It is, I think, a wonderful coincidence, that, just as Britain's PM, David Cameron, announces in Oxford that Britain is a Christian country (tolerant, however, of other faiths), one of the leading UK artists, Banksy, has unveiled a pixillated priest, representing the worst crimes of the church. What this shows is that, above all else, the UK is a land of liberty of expression - and this can only be a good thing, so long as the atheist, the agnostic, and the believer, are each permitted to have their say.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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I would like to believe that Britain is still a Christian country. My wife and I both consider ourselves Christians but because we never go to church, we never show up in the official figures.
Best wishes from Simon & Rusty
sometimes the sheer commonality of your insight is unbelievable
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