Is Time Your Flexible Friend?

And then there is the second lesson;
talk is easy, listening is harder
and a shared silence is beyond price.

My First Christmas Card Of 2019

Taken form the travelling exhibition of photographs
'Nothing To See Here' a collection of images
of the homeless, the destitute, and those for whom
choice means drug and alcohol misuse,
all pictures taken in Bradford. 

Democratic Immaturity

In the era of modern media,
elections make politicians hide
behind non-speaking photo opportunities
where for a short while they play act
as if they are near-to-normal people.

But this makes them seem like children
as accounted for by Victorian parents
where 'children should be seen and not heard',
or watched and not listened to, whether down mines,
up chimneys, in the workhouse, or just being fed.

But the modern public are not Victorian parents;
the situation is now reversed, we are keen to hear
what these suddenly shy creatures of privilege
who see their only choice as being to lead others
have to say for themselves to defend their motives.

Bad Speech

In the present show of nervous malcontent,
nothing much seems Heaven sent,
particularly when on the radio
all talk between experts
openly hides more than it shows.

The clearest sense of  'the demos'
comes from the questions
that the common people ask
in front of those seeking power,
for which those in power
will have no answer. 

Our Next Prime Minister's Guiding Poicy

Because for those who win power
via a distorted hall-of-mirrors media
whatever it is that they confidence in,
it is very rarely what it seems.  

When The Accent Makes The Difference

With universal suffrage we can add
one more item to what we all face;
after the inevitable death and taxes
we all have the right/duty to vote.

More exactly this means the duty to listen
to the content in the political campaigns
even when we want swear or hold our nose
at the words some party leaders speak.

With votes now held annually and biannually
for local and national offices of state
it will be hard to know who to vote for.

The one thing that a candidate can't hide
is their accent, and they will all be
between posh and regional.

Others will choose  for themselves
but for me a regional accent
will draw me in to listen
with more appreciation.  

Picture Set Of The Month - December

'Life Goes On' painted in 1970
by Soviet painter Tatiana Lablonska (1917-2005).

'Grain' painted in 1949 by Soviet painter
 Tatiana Lablonska (1917-2005).

'In Spring' painted by Soviet Painter
Tatiana Lablonska (1917-2005).

The Artist's Granddaughter Playing the Piano
painted in 1997 by Tatiana Lablonska (1917-2005)