Another poem

Living in Worthing we have had a company digging up our roads to give us new plastic gas pipes and this has caused me to write this silly little verse.

Today the corner of our street sprouted another barrier

They’re such a pretty apple green but make the road much narrower

Behind this simple plastic fence are tunnels deep and wide

And showing, when the digger’s gone, bright yellow pipes inside.

For every road in our fine town has gas pipes to replace-

The pavement’s blocked and little signs warn people there’s no space.

The cones, like sentries, guard the holes and keep the cars away

How glad I’ll be when they’ve moved on, leaving the pavements grey.

The patchwork footpath now looks odd but maybe it is good-

Pink paving stones can crack and lift – and it is time we should

Be grateful to the company for making it all neater

As long as it does not demand we have a new Smart meter!

Advertisements

The Corruption of Truth

The written word has now become so unreliable that it would take a Hogarth to demonstrate Truth as a Prostitute – attended by Social Media, Television, Newspapers, Petitions and Tweets.

From not being concerned about accuracy in schools, to sloppy research and dependence on hearsay, the art of Journalism has become corrupted far beyond the lurid headline to the realms of fake news and disinformation.

We all know that editors of newspapers have their own political agenda – read the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Evening Standard and somewhere in their pages you might glean the truth, but honest, factual reporting does not sell newspapers and even Presidents resort to threats and challenges instead of rational discussion.

How, then, are we to expect sensible negotiations to result in amicable agreement?               Has the ability to see the other person’s point of view been lost for ever?                               Must we erase everything from the past that we disagree with?

Is it not our task to learn from the mistakes of the past, adjust to circumstances, change, evolve, improve? Where is the honesty, the willingness to listen and communicate with tolerance and understanding?

If life carries on in the present direction there will be no truth, no belief and no humanity.

Public Speaking

Public speaking is almost as enjoyable as writing. Having been a schoolteacher I don’t get nervous talking to a crowd and I get a real kick out of hearing people laugh.

I have just had my second booking for 2018 and hope to find more readers for my books. I am reluctant to book evening meetings now but all days up to September except Thursdays and Fridays are free at present – until I book a holiday! Luckily I have just ordered some more copies of the poetry anthology and am planning to get some more bookmarks. The first 100 copies of “Reflections, Then and Now,” will not last until Christmas as we are taking them away for a weekend where the folk know us and usually support our writing.

I have a talking spot in the Southern Bookshow planned for March and I am planning a topic that others may not use. ( With a plan B in case that doesn’t work!)

The Lady in Pink

Last picture from Sciathos. Hubby and I took the bus into the town and walked through the streets down to the harbour. Luckily the rep. had told us about the museum and the open air theatre on the wooded peninsular. What we hadn’t reckoned with was the terrific cafe where the waitress introduced us to freshly made lemonade and the music that was playing was standard American Songbook. We could have stayed there all day.

The funniest time was on the way when we took a little path and a man with an Irish accent commented that I looked good – ” A lovely Lady in Pink.” I haven’t had such a nice compliment in years, if ever! Hubby said he must have been drinking!

The ‘Sunset’ cruise.

The one trip we booked was a sunset cruise to the Greek mainland with a musical evening and meal in a taverna. However, I left photographing the sunset until the sun had gone down and it wasn’t really as spectacular as hoped.

The music and dancing were good and our company, from Yorkshire, made it an amusing and friendly evening. The food and wine were a change from the hotel, where we had been drinking the local beer with our meals.

The sea was really calm and the only downside was the music on the boat on the return journey. It was either ‘mama mia’ at full blast or some other disco music that ruined the night time atmosphere.

Reciting poetry

Some poems cry out to be read aloud while others are just for private consumption. Our poetry anthology has both and I had the pleasure of reading out a couple last night at the Willows folk club in Arundel. This time I read one by our friend Bryan as that was more likely to make people laugh and it did. I get a real kick out of making people laugh. I can see why comedians enjoy their job.

I bought a copy of Pam Ayres’ verses from a charity stall last month and found a new favourite. Although I like “I wish I’d looked after me teeth,” there’s one entitled “Heaps of Stuff” which is so true I feel I want to find somewhere to recite it, just to get a reaction! Mind you, I can’t do that lovely accent so it might not be so successful.

The book is “The Works” selected poems, and the quality varies so I won’t do a review.She said herself her verses were written to be spoken out loud and she sounds great performing them.

Vanishing anthology

Sixty eight copies now gone or going. I need to keep some to take on holiday. I guess it will all slow down from now on. Trouble is, I have been so busy marketing that I haven’t written anything for two weeks. Looking forward to producing the pantomime, starting next month and then the scriptwriting course. Thoroughly enjoying two books I am reading at the moment, one fiction, one non-fiction. I’ll review them when I have finished. I don’t seem able to find folk on Goodreads so I’m communicating on twitter instead. More about my activities can be found on http://www.juliecround.co.uk