To celebrate the festival of Beltane ~ a rewrite of Persephone.
Radiant beauty,
Goddess of the spring,
Scent of the rose
Against your brow;
Fertile maid of life … and of death.
She meandered in meadows of
Fragrant flowers,
Roses, violets, hyacinths in bowers.
Seized, snatched,
Carried off,
Stolen by Hades
In a golden four-horsed chariot,
As Demeter wept.
Odysseus at the House of Death
Sees a wraith
To make one ache
For those who have been.
Persephone now the
Curse of dead souls,
Men distrust her
Six months here, six months there.
It is said:
“This is no deception sent by Queen Persephone,
This is the way of mortals when we die”
Feel the horror queen’s light breath.
But wait!
A kindness yet,
To let
The souls return.
Springtime Goddess of Rebirth,
Mystery initiations,
Sudden depressions,
Give way
To the
Mysteries,
A better life
A different fate after death.
Repeat to the beginning,
Seeds of the
Fruits of the
Field.
All shall return.
She is the
Painted winecup,
She is:
Life and death,
Wife, daughter,
Innocence, wisdom,
Death and rebirth.
And she stole the beautiful Adonis!
Oh yes! A psychopomp …
With pomegranate seeds
We’re going on a walk,
a ‘Words on Water’ walk,
with WLF and writers,
around the waterways
of Worcester.
A trip – not literally –
no accidents, please,
no bodies falling in the wash,
being swept downstream,
to pass through the estuary,
in Bristol, into the briny,
cold currents rushing you further
to the Atlantic Ocean
and across to visit friends
in America.
Mysterious fevers in Malvern,
fever in Worcester, burning her up.
The brave, sombre child,
did not understand why mama went away.
She came home frail, damaged, loving, yet
unspeakably sad.
Mama lost his brother.
The other.
The one who would have been his friend.
His best friend. His closest friend. The boy who would
look out for him. Be there for him. Always.
His love in the womb extends from the tomb.
Mother’s loss and tears stifled.
She was told, ‘get a grip’ and ‘move on,’ as if to forget
were possible.
The tiny child ~ innocent ~
a babe, never in arms.
No grieving for lost babies then,
they shuffled them away and
burned them in kilns
so no-one would miss them.
The mother suffers a lifetime of loss,
with an idea of how siblings feel.
We learnt these things painfully.
Today such babes are mourned,
buried. Time moves on and
we talk of tragedies.
Not so back then.
As Little Venice, the venue for Parole Parlate, one of Worcester UK’s spoken word event venues, closes, here’s my tribute to them with a peek into the future.
Little Venice – LV
Little Venice, LV,
tell us, just how can it be
that you are going, leaving town?
We’ve shed a tear; were really down,
to hear that you will close.
Reading out loud, many a career
has started and continued here.
LV’s sold us Peroni beer,
sent us home full of good cheer.
‘The end of an era’
has been said [not that we’re ever cliché led!]
Our new place will be The Old Rec,
Parole Parlate to bedeck
their upper floors as we did yours,
this has given us all pause … for thought.
We’ll meet there from May this year.
Hope they have Peroni beer!
My very best wishes for the New Year ~ may it bring you all that you wish for
Every New Year’s eve
We stand at the top of the lane,
We see and hear
The glittering City fireworks,
No scent of cordite mars or jars;
Sweet bright light
Sky lanterns
Swaying through the night.
This year no breath of snow
Whispers past,
No frost tweaks
At extremities,
The ceiling of the faithful City
Celebrates time.
We stand at the top of the lane
Sipping scented spiced hot wine.
You are cordially invited to the launch of my first book of poetry Girl’s Got Rhythm which will be published Wednesday 24 October 2012.
