Keith Douglas was wounded by a mine in north Africa in World War II. You can read more about him here if you want to. This poem, says the article, was most likely written while he was recovering in El Ballah General Hospital, Palestine, in 1943.
Desert Flowers
Keith Douglas
Living in a wide landscape are the flowers –
Rosenberg I only repeat what you were saying –
the shell and the hawk every hour
are slaying men and jerboas, slaying
the mind: but the body can fill
the hungry flowers and the dogs who cry words
at nights, the most hostile things of all.
But that is not news. Each time the night discards
draperies on the eyes and leaves the mind awake
I look each side of the door of sleep
for the little coin it will take
to buy the secret I shall not keep.
I see men as trees suffering
or confound the detail and the horizon.
Lay the coin on my tongue and I will sing
of what the others never set eyes on.
I haven't been out to Red's grave yet this year. Things got complicated with half term and trips and chickenpox and sad little cone cats. I'd like to go soon though. I had meant to tell you a story about him, but it's late and I'm somehow still awake, but only in body. My brain isn't up to much right now. You know those nights when there is no logical reason you should still be awake, but you are? Yeah.
Instead, here is the picture of our blueberry bush that I couldn't find before. No flowers, as you see. It's probably too late to flower now, isn't it? Next year.
We've got kale planted as well and coming up with tiny, oddly shaped leaves. That's a first for us this year and for me specifically. My mum never grew it.
Maf keeps headbutting me with the edge of her cone. Trust her to come up with a way to weaponise it. I think she wants me back in bed with my head in the appropriate spot for her to curl up around it. I'll go and give it another try. Wish me luck.
Desert Flowers
Keith Douglas
Living in a wide landscape are the flowers –
Rosenberg I only repeat what you were saying –
the shell and the hawk every hour
are slaying men and jerboas, slaying
the mind: but the body can fill
the hungry flowers and the dogs who cry words
at nights, the most hostile things of all.
But that is not news. Each time the night discards
draperies on the eyes and leaves the mind awake
I look each side of the door of sleep
for the little coin it will take
to buy the secret I shall not keep.
I see men as trees suffering
or confound the detail and the horizon.
Lay the coin on my tongue and I will sing
of what the others never set eyes on.
I haven't been out to Red's grave yet this year. Things got complicated with half term and trips and chickenpox and sad little cone cats. I'd like to go soon though. I had meant to tell you a story about him, but it's late and I'm somehow still awake, but only in body. My brain isn't up to much right now. You know those nights when there is no logical reason you should still be awake, but you are? Yeah.
Instead, here is the picture of our blueberry bush that I couldn't find before. No flowers, as you see. It's probably too late to flower now, isn't it? Next year.
We've got kale planted as well and coming up with tiny, oddly shaped leaves. That's a first for us this year and for me specifically. My mum never grew it.
Maf keeps headbutting me with the edge of her cone. Trust her to come up with a way to weaponise it. I think she wants me back in bed with my head in the appropriate spot for her to curl up around it. I'll go and give it another try. Wish me luck.
98 comments:
Best of luck. I know those sleepless nights well.
I hope you are able to rest, John. Sorry you're awake when you'd rather not be.
Mycroft, The Messiah was the first master work I ever did in choir. It's still my favorite. Will you all stand up at Hallelujah? That was such an incredible feeling when it happened at our concert.
Thank you for the poem, John, and I hope you were able to get some good sleep in the end.
Now cone head is head butting my legs for food... It's a hard life, eating and sleeping all the time.
Hope you can manage enough rest today, John. You're snoring peacefully tangled in sheets right now ;). But you'll have Sherlock giving you an alarm call soon...
I hope you got something like enough sleep in the end John :-) not sleeping for no good reason is rubbish!!
Good luck with whatever the day brings for you all, I'm off to buy a bright pink violin which seems wrong in so many ways!!
And you know I'll come with you to Red's grave if you want. Or not if you don't. Or whatever.
Thanks, everyone. There was sleep, eventually.
L - thanks, love. I'd like that. Sherlock said he wanted to go too.
Well then I can keep an eye on him if you do want a moment alone, too. Want me to buy you a double espresso and a piece of chocolate cake before you pick up the boy wonder? Retaliate against his energy by getting you hopped up on caffeine and sugar?
Sounds fantastic. And we can talk about training for the half marathon. :)
Maybe i won't have cake.
Oh, and the cabbies just started their protest' so traffic will now be gridlocked for the rest of the day! So be careful.
