tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66894481753175526182024-03-18T09:47:40.170+00:00The stammering poetRambling thoughts of one who aspires to be a poet but has thus far failed miserablyPeter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.comBlogger685125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-77088967181595379322023-07-20T14:05:00.004+01:002023-07-20T14:05:47.552+01:00David takes the Cafe WritersNormally, David Mohan wins a major competition of some sort every few weeks, or so it seems. Out of the class of Poetry Introductions Ireland 2010, he always seemed the most likely of us to be destined for greatness and his list of publications and successes leaves mere mortals gaping.<br />Anyway, he's only after doing it again -<br /><br /><em>I’m delighted to announce the results of the Café Writers 2011 Poetry Competition. 2146 poems were entered in total. The full results are:<br /><br />1st David Mohan, Dublin Wildfire £1000 </em><br /><em>2nd John Whitworth, Canterbury The Burnt Child £300 </em><br /><em>3rd Wes Lee, New Zealand Surgery Dog £150<br />Commended £50 each</em><br /><br /><em>Angela Readman, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hunting Elmer Fudd</em><br /><em>Frances-Anne King, Bath When colour Left the World</em><br /><em>Corrinna Toop, Aylesbury Siren</em><br /><em>Alan Hill, Edinburgh Mémorial Des Deportations</em><br /><em>Mir Mahfuz Ali, Kingston-Upon-Thames The Day God was Angry<br /></em><br /><em>Norfolk Prize £100</em><br /><em>Merle Colborne, Norwich Fish Dancing in Desert </em><br /><em><br />Funniest Poem £100 Claudine Toutoungi, Cambridge Piss Pot <br /><br />The prize-giving will take place at our event on February 13th. It begins at 7.30 and there will be a reading by our judge Pascale Petit. The venue is Take 5 17 Tombland, Norwich, Norfolk NR3 1HF.<br />Congratulations to all the winners and a huge and a huge thanks to everyone who entered. The competition is vital to our ongoing programme and we will again be looking to increase the number and level of prizes in recognition of your loyalty.<br /></em><br />My own two entries, of course, remain among the 2136...Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-82056384777705994072014-12-08T21:15:00.001+00:002014-12-08T21:15:25.824+00:00Patrick O'Connell, the Irishman who saved Barcelona<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iav1BmcUV_c/VIYIHC1IImI/AAAAAAAArvc/e-tOt3pADS0/s1600/patrick-oconnell-barcelona-manchester-united-cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iav1BmcUV_c/VIYIHC1IImI/AAAAAAAArvc/e-tOt3pADS0/s1600/patrick-oconnell-barcelona-manchester-united-cropped.jpg" height="161" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Back in May 2004, Mick O'Keeffe wrote an article in the Irish Independent about a guy called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_O%27Connell_%28Irish_footballer%29" target="_blank">Patrick O'Connell</a>, whom I had never previously heard of.<br />
A Dubliner by birth, he played football for a host of clubs including Belfast Celtic, Ashington FC, Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United, also captaining Ireland. But it was as a manager that he really made his mark, managing Real Betis, Santander and Barcelona to great success. In fact he is still glorified in Cataluna for saving Barca from extinction during the early Franco years.<br />
Despite this success, he died penniless and was buried in a paupers grave in London. I found the story so fascinating that I wrote a <a href="http://www.footballpoets.org/p.asp?Id=6671" target="_blank">poem</a> about it - probably more song lyrics than actual poetry - posted it on the football poets website and forgot about it.<br />
Evidently, other people have been struck by the story down through the years for occasionally I get requests to reprint the poem, which I'm happy to say yes to.<br />
I got an email yesterday from a guy called <a href="http://www.colmfarry.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank">Colm Farry</a> in Seville. He is a fundraiser for a new body called the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/POConnellmemorial?ref=profile" target="_blank">Patrick O'Connell memorial fund</a> which is trying to raise funds for a proper memorial to a great but forgotten Irishman. He asked me was it okay if they put music to the poem and sung it at one of their fundraisers!<br />
Naturally I'm thrilled and delighted. Can't wait to hear it.<br />
Most of my poems die a death. It's so very nice to have one that seems to have a bit of legs in it!Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-16889217125460760022014-11-02T08:18:00.000+00:002014-11-02T08:18:20.251+00:00We ain't gonna pay for our water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OlNOufkTH6g/VFXnuaR2sHI/AAAAAAAArDE/dkopKmpAIu0/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OlNOufkTH6g/VFXnuaR2sHI/AAAAAAAArDE/dkopKmpAIu0/s1600/image.jpg" height="170" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Inspired by Kevin Higgins' <a href="http://claredaly.ie/a-poem-about-meters/" target="_blank">highly satirical piece</a> (but is it a poem, Kevin? I think it works as well without the artificial line breaks) on Clare Daly's website, I had to have a go<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We ain’t
gonna pay for our water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They’ve tried
to impose this but we’re gonna fight ‘em.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">These taxes
keep cropping up ad infinitum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The long hand
of history’s gonna indict ‘em.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We’ll soon
have no money for porter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And they tell
us Sky Sports is a luxury item?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No, we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They bring
out each new mobile phone far too fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If you cannot
keep up, you’ll be left in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My wife has
an S3, the family’s aghast,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">but
thankfully Christmas will sort ‘er.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But it’s all
costing money – how long will it last?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh, we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They tell us
not to spend all our time in the shower,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ensuring the
dial’s not switched to full power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But our kids
can’t get clean in a mere half an hour –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">it’s more
like an hour and a quarter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They give you
that look that would make grown men cower.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh, we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We shout at
the telly when the CEO speaks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">about giving
the contract another few tweaks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I don’t think
we’ve flushed the damned toilet for weeks –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">the smell
permeates each aorta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And they’ll
charge us a fortune to come fix our leaks?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh, we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We’re angry
as hell, yeah, we’re going berserk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We’re not
Miley Cyrus, we ain’t gonna twerk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">while they
roger us roughly with a wink and a smirk,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">each mother,
each son and each daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s hard
only going to the toilet in work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No, we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We’ve torn up
the forms that this Bord Uisce sent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The PPS
numbers have garnered dissent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our pockets
are empty, the money’s all spent –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">it’s tied up
in bricks and in mortar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">(and in
sunshine resorts that we like to frequent.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh, we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They said of
oul’ Ireland our rivers run free<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">but we’re
taxed every time that we go for a wee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s a stream
of expense that flows down to the sea,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">with no sign
that it’s gonna get shorter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">St. Brigid,
St. Bernadette, please pray for me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">for we ain’t
gonna pay for our water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So remember
the heroes of nineteen sixteen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Did they have
to fork out to keep themselves clean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or pay when they
sat on the outside latrine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">to be
butchered like lambs to the slaughter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So Ireland
abú, let the masses convene!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Oh,
