BREXITUS (Bread and Circuses)

It was the breast of times
It was the wurst of times
Double D or even G-sized silicon implants into the breasts of celebrity women
Still made the headlines
And the endless reports of 'Will we? Won't we?' Brexit-related headlines 
Became like a sausage machine
Out of whose mouth churned ever more negative congealed masses of
Shit-shaped news

Are we walking towards a cliff edge?
Or into the dawn of a new age:
And will there still be bread and circuses when we get there?

Nobody knows

But like that notorious idiot from the Middle Ages
Who obviously did not have the benefit of hindsight
Or 24/7 news reports and the Internet
We grope blindly in the dark
Hoping, against hope, that life won't be nasty, brutish and short

(from 'Poems from the Kardomah Cafe' - available from Surrey University bookshop at £10)

Brexit - Illegal, Indecent, Dishonest, Untruthful...

If a manufacturer sells a pot of paint or a can of beans, you can get your money back if the product does not live up to its advertising promise. This is now well-enshrined in consumer law and no manufacturer would expect to keep its customers if it did not abide by this legislation.

Why then, despite all the European and home-grown legislation to which we are reputedly bound, can political parties and other bodies behave in a way which is not acceptable in other areas of our national life?

I listened to all the arguments and then cast my vote. 

Even though my ‘team’ won, I find that leaders of all parties have now changed their minds about what was and is being promised. Meanwhile the voters are not allowed to change their minds. Again, to make a comparison with a purchase, IKEA have big posters in its stores saying, ‘It’s okay to change your mind’.

To compare the situation with a well-known paint manufacturer, the situation is far worse than not being ‘what it said on the tin’, it’s like buying a tin of paint without any label at all.

Ultima Thule - January 2 2019

New Year. New Horizons. A poem from me called 'Ultima Thule'
(Brian May said he couldn't think of anything to rhyme with 'Ultima Thule'. So here we are Brian. Enjoy!)

So cool. So cool.
NASA'S just flown past Ultima Thule

This piece of flying stuff''s got everyone in a spin
Apparently, it looks just like a 'bowling pin'

'It rocks' said Brian, who sang about it yesterday

'Yes. I believe in Yesterday' sang Paul.
refusing to be consigned to the past
And getting ready to give those strings another blast

5,4,3,2,1. And ready, steady go!
We're rockin' rollin' ready to get on with the show.

Ultima Thule
So cool. So cool
You maybe heard about it when you were at school.

Fast forwarding our lifetimes
To where we are today
And all our new horizons
We can visit them today!

'Yeh yeh yeh. Enough' says Paul,
'We need to be contented to just be'

'Never, never, never enough for me' sings Katherine
'Never enough for me!''

All these different viewpoints spinning round the stars
Will we go to the moon (again)?
Or will we go to Mars?

Ultima Thule
So cool. So cool.

Blue stocking blues...

When they hand hand me my degree

When they hand me my degree

What a pleasure it will be

No-one then will feel like mocking

My brilliant, shimmering, bright blue stockings

I’ll show them I’m my mother’s daughter

And that this is all that I have fought for

Just to take my rightful place

In among the human race

Everyone around will smile

And will recognize the miles

I’ve come

On that day, the sun will shine

And oh! What glory will be mine

Beneath those scholarly black robes

This girl’s legs will be like strobes

From any disco floor

Bright blue stockings – yes sirree!

With stripes of luminosity

Notwithstanding all the others

I will pass with flying colours! 

'Arcadian bookshelves in a loving library'

https://npdsurrey.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/arcadian-bookshelves-in-a-loving-library-by-susan-moberly/
If you click on the link above, it will take you to the poem I wrote for 'Love Your Library Day' recently.

This was my first posting for ages, so I hope you will read it!

Best wishes from Su

Endofpartone: Exhibition gave me the Schwitters

Endofpartone: Exhibition gave me the Schwitters: For me, going round an art gallery is a chance to be quiet and meditative; and to really think about the art in front of me. That's wh...

The Healing Hearts of Horses...

I've just spent the most amazing day in the company of a horse called 'Smiley'. The day was a birthday treat to myself and it was centred at a holistic horse centre; where horses are used to help humans interact better with each other. By learning to communicate clearly and decisively with horses, it seems we dumb humans can learn valuable skills which can help us in business and life generally. This is because (and here comes the science bit): the brain of a horse does not have the 'reflective' part which is a feature of the human brain. A horse only operates on the intuitive level. You can read up about this, but basically, it means that most of us have lost the knack of reacting intuitively. Or even if we haven't, we've lost the confidence to trust this valuable sense. Having signed up (I thought) to a fun day out in the fresh air (and it was a lovely sunshiny day), I was surprised to find myself engaging in 'leadership' and 'negotiating' skills of a very high order. At the beginning of the day, I felt myself to be the least confident member of the group. I was scared to approach the horse when 'invited' to (kind of) give the horse a hug. Each participant in turn had a chance to 'connect' with a horse, before the next exercise of leading the horse into a nearby field. By standing quietly with one hand on the horse's neck, and one hand on the end of its mane, I could feel our hearts beating in synchronicity. An indescribable experience of staying 'in the moment' and learning to 'engage' with the horse and everyone and everything around it. After this, volunteer members of the group were asked to lead the horses into the field. At every stage of the day, we were 'invited' rather than 'instructed' or 'cajoled' as might be the case with more conventional methods of learning to deal with horses. The horses, in turn, are looked after with kindness and respect. When I had a go of leading the horse, it seemed to sense my lack of confidence and did not walk along 'nicely' like some of the other horses. At one point, it stopped suddenly and wouldn't budge. I should have known why from the sudden smell; so of course we stopped for a poo break. Traditional horsemanship would require that a horse be made to go the way the rider wants it to go. However when I gave up trying to make the horse go the way I wanted it to go and allowed it to go its own way (still holding loosely onto the rope), I managed to lead the horse right round in a big circle back to where I had wanted it to go in the first place. This was 'allowing the horse to be right' - which I had learned instinctively. I got the feeling that the horse was 'allowing' me to lead it. In a few seconds I 'got' why my nearest and dearest never listen to a word I say; and why trying to 'boss' people about (especially family) just does not work. I've never considered myself to be a leader; but also not a willing follower. And now I know why. Good leadership is about communicating goals clearly. Which applies whether you are running a global empire or a family. Or both. After a lovely healthy lunch and some further coaching, we embarked on the last experience of the day with the horses. This was like watching or being in a scene from 'The Horse Whisperer'. And if you have never read that book or seen the film, I'd highly recommend it. But even better would be to have a go yourself.