#BlackLivesMatter + a poem by Pastor Niemoller

I struggle to express in writing my feelings on #BlackLivesMatter. Every time I see another fellow human made to leave this existence because they contain a higher amount of melanin in their skin and because history has taught the world that this is reason enough to justify murder, I feel like someone punched me in the chest. So I am not going to make this piece about the injustice occurring in the States against black people and especially black men.

This post will consist of a poem.

Burns' Night 2012

It is 25th January 2012, marking the annual celebration of the life and birth of Scotland's National Poet, the lyrically brilliant word-smith Robert Burns.

Although I am not Scottish, like many Brits and people all over the world, I do have an extremely high regard for the poetry of Robert Burns. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what I love about Burns' work, seeing as it is something I have enjoyed since I was young, and never had to really analyse. One of my favourite aspects is his great command of rhythm, the lyrical nature of his work, alongside the use of Scottish dialect - which is why one of the best ways to enjoy his work is to listen to it recited. 

One of my all time favourite poems, and one of, if not the first, poem I ever memorised was My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose. I cannot describe how much I love this poem. For last year's Burns' Night I posted My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose, and this year I decided to treat you to some of my other favourite poems from Burns. Enjoy!

John Anderson My Jo

John Anderson my jo, John,

When we were first acquent;

Your locks were like the raven,

Your bony brow was brent;

But now your brow is beld, John, 

Your locks are like the snaw;

But blessings on your frosty pow,

John Anderson my Jo.

John Anderson my jo, John,

We clamb the hill the gither;

And mony a canty day, John,

We've had wi' ane anither:

Now we maun totter down, John,

And hand in hand we'll go;

And sleep the gither at the foot,

John Anderson my Jo.

Five of my Favourite Love Poems

Few things express love more beautifully than poetry. For this reason I have dedicated this blog to a few of my favourite love poems. What I wouldn’t give to have a man compose something as beautiful as those below just for me: some things just cannot be bought. Enjoy!

My Love is Like to Ice

My Love is like to ice, and I to fire:
How comes it then that this her cold so great
Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,
But harder grows the more her I entreat?
Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold,
But that I burn much more in boiling sweat,
And feel my flames augmented manifold?
What more miraculous thing may be told,
That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice,
And ice, which is congealed with senseless cold,
Should kindle fire by wonderful device?
Such is the power of love in gentle mind,
That it can alter all the course of kind.

Edmund Spenser

Belated Burns’ Night Dedication

I am a day late, but I could not let this time pass without marking it somehow. As many, if not all, of us know, last night, January 25^th, was Burns’ Night. A special night that marks the anniversary of one of the most poetically romantic and lyrically gifted poets I have ever read, and one of my first favourites. He is also Scotland’s national poet, famous for Auld Lang Syne which is traditionally sung in the UK by many to mark the New Year.

I am going to make this post a short one, only to write here what is my all-time favourite poem/ song from Robert Burns, one of his better known, and one that touches me every time I hear it or read it. It is also one of the first poems I ever learnt by memory and sums up what Robert Burns means to me, what his name evokes; I think it is gorgeous.

I leave you with My Love is Like A Red, Red Rose

My love is like a red, red rose
that's newly sprung in June.
My love is like the melody,
that's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
so deep in love am I:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
and the rocks melt wi' the sun!
And I will love thee still, my dear,
while the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare the weel, my only love,
and fare the weel a while!
And I will come again, my love,
tho’ it were ten thousand mile

GIVEAWAY!! Win tickets to Recital and Signing at The Poetry Cafe

On Wednesday 20th October Dutch novelist, columnist and poet Arnold Jansen op de Haar will make his first official appearance in the UK at The Poetry Cafe, in London. On this very special occasion the author of King of Tuzla will be reading from his anthology Yugoslav Requiem, a beautifully constructed dedication to the Bosnian Conflict.

Arnold was born in The Netherlands, in 1962.  He served as a Captain in the Dutch army, and was commanding officer of the unit that secured Tuzla Airbase in Bosnia for incoming UN aid in 1994, one year before the overthrow of the enclave Srebrenica in the former Yugoslavia.

After surviving this war he began writing full time and in 1999 his debut novel De koning van Tuzla was published by De Arbeiderspers. He followed this in 2002 with his poetry collection Soldatenlaarzen published by JM Meulenhoff. Arnold has published other works in Dutch and has been a successful columnist for many years. He is now turning his attention toward the English market, working with Holland Park Press and the acclaimed translator Paul Vincent. His anthology Soldatenlaarzen, now renamed Joegoslavisch requiem, was translated into English with the title Yugoslav Requiem, and his debut novel De koning van Tuzla is also available in English as King of Tuzla. The sequel to King of Tuzla, Angel, is soon to be published.