Poetry – Back to a different age

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Back to a different age

The Corona virus has sent us into isolation

But also back to a different age.

Today, with the sun on our faces we set off to follow the beck.

Starting at the mere with its island,

Past the old millwheel which ground many a sack of flour,

Past the church with its graveyard, built on the flat mound,

Surveying the town, reminding all that death comes,

Overseeing a community that now largely sees it as history,

Another relic from a bygone age,

Past the ducks and swans and seagulls wheeling overhead,

Through the gate and on to the path

And back to another age where time moves more slowly and nothing changes fast.

The beck, with its crystal clear water running over chalky white stones, runs fast;

The sun creating ripples of light that play with the wavering reeds

As trout dart and hang in its currents.

Along its banks the trees have planted their roots firmly in the soil

Asserting permanence, their skeletal branches, touched with a green sheen

As the first buds are slowly opening to reveal the nascent leaves.

The hedges now a billowing snowdrift of white May blossom

From which finches, tits and sparrows loudly proclaim their presence.

The beck runs through green meadows with cows that curiously chew and watch us pass,

Sheep who warily keep their distance, and strutting crows who scour the ground for morsels.

It runs through ploughed fields, now turned by tractors, brown with ruts of rich russet soil.

Above a solitary buzzard circles, searching the ground below for a meal.

Across the beck there are occasional crumbling brick bridges festooned with ivy and creepers.

We walk the path over hummocks and mole hills, past yellow glowing celandine, dock, nettles and wort,

Past burrows and reed banks, exposed roots, fallen trees, logs and hay,

Back to a different age,

An age when men and women farmed and nature blossomed,

When there were no sounds of machines

And the community came together in the sunshine

With different values, different aspirations

And time to appreciate what they were surrounded with.

It felt as if Covid-19 has opened a door into the past.

Opher – 4.4.2020

Hopefully at least something of this tranquillity and harmony will last into the future. It makes you aware how much we have lost in this modern idyll. We charge around having fun, buying stuff and living in comfort – but where’s the fulfilment? The meaning?

What’s the point?

It’s nice to visit with the past. Perhaps it will inform the future?

Poetry – The Jolly Profiteer

Posted on by Opher

The Jolly Profiteer

There was a jolly profiteer

Who gained his wealth from threats and fear,

But no decent people would come near

The jolly profiteer.

Every crisis was a dare

For him to gamble with his shares

From Brexit, Corvid and elsewhere

The profiteer showed great flair.

He robbed the pennies from the poor,

Kicking children out the door,

Profiting from starvation and war,

Money was all that he cared for.

There was a jolly profiteer

Who gained his wealth from threats and fear

But no decent people would come near

The jolly profiteer.

Opher – 2.4.2020

There’s so many of these profiteering monsters. They pretend to be human. They pretend to be respectable. They pretend to know what is best for us. They pretend to have feelings. They are certainly good pretenders.

The profiteers take many guises – from bankers and entrepreneurs to politicians. They have one thing in common – they live to exploit people and situations and do care about morality or the outcome of their actions.

They are modern-day robber barons.

They manipulate international money markets and never care about the destitute farmers in developing countries. They invest in environmentally dubious ventures, chopping down forest, mining and oil – without regard for the environment.

They love a good war or a national crisis – like Brexit. The Covid-19 is just one more opportunity to make a killing.

How many million did Rees-Mogg make out of Brexit? Remind me again.

Masters of War – Bob Dylan

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The Masters of war are playing their games again!!

They’re playing with our world like it’s their little toy!!

Grow up you psychopaths!!

I hope you will die and your death will come soon.

You ain’t worth the blood that runs in your veins!!

A Short Story – The elephant in the room

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The elephant in the room

Glen and Mikaela were hunters. There was nothing they liked better than shooting big animals. They had a collection of guns that could have serviced a small army. Killing was their passion.

Money was no obstacle. Mikaela ran a big company and Glen was an attorney. They had no children and so poured all their energies into their sport. They would enjoy pawing over maps, thumbing through brochures and planning their next trip. The focus was always a rare exotic beast that they could add to their collection.

Their trophy room was an enormous extension they had added to the back of their mansion. The walls were lined with heads, glass cabinets displayed tusks, horns, antlers, tails and paws while the floors was covered in skins. Pride of place were the stuffed animals.

Glen and Mikaela impressed their friends with a fearsome grizzly bear, a snarling panther and a roaring bull elephant. All arranged in lifelike poses to cause a stir with newcomers!

