Digging Up the Past

Poetry from the Archive

Photo by Catarina Carvalho on Unsplash

I was a bit stumped with what poem to include for this week. Grief can get a bit heavy for those not grieving, so I’ll park some of that output for a bit. I have literally hundreds of poems to choose from, most which will probably never see the light of day if I don’t include some of them here. It’s actually harder to choose when you have so many, I think. Some are old and definitely dated by cultural references, others offer opinions and ideas I no longer hold. I used to write what might be described as ‘spiritual’ poetry between the ages of 14 - 16 and as you’ll see, if you read my article this week, although I believe we all have a spiritual element to our make up, I don’t hold to any particular creed or religion. My poetry, probably more than any of my other writing, charts my evolution as an individual with my own thoughts, views and feelings.

The poem I’ve chosen is decades old and was selected as a third place entry in a competition in the late 80’s. I’ve juggled with the TV references over the years, but thankfully the programmes I settled on have some gravitas and longevity.

I hope you enjoy reading this week’s offering. If you would like to opt out of the poetry segment of my publication, please let me know and I’ll remove you from list when I send it. I think I can select who I send it to, but have not yet worked out how to remove people from this without removing them from the whole publication. Please don’t unsubscribe as that will cancel your subscription to the whole thing.

If there is a specific day you would like your poem delivered, do let me know. I’ve deliberately not sent it at the same time as my weekly article, although I could if you prefer. This will not be a weekly posting, but at the moment I’m trying to build a foundation of poems to get me started. Thank you for your forebearance.

As ever, any comments are always welcome.

Armchair Activist

I'm an armchair activist.
I switch channels
when the other parties politically broadcast,
shake my head at the ten o'clock news.

I'm an armchair activist.
I mark the documentaries
In the TV Times,
then laugh on cue 
with re-runs of ‘Have I got News..’
or ‘Qi’.

I'm an armchair activist.
Eagerly involved in TV debate,
I ignore the politician at the door
and in fairness
the man from Christian Aid.

I'm an armchair activist.
Firmly entrenched in velour-views,
action amounting to no more 
than two fingers up at a thirty inch screen.