1913 - Lucky or unlucky strike?

I'm on strike today along with Unite,
Unison, NUT, and my union
The PCS, and others, in a fight
To protect contracted work conditions
That includes the lure of decent pensions
Which was used to recruit us way back when
We began our jobs. The media often
Allow the public service workers none
Of the unstinting approval given
To those in private jobs, as though we might
Dispense with schools, hospitals, museums
Or institute mass privatisation
Cuts become easier, all done for profit
(With socio-economic destruction)

1912 - That sinking feeling

The Republic of China created
The age-old monarchy is gone for good
Lenin's Bolsheviks now separated
From Social Democrats - they felt more red
Scott's disastrous South Pole trip leaves all dead
The Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks
The total drowned reaches fifteen hundred
The Royal Flying Corps first spreads its wings
Sarah Bernhardt appears in early films
Emperor Meiji by Taisho succeeded
The Balkan states throw out their Turkish lords
W.C. Handy's blues widely sang
Woodrow Wilson is this year elected
The year is 1912. Knew that? You should!

1911 - Speed of life

Why did Gary Speed do the deed, and hang
Himself? This is what's perplexing us all
Not a household name, just a family man
Which makes it odd, ununderstandable
A player and manager of football
He played for Everton and later Leeds
Later on Bolton, and at Newcastle
Then after retirement, chosen to lead
Sheffield United as manager. Freed
After a few months to manage Wales, and
After a rocky start, resources small
In players and cash, started to succeed
Was it depression? Scandal? What had stung
Him into this, made him suicidal?

1910 - The ends of three eras

In 1910 Edward VII died
George V, Vicky's grandson, took his place
Two years before, in Lisbon, on a ride
King Carlos had been shot. The growing pace
Of Republicanism would replace
Young King Manuel II, two years on
In Mexico, old Porfirio Diaz
Thirty-year dictator, rigged elections
Which Madero had more than likely won
This sparked a revolution, the poor tried
To free themselves - Villa, Zapata raced
Around the sierras. First Huerta, then
Carranza stabilised then liberalised
But even then, Mexico knew no peace

1909 - Family round-up

Some family news, not said much for a while
My divorce from Tania was finalised
In late October, so now I'm single
Officially! In March, Pearl got her prize
Award of first-class degree from the spires
Of Oxford, and moved into a shared flat
In Islington, then got work she admires
In a TV company's office that
May lead upwards. Louis' been forced to wait
For a London job but he's won in style
Last night he heard he'd got one, though surprised
Researcher for horror films - how 'bout that?
Vera crashed her car but she's teaching still
Little Josie's writing won a school prize

1908 - The Balkan time-bomb winds up

The Treaty of Berlin carved up the east
Thirty years before, but the aftershock
Was still rumbling on. The Ottoman beast
Was staggering to its fall, hands of the clock
At ten to midnight. Time for the Young Turk
Revolt, marching from Thessaloniki
To Constantinople, where they then broke
The Sultan's power. Bulgaria, though free
In fact since '78, officially
Declared independence, its tsar increased
His ego and desire for land, but look -
Austria-Hungary's old Franz-Josef, he
Annexed Bosnia, which before he just policed
Serbia and Russia took this painful knock

1907 - Softened drinker

A lot of drinking in these last few nights
And meanwhile every night I am disturbed
Waking at three or maybe four and quite
Unable to drop off again. Being served
Pints or knocking back cans is what I've learned
To reduce lately, so I'm unused to
The side-effects, and in a strange reverse
Of the expected, though sleep starts on cue
It doesn't stay long - wakefulness breaks through
In mid-dream, and music, recent delight
Or disappointment circles, won't disperse
Despite cumulative weariness. True -
I've had a few nights out but socialite
Times are on hold - time to save, stay sober

1906 - Year of disasters

It seems unfair to blame San Andreas
I'm not really sure that it was his Fault
That way back in the year 1906
San Francisco was rocked and what was built
Largely fell down or caught fire, and it killed
About 3,000. However, far worse
Was a quake a few weeks later that chilled
Chile, when Valparaiso appeared cursed
Despite its name suggesting paradise
And 20,000 died. And now let's pause
To remember those drowned in water-filled
Hong Kong a few more weeks on, in the course
Of a typhoon and tsunami. This was
Enough to cause belief in mankind's guilt

Wed 23 Nov

1905 - Revolutions in Bern and St Petersburg

1905 was great and terrible
That year Einstein published five great papers
Explaining Brownian motion, particle
Activity, the action of light, laws
Of relativity, with few real flaws
In his theories despite a humble post
As a patent officer in Bern. Course,
He was a scatter-brain in some ways - most
Mythical mad scientists are. The coast
Of China near Korea, littered with piles
Of Russian and Japanese dead, bled for
Tsar Nicholas, led to extreme unrest
That and the poverty... The crucible
Of Bloody Sunday, soviets grabbing power