we ain’t gonna pay for our water.</span>Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-42301501995283656052014-10-28T16:39:00.003+00:002014-10-28T20:14:58.016+00:00Abilene<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sY8_8nX_BFw/VE_EXPIoh9I/AAAAAAAArAc/poJ0fJ-JCOo/s1600/Abilene%2BGlory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sY8_8nX_BFw/VE_EXPIoh9I/AAAAAAAArAc/poJ0fJ-JCOo/s1600/Abilene%2BGlory.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Resurrecting this long-defunct blog to post up the poem that won me the title of Baffle Bard 2014 at Loughrea this weekend past. Poem should be read slowly and with a definite southern drawl! (I should point out also that poems had to be on the theme 'When the whistle blew')<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Abilene</span></st1:city></st1:place><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">When that railroad whistle blew,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">I knew just what I had to do – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">a rooftop leap to carriage seventeen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">With my dynamite packed tight,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">ancient wrongs would be put right,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">as I robbed that doggone train to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Sitting there above the track,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">my memory meandered back<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">to times when I would work hard for a bean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">And I pondered fate’s dark plot,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">which had brought me to this spot,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">about to rob the train to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">It may seem beyond belief<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">but I wasn’t born a thief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">I worked damned hard and kept my nose real clean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Way back east, in Philadelph,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">I’d built a life up for myself<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">and had never even heard of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">I took a wife when I was young,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">sharp of wits and sharp of tongue,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">built a house and lived a life serene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">I amassed a pretty penny,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">had some kids (not sure how many,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">but one was Jack and one was Rosaline.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Then one day, upon my land,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">waving papers in his hand,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">came a railroad
man, rumbustious and keen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">And he said they’d
bought the deeds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">of my house and
fields and seeds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">to build a track
right through to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He had lawmen
pointing guns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">at my daughters and
my sons,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">mouthing words
distasteful and obscene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">So, instead of
getting stroppy,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I just loaded the
jalopy,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">piled up the
highest you have ever seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">With the other
dispossessed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">we tipped the horse
and headed west,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">hurtin’ bad that
folks could be so mean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">And my wife just
sat and cried<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">on that long and
dusty ride,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">till I was sorry
she was coming to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It’s somewhat hazy
in my mind – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I think we left some
kids behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Neither of us checked
the damned latrine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But we still had
plenty left,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">so we didn’t feel
too bereft<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">on our westward
journey down to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">We lost another kid
or two<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">when our horse dang
lost a shoe,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">tripped and
stumbled into a ravine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">And I lost one of
the girls,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">the one with all
the golden curls,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">in a game of cards
ten miles from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Then the Injuns
swooped one day,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">snatched my wife
and rode away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I didn’t have the
will to intervene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">She’d been getting
on my nerves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">that Injun got what
he deserves,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">and I jes’ shrugged
and plodded on to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There was me and
one small kid,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">and I ain’t proud
of what I did,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">but I got scared
when she started turning green.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">So I left her by a
fence,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">because there
didn’t seem much sense<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">in the two of us
not making <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I walked into that
there town,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">tongue bone dry and
bare head brown,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">begging to be
brought to a shebeen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I was thirsty, I
was broke,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">with two lips too
cracked to smoke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">and I knew right
then I hated <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d-u-60btQb4/VE_GdQYvU3I/AAAAAAAArBQ/09uttje9g8E/s1600/Abilene1875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d-u-60btQb4/VE_GdQYvU3I/AAAAAAAArBQ/09uttje9g8E/s1600/Abilene1875.jpg" height="157" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Well, I stole
myself a gun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">to right the wrongs
that had been done<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">and sat up on the
mountainside unseen,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">to gain what info
that I could<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">as that train
passed through the wood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">on its way, stuffed
full of cash, to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I had to lay to
rest that ghost,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">hit them where it
hurted most,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">and so I closely
studied its routine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">And I took a little
ride<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">with my eyes full
open wide<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">aboard that rich
old train to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">So the time had
come at last,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">the time to even up
the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I took a final slug
from my canteen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The railroad had
destroyed me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Now the prospect
overjoyed me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">of robbing that
there train to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Through the tunnel
burst the train,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">like a rat out of a
drain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I counted every
wagon to sixteen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Then, as that
railroad whistle blew,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">shrill and welcome,
right on cue,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I leapt aboard that
train for <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Abilene</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygqDkKw-uTw/VE_Gdin3gPI/AAAAAAAArBI/5LFRLWCT6xs/s1600/kansas-abilene-1870s-granger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygqDkKw-uTw/VE_Gdin3gPI/AAAAAAAArBI/5LFRLWCT6xs/s1600/kansas-abilene-1870s-granger.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I woke up in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Oklahoma</st1:state></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">after three weeks
in a coma,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">busted legs and
busted arm and spleen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I’d been found
there on the track,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">lying groaning on
my back – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">there hadn’t been a
carriage seventeen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Now I take my bowl
and wait<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">just outside the
station gate,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">darned grateful for
each nickel I can glean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But I shudder and I
bristle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">when I hear that Goddam
whistle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">of the train, as it
