When the Dogs Bite

Friday 26 April 2024

26th April 2024

notations in the calendar

twenty-five year anniversary

'Alien' returns to cinemas

puppets

dancing to an unheard tune;

Edinburgh Uni shows a distasteful film

despite student protests.

"Embrace the ideology,"

says Professor Jonathan Hearn

defending the showing

of the transphobic pseudo-documentary

Adult Human Female

"Let them protest if they want."

Academic freedom includes the right

to be Right, apparently.

and in the wake of Dr Hilary Cass's

hugely biassed report on Trans issues

Gillian Keegan follows Wes Streeting's lead

and U-turns on “trans women are women.”

At least I'm forewarned about my reservation

in next year's Right Wing death camps.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-67504202

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/celebrity/gillian-keegan-i-ll-stop-saying-trans-women-are-women

Thursday 25 April 2024

25th April 2024

magpie

checking out the garden

curious dog

Why can't I resist

the purchase of a new fruit tree

when the garden already has plenty?

I read that Seattle,

the city of permanent rain,

is planting Californian desert trees

because in fifty years

they expect desert conditions

and the tree canopy needs to remail intact.

Maybe I should plant peaches,

date palms and olive trees;

so that whoever lives here then

will thank me in absentia.

Wednesday 24 April 2024

24th April 2024

24-4-24

early birdsong

along the edges of the wood

bluebells

Open Letter to the PM

The heart of the problem,sir,

if you don't mind me saying,

is that you've stopped listening;

at least to the electorate

and now you're just pandering

to the increasingly right-wing members

of your political party.

Britain was built and rebuilt

by immigrants once welcomed

and the Flag of St. George

(a Turkish soldier who never came to England)

has become as synonymous with Fascism

as the German swastika.

Tuesday 23 April 2024

23rd April 2024

magpies

in the apple tree

baiting the dog

"Openly Jewish"

Why do you assume

that all Jews support Israel

over the genocide of Palastine?

Did you assume that all Catholics

supported Mussolini?

And while we're at it,

why does the National Front

keep changing their name?

The Reform party are ditching their blue shirts

for brown ones.

Monday 22 April 2024

22nd April 2024

early rain

saturating the garden

Cookie dog

In films, it's always the weird kid

who becomes the reluctant hero;

who meets the ghost

or the friendly alien

and saves the day.

In real life the outsider

is the one who gets blamed

and picked on by bullies.

It's the bullies who set the standards;

who manipulate the media;

who bully whole minorities.

The person you're voting for

is rarely an example

of an humanitarian.

Remind yourself:

they're in it for the money.

Sunday 21 April 2024

21st April 2024

sunshine

through the birch leaves

playful sparrows

a flair for the dramatic

she reiterates her latest bugbear

about the potholes the council deems "acceptable"

despite the damage to her car.

Given time,

she'll ramble on with a list

of small grievances,

from the grassing-over of flower beds

to the gradual removal of litter bins

and the introduction of fees

for the emptying of garden waste.

Just smile and nod

and try not to engage her

other than a quick "hello."

Saturday 20 April 2024

20th April 2024

night walk

two girls singing from an open window

should keep their day jobs

there's an old adage

that pride comes before a fall

and I've been proud of myself lately,

for cutting down and disposing of

a thirty year old conifer hedge;

twelve feet tall and trunks

as thick as my thighs.

So now I'm worried about the fall:

metaphorical or literal?

and will I survive it intact

when the government is systematically

dismantling the NHS?