witches season, poetic reason

It’s October 21st, which means there’s only one month until mistYmuse (Most Ideal Sunrise Time – Midwinter Until Spring Equinox; mYm acronym!) 20/21. This week is False Dawn Week, with sunrises getting to their latest before clocks go back an hour on Sunday in the UK; ending British Summer Time (BST).

MYMORY PRELIMINARY

There was a nice sunrise over Leeds on Monday, just north of the Town Hall on the horizon.

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This morning I wrote this little poem. It started off spontaneously, then about half way down I thought its Earth’s north and south hemispheres subject matter made it ideal for a Folding Mirror Poem: the original inspiration for this blog site.

From Sun’s Face, Out Into Space

As planet’s north
points to space
no longer fronting
our star’s fiery face

we remember turn, circling as one

the heat will weaken
but light beacon
will remain alight
beyond winter night

Searching for my book again on Amazon and seeing its 2012 date made me think that some of the poems in there must have been written a decade ago now, and searching on this site’s October 2010 section took me back to that time; in this season of reminiscing.

One poem is about becoming middle-aged, for those who think I try to act too young! Others are more experimental, in a time I remember as very creatively exciting, with blogging and science converging to create lots of subject matter and a place to easily publish it.

Free eBooks on Smashwords

My latest poetry book and second of greenYgrey fantasy fiction parody comedy Australia travel on Smashwords are now free for this week as an ebook download:

Werewolf of Oz: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/325567

242 Mirror Poems and Reflections: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321583

 

Poetry On Site Updated

I just updated the poetry on this site list, taking it up to 312. I’ve written and posted seventy-one Folding Mirror poems since self-publishing my 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections (121 each) second poetry and philosophy collection in 2012… at the cheapest price possible.

If I hadn’t written it I’d be wanting it for Winter Solstice Christmas!:

Our Place in Space Poem Inspired by French Film

I got the idea of ‘humanity are waves of the ocean, not the oceans’ while watching the French film Heal the Living (Réparer les vivants); an adaptation by Katell Quillévéré from a book by Maylis de Kerangal, who studied history and philosophy in Rouen and Paris.

Inspiring Surfing Sea Sleep Scenes

I don’t know if my thoughts were what the film’s creators intended to convey, and my thoughts were also influenced by my prior learning and knowledge, especially into space and astronomy, animals and nature, including UFOs and our place in the universe.

I thank all those who’ve helped me see so far in my lifetime, from the astronomers on Earth to the astronauts in space; and those in power who’ve allowed freedom of information, to the investigators who’ve conducted their own research, and presented it in the media.

Opening Sky Sight

Without all of you, I would just know the sky above, and be wondering about what is beyond. I would say like my ancestors, but who knows what they knew, and who they had contact with. We only know about 5000 years of ‘history’ and have only travelled as far as our moon, both of which are tiny amounts in the vastness of space time.

We are finding out more about our past and present all the time, and may it continue into the distant future… remembering the first and foremost rule is that the limitations are ours, but that our perseverance has broken through the placenta atmosphere, and we are still alive. We are like a baby seeing the world for the first time (this wave of humanity baby anyway!), and still have a lot of learning to do…

Earth as ‘Pale Blue Dot’ photo

 

To Heal the Living, Creating the Life Given

I am a drop
in the ocean
humanity a wave
of animal sea
our planet Earth
a universal pebble

small blue dot, thanks a lot

helping me see
wood and tree
place of reality
pioneers of astronomy
set me free
in to out infinity

 

Our solar system planets.

Lots more space discovery stuff in my poetry collection, set at the lowest rate possible on Amazon, and an ideal Winter Solstice Christmas present for any space poetry fans!:

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Parody Comedy Worked For Me!

Goop products have worked for me, Dr. Marc Latham. My hair was balding and greying until using Goop, and now look at me:

Self-Parody Hilarity

No, the above is an example of my brilliant self-parody comedy, that went over the heads of most people most of my life, making me seem boastful or deluded, rather than a comedy genius along the lines of Peter Sellers or Tommy Cooper.

Sorry if I built your hopes up about Goop, and that is really Gwyneth Paltrow in the photo.

Critical Writer of PhD Standard

This is also an example of greenYgreyism at its most intricate, and admittedly confusing to the average person, who believes in supporting who they like without criticism, and doing the opposite with those they don’t.

While I like Gwyneth Paltrow’s look and healthy living attitude, and generally think she’s doing good, the article I saw this morning that inspired this blog is a negative one, after Goop was criticised for making misleading advertising claims.

I think the main lesson this teaches is the danger of companies becoming too big and profit driven, with targets etc taking over from the original good intentions.

