Wednesday 23 October 2019

Poetry

Nine of us today for our Poetry afternoon.   We always meet in friend W's conservatory and take it in turns to read a poem.   When we are all there (only one missing today) we usually manage three or sometimes four poems each and they are always a good mixture of old ones (I read 'On a favourite cat drowned in a tub of goldfishes' by Thomas Gray) and more up to date ones (Wendy Cope usually features well).   Similarly we usually have some sad ones ( Rosetti ) and some funny ones.  It really is a favourite afternoon for all of us I am sure.

We have at last had three 'good' days - by that I mean days when the sun has shone (particularly today) and there has been no rain.   Looking at the weather forecast I think this is set to alter tomorrow.

Listening to the News I have just heard the appalling story of the immigrants trying to enter the UK illegally and being found dead in a container on the back of a lorry today.   We complain about conditions here and all these people are trying to get into our country which is being sold to them as such a wonderful place to live.   I think it is evident that we have no idea just how lucky we are in so many ways.   I think of the teenager amongst them who presumably has a Mum and a Dad somewhere who may well think he has managed to get to a better life.   It is all so very sad.   And at the back of it all - as always - is money and lots of it.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Just wondering do u always do serious poems? Pam Ayres does some really funny poems on daily life etc

Heather said...

The worst thing of all is that some wicked person is making money out of these unfortunate people.
So pleased you enjoyed your poetry afternoon.

the veg artist said...

That people are so desperate that they are prepared to pay large sums of money and risk their lives either in lorries or on small boats is something that most of us in this country cannot even imagine. The people who make money out of them are just despicable.

Chris said...

Tragic event! However, I'm glad you enjoyed your poetry afternoon. I feel the same way about my Book Club meetings - a chance to get away from the depressing news and immerse oneself in something enjoyable.

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Love reading about your poetry afternoons. And was so sad to hear the news....But it made me recall something I read about poetry contests organized in concentration camps during WWII and how they kept some people going and able to mentally free themselves from their desperate situations. It might have been from one of Mihaly Szentmihalyi's books like Flow.

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Sorry, I got that author's name wrong. It's Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. (Mihaly is Michael in Hungarian. Csik is a market town in what is now Romania. His family name is from the village of Csik Saint Michael.)

Leilani Schuck Weatherington said...

Every once in a while when I need a laugh I will dig out my falling-apart paperback of Ogden Nash poems. But having seen a lot pelicans on a recent road trip to the central California coast, I am thinking about the poem my father used to recite: A wonderful bird is the Pelican./ His beak can hold more than his belly can./ He can hold in his beak. /Enough food for a week!/ But I'll be darned if I know how the hellican?”

Tom Stephenson said...

Yes, the death of the 39 desperate, would-be refugees is appalling. They all must have loved ones, not just the teenager. Talking of poetry, I heard a poet read one of her poems on the radio two days ago in which she noted that if going onto a sea in a rickety boat was safer than staying at home, nobody should be blamed for trying to save themselves or their families by putting them into that danger.

Joanne Noragon said...

People are dying, dying, dying to find a better life. We have children living in dog cages. It's not a good scene anywhere in the world.

Librarian said...

Your poetry afternoons sound so delightful!
Two years or so ago, an abandoned lorry was found in Bavaria, with already decaying bodies of refugees aboard. I can not remember how many there were, but even just one would have been one too many. As in this recent case, greed was behind it all. I don't think the the people responsible for it, organising and profiting from human trafficking were ever found.

Rachel Phillips said...

They only have to look on Facebook to find them. Most Governments around Europe are scared to do anything about them. The traffickers always have the last laugh.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

If 39 people were killed as a result of a terrorist incident the authorities would pull out all the stops to catch those responsible, but they seem powerless against these exploiters of the innocent.

The Weaver of Grass said...


More news keeps being released about these bodies (they are mostly Chinese for example) but what saddens me most is that many of their familieswill never know their fate.

Yes - re the Poetry Group - it is an afternoon of sheer enjoyment - and yes we do often have Pam Ayres and occasionally Ogden Nash. All kinds of things come up.

Thanks everyone.

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