Buggles sang that Video Killed the Radio Star,
well, it looks like Kenco killed the coffilosopher,
I didn’t cry into my coffee when I saw their advert,
although seeing a Russell Brand lookalike hurt,
Thinking up a new age didn’t take me long round the bend,
coffilosophy was the beginning, philosophtea is the end.
Couple of quick poems for you inspired by Kenco’s cofficionado advert, after I’d suggested my coffilosophy five months earlier. I wrote the Folding Mirror poem below first, and then when I started writing an introduction Star and coffilosopher quickly rhymed, so I turned it into the poem above. They both have the same topic, and I think the two forms complement each other.
Coffee Has-Beans, Tea-Leaf Cleans
Kenco said : they were doing good
asked us to help, I said I would
already given them money
volunteered my coffilosophy
received no answer, five months later
cofficionado leads advertising
different name same meaning
he’s a bit posher, got a special skill
rides bike: not run of mill
Title wordplays has-beens.
Philosophtea can be shortened to philosophT.
I am a renowned runner: re. owned by my higher classes.
During XaW Files I consciously tried to ‘travel’ inside my brain, thinking of how I was thinking while thinking; not only conscious, but also self-consciously conscious, conscious of my consciousness, so I could remember the process and write it down. I don’t think I’m the first writer to do this, but it’s not common.
Advances in Astronomy and Neurology
It was at a time when I was seeing the brain compared to space online, with advances in astronomy and neurology coinciding, and helping us see farther and clearer into space, and brain imaging opening up the working of the mind like never before. Amazingly, there were lots of similarities, with space having trillions of galaxies and the brain neurons; as well as everything else around them, connecting them and each other.
An original concept I thought of along those lines was that those of us who have a desire to get out of our minds on drink etc was like we had a space black hole in our brain, and that the time when we’re at that exciting and energising time of merriment, is like being at the space black hole’s event horizon; in space the gravity of the black hole is getting stronger, around the event horizon, as the feeling while drinking etc gets stronger the closer you get to being ‘out of your mind’; in me anyway.
Some people are excellent ‘astronauts’, spotting the danger, and being able to navigate away from it. For me, and people like me, the event horizon is where we want to be; the most exciting place, where everything is happening; but maintaining your position is almost impossible for any length of time.
Charlotte Church Brain Documentary
Although I’ve seen lots of images of the brain, none have looked like my Event Horizon concept… until a couple of images on Charlotte Church’s documentary first shown last month and available on BBC iplayer in the U.K. for 8 more days. Don’t know about other availability.
The image being pointed to is the brain normally, with most connections circling the outside of the brain, and just a few connections crossing the brain’s ‘black hole event horizon’ in the centre (they don’t call it that in the documentary). The other image is the brain after taking hallucinogenics, with many more connections crossing the event horizon, which is the same for alcohol, and why you can remember and initiate much more information after a few drinks.
Brain Stimulation from Exercise
After stimulating and medicating my brain for about twenty-five years through drink etc I started running more in 2003. At first it was more about the exercise, and I learnt the scientific benefits of it for the brain afterwards. I watched a good video on it this morning on the Cristian Mihai blog, with a wolf-metaphor image intro, so repeat the video here.
I’m not telling you what to do, or how to stimulate or escape your brain. I’m just writing about my experiences, promoting my writing and concepts, with the best of my knowledge… which is nearly all from reading and watching other people, with a bit of personal input.
Some people have been a benefit to me, such as great greenYgreyliens and awesome AAWs who get me the way I mean it; and some it has benefitted me escaping, such as those who try to ‘get me’ by depicting me and my writing the were-ong (wrong) way; remembering were is the human part of the werewolf.
Learning more about the brain and body, and how they work inside and out, has made a big difference to my life, making me try and reward them more, rather than destroying them, and I hope it does the same for you… if you are friend and not foe… and if you’re the latter, and try it, I hope it helps you think in a more enlightened way!