Share the cake. You're in training, not joining an ascetic order.
;-)
(Though by the time this posts, the coffee date will be long over!)
John, thank-you for the poem. I appreciate it when you share one with us.
fA
Anonybob - hooray for the bright pink (I originally typed that as brink, which may be an accurate description) violin. A few years ago we had a purple violin, which we sold to buy a purple viola.
Text from Sherlock - You can eat carrot cake because its made with vegetables and John says they're good for you.
..I wish that was the case.
...Now I want carrot cake.
Heh, I like that reasoning, I'll go with it!
Yay! I FINALLY got 2048 in that game Mycroft brought to our attention--nothing near the scores he gets, but it's something. :)
I'll make one for sports day, Danger. No cake eaten on sports day contains any fat or calories, fact.
Excellent.
You would not believe how pink it is SH, it's like they stole all the pink in the world and put it in this violin but I'm sure it'll be just perfect in the eyes of the recipient :-)
Cake at sports day sound like the perfect recovery programme and more importantly it sounds like fun.
I hope you're have a nice evening gentlemen.
I'm fairly sure if they didn't do the whole impromptu cake/tea gathering after the sports half the parents wouldn't come.
that does seem quite likely you're right.
When is this sports day? This Friday? Or some other day/week?
As if I'd know a tiny detail like that. I've just been told I have to be there, and I have to provide cake. And it can't just be carrot cake in case Sherlock doesn't like it.
Ha!
He tells me it's next week. He can't remember the day, apparently it's John's job to remember that.
Thursday. Is that chocolate lavender cake traditional now too?
Ha! It can be.
I shall book it off. Maybe Friday too...
Just don't make the same cake you've made before, especially if it is one of Sherlock's favorites. Unless you're happy for that exact cake to become an immutable part of the Tradition of Lestrade's Cake at Sports Day.
Of course, it's not that many more years there'll be sports day with Sherlock, more's the pity. He'll be Mycroft's age in a flash. How the days can sometimes be so long and the years so short, I'll never know!
fA
Silly me. Too late. Already a traditional cake exists. Yum.
fA
Hmmm. That "Too late" refers to a post that went missing? Or maybe's come back by now? No matter either way.
P.s. Captcha says "cake."
fA - you were in the spam. should be out now :)
I think I might start properly going to the gym.
..isn't 'guzzle' a great word?
It does have that onomatopoeic thing going on. (Is that the right word for a word that sounds like what it means?)
Very good, RR, full points. :-)
I LOVE carrot cake, with lovely rich cream cheese icing and walnuts.
Darnit, now I'm all hungry.
Great poem, John, thanks for sharing. I hope you slept a bit better last night.
Do we want to know what you were guzzling at 11.30 at night, Greg - I'm thinking probably safer not! ;)
Last day to join up for our World Cup competition. I'll take entries right up until the opening ceremony which is at 8.00 pm GMT tonight.
http://www.carryon.org.uk/worldcup2014/index.php/614726/lang-en
We have 16 so far which is brilliant so check to make sure your name is on the list if you want to play - Joolz, Lestrade, Lancs Anon, Small Hobbit, MT88, Desert Wanderer, kholly, Z, anonybob, graham22, mag, Paula, Nameless, Sherlock, REReader, ro. :)
Joolz - i would love to pretend I live an x-rated life... Sadly I was just looking at water bottle reviews, given all this exercise which is b eing thrust upon me, I thought I could do with one.
"This campsite has wifi" may be one of the saddest sentences in the English language.
Doesn't stop me from using it, though.
Ella
Ella, that's the most quotable and (apology to the english language for this "word") "relate-able" two sentences I've read today!
Good luck to everyone with their World Cup picks.
Greg, you volunteered for the exercise, don't lie. You guys are going to be absolutely brilliant by October. In any case, I welcome all updates, I could use the inspiration.
fA
I ran in this morning. And will run home. And inflict a really sweaty hug on Danger.
I'm sure the hug was appreciated in whatever form it took. ;)
Well we're under way and we have 17 players. I don't know if anyone saved copies of their forms or not but if people want me to I can post the predictions each day so that everyone knows who they should be cheering on & how many goals you want them to score. :) I'll try it for this first game and see if you like it and want me to continue, it may make everyone feel a bit more involved than if I just mark it off and no-one knows who has what.
