Arthurian Merlin

 

 

 

 

 

three  of my 2013  poems written   on theme of life of   king Arthur

I is  a  retelling of the  lust of  Uther for Igraine

II  is  the  story of Merlin beguiled by   Nimue

III is the  death  of Arthur

 

I

 

Merlin fetches  a sea ran spell to turn  King Uther

 

leaving  out  one word of nine

the  lusty king  is mistaken

For

rather  than

by

the lady

 

timbre haired  ice cream girl 

the lady Igraine  Ygerna

 

Both women now live in the castle to the confusion of her lousy man of a husband

 

 

Merlin comes  to the rescue with cloak  and vapour

cracks a cage to catch hawk feathers

stumbles   headfirst into a  midden

counts himself under a mire

 

What a fine lady  pale and trembling

rope  arches to a casement

is that the shriek  of a gull?

 

 

II

Trees hide temple and given altar

Bride my foolish brother  my foolish sister

Merlin and his queen lady

   she says thy spells

Seeks your secrets

 

Hide the light   and the steps  to his old Earth

 

Hand on lake

Let me touch the ice

Darkling grail

 

III

Wolves and isolation crying to the pity

The day of his death

 

Move out of sounds  way 

Thin walls to the fortress and the moat

 

A mid coloured banner   bends in the rain

Dross frost  of pin flowers

Ancient bleak of wheat

 

No body say  doomsday

 

Dead in the stink of weird Avalon 

The champion is dead

Dead

 

The tide throws out the grave

 Award his armour

Scale turned to rack insects

 

 

 

Is  that  the shriek   of a Gull   Mark Littler  2013

Darkening  Grail  Mark littler 2013

Wolves  and isolation   Mark  Littler  2013

complete set of alien night sky charts a wonderful Christmas gift

 

 

 

 

 

 Writing this  lying on the floor   rolling  about in pain   and this  post created  for those interested   in Astrofly software    

By   using the fly there function for  stars over   170 light years  distance  zooming in on a  fly there  looking back at the  sun   but   messing with the  field of view  to show the rest of  the  night sky at that location  and by taking  imageshots moving  down    and across the  fly there  sky   and photoshopping together     I obtained  complete  planetisphere type  sky  charts  for alien skies     if   slightly hemisphere 290

 

 

 Typically  with   such  star point  constellation   charts even alien skies    you can make an awful lot of  variations   on stick figures  

note  the  what are new to us   bright " nearby" stars such as Nashira , Angetenar   and   Algiedi Secunda   that is if   glogger  photo  is  actually working on your browser   you ahoud  seee  them

 

 

Maria Lindsey Cobham tawny termagant of the high seas

 

 

Still  having problems  both with  my  paint it  black   blogger  photo up loader   and  a    non functional    yahoo email for  most of the week     this combined with me  being   ill    and    plagued  by  abdominal pains   and   even worse  pains  even further down below  will make  a   usual christmas

 

Reminded  me that I had  drafted  lots of  unused posts   and rather than   take  a  selfie  of  my  medication   and pained expression     decided to   write of the brandy butter and moonfleet pirates   of the  early 1700s 

 

Namely   Maria  Cobham   the  crew murdering      pirate  queen of the   Canadian  main  who found her way into children's  books of pirates    from the  1920s onwards   where as you can see from the above   Ladybird  book illustration    Maria   really pointed both  barrels

 

  Maria was  the lover of the  rough ruffian   Eric Cobham  a man  stole a  bag of  gold  from a  sleeping  clergyman to   buy a  ship  and in a  cruel  crude career  operating out of Saint  Georges   bay

  Cobham  successfully  looted   both  East Indiamen and  Hudson Bay traders the captains tied to masts   and used for target  practice     the crews of these seized  ships  ending up either  poisoned roasted   or  sew into sacks  and thrown overboard   by  his Plymouth born  lover   Maria  Lindsey

 

Making  enough money in  loot  of furs  and  New York   bound spices   the  Cobhams retired to  France where   Eric  Cobham became   an  ancien regime  landowner and Judge    in the  Gironde  region    only  occasionally   sailing out to ransack    becalmed   ships  and  murder  their  crews   

It is said  Eric   died  a rich and respected  aristocrat  but    Maria  Lindsey   poisoned herself  in despair  over getting old   and  being rejected   in  favout  of   Cobhams  new  French wife  

 

 

The  Cobhams   however  now no longer find themselves  alongside Kidd and  Teach   since  the story was a  tourist  tale  based on a  discovered "lost  memoir"   originating in the  1920s    the  Cobhams  invented  as   bodice ripper  villains   to    interesting than the  other   fictional pirates   such as   Captain  Mission, Captain  Red Legs  Greaves and  Captain Derdrake. 