heads off to </span><st1:place style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Abilene</st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">.</span>Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-22573449543067208812013-05-04T23:31:00.001+01:002013-05-05T04:16:19.663+01:00Percy French Prize for Serious Poetry?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YyOJ4f_vxE/UYWEA0GsdbI/AAAAAAAAE8k/hwkV3EfzabA/s1600/316074_531294086912787_425912405_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" lua="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YyOJ4f_vxE/UYWEA0GsdbI/AAAAAAAAE8k/hwkV3EfzabA/s320/316074_531294086912787_425912405_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
For the first time in around nine years, I didn't attend the Percy French Prize for Comic Verse at the Strokestown Poetry Festival. The winner was Samantha Strachen, pictured above, with judge Eleanor Tiernan. Congratulations to Samantha.<br />
The reasons I didn't attend were manifold. I didn't much like the way that the competition was advertised - it seemed to be looking for slammers and rappers, rather than people who can craft a comic verse. I didn't like the way that the number of shortlistees has been cut from ten down to eight and now down to six. I didn't like the way that the competition was pushed back to 10pm, as the highlight of the evening is always the craic in Anthony's afterwards and this would seriously eat into that time. And I have also taken a strong turn against serious poetry mainly due to the politics within it. All in all, despite the fact that I have tremendous admiration for the people on the ground running the festival - Melissa, Pat, Kay, Shane et al - the weekend didn't inspire me to attend.<br />
Now, I've been speaking to a couple of former shortlistees about the competition and, like me, they're not enamoured about the way things have gone. One of them, in England, added the fact that the nominations were announced so late that, had she been successful, she would have had to have declined, as Ryanair flights would have been too expensive. <br />
But the main reason that all three of us felt disheartened by this year's "inaugural" comic verse competition was that none of us got through. Is that arrogant? Well, possibly. But, and I mean absolutely no disrespect to the winner, none of us failed to see anything remotely comic in the winning entry. You can read it <a href="http://strokestownpoetry.org/2013/04/23/samantha-strachen/" target="_blank">here</a> and then tell me it had you rolling around in the aisles.<br />
I, like the others, hark back to Declan O'Brien and The Corinthians Letter to St Pauls; Josh Ekroy and his Vicrossloo (a non-rhyming poem); Sean Lyons and his trips to Fungerola and Shopping for Trousers; Martin Parker's subtle wit; John McDonagh's superbly crafted poems; Ian McDonald's ribald humour, Dee Gaynor's wry take on life, Margaret Hickey's subtle, yet perfectly metred observations (well done Margaret for making the shortlist by the way). The list goes on and on. Memorable poems. All crafted their works to maximise the humour but still retain the poetical authenticity. Sadly, I don't get this from 'Ideal.'<br />
Of course, its not Samantha's fault. The judge picked it. But the disappointment for me is that there are so very few outlets for humorous verse in the world today. Nobody wants it; there are precious few competitions for it. Yet it is an art form that takes every bit as much skill to perfect as serious poetry. And Strokestown was the one competition every year we looked forward to because it seemed to appreciate the art form. Okay, it never printed up the winning poems (one step in the right direction for this year's organisers) but at least you knew the winning poem would have to be something special - both comic and well-crafted a la Percy French - to beat off the competition.<br />
Now, sadly, there seems little point in entering again. Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-1594291006208762982013-04-11T21:42:00.000+01:002013-04-11T21:42:31.873+01:00Thwarting Father Time...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XSRcmJXye7E/UWcbqQUr6gI/AAAAAAAAEyc/v-T-oc1Z9ig/s1600/thwarting+Father+time.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XSRcmJXye7E/UWcbqQUr6gI/AAAAAAAAEyc/v-T-oc1Z9ig/s320/thwarting+Father+time.JPG" width="242" /></a></div>
Pat D'Amico lives in Washington State and is a staunch supporter of the light verse scene. She has been plying her trade for thirty years - in fact, 184 of her poems appeared in the Wall Street Journal.<br />
She writes a regular column for local paper North West Primetime and is frequently to be found among the contributors to Martin Parker's brilliant <b><u><a href="http://www.lightenup-online.org/" target="_blank">Lighten Up Online</a></u></b> quarterly magazine, where I first came across her work.<br />
Pat is a master of the short, wry, poignant, humorous, clever poem. She writes of things we see all around us but take for granted. "When I woke up one morning / and was trying to clear my head,/ I stretched a bit and nothing hurt - / I thought that I was dead." Her poems are tremendously popular with ordinary people, which is what good poems should be. Many of today's poets appear to write for their fellow poets - Pat writes for people like herself.<br />
Anyhow, she's finally getting around to assembling some of her thousands of poems. <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">"Thwarting Father Time" is a compilation of the verses that have appeared in "Northwest Prime Time" over the last 8 years. To order, please send $5.95, postpaid in the USA, to Pilot Publications, 5203 111th Ave. NE, Kirkland, WA 98033 or contact pat@lightversepoetry.com.</span><br />
<br />Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-79108778956167691982013-04-03T15:24:00.002+01:002013-04-03T15:24:38.748+01:00Chapbook printing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ktH3a4koAx4/UVw6XyRFpBI/AAAAAAAAEyM/lBmTayxfGhE/s1600/SMITHEREENS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" mta="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ktH3a4koAx4/UVw6XyRFpBI/AAAAAAAAEyM/lBmTayxfGhE/s320/SMITHEREENS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://smithereenspress.blog.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Smithereens Press</strong></span></a>
<br />
was recently set up with the intention of producing high-quality poetic texts of chapbook-length to be made available online. The decision to start the press was founded on the understanding that opportunities to release shorter texts, particularly those that may not meet the criteria of standard full-length collections, are restricted by financial realities and limited interest on the part of the more-established publishers. The ambition is to provide a venue for poets so that their work may be made widely available to a community of readers and poets here in Ireland and abroad.<br />
The press recently released their first three publications (and have others forthcoming); <br />
<br />
'The Server Room' - Conor O'Callaghan<br />
'Rain' - Maurice Scully<br />
'Zero at the Bone' - David Wheatley<br />
<br />
As evident in their first publications, the press welcomes work from diverse poetic backgrounds and its editorial policy hopes to blur any reductive divisions between 'traditional' or 'experimental' poetry. Submission Guidelines can be found <strong><span style="color: magenta;"><a href="http://smithereenspress.blog.com/submissions/" target="_blank">here</a></span></strong><br />
All enquiries and submissions may be made to the editor, Kenneth Keating, at smithereens.press@gmail.com.
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-36518909160162280642013-03-21T13:29:00.000+00:002013-03-21T13:29:40.557+00:00The Glencush Boreen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4sd0LdMW-Nk/UUsKl_DI-cI/AAAAAAAAEyA/CUJwT_9uJLg/s1600/DSCF4615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4sd0LdMW-Nk/UUsKl_DI-cI/AAAAAAAAEyA/CUJwT_9uJLg/s320/DSCF4615.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The sun was awake and shone bright his light for us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and the dew on the hills had a shimmering sheen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The alarm had been raised by the chaffinches’ chorus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">as I strolled with my love along Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The circling linnet sang love songs above us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">far up o’er the larch and the spruce so serene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The morning itself had been crafted for lovers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">on that long, lonely stretch called the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She was pale as a statue and nearly as pious,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">as fragile as porcelain, cool as a queen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The sparrows chirped homage as they flittered by us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">as we strolled arm in arm down the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We sat by a stile when the heat bore down on us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">in the shade of an oak, branches leafy and green.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And she snuggled up to me, did young Kathleen Connors<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and we kissed long and soft by the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But I was a lad of impetuous genus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: small;">and my hand sought out places it </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">shouldn't</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: small;"> have been.