Brazil v Croatia
Joolz 2-0, Lestrade 3-0, Lancs Anon 2-1, Small Hobbit 2-1, MT88 2-0, Desert Wanderer 2-1, kholly 2-1, Z 3-0, anonybob 3-1, graham22 2-1, mag 3-1, Paula 2-1, Nameless 3-1, Sherlock 3-0, REReader 2-0, ro 2-0, KT 4-0.
So, unsurprisingly, it looks like everyone is going for Brazil for the first game so hopefully we'll all be on the scoring board straight away. Good luck everyone. :)
Now, if we could have points for choosing the most popular score ...
I think that shouldn't count because it wasn't even their goal and it's not fair!
I suspect you're not alone in thinking that, Sherlock :-)
Well, Joolz, I'm not even playing with y'all, but I like seeing everyone's predictions, if it's not too much work!
fA
Sherlock has said he'll be getting up early in the morning to check on this match - I fear this World Cup will be hard on him, not being able to stay up for so many games.
I think it's going to be tough on all of us :-)
Joolz - I have to say, it definitely adds something, having even a tiny stake in the result, if you're happy to keep doing this, and it's not too much work for you.
Oh Nameless, bet you're on the ceiling right now!
Lestrade - definitely happy :-)
...the only thing that ref did right was not let his guide dog on the pitch though ;) (Guide dog would probably have done a better job!)
It's good to see everyone here getting something on the board tonight, not too impressed by the actual football though!
Well there we go, everyone on the score board and 3 people with bonus points too so we're off to a good start. (though unfortunately no bonus popularity points, SH) ;)
anonybob, mag, Nameless - 2 points
Joolz, Lestrade, Lancs Anon, Small Hobbit, MT88, Desert Wanderer, kholly, Z, graham22, Paula, Sherlock, REReader, ro, KT - 1 point
I don't mind posting the predictions if you all want them, it does seem to make it a bit more fun to see who's in with a chance for what - that's providing the refs don't do us all out of too much. ;)
I think it's good to see the predictions, even if it just means I glare at Nameless etc and moan that we woz robbed.
Yeah, if you don't mind doing the predictions - I can't remember what I said!
Would we have got a bonus point for saying 4-0, given all goals were scored by Brazil?? ;)
Ooh, now that's a good point, Greg. Tricky call, but I think you'd have a hard fight getting that past anonybob, mag and Nameless. ;)
You woz definitely robbed right at the end there, SH, I thought the popularity vote was going to have it. :)
Ok I'll do the predictions for tomorrow now, good for a bit of fun if nothing else. ;)
Mexico v Cameroon
Joolz 2-0, Lestrade 2-1, Lancs Anon 1-2, Small Hobbit 3-3, MT88 2-1, Desert Wanderer 2-2, kholly 1-1, Z 2-1, anonybob 1-2, graham22 1-2, mag 2-1, Paula 3-1, Nameless 1-1, Sherlock 1-0, REReader 1-0, ro 1-1, KT 3-0
Spain v Netherlands
Joolz 1-1, Lestrade 1-1, Lancs Anon 1-1, Small Hobbit 1-1, MT88 2-1, Desert Wanderer 1-0, kholly 2-1, Z 2-0, anonybob 1-1, graham22 3-0, mag 3-3, Paula 1-0, Nameless 2-1, Sherlock 0-1, REReader 0-1, ro 2-0, KT 2-2
Chile v Australia
Joolz 1-0, Lestrade 3-2, Lancs Anon 3-0, Small Hobbit 1-0, MT88 1-0, Desert Wanderer 3-1, kholly 1-0, Z 2-1, anonybob 2-3, graham22 2-1, mag 2-0, Paula 2-0, Nameless 1-1, Sherlock 1-1, REReader 0-2, ro 3-0, KT 3-3
Good luck with Day 2. :)
Thanks joolz it all makes interesting reading and adds interest to the 'unimportant' matches :-)
Sleep well gentlemen.
It's lovely to have gotten a point--can I ask how the scoring works? (And thanks for posting all the predictions, joolz, I'd have no idea what I said without!)
RR - I'm presuming 1 point for predicting the correct team would win, 2 for getting the exact score. Any...other point scoring bits, like who goes through from each group, Joolz will have to set out.
Another blisteringly hot day here in London! And I ran in again. Now polishing my halo ;)
Definite kudos for you, Greg, 2 days in a row, you'll be fit for a full marathon never mind a half at this rate. ;)
Yes that's right for the scoring. 1 point for guessing which team wins, 1 bonus point for getting the exact score & 1 point for each team you guess to go through to the next round so you could get up to an extra 16 points after these first 48 games if you get them all right. :)
Have a great day everyone. :)
Today is far too slow
I'm sure someone stole hours from the night and is now making us live them in the day!!
