Covid19

Interviewing Covid 19. A Video Poem by Tony Martin-Woods

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This video is meant to provoke your thoughts about the nature of living beings, both Human and not Human, particularly as the conflict with each other. Equally, it questions critically Poetry and Journalism.
 
The poem itself was written on 20 April 2020. it has appeared, both in English and Spanish, in different formats in Poetry Life and Times, which is edited by the poet Robin Ouzman Hislop. There is also another interview video in Spanish, published in June 2021, less elaborated than this one.
 
I would like to remind everybody how important is to be vaccinated and to protect ourselves and others against the virus.
 
With thanks to all those who are working to control this horrible pandemic and those who spread quality information, not fake news.
 
Author of the video, texts and poem: Antonio Martínez Arboleda.
 
 
 

 
Antonio Martínez Arboleda:
Antonio (Tony Martin-Woods) started to write poetry for the public in 2012, at the age of 43, driven by his political indignation. That same year he also set in motion Poesía Indignada, an online publication of political poetry. He runs the poetry evening Transforming with Poetry at Inkwell, in Leeds, and collaborates with 100 Thousands Poets for Change 100tpc.org/. Tony is also known in the UK for his work as an academic and educator under his real-life name, Antonio Martínez Arboleda at the University of Leeds. His project of digitisation of poetry, Ártemis, compiles more than 100 high quality videos of Spanish poets and other Open Educational Resources. http://www.artemispoesia.com/ .

He is the delegate in the UK of Crátera Revista de Crítica y Poesía Contemporánea , where he also publishes his work as translator from English into Spanish. He published his first volume of poetry in Spanish, Los viajes de Diosa (The Travels of Goddess), in 2015, as a response to the Great Recession, particularly in Spain. His second book, Goddess Summons the Nation Paperback , Goddess Summons the Nation Kindle Edition , is a critique of the ideas of nation and capitalism, mainly in the British Brexit context. It incorporates voices of culprits, victims and heroes with mordacity and rhythm. It consists of 21 poems, 18 of which are originally written in English, available in print and kindle in Amazon and other platforms. Editor’s note: further information bio & academic activities can be found at this link: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/languages/staff/91/antonio-martinez-arboleda

 
 
 
 
 
Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times at Artvilla.com ;
You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author & https://poetrylifeandtimes.com
See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

Eulogy for Freedom Poem by Sara L Russell March 30 2021

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Was it here we used to drink on Saturday afternoons,
on the beer garden decking, under the trees,
you would be talking of funny things that happened
in your student days,
or the woes of working life
and I would find myself looking down at a garden
far below the upper decking,
wondering who lived at the house there
and if they were anything like us…
.
Was it every third or fourth weekend we might
jump on the bus to Tunbridge Wells,
to wander around the Pantiles;
to go treasure hunting
in bespoke jewellery and antique shops,
to dine at The Tunbridge Wells Hotel
on open steak sandwiches, drink
fine Malbec, watch people pass by
outside, and dream, and speak of future plans…
.
DId we really sometimes stay at that hotel in Bath
and visit that spa; did I dream that I swam
in the rooftop pool overlooking the city?
Did our hotel really have two swimming pools
and a sea of lavender surrounding the terrace?
I look at a photo I took through the window
of our room, at the full moon
through a black tracery of tree branches;
it seems worlds away now.
.
Watching a show on TV last night
I could only wonder
did people really
pile into those huge stadiums
swaying, waving, singing along
with the good old boys of rock n roll;
or purveyors of soul, or singers of blues
where everyone was carried away
on magic carpets of music,
with the base jumping, fists pounding
and hearts all bursting with joy?
.
Was it really only a couple of years ago
that friends and relations could still be reunited
with embraces and kisses?
Is the past forever foregone
or is there a place somewhere
which might let us return,
as easily as opening a door?
Just send me the key.
I swear I will stay faithfully indoors
until it arrives.
 
