BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 06:09 AM

Poem 74 of 230: ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIALISM

Anthropology -
    Wonts, in close study -
Provides students with
    A good insight on
Many ways to live.

And students well-read
    Are oftentimes led,
Economically,
    To Left of Centre -
That happened to me.

With "immigration,"
    However, I'm on
The side of all those
    Who, questioning "aims,"
Make misled-Left foes.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Aug 09 - 06:42 AM

Poem 27 of 230: ADELAIDE

In work and study,
    I spent four years -
Good years really -
    At Adelaide.

A flat by the sea -
    Work nearby;
Then full-time uni. -
    At Adelaide.

A planned C.B.D.,
    With parks all round,
And much more to see -
    At Adelaide.

Glenelg; Rundle Mall;
    And the markets,
With many a stall -
    At Adelaide.

From http://walkaboutsverse.741.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 13 Aug 09 - 05:42 AM

Poem 26 of 230: UP ULURU?

Came in a coach from Alice -
    Slept nearby overnight;
An early call awoke us -
    Just before the morning light.

We were bussed to Uluru
    As the dawn began to break:         
Stopping to take in the view -
    A proud sight that rock does make.

Began the steep early-climb,
    Which, as marked, has claimed some life;
For youths it was just good time,
    But heavy aged-breaths were rife.

An hour or two later,
    After gazing from the top,
We returned to the charter -
    Kata Tjuta one last stop.

(P.S: in hindsight, I'm sure
    That from a distance to view
Is more kind, and more pleasure,
    Than climbing up Uluru.)

From http://walkaboutsverse.741.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Aug 09 - 06:36 AM

Poem 166 of 230: COLOURFUL LLANDUDNO - SUMMER 2001

Seated within the Greenery,
    Looking up, from a plate of toast
(Reddened with beans and tomatoes),
    Along Chapel Street's three-storey
Flats in white with red or yellow,
    Or white with a brown or a blue
(White with almost every hue),
    I thought: "Colourful Llandudno."

From http://walkaboutsverse.741.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)
(C) David Franks 2003

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Aug 09 - 05:07 AM

Poem 43 of 230: A BAYSWATER BED-SIT

Arrived in London,
    At Heathrow Airport,
With sixty kilos
    Of luggage I'd brought.

Found a paper, Loot,
    And called an agent;
Stored two heavy bags,
    Then to him I went.

For one week of rent,
    He'd ensure a bed
Within Bayswater -
    A bed-sit, he said.

It was eighty pounds
    Per week, nothing more,
With a lift arranged
    To the building's door.

Knackered and sleepless,
    I took the deal;
Checked-in quickly,
    Had a rushed meal.

Collected my bags
    (Tube there, shared-van back),
Then carried them up
    To my top-floor shack.

A penthouse - no need,
    It did me just fine;
A cook-top and fridge,         
    A table to dine.

Seated, I could watch
    The clouds roll by -
Often from the west -
    Or jets cut the sky.

There were large plane-trees,
    A squirrel or two;
And pigeons dropped by -
    Foregrounding the view.

Plus, at dawn, the sun
    Shined in from the east -
Filling the small room
    As on egg I'd feast.

And, contemplating,
    It occurs to me -
If all lived that well,
    How great it would be.

But a lot do sleep
    Outdoors many nights -
On sheets of cardboard,
    Without basic rights.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Aug 09 - 10:50 PM

That one might just be the best yet.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 16 Aug 09 - 04:50 AM

Thanks, LH - and, accordingly, there was more than the usual number on my myspace blog overnight.

Poem 65 of 230: NORTH WALES

"Hills meeting sea"
    Proclaims to me
"Good scenery."

And it's views of North Wales,
    Both sides of the train-rails,
Whereupon this thought hails.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 17 Aug 09 - 05:11 AM

Poem 64 of 230: LIVERPOOL

Caught a train, along a long-used line,
    From Manchester to Liverpool.
On that day the weather was fine:
    Sunny - just a little bit cool.
There, I purchased a Walkabout Guide,
    Marked some sights, and headed outside.

As usual when first at such a place,
    I walked to the main art-gallery,
The central mall, and the garden space;
    Then headed down to the wide Mersey.
There, from ferry, I viewed the skyline -
    A good sturdy cityscape, for mine.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 18 Aug 09 - 05:53 AM

Poem 44 of 230: JOB SEARCHING

Once housed in London,
    I began searching
For new employment -
    The task was trying.

