Scattered thoughts in October

                                   
As the day drifts,
leaves scatter,
people too,
spreading little thoughts,
across the land.

The sky turns grey,
as wild geese fly home,
I remember that life is a journey,
with opportunities of return.

My heart can be heavy,
but dreams can awaken,
as I wear autumns clothes,
with  jumpers to warm,
offer some protection,
as nights grow colder.

Walking alone,
I have felt a lot of damage,
left me in the past, a little undone,
but there is magic in the air,
as I play with  words,
am now travelling forwards,
on the road to somewhere else,
searching for seasons new adventure.

Why I choose to wear a white poppy.

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

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

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

Get yours here :-

http://www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/

http://stopwar.org.uk/shop/white-poppy-2

Britain accused of doing bidding for Chinese regime.

Britain has been accused of doing the bidding of the Chinese regime after UK police raided  the family of a Tiananmen Square survivor for standing in the road holding up protest banner in Central London. 
Chinese democracy activist Shao Jiang, 47 was arrested in the street outside Londons Mansion House where a reception was being held for visiting Chinese premier Xi Jinpig.  Shaos computers and mobile phone were seized as well. Shao helped organise the 1980 student protest in Tiananmen , managed to escape China, after being jailed for months, and moved to the UK where he now writes about China for Amnesty International. A totally over the top response by London's police doing the same now as oppressive forces in China.
Two pro Tibetan activists were also arrested at the same protest.
Britain's fawning warm reception has been criticised by human rights experts for ignoring Chinas history of violating individuals citizens rights. My thoughts are currently with struggling British steel workers about to be tossed on the scrap heap due to the impact of cheap Chinese imports, and how Britain is ignoring  Chinas human rights abuses , as human rights activists currently left languising in Chinese prisons while my Government pursues lucrative deals at the expense of humanity. China's continuing infringements of civil liberties will damage the interests of the whole world including the UK. Business as usual then as Britain carries on sucking up to totalitarian regimes.

Steve Bell's cartoon in the Guardian newspaper earlier this week.

Child of the refuge

( after sadly catching the news the other night, so an amalgamation of reportage.)

                                  Aya is 8 years old,
                                  her home is in  detention,
                                  behind barbed wire and fences,
                                  in a no- man's land,  
                                  a landscape mired in abandonment.
     
                                  Aya is shivering with cold,
                                  her jacket was once white,
                                  now it is drenched with rain,    
                                  and covered in mud,
                                  her brother cries, he  wants the touch of his mother,
                                  her father is desperate as well,
                                  wants them both delivered to safety,
                                  this is not a place where dreams will flourish,
                                  there are no tents for shelter, just seas of misery,
                                  disturbed intersections, between what passes as 
                                                                              a frontier of freedom.     

                                  Aya exists  in this world of chaos,
                                  with her companions, the walking wounded,
                                  crumbling  through the night and day,
                                  as a news cameraman pans in and out,
                                  relays images back to safe European homes,
                                  to be easily digested,  in the comfort of sanctuary.

                                 Aya one fragment of many shattered journeys,
                                 the nagging pain of humanity's pulse,
                                 the drifting sadness  of frightened children, 
                                                                               terrified people,
                                 with broken hearts and broken homes,
                                 four thousand refugees stranded and abandoned,
                                 within yards of the European Union.
                                   
                                 Aya I am truly ashamed, 
                                 of the despair that follows your journey,
                                 wish I could point you in the direction of paradise,
                                 support your tiny soul, strengthen your arms,
                                 stop the  nagging persecution, detention, trauma,
                                 release  you from the tears of seperation, anxiety and grief,
                                 clasp your wishes,  send you protection, 
                                 allow you to  continue your journey,
                                 to a land of security and hope,
                                 anywhere from this grim wasteland,
                                 no place for an innocent child.  

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/cild-of-the-refuge-by-dave-rendle/
                                   
                             
                                     

Aberfan - Lest we forget, this gross injustice

49 years ago a on Friday October 21, 1966 , approx 9.16 a.m shortly after school assembly many tons of collier rubbish (slag heaps) swept down the sides of a  Merthyr Mountain  above the town of Aberfan after several days of heavy rain, Liquified and pouring down  this black tidal wave would engulf everything in its path in this catastrophic tragedy.
Following  Monday's post about Tryweryn, another tragic memory from Wales's turbulent living history.
Aberfan was to many a result of a conflict of financial interests, which would see the death of 144 people, including a 116 innocent  children, many of whom were between the age of seven and ten along with, five of their teachers, in what is now known  today as one  of one of Wales worst mining disasters in it's history, not forgetting Senghennydd which I've written about previously when in 1913 over 400 were killed.
By the time the landslide stopped, it had demolished Pantglaas Junior School and 20 houses, severely damaging the Secondary School.

