BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 06:05 AM

This man's ego, knows no bounds

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 05:30 AM

I think, overall, the New Labour Noughties, with the loss of many traditional values, were very bad for England...

Poem 168 of 230: ONCE CHURCHES - SUMMER 2001

Via modernist transformation:
    Another shopping site for Bolton,
A trendy new nightclub for Barrow -
    Sad symbols of our status quo.

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(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 12:16 PM

See what I mean - I didn't even say "retired from versification" this time!

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: mandotim
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 12:09 PM

The world is changing constantly WAV, and I fail to see how anyone with an ounce of poetry in their soul could 'retire from versification'.....no, wait, I get it now!

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 12:00 PM

I'm no bride, Ed, but - "something old (verse), something new (a bit of topical prose)..." (E. trad. saying).

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 08:40 AM

Snow has covered the ground here in Newcastle upon Tyne for more than 3 weeks

Why not write a poem about it then, instead of endlessly regurgitating the old ones?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 05:34 AM

The weather now, all over England, is a much bigger story than the one below: since repatriating in 1997, I haven't seen anything like it - snow has covered the ground here in Newcastle upon Tyne for more than 3 weeks.

Poem 129 of 230: TO A DRIVER - AUTUMN 2000

As Lancashire fields
    Became flood plains,
And still-worse storm yields
    Caused Southern pains,
I walked up Bolton roads
    (A new contract,
I'd again changed abodes),
    Feeling quite whacked.

For, while mini-cabs
    Passed-by quickly,
I received the sharp jabs
    Of cold, gusty,
Snow-filled air in my face;
    Till a driver,
At just outside his place,
    Asked, "Going far?"

Driving through the snowstorm
    To my new work
(Diverting from your norm,
    Ending my murk),
You were a kind fellow;
    So, from my flat
(The walk home was mellow),
    More thanks for that.

From http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
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(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 06:20 AM

If Gordon Brown knew better, he would be a member of the SNP; and, next time I visit, I hope and pray it's the "Republic of Scotland"...

Poem 66 of 230: TO SCOTLAND, AGAIN

By coach from central Manchester -
    In-between stops at Bolton,
Carlisle and Hamilton -
    To Glasgow, these are sights I saw...

Some sheep, blotched vividly with blue,
    Filing down a well-worn path,
Did form a long woolly lath,
    Aimed at a lusher greener hue.

A farmer on a four-wheeler:
    His canine friend close beside.
A horse not on call to ride:
    On leave - a no-shoe non-heeler!

Convex pastures with heath-moorland;
    And flatter grain-planes below:
Cropped, awaiting till-and-sow -
    Perhaps with grazing beforehand.

Passed Edwin Waugh territory,
    Cumbria's sharp forms and tones
Compelled sense off seat-cramped bones
    To their well-honed long-read story.

Further north, farms of slighter falls:
    One a black-sheep specialist,
With some Friesians on the list -
    All held between old dry-stone-walls.

The Lakes behind, a strong Scotch mist
    Changed the sun to a full-moon
And hid scenery, till soon -
    Light, and the wide scenes on Burns' list.

New farms harnessing the wind's blow,
    Old white-and-grey-cottage views;
Plus pines, espousing the hues -
    In distinct leaf-tones - of Glasgow.

From http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
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(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 08:11 AM

I don't think you understand the world WAV - particularly the female half.

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 04:32 AM

Remember when we were young, Stu, and an adult male would tell another adult male not to "swear in front of the ladies"?..were they "patronising" as well?

This is the kind of positive nationalism (with a stronger more-democratic United Nations) the world needs...

Poem 216 of 230: FOR PEACE

Reading of warred Afghanistan
    And its people's book, the Koran,
This bombarded generation
    Should, for peace, rebuild a nation
Involving one state/one culture -
    Living by the one native-law.
And, for peace in the Holy Lands,
    Three states bordered, for three faiths' hands.

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(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 05:36 AM

Oh Dear WAV

How can you write such patronising bloody posts?

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Jan 10 - 04:43 AM

Last year, an English lady received a medal for bravery at war in Afghanistan, and the media here showed her with blood on her face; I accept that there is a need for an armed forces with some women in it, BUT I don't like females being...

Poem 211 of 230: AT FRONT LINES

I can't suckle a baby -
    God planned on SOME divisions;
Women are with war-weapons -
    We have fallen morally.

