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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Poem of the week 8: The super rich AREN'T RICH ENOUGH

The super-rich ARE N'T RICH ENOUGH!
It's tragic but it's true!
The poor things need financial help
From folks like me and you.
This is the truth they tell us
(It would break a heart of stone!)
From the television stations and
The newspapers they own.
And some have even said aloud
(Oh woe and lack-a-day!)
That if we do not pay them more
They'll up and go away.

And what's the cause of all their woe?
The reason clear of course is
That the stingy, mingy, grasping poor
Are stealing their resources!

The super rich are feeling poor!
To make their wealth much surer.
All sound men say, the only way
Is make the poor much poorer.

So reach into your pockets
Pay up, and never fuss.
For if the super rich are poor,
What hope is there for us!

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Well not a word of this is true
There'd be no tears of sorrow
If each one of the super rich
Should quietly die tomorrow.
We'll always have the super rich, but here, oh here's the curse
That if we purge this super rich, the next lot may be worse.

                                                              Nick Mellersh 2008 & 2915

With the election coming up I thought it was time for a political poem.  So here it is. 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Poem of the week 7: 10% Extra FREE!



Yes sister! Yes brothers! You're the lucky one, it's yours ! 10% Extra - FREE!
Of what? Chocolate Buttons?” No better! “Luxury Body wash?” No better still.
Whisky? Champagne?? COCAINE!??!!” No better yet!
Ten percent more of life! Yes sisters, brothers that's what you've been given.
Ten percent (maybe more) Ten percent extra years and days,
Ten percent more than ever our grandparents had.
It's almost certain to be true for you, and I'm the same.
It's yours, it's ours. 10% extra days all FREE!!!

How should we spend them then?

There is no doubting how we should spend them.
Spend them in joy, rejoicing in the world we're lucky that we live in.
Spend them in wisdom, teaching the little we have learned,
Spend them in dance and feasting
Spend them in love.

But sadly most of us will spend them as we spent
That other ninety odd percent that wasn't FREE or EXTRA -
Spend them in getting by, complaining now and then
And sitting down.

Well let's try for the first choice. I'll try. You try too.
Nick Mellersh 2015

Well there was a big spike in the readership for Nigel Pascoe's reading of "This England" which went up last week. It's good, so take a look and a listen. There'll be more from Nigel soon.  Meanwhile here is one of mine I quite like.  Maybe I'm getting a bit preachy in my old age but it still seems quite fun.  Anyway hope you like it.

 And talking of ebooks we've settled on three covers for the three first world war books of my dad's.  More about them on the  ebooks page - click on the ebook tab at the top or click here.



PS: We've got a new logo for Njeanius productions.  More of that next week

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Guest Spot: Nigel Pascoe reads "This England"




I am asking my friends to contribute to this blog.  First of these is Nigel Pascoe reading "This England" by Shakespeare from Richard II. Nigel, as you will hear, has a wonderful reading voice. He says  "Here is an extract from the most patriotic speech in the English language put by Shakespeare into the mouth of the aged John of Gaunt."

The photos in the video are of the New Forest -  the part of this "blessed plot" that Nigel and I are lucky enough to live in.  They were taken by my wife, Jeanie and me.

And talking about ebooks (which we weren't but I am trying to push the three World War I war books by my father soon to be published by Jeanie and me - click on the ebooks tab at the top of the page) ... anyway Nigel has got some of the plays he has written available as ebooks on the Kindle store click here to go and look.  Be sure to purchase a copy or two of Nigel's plays.

PS: Poetic question of the day.  Does poetry work best when it is read aloud? Personally, I don't think so. But some poems seem to beg for a live reading.  Not enough of the ones I wite or so I have been thinking lately.

PPS2:  There's a new nude up on Jeanie's blog.  A nice water colour a bit like Gaugin.  Click here to see it. 

PPS:
And here are the words that Nigel reads: For the context click here

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Poem a week 6: Un-holy Awful Week

Picture of Christ in the wilderness by Stanley Spencer
 It's going to be an awful week. Look at the calendar.

Sunday: Ride on donkey while crowds shout "Go on! Fight and defeat the world's biggest army".

Monday: Kick out the cheats from the temple and get cursed for doing it.

Tuesday: Try to teach but get interrupted by tiresome fanatical Pharisees asking me trick questions.

Wednesday: Same as Tuesday. Then, at night, sweat blood praying we might find another way.

Thursday: Supper with supporters. Nice, but most don't understand me and one plots to betray me. Arrested on my midnight walk.

Friday: Whipped, hauled in front of the Roman governor, crucified.

Saturday: Wrestle with the devil in hell, or so the myth-makers say.

Sunday: Come back alive. I hope. They'll be talking about it in two thousand years if I'm right. But sometimes I think maybe I'm not.



It's going to be an unholy awful week.

However you think of it, holy week, the week of Jesus's crucifixion, changed the history of the world and it all happened in eight days. Since then all history has been coloured by the events of that week. I never know what to think about it.  Do you?

PS: The plan to publish e-books goes ahead. Click on the ebook tab at the top for a pic of one of the planned covers.