Asked newsagents:
    "Manufacturing -
Which paper's the best?"
    They disliked browsing.

About five of them
    Said they did not know,
Then eventually:
    Jobsearch is the go.

Employment agents -
    Public and private;
Letters; door knocking;
    Then work - just pre-debt.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Aug 09 - 09:45 AM

I have to completely agree with Hawk.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Aug 09 - 10:01 AM

I must take that an additional step.........I hereby give Hawk my proxy to speak on all matters poetic and otherwise that are included on this thread.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 18 Aug 09 - 02:02 PM

Whoever said they don't understand irony in the USA was wrong...

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 05:33 AM

That wasn't Chongo Chimp (God knows what it would type about WAV), folks - it was Little Hawk, frankly!

Poem 45 of 230: PORTOBELLO ROAD

After questing forever,
    I bought an old blade-putter
On Portobello Road -
    By my London abode.

'Twas the Saturday market,
    And I was pleased with my get
From Portobello Road -
    W10's the code.

Also saw the festival,
    And many another stall,
At Portobello Road -
    A good arts and crafts node.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 03:14 PM

Very interesting. Is your abode actually located near a street called Portobello Road? Do they grow large mushrooms thereabouts or was it named after an Italian or Spanish merchant trader? It sounds like a charming place to me.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 04:56 PM

I left London around the Millennium, LH, for Manchester, where I was born, then Newcastle upon Tyne, where I am now.
And re. the name - although it's one of the most famous markets in England, you're google is as good as mine, sorry..?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 05:01 PM

...here's what Wiki says.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Little Hawk
Date: 19 Aug 09 - 07:05 PM

My goodness! I had no idea it was such a famous place. I should have asked Penelope. Thanks for the info, WAV.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 05:21 AM

...and, as Penelope would probably proclaim too, the Mersey is more than Liverpool, LH...

Poem 111 of 230: THE MERSEY AT DIDSBURY - SPRING 2000

(TUNE:

Eb F G Ab G
D F G Ab G
D F G Ab G
D G Ab Bb Ab
D G Ab Bb Ab
D F G Ab G)

Took bus one-four-three,                        
    From Piccadilly,
Along Oxford Road;
    Passed the old uni's,
Those shops with saris,
    And my first abode.

At Didsbury Village,
    The Old Parsonage
Looked neat, and gave sound,
    As I walked the way,
At about midday,
    To a Mersey mound.

From atop this bank,
    No longer a blank
Was the strong river,
    Nor the wide fairways -
Where I'd filled two days,
    Twelve years earlier.

I then headed back,
    On Stenner Woods' track
(Hearing more birdsong,
    And seeing mossed stumps
Plus well-layered clumps),
    To a human throng.

This throng was viewing -
    Justly pursuing -
The smart Rock Gardens,
    Sloped on Fletcher Moss,
Which I, too, did cross,
    Before homeward wends.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 04:52 AM

Poem 183 of 230: A BROWN HARE - AUTUMN 2001

Cramlington:
    Before an
Interview
    At a new
Factory,
    I did see,
By a steam
    In-between
Farm and home,
    On a roam,
Stopping there,
    A brown hare.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 05:38 AM

I hope you gave it its marching orders. Brown hares aren't native, you know. It should be compelled to go back to Rome, or failing that, its nearest safe country of asylum.

Bloody brown hares, coming over here, taking all our jugging and coursing...

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 12:25 PM

...no I didn't, and I didn't get the gig either, Ruth. :-(>

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 05:48 AM

Poem 76 of 230: LAND RIGHTS

If there is a good thing,
    From the Second World War,
It's that most peoples learnt
    To conquer lands no more.

In Africa, Asia,
    And the Pacific, too:
Post-war independence -
    Steps only bigots rue.

But for some indigenes,
    Outnumbered much-too-much,
It has all come too late
    For liberty, as such.

So 'tis in Australia,
    And America's sites,
Where the best now, I think,
    Is to respect land rights.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 05:19 AM

Poem 138 of 230: AN OPIUM

National Lottery passes -
    Slight chances to be richer,
    With lots more than thy neighbour,
    Gained without any labour -
    Keep the system in favour:
An opium of the masses.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Aug 09 - 05:04 AM

Poem 115 of 230: SUNDAY CRICKET AND BERRIES - SUMMER 2000

From a bus (ninety-eight -
    Bury to Manchester),
I got off at the gate
    Of Hamilton Road Park,
Where in situ I ate
    Several blackberries
(The taste too good to wait),
    Before making my way
To a further park-gate,
    From where briefly I watched
How Stand's cricketers rate.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: olddude
Date: 24 Aug 09 - 09:14 PM

David
what is a Stand's cricketers

is that the name of the cricket team?