Great greenYgrey

That’s one reason why I kept the greenYgrey to me only: so I could control it to its original intentions, and not let it be turned into something it wasn’t.

It doesn’t seem to have done me much good though, and those who were unethical, like Russell Brand, were rewarded by mainstream society and the ‘counter-culture’ that’s supposed to be rebelling against it!

Hopefully some of the greenYgrey messages got through in the end, but I don’t know if it was the greenYgrey or just other factors. That era, started by New Labour, is over now, and some of those problems have been made better… but others have surfaced… like the human ‘fault lines’ reminiscent of geological ones I wrote a poem about on this site over six years ago.

Political Opportunity Missed

I think if New Labour had kept immigration under control and turned Blighty into a nice green environmental country reminiscent of Scandinavian ones most of the problems we’ve been struggling against this century wouldn’t have happened.

Yet our leaders continue to think we must have some mission, and make life difficult for everyone; that when things seem nice and quiet we need another challenge, either challenging the ‘bad guys’ abroad or letting in millions to the country.

Do they not realise that they are allied to ‘bad guys’, such as Saudi Arabia, and that there are a lot of ‘bad guys’ coming into the country… including our elite schools and universities, where many of the world’s dictators have studied… and looked down at people like me!

On the other side we have the far left wanting to change everything, which will mean another five or ten years of upheaval and discord; just to take the country back to the previous century! I don’t want fascism, but they don’t make democracy look good!

Banksy Art – Suicidal Tendencies – Umberto Eco – Marcel Duchamp – German Protestors

Hero hippies aren’t on crack
they’re on the railroad track…

… adding colour to the greenygrey
human nature beautiful display.

Banksy YouTube Conspiracy?

I wrote Banksy’s shredding of his painting at Sotheby’s was reminiscent of Suicidal Tendencies’ Art of Rebellion album cover in yesterday’s blog post.

I also wrote it was a total coincidence I was listening to it on YouTube. I think it was, but it was a suggested video, or their Freedumb album (1999) was first, and AoR followed, so who knows how it works; I don’t!

Maybe Banksy works for YouTube, or knows somebody that does?

Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum

If you think about things like that, the possibilities are endless. I recently read Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum (1988), and he makes that point; that there are always connections if you look hard enough; something I showed in my XaW Files: Beyond Humanity.

I am now certain XaW is a credible Eco for beginners: a less scholarly, but more entertaining version. We both studied semiotics at university; I did mine on my own, straying from the methodology the department wanted, starved of supervision in my first year.

Both books have thin plotlines and are more a writer digging deep into philosophy, psychology and knowledge, for personal learning and sharing. I was bored for much of the over 600 pages of Pendulum, and think most modern casual readers will be; whereas I wrote XaW in small entertaining sections, ideal for the modern social media user with low attentions spans, because that’s what I am; especially because I think I always have had ADHD.

Eco (no relation to environment!) passed away a while ago, and was obviously a great writer and academic, so I’m not being ‘competitive’!

Banksy Art History – Marcel Duchamp’s Readymadesy

The greenYgrey didn’t find the greenYgrey world’s Andy Warhol, Andy Wolfhol, on the XaW Files travel quest, but it did find Marcel Duchamp and his Readymades. I realised that the relevant images and photos I’d been rebranding greenygrey/greenYgrey; and then POP (PinkyOrangePurple) were like what Duchamp had done a century earlier, in what some people consider the most important artistic contribution of the century. I named mine readYmades, in line with the greenYgrey rebranding!

Jonathan Jones traced Banksy back to Duchamp in an article on MSN today. There is even a link to the Suicidal Tendencies’ Art of Rebellion album cover featuring the Mona Lisa, as Jones cites Duchamp’s drawing on a copy of the Mona Lisa.

A fresh coffilosophy thought now wonders if Suicidal Tendencies knew of Duchamp, and they were referencing him by featuring the Mona Lisa. Are they modern dadaists, protesting against elitism and war in their own LA way… the possibilities are endless..!

I hadn’t connected the railroad tracks image at the top of the blog post to the Banksy-Duchamp article when I started writing this, but now I realise it’s my latest greenYgrey readYmade.

The greenYgrey may have left Earth, but it’s spirit lives on…

I apologise if this blog post has been too long, and it’s been very male. Gwyneth Paltrow was on the news this morning promoting her Goop brand, and she talked and looked great, and many women are capable of great art and deep thinking, as I’ve tried to strongly promote over the last fifteen years of arduous; sometimes fun; creative writing… and editing, which is never really fun, but is rewarding when improving the spontaneous prose and eliminating errors that would have spoilt it.