Not for them the rigours of a hunt. Having decided on location and prey they booked into a luxury hotel, organised a local hide, sat inside at dusk on their soft cushions and shot anything that took their fancy. If the animals were lucky it was a clean shot. If not neither Glen nor Mikaela could be asked to track the wounded beasts down to finish them off.

If they wanted a specimen for their collection they always avoided a head shot that might spoil the display.

Jack was also a hunter. Raised in the bush he was old school. He loved the wildlife and respected the animals. For him hunting was a game of skill and courage, requiring knowledge and expertise – to track, to know the habits of your prey and have the courage to stand your ground in the face of a charging beast.

Jack had hunted this particular prey for over a year and now he sensed that the time was near. Dusk had settled. He knew the habits well. The animals would be returning from the water hole. He settled in the bush, upwind and waited.

Slowly raising his rifle he sighted carefully, expertly squeezing the trigger with a smooth motion. His first shot ripped through the guts, mangling the liver. His second was aimed precisely at the subclavian artery. He knew his biology well.

Loading another bullet he cautiously approached, watching carefully. There was nothing more dangerous than a wounded beast.

He stood over them, kicked their rifles out of reach and stared down. The bullets had done their job.  He could see that they would both bleed out.

‘I could have gone for a head shot,’ Jack drawled. ‘Like you could have done with that bull elephant you shot last year. But I wanted you to have the full experience of a hunt.’

He looked from one to the other, noting the agony and terror, then, shouldering his weapon he slipped back into the undergrowth.

500 words – 24.1.2022

A Short Story – There’s a stench In here!!

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It took me ages to get this to exactly 500 words. I had to cut lots out!

There’s a stench In here!!

My home is very claustrophobic. I’m hardly ever allowed out. The mood gets scary sometimes. There’s a lot of shouting.

I’m in a very strange family and I have grave doubts about my leader. He’s arrogant and cocky and he blathers a lot but I can smell when he’s being devious – and that’s all the time! I don’t think he really knows what he’s doing. Still, you have to make the best of things. I get plenty of food and it’s warm here.

There are about five hundred of us. I haven’t even met most of them. My leader hardly ever takes me out, just passes me to some lesser member that I haven’t even smelt before. I don’t know where I am in this family!

Every time we go out they shackle me to stop me doing anything! My mates leave messages but no sooner have I started to read them than I’m jerked away. I quickly leave my own messages but it’s far too hurried. Is this any way to run things?? Good communication is the heart of any group! I’m missing out on gossip! Who’s not feeling well? Who’s up for it? I hardly get to converse! If we do meet up I’m not even allowed to say hello, just unceremoniously dragged away! I’m being kept a prisoner here against my will.

Then there are the petty rules!! There are all these comfy beds but I’m not allowed to lay on them. They’re reserved for fellows further up the pecking order. My leader has these sumptuous meals and I have to watch him guzzle them down, then they give me crud to eat!

New members of the family constantly stream into my home. We’re never introduced and I’m not even allowed to sniff them. I ask you? On top of that they all get to sit on the comfy beds! It’s outrageous. Like I haven’t got any status at all! They all pompously pontificate and my leader pretends to be bigger than he is, smelling of self-importance and greed. He loves to dominate!

Then there’s my love life! I haven’t one. Every time I try it on with one or other of our transient guests I get well and truly told off! What am I supposed to do??

I have fantasies about my family meeting up. Our leader out there in front, loping along like the shambling wreck he is; his mate nipping at his heels, the rest of us spread out in a big fan behind him. But it’s never going to happen. I can smell a rabid family of wolves outside, baying. They want blood. Every time my leader stumbles out there are horrid flashes and howls.

He’s pumping out wrong messages. He says one thing and smells another. They know it. He doesn’t smell like a proper leader at all.

Why are we going to have to leave and find a new home? What does all this Partygate mean??      

 Dilyn – 6.2.2022

Opher Goodwin – My books and writing

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Opher Goodwin – My books and writing

My writing career began in 1971 with over 70 books produced so far.

Because I have largely been an indie writer I have not had any constraints and so my writing covers a lot of different genres. I write what I like and how I feel. I write for fun without regard to markets or marketing.

My favourite two genres are Rock Music and Science Fiction (I also write wacky fiction, biographical tomes, and books about the environment, antitheism and art as well as anecdotes and reams of what I loosely call poetry).

My books have been published with Oxford University Press and I currently have a publishing contract with Sonicbond publishing.

Presently I am editing my book on Captain Beefheart which is due to be published this summer.

