempt at fiction, The Happy Go-Lucky Morgans. He also lamented the lack of a widely circulated collection of Welsh folk tales, something that he himself put right in 1911 when he published Celtic Stories an anthology of Welsh and Irish folk stories..He would often sing to his children and to writer friends such as Eleanor Farjeon, old Welsh folk songs and was deeply conscious of the cadences of Welsh words. As he wrote:

"Make me content
With some sweetness
From Wales
Whose nightingales
Have no wings."

After marrying Helen Noble he found work writing travel books and critical reviews. His need to support his young family and wife resulting in him sacrificing creative writing for this hack work.Thomas took the Welsh connection a stage further by naming his children Mervyn, Myfanwy and Bronwen. Thomas had a troubled life however. A tormented soul with feelings of unfulfillment and self loathing convinced that he was a failure in both his marriage and career. Thomas was prone to periods of deep depression and anxiety and flirted with suicide, aggravated by his repressed creativity and creative frustration. Because of his self pitying he could also be very cruel to his ever loving wife . ' Your sympathy and your love for me are both hateful to me , but for God's sake don't  stand there , pale and suffering.' Thomas evidently felt there was some flaw in his personality that meant he was unable to respond to people as others did. “I don’t and can’t love and haven’t done for something near 20 years,” he told the haplessly doting Helen. When not entrapped by his more melancholic bitter moods he was more than capable of showing a more gentle and caring side, extended walks through the English countryside not only provided him with material for his writing but also represented freedom from his inner demons.
Through his work as a critic he became a champion of the American poet Robert Frost and they became friends. It was Frost who seeing his nature inspired prose and the English countryside, suggested to Thomas that he turn his hand to writing poetry. This unleashed a torrent of words , which at the same time lifted his depression enabling him to  write some of the most subtle and compelling words of the 20th Century. He had thought of moving to America with is family to devote himself to writing poetry, but alas , it was not to be, instead on July 15, 1915 after hiding his diabetes which would have led to his rejection, he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and posted to France, just as his work was getting recognition and appearing in literary journals .He wrote a series of  haunting poems during his training. All though he is often referred to as a war poet , few of his  poems actually deal with his war experiences.Nevertheless, arguably the war overshadows all of his poetry, even when he is  focusing on an aspect of  nature, such as a bird or a tree. His sense of the fragility of nature, as well as its beauty, is in a sense intensified by the knowledge of the war and exacerbated by a growing knowledge of his own fragility and mortality. I think that acknowledgement of the worst is something that can  still resonate deeply with us today
He was killed after he had left his dugout to fill his pipe, a shell passed so close that the rush of air stopped his heart , and he fell to the ground not a mark on his body.He left the world his poems which  are informed by a distinctly modern vision of doubt, alienation, and human limitation.deep emotion. Beautiful poems about nature but also revealing his willingness to grapple with difficulty and uncertainty, revealing his sensitivity , and bleak honesty,still as poignant, powerful and moving as when they were first written.His great friend Robert Frost wrote " his poetry is so very brave, so unconsciously brave.' Ted Hughes once described this great poet as 'the father of us all.' His work will  always be cherished by me. The following is a selection of some of his fine poems.

Like the touch of Rain - Edward Thomas

Like the touch of rain she was
On a man's flesh and hair and eyes
When the joy of walking thus
Has taken him by surprise:

With the love of the storm he burns,
He sings, he laughs, well I know how,
But forgets when he returns
As I shall not forget her 'Go now'.

Those two words shut a door
Between me and the blessed rain
That was never shut before
And will not open again.

How at Once - Edward Thomas

How at once should I know,
When stretched in the harvest blue
I saw the swift's black bow,
That I would not have that view
Another day
Until next May
Again it is due?

The same year after year --
But with the swift alone.
With other things I but fear
That they will be over and done
Suddenly
And I only see
Them to know them gone.

Beauty - Edward Thomas

 WHAT does it mean? Tired, angry, and ill at ease,
No man, woman, or child alive could please
Me now. And yet I almost dare to laugh
Because I sit and frame an epitaph-
'Here lies all that no one loved of him
And that loved no one.' Then in a trice that whim
Has wearied. But, though I am like a river
At fall of evening when it seems that never
Has the sun lighted it or warmed it, while
Cross breezes cut the surface to a file,
This heart, some fraction of me, happily
Floats through a window even now to a tree
Down in the misting, dim-lit, quiet vale;
Not like a pewit that returns to wail
For something it has lost, but like a dove
That slants unanswering to its home and love.
There I find my rest, and through the dusk air
Flies what yet lives in me. Beauty is there

The Sorrow of True Love - Edward Thomas

The sorrow of true love is a great sorrow
And true love parting blackens a bright morrow:
Yet almost they equal joys, since their despair
Is but hope blinded by its tears, and clear
Above the storm the heavens wait to be seen.
But greater sorrow from less love has been
That can mistake lack of despair for hope
And knows not tempest and the perfect scope
Of summer, but a frozen drizzle perpetual
Of drops that from remorse and pity fall
And cannot ever shine in the sun or thaw,
Removed eternally from the sun's law.

The Owl - Edward Thomas

Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved;

Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof

Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest

Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof.

Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,

Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.

All of the night was quite barred out except

An owl's cry, a most melancholy cry

Shaken out long and clear upon the hill,

No merry note, nor cause of merriment,

But one telling me plain what I escaped

And others could not, that night, as in I went.

And salted was my food, and my repose,

Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice

Speaking for all who lay under the stars,

Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.

Words - Edward Thomas

Out of us all
That make rhymes
Will you choose
Sometimes -
As the winds use
A crack in a wall
Or a drain,
Their joy or their pain
To whistle through -
Choose me,
You English words?

I know you:
You are light as dreams,
Tough as oak,
Precious as gold,
As poppies and corn,
Or an old cloak:
Sweet as our birds
To the ear,
As the burnet rose
In the heat
Of Midsummer:
Strange as the races
Of dead and unborn:
Strange and sweet
Equally,
And familiar,
To the eye,
As the dearest faces
That a man knows,
And as lost homes are:
But though older far
Than oldest yew, -
As our hills are, old, -
Worn new
Again and again:
Young as our streams
After rain:
And as dear
As the earth which you prove
That we love.

Make me content
With some sweetness
From Wales
Whose nightingales
Have no wings, -
From Wiltshire and Kent
And Herefordshire, -
And the villages there, -
From the names, and the things
No less.
Let me sometimes dance
With you,
Or climb
Or stand perchance
In ecstasy,
Fixed and free
In a rhyme,
As poets do.                         

Out in the Dark - Edward Thomas

Out in the dark over the snow
The fallow fawns invisible go
With the fallow doe;
And the winds blow
Fast as the stars are slow.

Stealthily the dark haunts round
And, when a lamp goes, without sound
At a swifter bound
Than the swiftest hound,
Arrives, and all else is drowned;

And star and I and wind and deer
Are in the dark together, -- near,
Yet far, -- and fear
Drums on my ear
In that sage company drear.

How weak and little is the light,
All the universe of sight,
Love and delight,
Before the might,
If you love it not, of night.

In Memorium ( Easter  1915)  - Edward Thomas

The flowers left thick at nightfall in the wood

This Eastertide call into mind the men,

Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, should

Have gathered them and will do never again.

Further Reading :-

 Edward Thomas: Collected Poems (Faber & Faber, 2004.

Now All  Roads lead to France : The Last Years of Edward Thomas   - Mathew Hollis

Edward Thomas : From Adlestrop to Arras - Jean Moorcraft Wlison , Bloomsbury,

2015