Dreams and Meanderings of the Fading Mind
(For Some Ladies I Met in Hospital)
by Sara L Russell aka PinkyAndrexa


Was it on a Wednesday
we used to go round to theirs?
Oh you know, that
slightly funny couple down the road.
She used to talk for England;
even the dog was bored.
I’ll swear it used to blow off just to
get her out of the kitchen.
She had one of those whatchamacallits
under her bed in the spare room.
You could fit everything in it.

Would you like some more tea, dear?
Did you find the tea bags box?
What do you mean, it’s in the fridge?
What’s it doing in there?
No, I would never keep it there.
Not that I know of.

Whatsername over the road is kicking off
again, this time about cats
doing their business on her lawn.

Oh by the way, when’s Ted coming home?

Oh no, did he? Oh that’s a shame.
a shame about old Ted.

I’m getting tired now.
Thanks for coming over.
Turn off the lights on your way out.

Put the children in the sink
and I’ll wash ‘em in the morning.

Sara L Russell aka pinkyandrexa

Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times at this site.  Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article) Angel Fire. And the 2024 AI version of The Perils of Norris cartoon, by Sara L Russell using Canva Pro AI, Episode 1. The Perils of Norris featured at this site Poetry Life and Times

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THE BALLAD OF FACEBOOK (a musical in the making) by Sara L Russell


THE BALLAD OF FACEBOOK
(a musical in the making) 
by Sara L Russell 26th Jan ’23 at 21:19

Introduction

Oh babes I feel so bored, what can I do?
I think I’ll go on Facebook for a few…

Part 1: Flakes and Fakes

Like me like me
go on and like me
‘cause I’m fluffy 
and I have a new book out

‘cause I posted 
a photo 
of myself as a kid
when I had a rather fetching pout

I’m far more fascinating than you’ll ever know
look, here’s my back lawn when it was buried in snow
here’s a lunchtime selfie of my latest dish
here’s me next to some old photoshopped bitch

Oh but there’s a blonde strolling by the Tiber
with her two perfect little blond boys
A golden sunrise smouldering behind her
You can almost smell the spices, hear the noise

Ya this is me walking like a tiger
by some Indian river, with the boys, 
Oh I think someone just told me it’s the Tiber
The smell was like, much grosser than the noise.

But ya thanks for the comments, all my darlings
My likes have rocketed to fifty K
I’ve traded up, flamingos for the starlings
And I’m having awesome nookie every day!

For all the nobodies never make my heart bleed
For I have a blog they never bother to read


Part 2: Catfish and Chips

Like me, like me
be smart and like me
‘cause I have everything 
your kitchen needs

You look like a munter
more than likely 
‘cause your face mask
dosesn’t have Nigella seeds

We’re making greater riches than you’ll ever have
by making romance pitches to some lonely chav
And if you don’t have Bitcoin you can buy it here
Just invest and watch your savings disappear

Oh but there’s a lonely heart playing poker
She’s ripe to be groomed for romance
She wants a king, but here’s a joker
we’ll lead her on the merriest dance

Ya this is me sailing on my dinghy
Ya I love you, even though you’re ninety three
The customs officer’s trying to sting me
Please send me forty smackers urgently

Oh they don’t give a monkey’s if you’re sad or bereaved
Tell it to your bank and you will not be believed …


Part 3: Cool and Uncool

Like me, like me,
someone like me,
my kids don’t even
post here for a laugh

maybe ‘cause when
they were very tiny
I posted photos
of them in the bath

So when did they decide that it was so uncool
to comment on a parent’s photos, as a rule,
To ever dare admit that they belong to me
Since when’s it cool, to disown your family?

Yes, this is Ken and I with Auntie Mary
The younger ones all scampered off to hide
Maybe they find TicToc somewhat less scary
than Facebook, with the oldies by their side.

For now girls of eighteen are giving Botox tips
And twenty-three year olds have silicone-plumped lips.


Epilogue

Like me, like me
Go on and like me
Some people never learn

Fill in your details
password or site key
and sort key, and hit return. 