 
Sara Russel latest
 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop, who now runs it as Editor at this site. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. – (Picture link for Mirror article) – Angel Fire

 
 
 

Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times ; You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

POEM ON COVID19 Lockdown, UK. When Dreams Go Viral. Sara L Russell.

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I will haunt those tree-lined avenues again
I will watch white seagulls circling in the sky
I will once more see the Leidseplein in rain
Let this still cocoon unfold its wings and fly
 
I’ll rebuild that club the council had pulled down
dust off my leather trousers and boot chains
I will browse the market stalls of Camden town
Go on short bus rides; long trips on fast trains
 
I will wander free amid the aftermath
I’ll claw back all that seemed so out of reach
Swim in that rooftop pool again, in Bath
Throw pebbles out to sea on Brighton beach.
 
When freedom comes to grant us one last wish
When once more people meet, to drink and dance
You’ll be a dried-up smear on a petrie dish,
worn down and stripped of all significance.
 
 
 

 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop, who now runs it as Editor at this site. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article) Angel Fire
 
 
Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times ; You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

Strange Fruit. Audio Textual Poem by Robin Ouzman Hislop

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Robin Ouzman Hislop is on line Editor at Poetry Life & Times at Artvilla.com. His numerous appearances include Cold Mountain Review (Appalachian University, N.Carolina), The Honest Ulsterman, Cratera No 3 and Aquillrelle’s Best. His publications are collected poems All the Babble of the Souk, Cartoon Molecules, Next Arrivals & Moon Selected Audio Textual Poems. A translation from Spanish of poems by Guadalupe Grande Key of Mist and Carmen Crespo Tesserae, the award winning (X111 Premio César Simón De Poesía), in November 2017 these works were presented in a live performance at The International Writer’s Conference hosted by the University of Leeds. UK. A forthcoming publication of collected poems Off the Menu is expected in 2020

You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

The Spirit of Corona Times. An Audio Textual Poem by Debashish Haar

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This moment is a metaphor, 

        the metaphor is a war,

               the war for the survival of mankind.


Its victims are those who sold weapon

     its victims are those who bought the weapons,

          its victims are those on whom incendiary explosives were and are being fired.


Its victims are those who armtwisted national regimes, 

     its victims are the benighted nations,

          its victims are rich, its victims are poor.

           
Its victims are those who stockpile nuclear arsenal, 

     but have scant PPEs and Ventilators,

             its victims are the stereotyped minorities.


Its victims are the old who have lived their lives,

     its victims are millennials in callow youth having starry dreams, 

          its victims are infants and even new borns.


Its victims are those who are living lives in house arrest 
     
      fending an invisible nano scale enemy threatening to reduce the world

           in a nuclear winter without any bombs being dropped.


This moment is an allegory,

       which nobody knows, no one understands,

             it stammers and rattles, and speaks everything at once!

 

Debashish is a machine learning scientist, who has been published in literary magazines 
severaltimes across the globe, including Poetry Life & Times, where he was interviewed 
twice.

He is currently contending with a severe writer's block spanning a decade, when he has 
hardly produced any publishable content. He is also losing emotional connection with his 
own work gradually,  and spends more time to edit / tighten his old poems than creating 
any new content.

 

Editor's Note: Debashish Haar was interviewed twice in the old Poetry Life and Times, 
once by Sarah Russell then Editor & later by myself as a new Editor before it folded in 
2008. 

The New Poetry Life & Times restarted in 2013 at Artvilla.com site, Admin David Jackson. 

Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times ; 
You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. 
See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

Even Now. Audio Textual Poem by Robin Ouzman Hislop

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Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times ; his publications include

All the Babble of the Souk , Cartoon Molecules and Next Arrivals, collected poems, and the recently published Moon Selected Audio Textual Poems, as well as translation of Guadalupe Grande´s La llave de niebla, as Key of Mist and the recently published Tesserae , a translation of Carmen Crespo´s Teselas.

You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

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