Summer of '72

 SUMMER OF '72

Oh how I wish it was back in the summer of '72

when we sang Metal Guru, danced to Bowie and were the Young Dudes of Mott the Hoople

With Anne and Anne & best friend Gill and all the other girls too

When we worked hard and partied harder

when lost weekend meant Matron telling you off

And Dear Sister May frightened us all

When cherries were yet to be lost

and tits were were nice

but down below was paradise

When you wore glitter in your hair

and thought Patchouli covered the smell of a joint or two

When pay day meant going to the pub

and the record shop and Unisex shopping

talking all night

setting the world to right

Oh I wish I could go back to '72 and say to Anne we done the tits and that was nice now can we get to paradise and this time you don't say no

Back in '72 teenagers, the children of the revolution, free before the world crushed us and the glitter flew

When no one told us what to do

For all the children with the flowers in their hair

Let's go back to the Summer of '72

(c)merimaat 2022 50 years later

The Teenage Dream - 1970 -1977 for Marc Bolan with love and All those who made the Teenage Dreams alive

 As I write this it is 16th of September 2022, exactly 45 years since the accidental death of Marc Bolan just 14 days before his 30th birthday.  That was the day that my Teenage Dream finally ended, but not my love for Marc as that will never die.  I had turned 22 just 5 days before, but still not really ready to face the full force of adulthood. 

Marc wasn't the first star to give teenagers their teenage dream, far from it, perhaps there has always been a teenage dream as long as there have been stars who gave us music that stirred our souls and filled us with love.   Yet perhaps it has only really been since the mid 1950's when kids who reached their teens were no longer young adults, but this strange rebellious, tempestuous, hormonal creature called the teenager. 

In the mid 1950's a slang words for having sex, rock and roll became a familiar turn to describe a music and indeed now we don't think of it as having any other connotation other than that.  Yet sex  is at the heart of Rock and Roll, it may be covered up with such terms as love or whatever, yet it is still there. 

Elvis who is known as the King of Rock and Roll, didn't become famous just because of his voice and yes as we all know he had a great voice, even more famously he poured sexuality, the famous Elvis the Pelvis and became the biggest star in the world.  Others who followed were too squeaky clean or very poor imitations of the King and it really wasn't until the 1960s when four lads from Liverpool claimed the crown.  The Beatles, became the biggest band in the world and I doubt we'll ever see another like them again. Behind the nice lyrics there was pure sex and rock and roll lived on. Just listen to a Hard days Night and it is there.  Sadly, both of the above were limited by the age they lived in for the revolution or may be evolution had not quite happened. 

By the end of the 1960s and the end of the so called Hippie era, thanks to the pioneering work of those above the kids were ready for a new Teenage Dream, one of their own, the Children of the Revolution were ready for our hero and that was Marc Bolan.  Marc was overtly sexual, his songs were about having sex, having a good time without the sugar coating of love, well okay some sugar coating and some of the sloppy sentimental stuff.  As our hormone raged and we found our sexuality and over things Marc was our god as much as the previous gods had been to previous generations.  It was our time for fun before adulthood and adult responsibility.  This is why we still love Marc and why pervious generations and future generations loved their Teenage Dream makers. 

The Teenage Dream doesn't ever last for long, for me personally, mine ended on the morning of 16th of September 1977, when Marc was taken and my heart broke and the realisation there would be no more T.Rex, not more boogie apart from in fond loving memories.   Punk rock had already broken through and another load of kids had their heroes, heroes that Marc (as many acknowledged) open the door for. Even his great friend David Bowie had become a bigger star, but one whose love for Marc still shone through until his own passing.

John sadly was killed just 3 years later than Marc. Elvis, had gone and the stage was empty until the rise of Kurt Cobain who electrified another generation and while the Teenage Dream was different it was still the Teenage Dream share by a rebel, a pioneer, I am not sure of the word to use, whatever it is. Sadly as with Marc his life would end before his 30th birthday. 