 
 
 
 
Sara Russel latest
 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times at this site. She is currently founder and Editor of the blog journal, http://poetrylifetimes.blogspot.co.uk ; which is a sister publication to Poetry Life & Times. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article) Angel Fire
 
 
 
 
www.facebook.com/PoetryLifeTimes

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What Did They Do Before Social Media, Daddy? Sara L Russell, 17th August 2022 at 01:52

Did we ever really exist 
before this time, 
this place and space
this desire to frame everything 
in doorway-shaped pictures
then rush to seek approval on networks
of social acceptance
please like me
please like me
please like me…

Was my face really there
before mirrors made it appear,
to make it be so?
Are there mirrors in Hell?

Was beauty really there
before PhotoShop
lent it that airbrushed glow?
How can we ever tell?

Was the ego 
really a thing
before Zoom gave it 
a platform to shout from
(while discreetly putting others 
on mute)?

How did apps ever survive
without notification
to bring motivation?

Look, now her hair is pink
and he has inked his arm
they have millions of shares…

but your cat can sing and dance
with elegance and charm
and yet, nobody cares. 

 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times at this site. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article) Angel Fire

 
 
 

Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times at Artvilla.com ; You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author & https://poetrylifeandtimes.com See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

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Pools of Longing. A Poem by Sara L Russell

Pools of Longing: July 9th, 03:11am. Editor’s note, I believe the Lockdown on swimming pools in UK, has temporarily been lifted & it is now possible to book in advance a time slot, however, the way things are going on there at present, it’s anybody’s guess how long it will last

 
 
That it might come back to me, that sweet sensation,
When i would reach out my arms across the cool light blue ripples
and push off from the side.
 
Then would i glide
out across the water, as a white crane glides across the sunset,
as a white cloud hurries brightly on a warm southerly breeze.
 
There are trees
when I go walking; butterflies and wild flowers too. They seem
comfort enough for a short time, in parklands and along the lanes.
 
There are trains
I may never ride on, there are buses I am still rethinking,
There is time enough for drinking in the the cafes and the bars;
 
But oh my stars,
what would I give to go back swimming,
gliding weightless once again, free as the birds that skim the sky.
 
 

 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times at this site. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article) Angel Fire
 
 
Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times at Artvilla.com ; his publications include
 
All the Babble of the Souk , Cartoon Molecules, Next Arrivals and Moon Selected Audio Textual Poems, collected poems, as well as translation of Guadalupe Grande´s La llave de niebla, as Key of Mist and the recently published Tesserae , a translation of Carmen Crespo´s Teselas.
 
You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)

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You Tube Video Poets. Sara L Russell.

Meet Sara Russell she is Editor of the monthly Poetry Lifetimes Blog our plan at PLT is to make a You Tube Poetry Documentary with Sara as it’s Editor, submissions or for more info contact Robin@Artvilla.com for sample videos check this site or see our Facebook page www.facebook.com/PoetryLifeTimes
 

 
 
 
 
Sara Russel latest
 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times at this site. She is currently founder and Editor of the blog journal, http://poetrylifetimes.blogspot.co.uk ; which is a sister publication to Poetry Life & Times. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article)Angel Fire
 
 
 
 
www.facebook.com/PoetryLifeTimes
www.facebook.com/Artvilla.com
robin@artvilla.com
editor@artvilla.com

 
Key of Mist. Guadalupe Grande.Translated.Amparo Arróspide.Robin Ouzman Hislop
 
goodreads.com/author/show/Robin Ouzman Hislop
http://www.aquillrelle.com/authorrobin.htm
http://www.amazon.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop
www.lulu.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop
https://www.amazon.com/author/robinouzmanhislop
http://www.innerchildpress.com/robin-ouzman-hislop.All the Babble of the Souk

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Coming Full Circle (A Feminist Fiasco). Poem. Sara L Russell.

