K. Morris's Blog, page 473
July 21, 2018
The Glorious Inefficiency Of Local Bookstores
“The elegiac atmosphere is part of the appeal. This bookstore, this artifact from a more literate past, serves as a reminder of values that have, in America, faded like pages in a weathered volume. The small, independent bookstore is simply a place out of sync with contemporary culture, chiefly because its very being emphasizes an appreciation of quietude, romance, and the kind of glorious inefficiency upon which the best of human life rests”.
(http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2017/1...
There Was A Young Lady Of Harwich
There was a young lady of Harwich
Who entered into marriage
With a sailor called Lee.
And when he went to sea
I comforted that young lady of Harwich …
There was a young lady of Harwich
Who entered into marriage
With a man called Hope,
But being unable to cope
She escaped with me in my carriage …
The Kiss Without Love
The kiss without love.
The glove
Full
Of a dull
Release
Will bring no peace
“Disabled” By Wilfred Owen
Yesterday (20 July) I came across “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57285/disabled. As someone who is himself disabled (I am registered blind), I was interested to see how one of the great poets of World War I portrays disability.
In “Disabled, Owen describes a young man who enlists in the army while underage, is terribly wounded (he loses both legs and its implied his arms also). Returning to the UK he is institutionilised and (the poem implies) his former jo...
July 20, 2018
RACHAEL AND CHRISTOPHER *Trigger Warning
Words fail me, but this poem speaks for itself.
Rachael and Christopher were my children
I carried them within my womb,
I loved them with all the love I could give them.
I knitted garments to warm, protect them,
Knowing they would be coming soon,
Rachael and Christopher were my children.
Their tiny bodies within me were hidden,
In my heart there was always room,
I loved them with all the love I could give them.
One dark black day I was hit and beaten,
By my own mother, they were doomed,
Rach...
There Was A Young Lady From Bangkok
There was a young lady from Bangkok
Who wore a very short frock.
A tourist called Paul
Fell off a wall
At the shock of that very short frock!
There was a young lady from Bangkok
Who wore a very short frock.
A bishop called Paul
Said “angels will fall
At the sight of that very short frock!”.
July 19, 2018
In Passion Hot
In passion hot
Children are begot
And time forgot.
Yet the clock’s whir
Is still there
Heed it or not.
Students At Manchester University Paint Over Kipling Mural
Students at Manchester University have painted over a mural of Kipling’s poem “If”. They say that they where not consulted regarding the murel, that Kipling was a “racist” and an “imperialist” and that it was not appropriate for the mural to have been painted.
I agree that the students should have been consulted (as the mural was in their student union building). However I am in agreement with the editor of the Kipling Society’s Journal when she says:
““Of course he was a racist. Of course he...
Our Man In A Place Called Bangkok
Our man in a place called Bangkok
Owns an old grandfather clock.
Each day at dawn
He takes Pimms on the lawn
To the chimes of that grandfather clock!
Our man in a place called Bangkok
Owns an old grandfather clock.
His mistress Dawn
Thinks the chimes forlorn
So she doesn’t like that clock!
July 18, 2018
Should Poets Use Swear Words In Their Poetry?
In June 2017, I wrote a post entitled “Its My Blog and I’ll Swear If I Like”, https://newauthoronline.com/2017/06/27/its-my-blog-and-ill-swear-if-i-like/. In that article I argued that everyone has a right to run their blogs as they wish, including utilising swear words in posts. I also stated that swearing has a place in literature, for instance a gangster novel in which none of the characters swear would be wholly unbelievable.
I am, as pointed out in the above piece, no plaster saint mysel...