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Stop you!” cried a voice like a hatchet between us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">though we were alone by the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Startled we jumped and searched wildly around us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">for the voice had the tone of a callous machine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But no-one stood near, which served more to confound us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">all alone by the side of the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Stop you!” came the voice once again and it filled us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">with terror, for still no-one there could be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then high on a branch, a cold, black shadow chilled us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">its beady eye trained on the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The raven was large and its voice cut right through us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Stop you!” it squawked loud as if venting its spleen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kathleen leapt up high as if pricked by hot skewers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and ran like the wind up the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I snarled at the bird that had managed to thwart us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">still watching me blindly, eyes callous and lean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then it bowed and flew off to its sons and its daughters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and left me alone on the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I ran up the lane straining veins and aortas,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">on up to the far distant lake of Diheen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and there found my love floating in the dark waters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">that lie near the end of the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Was she spooked by the fact that a raven addressed us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Or was it the words pricked a conscience pristine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Not knowing the reason both rankles and festers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">whenever I think of the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I told my strange tale to the judge and the jurors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">No guilt do I bear for the death of Kathleen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">but it seems like a raven was able to skewer us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">hook, line and sinker on the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And sometimes I gaze out these iron-barred shutters,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">whenever the clouds o’er the mountains convene<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and I spy the dark shapes that alight on the gutters,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">far, far from their nests on the Glencush Boreen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MbCBxkjmbT0/UUqruk9wYNI/AAAAAAAAExs/ADuFgv3E_IM/s1600/spaceout.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" psa="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MbCBxkjmbT0/UUqruk9wYNI/AAAAAAAAExs/ADuFgv3E_IM/s1600/spaceout.gif" /></a></div>
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-88321134062444928952013-01-23T22:58:00.002+00:002013-01-23T22:58:34.827+00:00Upon the Samuel Beckett Bridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wBylr5q0duA/UQBq02uKdwI/AAAAAAAAExI/ZA4kyfNcEJE/s1600/Samuel_Beckett_Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" oea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wBylr5q0duA/UQBq02uKdwI/AAAAAAAAExI/ZA4kyfNcEJE/s320/Samuel_Beckett_Bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Upon the Samuel Beckett Bridge,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited and I waited.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited till the day’s grey light</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">had all but dissipated.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited till the sun was gone</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and hope was sacrilege.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited all my life upon</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the Samuel Beckett Bridge. </span><br />
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-24763075890311797852013-01-07T14:47:00.001+00:002013-01-07T14:47:47.256+00:00Banks banks banks - Rant alert!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wxsmf58FmYM/UOrctyRTaoI/AAAAAAAAEw0/8aDr9rKZwWQ/s1600/BCH0214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wxsmf58FmYM/UOrctyRTaoI/AAAAAAAAEw0/8aDr9rKZwWQ/s320/BCH0214.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The photo above is of the Bank of Ireland branch in Dunboyne. Don't know when Google took this photo as the 6 parking spaces are always jammed. I only go to this branch once every six weeks or so and I invariably leave it in a suicidal state of mind. Everything they do is designed to thwart the personal customer and get you to do all your banking online, at a charge naturally. It's not the staff's fault - they're actually doing themselves out of a job and there's nothing they can do about it.<br />
What bugs me the most is the way they try to dress up their new anti-customer initiatives as being greatly beneficial to the customer. They used to have a Quick Lodge box. Pop your envelope with money and lodgement slip into it and that was that. Now you have a touch screen machine and you have to have a card and a PIN. How does this benefit the older person? Or the person short of sight?<br />
Last month I was in the above branch and there were 20 people in the queue for the cashier. And the one girl behind the desk was doing other work! There was actually nobody serving.<br />
Now I hear you can't get a bank draft for less than 500 euro. And, unsurprisingly, this is a positive step. How?<br />
The banks no longer take coin, even if you have bagged it up yourself, without imposing a hefty charge on putting it through a counting machine. Isn't it a part of the banking system that they accept cash?<br />
They closed our local branch down in Stoneybatter years ago. Stoneybatter is an area mainly comprising older people. They transferred all the business to Phibsboro, over a mile away, or a walk and a bus ride away. Efficiencies. Not for the customer, its not.<br />
Oh and bank charges are back with a vengeance. God help those people trying to renegotiate mortgages,<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">All part of the customer service<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">We’re closing the branch that you always frequent<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">for we do not believe it is money well-spent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">It’s better for you if we cut down on rent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Yes, I know you don’t really deserve us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">There’s no need to thank us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">that’s why we are bankers –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">it’s part of the customer service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">The ‘Quick Lodge’ is gone; you now need a card.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Just follow the screen, boy, it isn’t too hard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Remember your PIN or you’ll find yourself barred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">There’s really no need to be nervous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Efficiency means<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">you must deal with machines –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">it’s all part of the customer service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Bank drafts are gone, they’re a thing of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Use banking online, it’s so easy and fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Computers are cheap and they’re all built to last –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">ask any independent observers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">If you’re seventy nine,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">you can still bank online –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">it’s all part of the customer service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">We’re pleased to announce that bank charges are back<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">to help get our balance sheet back up on track.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Some critics have claimed it’s a retrograde tack –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">oh, the saints in heaven preserve us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">As our profits accrue,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">you will benefit too –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">it’s all part of the customer service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Don’t bother the teller, he’s too much to do<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">to spend half the morning a-listening to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">In time he’ll be gone and the manager too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">The unions will never outswerve us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">It’s us, the bank’s bosses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">who’ll help to cut losses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">This board of directors<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">is here to protect us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">At present the onus is<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">on paying our bonuses –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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customer service.</span>Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-56810877818348091132013-01-01T13:03:00.003+00:002013-01-01T13:03:59.558+00:00All is quiet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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All is quiet on New Year’s Day,<br />
<br />
so Bono and his cohorts say.<br />
But noise enough to wake the dead<br />
is pounding all around my head<br />
and cannot, will not go away.<br />
<br />
Our deeds are reckoned; now we pay<br />
for gulping down that sweet rosé<br />
and it can, with no truth, be said<br />
that all is quiet.<br />