 

Do you see what I see , A star, A star and a reindeer in the sky

 

been made aware  by  readers   that on some browsers   the  previous  Zeta  Doradus  photo appeared as a simple black   rectangle  with no detail  as  software  sees  the starfield  image  as  98%  black  hexadecimal 

this is an ongoing problem with   blogger this week     unhappy  with this as  next post   was a photo post  a  completes set of   proper motion  alien star charts for  plantispheres  i was  sharing online

For those who love  the   Christmas lights   at  this  time of year  -  houses  with   the  giant  electric  singing  Santas  and  the  Perry Como  sounds of  shopping cities  with  the  strings  of  festive  lights  may be interested in this   un -intententially festive night  sky as seen from zeta  ( ζ )Doradus  a star  38 light years away 

 Where quite by chance  and proper motion   bright stars such as  Capella,. Kocab  Sirius  and Vega   form  up to  create  the  constellation shape of a  perfect   mall  decoration    standing  reindeer    with  Deneb Sadr and  Formalhaut   making  up a  Santa  figure  to the  left when you run the  coordinates  in  the Astrofly  program

There is also  a  slightly  more abstract  reindeer  to be found  at  Nu Andromdae  66 light years  from  Doradus  and made up of  some of the  same  stars  

Rather later  with this   blog post   this month  has had written one on  lost  comet ISON and naked  eye  great comets  such as  the 1811  and 1843  comets  with illustrations   of  the  mega coronas  from my  contemporary  astronomy  books   and one on Eliza Cobham the  cruel lady pirate   but  truthfully i am   troubled with recurrence of  a  illness  that last   put me in hospital   twice in the  1990s and may so again   and that  I  am  teaching  ICT  again one day a week   in the  voluntary   sector  but have to commute  to a  neighbouring city .

Poetry of the first world war in place in cold November, casting of absent drums

 

 

 

 

 

 

since it is   that time of year again    here is  my  1994  first world war poem   Absent Drums

 written for the  80th anniversary   this is  old lesser  stuff    for me   and  as usual at the time   failed to gain acceptance  from the  poetry review  editorial board  as  it was  too mocking     of the  soldier war poets 

 

 

I stumbled across a war Poet, in place in cold November

finding blank pictures  brief notices.

I saw falling soldiers, attention to line

 

I wanted to meet  the author of those days

 know I didn't have to speak to him,

all dead and  awaking from unusual dreams.

Heavy with burst  balloon face,

eyes like a day in childhood ,blurred and pastel.

Alive  and hopeless,  St George and the Dragon- monster still breathing.

He had time to shit himself, this shows a lack of imagination.

 

He tells me nothing !,

has empty pockets.

a girl shares his photograph,

holding her so close you could smell the paper she was made of.

a lover was here, the lips don't move, kiss dried worms in fresh roses.

 

Face down in grey waters, a rising  and dying god, empty of soul.

war poet apart shows a lack of simile,

he simply  stinks and rots , glimmering.

I envy his insight, to find death before sleep, death in forgotten places,

 know the experience  continue to write.

 

I read the War Verses:

 dead boys alive,

buried flag and still wind in voices.

 

I read the  war verses:

casting of absent drums,

echo of nameless trumpets

 

This warrior of Empire farewell , recited soldier out of place with his poems of Christian failure and dying no death.

bitter clichés of pale angels and Englishmen,

brambles in Khaki mouldering.

 

We shall only forget them

make better slaughter of the years, remain all visual.

compose new words for hymnal apocalypse.

