Copy of Eric Gill Station of the Cross

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Easter, Eric Gill, flagellation, Oxford, sculptor, St Mary the Virgin, Stations of the Cross

…in St Mary the Virgin, Oxford. Original in Westminster Cathedral.

Photo by Candia Dixon-Stuart

The Loneliest Man in the World- a sestina

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agribusinesses, Amazon, habitat loss, illegal loggers, Man of the Hole, North Rondonia, pistoleros, sarampion, sestina, yams

The harbingers of the highway, strange men –

pistoleros? – murdered his tribe.  Alone,

he raises maize and yams.  He is the last

to roam 4,000 hectares; to survive

sarampion, flu, smallpox and the loss

of relationships, family and friends.

The agribusinesses have been no friends

to Amazonian rainforests.  Men

decimate the land; their gain is loss.

This man has lived for twenty years alone.

With four, or five, some other tribes survive,

but human diversity will not last.

When the illegal loggers have, at last,

razed every tree to the forest floor, friends

of the indigenous will not survive.

Stripping rare plants that might have healed men

will leave us with dilemmas, all alone,

to face health crises; scientific loss.

In today’s world we experience loss –

loss of our souls; our languages.  The last

man to roam North Rondonia alone

at least felt what it was once to have friends.

He knew the co-operation of men

was vital for tribe members to survive.

Without his wisdom, how can we survive?

No man is an island.  All sense the loss.

Our planet is affected – even men

who murdered his kin.  The effects will last,

impacting their families and their friends.

Doubtless their guilt should not be borne alone.

Corporations do not erode alone.

Immunity itself will not survive.

Time’s arrow can pierce foes and even friends.

The Man of the Hole, who suffered great loss,

knows his breath will be surrendered at last,

but he holds that in common with all men.

Friends of our earth, how shall we survive loss

of habitats and species?  Fellow men,

look at this last man.  He’s not alone.

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A post of the poem I already published in February 2021.

‘The Man in the Hole’ was found outside his straw hut, dead in a hammock

and covered with Macaw feathers. He was aged about 60 and no foul play

is suspected at this time.

Martyrdom of St Thomas a Beckett

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martyrdom, Medieval wall painting, Oxfordshire, Thomas a Beckett South Newington

Wall painting at South Newington

Photo by Candia Dixon-Stuart

Just Right? For Whom?

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acrylic painting, anthropomorphic, fairy tales, Freedom Day, Goldilocks, Liberty, Rule of Three, Three Bears

Freedom for some? What about the rights of others?

Goldilocks acrylic painting by Candia Dixon-Stuart

Rapunzel

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acrylic painting, Fairy Tale series, Grimms Fairy Tales, long hair, Rapunzel, witch

Inglesham Church, Oxfordshire

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Cotswolds, Inglesham church, lead thieves, Oxfordshire, St John the Baptist church, The Society for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments, William Morris

The unspoilt church William Morris was inspired by when he founded the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments. A gem, sadly attacked by heartless lead thieves a couple of years ago.

Photo by Candia Dixon-Stuart. All Rights Reserved.

Pick up!

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anti-social behaviour, dog walkers, environmental care, fouling, poo bags

Seen on one of my walks last week. Take note, poo-ligans!

Photo by Candia Dixon-Stuart

Rokeby Venus

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Baedeker, National Gallery, protest, quennet, Rokeby Venus, Suffragettes

Rokeby Venus: National Gallery, UK

 

unsuccessful MP   beautiful paradigm   refused breakfast

backward glance

ageing face   gawping men   mirror image

five slashes

almond-eyed Madonna   broad-shouldered detectives   opened newspaper

pretend sketching

broken glass

slippery parquet

thrown Baedeker

crowd’s fury

cooling-off room

six month sentence

force-fed

newspaper image   backward paradigm   ageing men

broad-shouldered Madonna

 

Miscarriage of Justice

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abortion, Assumption, El Salvador, Las 17, Mata Ninos, miscarriage, stillbirth

In El Salvador there’s an assumption,

in many cases, that a miscarriage

is the consequence of an abortion.

Girls who have been raped can lose their freedom.

A premature, or unviable birth

can result in a forty year sentence.

 

How can a country of that name sentence

women when it reveres The Assumption

of a virgin?  Supernatural birth

protected Mary from a miscarriage

when she experienced threats to her freedom.

State infanticide – worse than abortion?

 

Las 17, accused of abortion,

were subjected to a lengthy sentence

in a land whose motto includes ‘Freedom’.

Children, trafficked, may face an assumption

which can lead to Justice’s miscarriage –

Mata ninos -? Rather, victims from their birth.

 

After civil war there should be re-birth,

with an enlightened view of abortion

and understanding that a miscarriage

is, for women, a kind of life sentence.

Why should any state make an assumption

that stillbirths express a woman’s freedom?

 

Accused of homicide; denied freedom

because of complications with a birth!

To disregard is to make assumption;

logical process suffers abortion.

The powerful deliver the sentence.

 

There’s no calculation in miscarriage.

It’s spontaneous; there is no freedom

expressed.  The women uttered no sentence:

I now intend to sabotage this birth.

Or, Drinking this will promote abortion.

Blanket blame’s an ignorant assumption.

 

Denying freedom and pronouncing sentence

on those who suffer miscarriage, stillbirth

is, in itself, a monstrous abortion

and an assumption of omniscience.

 

 

Expulsion from Eden

Tags

Adam and Eve, encaustic floor tiles, Expulsion from Eden, Gloucester Cathedrsl

Gloucester Cathedral

by Candia