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(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Jan 10 - 06:13 AM

With the World Darts Championship, from London, currently on the BBC, I thought I'd post this poem, from when I, and my family, lived in Manchester...

Poem 58 of 230: THE OLD BULL

Walked along Fog Lane,
    Looked at the park,
Stopped in the Old Bull
    And had a hark,
While eating lunch,
    On how at dark,
Many years before,
    My father's lark,
There, was games of darts -
    I'd filled an arc.

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(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Jan 10 - 03:38 PM

Coincidentally, this issue was looked at during tonight's Country File, which should be on the BBC's iPlayer.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Jan 10 - 10:00 AM

Zoos are in the news at the moment, because the Chinese government has decided to repatriate a panda from the U.S.A.'s National Zoo...

Poem 203 of 230: IN SITU

When faced with a critical view,
    A zoo's main raison d'être is -
The conservation of species;
    But this can be done in situ.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 02 Jan 10 - 04:11 AM

Seeing the New Year fireworks, via T.V., over the Harbour Bridge reminded me of this...

Poem 4 of 230: PICTURING SYDNEY

A good place to start is Sydney Tower,
    With its enthralling panoramic feast:
Olympic grounds - west; to north - the harbour;
    And beautiful beaches - north- and south-east.

From what is quite a jumbled C.B.D.,
    A good walk is through Botanic Gardens
To the harbour, Opera House, then the Quay -
    But other options number in the tens.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Jan 10 - 07:58 AM

A bit late today, sorry, due to televised Hogmany, form Edinburgh, early this morning; and brunch with The New Year's Day Concert, from Vienna. On a sadder note, due to events in Finland yesterday, gun-laws are again in the headlines - hence, my New Year's message...

Poem 100 of 230: MONOPOLY

It seems to me,
    Ideally AND practically,
In an equitable society,
    A well-audited police-force and army
Should have a monopoly
    On weaponry.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 31 Dec 09 - 04:22 AM

As some of you may recall, ten years ago, there was hours of coverage on new year/new millenium in many nations...

Poem 73 of 230: MILLENNIUM THOUGHTS

Watching live scenes from auld lands, on the B.B.C.,
Was my longest time stationed in front of T.V.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 30 Dec 09 - 05:45 AM

Ten years later, I live in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England...

Poem 72 of 230: MILLENNIUM DREAMS

We can control our day's thought,
    But not our sleepy night's dream.
My dreams these nights are of this sort:
    Red earth; tanned grass; gums by a stream.

I'll do my bit from Manchester,
    But, if again in Australia,
I'm sure like this I'd fondly dream:
    Snow on swans; willows by a stream.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 30 Dec 09 - 05:21 AM

I watched that episode too; nice to see Ronald Hutton being all festive. If you want a wider for context for such things check out Hutton's Stations of the Sun which isn't going to break the bank and will contextualise British Folk Custom & Seasonal Ceremony in a more realistic way than the Neo-Pagan Wicker Man approach favoured by many folkies....

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 29 Dec 09 - 06:07 AM

Thanks, S. - I got that from Ross, but have not found it on Sky, yet..?

On top of the 60 songs that, at least in theory, I've committed to memory, I have quite a few copies, from DigiTrad etc., and do know of the Gower Wassail. According to "Victorian Farm Christmas" (BBC), they are sung not just in connection with orchards but to will good produce of any kind - wheat, livestock, etc.

In the North West of England, where I was living at the start of this decade...

Poem 133 of 230: OXFORD BLUE - SPRING 2001

A contract ended/a new one begun,
    And a move from Bolton back to Bury -
A top-floor council-flat, within Radcliffe,
    Where streets are named from names in poetry,
And homes are framed by scenes I'm happy with.