Andrew Owens has kindly organised a launch event ‘on the day’ and will host an evening at Drummonds, The Swan with Two Nicks, 28 New Street, Worcester WR1 2DP, 18:30 for a 19:00 start. There will be performances by: Worcestershire Poet Laureate Maggie Doyle, Suz Winspear, Catherine Crosswell, Lindsay Stanberry-Flynn, Holly Magill, Spoz, Amy Rainbow and Andrew Owens and I’ll be reading from Girl’s Got Rhythm – requests will be welcome.
Do let me know if you can join us for a glass of wine, light refreshments and lots of entertainment – it’s stacking up to be a great night
Brian’s prompt about people this week at dVerse reminded me of the two guys who used to run the car park in Deansway next to the old police station, opposite the college … when it shut down an archeological dig took place in the late 80s ~ they excavated traces from Romano-British times ~ the car park was no more and in its place today is a department store.
Archeological dig in Deansway, Worcester, late 80s
In Worcester car parks,
not long ago,
men gave tickets out,
you may know.
Before the days of
infernal machines,
demanding money
and giving no change,
in Deansway next
to the old cop shop
there was a well-
known parking lot;
Let’s talk about the
ticket guys,
The long and the short of it,
they were wise,
They were patient with the
parking gits,
One would pace, the
other sit,
They’d pouches to put
money in.
One man was stooped,
bespectacled, thin.
His compact comrade helped
him out,
They were there in all weathers,
snow, ice, drought.
They waved their arms
to guide us to
The space that fit
for me and you.
Wonder what they’re
doing now?
The old car park has
changed and how!
In Worcester car parks,
not long ago,
men gave tickets out,
you may know.
A packed house enjoyed the poetry and prose performed at Parole Parlate with the headline double act from Amy Rainbow and Gary Longden. Gary will be writing about everyone else on his blog, but I thought I’d add my two-penn’orth about Amy and Gary ~ if you haven’t yet seen their sparky poetry be sure to catch up with them soon!
Amy and Gary as The Imperfect Pair were the headline act and pièce de résistance at the September Parole Parlate at Little Venice in Worcester. The brickbats and banter between the two of them had everyone in hysterics, we can all identify with the sentiments that these two practiced poets invoke. Their two central pieces, ‘The man who wears tweed’ from Amy and the riposte, ‘The girl who wore floral prints’ from Gary, are funny, poignant, alliterative and well rhymed.
Next Parole Parlate is 4 October at Little Venice, a fab venue with a great atmosphere ~ do join us. Then, a shared Worcestershire Literary Festival venture with 42 and Worcester Vigornia Rotary at Hillcrest ~ the Gothic Horror Halloween on 31 October ~ just ask for details
Here is the promised update, I read Faerie Folk, Morning Town Ride, Silly Head Day, Beans for Tea and First Love at the Fourth Plinth in the Old Library in Worcester between 10:00 and 13:00. Then, as we had finished early due to a couple of no shows, Suz asked if anyone had got anything else and I took the opportunity to read Time, Fire and War-thieves, I’ve never read it in public before – though all poetry is special, this one is extra-special to me.
It was a splendid morning with poetry and music from, in order of appearance:
Jenny Hope
Lissy Hope
Catherine Crosswell
Lisa Ventura
Damon Lord
Holly Magill
William Shatspeare / Ryan / Abigail / Edward
Polly Robinson
Gary Longden
Sammy Joe
Math Jones
Suz Winspear
and Worcestershire Poet Laureate Maggie Doyle
Such a happy morning in Worcester UK as the Olympic Flame carries on towards Cardiff – so many smiling, waving people lining the streets following a wonderful event last night at Worcestershire County Cricket Ground – an iconic event celebrated in style with a great sense of community spirit.
Worcestershire Film Festival’s Simon Munn ran a compilation of great Nosferatu shots interspersed with quotations from the film, which added to the atmosphere of the evening. Simon told of the legacy of Nosferatu and how a bootleg copy of the film secured Nosferatu’s place as a cult film. Murnau made many other films but nothing that matched Nosferatu, which, Simon said, is a ‘near lost masterpiece’.
