Tag: Tanka

Climate emergency

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Governments tell us

we need time to make changes

‘people aren’t ready’

meanwhile we see Rome burning

I sense a revolution

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by Scooj

  • I am sickened by governments around the world asserting that making rapid changes to our fossil fuel habits will not be accepted by businesses or people. Surely the point here is that they must lead us through this difficult time, making those difficult choices, and selling the long-term benefits to their citizens. Sadly they are still in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry and other big players for whom change is costly and inconvenient. History will remember them for the pathetic cowards they are. They are failing in their duty to protect citizens and our beautiful home, Planet Earth. Time to change this ‘old order’.

Parsley in my ears

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Waiting for the boy

to watch the match together

the joy of playback

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shut out all noises or clues

I’ll put parsley in my ears

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by Scooj

This is a rather cryptic Tanka which I am composing while waiting for my son to get home from his late shift so that we can watch the England v Scotland match together on playback. I have to guard against hearing the neighbours shouting or turning on the radio or even using my phone in case I see or hear anything that might give away the score.

Putting parsley in my ears is an oblique reference to an Asterix cartoon book ‘Asterix the Gladiator’ in which the Roman soldiers put parsley in their ears so that they wouldn’t hear Cacofonix the bard singing, such was the dreadful noise he made.

Gathering clouds

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Centralising all

Whitehall communications

mimicking POTUS

 

time for all to be worried

an absence of scrutiny

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by Scooj

 

… on the news that Dominic Cummings, er, (coughs) I mean Boris Johnson is going to centralise (control) all government communications departments so that instructions (news) can be given direct to the public, avoiding media (and therefore scrutiny), also involving many job losses. He wants to start holding Presidential style daily news conferences with hand picked journalists, who will be barred if they cause trouble. This is all leading the country in a very troubling direction, and what is most worrying is that these moves (‘sacking’ of Sir Mark Sedwill, Head of the Civil Service, removal of treasury advisors, merging of DFID with the Foreign Office) are happening while the nation is distracted with coronavirus or EU exit and so on.

well we voted for this as a nation so we will have to suffer the far-reaching consequences. The damage that is being done to honour, credibility, decency, openness, transparency, capacity and competency of our parliamentary system and governance is incalculable. Once again hard working decent folk will pay for it and have to pick up the pieces.

I reject Cummings and his cabinet. They do not represent me or have the best interests of The Many in this country. Well with the Mekon (DC) in charge what do you expect.