My thirteenth home needed some touching-up,
    And I chose, in the main, to D.I.Y.;
So a nailed off-cut-and-rug make-do
    Covers the small floor where shelved books now lie -
My first study, painted in Oxford Blue.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 29 Dec 09 - 03:48 AM

Check out The Wicker Man thread, WAV

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 05:58 PM

I've had any amount of Wassail songs over the years, WAV - but my favourite has always been The Gower Wassail from Wales. Here's Phil Tanner singing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zlXnNGiS5U.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 04:52 PM

The one that is called "The Wassail Song", S., or "Here We Come a Wassailing"; and, in case you haven't noticed, a strong tradition in England, not just at "Carols from Kings", is for NINE carols (and lessons). Furthermore, as I've admitted before, about 60 songs, and their tunes on keys and recorder, is enough for my memory; and I think you'll agree that it's good to have at least one Wassail song in an English repertoire.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 03:29 PM

I find it perverse that you would replace a song in your repertoire instead of adding a new song, which would make more sense. Otherwise - there are any amount of Wassail songs, which one did you have in mind?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 12:24 PM

I like your ditty, Donuel, and many a true word said in jest...I wonder if it would fit on a cigarette packet?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 12:04 PM

old tobacco, that old tobacco
it just keeps killin
cuz folks are willin
to keep on smokin
they keep on smokin away.

phlegm they're coughin, could fill a coffin
They'll burn your house down
from ash they're droppin
that old tobacco
just keeps killin away.


Buy those smokes! You will choke!
You'll get a cancer that ain't no hoax
smoke or chew,
they'll both kill you
Get a little drunk and the heart fails too-ooo.


old tobacco, that old tobacco
it just keeps killin
cuz folks are willin
to keep on smokin
they keep on smokin away.




( a few words I threw together to the tune of Old Man River.)

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 08:34 AM

We may keep singing the carol attached to it without practising the custom - although it's not in my repertoire, which, for what it's worth, may change slightly by replacing "Once in Royal David's City" with "The Wassail Song."

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 06:29 AM

What about wren hunting?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 04:58 AM

I definitely do like our world being multicultural, but I certainly don't like every tradition...

Poem 15 of 230: TOREO

I'm a fan of the Spanish way -
    I like their houses and their food;
But there is one thing I must say -
    Their bullfights do upset my mood.

The matadors may be brave folk,
    And the tradition an old one;
But what must also be spoke
    Is - the bulls' pain before they're done.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 03:47 AM

Do people go in for bull fighting much in England, WAV?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 Dec 09 - 04:47 AM

Boxing Day being a key day for hunting, the contentious issue of fox hunting was in the news, again, yesterday here in England...

Poem 205 of 230: SUFFERING

Badger baiting,
             Bull fighting,
                   Fox hunting,
                           Hare coursing:
                                    Cruel sporting/
                                              Suffering.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Dec 09 - 04:33 PM

Yes, S., that's where the meaning lies these days but, as I say, the "Premier League" could and should move back, at least part way, to suchlike - via REGULATIONS. (On my walk to the Rowing Club singaround the other year, I did stop for a few minutes to watch some of Durham's local cricketers.)

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: GUEST,S O'P (Ghost of Xmas Past)
Date: 26 Dec 09 - 02:16 PM

Think local, WAV! Whilst today's fixture between Shildon & West Aukland AFC was concelled owing to snow on the pitch, WAAFC are away to West Allotment Celtic on January 2nd. So - put your money where your mouth is; go support your local team as you do your local folk club if this has greater meaning to you than what the big-boys are up to.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Dec 09 - 08:20 AM

Traditionally, on Boxing Day in England, sports would be played between LOCAL rivals, to limit travel just after Christmas Day; but, nowadays, with football in particular, at the "highest level", most of the players are from other lands - sadly, I think...

Poem 98 of 230: REREGULATE

One Premier world-eleven v.
    Another such company,
Or wage-caps and say half each-club's squad
    From the local-junior pod?
And, perhaps, heed the cricket-fan's call
    To convert to county-football..?

(C) David Franks 2003
From WalkaboutsVerse
P.S: on my myspace player, you may hear my carol "Christmas Sung Simply"...

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 25 Dec 09 - 06:04 AM

you may find it as interesting as the others you've delved into,

Basically, my culture is Indo-European, WAV - I see it in terms of a continuity which flows through ancient migrations as indicated by that of the Green Man & the Three Hares - see what Mercia MacDermott has to say on this HERE. So it's not a matter of delving as exploring, and celebrating, and, ultimately, respecting. Cultures flow as rivers, into seas, and evaporate into clouds which fall as rain which finds its way back into rivers; all is flow, transformation and change.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Dec 09 - 05:25 AM

Apparently, a rural-England Christian tradition is to give livestock (and wildlife) extra amounts of feed on Christmas morning; although it's probably partly pragmatic as farm workers expect to be less fit for work after their Christmas dinner, etc.!

