Sheep are the addicts
they crave the run
in great wide circles
they crave the collisions
the criss-cross hi-jinks
and panicked alerts
The Shepherds
drunk on power
pretending the soldiers
are childish toys
shout and wave
‘the wolves are here’
run run run
‘the wolves are here’
The Sheep want to believe
they see sharpened teeth
in every smile
they hear stalking
on every padded footfall
silly … woolly minded … addicts
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Open Letter 17/6/09 Bandwagon Internet
open letter 17/6/09
Irish bandwagon internet campaigns for more secular Iran
In recent days internet sites (in Ireland and across the world) have been alite with messages, campaigns and rants of support for the ‘pro-democratic’ or anti-mullah parties in Iran, many of these voices have been silent during the blatantly similar injustices seen in our own State, committed by governments just as corrupt and a Church just as devoted to its own supremacy .
These bandwagon pseudo-political activists forget that this country has been dominated by an unelected Church for centuries, and that our constitution and laws are directed by the hierarchy of that Church and not the will of the electorate. Despite the flood of abuse cases proven by the law courts in Ireland we still maintain the status quo of 85% of national (primary) school run by religious orders, and a large percentage of our secondary schools deemed as Catholic and managed by the Church. The Catholic Church has burrowed itself into every aspect of Irish political and social life over the past two centuries and has continualy dictated law, ethics, morals and political principles based on it’s own bigotries and financial needs. It has also, unashamedly, abused it’s self-acclaimed position as guardian of the Irish people, from closing it’s doors in the Famine to closing its ears and minds to the ten of thousands of abused children in it’s care over decades.
Iranians like all people deserve to live in a free and democratic society where the stupidity of Religion is retained in the minds and homes of those who wish to practice their primeval faiths; but those in glass houses should not throw stones. The Irish pseudo-political activists (some of whom I accept are genuine in their conviction for world democracy) should look to changing the systems of their own nation before preaching to others how they can better themselves, or supporting campaigns for justice aboard while ignoring the injustices within earshot of there laptops and PCs. Perhaps it is time those on twitter, face book and other sites opened their curtains and faced the problems we have created in our own Nation.
Steve Downes
Irish bandwagon internet campaigns for more secular Iran
In recent days internet sites (in Ireland and across the world) have been alite with messages, campaigns and rants of support for the ‘pro-democratic’ or anti-mullah parties in Iran, many of these voices have been silent during the blatantly similar injustices seen in our own State, committed by governments just as corrupt and a Church just as devoted to its own supremacy .
These bandwagon pseudo-political activists forget that this country has been dominated by an unelected Church for centuries, and that our constitution and laws are directed by the hierarchy of that Church and not the will of the electorate. Despite the flood of abuse cases proven by the law courts in Ireland we still maintain the status quo of 85% of national (primary) school run by religious orders, and a large percentage of our secondary schools deemed as Catholic and managed by the Church. The Catholic Church has burrowed itself into every aspect of Irish political and social life over the past two centuries and has continualy dictated law, ethics, morals and political principles based on it’s own bigotries and financial needs. It has also, unashamedly, abused it’s self-acclaimed position as guardian of the Irish people, from closing it’s doors in the Famine to closing its ears and minds to the ten of thousands of abused children in it’s care over decades.
Iranians like all people deserve to live in a free and democratic society where the stupidity of Religion is retained in the minds and homes of those who wish to practice their primeval faiths; but those in glass houses should not throw stones. The Irish pseudo-political activists (some of whom I accept are genuine in their conviction for world democracy) should look to changing the systems of their own nation before preaching to others how they can better themselves, or supporting campaigns for justice aboard while ignoring the injustices within earshot of there laptops and PCs. Perhaps it is time those on twitter, face book and other sites opened their curtains and faced the problems we have created in our own Nation.
Steve Downes
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
open mic
Boyne Books Open Mic Session on Thursday 25 June, Drogheda, yours truely is special guest ... I've never been 'special' before
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Friend and Writer Roger Hudson
Thurs/Fri 11/12 June 6-8pm at Waterstones in Scotch Hall, Drogheda. Roger Hudson will read from his novel "Death Comes by Amphora" and about Ancient Athens. Questions welcomed.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Alone under a rainstorm on Loch Crew
The Gods are angry in me
sideways rain above Loch Crew
distant fingers of lightning
encaging Tara Hill
monsters and myths in spray and foam
die in epigrammatic agonies
broken on the beach of Dunany
They are all real
as valid as any Divinity or Demon
as corporeal as human flesh
as real as the strikes on stone
that spiral into infinity
an infinity as lingering as the ancient
lines on the hand that struck them
Steve Downes June 2009
sideways rain above Loch Crew
distant fingers of lightning
encaging Tara Hill
monsters and myths in spray and foam
die in epigrammatic agonies
broken on the beach of Dunany
They are all real
as valid as any Divinity or Demon
as corporeal as human flesh
as real as the strikes on stone
that spiral into infinity
an infinity as lingering as the ancient
lines on the hand that struck them
Steve Downes June 2009
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