 
 
 


Time to retire now, ladies,
the drawing room awaits
as the gentlemen go to smoke
and drink brandy
or tell ribald stories
unsuitable for a lady’s delicate ears.
Time to work on our embroidery
or retire to bed.
The men shall retire whenever they wish,
and the stars are too many for us to count.
Now we must lie abed
dreaming of Mr. Darcy
or perhaps a future career,
If only one’s gender
might permit such a thing.
 
 

Time to adjourn now, ladies,
Mrs. Pankhurst has said her piece
and the rozzers are coming
to break up our meeting of like minds.
I heard that she was in prison for a time,
and went on hunger strike!
oh yes, my dear,
I heard they beat her,
force-fed her
then left her to cry alone in her cell.
Only she didn’t cry. She never cries.
They say one day we women
will be able to vote!
Yes, of course it could happen.
We deserve it, after all.
 
 

Time to adjourn now, people,
it’s been a long session
and even ministers need a lunch break.
Mrs. Thatcher no doubt will carry on
making notes for yet another meeting,
I don’t think that woman ever sleeps.
Even if she never does,
she has razor-sharp concentration
and a sharper mind.
You don’t want to get
on the wrong side of that one.
Funny, years ago,
they never dreamed we’d have
a woman Prime Minister.
Not everyone agrees with her
yet few dare to disagree.
 
 

Time to retire now, ladies.
The men have important things
to discuss, too serious for our lowly ears.
Theirs is the sun and the daylight
ours are the shadows that herald the dusk.
Gather your prayer beads
and lower your gaze.
Do not look into the eyes
of the Imam as you pass by
on the way to your rooms.
Do not let any breeze from the window
displace your veil.
Guard your modesty
at all times;
protect your respectability,
for it is all you have in the world.
 
 

Sara L Russell, August 29th, 2016
 
 
Sara Russel latest
 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times at this site. She is currently founder and Editor of the blog journal, http://poetrylifetimes.blogspot.co.uk ; which is a sister publication to Poetry Life & Times. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article)Angel Fire
 
 
 
 
www.facebook.com/PoetryLifeTimes
www.facebook.com/Artvilla.com
robin@artvilla.com
editor@artvilla.com

 
Key of Mist. Guadalupe Grande.Translated.Amparo Arróspide.Robin Ouzman Hislop
 
goodreads.com/author/show/Robin Ouzman Hislop
http://www.aquillrelle.com/authorrobin.htm
http://www.amazon.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop
www.lulu.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop
https://www.amazon.com/author/robinouzmanhislop
http://www.innerchildpress.com/robin-ouzman-hislop.All the Babble of the Souk

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Shadow People. A Poem in 3 Parts by Sara L Russell

I
 
There is a grey area between
this world and the next.
People can be foolish; they dabble in ouija, in
dowsing, in automatic writing;
and – wittingly or unwittingly,
they may open a portal
to the other side.
That is how they enter.
Beware of inviting them in.
 
Shadow people are there
where needle pierces skin; where the junkie
sits, glassy-eyed, on the precipice of oblivion;
they lurk in unholy places where godless
politicians declare themselves to be
speaking for God;
they haunt the dreams of drunkards,
schizophrenics, junkies
and the paranoid.
But they are not spun out of dreams,
they are real.
 
Shadow people were there
when the ancient pharaohs of Egypt
were interred, with all their gold;
they took them to Hades
for also burying their wives
and servants, alive.
They were there
in Nazi concentration camps,
sitting on the left shoulders
of those who blindly carried out
orders of death and torture.
 
They subsist in underworlds of catacombs,
they lurk in the spaces between
our conscious and unconscious minds;
In blackened mirrors they seek out a vortex,
My friends, be the light that
keeps out the darkness,
Do not seek to question the dear and foregone,
No matter how much they are missed;
for there are others lurking in the shadows.
Be not the portal inviting them in.
 
 
II
 
Did I see you in Bohemian Grove,
smiling at the Cremation of the Care?
Were you there,
and did you have more than one shadow?
 
Did I see you in that Great Hall
with chequered floors,
where the Eye of Horus
watched over a pyramid of gold?
 