My Science Fiction is under the name of Ron Forsythe. A blog of my Sci-fi books can be viewed here: Ron Forsythe – Science Fiction Author (wordpress.com)

Below is a brief introduction to a selection of my work:

TitleIntroductionLink
Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track)Roy Harper must be one of Britain s most undervalued rock musicians and songwriters. For over fifty years he has produced a series of innovative albums of consistently outstanding quality. He puts poetry and social commentary to music in a way that extends the boundaries of rock music. His 22 studio albums 16 live albums, made up of 250 songs, have created a unique body of work. Roy is a musician s musician. He is lauded by the likes of Dave Gilmour, Ian Anderson, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, Joanna Newsom, Fleet Foxes and Kate Bush. Who else could boast that he has had Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Dave Gilmour, John Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Chris Spedding, Bill Bruford and Steve Broughton in his backing band? Notable albums include Stormcock, HQ and Bullinamingvase. Opher Goodwin, Roy s friend and a fan, guides the reader through every album and song, providing insight into the recording of the songs as well the times in which they were recorded. As his loyal and often fanatical fans will attest, Roy has produced a series of epic songs and he remains a raging, uncompromising individual.Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track): Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789521306: Books
Nick Harper – The Wilderness YearsI first met Nick when he was a young child and over the years he has become a close friend. This book illuminates the genius that I feel is Nick Harper and is designed to accompany ‘The Wilderness Years’, a trilogy of vinyl albums. Nick talks candidly about many aspects of his music and career. I include, with Nick’s permission, the lyrics of all the songs featured in the trilogy. There are also many photos dating from his childhood to the present day.Nick Harper: The Wilderness Years: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781678850661: Books
In Search Of Captain BeefheartThe sixties raged. I was young, crazy, full of hormones and wanting to snatch life by the balls. There was a life out there for the grabbing and it had to be wrestled into submission. There was a society full of boring amoral crap and a life to be had in the face of the boring, comforting vision of slow death on offer. Rock music vented all that passion. This book is a memoir of a life spent immersed in Rock Music. I was born in 1949 and so lived through the whole gamut of Rock. Rock music formed the background to momentous world events – the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Iraq war, Watergate, the miners’ strike and Thatcher years, CND, the Green Movement, Mao and the Cultural Revolution, Women’s Liberation and the Cold War. I see this as the Rock Era. I was immersed in Rock music. It was fused into my personality. It informed me, transformed me and inspired me. My heroes were musicians. I am who I am because of them. Without Rock Music I would not have the same sensibilities, optimism or ideals. They woke me up! This tells that story.In Search of Captain Beefheart: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502820457: Books
God’s BoltHelen Southcote is looking for a purpose to life through her Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence work on the United Nations Space Station when she watches the Earth destroyed by an asteroid. What can she do next?God’s Bolt: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9781092713597: Books
The Pornography WarsThe Pornography Wars takes political satire and social comment (with a liberal dash of humour) into a new dimension.
Sex is the essence of everything.
Is human history contrived by aliens?
Are we in a film set for an alien pornographic soap opera?
Is all human culture nothing more than an alien psych-master’s program?
What happens when the aliens argue over the future of pornography on their tridee sets?
What is going to happen to the future of human beings?		The Pornography Wars: Amazon.co.uk: Forsythe, Ron: 9798511727530: Books
ConexionIn the future it is still all about power. General Secretary Rheen holds the reins but does he hold the power? What about the shadowy Consortium who supply the money to get him elected? The separatists who are prepared to use violence? The Unification Movement who would bring the opposition together? Or the people who democratically vote? What of the stranded Starship? And what of the new drug Conexion that opens genetic memories to unlock an unexpected past? The new Gaia religion? Or the three massive spherical objects heading for earth? How will it all come to a conclusion 

Thanks for looking!!  Thank you for all your likes, purchases and especially those fabulous comments and reviews!

You give me energy!!

PS.

The books are available through your local amazon. If you contact me I can provide you with a signed copy!

Johnson on the brink – all bluster!!

Posted on by Opher

Clinging on, making silly noises that nobody pays any attention to, and about to drop into the abyss!!

Our own clown, a slovenly wastrel, clutching his champagne is as much use as a paper condom.

I such a time of peril we’ve weakened ourselves and the EU with Brexit and put a lazy, inept fool in charge!

The Corona Diaries – Day 725

Posted on by Opher

Well, it’s taken 725 days for me to finally catch Covid!! Less than a week short of two years!!

I haven’t much of a clue where we caught it. It was probably at the cinema when we went to watch Belfast. Great film!

