Day 5 - Message to those denying safety

I really hope, 
if you, your children, or any of your descendants, 
ever need to flee the country, 
to seek refuge elsewhere,
that you are treated better,
than you think asylum seekers coming here should be treated. 

That if you are left with no choice to break rules to save your family's lives,
that you would still be accorded all the rights of the Geneva Convention.
That you wouldn't have to survive a perilous journey to get there.
That when you arrived, the media wouldn't blame all that place's problems on you. 
That you wouldn't be met with hostility from the locals. 
I hope you will be treated as a human, even though you do not think we should do the same for others now.

 
Because human rights are not bequeathed, are not deserved, they are just there for all humans. Or they are there for none.

Day 4 - The Wings of a Dove

All eyes turned to them. 

This was their time to shine. 
They took one last look at the crowd a little way off, took a step back, and ran headlong towards the cliff, faster and faster until, at the last second, they unfurled their wings and leapt. 
The wind caught them and swept them out into the centre of the chasm, where for a moment they looked as if they would gain altitude. But then they turned slightly to the side and began their turn. 
Gliding down in descended circles, they traced the path of a helix until they lightly touched down on the canyon floor some 200m below, refurling their wings as they touched the ground. 
It looked effortless, as if anyone could do it, and that was what they wanted to convey. 
Spread out, each wing was the length of their body, jointed in three places but controlled by the arm that fitted inside it. The stretched fabric mirroring the effect of a thousand feathers. 

The generals turned to the inventor, and started firing questions, but she was waiting for a certain one. 
"But can they go up?" Once it was answered there was silence, she could feel the weight of expectation in the air.
"No", she replied, "they can only drift down"
She knew the effect her answer would have. There were more questions, but that was the important one, and without it they wouldn't endorse her project for the armed forces.
The generals and their entourage drove off into the desert. They were polite but she knew the answer would be no. 
The wings would become a leisure item for hobbyists and enthusiasts. They would still be huge, but now they would not be used for defence. 

She waited until the dust from their vehicles disappeared over the horizon, and then waved to her two assistants on the desert canyon far below.

She watched as they took off from their standing position, flapping their wings, rising higher and higher until they had ascended the canyon wall and landed safely beside her on the cliff's edge.  

Day 3 -The Tree Readers

Sylvametry Incorporate were new upon the scene.
They claimed they could interpret all the dreams that trees did dream.
The other players were concerned. They thought, what did this mean?
The market share that they had earned was threatened by this scheme.

Now Arboreal Technologies had long controlled the field,
of knowing what a forest felt, and hence predicting yield. 
They started off with simple ways to make those moods revealed, 
like temperature, humidity, and if its bark was pealed.

But as the years rolled by they learnt of newer ways to know,
like funginterferometry, and water process flow.  
And whether when its leaves were placed in alum did they glow. 
So all the data that they learnt, was placed in charts on show.

Thus many tree researching firms had quickly been established.
Like Dendro Market Research, who could "tell us what the trees wished".
They placed electrodes on the trunk connected to a checklist.
One click for yes and two for no, and all of this they published. 

But until now, no one had thought to delve into their mind.
To seek those inner hopes and fears. Who knows what they would find?
All eyes were on Sylvametry, the date was underlined.
The press were going crazy. This would alter humankind.

An ancient misty woodland had been picked to set the tone. 
And every tree had coils of wire, and A.I. of its own.
So when the system booted up, an answer clearly shown. 
And this is what the message said. Leave us the fuck alone.

Day Two - Ode to microbes past.

Green, orange, red the mat grew  
until it covered the continents.
Feeding off the many layers of itself.
Giving of gases poisonous to us.
But back then, 4 billion years ago, 

these were the building blocks that would become the life we know today. 
Our long forgotten great ancestor 
the mat microbial 
crafting the forerunner of the cells 
that would make all higher forms of life. 
It shines and shimmers in the sun, 

taking in the energy, 

storing it. 

The planet is made a living thing.
And visible as such to anyone observing the spectra given off.
A methane world.

You stewarded this land for two billion  laps of the sun,
before your children killed you off, 
by spewing oxygen into the air.
Preparing it for newer life, but spelling your doom.
I don't know if you ever got the thanks you deserve for kick starting life on Earth.
But hear this as a whisper of a gratitude. 

Day One - ApoloGee

Earth, my home

I want what's best

I've treated you so bad

Took your forests for granted

Misused your oceans

Let your glaciers vanish.

In short I've been a right bastard.

I don’t blame you for not trusting me

When I say

I will make everything right again

By reducing my bastardity by 15% over the next 20 years.

Athos Athanasiou 

Before the vote

It is our vote you're taking when you talk about Brexit.
A vote we will lose if we head for the exit.
Our say in what happens across from our waters.
A way to instruct the EU in our matters.

Our country has been through a lot these last days.
A voice has been silenced through hate and through violence.
A good voice that said act together in kindness.
But whose message lives on and is carried by others.