1904 - Bloomsday

June 1904 - James Joyce meets Nora
And she sticks to him like a Barnacle
The writer - once a musician - and her
The Dublin hotel worker - odd couple
By all accounts she was quite sexual
And he became smitten, this geeky guy
And their episodes were influential
On the tone of his nostalgic story-
Telling, famously, or infamously
In 'Ulysses'...Is Molly just like her
In tormenting Leopold, unfaithful
At least in her or in his fantasy
Is this what would gnaw at Joyce the writer
As he worked and she grew irritable

1903 - Flying tonight

The first-ever heavier than air plane flight
Took place in 1903, the balloon
Superseded, thanks to the Brothers Wright
All those millennia when up a mountain
Was the only way to have the vision
Of looking down upon a bed of cloud
Up where the sky is always pristine blue
And the sun blinds you above the white shroud
When clouds are gone the land is now allowed
For study - famous coastlines come in sight
Peninsulas, rivers reflecting sun
Whole towns and cities, tiny cars on roads
Cheap flights pollute but we love the sheer height
And the world spread below our tube-shaped room

1902 - Long day's journey

My brother's fifty today, a landmark
Our older sister, she's already there
Soon it'll be my turn. Once in the park
We played cricket in those two hot summers
'75 and 6, and that was where
My brother poured our Dad's ashes beneath
A new tree, later vandalised. Prepare
Now, on the coach to Birmingham, to see
The old places transformed - through gritted teeth
Trying to recall things past in the dark
Recesses of memory, the old centre
Of Birmingham, then by train or bus, leave
For Lichfield, where I'll meet Robin and work
On getting drunk in The Feathers later

1901 - Anarchy in the USA

In 1901 Queen Victoria died
As did US President McKinley
Vic died of old age on the Isle of Wight
Mac of two bullets at close range when he
Was at Buffalo Expo - anarchy
The alleged motive, but the assassin
Was a disaffected loner, quietly
Submitting to grisly execution
In the electric chair, no real good done
Unless to protest against the great tide
Of big business and titans like JP
Morgan, relentless consolidation
And mergers. Teddy Roosevelt decried
The worst excesses of those trusts quickly

1900 - Twentieth century blues

Welcome my friends, welcome everybody
To the start of the twentieth century
I don't want to Boer you but the GB
Army fought at Spion Kop so bravely
And relieved Ladysmith later to the
Relief of our empire and Treasury
King Umberto I of Italy
Was shot four times by anarchist Bresci
The next incumbent of that monarchy
Ruined it (too close to Mussolini)
Old Queen Vic visited London City
She proclaimed Australia a new country
The Filipinos fought the Yanks fiercely
The Labour Party starts led by Hardie

1899 - More pink bits on the map

The Boer War began 1899
Between Britain and Dutch expatriates
Who had settled South Africa in time
To create Transvaal and Orange Free State
The British had Cape Colony, the great
Kimberley mine, and lots of their settlers
Now living on Boer-ruled land would await
The sight of 'liberating' Brit forces
The whole of SA under auspices
Of Queen Vic's regime would suit them just fine
At first the small army of Lord Roberts
Was besieged here and there. At last, success
At great cost, more troops, Kitchener did fine
But only using camps that concentrate

1898 - The eagle spreads its wings

1898 was the only year
Of the conflict geographically wide
Known as the Spanish-American War
In which the Yanks grabbed Puerto Rico, tried
To grab the Philippines, grabbed Guam, allied
Themselves to the Cuban independence
Fighters, where Teddy Roosevelt's rough ride
Gained him popular political points
Guantanamo Bay however remains
De facto US land on Cuba's shore
By December, Spain's vast empire had died
Hawaii's republic was rendered defunct
By US annexation, as earlier
They'd removed its queen who'd bravely defied

1897 - I obviously don't belong to Glasgow

Alarm at five fifteen, I had to rise
In late night darkness and head for the train
Battle against time, against weariness
Transported up to wild Scotland again
Saw horrid tribes clad in kilts, quite insane
They brandished their cabers, whisky and gin
In rushing rivulets gushing doon glens
I saw Little Yins and saw a Big Yin
Deep fried Mars Bars were gi'en me for din
I'm back in Sassenach Land noo, but pies
An fries and a' that made me fat, ma brain
Reelin' in the beers...Yo, Mr Salmond...!
Er, oh dear, sorry, I apologise
Glasgow was quite normal, with spots of rain