Dan

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Aug 09 - 04:35 AM

Yes Dan, it was/probably still is Stand Cricket Club.

Poem 196 of 230: BLYTH - AUTUMN 2002

After a day
    Of moulding work,
I made my way
    To Blyth's centre,
Where windmills play
    Near the staithes,
And where one may
    Dine or choose at
The Art Cafe.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: olddude
Date: 25 Aug 09 - 07:28 AM

David
very cool
thanks

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 30 Oct 09 - 06:32 AM

For Halloween, I'll post this one again; the "witches" mentioned here are the Pendle Witches - quite important to the Halloween tradition, apparently. (Also, as it's nearly England's Bonfire Night, you may like to hear "Cob-a-Coaling" on my myspace player - unaccompanied, with English flute intro.)

Poem 118 of 230: WHALLEY ABBEY...WHAT TALES? - AUTUMN 2000

Cistercian monks have clearly been -
    Their Abbey's ruins can still be seen;
And, sounding for centuries before,
    Calder flows have passed - seeking the shore.
Lords of the grounds have, more lately, stayed -
    Their manor houses reused and unscathed.
Through beautiful gardens insects fly -
    The ruins of folk just a pass-by;
And, by viaduct, trains pass above -
    Folk thereby viewing a town I love.
Anglers and C. of E. delegates,
    Hikers and tourists, have crossed the gates...
Opportunistic masons, kings-men,
    Model makers, Turner, and men who pen...
Perhaps the witches came down from the hill,
    And do ghosts haunt - still questing their fill..?

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: GUEST,Suibhne (Astray)
Date: 30 Oct 09 - 07:02 AM

The bulk of the splendid misericords carved by one Mr Eatough for Whalley Abbey in 1430 can be seen in Whalley Parish Church, with others in Blackburn Cathedral and Cliviger. Here's some pics including extant carvings from Whalley Abbey & other singularities, such as the Victorian Green Men we spotted on the cemetery gates in Preston on our way there:

Whalley, September 2008

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 30 Oct 09 - 02:47 PM

I think, S., only the first page of myspace pics are available to all, so maybe you could temporarily transfer them for us.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: GUEST,Suibhne (Astray)
Date: 30 Oct 09 - 02:55 PM

I see what you mean. Here's one to be going on with:

Whalley Parish Church; Misericord circa 1430

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 06:39 AM

It's a clever all-seeing figure, but what's the rest of the symbolism..?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 07:50 AM

And therein lies the big question, David! I might refer you two threads for extensive discussion on the subject:

Folklore: The Green Man

Any info about the green man?

Basically, over the last forty years The Green Man has become an Icon of Pagan Fakelore to the extent where he has become detached from the theology of Re-Reformation Roman Catholicism which was his original context. A bizarre state of affairs to be sure! Even to the extent where the Anglican custodians of the great Medieval Cathedrals (Durham included) promote their precious Green Men as being pre-Christian / Pagan rather than Catholic.   

Another of Mr Eatough's fine carvings at Whalley: Foliate Head, Whalley Abbey, 1430

And another from Whalley Abbey that presently resides in Blackburn Cathedral: The Fall, Whalley Abbey, 1430

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 31 Oct 09 - 01:29 PM

The closest I got to my homeland whilst studying anthropology in Australia was crofting on the Scottish islands; but what I did learn was that, in many lands, Christianity was fused with the local belief system - usually referred to as "pagan". Is that figure being "fed" by nature - as worshipped pre- and post-Christianity here..?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Nov 09 - 08:56 AM

More such grist for the mill...

Poem 53 of 230: WHY THE YEW?

To paraphrase one of my uncles,
    Showing a church in Hertfordshire:
When you see an old English parish,
    There'll be yews in its yard, for sure.

"Why the yew?" I obviously asked.
    They were planted, he said, to stop
A resting-shepherd's sheep chewing-up
    The parish-graveyard's gardened top:

Odour tells them - choose another crop.
    (But another thought, I've since heard,
Is that churches were built near yews -
    Sacred-sites the pagans preferred.)