<br />
Somewhere near, the children play<br />
on biscuit tin and metal tray.<br />
The dog is howling to be fed;<br />
the telly’s blaring Mister Ed.<br />
Beneath the eiderdown, I pray<br />
all may be quiet.<br />
<br />
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-85993270473239804182012-12-24T18:00:00.001+00:002012-12-24T18:00:47.209+00:00Christmas Dinner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kerry is howling,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopper is scowling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad in the kitchen is a-grunting and a-growling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother is swearing,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Little Jen is staring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">at the chocolate stains on the dress that she’s wearing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Is the dinner ready?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">asks Uncle Eddie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Outside it’s pouring,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Granny is snoring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Turn off the telly ‘cos the telly is boring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hooper is irking</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kerry and smirking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad’s telling everyone how hard he’s working.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother’s not forgetting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the servietting,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad spills his beer, Little Jen gets a wetting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Is the dinner ready?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">asks Uncle Eddie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Granny is crying out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">that real men are dying out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Up against the cooker, Little Jen is drying out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kerry is spluttering,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">sobbing and a-stuttering,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopper is muttering,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">tension is fluttering.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad smiles proudly at the parsnips he’s buttering.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother switches pots about,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the dog just trots about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Everyone wonders what Granny’s in knots about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Is the dinner ready?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">asks Uncle Eddie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Outside it’s teeming,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopper is a-scheming,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kerry’s eyes are streaming,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Granny is dreaming.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Up against the cooker, Little Jen is a-steaming.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopper smacks Kerry,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">quite extraordinary.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother’s on the sherry and getting rather merry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad carves the turkey,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the dog becomes perky.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother says the gravy is looking pretty murky.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Is the dinner ready?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">asks Uncle Eddie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Outside it’s raining,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the ducks are aquaplaning,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Little Jen’s complaining</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">her dress is staining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Granny’s yelling out that the sprouts need straining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kerry is sobbin’,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother’s head’s throbbin’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s a tap on the window from a washed-out robin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopper is shouting,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Little Jen’s pouting,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother’s de-sprouting,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the dog’s de-grouting,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Granny thinks that she’s going on an outing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Is the dinner…?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Shut up!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The ham gets cut up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The rain keeps on drumming,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad is a-humming.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“All I asked was…”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Yes, the bloody dinner’s coming!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The kids wash all traces</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">of beer from their faces,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">then get into places</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">and twang Dad’s braces.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dinner is served on an arbitrary basis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kerry eats stroppily,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hopper eats sloppily.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Eddie says the roasties aren’t cooked properly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dad throws the delph about,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother throws herself about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Little Jen is moaning,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Granny is groaning,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Eddie’s going to use the roasties at a stoning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The dog’s gone boning,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mother’s telephoning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">“Oh Holy Night,” the angels are intoning.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Merry Christmas to anybody still out there...</span><br />
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-87178595403439537662012-12-12T20:24:00.000+00:002012-12-12T20:24:25.207+00:00IPYPIASM - Poet, grasp thy pen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, IPYPIASM (International Put Your Poem in a Shop Month) is now in its fifth year. In a nutshell, do what it says on the tin. Write a poem, put it in a shop, photo it, leave it there for other shoppers to enjoy, post the evidence to your blog, notify the official scorekeeper, who, this year, is the wonderful <a href="http://titusthedog.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank"><b>Titus</b></a><br />
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Although it is absolutely NOT a competition, Scotland and the USA have been running away with it this year, with just a lone pre-emptive strike from <a href="http://emergingwriter.blogspot.ie/2012/12/ipypiasm.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/emergingwriter+(Emerging+Writer)" target="_blank"><b>Emerging Writer</b></a> on the board for Ireland,<br />
Unaccustomed as I am to venturing into shops, particularly at this time of the year, national shame forced me into a blitz on the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.<br />
First, into Harvey Normans (sorry that should read HARR - VAYYY NORR MAN!!!!)<br />
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Next to a store I'm afraid I've forgotten the name of. Think it might be called What? Does cheap Christmassy decs and lights and household goods. Its next to Inspiring Ideas, if anyone knows Blanch.</div>
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Thirdly, into Woodies, which is a big department store and garden centre</div>
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That would have been it but then I was dragged into the main part of the centre and made sit and wait while she examined every top in Dunnes. So I had my camera. I robbed a pencil from beside the till in Fields and then removed a 40% off tag from Dorothy Perkins, wrote a not very good poem and got a fourth one in for the lads.</div>
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Bit hard to read - Christmas time is getting near / time to choose your Christmas gear. But shopper, wait! To clothe your soul / put some poems in your bowl.<br />
So come on, poets, leave out the middlemen who say they love your poems but can't use them at this time. Bring your poems direct to the people. Spread some poetry this Christmas!<br />
