On a random sunny afternoon, sometimes thoughts, ideas, musings from the past, present and future merge as you look skyward. The deepest blue sky and potent yellowy sun start to speak to you in rhyme. So you close your eyes and respo9nd in kind…maybe with something like this…
The third Bond Film still ranks in the memory for several reasons. The gold painted lady, the ‘ejector seat’ stunt and ‘that Jag’, then Bond on the table coming perilously close to becoming a soprano and not living to ‘sing that particular tale’.
At Christmas approaches I’m sure we’ll see the usual catalogue of Bond movies to remind how the whole ‘spy movie’ thing got started and seems here to stay.
For two great presents that will give you some welcomed light relief in these dark times here are two choices for your loved ones Christmas stocking!
For a more visual view of the Comedy Drama (with romance attached) Company of Fools is available on Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk plus another 10 countries in E-book and Paperback see the link below for the trailer & to purchase a copy…(I welcome any/all reviews/feedback)
‘There’s no mystery to Black History‘ (that’s my little poetic saying). Parents from Jamaica. I have traced my ancestry back to the point when slavery was just abolished (around 1834).
And now nearly 200 years later in the UK my son and daughter are just learning about Black History in school. Wow. Is this ‘Titantic’ ship starting to turn? Who know, hopefully for everyone of colour, wherever we are all are, whatever status we hold, just maybe there are slivers of light appearing amidst the once long and eternally dark tunnel, that we have been treading.
As a would be poet, below is my first take on the many wonderful black inspirational people that have had endure; so people like me, don’t have to as much. More to follow throughout October (and maybe beyond) on other topics.
WHO ARE WE? (starting with the past)
We could be the person on the bus
Your name may be have been Rosa Parkes
Your life made to suffer by the colour of your skin
Yes; they have tried to eat us; those ‘white sharks’
We were the people without a voice
But Martin Luther made them hear
Look what they did to our dear proud brother
Because he made ‘them’ see what they all feared
We are the ones that move fast
Yes; Jesse Owens showed the dictator this
In the face of complete and utter oppression
It’s something that hasn’t quite fallen over the precipice
We have own Marvel Man from the past
No wheelchair in sight; but his name has an X
A voice for black empowerment
And contrary to many he wasn’t always vexed
A personal mentor; the first black female poet
If you don’t know; Phillis Wheatley was her name
George Washington recognised the talent
For every poet; she should be in your ‘hall of fame’
We need to be like our once enslaved Frederick Douglass
He fought to support those via the abolition of slavery
Putting pen to paper for all to read
His life, his very own Black History
We are the ones that Marshall the Good
Overturn the wrong for the right
Winning against segregation for the learning to occur
We thank him for providing; ‘out of darkness’ we too now have light
We are among the ‘greatest’ ones that had to rumble
The man with fists and feet of flight
Yes Cassius/Muhammed Ali knew how to move
You couldn’t stop him talking either; any day or night
We are the ones that have had to ACT
Mr. Poitier the consummate pro; won an Oscar
Imagine that in an era for his accolade
Showed that black people could also raise ‘the bar’
We should be Harriet Tubman the saviour
Literally saving over 300 enslaved souls
Nursing her community to a better educated life
She was dedicated, selfless and bold
We are the forerunner’s to make things happen
From a seat of power to make the change
Shirley Chisholm started the political race
And now her stepping stones has put us on the front page
We are the entrepreneur’s with a million in the bank
Madam C J Walker knew how to make ‘hair pay’
Making jobs for over 3,000 people at that time
Means we continue to use her genius every single day
We are everyone, everything, just like you
We have beautiful, hair, colour, skin and eyes
We are proud, clever, funny with intelligence
We are here, we are all together, let’s all keep aiming for that prize…
Company of Fools: Selling for Love & Life, Is a Tricky Business considers the unfulfilled ambitions of Justin Whalley, who dreams of success in love and career, but instead faces a series of disasters.
His upbringing and countenance are unremarkable, his family “close, but in a distant, unspoken way” which he mirrors in an adult life, which is quiet. Despite the fact that Justin has resolved to “not end up like them, content with very little, and had no freedom, no place to call their own,” the fact is that he’s in danger of doing just this, until he stumbles into high drama and death at work and comes to realize that romance and success come with price tags.
