BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 11:11 PM

Pardon me, here's the missing r. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 04:16 AM

Poem 33 of 230: TO CARE AND SHARE

Within sunny California
    (Just a wisp of smog arriba),
Not far from L.A's Chinatown,
    A rich driver looks, with a frown,
At a beggar sat on a crate -
    Gaunt, it seems long since she last ate.
As the driver stops at the light,
    The beggar moves her hand upright.
But, though the cap clasped holds small cash,
    The rich man shares not his large stash.

Yet, to all it is plain to see,
This beggar lives in poverty.
But, like a fifth of humankind,
Little help this woman will find.
For too selfish the wealthy fare
To help the poor - to care and share.

And, in Tijuana, Mexico,
    Another has no place to go -
It's an hour before midnight,
    And he's curled outside a shopping site:
"He is sick," I'm told, passing by;
    "Him and the system," I reply.
Then my hand to my pocket goes
    For all my coins - sixteen pesos.
Enough for three meals - beans, rice -
    But, for a home, it won't suffice.

Yet, to all it is plain to see,
This pauper dwells in poverty.
But, like one fifth of humankind,
Small help this sick hombre will find.
'Cause too competitive most fare
To change the scheme - to care and share.

In Bangkok and Barcelona,
    Bombay, Melbourne and Manila -
Such woes exist all round the globe:
    Poor food, poor clothes and no abode.
These are Maslow's essential needs,
    And they can be met - with good deeds.
The beggars all could leave the street -
    With some kit for body and feet.
But voted leaders cut the aid
    From which much housing could be made.

Yet, to all it is plain to see,
Too many live in poverty.
But, from the rest of humankind,
A lack of help they tend to find.
For too greedy most snug-ones fare
To fix the need - to care and share.

From http://walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 01:29 PM

If WAV were to post his entire collection of 230 poems in descending numerical order, it would be "Walkabouts ReVerse"!


No! It's just a joke! Don't do it!

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 02:12 PM

Joking apart, Bee, that's what I recently finished doing on myspace - then I gave each poem it's own date to create, via their Blog-Archive box, a kind of "e-book", as linked above.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: High Hopes (inactive)
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 02:53 PM

Well, to each their own, I suppose.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 04:14 AM

For High Hopes, and all...

Poem 23 of 230: ABOVE EVEREST

When flying from Nepal to Thailand,
    I was given a "good-side" seat;
And, as I looked out the plane window,
    The view I saw was really neat.

For breaking through a thick sheet of cloud
    Were the high Himalayan peaks;
And, rising the highest of them all,
    Mount Everest - heaven bespeaks!

From walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com
Or blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Stu
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 06:32 AM

From within the Great Whelk's clear mind
at play in the fields of the mollusc
there forms a vision of
the mighty floating crust
that is the plaything of the
tectonic Whelk lord of the earth.

The orographic process is conjured
at times of idle thought
and the eons pass
in the light of the Whelkish mind;
deep blue pools
in the rocks of feldspar
and quartz,
coughed in age-long convulsions
from the depth of the gastropod
subconscious where life is tasted
by the radulla of the soul.

For here the whelk is in repose,
and vinegar, yes.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: High Hopes (inactive)
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:58 PM

Like I said, to each their own

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 04:29 AM

Poem 187 of 230: A SOUTH SHIELDS WALKABOUT - AUTUMN 2001

Out of the museum-and-gallery
    (Wiser on Cookson and the local way),
Down Ocean Road with, to the right of me,
    Its eateries and, left, neat places to stay;
Before, on either side, Marine Parks -
    The southern-one a most beautiful place,
Teeming with moorhens, swans, grebes and mallards
    In a small lake at a scenic-hill's base.

Then (holding chips from the parade's cafe
    And, thus, a flock of gulls squawking above)
Onto the South Pier I made my way:
    Seeing seaweed over rocks - like a glove -
And high-and-dry sands held from transgression
    By growth of grass and the weaving of wood,
Plus, in the dim light of a sleepy sun,
    Fishing boats returning to Tynemouth's hood.

From walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com
Or blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse
(P.S: you may also hear me read this one one on myspace.)

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Nick
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 12:23 PM

If someone were to expire reading the entire collection of 230 poems in any order (and I think it could happen), would it be "Walkabouts Diverse"?

If someone were to divide all his poems into the number 1 would it be "Walkabouts Inverse"?

If someone were to read them and then throw themselves underwater (again I could understand why) would they be "Walkabouts Divers"?

If someone were to print all his poems onto the front of a coin would it be "Walkabouts Obverse"?