 

MARK  LITTLER "absent drums 1994

 

An All colour Children's Book of Nuclear Weapons

 

 

 

I  must  that admit  growing up   in cheshire with no nearby  military  bases   the Cold war   passed me   by   and  I never wrote any cold war  bang ho  Thatcher   poems

In the 1970s  all I  really understood of  the  superpowers cold  conflict    was  watching  Ice Station Zebra   and    the only  Atomic  missile  I remember  seeing launched a  was  the Thal  Rocket used to destroy the Kaled   City Dome    in the  Dr Who  story   "The  Genesis of  the Daleks "

 

In the 1980s  it was   "the  Yankee   Capitalist gangsters   and  their  Reactionary NATO Running dogs  trying to subvert  the  Peace Loving  Soviet peoples"  or at least that is  what  The  BBC news told you

and in the 1990s  it was all over  like  an axed TV soap opera

 

Think of  how much  money was spend  from the   bomb   testing days  of  the early 1950s   through    to the cutting up of really expensive  missiles   in the 1990s

 

 How part of  everyday life  it was so that   in  many of the  children's books  Nuclear weapons  were   part of  Spotters  and I spy guides     with   the   good on  our side bright   magazine   colours  of the  X wing  fighter USAF   jets called Thunderchief  or  Phantom   contrasted against  a  mainly blurred  photo and  funny NATO code named ( Fagot,  Fishpot, Fresno, Fiddler , Fishbed ) Soviet Air force

 Nuclear weapons like  coca cola were USA all the way   and   you could never find the technical specifications of a  Soviet Missile  to play top trumps with  -   ie  Skrean  Soviet   ICBM   height  ?  weight ?  payload ?  range ?

 

Even the UK  had its own  little  nuclear   weapons    as illustrated in  books spotter  guides of the  time   although  the  British  IRBM Blue  Streak had failed  years before  and  US Skybolt  was cancelled  before purchase   the RAF still had loads of easy to model in   white plasticine   delta winged   rocket  bomb carrying  V bombers that  were replaced  well before   the time of the Thal attack by   a whole fleet of   Polaris  submarines all with names  beginning with  R.

 

For anyone interested  in  technical  top trumps  Blue Steel illustrated  above was  35 ft long  wingspan 13ft  and  "was a winged bomb   designed  to  be launched   while its carrier  aircraft  was  some distance away  from  the target   out of range of the  targets  defences."

 

 It was  always true of  all colour  books of  nuclear weapons that   the all  colour  illustrated  Blue Steel,  Titan II,  Polaris Nike Hercules   and   Thor    only ever  attacked "Targets"  never  the  citizens of the Soviet  Union  and to show  the real  an atomic bomb  for everything  ludicrousness of the  Cold war     Nike Hercules  and Genie   were  nuclear  armed anti aircraft  missiles  and  as weapons of war   appeared up there alongside   the   Nuclear armed  cyclist  pitching his  Atomic  grenade 

Martian Watercolours Canals and Ancient Dead Seascapes

 

 

 

Some more scans  from  one of my  old musty books

 A  marvels of  science and nature  encyclopaedia  which I bought from jumble  or  church  Christmas  fayre    where amongst jetsam from  decades  before     the Philip Harben TV  cookbooks  and  forgotten celebrities such as   the "Wit of Arthur Godfrey"  you could  pick up a "Look and Learn Annual" from 1966  or  huge but  dated  and   discarded  black and white  photo  illustrated  encyclopaedias of  1930s to 1950s popular science  for 5p 

 

 

These musty  old books  are of course the same   that   my post mortem a  house clearance   team   will  put  them all in the  dumpster

targeting a Meccano  building   secondary modern generation   the  marvels of  science  and nature encyclopaedias  were   hard back  red tooled  paper simulated leather Britannica types   and full of monochrome  or  red  green colour  autogravures   with  articles on  "the  fastest  train journey      from Sydney to Albury",    "Soviet floating  base   at  the   North Pole" or an ethnographic picture  spread   "hair dressing customs of the world"  and  for me the   best  to  last a  section  called  "Out into Space " 

the  books were  created by a team of  FRS   contributors so authors and artists  were  rarely named as individuals

 

