Don't apologize, it's very interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-19396755



Oooh! Intriguing.

'And now, the Shipping Forecast'

From music Luxembourg turntables played
I turned my dial along the wavelength hiss
To hear an accent clipped, polite and staid
Give messages no captain could dismiss,
Gale warnings send hypnotic English bliss.

I think what fascinated me the most
Were strange names like Biscay and Malin Head,
Lost regions grimly scattered round the coast
Where maelstroms raise the spirits of the dead,
To Dogger and to Lundy I was led.

O Cromarty, a fog will cover soon,
I see it rolling with a ghostly glare,
I see the shawl of white beneath the moon
And rocks that pierce without a soul to spare,
The Shipping Forecast, magic voiced on air.


©

Ah, I remember that on a news item now Biz. I think it looks a bit untidy

My copy of Musty's poetry book arrived today It's my bedtime reading tonight.

(excuse my sandal toes)

Just a minor suggestion, i don't mean to grumble - but I think I'd prefer it in a smaller (standard size) paperback. Easier to hold in the hands or slip into a jacket pocket when reading on a crowded train. But it's really a nice book

Ah nostalgia I remember those. The names came popping into my head until I had to do this :-

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...ient=firefox-a

I see it's on Radio 4.



I couldn't quite work it out.

can we have a poem titled 'Sailing By' too?

Isn't that strange? Chatting to my brother on the phone earlier, he mentioned that instrumental which they play

Great photo by the way

Sorry about the page size Ovalteenie, I believe it's the smallest available at Blurb. However, on Thursday I'm off to London where we'll be making a rough cut or demo, of volume 2. I've spent a whole week polishing up its sixty-eight poems. It's going to be fuller, bigger and better than The Designer I believe. We're also going to try out better quality textures of paper and different spacing for the poems and page numbers. The price, on my insistence, will remain the same - whatever the format

And there'll be ancient sites in it


Great link Biz The Shipping Forecast is just one of those lovely old British institutions

Thank you Musty

I think the paper quality is excellent already. It's a very handsome book.

I'm glad it arrived Oval - thanks so much again for buying it and I hope you enjoy the contents

iPod, Therefore I Am

Texting, texting, texting,
This herd's trapped in babble,
Got to buy the next thing
Technical and dabble.

iPod, iPod, iPod,
Same old boring story,
If an iPod's your god
You'll miss Nature's glory.

Through wasted time the young regress,
Each mind now is a numb thing
But in a world that's meaningless
A pointless text means something.


©

It wasn't a dead art for me. When someone makes a poem for me, it makes me feel happy.

I've never texted, nor do I own an iPod - never felt the need. I suppose Virgin would tell me to "keep up", which they do with amazing regularity.


If someone has written a poem for you Dropdiva, why don't you post it on here?

Nice one Diva - welcome to the thread


Glad to hear it Biz - I still haven't got a mobile phone and it's never going to happen.

I have an old clam shell one which I bought when my husband was ill. It only deals in phone calls, but it's never switched on - in fact it's in a cupboard.

Best place for it Biz Mobile phones have become fifth limbs for many - I don't know anyone of my age or younger who won't go away without one. I feel sorry for these people, I really do.

Glad I'm not like it though

The Fountain of Carmullen

Inside a copse where shadows creep
Within a forest dark and deep
The Fountain of Carmullen lies,
Away from prying modern eyes.

This clearing used to once embrace
The magic from another place,
Selected by the seers to be
The fountain's home through history.

Before machines of steel were spawned
It lingered, stonework unadorned
Save for a line of Celtic runes
And images of suns and moons.

Among the weary few who’d rest
Their horses here, reports attest
Were knights who felt a force was near
And waited for it to appear.

The bowl at times when full of rain
Made water bubble and regain
An alchemy, which rose anew
If it considered help was due.

In purple vapours were unrolled
A vivid blend of green and gold,
Now suits of armour dazzled bright
And minds were bathed in sacred light.

Although the clearing’s lost today,
Still guarded by the trees they say
Beyond these uninviting lands,
The Fountain of Carmullen stands.


©

Ripping yarn Musty. We could do with one of those - it would save the NHS billions.

Great idea Biz - I bet the queue would be long though I was pleased with this poem because it seemed pure imagination. Except I wonder if the actual fountain came unconsciously from JRR Tolkien's Mirror of Galadriel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYZSAmbdPCU&feature=fvsr

You're right. We'd need them dotted all over the country.


Perhaps.

And BUPA's fountains wouldn't be free

Whisper it, but maybe we'll end up paying for NHS services. Don't let on to anyone else that I said that.

Has anyone in the government thought that the people who are losing their jobs will end up on benefits?

My solution is that all interest on the national debt be cancelled forthwith, so that there is only the debt to repay.

I can see them flying now Biz - the IMF would never agree to interest being dropped. I'm afraid the wonderful Labour Party drained the coffers thoroughly. Towards the end, their Foreign Office drinks bill alone was over £300,000. It's only money though.

I'm off to London tomorrow - it's time to assemble the various pieces for the next volume The title and running order I've already finalised. One rough cut should be delivered to me within the next few weeks. I can't wait to get started

As such I'll be away from the thread for the next few days

Keep the home fires burning my friends

Good news and bad news. I hope I don't end up talking to myself.

The time has come the walrus said
To post your poems on this thread.