Tag: Marika Rose

Siamese

A kitten is so flexible
that she is almost double. The
hind parts are equivalent to
another kitten with which the
fore part plays. She does not
discover that her tail belongs
to her till you tread upon it.

A quotation from Thoreau, via Futility Closet, 25 April 2011. By Marika Rose.

The eye of the beholder

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder.

Grey skies,
Grey streets,
Grey grass.

Chimney stacks, factories.
Everywhere a factory.
Belching smoke. Black gates. Brick walls.

A wretched dog.
And the brilliantly
red nose of
the heavy drinker.

The industrial landscape of
1930s Salford wasn’t a pretty one.

But one ‘clumsy boy’ grey up, looked beyond
the bleakness and saw something beautiful.

Grey skies became
A silver canopy
undulating over a sea of red brick.

Factories became cathedrals of industry
with soaring chimney spires.

Crowds of workers became colourful, matchstick people
And black smoke became the
breath of a city alive with hard graft and banter.

A full page advert for an ITV documentary on L S Lowry, spotted in the Observer magazine on the 25th April 2011. By Marika Rose.

Marine Drive

O we do like to be beside the seaside
Voulez vous promenader avec moi?
Kiss me quick!
Come unto these yellow sands and then take hands
O we do like to walk along the prom!

Words written along the seafront in paving stones in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, spotted 11 April 2011. By Marika Rose.

Thwing

Fangfoss, Earswick, Legsby,
Nafferton, Catfoss, Laceby,
Rotsea, Fitling
Dringhoe, Gembling,
Foggathorpe, Monkdike, Duggleby.

A list of place names in the East Riding of Yorkshire. By Marika Rose.

Long-lived and Manly

I woke up at 4am, before dawn.
You should be asleep. You’re all tired after
a sleepless night. I am like the Queen
of England. I am much bigger
than any rank, for those who are talking
about rank, I am a fighter. Your face
will melt off and your children will weep over
your exploded body. These resentments,
they are the rocket fuel that lives in the
tip of my saber. I have defeated
this earthworm with my words – imagine what
I would have done with my fire-breathing
fists. Life without dignity is worthless
Every great movement begins with one man.

Quotations from recent statements by Charlie Sheen and Muammar Gaddafi, taken from a Guardian quiz, 1 March 2011. By Marika Rose.

The spineless man

My dad had
an affair with his
21-year-old secretary.

He regretted it
almost immediately when she
started standing on bridges
and threatening suicide should he
go back to
or pay maintenance to
his wife and three
very young daughters.

Disgusted, my mother
refused to have him back. The spineless man
was then marched up the aisle,
vasectomy reversed, child produced. Anti
depressants ensued, along with
the loss of any meaningful
relationship with his
previous three daughters.

He currently works
long hours with a
serious heart condition to
support his wife and her
expensive horsey hobbies.

Meanwhile my mother
grew strong, witty and
wise. His daughters all
suffered. The lure of
a youthful admirer!
More fool him.

From Where did it all go wrong?, 9 February 2011. By Marika Rose.