1896 - I need to talk about we need to talk about Kevin

Last night, though somewhat drunk, I read the last
Hundred pages of the recent novel
'We Need to Talk About Kevin' ... The list
Of films at the cinema proved a thrill
Because the Cornerhouse alone was still
Showing the film of the book - how lucky!
The book was linear but Lionel
Shriver did shuttle back and forth in the
Narrative, which was epistolary
The film was like that too, the first part fast
Shuttling, then settling down to family hell
The son just didn't like people, you see
So he became a high school terrorist
And proud of it, Mom was ashamed to tell

1895 - Wilde is the wind

In 1895 they held a trial
In London's fair city - or was it fair?
Of well-known poseur and wit Oscar Wilde
'Earnest' had opened earlier that year
A play that's proved enduring, to be sure
Wilde brought a libel case against big old
Marquess of Queensberry of boxing lore
Whose third son, Lord Alfred Douglas, grew cold
Towards the infamous Irish wit, sold
Too much on shocking, maybe, though meanwhile
His tall compatriot George Bernard Shaw
Got away with being left-wing. Wilde rolled
The dice and lost, open homosexual
Behaviour being a scandalous affair

1894 - 11 11 11 11

Eleven eleven eleven e-
Leven came and went within a minute
This was at eleven a.m. today
Eleventh hour, day, month, year - this was it
A full two minutes of complete quiet
In the office, not even some typing
The eerie feeling then manifested
That someone remote was now controlling
Our wills and thoughts and we were consenting
Out of if nothing else conformity
For I have no relative death credit
And so my thoughts float through the window, free
To settle on drivers ignoring it

1893 - Death and Texas

In 1893 dear Dorothy
Parker was born into this vale of tears
She slagged off everyone, and later she
Was blackballed at the McCarthy movies
One of her books was called Death and Taxes
Now today in the Republican race
We've seen on the TV Death and Texas
When Rick Perry just had to shut his face
And his race died, and then so did his place
Opposing Obama in the 20-
12 election. Lest we forget, Rick, he's
Injected more Texans than other guys
The favourite is, well may be Mitt Romney
Let's hope it's no-one who likes Tea Parties

1892 - Only the Berlusconi

A round-up of the news that's big today
There's always plenty of good news stories
In Europe, finances are all astray
And the big story now is Italy's
Seven per cent bond yield. Berlusconi's
On his way out, apparently. Football
Controversy over whether poppies
Can be worn or cannot be worn at all
Have UKBA been too reasonable
Even slack in their checks? Theresa May
Is under fire as immigration is
A hot topic. Celebrity Jungle
Is about to begin again, hooray
And that's my sonnet news analysis

1891 - Not so Pathetique

By 1891 Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Was the most famous Russian composer
The year before, ballet Sleeping Beauty
Debuted, and soon to come, The Nutcracker
Late '80, the 1812 Overture
Was tossed off without too much emotion
On Pyotr's part, even though he loved Russia
After all they'd loved 'Eugene Onegin'
And Swan Lake approached ballet perfection
Arrangements fitting choreography
In '91 he was the conductor
On the night the Carnegie Hall opened
In that far-off western New York City
Two years later he died of cholera

1890 - Kaisers and tsars

Two years ago in 1888
Was the Germans' Year of Three Emperors
Wilhelm I died at ninety, a great
Period of German growth and success
But Bismarck had used Machiavellian ways
To manipulate the king, keep a grip
On actual power. Frederick III was less
Authoritarian, but throat cancer stopped
A more liberal Germany as he slipped
From life. Wilhelm II seemed to hate
His mother, Queen Vic's daughter, Vic, and forced
The building of a rival navy. Tipped
Also toward war, Russia would regret
Liberal Alex's death by mad bombers

The last line refers to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881.

1889 - Impressions of Paris

1889, Belle Epoque, Paris
Small matter of a tower built by Eiffel
I wouldn't like to build something like this
I wonder if construction workers fell
You could fall in Seine if you're not careful
Then there was the contrast of boulevards
With Montmartre on its hill, a village feel
And at its foot, in Pigalle, the reward
For a tough week exploiting Communards
Was to watch La Goulue exploiting this
And that part of your body and your soul
Toulouse-Lautrec painted her while the arts
World chin-stroked at all those Impressionists
And starry-eyed Van Gogh painted nightfall

1888 - Ripping yarn

1888, the mysterious
And deadly Jack the Ripper stalks the streets
Of London - Jack the knife, meticulous
And out of control, surgical and neat
Extracting organs, slashing through the meat
Some say he was a lord, even a prince
The Queen's doctor... He hated prostitutes
Or did he just like turning them to mince
For some sick kick? He left few fingerprints
To the chagrin of the East End coppers
It counts as one of their saddest defeats
He slunk down some dark alley in the mist
Some say he hopped on a ferry, got lost
In Europe. To the rope he was a cheat