I’m sure if we had caught this at the beginning we would have been a lot worse off. Between then and now they have created a vaccine and we’ve had three doses of it. Without that vaccine we could be in hospital now. Instead of being a minor inconvenience, we could be in a life-threatening situation. This just feels like a nuisance.

My symptoms at present are:

A strange oversensitive mouth with a metallic taste.

A feeling of lethargy.

A slight cough, more like clearing my throat.

A slightly runny nose.

The occasional sneeze.

I’m not really feeling that ill – slightly muzzy.

Acid stomach and slight diarrhoea.

That’s it.

Thank you all those vaccine people. The fact that IO don’t feel at all bad is down to you!

I reported my positive test and went through all the bureaucratic questions. Took me a while. There’s a lot of them.

It made me realise two things. Firstly, reporting this illness is a pain. I bet a lot of people don’t bother. Secondly, reporting contacts is arbitrary. I could have put down quite a number and I’ve been pretty much in isolation.

The other thing is that it would have been easy not to have tested. I wasn’t feeling that ill – just a bit under the weather. I went down with this last Saturday but my test was negative. I was unwell and contagious but free to pass the virus on. If I had been in work, mixing with a lot of people, I could have passed this on to a lot of people.

This virus is horribly underreported! I think the levels are much much higher than they’ve ever been. I know of lots of people who have just gone down with it. Because of vaccination most of us are asymptomatic or have, like me, very mild symptoms – easy to overlook.

The Track and Trace system is a waste of £37 billion. There is no chance of following up those contacts. We’d be far better off being instructed to contact our own contacts. Clear instructions are essential.

Meanwhile, out in Coronaland, it is quite apparent that our clown of a PM is playing football with covid-19. He thinks that pretending that the pandemic is over and lifting all restrictions will make him popular. The man is a dangerous chancer.

There has been no consultation with the scientists. his is purely a political decision made for the wrong reasons.

We know that there are numerous variants already on the horizon. We know that Omicron does not give immunity against other variants. That means that we are likely to get variants that evade the vaccines and immunity from illness.

Any sensible leader would initiate a public debate on how we deal with this.

Looking into the future it may well be that we do have to live with it. We need to vaccinate the vulnerable every few months. It is unlikely that we will ever reach herd immunity as this immunity is so short-lived. We need the scientists and politicians involved and a grown-up debate.

What we have is a leader who hides in fridges, provides no leadership, likes being seen in Hi-Vis jackets but not answering questions, unilaterally makes laws, refuses to be held accountable and breaks the rules he brings in for the rest of us.

What sort of pillock of a leader is that???

So, yesterday there were a reported 51,899 new cases (though I take that with a big pinch of salt – it is becoming much harder to obtain accurate stats) with 183 more deaths!!

We are now jabbing 5-11 year-olds – though I am not quite sure what the strategy is and why we are doing it. Are we still trying for herd immunity?? I wish we had more science in this. My trust in politicians is in minus figures.

There is now some discussion as to the ending of free tests. When those go then we have effectively the end of all stats. That means that nobody will really know what’s going on and where. It’ll all be down to hospital admissions and deaths. Might be a bit late by then eh?

We voted in mindless, greedy profiteers – now we are paying the price with both Brexit and Covid – horrendous rising prices and deaths.

They’ll just put a spin on it. The media they control will back them up. The morons in the population will swallow the garbage that they are doing a good job – got Brexit and covid done!!

When will they wake up!! This bunch of entitled, overprivileged incompetents are tightening their grip on power. They are pumping out spin and propaganda. They are banning opposition through protest. They are avoiding any scrutiny and accountability. They control the media and threaten the BBC. They are now looking to turn schools into propaganda sites under the guise of fighting Woke culture. They lie and break laws and rules with impunity.

This bunch of extremists is overtly dismantling what remains of democracy. It’s scary!!

So as global warming exerts itself we have a red weather alert – a severe storm approaches!!

Let’s hope it blows these nasty populists away!!

Stay safe!!

A better political system that is truly democratic. Populism is the biggest disaster. The wealthy elite are running things.

Posted on by Opher

I have voted in every election.

Never once has my vote counted for anything. I have always lived in safe seats with big majorities. I lived in London and Hull where Labour held sway with big majorities. I now live in East Yorkshire where the Tories have a massive majority.

The only votes that actually count are those in marginal seats where the seat can change hands. My vote counts for nothing and never has.

I continue to vote because it is a right that was well fought for. Blood was shed to gain my right to vote. It was a long battle. The wealthy elite of the establishment were terrified that once ordinary people gained the vote their privileged position would end. They feared that ordinary people would elect MPs who would create a fairer society.

