Povey Prattle

At the age of 64 years and five months I saw my first ballet today. I gained a love of classical music by osmosis from my Dad. He listened to it all the time on the old BBC “Third Program”. But Dad’s taste was specific. Not for him were opera,(apart from the great overtures and choruses), ballet or chamber music. He relished the great symphonies and concertos of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Shubert and Brahms, and the oratorios of Handel, and his 19th Century imitators. And there was next to no regional ballet or opera in England. For those you’d have to travel to London – a whole 120 miles away! Besides which, in blue collar communities, ballet was conceived of as being snobbish, effete, and perhaps even “faggy”. When I moved to the USA I served in small towns and cities which had no ballet apart from amateurish Christmas productions of the “Nutcracker”. True there was the wonderful summer dance festival near Pittsfield at “Jacob’s Pillow”, but “I did not like ballet” so never attended ...

One of my favourite poems is “Do not go gentle into that dark night” by Dylan Thomas. (see below) He was addressing his father on the latter’s death bed. Dylan’s father had been a coal miner and a Union activist. He was being urged to die peacefully. But Dylan wanted his father to die as he had lived - raging against the dying of the light. After all, there was not much light in the coal mines, when Thomas Sr. had raged against the injustice of the mine owners. I am writing my own death poem. It is entitled “Feed me Mussels”. “Rage not against the dying of the light But welcome it. Welcome it with bliss, for such is this: We all must meet this fateful tryst, At ends of lives both brief and long With peace, with joy, and with a song. The song I sing is not of faith, nor heaven, nor hell beyond the grave. For hell’s not there, and heaven’s a myth. We are but atoms finely made, Destined for dust – not a parade of angels, demons, heaven or hell. So when I’m dying grant my wish, for mussel...

Billie was a very butch-type lesbian - homeless - and a guest at Res. House. I liked her very much. The other week after the Res. House prayer service I told her that I was praying that she would find a wonderful girl-friend. That was not to be. Billie overdosed on neat Vodka, and after a few days in Intensive Care at our local hospital she passed from this life. I will miss her. We remembered her at today’s prayer service. We remembered her without judgment. After the prayer service (n) came to hug me. He said that our prayer time at Res. House is the highlight of his week. Our homeless guests pray to get jobs and to find a place to live. They pray for their siblings and children. They pray for all the homeless folks. They pray for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. My friends at Res. House are so cool. Some are mentally ill; many are military veterans with post stress traumatic disorder; some are alkies or druggies. The vast majority are folks just like us, who have fallen...

I was back at Res. House today. Truly the homeless ones are (mostly) so precious. “They” could be any one of us. Many folks are but one or two pay cheques away from homelessness. Orlando, James and Ben will join me here for lunch on Thursday (23rd). I am already brewing the fish soup. I have some questions. 1) If Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama because they are both Black Americans (as some have said) ; are all the Caucasian endorsements of John McSame because he is a White American? 2) Why is the Right wing attacking Senator Obama, because he believes that wealth should be distributed in favour of poorer people? Have not the Presidents since Ronald Wilson Reagan viz:- 40 Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-89 (Republican) 41 George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993 (Republican) 42 William Jefferson Clinton , 1993- 2001(Democrat) 43 George W. Bush, 2001- 2009 (Republican) Redistributed wealth in favour of richer people? Just a thought. jmp

No blog today, Tuesday 21st October 2008. Check in again tomorrow

I voted "early" today. I was reluctant to do this for I love the thrill of Election Day (and I do not trust the State of Florida to keep my vote intact). But I voted because I have volunteered to drive electors to the Polls on Election Day itself. This is my part in getting out the vote - I hope for Obama/Biden. I voted at the Library in Newtown, SRQ. Newtown is the community created by the Burghers of Sarasota for black people when those Burghers decided that the black area (the Rosemary District) was ripe for white expansion. I voted there because I am pissed off with my "liberal" white friends and neigbours who are scared even to drive through Newtown. Of course I voted the for Senators Obama and Biden. It's the right thing to do! And I was heartened by General Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. What for me is important is not simply what he said, but why he said it. (You can read this below). I believe that General Powell stated many things whic...

A Sarasota group called “Women for Obama” arranged a “Walk for Obama” across the Ringling Bridge today. 700 walkers registered. Then they put the word out that all were welcome, so I joined in. I joined in with thousands of others. We walked approximately 2200 yards east to west (and then back again). Mid-walk the bridge was filled with walkers for the entire 2,200 yards. Assuming that we were a yard and a half or so behind each other, if we had been single file we’d have numbered about 1,500. But we were often three or four abreast, so a very conservative estimate would place our numbers at 4,000. So I suspect that there were at least 4,000 walkers, and probably more. It was an exciting, exhilarating walk. The weather was so much in our favour, a cloudless sky, temperatures in the high 70’s, and a consistent cooling breeze. Motorists on the bridge were great. We received so many “toot, toot, toot” sounds from the car horns, to which we responded “Yes We Can”. A few motorists gav...