June 27, 2019
Transactivist by Ash Brockwell
My new poem, ‘Transactivist’:
I thought that I was innocent,
I don’t quite understand,
The Times has bought my story and
It’s all got out of hand.
I’m now the public enemy,
It doesn’t make much sense:
I’m fairly sure my only crime
Is peeing in the Gents.
But now they’re blaming me, they say,
for this destructive fashion
Of listening to children and
of showing them compassion,
For sex and gender are the same,
as bigots all agree:
If anyone thinks differently,
they’re catching it from me!
It’s all my fault when little girls
refuse to play princesses,
And boys throw out their footballs
and insist on wearing dresses.
‘It won’t end there,’ they darkly mutter,
while inventing dramas
Of schools where half the pupils
now identify as llamas.
They claim I’ve barged in spaces
where I clearly don’t belong,
Denied the truth of science
and just can’t admit I’m wrong:
A pervert and a criminal,
I thrive on starting fights,
I’ve trespassed in the swimming pool
and torn up women ‘s rights.
They’ ve let me have my way, they say,
for far too long already:
I’ve undermined society
until it’s quite unsteady,
Contaminated toilets
with my trans-infested breath,
And dealt the Patriarchy blows
that may yet cause its death.
They say they know the truth at last:
They’ve found out my agenda
Of causing floods and killing God
and redefining gender.,
And – here’s the worst –
annihilating nature as we know it!
There’s nothing more that I can do…
…Except become a poet.
What is the point of your existence?
Nothing is good or bad, right or wrong, ugly or beautiful in this Cosmos. But we Humans use those labels to make sense of the world we live in and to give it meaning. There are no questions to be answered by Nature, but Nature does ask us a question “Why are you here, what is the point of your existence?” This question cannot be answered by words but by what we do.
June 22, 2019
Two happy old men, same place, different time!
A happy old man sitting outside of the kitchen door in the hot June Sun wearing a tee shirt and baseball cap – my Dad in the heatwave of 1976 – he would have been my age then, 74 – one of my favourite memories, and it was on that occasion he told me Penny had made s good job of the garden – at that time just a square grass lawn. He would be amazed if he saw it now!
June 21, 2019
British Democracy or a British Farce?
The question has to be asked – is this Democracy? I do not believe that we live in a Democratic country, or that our particular form of Representative Democracy any longer serves the people of this country.
June 19, 2019
Dear old Sam, we are two old dogs together now….
Our dear old Sam has just gone out into the damp garden after dozing away on my lap for half an hour while I talked to him about our past adventures by the river side, chasing flying swans and playing fighting games in the kitchen. We are both old dogs now, but both still slowly make it up to the river a few times in the week. It is rather poignant seeing him grow old at the same time as me. He has caught up now, and in dog years he is older than me. I thank the Gods for the time we have, and will, spend together, and I treasure every moment of our close and magical friendship X
Terstan NGS Garden is Open for Charity Sunday afternoon June 23rd
It is warm and humid this morning and thunder is threatened. The whole garden gives off a variety of herbal and floral scent, including the white flowered Philadelphus shrub beside the small round pond – intoxicating! We open again for the National Gardens Scheme on Sunday afternoon, and the forecast is for a dry day, just right for garden visiting. Come along and have some tea and cake, listen to live music and buy some interesting plants – all proceeds to NGS supported Care and Nursing Charities. #NationalGardensScheme
June 17, 2019
Sister Moon
Window open wide in the middle of a short midsummer night, I stood before our Sister Moon – full, and radiating a gentle energy, a healing balm. I basked in her beauty and gave thanks for her presence – she reminded me that she was there long before I arrived on this Apparent World, and assured me that she will still be shining and reigning serenely long after my own stay here has ended.
June 12, 2019
Goddess Terstana
Sam is pretty fit for an old un – losing a bit of weight has helped his old joints. His pal is not too bad either, apart from creaky joints and a rusted out knee. Heartened by my BP today – 114 systolic and 63 diastolic – glad I started BP meds a few years back, they have been very effective, though jus could be my healthy lifestyle, despite all the cream and cheese! Sam and I went down to the Bridge today where I performed a Peace and Gratitude Ritual, by the flowing river and Goddess Terstana- then the rain started, we still need it, but hopefully warmer and drier by the weekend. Blessings to all existences – past , present and to come 💥💥💥
The Yellow Devil in the East and the Orange Devil in the West….”he who sups with the Devil should use a long spoon”
There is much about China that I love – the people, Buddhist philosophy and Dim Sum dumplings. But China has a Totalitarian Government. The Judiciary and Business is controlled by the elite, Communist Party, communist in name only, but in fact a privileged and rich ruling class.
The students in Hong Kong are indeed right not to trust mainland Chinese justice where there is no concept of an independent fair trial. Likewise business and our own Government should be wary of working with the Chinese firm Huawei – it is difficult to see how this company could be truly independent of the Chinese Communist Party machine, with tentacles everywhere.
China is powerful economically and in the business world, but there is something that our own government must remember. “He who sups with the Devil should use a long spoon”. And to make things more complicated this also applies to the Devil in the West – the Trump Government in the USA. I am reminded of the Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times…”
June 11, 2019
Message from a psychopathic robot….
I have now had a few messages from a robot purporting to be BT and threatening to disconnect my Broadband because my privacy has been compromised by persons nearby. I can apparently stop this by pressing 1 and talking to a BT technician or 2 to leave the internet. This sinister and impersonal message is very much 1984 in style, something from the Ministry of Truth…Many will have been taken in by this scam, which must be lucrative to some psychopaths in this sick planet. You can’t be angry with a robot, but I did consider sending a large shock back down the line to disintegrate it – sadly the technology, as they say, is not yet there…
