On Passing the New Menin Gate by Siegfried Sassoon Who will remember, passing through this Gate, The unheroic Dead who fed the guns? Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate,— Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones? Crudely renewed, the Salient holds its own. Paid are its dim defenders by this pomp; Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone, The armies who endured that sullen swamp. … Continue reading Remembering 11-11
These are the words I threw out to David Niall Wilson when he asked for three words upon which he could base a poem. Many others responded too and the results of his three word poems are here. There is not enough poetry in the modern world so it is great to see a good writer turning his hand to verse. But the one he … Continue reading possum – magic – lithe
While re-reading this poem I began to consider just how much power those words have in my life – may, might, should, could, would, must. How many times have I said “blah blah should have …” or something similar? It is words like this that are invisible forces creating pressure in my life. Instead of either doing or not doing, these words put me into … Continue reading Powerful words?
With such diverse and extreme weather occurring in Australia it seems like a good time to revisit a poem that talks about this. We are currently suffering from extreme heat & major bushfires in the south eastern states; with floods in the far north. The state of Victoria in particular has been devastated. My heart goes out to all those suffering loss from the fires. … Continue reading My Country
In these days of gloom, doom and constant bad news it seems hard to take it all in. But sometimes it is not just a recitation of the facts we need. Sometimes poetry can sum it up better … Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the … Continue reading Explaining the times we face
On the Slate website Hart Seely has collected some of the truly classic poems of our time – they are taken from briefings listed on the Dept of Defense website. The Unknown As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do … Continue reading The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld – Recent works by the secretary of defense. – A fabulous collection taken straight from the DOD website
Aide Mémoire 