The   out into space articles I always found the most interesting   with their    descriptions  of the new  telescope on Mount Wilson  or  artist impressions of  pointer  nosed  moon ships docking at wheel space stations  of the future,  a moon landing  by at least 1980  and   a flight over the canals on Mars  and comment  "they may be an optical illusion, what is   a  flowing  stream may  look like it is a  straight line from the air  , there is  no evidence of life on mars  beyond  vegetation or  natural waterways  that are    of seasonal  origin "

 

It was  the artists impressions midway between the  Mars of Burroughs  and  Bradbury   that even today  are the most  dreamy  watercolours

  imagining of what was  basically a desert,  ancient, dry  and   what was to be  the coming  space age   typical   view of  lifeless  looking mars    not a Mars  of  Great  Ruins or Martian  Super  wisdom    in contrast  to  pre Silurian  Tropic  Jungle Venus  and our own    Atomic  powered Earth

I scanned in  two Martian canals  and. dry dead sea bottom  

  both have a  crystal egg   faded  feel to them    

 

 

 

 

I was   not  put on any  back to work scheme  as  it  may not be of any use to me - (I used to teach  courses  to get people back to work )   since everything  job search is  mandatory  online   and that I must pursue  25  opportunities  a week  booked to  use  job  service  computers   but every time I use them asked by staff  am  I able to use  computers by  myself -" yes, until  I was  made redundant  I used to teach  IT" always  my surprising answer 

 

I have not written any poetry  for  over a month  and  feel  not  really able to write  anymore!!

 I  lack interest  and  inspiration  having explored all the  major themes   from  horror  to ghosts  to   pirates  and pagans  and now feel dissatisfied with my talent

 

poetry  mainly  a  pastime  and written for my own amusement    and that  I am    the  neither fashionable or literary establishment   author  the  two   kindle  direct  e book collections   Christopher lantern his midnight name  2011   and  the ragletters 2013

A volvelle making a moon dail from the 16th century

I located this make your own Volvelle kit in an 1950s Practical Astronomy book of mine and have enlarged the scans I can only upload jpgs to blog but this can very easily converted to PDF format by any freeware PDF printer writer like Nitro Reader

 A Volvelle was a popular scientific instrument of the 16th century used to calculate the age and phase of the moon for religious festivals the base plate disc 1 is marked with the names of the months and zodiacal signs through which both the sun and moon travel

 On top of this disk is a second disk revolving around the same centre and the index of this is set against the month date of the base plate. The sec ond disk is shown black with a cut out area left white and around the second disk are marked the numbers 1 to 29


 The third disk is placed on top of the second disk matched to centre and this has an index to set to the constellations in which the moon is observed the second disk shows the day phase and turning the two indexes to month and day inside the cut outs of disk 2 the heart shaped figure will show the approximate shape of the moon on disk 3 on that date

Pro Celsus a response to Petrine Christianity by an early convert

 

 

 

Go to Hades 

dust to pomegranate dust

Eccleis  Bishop of  Christ

one  book and  no desire for ink  

unmarried  your  familias wife

pigs  birthed  and buried

 

teacher   where once you were a  vine dresser

penitent   in mock preaching before   penatates  Ancestors

 

Paganity  to Christinomity

whispers   of the cruellest dove

 

Roman bangs Roman  noses

divided mathematitess   Hypatia

added  to mother of God blue

 

one feared  in Serapis temples

cold faith

 chisels at   long gone  Julius  Hugustus  Apotheosis  Epiphanes Sunray Ra

raised up  

cast down 

thrown down

 

Jesus died    as  Dream Zeus  ruled  from on high

Saturnic  from  dream clouds

knows your labours

 

remembers  flower youth

Greek stealer

seed  upon the corn

hair corn

hare  course

 

A  prayer

My thousand named 

stretch your wings over me

let me see the light

 

Narcissus loved

true love

a beautiful girl   more beautiful than himself

Olympias   too was wed in the  mysteries

a prayer

two voices  speaking together

one God

 woman of stone

 

Old  men Eccleis

angels  wept in their  virgins

Felicity   Martyr   died for his masculinity

Perpertua  Martyr  died  for his masculinity

 

He  did not die

reading the lesson daily to his dear  brothers

Marsyas, Dryads,  Panics

 

"Hercules  laboureth in vaineth

thou sparroweth falleth

danceth with the lordeth"

 

and they danceth again

Pro  celus mark littler  June 2013