For a brief history of IPYPIASM go <a href="http://titusthedog.blogspot.ie/2012/11/5th-international-put-your-poem-in-shop.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">here </span></b></a>Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-77690901756278210952012-12-07T22:55:00.001+00:002012-12-08T12:09:54.259+00:00Lighten up Online 20 is out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Issue 20 of Martin Parker's always entertaining <a href="http://www.lightenup-online.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=55&Itemid=109" target="_blank">Lighten Up Online</a> is out now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Put the festivity back into your Festive Season with <strong>Annie Fisher</strong> on the booze, <strong>Mae Scanlan</strong> with a small but fundamental panacea, <strong>Jerome Betts</strong> and a whole lot of bull, <strong>Susan Jarvis</strong> having the run of the dessert trolley as well as the waiter, and <strong>Chris O'Carroll's</strong> nicest vice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plus: <strong>Alanna Blake</strong>, <strong>Geoff Lander</strong>, <strong>Leo Vincent</strong>, <strong>Gail White</strong>, <strong>D A Prince</strong>, <strong>Brendan Beary</strong>, <strong>Robert Schechter</strong>, <strong>Julie Kane</strong>, <strong>Lynn Roberts</strong>, <strong>Catherine Chandler</strong> , <strong>J Patrick Lewis</strong> and <strong>Steve Herbert</strong>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thankfully, I didn't make the cut this time around. I say 'thankfully' because it is refreshing to think I am included on merit, rather than because the editor owes me a pint or two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Competition 20 is entitled In the Bath - </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #131512;">Over the years many of our best thoughts have disappeared down the plughole with our bathwater. Now is your chance to save some of them for posterity. Using waterproof ink and any available flat surface please compose a deathless sixteen lines max. meditation entitled</span><span style="color: #131512;"> </span><span style="color: #131512;">Thoughts FromThe Bath</span><span style="color: #131512;">.</span></i></span><i style="color: #131512; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Please head your email submission Competition 20 and send it by February 12th, 2013 to -- </i><i style="color: #131512; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">submissions@lightenup-online .co.uk</i></div>
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Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-4068394470524413752012-11-26T02:59:00.001+00:002012-11-26T02:59:37.622+00:00Video killed the sales of the book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Reluctant as I am to speak in public, I was coerced by the editors of the children's sports anthology <em>And the Crowd goes wild</em> to record myself reading my contribution to the book. So I got my daughter Louise to do the filming and I did it. Not entirely convinced that sales will be enormously increased by my entry into the world of performance poetry. Thank God it was only 12 lines.<br />
ATCGW is available on Amazon and loads of other places. You can read all about it at <a href="http://www.nowaterriver.com/poetry-friday-and-the-crowd-goes-wild-poet-a-palooza/" target="_blank">No Water River</a> which is Renee la Tulippe's video poetry blog.<br />
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Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-80167156425318452322012-11-19T00:01:00.002+00:002012-11-19T00:01:50.971+00:00Lines on a Shakespearean actor with a penchant for punning trying to find Sting’s funeral<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When Sting died,<br />
The great Shakespearean actor with a penchant for punning cried<br />
And decided that he must attend the burial,<br />
So in order to find out the arrangements, he got onto an agency secretarial.<br />
(This incidentally was the same Shakespearean actor with a penchant for punning that shouted out “Tubby or not tubby” every time he got on the scales,<br />
And the very self same one that attended the Democratic convention even though he was a Republican simply to explain to everyone “I come to barrack Obama not to praise him,” which was greeted by many groans and wails.<br />
And it may have been he who got a mouthful of cheap tea leaves while visiting his friend Percy in Indiana and complained, <br />
“The dollar tea of Percy is not strained.”)<br />
So, anyway, off he went with his picture sleeve cover of “Can’t stand losing you,” which he thought was an appropriate item to lay on the erstwhile pop star’s grave,<br />
For that was the way, he thought, that a truly dedicated fan ought to behave,<br />
And Sting, of course, was that rare exotic creature,<br />
The singing Northumberland schoolteacher.<br />
And when the great Shakespearean actor with a penchant for punning was a teenager back in the eighties he used to play <em>Zenyatta Mondatta</em> and <em>Synchronicity</em> in the evenings until he became sleepy,<br />
Although he thought, and he was not the only one, that <em>Every Breath You Take</em> was just a little bit creepy.<br />
(In fact, quite a lot of their hit songs, he reflected, were about suicide or paedophilia, or other such tendencies which might make listeners nervous,<br />
Or otherwise some nonsense about hoping his legs wouldn’t break while roaming around the lunar surface.)<br />
But to get back to the story, the funeral was in an area of the city unfamiliar to the great Shakespearean actor with a penchant for punning and he had left his sat nav behind and so could not find the correct chapel,<br />
Where all the mourners were laying the ecological crooner to rest, among them family and fellow musicians and chief executives of big companies like EMI and Microsoft and Apple.<br />
And the poor Shakespearean actor frantically ran around streets that all looked the same until he was quite out of breath,<br />
At which point he sank to his knees in despair, raised his eyes heavenward and in a booming voice intoned, “Oh Sting, where is thy death?”Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-24435648273113605572012-11-17T22:04:00.000+00:002012-11-17T22:04:33.900+00:00Hallowe'en Success!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I recently entered a Hallowe'en poetry competition at a recently discovered English site called <b><u><span style="background-color: white; color: red;"><a href="http://www.thepoetrybox.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Poetry Box. </a></span></u></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">And blow me, but didn't I win! What I won, apart from the prestige, certificate and winners' issue, was an inscribed silver cup, which is pretty heavy and which I have now started to take to bed with me. My wife says I can't walk down the sitting room without pausing in front of it and raising it aloft like I was at Wembley.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">As part of the deal, I had to supply a photo to send back to the Poetry Box with the Cup. My son dutifully did the honours (above) but then insisted on a photo more in keeping with the theme of Hallowe'en (below)</span><br />
Please check out the Poetry Box. It is a very quirky site and specialises in... well, I will let the editor, Barley Robinson, explain:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"The Poetry Box Dark & Horror Poetry Magazine Monthly' publishes not only Dark, Horror, Gothic and Romantic Poetry - but Satire and Black Comedy Poetry, too. As a Poet myself, I write primarily within the latter genres - with occasional forays into the Dark and Melodramatically Theatrical Gothic. The modern Horror Poetry genre is frequently overwhelmed by an excess of formulaic 'Vampire-Themed' and 'Haunted-Themed' Poems - and by neo-Romantic sentiment regarding the dubious or delightful pleasures of loneliness, revenge and death. As Editor however, I do believe that across all literary genres there is nothing quite as 'Dark' as the Contemporary 'Satirical and Black Comedy' Poet - and perhaps - no other genre of poetry demands wit, perception, observation and personal integrity and opinion in quite so healthy proportions."</i></span></span><br />
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<br />Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-66274191560450690872012-11-07T13:51:00.000+00:002012-11-07T13:51:24.303+00:00For Jaysus' sake, are yez thick or wha'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my third post about the (free) Tam o'Shanter reboot competition. Basically, write a long narrative poem bringing Robbie Burns wonderful poem up to the 21st century.<br />
After my first submission, which I dashed off one rainy afternoon, I received a mail back from one of the organisers bemoaning the fact that, despite the great quality of the poetry, there had been a dearth of imagination in the entries. Read it <a href="http://stammeringpoet.blogspot.ie/2012/10/tam-oshanter-rebooted-and-extended.html" target="_blank">here </a><br />
So this time I spent several weeks crafting a long poem (which incidentally I shall be submitting to the Guinness Book of Records as the Poem with the most amount of single rhymes in it - 55, I make it) and, such was its effect, that it has elicited an official press release from the organisers -<br />
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<i>The great Tam O'Shanter Reboot Competition</i></div>
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<strong><em>“The bonniest lass has tae be mine,<br />‘else tonight is but a waste o’ time.”<br />But pullin’ while sober?<br />That idea wis goin’ nowher’.</em></strong></div>
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<i>Just an example from some of the great lines from the many contributions received so far.</i></div>
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<i>The organiser of the competition and one of the judges, Hugh Lockhart, said,</i></div>
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<i>“We have been very pleased at the response. Quite a number of people have written saying how this competition has stimulated them to write poetry and have discovered they can. Others have been clearly itching to write a long narrative poem. The standard is breathtakingly high and filled with lines which Burns would have loved.</i></div>
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<i>Our one regret is, notwithstanding poetic quality and wit, so many of the contributions pretty literally redo the story of Tam , a lad out on the piss and the pull ignoring what Professor Alan Riach had asked for in the original brief,</i></div>
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<strong><i>“What would Burns have written about had he been alive today? An outing to a football match in Barcelona, a blind date to Benidorm, a premarital hen party, a rave at a zombie night-club, a critical encounter with some representative characters of the psyche of contemporary Scotland, a visit to the Scottish Parliament at Question Time?”</i></strong></div>
