12 Days of Christmas by C.A. Duffy

A seasonal verse by the new poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, commissioned exclusively for Radio Times

1
ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS,
a buzzard on a branch.

In Afghanistan,
no partridge, pear tree;
but my true love sent to me
a card from home.
I sat alone,
crouched in yellow dust,
and traced the grins of my kids
with my thumb.
Somewhere down the line,
for another father, husband,
brother, son, a bullet
with his name on.

2
TWO TURTLE DOVES,
that Shakespeare loved –
turr turr, turr turr –
endangered now
by herbicide,
the chopping down
of where they hide –
turr turr, turr turr –
hawthorn thickets,
hedgerows, woodland.
Summer's music
fainter, farther…
the spreading drought
of the Sahara.

3
THREE FRENCH HENS –
un, deux, trois –
do not know
that French they are.

Three Welsh lambs –
un, dau, tri –
do not know
that Welsh they baa.

Newborn babies –
one, two, three –
only know
you human be.

Only know
you human be.

4
THE GRENADA DOVE IS CALLING.
The Condor calls from the USA.
The Wood Stork calls from its wetlands.
The Albatross calls from the sea,
on the fourth day of Christmas.

The Yellow-eared Parrot is calling.
The Kakapo calls from NZ.
The Blue-throated Macaw is calling.
The Little Tern calls from Japan, calls
my true love sent to me.

The Corncrake is calling; the Osprey.
The Baikal Teal calls from Korea.
The Cuckoo is calling from England,
four calling birds.

5
THE FIRST GOLD RING WAS GOLD INDEED –
bankers' profits fired in greed.

The second ring outshone the sun,
fuelled by carbon, doused by none.

Ring three was black gold, O for oil –
a serpent swallowing its tail.

The fourth ring was Celebrity;
Fool's Gold, winking on TV.

Ring five, religion's halo, slipped –
a blind for eyes or gag for lips.

With these five gold rings they you wed,
then slip them off when you are dead.

With these five go-o-o-old rings.

6
I BOUGHT A MAGIC GOOSE FROM A JOLLY FARMER.
This goose laid Barack Obama.

I bought a magic goose from a friendly fellow.
This goose laid Fabio Capello.

I bought a magic goose from a maiden (comely).
This goose laid Joanna Lumley.

I bought a magic goose from a busker (poor).
This goose laid Anish Kapoor.

I bought a magic goose from a bargain bin, it
was the goose laid Alan Bennett.

I bought a poisoned goose from a crook (sick, whiffing).
This foul goose laid Nick Griffin.

7
THE SWAN AT COCKERMOUTH –
of a broken heart, one half.

The Mersey Swans, flying
for Hillsborough, wings of justice.

Two, married and mute on the Thames,
watching The Wave.

A Swan for Adrian Mitchell
and a Swan for UA Fanthorpe,
swansongs for poetry.

The Queen's birds, paired
for life, beauty and truth.

8
ONE MILKED MONEY TO MEND HER MOAT.
Two milked voters to float her boat.
Three milked Parliament to flip her flat.
Four milked Government to snip her cat.
Five milked the dead for close-up tears.
Six milked the tax-payer for years and
years and years…
Seven milked the system to Botox her brow.
Eight milked herself – the selfish cow.

9
BUT THE DEAD SOLDIER'S LADY DOES NOT DANCE.
But the lady in the Detention Centre
does not dance.
But the honour killing lady does not dance.
But the drowned policeman's lady
does not dance.
But the lady in the filthy hospital ward
does not dance.
But the lady in Wootton Bassett does not dance.
But the gangmaster's lady does not dance.
But the lady with the pit bull terrier
does not dance.
But another dead soldier's lady
does not dance.

10
LORDS DON'T LEAP.
They sleep.

11
WE PAID THE BLUDDY PIPER
fir 'Royal Bank;
twa pipers each
fir Fred and Phil,
fir Finlay, Fraser, Frank.
Too big tae fail!
The wee dog laughed!
The dish ran awa' wi' the spoon…
We paid the bluddy pipers,
but we dinnae call the tune.

