Severin:"caring for my mother."

Gee, she must be a selfish old cow, expecting her children to take care of her...

Dear Houellebecq,

Sympathy is not what I'm after at all,
however your poem will do just fine
and Thank You so much.

As everyone can guess by now, I love
poetry. It's a private and public phenomenon,
and always has been from the classical
poets to the heroes of the modern electronic
media. It's found in high and low culture, in the
short run of books from exclusive publishing
houses, on gravestones, on the walls of public
toilets and in children's games. Response to its
magic is spread across humanity: in the mind of
the intellectual, in the heart of the lover and
in the rhythmical movements of dancers who respond
to the lyrics of the songs which pound out in
crowded rooms. From this point of view,
"Sticky beak, treacle nose/Lolly legs and ice cream
toes," is as much poetry as "Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?" Comic verse is as much poetry as
the ode; the limerick as worthwhile s the sonnet.
Funny rhymes can help you keep your reason, just
as serious poetry can probe your soul...

Dear Severin,

Thank You for the link.
It is much appreciated.

Dear Antiseptic,

"A Lion is fierce:
His teeth can pierce
The skin of a postman's knee.
It serves him right,
That, because of his bite,
He gets no letters you see."

It isn't easy to stop doing what you're
doing, but do try for the sake of
civility.

Dear Foxy,

I identify with the following:

ALL MEN ARE PIONEERS

All men are pioneers inside their hearts.
They are forever seeking wilderness.
Behind strong teams they ride in hooded carts,
Avid for life, and masterless.

They would take their women west or north,
They would invade a country terrible with peril,
They would eternally be riding forth
Out of the cities they have found so sterile.

In their hearts they are forever cutting clover,
They are forever drawing water from a well.
In their dreams they are observing, over and over,
The ground they would clear, the forests they would fell.

They are dreaming of lands uncivilized that sprawl
Unfound, or unimagined, or forgot. . .
Knowing they will not leave the town at all,
As like as not.

Lionel Wiggam

I don't think my wife was familiar with the above when she wrote for D:

Daredevil Dotty
Sat on her potty
Thinking of brave things to do

Like training a bear
To jump in the air
But all she could do was a poo.

Dear David F.,

Thanks for your poems and for
reminding us that human nature is
what it is and that life, no matter how
we live it, is very short. You always
give an extra dimension, and add to our
sense of what life means. I love reading
your posts on OLO.

'ALL MEN ARE PIONEERS'

pft. What about all the women pioneers who throughout the ages have worked under the patriarchy with zero appreciation. It's offensive to women; the downtrodden martyrs of society, to hear constantly from these abusive brutes patting themselves on the back. History written about men for men!

It doesn't take much to 'pioneer' the systematic degradation and oppression of 50% of the human race!

Foxy:"the sake of
civility."

Aah, of course, "civility". Is that where the "right" posters get "letters" and the "wrong" ones get you telling everyone to ignore them?

Nice work. It's good to see your spleen hasn't been damaged...

As for my comment above, I refer you to your own comment to me on another thread with respect to children looking after their parents in their dotage:

"As for who's going to look after us in
our old age? Are you seriously expecting
to burden your children with that
responsibility? That's extremely selfish
of you, and it's not something that would
have even occurred to many of us."

Presumably you also then think that Severin's mum is being "extremely selfish", especially considering that I actually never expressed any intent to make a burden of myself or is being honest too "uncivil" for you?

Take your time dear, I know this requires thinking, not just going to the catalogue to find a book of quotations. Remember, you also said on that other thread:

""we admit when
we're wrong, and we apologise for
our mistakes. You never do."

So what's it to be, Foxy? Honesty or hypocrisy?