Hope things speed up for you :-)
It's going slowly here too. My second interview is in 4 hours and I'm trying to find something distracting to do in the meantime.
Best of luck to your for this interview, Becca.
Thanks SH!
Can anyone knowledgeable about soccer/futbol tell me what these three points the commentators keep harping about are?
You get three points for a win, one point for a draw, none if you lose.
Although I'm not generally knowledgeable.
You know more than me, so you count! :)
Good luck Becca!
I need an iced coffee. And someone to massage my hand.
Go Becca!
I think I can see the glint off that halo from here, L!
Writing hand? Hopefully nothing worse than that. I imagine home's a more likely place to find a hand massage than the office.
Lots of furtive watching of the Mexico vs. Cameroon match here at the office. Univision has pretty good camera coverage, though the commentary being in Spanish, I miss all the fine points. Like why the refs aren't calling all the things I think I'm seeing.
It does look miserable, playing in a total downpour. I keep thinking about slippery footing and groin pulls.
fA
Writing and signing hand. Although my signature doesn't even resemble letters, let alone my name.
I feel like we should have some side bets on bad ref decisions!
Hahahaha! First goal of the game by Mexico.
How do I know? Here in my office in the great state of Tejas, there were about a dozen strangled or muttered yelps of triumph arising into the air of our cubicle maze.
#damnstraightwe'reworking #kinda
hehehe
fA
Make it stay like it is so I win!
John says you can make me banana coffee smoothie when you get home except he said I had to have the decaf one.
John is very generous in his offering that, isn't he?
He has perfect faith in you. :)
Good luck, Becca!
Okay, I watched for another ten minutes. Working the rest of the day. I swear.
But I have to say, the rain kinda emphasizes how young these players seem to me. When did that happen? Not to also say, how fit they are.
The-rest-of-the-world's football players are waaay prettier than American "football" players. I credit all the running.
fA
YES THEY WON I GOT POINTS
Congrats, Sherlock! And everyone else who earned points.
fA
I said you could have one if L didn't mind making it for you...
He shouldn't mind because it's hot and it's nice and he can make himself one too.
We all have various iced drinks.
I may have broken some form of bloke-code by bringing how ingredients to make Mojitos for the footy...
Can anyone tell me why both Spain and the Netherlands are playing in their away strips?
Because they're neither in Spain nor the Netherlands, obviously. :P
That's what Sherlock said too... Don't know if it'll make you happy or worry you that you two think alike!
I'm not bothered, but it depends on Sherlock's thoughts on the matter. ;)
No you should be happy because I'm very clever and I don't mind you thinking like me because you seem nice and everyone here likes you.
I think this referee is rubbish and that wasn't a penalty and Lestrade says I sound like a proper football supporter saying that.
Thank you, Sherlock. I could say the same for you. :)
If you're a proper football supporter, do you get a....jersey? (Is that what they call football shirts? I'm more into football than football.)
shirts, we call them.
Do you mean the sort of football which doesn't involve very much of kicking the ball with your foot, but lots of carrying it about and only occasionally kicking it, often seemingly by accident ;)
That was a stunning goal! And now the scoreline is right ;)
Ah, shirt. Well, Sherlock? Do you have a proper England shirt? Unless you're supporting some other team...
Yes, that football. Much easier for my attention span to follow, scoring in sets of threes and sevens.
Although, watching football seems much more interesting than anything else I've got going on. Haven't managed to get myself up and moving today yet, and it's nearly 1600 :/
oh, a banana coffee smoothie, that sounds like just the thing. Going to the kitchen right now! :)
S
I don't know anything about either of the sports called football. For mojitos, I'd watch just about any sort of...um...
There is no good way to say "I'd watch any kind of ball game" without it being made naughty, is there?
Mojitos are a perfect footie drink. Perfect drink for any occasion, really :-)
Good going earlier, Sherlock, congratulations on getting your points :-)
Well, this is a thumping of the first order!
Does that leave Sherlock as the only one getting a point on this match?
Which match?
Sherlock and RR, both went 0-1.
Sherlock is leaping about like he's won the world cup...
Sorry, my mistake! Sherlock and REReader!
Spain vs Netherlands just finished, RR.
Yay, Sherlock! (And me! ;))
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