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Other Men's Flowers
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Comments on language, literature, politics, the arts and almost anything else, but mostly quotations. "I have gathered a posie of other men's flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own" (Montaigne, 1533-1592)
Recent Posts Tagged With 'poetry'
Music for magnetic resonance
They had told me that while you are having an MRI scan they can play you music to relieve the tedium; you can choose from their library or bring your own CD. Not fancying Mantovani or Cliff Richard or Songs from the Shows, when I went to be magnetise...
Ballyburbling
Ballymackleduff, Derryfubble, Benburb: Address of subscriber in the Northern Ireland Telephone DirectoryOh, the world was full of grievin’, an’ when I’d had enoughI packed me bag and set me face towards Ballymackleduff;White houses nestle there...
A moment of calm
All too seldom do we take the time to pause, to free ourselves briefly from the pressures of modern life and quietly meditate. Well may we ask, as did the the one-legged Northamptonshire cricketer W.H. Davies:What is this life, if, full of careWe hav...
...But only God can make a tree.
Most people know that blowing your nose is, to the Japanese, a disgusting practice. It is ironic, therefore, that they find admirable another activity which is very similar, in that it requires no skill, takes very little time and produces nothing of...
Remembering poems
From the Guardian, September 2005:Lord Wavell was unlucky, a manager of retreat in the first years of the second world war and absent from its later victories. Lying didn't come easy to him and, unlike Montgomery or Mountbatten, his successor as vice...
Top Sonnets 2008
The OMF Annual Sonnet Bash has come round again and, as promised, I am publishing today all those which were submitted.These were not numerous, but I knew that in today's world it would be difficult to seduce many readers of OMF away from their quest...
A sonnet for the New Year
Last year the OMF sonnet-writing competition generated world-wide excitement (well, five people entered); there is a report on it here, together with a link to all the entries.We are fast approaching the season when post-prandial torpor afflicts many...
Injuries bravely born
I see that last weekend yet another footballing big girl's blouse received a bit of a knock and collapsed writhing in pain until he was comforted and put on his feet again.Back in the fifteenth century sportsmen were made of sterner stuff. There are ...
Woman's Constancy
A young person of my acquaintance who has no respect for age and infirmity has pointed out that Other Men's Flowers, while purporting to be a vade mecum for intellectuals, currently contains 49 posts about food and drink and 40 about hats but only 33...
