The Library Agenda

September 4, 2017 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | PETER'S WRITING, Poetry |

"With you in charge, I am at ease." by Li Yansheng (1976) (Displayed in a series of prints venerating Chairman Mao at the Australian National Library, 2017)

(On the occasion of a rather chilly visit to the National Library, Canberra) Entering the library, one feels alone, No comfort on these shelves, no phone, No sense of welcome or assistance, Proprietorial resistance. No books in sight; no chores to do, Ideas not enclosed, neither old nor new. Heroes extolled in olden times Are traduced for their voguish crimes. I lack the time, I lack the means To gather up the left-wing magazines In serried ranks, beneath gold frames Of left-wing folks with famous names. There’s Ben Chifley, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Jack Lang and Trotsky, Marx and Huey Long,…

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The Night of the Murdered Poets

August 12, 2017 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | HISTORY, PETER'S WRITING, Poetry |

August 12th: Like those who brook no argument, Sinning, call others to repent And lash the ones who speak their mind, Put-out eyes of the hopeless blind, So they shout-down common verse And let the imp of the perverse, Shred the words still warm on lips: Let books slip from fingertips. Hating all who think wrong things Their toxic torment a gift which brings More torture still, more calumny For the straw-stuffed enemy. So they charged the poets with Treason and rhyme; they chose to live Through words that carried truth revealed And strove and sought, refused to yield. They hanged them high…

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Old Man

June 23, 2017 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | Modern Music, MUSIC, PETER'S WRITING |

'Old Man' (by Rembrandt)

Songs in Our Heart # 85 Old Man (Neil Young) (written by Neil Young; released April 1972) [What a pretty, simple, soulful song – ah, the circle of life…] TVC has done a “Testament” that you can warble to this lovely tune: Hey man, I’m nearly dead, Remember what the wise man said, I’m going to Heaven or Hell Or somewhere in between: Don’t think I’ll need a map When I take my little nap, I’m going to state my case Will I still be seen? I think that it won’t be so hard To be ignored at all, Somewhere,…

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Starman

June 6, 2017 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | LIFE, PETER'S WRITING |

He had been a surgeon; One of the best. Now he’s a fugitive, You know the rest. Tis a technical bent, The hand must be strong, Some of his best work Could not right the wrong. Here’s a funeral scene To mark a mishap; His Practice declines, The quack gets a slap. He takes to the bottle, He has a new view, A fresh decree nisi And a Google Review. Kicked-off the campus And out of his house, With five star abuse His Fund disendows. “He said there’s no risk,” The blogs richly lied, And, gently cascading, The stars scarified. Soon…

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Jenny Had it Coming

March 4, 2017 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | PETER'S WRITING |

("Girl with a Guitar (Daydreams)" by Richard E. Miller, 1916-17)

JENNY HAD IT COMING (Peter Jakobsen ©) A play in two acts CAST  (A disparate group of thirty / forty-somethings)  Alicia Harold Penelope Raymond Seth Sid  ——- ACT ONE [Scene One: A dingy, untidy hospital waiting-room is set some degrees off centre-stage.  It contains several seats, a low coffee table with magazines, a broken clock on the wall.  A lavatory door and vending machine stand as sentries at the back.  A Thomas Cole print, “Desolation”, (or similar, perhaps something apocalyptic by John Martin) is prominent on the wall, along with the inevitable public health notices. Swinging doors give onto the waiting…

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