We should all love our Teenage Dream even if we are now in the final part of our journey, because if we don't then we lose the happy part of ourselves, when we believed, lived and loved like tomorrow was nothing to be frightened or aware of.  We Children of the  Revolution owe it to all generations to become their own children of their revolution and to have their own Teenage Dream. 

    

THE CHILD WITH NOWHERE EYES

 

THE CHILD WITH NOWHERE EYES

I see the child with nowhere eyes

I hear the child with no voice

when it cries

I see the child with nowhere eyes

trying to tell the truth

while others believe the lies

I see the child with nowhere eyes

asking where is my family

everyone has one

why not me

what have I done so wrong

I see the child with nowhere eyes

trying so hard to fit in

to be like all the others when his body

just won’t do

what it is is supposed to

I see the child with nowhere eyes

able to do what others find impossible

yet his words are dismissed

as fantasy

or he’s told off for taking things too literally

I hear the child with nowhere eyes

as they turn the key

as they lock him away

as they don’t know what to do with you

crying their lonely tears

with no-one to hold them to love them

to say you’re okay

special in your own way

Now I see the adult still trying to fit in

still the child with the nowhere eyes

I see them clearly

when I look in the mirror

for you might understand

the child with the nowhere eyes

is me

©merimaat Kev.T. Brown 2022

Spring Tides By Fiona Gell, a personal review of a book I loved One of the greatest Manx books of our time

 To be honest I had heard of this book and had seen it in my favourite book shop, the only one that I use. I was asked if I wanted a signed copy, but said no, because I was only really getting it to add to my Manx section and didn't really think it would go beyond that.  Oh, boy wasn't I incorrect in my thinking on that and very, very wrong on that. Hindsight has a wonderful way of tanning your backside for you doesn't it.

I will start with the only negative thing I can say about the book and that is I wish there had been some colour photographs in it as that would have made it more likeable to me and perhaps highlighted things a bit better.  That aside, the book has a nice print size, the paper quality is very good and the pages turn easily which means you never miss a page out and have to go back and find it as I have found myself doing so many times. It might seem a minor thing, but these things can either add or take away from your enjoyment of a book.

To be honest I don't know much about the sea around our little home and don't really give it much thought. Yes I get excited at seeing the dolphins as they pass and the one occasion I saw the fin of a basking shark. The sea around our home mainly means Kippers and Queenies and going up to the fishmongers for other delights. It sometimes means sitting for what seems hours watching the birds on the shore line or loving the waves crashing onto and over the sea wall and the road closures. It also is something we cross over on a ferry to get to the other island.  It is now just something that surrounds us, which could be, because it has always been there all my life.  Yet what Fiona does in the opening parts of this book is take you back to your childhood and the magic of going to the shore and rock pools when you found everything exciting and new.  She does through her own experiences and I love the family and personal stories throughout which weaved with the Manxness , if there is such a word, into the science bits as well so you don't really realise that you are learning as you go along. 

I was left wondering after reading this book, why I had personally never taken much notice of the things described in the book and the fight to get to where we are now and the real danger of just sitting back and doing nothing is not an option for us any more. I thank her for the ways and there are many that she gets us not just to think, but feel differently about what is happening now for if we don't then future generations will never forgive us. 

Thank you Dr Gell for a great, readable book  I think it deserves wider publicity and is perhaps one of the great Manx books ever written, certainly one of the greatest and most important for our time.  

My review The Red Sea Scrolls How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids - Pierre Tallet Mark Lehner

 The Red Sea Scrolls How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids

I would not have purchased this book, if it had not been suggested to me by my local book shop, Bridge Book Shop, as I didn't have a particular interest in the Pyramids and thought well we know everything don't we.  How wrong I was on the last statement and how grateful I am to Angela for suggesting this book to me. 

Pierre and Mark take us on a journey of discovery, right from the start and teach us to do away with what we think we know or what perhaps we were taught so think there is nothing more to know.  Their collective writing brings the past to life in a way I have not seen, should that be read, before.  We learn much about the work of Egyptologists that don't make headlines, these are not Indiana Jones types, not the work of some Hollywood script writer, bur dedication people working in Egypt and making discoveries or hoping to make discoveries, not for personal gain, but mostly for the love it and to enable to us to gain greater understanding of the one place on earth we all fascinated with.  Their love shines through on every page and because of that you are wanting more and you get that, with every page.

