I'm With You In Rockland.

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Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:34:34 +0000

Penniless for Paperbacks

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:48:21 +0000

I find myself once more in paradise,
In pages hatched from intellects once flexed,
In inspiration, knowledge and advice.

Each timeworn tale as striking as the next,
Sent forth through time to meet me in this room,
Begs me to read its tantalising text.

Such ordinary words brought here to bloom,
As bland ingredients in recipes
Or chemicals in sweet-smelling perfume.

Reality returns upon a breeze.
A chill brought from the lifeless winter town:
It slaps my face and puts me ill at ease.

I cannot spend this evening buckled down
In rousing dialogue, with able minds
Placed on these shelves by talent and renown.

My pocket holds that worst dread of mankind:
An empty wallet’s taunting, vacant stare,
The stare which gives us inhibitive binds.

And so I’ll spend this evening unaware
Of buried wisdom written down to share.

Bibliomania (a pantoum)

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:24:00 +0000

Since I’m going to Hay-on-Wye today (“the town of books”), I thought I’d leave this here…

____________________________

There aren’t enough books on my shelf,
No matter the number I buy.
Although I’ve not read them myself,
I reap a relentless supply.

No matter the number I buy,
My yearning I cannot fulfil.
I reap a relentless supply
But have plenty of space yet to fill.

My yearning I cannot fulfil,
These books serve a fictional feast,
I have plenty of space yet to fill,
I’ve room yet for scores more at least.

These books serve a fictional feast;
They provide me with countless ideas.
I’ve room yet for scores more at least:
I’ll keep buying for many more years.

They provide me with countless ideas,
Although I’ve not read them myself.
I’ll keep buying for many more years;
There aren’t enough books on my shelf!

The xx - Last Christmas (Live on BBC Radio 1’s Live...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:27:00 +0000

The xx - Last Christmas (Live on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge)

Why did it take me so long to watch this?

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 13:27:55 +0000

Why did it take me so long to watch this?

Finally get to see Frank live on Saturday! Only been waiting 4...

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:17:21 +0000

Finally get to see Frank live on Saturday! Only been waiting 4 bloody years!

Photo

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:26:29 +0000

richard-cullen: looking forward to the return of the El Dude...

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 23:31:00 +0000

richard-cullen:

looking forward to the return of the El Dude Brothers!

Photo

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:48:29 +0000

Pontypridd, 2012

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:37:54 +0000

Returning home one year to find
A place I did not know,
I looked upon a town resigned
To wallow in its woe.

The city that I left that day
Was thriving in contrast
To this sorry sight that lay
Beaten and harassed.

It’s hard to see when I’m not there
What has become of home.
The streets fell into disrepair
While away I roamed

Through English paths and alleyways,
Searching for a sign
Of how to set the world ablaze
And break from my confines.

These shadow towns across the land
Lie in secret silence;
No notion of a helping hand
Occurs to the indifference

Of Tory boys, who babble on
And drain the life away
From Valley towns where hope is gone
And all is turned to grey.

Sir Philip Sidney - To Sleep

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:46:00 +0000

Sir Philip Sidney - To Sleep

"Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme"

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:39:18 +0000

“Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme”

- William Shakespeare, Sonnet V

Photo

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:55:20 +0000

Photo

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 22:09:27 +0000

Photo

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:31:00 +0000

The hopeful walks through lonely streets,with eager eyes and simple needs,away from ghosts in tiered...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:22:13 +0000

The hopeful walks through lonely streets,
with eager eyes and simple needs,
away from ghosts in tiered seats,
who watch and judge in silence
are journeys that first spring to mind,
a time when we lived unconfined,
before we all got left behind
and lost integral guidance.

The trust we had in our own selves,
and lessons learnt on old bookshelves,
outweighed the need for moral stealth
and we became tall islands.
Remember, then, those absentees,
bring them back with certainty,
and once again believe that we
can be broad-shouldered giants.

_______

This is a first draft. I’m hoping to get some feedback on this and then add another two stanzas by the end of the week.

Lines written to prevent the future

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:20:00 +0000

I’ll find you in the old folk’s home,
I’ll stop and squint and say,
‘I knew you once; when we were young
I saw you every day.’

I’ll wrack my brain and scour my thoughts
For pictures of you there,
‘But,’ I’ll say, ‘you were shorter then,
And you had purple hair.

Our drunken nights out on the town,
Blissful and chaotic,
Were often, when I came to write,
My most favoured topics.

We often talked of how we’d grow
And keep to the same path,
But I left Wales for good one year
On the first train to Bath.

Whatever happened to your life?
I missed you terribly.
Our contact broke around the time
I fled across the sea.

I knew you’d follow me out here
To find me now bereft,
I waited for you all these years,
I’m sorry that I left!’

You’ll look at me in puzzlement
And shoulder-shrug and frown,
‘I’m sorry, sir, my hair was black
And I’m from Allentown.’

The nurse will say with tight-knit lips,
As I am rolled away:
‘That man is not the one from home
That you saw every day.

We’ve been through this so many times;
He died when you weren’t there.
The boy you knew when you were young,
The boy with purple hair.’

I fucking love Camus.

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:45:00 +0000

I fucking love Camus.

Wise Other Tongue

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:28:00 +0000

I wish I could speak in that wise other tongue:
That great voice of fiction, that great voice of song.
Some words I can bluff and some phrases are known,
But sometimes it feels I should leave well alone.
I gasp and I curse for the verses to come
And search for the fountain where lyrics flow from.
Throughout all my life I have searched for a truth –
A fact that will save me from my mortal youth –
A hint to what I am so destined to be
When soon I am cast out as life’s enlistee.
To find myself in this new land far from home,
I cling to my ramparts of pride and aplomb.
Yet how can I say that this is what I am
When all of my feelings are naught but a sham?

_______

Fuelled by a yearning to speak fluently both in Welsh and in poetry.

I’ll meet you at the cheapest pub in town (A villanelle)

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:21:00 +0000

I’ll meet you at the cheapest pub in town
Where we can view existence through a haze;
I promise that I will not let you down.

Again we’ll play the fighter and the clown;
Once more we will evoke immortal days.
I’ll meet you at the cheapest pub in town.

In wistfulness and lager we will drown,
And ardently through memories we’ll graze:
I promise that I will not let you down.

This time I will relieve you of your frown
And set your features suddenly ablaze;
I’ll meet you at the cheapest pub in town.

My absence among friends has gained renown:
Such infamy is what I seek to raze;
I promise that I will not let you down.

I’ll call on you the next time I’m around.
I’m sorry for the unceasing delays.
I’ll meet you at the cheapest pub in town.
I promise that I will not let you down.