I was watching The Lobster (2015) today, having recorded it on television last night. It has lots of offbeat comedy around a central theme of animal transformation, making me think there was a lot of my greenYgrey were concept relevance. However, there has been a lot of such comedy in fiction, and a lot of it inspired me. But then my neurons really sparked when they saw a new Kenco advert for the first time, and that really rang a bell, as its central character was a cofficionado; and is also the star of their website.
That’s after I sent them an email last September telling them about my coffilosopher/coffilosophy concept, and never heard back:
Marc Latham<greenygrey@gmail.com>
27/09/2017
to Kenco
Dear Kenco,
Last year I took part quite a lot in your campaign to help the people of Central America choose a coffee-growing peaceful path.
I am a real doctor of philosophy, and love writing on coffee. So, during my last book, combining philosophy and fantasy fiction, I declared myself the first self-titled coffilosopher, combining coffee and philosopher.
Although there have been many coffilosophers before me, including my writing hero Jack Kerouac; and since I declared myself a coffilosopher I read Patti Smith’s memoir M Train, where she writes of being a dedicated coffee connoisseur; I am the first doctor of philosopher to declare myself a coffilosopher as far as I know.
I’ve recently reached the end of my decade of writing and am currently thinking about options for the future. I was wondering if you would be interested in my work at all, either sponsoring me as a coffee advocate, or using the coffilosopher term and concept for your advertising.
Thanks for your time, Marc.
———————————————————————————————————————
Should I take it as a coffilosophy compliment and Valentine’s Day show of love? Or am I being taken for a mug (pun intended!).
Coffilosophy first appeared in my XaW Files book. If you value original ideas maybe you’ll read it to see that and many more such ideas and concepts:
I went to the scrabble doctor the other day, and told them I used to have a-l-i-e-n-a-t-e-d but now just had a-l-i-e-n.
They said it looked as if I was nearly half way to solving the problem, and well on the way to complete eradication of the problem.
However, they couldn’t give me a date, now I didn’t have the a-t-e-d any more!
They did recommend I exercise my a, l, i, e and n in a V-alen-t-i-ne poem, so inspired by my visit to the Atacama Desert in 1994, and seeing a story a couple of years ago about a mystery humanoid found there, named Ata, here’s a Folding Mirror poem divided between travel memoir and alien mystery.
The poem follows a few photos from the Atacama with relevance for the poem. There’s a slideshow of more of my photos from a happily surreal day in the desert on travel25years:
Atacama Photo Memory, Ata Alien Story
saw llamas and a vizcacha
on a day-trip to Atacama
from Arica on the Chilean Pacific
clear skies made Andes scenery terrific
leaving valleys greened by morning dew
grey mist still at scene providing clue
desert’s debatedly Earth’s driest plain
Yungay existed without hardly feeling rain
from Antofagasta to Salta
leaving Chile for Argentina
past salt lakes reflecting white-tipped mountains
run Lots ‘a las Nubes’ – ‘to the Clouds’ trains
I didn’t travel fifth highest railway on planet
bussed down from Peru and returned for exit
last been in Nazca ‘lines’, since heard of ‘alien’ Ata
did it arrive not knowing what it’d find
then perished after encounter of the fifth kind
Pima legend recall UFOs flying ‘Star Range’ – ‘Sierra Estrella’
a space highway wormhole over America
loving anteaters and coatis
flying south on Nortes
Ata survived until up to eight
fighting way above its weight
only had ten ribs on each side
human norm is twelve scientists decide
had visible tooth in Mandible jaw
human development takes year or more
Ata had only six-inches height
same as pencil or sprite
Vizcacha: South American rodent. Yungay: Chile town.
Train to the Clouds: Tren a las Nubes Lot salt story in Genesis 19, Bible. Sirius: Ata research and above photo.