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<i>And, OK, we have a few hen nights and a works outing. But if Tam is about the perils of straying off the straight and narrow then there are very topical examples in the likes of Fred Goodwin trying to take on the world and Gordon Brown wanting to be Prime Minister- now both spending more time with their families. And entries do not just have to be Scottish examples of Stray-and- Come-Uppance - what price something on Donald Trump? - nor do they have to be in broad Scots.”</i></div>
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<i>There has been a huge outcry to extend the October 1 deadline and the soft- hearted judges have acquiesced. The closing date, probably early in 2013, will be announced shortly.</i></div>
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<i>So please think big and start composing.</i></div>
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<i>For details of the prizes, judges, rules and the new 2013 deadline for entries either visit Facebook below or e mail<a href="mailto:tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.co.uk" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.<wbr></wbr>co.uk</a></i></div>
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<i> </i></div>
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<i>Facebook Page </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tam-O-Shanter-Reboot/252811928174073" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><i>http://www.facebook.com/pages/<wbr></wbr>Tam-O-Shanter-Reboot/<wbr></wbr>2528119281740</i>73</a></div>
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In other words, come up with an original and apt take on the story!! As for me, after 500+ lines, I fear I may be Burnsed out.</div>
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Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-57944667530821082702012-10-28T21:02:00.001+00:002012-10-28T21:20:24.446+00:00The worst pop song ever?<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Okay, I was thinking about this today and whenever people ask what is the worst song ever, they normally go for novelty records like The Birdie Song or Agadoo but for me, the creme de la creme has to be this effort from the Brotherhood of Man, which actually reached Number 1 in the UK pop charts in 1977.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">For me, this song is so wrong on so many levels. Just take a look at the lyrics - </span><br />
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<b style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><i><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Long ago high on a mountain in Mexico</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">lived a young shepherd boy Angelo</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">met a young girl and he loved her so</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">rich was she</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">came from a very high family</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Angelo knew it could never be</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">they ran away to their destiny.</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Running away together</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">running away forever</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Angelo</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Running away from danger</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">running from every stranger</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Angelo.</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">They knew it wasn't wrong</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">they found a love so strong</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">they took their lives that night and in the morning light</span><br style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">they found them on the sand</span></i><span style="color: sienna; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;"><i>they saw them lying there hand in hand</i>.</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">So, basically, the song is about a young shepherd boy in Mexico called Angelo who runs away with a young girl from a rich family, even though "he knows that their love could never be." Presumably he feels her family would not consider him worthy of their daughter. So, rather than giving her up selflessly, he inveigles her to run away from the mountain down to the coast and there they enter into a suicide pact and kill themselves. Both of them, if the writer of the song is to be believed, considered that their love was so strong, that a suicide pact was the only possible way out of their predicament.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Point number one - if Angelo loved this girl so selflessly and so strongly, why did he not hand her the chance of future happiness and simply piss off? And vice versa? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Point number two - Angelo knew it could never be, so they ran far far away and killed themselves? Why? Why not kill themselves on the mountain and save their next of kin the task of carting their bodies back?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Point number three - they are "running away from danger" What danger? What could be more dangerous than dying? And why the need to avoid strangers? Surely its their family they should be avoiding?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Point number four - this is a tragedy about two young people, Angelo and ..erm.. a young girl from a high family. Not even worth naming. Angelo is "running away together." (what on earth does this mean?) His name is repeated ad nauseum (pun intended) throughout the song but there is no mention of the young wan's name? What kind of anti-feminine clap trap is this?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Point number five - if you are going to perform a song about a terrible double suicide, would you really do it with a big cheesey grin on your face and dancing around like you were in a bad seventies disco? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px;">Sorry, I just cannot believe a worse song ever got so high in the charts...</span></div>
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-36050988658145994762012-10-03T14:01:00.001+01:002012-10-03T14:01:55.839+01:00Tam o'Shanter rebooted and extended<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5cp5F5wr4ZQ/UGw0cy1mcPI/AAAAAAAAEn8/ekbS8PdmcfE/s1600/Tam_O'Shanter_Inn_-_Sign_-_geograph.org.uk_-_411272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5cp5F5wr4ZQ/UGw0cy1mcPI/AAAAAAAAEn8/ekbS8PdmcfE/s320/Tam_O'Shanter_Inn_-_Sign_-_geograph.org.uk_-_411272.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I posted <b><u><a href="http://stammeringpoet.blogspot.ie/2012/09/re-booting-tam-oshanter.html" target="_blank">here</a></u></b> recently about the exciting competition to reboot the wonderful Burns poem Tam o'Shanter (mind the spelling when entering - it is the small o, not the O' of Irish surnames!!)<br />
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I sent off my effort and have received a reply from the organisers which may be of help to any of you currently gnawing on your pencil top trying to find a rhyme for Carlsberg.<br />
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<i style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> We have had a lot of people writing begging to extend the deadline so we have agreed to do that, and the new deadline will be set early in 2013.</i><br />
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<i>We are very pleased with the response so far; some brimfull of wit and wisdom, lovely imagery and some very good lines . But there is something slightly depressingly similar about some of them, kebabs occur so often that the competition could almost be retitled “Carry on up the Kebab”, and a lot of downright squalor and sordidness. The original Tam avoids that. Can we not a couple of hundred years later do as well? And does it only have to be about a man out on the piss pulling the birds………….. there are so many other escapades which can go horribly wrong to choose from. Burns did not have much choice, we have.<u></u><u></u></i></div>
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<i>So think big, think bold and start scribbling- all entries or request for competition rules to <span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="mailto:tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.co.uk" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.<wbr></wbr>co.uk</a></span></i></div>
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Sadly my entry, while not exactly mentioning kebabs, does in fact contain a Tandoori, together with plenty of squalor and sordidness; however, I am not too downhearted, as I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Hope of success was minimal anyway.</div>
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And, did I mention, the competition is FREE!</div>
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-64879918915368382742012-09-30T23:41:00.000+01:002012-09-30T23:41:57.794+01:00Undesirable tenants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vw7BEMi5SwI/UGjJSvl3-yI/AAAAAAAAEno/BmjpOut-blY/s1600/Phil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vw7BEMi5SwI/UGjJSvl3-yI/AAAAAAAAEno/BmjpOut-blY/s320/Phil.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
There’s a house in your community<br />
the Council have been eying.<br />
They seized it with impunity<br />
for vacant it was lying.<br />
<br />
And now there’s talk they’re letting it<br />
to people who aren’t suited.<br />
But soft, they won’t be getting it –<br />
that move will be disputed.<br />
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I feel your hurt, I feel your pain,<br />
your fear of mad carousing.<br />
I know it’s vital to maintain<br />
the value of your housing.<br />
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Why should they impose their clout<br />
and make you suffer penance?<br />
Why should they let their houses out<br />
to undesirable tenants?<br />
<br />
I’ve been accused, and wrongly so,<br />
of words that are the basest,<br />
but you, my dear constituents, know<br />
yours truly is no racist.<br />
<br />
I know this all seems sinister<br />
but I am here to guide you.<br />
