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"The man is a cheshire cat: all smile and no substance. At least he disappears every now and then."




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Death of a Peasant ~ R. S. Thomas

You remember Davies? He died, you know,
With his face to the wall, as the manner is
Of the poor peasant in his stone croft
On the Welsh hills. I recall the room
Under the slates, and the smirched snow
Of the wide bed in which he lay,
Lonely as an ewe that is sick to lamb
In the hard weather of mid-March.
I remember also the trapped wind
Tearing the curtains, and the wild light's
Frequent hysteria upon the floor,
The bare floor without a rug
Or mat to soften the loud tread
Of neighbours crossing the uneasy boards
To peer at Davies with gruff words
Of meaningless comfort, before they turned
Heartless away from the stale smell
Of death in league with those dank walls.

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There is a bleak, grim beauty to many of R. S Thomas' earlier works, and this is an excellent example of all that is good about that side of his poetry. He has a wonderfully casual and compassionate voice in his writing, frequently coloured with a kind of stoic melancholy.

He is my favourite poet to read aloud, along with Dylan Thomas. In fact, the two Welsh Thomases are the only reason I still write today, as the brilliance of certain poems perpetually inspires my love of the artform.

I chose this poem in particular, because it fits in nicely with the news in my life for the past week.

That is,

I have been afflicted with the Plague!

I am lying of course. there is no way my life will ever be glamorous enough to warrant the plague.
I just get a horrible respiratory infection. I feel so special that I'm going to go into detail on the subject.
Do you feel special?

I bet you do

So, here is the week that was:


Sunday afternoon - felt cold and ached.

Monday - woke up and could barely move. Aches, chills, fever, and headaches. Complete loss of appetite. Saw Doc, was told to rest, and given certain measures to clean sinuses and throat of infection.

Tuesday - like Monday, sans visit to doctor.

Wednesday - it was monday all over again, but coughs were becoming an issue. SLeep pattern now disrupted. Advised that the fever stage of the infection should be peaking today or tomorrow. Come back if problems persist past friday morning/lunch.

Thursday - less aches, headaches still strong - was able to eat a solid meal. Coughing strongly could not sleep.

Friday - not very achey. minimal headaches. explosive coughing. Had to visit bank, so had take-out noodles for dinner - this was good. Could not sleep - this was not good. At 4.30am (saturday) arose from bed once again to spit bile into my bathroom sink, and then realise it is tinged with blood.
Very disconcerting to my sleep-deprived brain.

Decided to stay up, and abused the internet with my presence. My brother has now seen me playing the banjo and singing a bad bluegrass song about a homely russian mail-order bride. My family street cred has thusly been immortalised.

Saturday - which was technically a mere continuation of Friday, saw me again with headaches, but not so much witht he aches or chills, thank goodness. After splurging out on a dozen eggs and half a kilo of bacon, I ate another solid meal, and started to feel human. At this rate I'll make it back to work AND not collapse into a decayed puddle of corpsification on the office floor.

Life, therefore, is looking up, and longer term than it did at the start of this week.

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Benedictions all!

.



SOUNDZINE

Visit ~Soundzine - Peruse the archives. Get a microphone and submit something. Don't let fear get in the way of trying something new!

Here, allow me to [link] you to the Soundzine webpage.






These are the poems of mine that I still enjoy reading, in roughly descending value.



A Memory for an Old Friend

Eulogy

Memorial under Streetlights

Well Acquainted

Winter

Blue

Alive

Shades of Sleep

Mantra

A Blank Page

Tales in Read

Cold Comfort

Standing In Dust

Half a Glass

Tapestries





[link] - this journal of mine is an example of what a year of utilising DA's literary resources can potentially do for you. Have a look. This is also a good 'before and after' example of my works.

Prepare to laugh. A lot. I can also promise cringing.

Benedictions!