1887 - Not always crashing in the same car

Went out for a few pints with John after
Work, to Bar Fringe, then the Crown & Kettle
And then I walked a short distance over
To ex-wife V's flat, not seen for a while
She's recovering from a terrible
Car crash in which her car was wrecked, so now
Neither parent of Louis or of Pearl
Can give them a lift anymore, although
I can hire a car from the Club. I saw
My first Car Club invoice - it was a mere
Twenty-eight quid. Last night a horrible
Pile-up on the M5, lorry and car
Intertwined and in flame, lives ended near
Taunton... Blue flashing lights, twisted metal

Friday 4 - Sat 5 Nov

1886 - Headlines from 1886

Britain grabs Burma, Benz invents a car
Gladstone proposes Home Rule for Ireland
Parnell supports it, the Orange Order
Does not. It's defeated in Parliament
In early May, Chicago's Haymarket
Riots, an anarchist bomb, people killed
And May Day is born, the labour movement
Commemorating it all round the world
Emile Berliner starts to make records
In flat disc form, the musical future
Coca-Cola's made by John Pemberton
In Georgia, and after his death, bottled
Strange death of Ludwig of Bavaria
In a shallow lake, mysteriously found

1885 - African fire sale

The scramble for Africa was full on
By 1885, so much so that
They had to hold a conference in Berlin
To decide which Europeans could have what
Bismarck chaired, of course, without his helmet
Most of the time, Germany now a power
Able to grab land at the last minute
Before it all went, and Tanganyika
Cameroon, and what is now Namibia
Went to them, perhaps by dice throw. Britain
Was already in Egypt, although that
Was Ottoman-owned, and South Africa
Boers notwithstanding. Leopold (Belgium)
Grabbed the Congo, creating the dark heart

1884 - Fabulous Fabians

In January 1884
The Fabian Society arrived
A social democratic group before
The birth of the Labour Party relieved
It of its leadership role, but its gift
Was to be a think tank for left wing views
More left-wing than Gladstone's Liberals, less soft
On bosses and exploitation of those
Poor workers in the teeming towns, abused
Hired and fired at will. Long after Labour
Was born in 1900, they still proved
A valuable force. Membership includes
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, G.B. Shaw
And Bertrand Russell when they were alive

1883 - Busts and lusts

Here in the National Portrait Gallery
Is where I've spent most of today, looking
And learning. I enjoyed the Regency
And Victorian portraits most, refreshing
My memory of much recent reading
Much of it centred on political
Themes, Tory and Whig fights never-ending
The Prince Regent / Queen Caroline scandal
And what about William IV? Angel?
Certainly not, illegitimately
Fathering ten children, yet still failing
To provide an heir, meaning it then fell
To Frederick's daughter Vicky, and Freddie
Had a mistress (her bust was nice-looking!)

By 'bust' I mean a head and shoulders sculpure, of course, not her BUST...

Tue 31 Oct

1882 - St Paul would be turning in his grave

A morning walk up the road to Camden
A thriving market, absolutely full
Of tourists. I bought books, CDs and then
Ate an excellent pie and mash while all
London seemed to push past, then to St Paul's
Which was on the telly tonight, protests
And tents, we saw them ranged next to its walls
Read posters, banners, drawings, then we crossed
Millennium Bridge to Bankside and soon passed
The reconstructed Globe Theatre and on
To Tower Bridge. It was a wonderful
Mild evening, but our feet needed a rest
We returned to Pearl's flat, Caledonian
Road, bought takeaways... and I think that's all

Sun 30 Oct

1881 - Midnight in London (and Paris)

First full day in London, a sleepless night
Following over-indulgence in drink
A walk with Pearl round Islington, a bright
Warm late October day, and then walking
To Bloomsbury, in Skoob bookshop choosing
Five books there... Could only find Starbucks
To piss in, so we made do with drinking
Their crap coffee, back to the flat, left books
There, then to Camden Odeon to look
At a Woody Allen film, called 'Midnight
In Paris' - plein de familiar settings
Didn't go drinking - Pearl had a headache
And I'm still dehydrated, so I'm right
In front of the TV - football's showing!

Sat 29 Oct

1880 - Long coach journey into night

Sunny Manchester, rainy in London
Strange though it seems, that's how it was today
The coach trip should be five hours' duration
But motorway hold-ups meant a delay
In arriving of 90 minutes. They
Got us to Victoria at 6:20
I got the tube to King's Cross, left up the
Caledonian Road, then a curry
With daughter Pearl, two pints of Blue Moon, we
Chatted in 'The Driver' then home again
To number 296 Cally Road. Hey
I'm not sure what tomorrow brings, to be
Honest, but let's hope it will bring some fun
And that I make the most of this short stay

Fri 28 Oct