Poem 95 of 230 A GOOD LIFE

To fauna,
    Home-flora.
Sheep for wool -
    Fed till full.
Chooks for eggs -
    Free-range legs.
Milk from cows -
    Should well house:
Better grade
    Can be made.
Fish for game -
    Cut the pain.
Dogs for pets -
    No regrets.
And question
    Castration.

This does say
    Buddha's way,
And Blake's way:
    A good life -
For all life.

From http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
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(C) David Franks

(P.S: my folk-carol "Christmas Sung Simply" is playing on my myspace profile, above link, for a few more days.)

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 04:46 PM

And to you and yours, too, S.

P.S: Rhodes, who gave his name to Rhodesia, was probably as pro imperialism and empire as anyone. Also, if you looked into Aboriginal culture, you may find it as interesting as the others you've delved into, and may well want to experience it upon a visit to Aus...?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 02:51 PM

PS - Merry Christmas, WAV!

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 02:30 PM

Who he??

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Dec 09 - 04:20 AM

Parts of what you just said, S., remind me of Cecil Rhodes, sadly.

Poem 173 of 230: VALLEY VIEWS - AUTUMN 2001

The winds can whistle and the walls can creak,
    But from my beloved old rocking-chair,
Through a rhombus-patterned lounge-room window,
    The Tyne-valley views induce one to stare:

Over a canopy of estate trees -
    Tall birch, locust, rowan and sycamore -
To the housing, parks, stores and works below,
    Which fringe the river of the valley floor...

Then up the other side to more parkland,
    More clusters of trees and residencies,
Streets that yield at night sparkles of light,
    Plus the Angel of the North, topping these.

From http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 06:04 PM

I'd steer well clear of the Aboriginal stuff myself, WAV - what I want is sand, sea, surf, sun, lagoons & fun - the sort of scene that gets going here in Fleetwood once the summer kicks in. The wind-kids gather by the kite shop & there's a real scene with kites, jugglers, wind-surfers, poi swingers (Maori??), DJs, smiles, BBQ & related cool. Out there at this time of year you'd die of hypothermia in ten minutes. Also in Australia is a very fine trad. scene with a fine tradition Australian-English folk songs to draw upon - you know, things like The Derby Ram...

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 05:01 PM

...On average, citizens of Australia may have their air conditioning on more than citizens of England have their central heating on.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 04:22 PM

700?

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 04:21 PM

Oh Sean

If you emigrate what a poor swap!

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 12:10 PM

It's a good place for us to VISIT, S., and, as well as such above sites, appreciate some Aboriginal culture.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 10:37 AM

Sounds like paradise, WAV - we hope to be moving out there in the next few years to soak it all in!

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Dec 09 - 04:29 AM

By way of contrast with Newcastle, on the east coast of England, now covered in snow: on the east coast of Australia there will be Christmas barbeques at beaches such as...

Poem 8 of 230: CRONULLA

South of Sydney,
    Sand and sea -
That's Cronulla.

Surfies and girls,
    Sunbleached curls -
At Cronulla.

The promenades,
    The lifeguards -
That's Cronulla.

A modern mall,
    Flats stand tall -
At Cronulla.

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(C) David Franks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 22 Dec 09 - 05:39 AM

Taciturn as ever, WAV? It's Xmas for X's sake! Open up those doors!

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Dec 09 - 05:01 AM

Poem 101 of 230: JUST SUBSIST

(TUNE:

D F# G G A A G G
D A B B A A G G
D B B B A A G G
D A A A B A G G
D A A A B A G G)

At times when I've had time to take,
    I've thought of a plot by a lake:
The plot would be of fertile ground;
    The lake would have some trout around.

The plot's house would be made of brick -
    Well insulated, in good nick.
And, round this abode, there'd be built -
    Solar panels, kept at best tilt.

Inside large coops would run the legs
    Of chooks and quails - for fresh eggs.
A vine for grapes plus summer shade;
    And, in thin beds, vegetables laid.

Up at dawn, to use all sunlight -
    Fish and farm by day, read at night.
A spouse with me I'd not resist -
    In retirement, we'd just subsist.

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(C) David Franks