88/2023

A friend of mine –
Greven, der Graf, the earl,
Nicknames all –
Ironically on the other side
Of the political spectrum to me,
Albeit moderate,
I met through fencing –
Epée, the only weapon,
The streetfighters’ choice –
Gave me a quill when I left
Norway.

He had helped me
Write again my English poetry
Into Norwegian –
Gjendikting, as they call it –
The year before, and appreciated
All that black ink I expended
On all those words that were,
And still are, my journal.

I still have the quill
Somewhere amongst all
My writing paraphernalia
Now split across at least
Two locations in this chaos
That has become my daily
Living. I will find it and
Send him another letter
From my split heart.

R 29/03/2023 20:39

I shortened it for Masto:

A friend of mine –
Greven, der Graf, the earl,
Nicknames all –
Ironically on the other side
Of the political spectrum to me,
Albeit moderate,
I met through fencing –
Epée, the only weapon,
The streetfighters’ choice –
Gave me a #quill when I left
Norway.
I still have it
Somewhere amongst all
My writing paraphernalia
Now split across at least
Two locations in this chaos
That has become my daily
Living. I will find it &
Send him another letter
From my split heart.

Today has been not great. My stomach protests again stress as only it can – you can guess the rest. So many inputs, so many things I have no control over that I’d just like to be fixed, both in my inner circle, and in the outside world. I must remember to choose my battles, my priorities, and, I suppose, ultimately, myself. I do miss fencing. I will start again.