No Fine Gael minister <br />
will move in there beside you.<br />
<br />
<em>Environment Minister Phil Hogan asked his local council to stop a Traveller family getting a house after complaints to him as the local TD.</em><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hogan-request-to-council-not-to-house-traveller-family-ignored-3241322.html">http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hogan-request-to-council-not-to-house-traveller-family-ignored-3241322.html</a><br />
<br />
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<br />
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Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-20317536435424296072012-09-30T21:13:00.000+01:002012-09-30T21:13:36.830+01:00Aphrodite in her nightie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V5uoertJLJU/UGilKzO6bxI/AAAAAAAAEnU/x5kOfLBv85s/s1600/aphrodite_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V5uoertJLJU/UGilKzO6bxI/AAAAAAAAEnU/x5kOfLBv85s/s320/aphrodite_.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>
Aphrodite (Roman equivalent Venus) was the Goddess of leurve, beauty, pleasure and
general hanky-panky, if you are ever asked this question on Mastermind. I know because I've just googled her (metaphorically speaking, of course)<br />
She is also the subject of the <strong><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.tapestryofbronze.com/OdeForm.html" target="_blank">Autumn 2012 Odes to the Olympians Poetry Contest</a></span></strong>, a free to enter competition (I'll repeat that - a free to enter competition) designed to improve our knowledge of the immortals of Greek mythology, now living in much reduced circumstances in a tenement building in downtown Athens.<br />
Closing date is November 30th, maximum 30 lines. The hugely talented David Mohan has won this competition before but don't let thast put you off because I won it one time too. And if I can win it, so can anyone.Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-74852817206244590412012-09-29T12:17:00.001+01:002012-09-29T12:17:41.974+01:00Re-booting Tam o'Shanter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t215cSJvbW8/UGbWJdfBYgI/AAAAAAAAEnA/7OI7kVKINUA/s1600/brig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t215cSJvbW8/UGbWJdfBYgI/AAAAAAAAEnA/7OI7kVKINUA/s320/brig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This looked such a challenge that I actually came out of retirement and composed my entry yesterday afternoon and had great fun doing it too. One of the great epic poems - Tam o'Shanter by Robbie Burns - is apparently in need of a reboot to bring it up to date. It really is a wonderful poem and gave us not only the hat but the Cutty Sark too. The closing date below says October 1st but I have it on good authority that it has been extended to the end of the year.<br />
Sadly my poem runs to 264 lines (or 44 sextets) so somewhere I have to trim seven stanzas. I believe it is probably the longest poem wot I have wrote.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Tam o’ Shanter was written by our national bard, Robert Burns, way back in
1790. The story of Tam’s journey home from the tavern after a few too many is
infamous. But now a new challenge has been set! </i><br />
<i>The Great Reboot of Tam o’ Shanter challenges you to bring the bard’s poem
into the 21st century. Following the structure of the original, you are invited
to come up with a new, modern twist on this old classic. The organisers are
looking for someone to write a piece, in English or Scots, thinking about what
Burn’s would have written if he were around today. An outing to a football match
in Barcelona, a blind date to Benidorm, a hen party, a rave at a zombie
night-club... it’s up to you! </i><br />
<i>Have a look at the full details below:<br /><br />• The poem should be about a
night out and the return home after a wild and unpredicted experience – of
whatever kind! <br />• It should be written in Scots or English and be the
original work of the author, unpublished and not accepted for publication
elsewhere.<br />• It should not be under consideration in other writing
competitions and should not be a translation of another author’s work. <br />•
The original 'Tam o’ Shanter' runs to 224 lines. Entries should be no longer
than that, and particularly short poems are not appropriate: so, no limericks,
sonnets or villanelles, please. <br />• Any metrical form would be welcome –
the ballad stanza, rhyming couplets, iambic pentameters, free verse are all
welcome options. We are looking for a narrative poem of substance, insight and
wit.<br />• The competition is open to anyone over the age of
16.<br /><br /><strong>How to enter</strong><br />• All entries are to be made
online to: <a href="http://www.cityofliterature.com/tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.co.uk" target="_blank">tamoshanterreboot@hjlockhart.co.uk</a><br />• You can make as
many entries as you like.<br />• Entries will be acknowledged by E mail.<br />•
There is no fee for entry.<br /><br /><strong>Closing date for entries is: October 1st 2012</strong></i><br />
<i>Entry implies acceptance of all the rules. Copyright remains with its author,
but the sponsor or its nominee will have the unrestricted right to publish any
one or more of the entries for the purpose of promotion. The author’s name will
always be acknowledged.</i><br />
<i><strong>The Judges:</strong><br />Lesley Duncan, Poetry Editor of The Herald;
Charles MacLean, Whisky Evangelist; Hugh Lockhart, Trustee of FSFF, David
Purdie, editor of The Burns Encyclopaedia; Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish
Literature at Glasgow University; Alexander McCall Smith, novelist.</i><br />
<i><strong>The Prizes</strong><br />The three best entries will submit to final
judgement at an event in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum beside the Auld
Haunted Kirk of Alloway, in Ayrshire, Scotland and prizes will be awarded as
below:<br />1st prize £500<br />2nd prize £200<br />3rd prize £100<br />And a further
four prizes of £25 each.</i><br />
Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-26868524161801827452012-09-13T09:03:00.001+01:002012-09-13T09:03:56.039+01:00Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d_jw5JIM89I/UFGRQl5D2aI/AAAAAAAAEmU/r_PE-vsa9MI/s1600/francis_ledwidge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d_jw5JIM89I/UFGRQl5D2aI/AAAAAAAAEmU/r_PE-vsa9MI/s1600/francis_ledwidge.jpg" /></a></div>
The annual prestigious Francis Ledwidge Poetry Awards 2012 are now open for submissions. Run by
<span style="background-color: #d8d0c8;">Liam O'Meara and the Inchicore Ledwidge Society, the top three poems get nominated for the Forward Prize UK, which is a good thing to have on your CV. Full details <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inchicore-Ledwidge-Society/133648683339547" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: red;">here</span></strong></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #d8d0c8;">All entries must be submitted before 5th November.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #d8d0c8;">Somehow I managed second in this competition last year and earnestly hoped that winner Jessamine O'Connor would fail a drugs test or something. No such luck. But dead chuffed with second.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #d8d0c8;">My wife has Ledwidges in her ancestry but we have been unable to link them to Slane.William Ledwidge was a music teacher and vocalist in Dublin in the mid 1800s. Among his many children was William Ledwidge, who later became famous as Wilhelm Ludwig, the bass opera singer, mentioned in Ulysses and darling of the Irish stage. Another was Joseph Ledwidge who was a sugar boiler, my wife's great great grandfather.</span>Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6689448175317552618.post-45599153518797745572012-09-08T13:09:00.003+01:002012-09-08T13:09:25.945+01:00New poetry competition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJSV95sub0Y/UEs0gt6jhqI/AAAAAAAAEl8/PiJxtHNbUKs/s1600/O'Grady,%2520Desmond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJSV95sub0Y/UEs0gt6jhqI/AAAAAAAAEl8/PiJxtHNbUKs/s1600/O'Grady,%2520Desmond.jpg" /></a></div>
From Barney Sheehan and the good people at the White House<br />
<br />
<em>White House Limerick Poetry presents the Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition, open to all poets from all around the world.</em><br />
<em>Each poet can submit up to three poems.</em><br />
<em>Poems must be unpublished.</em><br />
<em>Closing date: 31st October 2012</em><br />
<em><br /></em>
<em>A shortlist of 40 poems will be selected by the judges and author poets are invited to read them during November 2012 (10 per evening) at the White House Limerick Poetry Open Mic that takes place every Wednesday at White House Bar in Limerick, Ireland. Poets that cannot come to the live readings, due to distance or other impediments, can read their poems in video conference over the internet or can submit a recorded video or, if they are technology shy, can nominate someone to read in their place.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Judges will select 10 finalists that are invited to read that their poems at the Final Competition Celebration at the beginning of December in Limerick.</em><br />
<em>During the Final Competition Celebration the winner will be presented with Desmond O'Grady Trophy.</em><br />
<em>Entries can be submitted online </em><a href="http://www.desmondogrady.com/poetrycompetition.html"><em>http://www.desmondogrady.com/poetrycompetition.html</em></a><br />
<em>While online submission is preferred, postal submissions are accepted at the following address:</em><br />
<em>Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition</em><br />
<em>White House Bar</em><br />
<em>52, O'Connell Street</em><br />
<em>Limerick</em><br />
<em>Ireland</em><br />
<em><br /></em>
<em>Please provide Name, Surname, Telephone number and Address, otherwise entries cannot be accepted.</em><br />
<em><br /></em>
<em>For any queries e-mail us at DesmondOGradyPoetryCompetition@gmail.com or phone us at 00353-86-8657494</em><br />
<br />
Dare I say it but it seems that this competition may be free. Shock! Horror!Peter Gouldinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292063172122249202noreply@blogger.com0