E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

THE AMBULANCE   I’d tend to draw it out As something pregnant, freighted, A thing that lodges in the heart   When seen, a bad luck image That hurts the eye; meaning Nothing ever very good, usually   Worse than that. Many moving vehicles Carry ideas in their stride, ambulances Tend to show more than they hide,   Flashing their bright yellow jackets Of urgent care, implying pain. You don’t fix what isn’t broken,   They say, as they speed, make way For someone else’s trouble, yours Can wait. We duly step aside, to see   Another world’s quickly departing emergencies. But today, down the hall, where my window is, An office now, jerry-built for Covid-times,   Stacked high with papers, books and debts It’s hard to pay when sales are down, And books stamped non-essential, hardly,   It slipped a blue swift bird of lights, velocity, Across my line of sight like a beautiful apprehension That the...

Sometimes, the right person is in the right place at the right time. Joe Biden , who started his political career almost 50 years ago, as a cocky, handsome, working-class guy with a bad law degree and a salesman's smile, was no one's idea of a future president, other than his own. But he fought the stuttering, and took on a big opponent, to surprisingly win a senate seat. Weeks later, as we all know now, his young wife and daughter were killed, in a late November car crash on their way to buy a Christmas tree. Fate spared his two boys, and though he wanted to die, he carried on, for them. Over the years, Joe became a passable if long-winded speaker, prone to off-the-cuff gaffes, but had a way of reaching out to everyone. He was a real people person, and on the Foreign Affairs select committee, he got to know world leaders, and diplomats, and became friendly with even the Republicans across the aisle. He also met a new wife, and settled down, staying in his original house, out o...

In today's news, in a bizarre attempt to suddenly appear like a republican meritocracy, the government seems to have announced that the 'Queen and PM would wait in line like everyone else' for the Vaccine that may be coming soon to SAVE US ALL. This is absurd. Since when does the Queen have to do anything like 'everyone else'? If she falls ill, or requires medicine, it is promptly and effectively delivered and administered by the best experts in the land. Her 'knights' stand by to do her bidding. We literally pray and sing songs wishing her a long life. As the ruler of the land, it would be both churlish and overly-democratic to try and erect a sudden and false barrier to the Queen accessing top-level medical supplies. Nor is such a gesture even remotely necessary. If and when the Vaccine is approved, it will be rolled out with a million doses available per week. The first tranche is due to go to NHS workers, and those over the age of 80. The Queen's pla...

This is a razor-edge election, and anything can still happen; news channels suggest the final outcome could only come after lawyers unpack then pack-up their expensive satchels. As I predicted the other day on Facebook, president Donald Trump is likely to 'win' another four years in the White House; though Wisconsin and Michigan now slouch to Biden - and as warned on this blog, those who ignore the visceral power and attraction of Trump's especially-dark form of charismatic energy, do so at their peril. It is a personal tragedy that a good man like Joe Biden seems to have not galvanised voters; he offered a calmer, more rules-based, and establishment leadership, and more attention to social justice issues, health care, and the global warming crisis. Mr Biden promised a more rational and science-based approach. However, Mr Trump exploded out of his recovery from Covid-19 to campaign like a Twister - seamlessly blending digital social media passion, conspiracy theory, and o...

 LOCKDOWN 2   Like the bad old days, but over again, Like it had to happen, but always to you, Like the retrograde mission, but not to Mars,   Like déjà vu, but the French went first, Like it could have been prevented, but not, Like worst foot forward, never best thought.   Like a falling milk glass, but before the tears, Like running away, but after worst fears, Like an explosion at work, but this time from home,   Like a failure of nerve, but one that went halfway, Like never enough, but about too far, Like over too soon, but longer than the year.   Like transparently stupid, but never noticeably clear, Like a rhyme that won’t click, but it must somehow, Like arms around the weak, but they are on their own,   Like keep the wolves from the door, but not the care home, Like we are all in this together, but some of us have cars, Like it is almost over, but the box set’s higher than the moon.   Lik...

  OCTOBER POEM   The dark is rising, but it always has Been an upstart, just because That’s what darkness does. We have the horizon to focus on,   That way the high Beaufort Won’t render us sick, again. Grip your ice pick, prepare To wrestle on the ice. Fittest   Survive, the rest get locked down In the sinking feeling part of town. Shoulder your Winchester, We all require level action now,   Now that lever-repeating guns Are everywhere. Smell the cinders Blocking the daily air. Winter arrives Like the apologetic ticket collector   Who knows you don’t carry one, Will have to nudge you off the train. Let’s face it, you’ll hold on, Somehow, tethered to the caboose,   With a leather noose. Reveal Your shining scalpels, doctors Of the new strange constraints, Begin to cut and tear at what’s wrong;   It’s never light, and the money’s gone, But there’s more of us than them, And we can sor...

Assuming, for the moment, that Trump loses the election, and we get a Brexit trade deal with the EU before 2021, Trump will still be in the White House until January 20th; and, according to an Oxford vaccine expert, a plausible vaccine won't be readily available until July; at which point, it may only be 50% efficacious (and 50% say they won't take it). Assuming war will rage in one or more regions in the Caucasus, that there will be winter flooding, and storms; and another million or so jobless by Christmas - well, even without Covid-19 deaths, it is a lot to take in. Now factor this in - the PM, Boris Johnson , who was always openly supportive  of 'following the science' has been accused by his own government scientific advisors (SAGE) and Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Leader, Sir Starmer , just yesterday, of 'ignoring the science' by failing to implement a ' circuit  breaker' - shorthand for a two-week TOTAL LOCKDOWN. A mini-nuke, as it were. A ...