The sores and wounds of this disaster are now forever  stored in the memories  and feelings of the people of Wales because of the whole collective loss of a generation that was wiped out. So today again we  try not to forget  the children and adults who died, this human tragedy, that  many say could easily have been  prevented. The National Coal Board  (NCB) were repeatedly warned to move the slag heaps to a safer location, because they were also  close to natural underwater springs. Did the NCB have the decency to acknowledge their blame, to bow their head in shame, like hell no, but we were to  learn sadly far too late that the NCB was ostensibly a capitalist organisation more concerned with profit than lives.  A report by the government at the time said " Blame  for the disaster rests upon  the National Coal Board. The legal liabilities of the National Coal Board to pay compensation for the  personal injury ( fatal or otherwise) and  damage to property is incontestable and uncontested." The Government of the day was also extremely insensitive to the victims families, and people whould have to wait for years, for compensation.
So today we remember  the people of Aberfan, a community  that still profoundly affected by this disaster, one in three survivors still  suffering  from Post traumatic stress,  nearly 50 years after this tragic event took place.  People felt guilty that they were  left alive, they did not feel like survivors, cases of children not being allowed to play in the street, in case it upset other parents.
Let us  hope that lessons learnt from this incident can be learnt for tomorrow, and  remember that this bitter legacy still continues, what with continuing social and economic problems in the South Wales valleys still  being wrought  because of successive governments who have made lives a  continuing source of discomfort.  Combined with the failure of responsibility by the relevant authorities and the appalling behaviour of  some parties in the aftermath of the disaster.
Today, however there is very  little to remind visitors of  this tragic path, just an abstract memorial garden in the village and the childrens section in the graveyard.


Lest we forget, people before profit.

R.I.P the little angels that were lost forever.

shaker aamer - pj harvey

Repost of this song

PJ Harvey released this powerful song in 2013, to highlight the ongoing detention of last British resident held inside the US prison at Guantanamo Bay. Harvey recorded the track to help  maintain  pressure to help Shaker, whose family live in South London, to be released back to to Britain.
Saturday 24 October will be Shakers 5,000th day in Guantanamo.
First sent to the notorious camp in 2002, but subsequently cleared for release in 2007,  proving that the US authorities had no intention of bringing him  to trial for the last  7 years or so. This  Friday will  mark the end of the 30 day notice period to the US Congress that he is to be released and returned to his home , here in the UK.
On the following day Sunday 25th October, Shaker should be free and on his way home.
The US must keep their promise to Shaker and the world, a man who has endured all these years with much dignity and fortitude, 13 years imprisoned without any charge or trial, 13 years without ever getting to see his son. At present he is on hunger strike in protest at his  continual  detention and the appalling conditions in which he and his fellow detainees are held. In retaliation, he has been beaten, confined to a tiny cell and forced to spend long periods in solitary confinement. Many of his supporters are now also fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with him.
 Shaker must be freed and get the justice he deserves and the much needed treatment for his failing health,riddled with arthritis, combined with other medical problems, that no man should ever have to put up with.
There should  be no further delay to this injustice, time to bring Shaker home  immediately.
His eventual release will be a source of comfort and  joy to the many people  who have campaigned so hard for this moment to take place.

There will be a protest   outside Downing Street this coming Saturday  2-4 to highlight Shaker's case one more time.

Shaker Aamer

No water for three days
I cannot sleep, or stay awake.

Four months hunger strike.
Am I dead, or am I alive?

With metal tubes we are force fed.
I honestly wish I was dead.

Strapped  in the  restraining chair.
Shaker Aamer, your friend.

                                             In Camp 5, eleven years
                                             Never charged. Six years cleared.

They took away my one note pad,
and then refused to give it back.


I can't think straight, I write, then stop.
Your friend Shaker Aamer. Lost.

The guards just do what they're told,
the doctors just do what they're told.

Like an old car I'm rusting away.
Your friend, Shaker. Guantanamo Bay

                                    Don't forget -

                                                            
                                                             PJ Harvey 2013

Michael McClure (b.20/10/30) - ACTION PHILOSOPHY

Michael McClure, the fantastic poet playwright turns 83 today, so hats of. Best known for his participation in San Francisco famous Six Gallery Poetry reading where Allen Ginsberg first publicly read Howl and his friendship with the band  The Doors, he was to become a prominent figure in the Beat movement, writing poetry and plays. His 1965 production The Beard faced obscenity charges, but were subsequently dismissed.
His writing reflect his Bhuddist practice and his appreciation of the natural world using elements of typographical expression, with an exquisite sensibility. I like his work a lot, so thanks Michael, and happy birthday.

                                                             ACTION PHILOSOPHY

                               THAT GOVERNMENT IS BEST WHICH GOVERNS LEAST.
                                                 Let me be free of ligaments and tendencies
                                                             to change myself into a shape
                                                                 that's less than spirit.
                                                                LET ME BE A WOLF,
                                                                 a caterpillar, a salmon,
                                                                                 or
                                                                                an
                                                                          OTTER
                                                             sailing in the silver water
                                                                 beneath the rosy sky.
                                                               Were I a moth or condor
                                                                   you'd see me fly!
                                                    I love this meat of which I'm made!
                                                  I dive in it to find the simplest vital shape!

                                                           AH! HERE'S THE CHILD!!!
                                 
                                         WHAT'S LIBERTY WHEN ONE CLASS STARVES
                                                                       ANOTHER?