As new opportunities in business and love change his trajectory and his relationships, Justin finds himself out of his league in many ways, discovering more conundrums and complexity to living a vivid life than he’d imagined:
“We ventured our separate ways, with my mind flicking back and forth over Tom’s wife and her son. Vicky sat alone in some hotel probably crying or bored shitless. Chelsea at work and her precocious little Robert, who was slowly becoming a thorn in my side. Shaun soon to skulk off back to Dublin. And Errol rolling around with the leggy and the sexual ‘one look and you’re turned on’ Sally. Who said my life wasn’t exciting?”
J W Nelson does a fine job of taking an ordinary, common man with quiet ambitions and turning his life upside down. There’s a cast of characters that surround him in work and romance and affect his course in life; there are situations that leave him swimming against the tide; and too many possibilities leave him both excited and frustrated over his life’s unexpected changes.
Justin’s attempt to stay on course against this onslaught of change and challenge makes for a fun, engrossing romp through life that juxtaposes philosophical considerations with psychological growth:
“These transcendent thoughts are like smoke, here now and disappearing in a flash. Living in the moment, I had to remind myself. Focus on my true inclinations from the start. On my work goals. My life goal, utilising the experience and support from those around me.”
Company of Fools depicts an ‘Everyman’ changing the course laid out by family and his own expectations of what life is. Its tale of irony and opportunity, the mixed bag of success and unexpected obstacles, and the process of overcoming hurt and failure to enter a better life provides a gripping story that is poignant, funny, and thought-provoking all at once. It’s infused with British culture and changing relationships that keep readers both on their toes and delighted by unexpected twists and turns.
007 returns to pit his wits against an assassin that use a Golden Gun to finish off his targets whilst being paid a cool $1million…
This and all episodes of the Bond Poetic are available as a Podcast (via Anchor/Spotify) and available on other podcast platforms like Apple and Google.)
Golden Armour
Moore moves onto to the ‘asia scene’
The Solex Agitator is now the prize
007 must remain trim and lean
To avoid his possible demise
Power and energy are in short supply
Nations seek answers in the sun
Scaramanga has ideas to deny
Buy using his unique ‘Golden Gun’
Bond tracks the mistress, Anders
That bullet with 007 etched on
In the casino; Bond doesn’t flounder
At the hotel, Anders knows the game is on
Hai Fat is tricked by 007
Scaramanga gets there first
Bond escapes death;maybe heaven?
A Golden Bullet send’s Fat home, in a hearse
The Solex is now in play
Goodnight supports the team
Scaramanga flees; flying away
In the boot, she is nowhere to be seen
The stage is set for the highest bid
Scaramanga’s end game for cash
It’s the right time to lift the lid
With blaze from a bullet with a flash
Nick Nack leads Bond into the maze
Reflecting Bond’s hopes and fears
Triumph for 007;ending Scaramnga’s days
Then he celebrates; whispering in Goodnight’s ears…
Following on the heels of George Lazenby after spending years playing ‘The Saint’ on our TV screens – Roger Moore steps up as the ‘new’ 007 with his own ‘slick’ style of portraying the global superspy…
This and all episodes of the Bond Poetic are available as a Podcast (via Anchor/Spotify) and available on other podcast platforms like Apple and Google.)
A new 007 takes to the stage in the form of George Lazenby – this would be his only first and only Bond film – the 7th in the franchise.
This and all episodes of the Bond Poetic are available as a Podcast (via Anchor/Spotify) and available on other podcast platforms like Apple and Google.)
(This and all episodes of the Bond Poetic are available as a Podcast (via Anchor/Spotify) and available on other podcast platforms like Apple and Google.)
Episode 6 of the Poetic versions following the James Bond Films starts with the three time Bond theme song singer Dame Shirley Bassey (Diamonds are Forever – this poem/film/ – Also Goldfinger & Moonraker).
Episode 5 in the Poetic spy thriller franchise sees Bond die twice? or Live twice?…either way it makes an enthralling watch (or listen) as you are taken through ‘ Two Lives for Mr. Bond’…
(This and all episodes of the Bond Poetic are available as a Podcast (via Anchor/Spotify) and available on other podcast platforms like Apple and Google.)
The fourth episode in the Poetic series sees 007 take to new ‘depths’ to save the world once again in 1965…
(This and all episodes of the Bond Poetic are available as a Podcast (via Anchor/Spotify) and available on other podcast platforms like Apple and Google.)
Wishing everyone across the globe the happiest of new years considering were most of us are. Keeping a positive frame of mind as much as we can for ourselves and each other. J W Nelson.
Your day or reckoning is here! – well that is a little melodramatic – but yes its a day of hopeful joy, togetherness and time with loved ones. Enjoy yours as best you can. Happy Christmas and new year to you all.
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