A Golden Era
31st August 2023
“How did that happen” is a catch phrase of our grandchildren. Almost in the blinking of an eye, fifty years have passed since our wedding. How did that happen with such speed. The humps and bumps of adverse fortune have passed. Changes unimaginable have occurred, and here we are together. Still having something to say to each other; still able to make jokes and have fun; still able to enjoy whatever is on offer. I am beyond grateful, and this prompted the piece below. The illustration was commissioned by our daughter, Sorcha, with a contribution of pebbles collected by me, unknowingly, in the South of France where we spend a lot of time. It represents all of us present and not. A wonderful gift.
Meditation on Lives Melded Together
This day your dad walked you down the long aisle,
freesia adorned, silk gowned;
placed us side by side where we have been
for fifty years, and so we are golden together.
We created warm homes, delightful children;
had a myriad paths of labour, sufficient wealth,
gifted to grow each other. We were also battered
by unbearable loss, and serious threats of health.
In the way that the soft metal of gold
reshapes to its new order, so did we.
Into the melting pot of change, poured out
into re-formed ways of living.
We relish the affection of our grandchildren,
in the new quarters of the no longer our home;
are sun kissed in our Med hideaway;
talk, laugh, love, are grateful for our given days
All told, we are reshaped well together.
Joyeux anniversaire d'or mon amour.
Peter Clarke
25th August 2023
And What About . . .
I have neglected this for far too long, and now it is time again. But what to write about, what poem to share? The world is packed with catastrophic possibilities. Such choices: dementia/genocide colluder or extreme narcissism in the White House; a hung parliament in the UK; the reunification of the USSR with a tyrannical megalomaniac at its head; the eradication of a race by a genocidal government in Gaza; the African continent reduced to bankruptcy and regression to male tribalism; in Ireland, even with an appalling electoral turnout the routing of the far right and Sinn Féin may offer some comfort except we face another FF/FG fiasco. Mother Nature rumbles on its rampage, raging against the human species’ abject destruction of the planet’s habitat. What the . . .
Being facetious right now is my only defence against absolute despair. So read, comment, pass it on, and send feedback.
City Walking and Cycling take 680,000
cars per day off the road
Irish Time Heading
More and more folk, cycling and walking, may
keep gases from greenhouses further at bay
This newspaper heading illustrates vividly
thousands of cyclists and walkers assiduously
stopping some cars on their journey
pushing them aside - making drivers quite surly
Mountains of metal - like scrapyards of sculpture
keep bicycle lanes quite safe - at this juncture
The new revolution is well underway
don’t get behind wheels - hear what they say:
Cars and their fumes play a very big part
the smell is quite phew don’t mention cow farts
Wear out your shoe leather walking
greet travellers with smiles while you’re talking
Force councils to make better spaces
to go out and about roaming those places
where vitamin D, and oxygen from trees
fill our lungs and our brains so we see
how to save us and this magical planet
except for some vicious old tyrants goddammit
Peter Clarke, 18th March 2024
