The Times has a good editorial today questioning the symbolic and practical value of the Tory-led government selling off the nation's trees. I have to say, if this goes ahead, it will have one (unintended) positive result - it will render the Coalition unelectable in future. Such a tone-deaf, myopic and small-minded bit of Gradgrindery is tantamount to the Sheriff of Nottingham's "cancel Christmas!" - but even he didn't strip Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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The ConDem coalition has already taken some truly appalling decisions, but in my opinion this is probably the worst. So much for their 'green' credentials. With any luck it will be their poll-tax moment and the straw that ultimately breaks their back.
Best wishes from Simon
- <3 Famous Poetry about life