Men were said to have a rib less than women on one side, according to the Adam and Eve Bible story, where Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs, but scientific study such as by 16th Century Flemish anatomist Veselius proved both genders normally have twelve each side. Nortes: Americas wind.
Sierra Estrella native history: featured in Phoenix U.F.O. documentary on YouTube.
Yesterday, I proposed that modern communication was being reduced to double-dimensionality by new social media, with somebody jumping on any words and taking them out of context, misunderstanding them or considering them ‘out-of-date’. While out on a beautiful mid-MUSE (my Midwinter Until Spring Equinox, January 21st – March 21st, acronym, with loads of meaning) walk and run in the sun yesterday, after writing the poem explaining the ‘Third Dimension’ of communication, I thought that another I’ve thought of is when no meaning is intended, but people read something into it; looking for meaning in any words, no matter how empty of thought they were when created.
After explaining the three meanings yesterday, this fourth one is like a zero protocol; prequel to a trilogy, reminding me of Ghost Protocol, which a little eerily was the fourth in the Mission Impossible series… and sometimes I think my writing is MI too! To be fair, this is a pretty basic poem, but I think yesterday’s was somewhat of a classic, so please consider this a lull in my genius, like a musical group playing a slow song to give themselves and the crowd a breather!:
Circular Diamond, Dimension Zero
no
messaging
of victory paean
words without meaning
round-a-bout, merry-go-round
attempt at minimality
no refrain poetry
rhyming
yes
From a quick web search:
paean – A paean is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving;
or a metrical foot used in both poetry and prose, consisting of four syllables, with one of the syllables being long and the other three short. refrain – The refrain is the stanza that keeps on repeating after some lines in a poem. minimality – Smallest in amount or degree;
or barely adequate.
While I like Rammstein mainly for their melodies, as with most music, I also like their controversial topics pushing the boundaries of thought, and freedom of speech, like their compatriots The Scorpions before them. When I was a youth I found it interesting because it was new, now I like it because it keeps up the freedom of speech in music, and continues to make you think and ask questions.
While social media has a lot of good uses, I think it has impaired this, with everything taken at face value, and interpreted within the most basic usual first impressions promoted by political correctness: everything is racist, sexist, homophobic etc.
I don’t want to spoil the poem too much, so will let you read it, but will answer any questions in the comments. I’ll look forward to communicating with you… especially if you think I’m being homophobic or sexist; or transgender or gay!
Doctor of Philosophy, Explaining 3 Dimensionality
He’s a woman – she’s a man
Scorpions are transphobic, or tran Dude looks like a lady
same Aerosmith double-dimensionality
social media reduces to one
choose your side, have some fun
new age of political correctness, conversation police will get us
finding word ghosts, you thought dead
what’s that joke you said
triple-dimensionality stripped bare
Latham guilty of talking hair
You rationalise, calling him woman
If he thinks – women all bad
The fourth Folding Mirror poem in the new wave, started off with the two outer lines a few days ago, then I filled the rest in this morning. I noticed mutter rhymes with clutter and fitted into the gossip theme. One of my favourite Rammstein songs is Mutter (embedded below), but I didn’t know what it meant until researching it for the poem (I’d always imagined it meaning the same as in English!). After finding out it meant mother I then paired it with father and its German translation; and mirrored it with some English-German philosophers.
Poem Philosophy Explanation
The female mother/mutter is mirrored (reflection switching sides) with Mary Wollstonecraft and Hannelore Wolf. I didn’t know any female German philosophers and looked them up on Wikipedia. Wolf was the most apt name, especially as Wollstonecraft became Wolfstonecraft in the greenYgrey world. That might seem like a supernatural coincidence, but is probably more down to my researching perseverance… although it didn’t take long… and my self-proclaimed genius connecting ability!
Nietzsche speaks for himself (not any more though), while I included Sir David Attenborough because I consider him an important modern philosopher, and his name rhymed with clear.
