TONY ON ECO-MOVEMENT & MORE

Including One Single Impression, Heads or Tails and Monday Poetry Train.
More prompts below. Have you had a go yet?

GURU TONY – On what the eco-movement is and isn’t

What exactly IS the eco-movement? Oh, we know the various elements of it – protest against Big Biz; an attempt to save the planet; and don’t forget the nice fluffy animals. But I think there is much more to it than this.

Protest is all about symbol.

This is why environmental organisations spend so long trying to make the headlines through various stunts. But if the power of symbol is predominant, then it is more than simply saving the planet.
One theory is that it is all about creating a better society, rather than being about nature; whilst others argue it is really a new religion in the making, returning spirituality to a more nature-based form of veneration.

I think all these ideas are partially correct.

But at its heart, I think environmentalism is becoming a clash of paradigms – an attempt to change the worldview – the very way we think. And in this it has merit.
We live in a specialised world, where everything is broken up and compartmentalised into easily manageable bits. Opposing this is the reality of nature as being interlinked, connected, holistic and whole.
I’m convinced this is what really lies behind environmentalism – the idea that we should reflect this view of nature, and move away from the specialised, through which we are harming the environment.
But which of these systems is right – the holistic or the specialised? Well, I suspect neither and both. Neither is right alone, but working together we could finally get a balance, which is surely what nature, and the planet, requires.

© Anthony North, February 2009

My Columnists

BRIT NEWS: Bank bail-outs to cost £2 trillion, or
150% of national income, or £30,000 per person.
Get saving. Oh, you can’t. No interest.
*
GREEN NEWS: Scientists say extra tree growth in tropics soaking
up 5th of carbon emissions. Planet fighting back? Hope it doesn’t
target us!
*
WORLD NEWS: US urge NATO to increase troops in Afghanistan.
Of course, it can’t be won; but it mustn’t be lost, either. A long
haul to come.
*
GREEN NEWS: Supermarkets criticised for over-packaging. Quite
right; and they can’t even begin to say they are green until
they stop it.
*
BRIT NEWS: Report says govt should bail out manufacturing as
banks. Not a chance. Big Biz wants west production closed.
3rd world cheaper.
*
SCIENCE NEWS: Scientists now say writing is good for you.
Puts things is perspective. Wow!!! Cutting edge. Only 2
millenia behind.
*
BRIT NEWS: Former head of MI5 accuses govt of using
fear to destroy our liberties. Right on. Beware the true
enemy within. It leads us!

Find fiction and poetry on comment 1 below.

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RATTLER’S TALE

A Voyage of the Imagination

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TWILIGHT

Light is going, night comes soon,
Twilight heralding a coming Moon,
Casting shadows upon your world,
And into your mind, thoughts do whirl;
What was that?!! Undefined,
Was it real, or in the mind?
Think it out in the unreal zone,
No help now; no one to phone;
Swirling round you all the time,
Memories past, remembered crime,
Spectres of deeds come two by two,
Watch out! It’s behind you

(c) Anthony North, February 2009

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CASS NOVA’S BIGGEST CASE – Fiction

I was on my way to the airport for a holiday – my first in ages. And as a cop, I needed it. But Slimy Sam put pay to that. An informer, in his usual style, he just bumped into me and passed on. So I went into my pocket and found his note:

‘Here’s what to do to solve the case,
Happening soon, you’ve got to race,
Go to the funny place,
It’s happening by the face’
.

I hated Slimy Sam – he really thought he was a poet. And so, there was I, loaded down with my holiday baggage, an hour to my flight, and a case to solve.
Of course, I soon worked it out. The funny place was where they put on the comedy reviews, so I was soon outside, and looking round, I saw a shop sign with a face on it. Looking in the window, there was definitely a robbery going on. But before I could do anything, this 6 foot 6 inch bull of a villain, came out.
I looked at him, he looked at me, and he offered a sadistic smile. Thoughts of hospital loomed. Then I got clever. ‘Thwack!!’ And down he went. I was sure glad I’d brought along my biggest case.

© Anthony North, February 2009

TONY’S POETRY CHAIN
Call back Wed. See it grow.

Sunday Scribblings – Manic Monday
Totally Optional Prompts – Three Word Wednesday

TRUST THIS WRITER

Writer; linguistic illusionist,
Always in search of the perfect twist,
Can you believe what I say,
As I try to lead you astray?
Trust this tale in which I immerse?
You do?
But surely, not a tale; a verse

WORD FIRE

Linguistic sensation, sending it home,
Words with meaning perfectly honed,
Guided phrases to activate mind,
Meaning, story, in which to confide,
Writing, reading – satiate desire,
Word bombs launch, neurons fire

TURN THE PAGE

Turn the page, the story moves on,
Following the character, where he’s gone;
Turn the page, follow his trysts,
A bit of a charmer, he does entice;
Turn the page, it’s never a chore,
‘Cos the character’s a cad, never a bore

THOUGHT CATCHERS

Life is ours because we think,
Sometimes callous, we never shrink,
The writer sees this world of ours,
Catches thoughts, ideas he devours,
Persistently turned to literary delights,
Reflects them back, turns on the light,
Of social change that drives us on,
To interfere, define; he must never be gone

(c) Anthony North, February 2009