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Some said Martin be wild
with his unruly red hair
his deep, penetrative glare
To be fair
I would agree
Martin possessed
that certain degree
of flair
which would not be there
without the unruly red hair
without the penetrative glare
And, maybe you think
he had not one single care
in this life
He certainly did not easily scare
as far as I be aware
It was something that hadn’t occurred to me before.
But I found the answer after a moment’s thought.
The uncanny likeness, the affection and more,
the cot, all the gifts and baby clothes he’d bought.
My Dad, the lodger, the new baby, and me.
I quite literally turned blue with rage!
At breakfast I said, ‘Dad, do you really think I can’t see?’
Mentally, I calculated their difference in age.
Gregorio Marañón, a man famous around the world as a physician, scientist, inventor, creative-historian, a serious writer and philosopher. Across Spain, he is perhaps best remembered for his attempt to invent the mobile telephone. The accompanying image to this story shows Grego – as he was known to his friends – with the original prototype placed atop a blueprint design.
The idea for a mobile phone first came to Marañón in his private study, whilst typing an article draft for Spanish smut magazine El Hombre, in early 1959. A telephone call had come through from La Quiniela lottery company, informing him of a ten million peseta jackpot win. By today’s value, this is equivalent to approximately two million pounds sterling.
Astounded by the news, Marañón had leapt out of his chair as if struck by high voltage electricity. A fly on the wall, had it been inclined to watch, would have witnessed a man punching the air, repeatedly bending down onto his haunches and leaping upwards, fast losing his composure.
Continue reading “The Order of the Oaf”Throughout all my life
people have said
that I am a big-head
I had no understanding
of this
this thing that they said
‘Look’, I’d say
‘I am actually
rather unassuming’
‘How,” I’d continue with urgency
‘could you possibly
describe me as big-headed’
Nobody knows
what’s happened to my nose
Apparently, I’m meant to know
Nobody says
‘Don’t you know
what happened to your nose?’
‘No’ I say to Nobody
‘but you know’
‘Yes’ Nobody says ‘just like you said’
‘Surely you must know too!
You don’t just lose a nose
not without knowing nothing about it.’
‘It happened a long time ago,’ I tell nobody
‘and I can’t remember anything about last week,
something I used to joke about
‘but now I know this to be true
I forget to laugh’
Nobody listens on intently
Matthew had a condition since being a baby, rather a serious affliction known in medical science as Medussanesia.
Because of the weight of his boulder-head, over years his neck grew strong.
Despite the truth nobody ever told him: “Aye, you’ve got a good head on those shoulders.”
Nobody in Polite Society remarked. Even the children encountered during his schooling in England would think twice and resist.
Continue reading “Stoned”Anticipating social and political emancipation
in Late-Victorian Bristol
Cynthia the Elephant Woman
never wore a bag over her head
Instead
she educated herself
taking books off the shelf
on subjects as diverse as architecture
language teaching and the physical sciences
She never hid her ingenuity
to please
anybody
As a child, Orlando enjoyed wide open spaces
How, a sense of his existence within vast voids, he felt some significance
As though, his very presence brought meaning to a place
Compensation, he never considered because he wasn’t that deep
for an otherwise meaningless and uncontrollable world
During the great pandemic of 2020 – 2024, the home accommodation of cats and rabbits fell, while for the same period of time, the figure for dogs rose. Writing as a dog, I find the statistics both believable and understandable. After all, you won’t get very far down the road for your daily exercise expecting a rabbit to lead the way. However, this hasn’t been all good for the dog world, at least not in my part of town. First-off, the additional influx has brought with it pressure onto the ownership of territories, with new claims appearing every month. These new dogs, often they don’t even have English as their first bark, growl and whine language, making civil communication over a dispute near-on impossible.
Continue reading “A Discontent Dog Writes”“I wonder what’s up there?” Phyllis said to Zelda over a background noise of the elevator counterweight system in motion. They studied the control panel showing floor levels marked with gallery names. The label for the top floor read PRIVATE NO PUBLIC ACCESS. A mutually-shared sense of curiosity dispensed with any need to exchange words, as her companion pressed the corresponding button.
Outside of the elevator, everything in view was a disorientating whiteness. A labyrinth of echoey corridors, soon found them lost and confused. “Wow,” said Zelda, “Are we in Heaven?” Aside from the floor, skirting boards, the walls, the ceiling and pendant lamps, there was nothing. Not a trace of decoration, no tropical plant displays, water-cooler or snack-bar vending machine, not even a fire-extinguisher canister, as one might expect.
“I don’t recall dying.” Said Phyllis sardonically, “This, is like some mad Minimalist’s fantasy! What is it about minimalism’s fascination with the colour white? Why not all this in mauve, for example?”
Continue reading “Evolution Behind the Door”
Brinkinfield 