Time to go home

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 12:45 PM

'If someone were to divide all his poems into the number 1 would it be "Walkabouts Inverse"?'...great minds think alike, homeward-bound-Nick!...that's why I took the first and last words only from the full title "Walkabouts: travels and conclusions in verse" as my web-nickname.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 12:59 PM

Also, just notice my last links are broken, so I'll try again:
http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Amos
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 01:34 PM

I have to ask--has anyone ever accused you of obdurate insensitivity, by any chance?



a

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 01:49 PM

Bizarre tangential zig-zags
They pop up wherever I go
I see them in the skies above
I find them etched in the snow
I hear them in the peeping of frogs
As lo! The sunlight dims
I hear them in the sawing of logs
And then in cathedral hymns
Bizarre tangential zig-zags!
They come...and then they go
And where it all will end
Only God alone can know!

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Amos
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 02:06 PM

A day of sleepy indolence
Of doleful drowsy lag
My whole existence had become
A bizarre tangential zag.
I'd not acheived a single thing
Nor made impressions big.
And if my life were not a zag,
PErhaps it was a zig!
No crowning love, nor telling deed,
No insight consequential;
Whether a zig or whether a zag,
For sure, it was tangential.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 02:36 PM

"I have to ask--has anyone ever accused you of obdurate insensitivity, by any chance?" (Amos)...I doubt it, my dear friend...to be honest, I had to check my dictionary to find it meant "stubborn"...and I do hope, with all my heart, that this is a reasonable response to your query...?...For "Only God alone can know!" (Little Hawk).
walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com in not working *#?!

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 02:41 PM

Wha&%$???

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 02:55 PM

That's my reaction too, Is "our" resident "poet" a wee bit sensitive, or am I imagining things? And I do believe Nick was joking wasn't he?

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 05:14 PM

I stumble and lurch
And I zig and I zag
Past shops and the church
Then I'm sick in bag
That I keep in my pocket
For just such a time
When I want to say "fock it"
And puke out a rhyme.
I'm off one a a tangent
One more crooked mile
And I get much more plangent
But not versatile.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 05:43 PM

Pretty good! ;-) But watch the typos.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Nick
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 08:00 PM

I never joke being an intensely serious human being. Talking of zig and zag, though, reminds me of the two dyslexic skiers.

"I'm going to zag zig down the hill" says the first.
"I think you'll find it's zig zig" says the second.
"No it isn't" says the first (vehemently)
Unable to agree they ask another person on the hill.
"I've no idea" says the third "I'm a tobogganist"
"No problem, can I have 20 Marlboro and a box of matches then?"

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 08:48 PM

Awright! A whole new genre of jokes.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 04:26 AM

Poem 11 of 230: OTHER SIDE

On the road from Inverness to Glasgow
    (A very scenic road it is),
I hitched with a pair - Italiano;
    The left-hand drive Fiat was his.

I think they had taken turns at driving -
    I'm not sure from where or how far;
But, when they picked me up from my hiking,
    The lady was driving the car.

I recall how warm their greet did feel,
    And what a thrilling trip it was;
For, as their hands fought over the wheel,
    Our lives came near to loss:

I was sitting tight on the back-right side -
    My ears off their argument;
But my eyes surely knew how close beside
    The oncoming vehicles went!

We arrived without a scratch at Glasgow,
    But it begs this point, I feel -
Why did our forebears decide to go
    Either side for the new wheel?

From http://walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 08:27 AM

This feels like the right sort of place to collect the Brian O'Linn* verses from the old Gallows Humour thread, many of which I composed specifically.

Brian O' Linn met the devil one day,
Who showed him a girl lying dead in the hay;
with her he did sport 'til the night it crept in -
There's no chance of child, said Brian O'Linn!

Brian O'Linn he did fuck an old horse
But he got himself stuck and to make matters worse
the horse it ran into the market square then -
Still, they can't see me dick, says Brian O'Linn!

And Brian O'Linn he shot an old dog
And inside it's belly he found an frog
And inside the frog he found a gold ring -
That's the third time this week, said Brian O'Linn!

And Brian O'Linn found a lump in his balls,
So he picks up the phone and the doctor he calls;
That was three months ago, now he's bald and he's thin -
Sure I fit me old clothes, said Brian O'Linn!

And Brian O'Linn in his coffin did lie;
Dressed up in his best with clean boots and a tie;
Six foot underground and the grave all filled in -
Ah, they can't hear me knocking, says Brian O'Linn!

Brian O'Linn up to heaven did go,
And the light shone so bright, and as white as the snow,
And the angels were singing with no thought of a sin -
I could do with a fag, says Brian O'Linn

So Brian O'Linn he went straight down to hell
Where he filled his owld lungs with the sulphurous smell
And he warmed his cold hands by the fires with a grin;
I'll fetch in the coal, says Brian O'Linn!

