MAD IN MADRID

A FEW DAYS IN SUNNY SPAIN...

 

Hello beasties!

 

This time I'm going to share with you some photos from my recent trip to Madrid. Not only that but I have a new short piece to share that I wrote whilst out in Spain, inspired by my trip to Madrid Zoo.

Here are the photos...

There are more photos from the trip - some of them are in Instagram and I may have room for them here on a future blog, but I already have photos and something new from a recent trip to Amsterdam!

Next time, well - I think Amsterdam is where we'll be, but I won't promise anything until closer to the time... We also have that gig coming up at The Poetry Cafe on Friday 18th July. (See advert at bottom of post)

More soon - yeti hugs,

Paul xx

THE STUPIDITY OF BIRDS
(A FLIGHT OF FANCY)


"Those larger birds are so stupid..." Laughed the sparrow as he and his companion regarded the ostrich strutting about its enclosure at the zoo. "We smaller birds are able to move freely about the cages whilst those supposedly mighty birds of prey - the owls, the hawks and the eagles are all imprisoned behind bars... Even this ostrich who has no roof above his head and the peacock who wanders amongst the tourists are as good as trapped here because they are unable to fly to freedom..."

"The penguin has the same problem, but it's not as simple as that - isn't it the prestige?" Replied his companion wisely. "Nobody is coming here to see us... Certainly, we could leave any time that we like and yet we stay to pick over all the morsels of food discarded by those who come to visit... Does that make us any better or worse for being here? Aren't we just as much imprisoned as those other birds?"

"Not at all!" Disagreed his friend. "What makes us different is the choice - that we may come and go and yet we use this place as a resource to keep alive... Yes, these things are scraps - but we eat scraps in garden and scraps off the street - if anything the food here is better than that. Don't start twisting my case... We are liberated and they are foolish for allowing themselves to be taken advantage of..." Silence, not a word. "Well?" Persisted the first sparrow, glancing over, keen to receive praise for his concise deductions. "Oh..." Sadly, it was to be his last flight of fancy - for all that he saw before him was a haze of bloody feathers and the hungry yellow eyes of the zoo's resident cat.

Idea for this piece: 03/06/2014 whilst visiting Madrid zoo. First draft written in art gallery in Madrid on 04/06/2014.

This piece and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler 2014. THE STUPIDITY OF BIRDS will appear in his next collection, A YETI WAY OF THINKING.

BUSY PACKING... AGAIN!!

A NEW POEM BEFORE THE BIG TRIP...

Hello beasties!

This week I'll be posting some more photos from the Lake District, along with a new poem. It's going to be a shorter post again as I'm about to head out to the States for a week - more about that later on. There's not a lot more to say for now, so let's get started with the photos!

A LAKE DISTRICT GALLERY - AUGUST 2013

More photos from the trip, these ones mostly taken by myself. Thanks to Paul H and Toby W for letting me post photos which include them.

I hope you enjoyed those - hopefully I'll have a film ready for you soon; it should be from the Lakes - but most probably will actually be from the 2012 trip! I know! I know! I'm a little bit behind again recently - but then I've not been filming as much recently due to having been ill.

I'll be sharing a new poem with you in just a moment - but have a few other quick things to mention... The first of these is that the 10th anniversary edition of THE AUTUMNAL E.P. will be out at the start of September, in time for The Poetry Café show on Friday 13th September 2013. I've sent off for a couple of copies, which I hope will arrive in time for me to take them to the States - in which case I'll be reading poems from this collection - along with maybe one or two new ones, during my trip to Portland next week.

In other news, I'm also moving slowly but surely closer towards completing my new collection, NOT AS SHY AS I WAS, which I hope to be ready in time for my 40th in mid-November... I can't remember if I've said so yet - but I do intend to go away for my birthday and have booked trips to Florence and Nice - so, with a bit of luck, I hope to film an episode or two out there.

Moving onto the new poem that I promised at the start of the post, it was started when I was away, around the 31st of July and was finished last week on my return, on the 8th August, shortly after I got back. It's a very daft piece and it's called MYSTERY HEN... It was inspired by an ornament that was in our holiday home up in Braithwaite! Enough said, I think...

Anyway, next week I'll be away and I'm not expecting to have internet access - so I doubt I'll be posting anything until I return - late on during the last week of August. Be good until then, won't you - or at least be kind!

More soon!

Yeti hugs,

Paul xx

PS A quick recommendation to all those who enjoy my youtube videos at MRSHYYETI, why not take a look at the films of another video poet, Rich Harris at: http://www.youtube.com/user/richharrispoetry He's rivalling me for daftness! Hoorah!

MYSTERY HEN

Mystery hen...
She's enigmatic...
She cannot swim –

She's not aquatic!
Yet fly she will…

A mist of feathers!

A storm of wings!

Out in all weathers...
She may look sweet –

But she's a killer!
With the muscles of –

A mean gorilla!
Gets the better of –

Those greedy foxes...
Her victim’s tails –

All stored in boxes...

Mystery hen...
She cannot cluck!
Her eggs aren't worth –

A single buck!
Her wardrobe's full of –

Neat disguises...
Big wigs and beards –

All shapes and sizes!
She's wearing boots –

They're armour plated!
Her beak's lime green –

And quite up-dated...
Her mission is –

To find the truth...
No cowering chick,

That Squawk-toothed sleuth!


Mystery hen...
She's looking frisky...
She likes a drink –

She bathes in Whiskey!
It keeps her tough –

And quite alert!
It helps her think!
It helps her flirt!
She struts around –

The chicken pen..
She's looking for –

Some Cock again...
Her secret's out –

She's quite a pecker!
That floozy hen –

A fowl home-wrecker!

*whispers*

Such a mystery!
She's so deceptive!
Anti-hero? Thief?
Or hen detective?

The post and its contents are Copyright, Paul Chandler 2013. MYSTERY HEN will appear in my first collection of 2014.