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

P.S: with England's Bonfire Night near, please remember to check for hibernating hedgehogs before burning; and you may like to hear "Cob-a-Coaling" on my myspace player (via above link).

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Stu
Date: 01 Nov 09 - 12:45 PM

Or play Cob-a-Coaling to any hibernating hedgehogs before burning and that'll flush the buggers out!

Only joking ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 01 Nov 09 - 03:13 PM

Staying in Kenmore a few years we ago we visited the Fortingal Yew which certainly put things into perspective.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Nov 09 - 05:15 PM

Yes, S., definitely a village church built next to a very ancient yew - I think I saw that one on the Beeb, when chaps from Kew Gardens were travelling to look at important trees.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 02 Nov 09 - 06:51 AM

Ironic to note that whilst many aspects of Christian theology, culture and folklore do derive from pagan elements, the Green Man (so-called) is an entirely Christian invention. He has only been the Green Man since Lady Raglan first called him thus in 1939 and his adoption & reinvention by neo-pagans & folkies was very much part of the sixties / seventies Zeitgeist which still prevails along with its various shibboleths, orthodoxies & mythconceptions - up to (and including) the Folk Process, The 1954 Definition, The Tradition, and the actual existence of Folk Music... ;-]

Choir Stall, King's Lynn, June 2008

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 02 Nov 09 - 07:20 AM

He, I think, doesn't seem to happy with his pew; I, on the other hand, was with this pew/view...

Poem 65 of 230: NORTH WALES

"Hills meeting sea"
    Proclaims to me
"Good scenery."

And it's views of North Wales,
    Both sides of the train-rails,
Whereupon this thought hails.

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

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Nov 09 - 04:16 AM

This was just after repatriating form Australia to England (with a stop in New York) in 1997 - before I moved north...

Poem 45 of 230: PORTOBELLO ROAD

After questing forever,
    I bought an old blade-putter
On Portobello Road -
    By my London abode.

'Twas the Saturday market,
    And I was pleased with my get
From Portobello Road -
    W10's the code.

Also saw the festival,
    And many another stall,
At Portobello Road -
    A good arts and crafts node.

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

P.S: with England's Bonfire Night near, please remember to check for hibernating hedgehogs before burning; and you may like to hear "Cob-a-Coaling" on my myspace player (via above link).

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Nov 09 - 06:35 AM

'It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom where it was compulsory, by fiat, until 1859, to celebrate the deliverance of the King of Great Britain; but, it is also celebrated in former British colonies including New Zealand,[1] Newfoundland, and parts of the British Caribbean. Bonfire Night was celebrated in Australia until the mid- to late 1970s, when sale and public use of fireworks was made illegal and the celebration was effectively abolished. It is also celebrated in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda.[2] Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.'

So not just England's bonfire night

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Nov 09 - 09:04 AM

I don't like imperialism, Guest, and I'm glad independence movements are growing in (hedgehog-less) New Zealand, Australia, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: mandotim
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 05:14 AM

Er...last time I looked, New Zealand and Australia were both sovereign nations WAV. What 'independence movements' are you referring to?
Tim

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 05:37 AM

Full independence/republicanism, M. Apart from some local government, all any citizen of our world needs is their own nation and the United Nations - NO Commonwealth, no E.U., G20, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: mandotim
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 09:37 AM

In what way are they not 'fully independent'? Who makes their laws and public policy other than their own democratically elected governments?

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 12:01 PM

They are part of the remnant of imperialism called The Commonwealth, M.; and you may like check this on Gough Whitlam and the Governor-General.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: mandotim
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 12:48 PM

That doesn't answer my question (why am I not surprised???); sovereign nations often choose to act in concert with other sovereign nations. Australia and New Zealand are free to leave the Commonwealth if they so wish, just as France was free to leave NATO. Again; in what way are they not 'fully independent'? Oh, and by the way, things have changed considerably since Gough Whitlam's day. Please try to stay up to date with the affairs of your own country.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 05:08 PM

It's true, M., that, since repatriating to my homeland, England, I'm not as "up to date with the affairs" of Austalia - but I have heard of, and support, the ever-growing republicanism/independence movements there and in New Zealand.

Subject: RE: BS: WalkaboutsVerse Anew
From: s&r
Date: 04 Nov 09 - 05:31 PM

Not even up to date with how to spell it WAV

Stu