That has not happened and, as far as I can see, has not happened anywhere else in the world. Strange really.

But then the wealthy elite contrive mechanisms to ensure that they stay in power. No political party can gain power if it threatens the position of the wealthy elite. They run things through propaganda, lobbying, finances, bribes and threats.

If a political party adopts an anti-establishment set of policies (such as plugging tax loopholes, nationalising institutions and a fairer tax system) they are vilified in the media and the propaganda machine runs into full gear. Finance is utilised. Threats are made. One only has to see what happened with Corbyn.

Parties that support the establishment are funded. Others are marginalised.

We presently have a two-horse race. The Tory party was formed by the wealthy to look after the wealthy. The Labour party was formed to look after the interests of working people – they probably represent the interests of 95% of the population. Such is the force of the propaganda machine and accompanying financial clout the only way the Labour party can gain power is if they adopt policies that support the establishment.

Ironic isn’t it?

The conclusion is that we cannot have democracy until:

Big business (finance and the establishment) is kept out of politics. We need a better way of financing political parties.

The media ceases to be a scaremongering propaganda tool of the establishment.

We have a mechanism to create a fair system where minority parties have a better chance of gaining power.

To this end, in order to achieve a proper democracy, I think we require the following things:

Some control of the media so that it is not controlled by the wealthy elite.

A form of proportional representation so that wherever you live your vote counts.

The removal of all private funding for political parties – some form of public funding is required.

An unbiased fact-checking body to alert when false claims are made or lies told.

Scrutiny of all politicians with full accountability. Any lies, deception or law-breaking is immediately acted on with draconian punishments.

Only when that happens will we have true democracy!!

PS

I have lost all faith in referenda. I do not believe that the majority of the public have access to the necessary facts or are able to weigh up the complex issues necessary to make informed decisions. The public is too gullible and easily swayed by charismatic politicians feeding them lies, spinning the truth and deploying fear-laden conspiracy. Referenda give the same weight to the ignorant and stupid as the informed and intelligent. Representative democracy (electing people able to weigh up the intricacies of facts necessary for policies is the only way). Populism is a disaster.

There should be a way of preventing narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths from running for office. Perhaps all candidates should be subjected to psychological testing?

The trouble with all revolutions is that they merely replace the wealthy elite with a different wealthy elite.

The trouble with socialist/communist systems is that they get taken over by psychopath/sociopathic monsters (Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot) and become abhorrent tyrannies run by ruthless elites.

The same thing happens with right-wing fascist states (Hitler, Franco, Mussolini).

Right now we have a wave of extreme right-wing populism all of which are headed up by grifters, chances and liars who pump out lies and conspiracy, create fear and division, so that they can profit with huge power and wealth. Bolsonaro, Johnson and Trump are squirrelling away fortunes in some of the most sleazy, corrupt regimes we have ever seen.

Politics has let everyone down. It is time for a big overhaul before it erupts into civil wars.

I’m Positive!! Testing Positive For Covid – the symptoms.

Posted on by Opher

I finally tested positive today.

I think I went down with it on Saturday. We had one of our grandson’s staying with us and I was feeling very rough, tired and muzzy. I took a test and it was negative. Liz tested positive on Monday. I tested again on Monday and that was negative.

I took it easy over the last four days. I’ve been feeling generally out of sorts. I think it was Tuesday that I really felt that I couldn’t be bothered. I sat around and read my new Stephen King book. I read for hours. It hasn’t affected my concentration.

Yesterday I spent the whole day sorting photos and applying captions.

Today I got up and have a strong positive test result. That is a full five days after getting the first symptoms.

Fortunately, we are both triple vaccinated so our symptoms are likely to be mild – and are.

My symptoms:

A headache, muzziness and sleepiness on Saturday.

Perked up on Sunday – just feeling tired.

Really unmotivated and couldn’t be asked on Monday and Tuesday.

Developed a little cough on Wednesday. Feel very congested as if I have a cold.

Last night my throat felt very dry, my stomach was a little acid and I had slight diarrhoea. I got up in the night to get a drink (unusual).

his morning I tested positive.

My mouth feels a little strange – a slight metallic taste and a feeling of overstimulation.

Very slight tightness around the eyes but no headache.

The odd sneeze, a little cough but not much.

I don’t feel particularly ill but am not 100%. Not feeling anywhere near as bad as last Saturday!!

I reported the positive test to the NHS – a series of questions on line.

I’m now officially a statistic!!!

I’m very grateful to have had the vaccinations – without that I think we might have been very ill. As it is, so far, this is nothing more than a minor inconvenience!!