The poem contains a reference to my post-Folding Mirror new philosophy concept coffilosophy, and was written through another one; a pristine POP (PinkyOrangePurple) sunrise; from which arose POPilosophy.
Gossip ist Schwein, Silence is Golden
chitter chatter, creating clutter
vater zu father, mother to mutter
on streets, in workplace
myth creation, without trace
tell me no lie, false data obscures why
written books, theory paradigms
in solitude, (l)on(e)ly times
Wollstonecraft to Wolf, Neitzsche zu Attenborough
coffee coffilosophy, cleaning clear
I watched the filmSuffragette last night, and it invigorated my support for the feminist movement – to equality and beyond, paraphrashing Buzz Lightyear; the beyond does not mean superiority over men, just equality in society, and then beyond for the mind, as I think having equality and freedom will inspire developments in the mind; the same as for men fighting free of slavery and class.
Poetry of Suffragette City
Suffragette had a middle-aged work boss preying on powerless younger staff, including the protagonist Maud, like ones I saw in my day-job; and a couple of tutors at university, although I don’t know how much the latter were like that, or if it was as much the student/secretary – with the one she got engaged to anyway!
The opening three words of the new poem were inspired by a song that’s embedded underneath the poem. I hoped the 60s to 90s counter-culture would inspire such a time, but at the moment society seems to be going backwards, with the stormy sea policy stopping the reservoir cleaning itself out, and providing the clarity needed for peace and love to prevail.
A beautiful Italian woman was killed and dismembered by an immigrant recently. I only heard about it because it sent a local man mad, and he went on a ‘racist’ shooting spree. I don’t condone the latter’s actions, but both the woman and man are victims of the European immigration policy over the last twenty years, which has fuelled thousands of deaths, local and migrant, and many more rapes and robberies of European nationals trying to live normal lives in the only homes they know.
I know the old problems for women are still instilled in British and most European societies. We really don’t need a new wave of sexism, and one that is even more brutal than the one the Suffragettes fought against a century ago! German women have started a new #120db feminist movement specifically targeting the new wave of sexism caused by immigration.
Suffragette Maud, Made Suffering
Age of Love, floating in space
soft as silk, lost in lace
beautiful women, natural harmonising
if society is cloud, they are silver lining
sunshine provides neurons spark, some kept in dark
locked away under key, never realising their potentiality
imprisoned minds, brainwashed mentality
only know containment, narrow mind factors Stockholm Syndrome victims, supporting their captors
I started writing the poem below as the introduction this now is, but T.V., brekkie and coffee rhyming inspired me to put it into Folding Mirror (my) poetry form.
Making Axl Rose Look Sociable
I think I’d heard of The Fall before Mark E. Smith’s recent passing, but didn’t know anything about them or him. I’ll let you make your own minds up if you watch the documentary, embedded after the poem, but will of course answer any questions and give my opinion if you ask any in the comments.
For those new to FMPs, the word count has to mirror, inspired by forms like the Haiku’s 5-7-5, but FMPs can be any length, and have any subject.
This poem mirrors names in the headline, with Mark Smith and the Magnificent Seven having the additional mirror of both being MSs (which I didn’t notice at the time of writing the poem.)
The narcissistic self-parody me jokes that he only included the E to have a 10-letter name like me, which is obviously just a funny thought, as he predates me biologically, and much more creatively.
The outer lines mirror 5-5-2,2-5, with the central line a 4,4.
There are also capital-letter words in the two outer lines, and two inner ones.
Mark E. Smith and the Magnificent Seven
This morning turned off T.V.
after brekkie and strong coffee
work ready, write away
but YouTube tempted astray
it was a documentary, calling out to me
didn’t know TheFall’s inspiration
five minutes, brain creation
hour later there were seven
Magnificent memory from movie heaven
![242 Mirror Poems and Reflections by [Latham, Marc]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGbUqr9tL.jpg)
mistYmuse 