Another returns from the great depths of space.
A result of the coming together of nations.
For none on their own could have built a space station.
And we're in for the ride, due to collaboration.

What happens abroad we feel it all too.
We are more than an island, we live on Earth too.
Orlando or Syria we stand side by side.
When atrocities happen, we feel it inside.

And what does it mean, what has it all taught us?
What world will we leave to our sons and our daughters?
Should countries be distant and look only inward,
or meet round a table to move our world forward

For the way the campaigns have been run is a shock.
The leaders on both sides use fear as their stock.
'In' ought to have listened to the prospectless youth;
out of work and low waged, see no point in the booth.

'Out' stirs up the hatred and stirs up the anger
and blames all our problems on migrants and others.
But it was these politicians raised University fees,
cut public sector funds and bought the NHS to its knees.

It's migrants that've kept afloat National Health.
Who've worked hard for this country to generate wealth.
Our sports men and women who've done us all proud.
Who now hear the language of fear spoke out loud.

For the EU it sets out more rights for our workers.
It keeps cleans our beaches and rivers and waters.
It works for our safety and holidays and health.
And to impoverished cities redistributes wealth.*

And what we put in, we get back tenfold.
It opens up markets where our products get sold.
And this will keep helping small businesses grow,
attracting more foreign investment you know.

And yes it's not perfect and we may disagree.
But there're  ways we can change it, choose a new M.E.P.
For if we bow out no more say shall we have.
And we'll still have to follow their lead hand in glove.

So vote with your head and vote with your heart.
To me they both said the same thing from the start.
If you want to live in a world that's together,
then vote to stay in, whatever the weather.






Athos Athanasiou, 18th  June 2016






* E.g. Manchester and the Greater Manchester European Funding Program.

NaPoWriMo 2012 Contents

In April 2012 I took part in NaPoWriMo. A challenge where you write a poem every day throughout April. These are the results.
Day 1-The Flute
Day 2-The World Today in Triolet
Day 3-Squashed Oaths
Day 4-Dont Panic
Day 5-Mock Interview
Day 6-Bean
Day 7-House Mouse
Day 8-The Note
Day 9-The Human Gods Lament
Day 10-Air to Air
Day 11-Sonnet of Conversation
Day 12-Mondegreen and Homophone
Day 13-Limericks
Day 14 The Cunning Plan
Day 15-Summer Daze in Ice
Day 16-The Phantom Pantoum
Day 17-Music Alarm
Day 18 Paeon of People
Day 19-Off road
Day-20-Excited Sun
Day-21-Secrets Uncovered
Day-22-Over River
Day-23-Protection
Day-24-Twenty Pound Question
Day-25-Tree Oak Lock
Day-26-Train Times
Day-27-Round the Houses
Day-28-The Pot
Day-29-The Best Laid Plan
Day 30-Ballad of Many
Day 31-Waiting House

This was to raise money for the following charities. If you do like the poems feel free to donate to any of them.
National Autistic Society
RNIB
WomanKind
National Literacy Trust

I received quite good publicity with an article in the Huffington Post and in Delilah's Blog

The keen eyed would notice there are more poems here than days in April. I wrote the bonus poem as a birthday request.

Also feel free to put any comments by the poems and let me know which ones you like best.

Athos

NaPoWriMo 2012 - The days after

There's been a lot of activity around my poems since I finished. I've been getting in touch with other poets who were doing napowrimo which is great. And I'm hoping to be reading lots of other people's napowrimo poems over the next few days.

Today my poem on the 30th April has been featured on my friend Laura Nelson's blog.
http://delilah-mj.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/hamleys-campaign-in-poem.html
Laura is a spokeperson on equality issues, quite often getting asked to speak on the radio or tv and someone we can expect to see a lot more of in the future.

The other part of that poem is about another friend of mine Rosalind Ereira who wrote to the London Olympic Committee and the  Equality and Human Rights Commission when she discovered she could miss the event she'd paid to see, because her baby would not be allowed in without a separate ticket. This sparked off another news story. Ros is a film producer who has worked on Time Team and produced and directed The  Pendle Witch Child

Athos

Huffington Post Article

Rather excitingly, I have an article in the Huffington Post about National Poetry Writing Month and Fundraising
Writing a Poem Every Day

Athos 

Day 31 - The waiting house

A bonus poem at the end of Napowrimo.

The house
sits down amidst the pouring rain
stooped under its gutters
hankering down
to wait.

And while
the splashing drops proceed to fall
it feels its humans all
impatient for
its end.

They pace
from one room to another. Loud.
It feels their steps beat out
within its walls
and floors.

The door
could use a brand new lick of paint
it stretches in the rain.
Uncomfortable
to wear.

But house
knows this will pass
and it will green its grass
and clear the roof of all its mess.
Just so.

It gets
that it will dress
in all its summer clothes,
and stretch itself amidst the lawn
sundrenched.