* Brian O'Lynn is, of course, a Traditional Irish Song with many verses collected over the years both bawdy and otherwise (see Here for the Digi Trad version) and many more verses composed on the spot by way of that Tradition. I've been spontaneously composing (and forgetting) BOL verses most of my life, these are just a few. Perhaps you might add a few more?

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 08:30 AM

Verse 2 in Digi Trad:

Bryan O'Lynn had no breeches to wear
He got him a sheepskin to make him a pair,
With the fleshy side out and the woolly side in,
"Whoo, they're pleasant and cool." says Bryan O'Lynn.

From the singing of Jim Eldon:

Bryan O'Lynn had no breeches to wear
He got him a sheepskin to make him a pair,
With the woolly side out and the fleshy side in,
"Oh they stick to my arse." says Bryan O'Lynn.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 12:50 PM

at last mac gonigal outdone

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 01:30 PM

Horrifying! I wonder if Brian O'Linn was an ancestor of Shane and Don McBride. It kind of sounds that way.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 01:50 PM

Bye the way, happy Shakespeare's birth/death day, folks.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 01:55 PM

He was born and died on the same day??? (Not trying to be funny here, I am seriously asking...did he die on his birthday?)

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 02:27 PM

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, and baptised on 26 April 1564. His unknown birthday is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day.

Born on St. George's Day? hmmmm...?

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 02:31 PM

Apart from the "e", LH, my last post is quite correct. Historians are certain of the day he died, and that he was born on or near the same day, which was already St. George's day, also.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 02:44 PM

Sorry, but to me it sounds like wishful thinking on the part of some English patriots, a wee bit of a coincidence.

There was for sometime the same myth about the American author, Mark Twain, being born and dying on the same day, that one was laid to rest along ime ago

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 02:48 PM

I wonder what the average time from birth to baptism was in those days?

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 04:32 AM

Poem 219 of 230: FURTHER ANTI-IMPERIALISM

Let each Christian nation have its own Church -
Equal, before God, with the others' Search.

From walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com
Or blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse
(C) David Franks 2003

(P.S: The imperialistic Anglican and Roman Catholic movements, e.g., should be dissolved, and replaced by the Church of Italy, the Church of England, the Church of Wales, etc; and, for what it's worth, I have tried to let the Archbishop of Canterbury know this - I received a thankyou letter, from his secretary, for a copy of my, above, book.)

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 12:13 PM

I personally have no problem with the Anglican Church or the Roman Catholic Church as they presently stand. To each their own beliefs as far as I'm concerned.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: mandotim
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 01:32 PM

Here we go again. I wondered how long it would be before WAV reverted to type. I make the fourth, or possibly fifth time that this particular couplet has been recycled on various threads. The P.S. is interesting though, in a grisly sort of way. I think 11 commas may be some sort of record for a sentence of less than three lines.
Here are some more commas, WAV, in case you are running out.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,!
Tim

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 01:45 PM

"Here are some more commas, WAV, in case you are running out"

M. R. James, the writer of ghost stories and scholarly articles, thought (tongue in cheek that is) that dots made for great writing, let us have a few of those as well...........................

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 01:57 PM

Thanks, you two, for your latest commants. ;-)>

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Don Firth
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 02:04 PM

Instructions for use:

1. Load commas in shotgun.
2. Aim at page.
3. Let fly with both barrels!

(Oh! Looks like that's what you've done! Okay, never mind.)

Don Firth

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 02:06 PM

unlike Monty James, my tongue was not planted firmly in my cheek as I typed what I felt was the only fitting reply.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 04:35 AM

M. R. James, the writer of ghost stories and scholarly articles, thought (tongue in cheek that is) that dots made for great writing, let us have a few of those as well...........................

On a minor point of pedantry, MRJ wasn't referring to dots as such, rather to ellipses, as you illustrate, and which WAV evidently doesn't. For anyone who's interested, you may read the relevant piece on-line at Stories I Have Tried to Write. Otherwise, I think there are far more offensive things about WAV's statement than his bizarre use of punctuation - and yet it is this that draws your ire.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 09:10 AM

(Opposing imperialism shouldn't offend anyone, S.S.)

Poem 114 of 230: CLITHEROE CASTLE'S VIEWS - SUMMER 2000

From outside metres-thick wall
    (Down on leafy grounds grown tall,
Then across stony households
    To lush-green sheep-grazing folds,
And up further to the moor),
    Clitheroe Castle's views soar.

From walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com
Or blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: mandotim
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 10:14 AM

Sinister Supporter; I completely agree that there are many more worrying aspects to WAV than his eccentric approach to grammar and punctuation. Many of us have tried to engage in serious debate with this rather odd individual, but discussion of any substantive issues raised by his attempts at verse merely produces references to further platitudinous attempts on his various websites. Pointing out punctuation errors generally produces a response, as WAV is genuinely (if mistakenly) proud of his Australian-learned English.
Tim

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 10:54 AM

I'm afraid that this thread will now revert to the expected WAV thread. The Catholic and Anglican Churches are not imperialism except in your mind WAV,

Please stay within Joe's remit for this thread i.e. verse and doggerel

regards

Stu

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 12:01 PM

The actual quote from said piece by M. R. James reads:

(Dots are believed by many writers of our day to be a good substitute for effective writing. They are certainly an easy one. Let us have a few more......)

Note James uses the word DOTS, not the word ellipses. If you MUST point out articles, please quote them properly. I thank you, and I'm sure Monty James would thank you, if he were able.

This, of course is a minor point of pedantry. *LOL*

Anyway back to the doggerel and other verses, which, after all, is what this ummmmmm thread is all about; is it not?

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 04:35 AM

"Anyway back to the doggerel and other verses, which, after all, is what this ummmmmm thread is all about; is it not?" (Rifleman)...and, what the heck, the tune as well this time...

(Just watching the London Marathon on T.V.)

Poem 42 of 230: IMPRESSIONS OF LONDON IN 1997

(TUNE:

E Fsharp G G A G Fs Fs
E Fs Fs Fs-G Fs E E
E G G G A A G G
E Fs Fs Fs-G Fs E E)

Cabs all uniform in their shape.
    Good galleries make one gape.
Hard-going people on the move -
    Things matter much in this groove.

About the weather lots of moans.
    Solicits stuck on pay-phones.
Summer weather - not bad, I've felt.
    Lads giving a ball a belt.

Real estate is worth so much -
    Tenants' rent sky-high, as such;
Nice stocky buildings all around -
    Will some have to hit the ground?

Cheek to jowl: council flats needed -
    Stock by demand exceeded;
Building higher seems only way -
    Unless less arrive to stay...

Beaut. looking girls from many lands -
    Grace gone for capital plans;
Polite folks from many cultures
    Do become money vultures.

Veiled women in platform shoes.
    High-street beggars in the blues.
Privacy here costs so much -
    Partnerships suffer, as such.

See movies and shows from way back;
    Of good music there's no lack;
All-day breakfasts at the good pubs;
    An abundance of nightclubs.

Green groomed parklands: the best I've seen -
    Their gardens kept neat and clean;
Geraniums in flowerpots
    On facades make pleasing spots.

Floating pubs on the River Thames,
    And its bridges - real gems;
Both ways, here, the water goes -
    Still in range of tidal-flows.

Children, at park lakes, feed the ducks,
    Or watch squirrels take some nuts.
Into ponds, weeping willows sag.
    Sharp attacks on those who lag.

From walkaboutsverse.sitegoz.com (e-scroll)
Or blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 06:57 AM

(Opposing imperialism shouldn't offend anyone, S.S.)

As you've proved in both your published work and your various past threads on Mudcat, your so-called opposition of imperialism is a smokescreen to your nauseating beliefs concerning immigration & cultural / racial segregation and purity.

WAV threads worthy of note:

Weekly Walkabout cum Talkabout

Walkaboutsverse

5000 Morris Dancers

England's National Musical Instrument

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 11:30 AM

No, S.S., I genuinely don't like imperialism - be it Nazi, Victorian, or any other.

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Amos
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 12:57 PM

If you poke him, any slogger'll
React by spouting whacky doggerel,
Full of nouns, and weak on timing,
Blindly glued to senseless rhyming
Free of nuance, craft or vision,
Nor imbued with erudition.
For entertainment, any blogger'll
Do as well as suchlike doggerel.

Winston Meerschaum von und zu Lichteinconte
"Ponderings from a Noble Mind"
Austria, 1959

Subject: RE: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 03:02 PM

If you MUST point out articles, please quote them properly.

I wasn't quoting the article, just pointing out that by dots Monty was referring to what we would call ellipses, rather than any liberal sprinkling of punctuation per-se. I think the confusion here arises from the fact that when read out loud the ellipses is invariably rendered as dot dot dot dot; Monty wrote a lot of this stuff to read out loud, so referring to ellipses as dots makes perfect sense. Did Monty write SIHTTW to be read out? I'm not altogether sure actually, but I do have tapes of Michael Hordern reading most of the stories (including SIHTTW) which is the next best thing.

Anyway, Rifleman, you're obviously a fan of the great man. I've just this minute won a copy of Monty's The Sculptured Bosses in the roof of the Bauchun Chapel of Our Lady of Pity in Norwich Cathedral off ebay - original 1908 copy (are there any others???) - a snip at £5! Needless to say I'm one happy bunny....