Category Archives: Oxford Blues

ARMISTICE DAY

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Universal Octopus

“Died some pro patria non dulce non et decor.”So Ezra Pound adapted Horace’s linesfor those whose sufferings for their nationhad bred a dull, dark, painful generationwith gloria cauterised from their minds. In the calendar their deaths are still recorded.Poppies and … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged Armistice Day, bombs, deaths, dust, Ezra Pound, Flanders, gloria, grief, human litter, Martyr's Memorial, medals, November, Oxford, Oxford Blues, past and present, poppies, pro patria, services, spirits, St Giles, transcendental | Leave a comment

THE ONE AND THE MANY

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Universal Octopus

If there is only One,nothing can be special.If there is Nothing,what then? .

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged many, nothing, One, Oxford Blues, special | Leave a comment

THESEUS

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Universal Octopus

Labyrinths are mind-madeand vanish when the mind stops.(Do the Minotaurs vanish too?) Life is a Labyrinth.Garden gate – Conception.Front door – Birth.A thousand mazesbranch off to every room.Every room with its viewleads to the Back Door.(Is the Minotaur waiting there … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged birth, Brian Taylor, conception, labyrinths, Life, mazes, minotaurs, Theseus, view | Leave a comment

HALLOWELL

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Universal Octopus

The tide that started flowingall those years agohas eddied roundand doubled back,has shadowed our diverging tracksand monitored their going.It sidles in and splashes at our feetleaving us very little common groundfor if and when we try to meet. Every step … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged absinthe, Brian Taylor, dead blackbird, dead cow, Dorset, Euro Express, Hallowell, light, opium, Painted Veil, sunflowers, tide, Tuscany, Van Gogh | Leave a comment

REMEMBRANCE MONDAY

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Universal Octopus

Remembranceis invalidunlessit goes right back to the beginning. Cats know thisand complete their lives in the present. Humans don’twhich makes their workincompleteand invalid;a building lacking its foundation. .

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged beginning, building, cats, Foundation, Humans, present, Remembrance Monday, work | Leave a comment

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Universal Octopus

November RosePink and white and mauve.Solitary, still,among the rosemary and late autumnal gorse. Sea winds have blown.The first frosts have frozen the short grass.Spring and summer are memories,midwinter an echo in reverse. November Rose for the dying.November Poppies for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged autumnal gorse, dead, first frosts, Flanders, midwinter, new birth, November Poppies, November Rose, Remembrance Sunday, Rosemary | Leave a comment

MAGDALEN

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Universal Octopus

In the Fellows’ Gardens,past the Deer Park,a willow twists and stretchesout of a brown poollike a giant Nāgatrailing garlands of green lace. Along the avenues of Addison’s Walk,among birch and beech,chestnuts stretch out their brancheslike semaphores,and hang their leaves like … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged Academics, beech, birch, chestnuts, Deer Park, living, Magdalen, Michaelmas, Odysseus, Oxford, Oxford University, World's End | Leave a comment

UPWARDLY MOBILE CAT

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Universal Octopus

The cat sitsin the Provost’s chair! Wisdom,being devoidof Right Understanding,has become Worldly Savoir-Faire. (poem from OXFORD BLUES) .

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged cat, moblie, Oxford Blues, savoir-faire, understanding, wisdom, worldly | Leave a comment

WAITING

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Universal Octopus

Magdalen’s groundsare full of life,full of space. Space, which is mownand cleared,tended and enclosed,its waterways unchoked,brown and sparkling clear. It is home to ducksand coots,to dragonflies and deer. Grass and paths and gatesand streamsand yesterday’s undergraduatesare waiting. Not for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Oxford Blues | Tagged being, dragonflies, ducks, future, Magdalen, Oxford, Oxford Blues, past, peace, space, undergradutes, waiting, waterways, Yes! | Leave a comment

AREOPAGITICA

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Universal Octopus

The Vice Chancellor is leaving!And the mourners go about the streets,throwing their mortar boards in the airand waving their gownslike bullfighters’ capes. In the Vivisection Laboratory,the faintest of grey lightsslants through the bars of cageswhere animals waitto be scientifically torturedfor … Continue reading →