12
DID THEY HEAR THE DRUMS IN COPENHAGEN,
banging their warning?
On the twelfth day in Copenhagen
was global warming stopped in its tracks
by Brown and Barack and Hu Jintao,
by Meles Zenawi and Al Sabban,
by Yvo de Boer and Hedegaard?
Did they strike a match
or strike a bargain,
the politicos in Copenhagen?
Did they twiddle their thumbs?
Or hear the drums
and hear the drums
and hear the drums?

**

The Twelve Days of Christmas 2009 by Carol Ann Duffy appears in the bumper Christmas issue of Radio Times - find out more and order your copy online.



~m




Radio Times

don't ya find it funny- in a sad not funny way

i am amazed at the number of people that have "awakened" to our liberties being taken away in the USA... like it just started in 2009.

these same people were probably supporters of the seat-belt law, smoking ban, raising the legal drinking age to 21, Patriot Act, et. al. what i call "nanny laws" because others feel that adults are too stupid to make these decisions without laws.


now parents expect the government to regulate the media our children are exposed to via ratings ... because the parents don't want to be bothered with discovering what their children are being exposed to every day .. so "let the government do it"


some will say the USA has gone to hell in a hand-basket because we don't have god** in school ... i say it's because parents are too fucking lazy to instill values, ethos, morality in their children at home, so "let the government do it"


i did not want my children and do not want my grandchildren taught by a government system what faith to follow--- that is a parental responsibility . each person has their own truth concerning faith, and that is the way it should be... not a government funded establishment teaching about our Creator.




when a citizenry allows a government to tell them how to live because it's "best for you." we lose liberty. yes, even the small inconsequential rights like choosing whether or not i will wear a seat-belt. i began wearing one because it is smart, not because i am required by law.



** i use god with no capital letters because each person has their own god,.some it's power, sex, food, money, (ya get the picture?) for me there is my Creator.



p.s. this post is a rant in progress, i will add to it after another cup of coffee or two.

is it a "right"?

do i have the right to be treated humanely? do you have the right? what is it to treat another with decency? should i expect more for myself than i am willing to allow you? do i have the right to feel safe in my own home?

healthcare reform, troop surge, right to speak, party crashers.... all of these topics in the news go back to one simple idea...."where do my rights begin? where do yours end?"

do i have the right to expect better health care treatment [because my husband was in the right place at the right time to be hired by a company that offered insurance] than the citizen that works two or more part-time jobs, is above the poverty line. yet can't make enough $$ to afford adequate healthcare?

is that what USA is about? i have mine.... fuck you.

do i have the right to tell my neighbor what religion to practice? do i have the right to tell my neighbor what weapons to have in their house without expecting the same treatment from my neighbor?

for i believe that is what our former POTUS did in Iraq and now our current POTUS is about to ramp up in Afghanistan.

a firm believer in the best offense is a good defense ... a country should not expect to overpower another nation to force an idea that we are not willing to concede because it is our right ...

but then again, this is the USA, i got mine, and you are gonna get what i feel you "deserve"

what has our nation come to? when someone speaks an opinion different from yours they are labeled a kook, libtard, a right wingnut? granted there are quite a few idiots speaking their mind ... i could be one of them.

because the point of view is different--- is THAT a reason to dismiss it as insanity? whatever happened to intelligence? did it leave with common sense ? now i admit i do have a term i like to use for those that get their information from one general source (point of view) and refuse to see that there is more than one truth ... i call them "dittoheads" for that is what i hear ... the same pile of verbal diarrhea spit out verbatim as the next dittohead ... no thought, no reasoning, no comprehension of the damage that might occur because you refuse to think for yourself ...

yet in the good ole USA do as i say, not as i do.....

which brings me to the dittoheads that went uninvited to the POTUS's first state dinner.

... they should be ashamed & should be punished ... for simply entering where they were not invited ... for disregarding the first rule of humanity ... that we feel safe in our own home.

.

Location:E Railroad Ave,Wesson,United States

next life—bear

found this about 2003—every time i shave my legs, i think of this lil story, author unknown....

In this life I'm a woman.

In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear.

When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six
months.

I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid.

I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of
walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute cuddly
cubs.

I could definitely deal with that.

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too.

I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup...gonna be a bear.



~m

be

And we dance
To a whispered voice
Overheard by the soul
Undertook by the heart
And you may know it
If you may know it

~Neil Diamond




~m