 

Reflections 36-40 from Folding Mirror Poetry Book

Over forty reflections from 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections are on the Writing and Poetry blog now, so following on from reflections 1-5, reflections 6-10, reflections 11-15, reflections 16-20, reflections 21-25, reflections 26-30 , and reflections 31-35, here’s reflections 36-40 in what is this blog’s 400 post:

Reflection 36 mirrored When Life Looked Into the Mirror of Death:

When I started writing Folding Mirror poems I was looking for an ideal identity, hoping that I would find ancestors I could really relate with; maybe in line with the hippy ideal.
But I had to face the reality that the first settler-ancestors were forest-felling, meat-slaughtering, people-sacrificing humans.
They also did great things of course, such as surviving in harsh conditions, creating art and stone circles, and worshipping nature.
In other words, they lived like most human communities around the world, before being invaded by other humans with superior technology.
While the ancients’ world seems better than ours in many ways; such as freedom, space and the amount of nature; for comfort, peacefulness and human rights ours seems preferable.

Reflection 37 mirrored Sacrifice and Celebration:

Life is finite
time immemorial
we see changes
we feel differences
we are alive.

Our age flows
without interruption
we commemorate passing
we welcome return
we accept time.

Reflection 38 mirrored Humanity is the Filter of the World:

Most of my interest is in humanity
but its tainted with concern,
for we seem out of control
on a global scale:
tearing down the forests,
cutting up the animals,
polluting the seas,
thawing the glaciers,
increasing the likelihood of more war.

Reflection 39 mirrored PEACE DAY POEM:

Creatures of habit
go with the flow
they do what they know;
Within the flock
comfort and security
inspire aspirations for longevity.

Reflection 40 mirrored British Electorate Reunite Long Lost Political Twins:

Red Sky at night or morning

Was the New Labour government red at night or morning?
I’ve become so disillusioned by politics I don’t know
whether I’m coming or going.

Red sky at night is supposed to be shepherd’s delight
but blue and yellow has followed the red
which surely suggests it was red sky in the morning
which is a shepherd’s warning.

Reflections 31-35 from Folding Mirror Poetry Book

Over thirty-five reflections from 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections are on the Writing and Poetry blog now, so following on from reflections 1-5, reflections 6-10, reflections 11-15, reflections 16-20, reflections 21-25, and reflections 26-30 here’s reflections 31-35.

Reflection 31 mirrored As each second of the present passes:

Living the life extraordinary
is of course not as easy
as surviving the life ordinary
in mind as in body
to accomplish
tremendous feats
you must overcome
temptation to weaken
tire or tweet.
You must raise your game
in body, mind and spirit
and tame those thoughts
which would lead you astray
and one day you will make
it to a brighter day.

Reflection 32 mirrored Blue Skies, Delta Blues:

The poem was inspired by research finding that the human desire for love and drugs are both linked to the striatum part of the brain.
Like many Folding Mirrors, it combines the personal, social and wordplay. The words in the first half of the middle line; try, stray and from; derive from the main word of the second half of the line and poem: striatum.
It was thought that the poem was more psychological than social or literary, so it was included in this chapter.

Reflection 33 mirrored Hope for Humanity or Full Speed to Calamity?

Bipolar highs take you out of your shell, but increase your chances of getting shot at.

Reflection 34 mirrored Inside Out:

People and societies vary in levels of individuality. Some people pride themselves on being independent, while others want to be in the middle of everything social. Whatever the levels of individuality, if people have been born into any kind of society, they are likely to have been shaped by it to a certain extent, and will be expected to abide by the rules of that society. People might rebel, or consider themselves more independent than others, but usually they do it within the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, and follow previous examples from within that society.

Reflection 35 mirrored Railway Line Division Vision:

Ballad of a Young and Old Hobo

The young hobo
all full of myths and dreams
setting out on the highway
with nowhere to go
Where would the road lead him
what route would he follow
to a destiny of riches
or realisation of world hollow
The end of the long road
led to attempts at rooting
but the horizon always called
with new places for scooting
So the road has not ended
nor ever shall it likely
it was just suspended
reality upended
As ambitions tended
bended by society
a life in jeopardy
with no escape ahead of me
The old hobo moving along
myths and dreams no longer the fuel
new places on the old trail
sights and movement keep travelling cool.

Mirror Poem Reflections 26-30

Thirty-five reflections from 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections are on the Writing and Poetry blog now, so following on from reflections 1-5, reflections 6-10, reflections 11-15, reflections 16-20 and reflections 21-25 here’s reflections 26-30.

Reflection 26 mirrored Dying to Live, Living to Die:

Life is Like…

Life is like a journey on a neverending road,
you know you’ll never find out
the destination at the end,
but just try and learn along the way.

