Tag Archives: Oxford Blues

KATHLEEN

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Universal Octopus

‘Going out there is no other,coming back there is no trace’.Love and care for one another,smooth the sadness from her face. Like Orestes how she travels!Light-foot ever, onward roams;as the skein of life unravels,everywhere she makes her homes. Loves she … Continue reading →

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TRUTH IN THE BOTANIC GARDENS

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Universal Octopus

Thousands of magnolia flowers,by Danby’s gateand yellowstone walls,test vernal powersagainst the winds of March; and wait. Slowly, blossoms fall,like heavy snowflakes, one by one,lit by a dull and clouded sun. Tourists have gathered here to seethe wonder of this snow-blossom … Continue reading →

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MIDWINTER’S DAY IN THE BOTANIC GARDENS

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Universal Octopus

Hippophaewith clusters of orange berrieson spiky twigs. Set in this ancient, yellowstone wall,which separates the formal walksfrom the marsh garden to the south,is the gateway (with gate long gone).At its base, nerines – all mauves and reds –spill over on … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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? .

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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) .

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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 →

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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 →

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T.S. ELIOT AT 4.00 PM

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Universal Octopus

Ten thousand pieces on the floorreconstruct his own jigsaw,each one shaped at the five sense doorsto compose the picture he is looking for.Achensee with snowflakes?Earl Grey tea and cakes? He cannot hide.He cannot escape into the seascape’s swell,nor is the … Continue reading →

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CHINA BOUND GIRL

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Universal Octopus

China-bound girl,not-yet-happiness-made-her-found girl.Airport-station-taxis girl,brand-new-outside-sensations girl.Three-plus champagnes-anything can-do girl,anywhere-go preferably-Katmandu girl.From-past-sadness-ever-fleeing girl,balanced-on-the-very-edge-of seeing girl.Wonderful-from-the beginning girl,so-afraid-of–losing-she-must-be-always-winning girl.So-shy-her-confidence-is overwhelming girl,she-keeps-her-captains-firmly-at their-helms-ing girl. China-bound girl,Love at her heels, how does she think what she knows she feels?Glides like an image one flower ahead … Continue reading →

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