Andrew Owens
Andrew was pleased to announce that the 42 website has been launched today, designed by Angela James www.42openmicnight.co.uk and said ’42 started 25 March 2011 and is a tribute to everyone who has ever performed and contributed to the event. This evening is dedicated to Damon Lord with condolences to Damon and his family; Damon was to have performed tonight but could not attend due to bereavement’.
Glenn and Angela James, the co-founders of 42, are suffering with flu, Glenn sent apologies, ‘So sorry not to be present, our best wishes for everyone to enjoy the evening’.
Geoff Robinson
Geoff Robinson read two pieces from Glenn James, the first started off with a dramatic ‘ATTEND!’ followed by an explanation of Nosferatu, which included the lines ‘We are the descendants of those bards in the firelight, we are the story-makers and the weavers of nightmare’. This was followed by Founding Fathers Glenn’s story set in an auditorium with two thirds of the audience undead and a cool comment on the number of broken mirrors.
Suz Winspear
Gothic Diva Suz Winspear was the very first performer at 42, tonight Suz read Sapphires about a relationship with ‘the only one I have ever loved’ a man with white hair ‘almost luminous in the moonlight’. This piece could almost have been called ‘Confessions of a Vampire’, a great story that kept to the theme of the evening.
Ian Ward
Ian Ward followed Suz. Ian is a regular performer at 42 and said his inspiration comes not from Dracula or Nosferatu but rather from Buffy the Vampire and True Blood. Ian read five separate pieces; one described humans as ‘domesticated blood donors’, another referred to ‘tough conversations’, and one told that vampires have feelings too, in which the line ‘the swish of her silks and satins’ stood out.
The break gave everyone the opportunity to chat, some had seen ads at the University of Worcester and Glenda and Jim had seen the article in the Worcester Standard, it was great to see new people present alongside the regulars.
Andrew Owens opened the second set with his story about being a vampire and not being able to bask in the sunlight or enjoy a sunrise – all about a lost soul who resents the living.
Michael R. Brush
Michael R. Brush read his short story involving a werewolf and Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes and Moriarty ‘the inhabitants of a Scottish keep’, followed by the third part of four from his serial – we’re all looking forward to the final part of this great sci-fi story in April at Ludi Cereales, the celebration of Spring ‘around the campfire’ event at Hillcrest, Worcester.
William Shatspeare
William Shatspeare is a renowned poet who performs at The Sunday Express in Digbeth and The Hollybush, a great set from William incorporating Richard III and Buddy Holly, even a poem called Lunar Sea Blues, very fitting for an event in The Lunar Bar. We loved the short poem about an androgynous, rum-drinking Haitian Spirit and a Mermaid linking fates and creating quakes.
John Taylor
John Taylor performed two poems tonight. A Life Vampyric ending with the lines ‘The moral of this tale? With maidenhood a dying trend / Occasionally a bloody steak is sometimes your best friend’ and The Plains of Lhee. Great to hear John’s work, we’re more used to him introducing other performers at 42.
Raine Evans
Raine Evans was next up with his story My Killing Lifestyle Part 1 – Raine said he had intended to read Part 2 – there was empathy in the room when Raine explained that the Xbox was responsible for him not managing to complete it!
Andrew Owens’s short story Haunting Remorse told of a son who died, a wife who died, and the haunting remorse that followed. Finally, Polly Robinson got back to the theme of Nosferatu with her poem He Drinks Blood.
John finished the evening with a reminder that Ludi Cereales, a celebration of Spring around the campfire with 42, Parole Parlate and Worcester Vigornia Rotary, takes place at Geoff and Polly’s place in April and thanked everyone for their contributions tonight. Our regular contributors from USA could not be included on this occasion as time simply ran out. Next time!
Follow the link to a great article about the fab evening we had last night at Parole Parlate, upstairs at Little Venice, Worcester. Organised by Worcestershire Literary Festival Lisa and her team had a full house, this was a night of nights – I should like to bottle that atmosphere!
Every New Year’s eve