This is not a book for a quick read, nor should you read it quickly, for if you do then you will miss so much.  It took my time to read it and because of that I got more enjoyment out of it and I also think in doing so, I had time to digest the information and think about it.  As a direct result not only did I enjoy the book more, but I my appreciation for the Pyramid builders and associated workers leapt.   

What I really loved was that they supplied the commentary which in turn meant that  rather than distant historical characters, using the Papyri, these people were given their voice once more.  This meant that are reminded that history is not made by just a few whose names we know, but of the millions who pass unknown to us and whose names only come to be known to us by discoveries such as this. 

There is more that I could write, but that might spoil the enjoyment of others who come to read this book and I hope that is many.  

Finally Pierre and Mark, leave  us with the understanding that our knowledge of Egypt is far from complete, it is evolving and expanding all the time and while Temples and Tombs are the most visible signs the real treasures lay buried and are the Papyri and other things yet to be discovered like ports and town and villages. 

Thank you, Pierre Tallet and Mark Lehner,  for a wonderfully written book and to anyone who reads this, I say this, ADD IT TO YOUR COLLECTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, YOUR MIND AND SOUL WILL THANK YOU FOR DOING SO.  

DAD

 

DAD

Dad

I am an old man now

just like I thought you were

when I was a lad

My old bones creak

and my muscles

are getting weak

I have to try and find

the words before I speak

What a fool I was

back then thinking your

ways were out of date

and things had changed

and how

I could show you how to live

in the now

I never realised

that you were teaching me

how to be the man

I am now

Dad

you gave me my love of words

my love for knowledge

taught me how to think

to get the answers

not just be told them

I never realised

that you were teaching me

to be the man

I am now

Your patience

Your gentleness

Your mild amusement

Your knowing smile

Dad

I am an old man now

growing roses

like you taught me how

I hear your voice

as I walk around looking at each one

as you used to do

I never realised

that you were teaching me

to be the man

I am now

Dad

I hope you look down

and smile

at this once rebel

with the long hair

and see now

it’s short and grey

and slowly drifting away

I never realised

that you were teaching me

to be the man

I am now

Dad

There is so much more

I want to say

Perhaps my heart

can only find these

words

Thank you

for I am the man

I am today

because of you

©merimaat 2022

FOR MY DAD RON

The Child with far away eyes -

 

THE CHILD WITH FAR OFF EYES

THERE’S A CHILD WITH

FAR OFF EYES

I SEE HIM

IN THE MIRROR

AND WATCH THE UNCRIED

TEARS FALLING

DOWN HIS FACE

THERE’S A TEENAGER

WITH FAR OFF EYES

I SEE HIM

IN THE MIRROR

AND WATCH THE UNCRIED

TEARS FALLING DOWN

HIS FACE

THERE’S A MAN IN HIS TWENTIES

WITH FAR OFF EYES

I SEE HIM

IN THE MIRROR

AND WATCH THE UNCRIED

TEARS FALLING

DOWN HIS FACE

THERE’ S A MAN IN HIS THIRTIES

WITH FAR OFF EYES

I SEE HIM

IN THE MIRROR

AND WATCH THE UNCRIED

TEARS FALLING

DOWN HIS FACE

I HAVE SEEN THIS SAME MAN

IN HIS FORTIES AND FIFTIES

I SEE HIM NOW

IN HIS SIXTIES

THE SAME FAR OFF EYES

AND WATCH THE

UNCRIED TEARS

FALLING DOWN HIS FACE

THESE ARE MY EYES

MY UNCRIED TEARS

FOR I ACCEPT

MY HISTORY

OF WHAT WAS ONCE

WILL ALWAYS BE

UNCRIED TEARS

©merimaat 2022 -for Suzi from little brother