Did you lift a cup of
the good red wine,
did blood brothers drink each other’s health,
gazing through a glass darkly?
 
Did we toast the Cremation of the Care,
and how many others were there?
 
 
III
 
Sometimes we visit Hell in our dreams,
though we may fervently pray before sleep.
There is no shame in sleeping with the light on.
Wear a cross, if you think that it will help.
 
Sometimes the citizens of Hell visit us,
in that stasis between sleep and wakefulnes;
they are only ever seen at the outer periphery of our vision.
It’s never a good idea to look at them directly.
 
Sometimes they venture a little closer than the rules allow.
Sometimes the line between their domain and ours is blurred.
Occasionally, the breeze seems to whisper your name –
only, it’s not the breeze.
 
Be vigilant.
Always try to see them first.

 
 
 
Video that inspired the poem: “Shadow People Jinn appear in Jim Jones Footage”
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u8FBpqEP6Q
 
 
From Wikipedia:
James Warren “Jim” Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American religious leader and community organizer. Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, best known for the mass murder-suicide in November 1978 of 909 of its members in Jonestown, Guyana,[1] the murder of five people at a nearby airstrip, including Congressman Leo Ryan, and the ordering of four additional Temple member deaths in Georgetown, the Guyanese capital. Nearly three-hundred children were murdered at Jonestown, almost all of them by cyanide poisoning.[2]Jones died from a gunshot wound to the head; it is suspected his death was a suicide

 
 
 
Sara Russel latest
 
 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times. She is currently founder and Editor of the daily paper.li journal, Poetry Lifetimes ; which is a sister publication to Poetry Life & Times. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Daily Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article) Angel Fire
 

 
 
robin@artvilla.com
PoetryLifeTimes
Poetry Life & Times

editor@artvilla.com
www.artvilla.com
Artvilla.com

 

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The Name of Cameron. A Poem by Sara L Russell

What will they say of you in future times?
Were they duped by your duplicity
or did you fall on your double-edged sword?
Was the devil we knew any better than the unknown?

The future has a way of arriving early.
Are you ready now, for what it yet may bring?
Will you be knighted, or, benighted and beleaguered,
Fall fallow by the wayside of your ways?

Will the name of Cameron carry on,
Whatever else is lost or left behind?
Will David slay the apocolyptic giant of global warming,
yet terminate the service of National Health?

Was it wealth, or a poverty of emotional maturity
that led to such flotations and privatisations?
what sensations did you feel, did you reach referendum,
did you feel the earth move?

We never saw your manifesto made manifest.
We, the voters who voted not for you,
yet saw you rise, anticipate your fall.
Do promises count as any kind of plan?

And the future is arriving post-haste,
like a present waiting to be unwrapped.
Elections have a way of arriving early.
We are ready, with a big sharp X.

Sara Russel latest

 
Sara Louise Russell, aka PinkyAndrexa, is a UK poet and poetry ezine editor, specialising particularly in sonnets, lyric-style poetry and occasionally writing in more modern styles. She founded Poetry Life & Times and edited it from 1998 to 2006, when she handed it over to Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospide; Robin now runs it as Editor from Poetry Life & Times. She is currently founder and Editor of the daily paper.li journal, Poetry Lifetimes ; which is a sister publication to Poetry Life & Times. Her poems and sonnets have been published in many paper and online publications including Sonnetto Poesia, Mindful of Poetry and Autumn Leaves a monthly Poetry ezine from the late Sondra Ball. Her sonnets also currently appear in the recently published anthology of sonnets Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. She is also one of the first poets ever to be published on multimedia CD ROMs, published by Kedco Studios Inc.; the first one being “Pinky’s Little Book of Shadows”, which was featured by the UK’s national newspaper The Daily Mirror, in October 1999. (Picture link for Mirror article)Angel Fire
 
 
 
robin@artvilla.com
PoetryLifeTimes
Poetry Life & Times

editor@artvilla.com
www.artvilla.com
Artvilla.com
 

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