Life is like flying over a real rainbow,
you know you’ll never find
golden immortality at the bottom,
but just try and enjoy the journey.

Life is like a big night out,
you know that you’ll peak and tire
and not continue forever
but just try and make the most of it.

Reflection 27 mirrored Life Has More Meaning than Death:

Depression
is a state of mind
if you accept its normality
and accurate view
of the negative side
to the world cycle
that enters your life
then it’s not time
wasted.

Reflection 28 mirrored Y Green and Grey Go Together:

Reflection 28 (part 1)

‘by seeing Venus during the day while trekking in the Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks, alerted by the Sky at Night television programme; my first conscious sighting of a middle-of-the-day planet or star at the age of 46. It was on the same March 2012 trip that I took the 242 Mirror Poems cover photo.’

Reflection 28 (part 2)

The second half of the Reflection lightened the mood under a clear day and night sky with a previously unpublished comedy poem:

If the sheepdogs tell great jokes
and livestock like to clown around
under a smiling sun and moon
I want to go to the funny farm.

Reflection 29 mirrored I Can See Through You, Why Don’t People Understand Me:

I Like Your Mask

Why should you believe I like you
when I say I don’t care about myself
perhaps it’s because I can’t read your mind
as clearly as I can mine.

But the more I see of you
the more I think we’re no different
just humans living day to day
some with better masks than others.

Reflection 30 mirrored Space Brain Becoming Plain:

The poem was inspired by images of the universe and a scanned brain that looked similarly oblong.

A clear night sky from a dark viewing point is an incredible sight, but it is only what our eyes and brains can manage to see. Telescopes show the connectivity and immensity beyond our Earth view.

Human brains use complex systems to keep us functioning, but we can’t see how it is done, as our eyes see outwards. Scanning equipment shows the connectivity and immensity on the inside.

Mirror Poem Reflections 21-25

Over thirty reflections from 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections are on the Writing and Poetry blog now, so following on from reflections 1-5, reflections 6-10,  reflections 11-15 and reflections 16-20 here’s reflections 21-25.

I originally repeated Reflection 22 in 24, and have now edited it. Sorry about that!

Reflection 21

Reflection 21 mirrored Between Times of Fantasy. Maybe it was thinking of some time in the future like now when it was written. Here’s Reflection 21:

Sometimes I have written poems about my unknown future with inspiration from the forgotten past.
Then, a few years later I read it again.
The time when I wrote the poem, which is now of course the past, is then relived by the future mind that was written about.

Reflection 22

Reflection 22 mirrored Multitasking Melody:

Been walking
around the mountain
looking for a clear path
enjoying the view
now it’s getting late
time’s running out
fog’s forming
need to make a decision
or just keep rambling
to the end.

Reflection 23

Reflection 23 mirrored Not Love, Gnat Empathy:

Is it worth contesting people’s religious, political and cultural beliefs and views? While you may save them, you could also destroy them.
Somebody who might be saved in one way from a life of slavery and ignorance may in other ways die from freedom and knowledge.
And if you show them the possibility that life has no meaning, without providing anything else, are you not like a doctor taking heroin away from an addict without providing any methadone.
And for yourself, maybe you’ll ruin your career or life trying to do what you think is good, and do very little to change anything: or even make things worse by giving those you consider wrong more ammunition and an enemy to deflect attention and legitimise their cause.

Reflection 24

Reflection 24 mirrored Contented Living, Contents of Dreaming:

Keep honey cooking in the kitchen
memories on the mantelpiece
old flames in the fire.

Reflection 25

Reflection 25 mirrored Inner Strength, Mental Health:

The poem was written after the UK riots of 2011. Although I sometimes dislike modern society and yearn for a more natural one, the scenes of mass destruction against homes, businesses and landmarks looked all wrong.
Whatever the pressures and problems (if it wasn’t just greed and power), there are always places to escape if desired, rather than trying to create space in somewhere densely inhabited.
Many people feel they’re not their real selves within modern society; which is literally a construction. Most think they become their real selves outside the work environment, when they spend time with their family, play sports, or escape into the countryside.
I often wonder whether this is something inspired by life in modern society; a natural desire of your life in the here and now; or is it something imprinted in your genes stretching back to our ancestors in prehistory.

Michael McCarthy was also quoted from an article about St. Kilda published in the Independent newspaper on August 9th, 2012: ‘…I think the longing for nature in its pristine state is much older. Remember, we have been computer operators for a single generation, and workers in offices for about three; but we were farmers for 400 generations, and before that we were hunter-gatherers for perhaps 20,000.’