Out of school.....

Each morning from Monday to Friday
Just beyond the birds eating, treating
Beyond the browned beech hedging,
Children stroll to the school bus.
From right to left across my view
Of birds and hedge.
Each carries a days supplies to the front line.

At 4.30 pm precisely
The same children,
Across my eyeline,
From left to right,
Ignore the swooping birds

Worn down already
With the backpack of evening doom.

Being at the ditch has wearied them
So they neither see bird
Nor the blue skied sunniness
Of a February Valentine.
Nor me peeking at them from a foreign clime.

Whilst they have trudged
From here to there
And back again.

I have written a poem.

New anthology for Pimento.

We have a new anthology coming out in March with contributions from all our members. I think it will be a stalwart effort to get it all done. It’s to celebrate 25 years of Pimentos existence.

Published through Amazon, it will be interesting to see our final results and to have a launch in Lincoln at the end of March.

Pimento meetings in 2019....

We now meet on Tuesdays once a month at the Lincoln Library. Good venue with a round table and chairs for the dozen of us!

Plenty of superb poetry and stimulating discussion.

May it long continue.....

Pensions and poetry.....

Joy of joys we have an increase in our pension provision for 2019. It says an increased percentage of 2.60 % but since I can’t access the details then I can’t prove it. I think we’re running a little better than inflation.
Does this mean a little more spending money in Rome or Durham?
Carol says she wants me staying around for another Ten years.....at least. That’s worth a small fortune to both of us......

Now can I manage another ten years of increasing pensions, increasing pains and aches and increasing the range and quality of my poetry.....

The Poet Continues…..to walk the walk….

Walking the walk......

I saw a man walking today.
We were in the Chrysler 300c, heading to Aldi’s
Via
The deviation
Because of roadworks on  Canwick Hill.

I was coming to a low level bridge
In Washingborough
And saw him
In and out  of the corner
Of an eye.

Why he registered,
I don’t know for sure.

Went on our way,
Shopped at Aldi’s for £64.08p
And got our deisel at Tesco’s.
With the voucher, we saved over £8.00.

We travelled back towards Nocton
Without a hitch at Cannock Hill.

On the outskirts of Branston,
There he was
Again.

The man at the bridge.
How could he have walked so far?
Where was he going?

He was tall, grey haired, long haired
Curley haired,
Dressed mostly in black.
Looked like an ex-rocker.
Head held high aimed at the Horizon.

Was my flitting feeling of jealousy
Something to do with his purpose and gait?
What gracious thoughts had he magiced
Whilst I had been raiding some shelves.

Did I see a pencil sticking out of his top pocket

© Vernon Goddard.

What a bumper crop we've had this year…..

Hiraeth: the meaning…..

Its not just longing
Its belonging
Its beckoning
Calling
Rejoicing
Singing
From and in and to the hills
And Vales
And Wales.

Its Knowing
In the heart land
Be coming home
Wanting
Yearning
Burning
From and in and to.

Its memory
Fading
And awake
Remembering
The small and tiny
Pebbles on a beach
A summer peach
And speech
The preach of pulpit
From and in and to.

The beauty of a Blue
A mist
A time
Our time
The chime of Llandaff bells
Falling fading
River wading
Waters cascading
The drizzle of a drizsling
Singing gently gently
From and in and to.

The dark deep
Of a Forest sweep
The hollow steep
The hollow weep
Of gathering night
A last  ing sight
Before the flight
To sleep
From and in and to……

Vern September song 2018

Pink Floyd "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" Syd Barrett Tribute

Rabbi Lionel Blue dies.....age 86.

Lionel Blue, the UK’s first openly gay rabbi who appeared on BBC Radio 4 for 30 years during the Today show’s Thought for the Day segment, died this morning.

The London synagoge Beit Klal Yisrael announced Blue’s death on Facebook:

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Rabbi Lionel Blue OBE, who died in the early hours of this morning.

Lionel was a wonderful & inspirational man, who spoke with such wisdom and humour and whose words reached out far beyond the Jewish Community.

He was a friend and mentor to many and his courage in coming out as gay in the 1970s paved the way for many other Jews, including many Rabbis.

As part of Rainbow Jews he was interviewed about his life, the interview and a transcript can be found at: http://www.rainbowjews.com/rabbi-lionel-blue-a-pioneer-and-legend/

We will not see his like again. May his memory be for a blessing.

Lionel’s funeral will take place at Cheshunt Jewish Cemetery in the woodland area at 12noon on Tuesday 20th December.

The Guardian reports:

In recent decades, he had two heart bypasses, two bouts of cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, the minister of Maidenhead synagogue and a writer and broadcaster, said: “For several decades Lionel Blue became the indispensable Monday morning wake-up call for millions in Britain, mixing religious insights with honesty and humour.

“He never pretended that life was easy, or that religion solved everything; instead, he shared his own failings and foibles, and showed how to get through the rest of the day.

“Through the popularity of his broadcasts and books, he made rabbis more human, Judaism more understandable, and faith in general more user-friendly.

Rabbi Blue was 86.

End of the year....

.............a question to ask at the end of this year. What am I going to write to celebrate 2016. What might I write  to usher in 2017?