Saturday 30 March 2013

Terminal Case


Now this really is a most interesting case
But I’m sorry to say we’re losing the race
To halt the infection, it’s spreading too fast
The way things are going the subject won`t last

We’re dealing here with a most virulent strain
As you see the life signs are all on the wane
This must be the worst case that we’ve ever seen
That’s why we are keeping it in quarantine

The parasite is quite a devious one
By disguising itself as a symbion
It managed to spread undetected with ease
It just wasn’t recognised as a disease

But when it was ready it raised its vile head
From then on the subject was as good as dead
The parasite then launched a ruthless assault
On all natural functions almost without fault

But it multiplies with such alarming speed
Devouring its host with insatiable greed
I’m sorry to say there’s no cure we can find
This world has a terminal case of mankind



Wednesday 16 January 2013

Letter to the P.M.


Dear mister prime minister
I am not very old
But I’m writing you this letter
Cos it’s time that you were told

My daddy doesn’t like you
And mummy doesn’t too
Cos daddy lost his job last month
And he says it’s cos of you

Now mummy’s got to find a job
So she can buy us shoes
And daddy now plays cards all night
But all he does is lose

My mummy isn’t happy
Cos my daddy couldn’t stay
He borrowed some-one’s money
And the police took him away

And now we haven’t got a house
Cos the bank man took the key
So now we all live in one room
In a smelly B&B

Now I know why daddy hates you
And I hate you just the same
You didn’t do your job right
Thats why you’re the one I blame



Tuesday 25 December 2012

Christmas Cheer



So soon that time is here again
Of peace and goodwill to all men
The passing of another year
Church bells ring out the Christmas Cheer

Green holly hanging on the doors
The streets are filled with Santa Claus
You’ll find him there in every store
Surrounded by fine gifts galore

But this year will you spare a thought
For all the poor children with nought?
Or will you just repeat last year
And lose yourself in Christmas Cheer?



Friday 14 December 2012

A Letter to Santa




Artwork by Caroline Quin©2011




A poem by Phil Gibson, illustrated by Caroline Quin, featured in both 'Apocalyptic Visions' and 'Apocalypse and Beyond...'.


You can find a plain text version of this poem here.





Thursday 13 December 2012

A New Catastrophism for a New Era




During the 1930s a small group of Polish poets, associated with Czeslaw Milosz, became known as the Catastrophist school of poets. Aleksander Fiut explained in World Literature Today –

"the inevitable annihilation of the highest values, especially the values essential to a given cultural system. . . . But it proclaims . . . only the annihilation of certain values, not values in general, and the destruction of a certain historical formation, but not of all mankind,"

Terrence Des Pres, writing in the Nation, states –

"political catastrophe has defined the nature of our . . . [age], and the result—the collision of personal and public realms—has produced a new kind of writer. Czeslaw Milosz is the perfect example. In exile from a world which no longer exists,... , Milosz deals in his poetry with the central issues of our time: the impact of history upon moral being, the search for ways to survive spiritual ruin in a ruined world."

The "central issues" of the time of the Catastrophist poets were the political and philosophical upheavals leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War and the writings of this group of poets ominously foreshadowed the horrors of that conflict. The world was dealing with the repercussions of the Great Depression - mass unemployment and social deprivation, the rise of extreme national political movements and authoritarian governments. The Catastrophist school of poetry was a reaction to a growing sense of global anxiety and fear for the future.

The central issues of our age are many and varied. We seem to be living in an age of crises - economic meldtdown, over population, climate change, water shortages, food shortages, peak oil and peak everything else, species extinction - the list just seems to keep growing...

During the Cold War we all lived with the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. The likelihood of the Mutually Assured Destruction of an all-out thermonuclear exchange may have subsided but many other potential catastrophes are waiting in the wings. A new antibiotic resistant superbug released by accident or by design could unleash a catastrophic pandemic to ravage the world population. Recent erratic oscillations of the global climate system could precipitate an abrupt climatic shift into a new northern hemisphere ice age or runaway global warming. UG99 black stem rust striking major wheat producing regions, extinction of the honey bee through Colony Collapse Disorder or the general increase in extreme weather events could cause a dramatic drop-off in global food production leading to mass starvation, famine and general chaos and anarchy. The current plateau of oil production could at any time begin the inexorable slide down the back slope of Hubbert’s Peak leading to an ever increasing shortfall between supply and demand in turn leading to global recession and poverty, falling food production and famine and increasing political unrest and resource wars. Then of course there are Nature’s wild cards - Mt Everest sized asteroids like the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, super volcanoes like Mt Toba which took out 90% of the human population 70,000 years ago, Coronal Mass Ejections from our sun like the 1859 event which scientists believe was powerful enough to wipe out our satellite network and fry the global electricity grid plunging the world into a darkness from which we may never recover.

We are in a new era of Catastrophism.

‘The End of the World As We Know It’ does not have to mean the end of us as a species. We are living in a house of cards. If you take out a card, whether that be the oil card, the food card, the electricity card or the economy card, the result is likely to be the same. The whole precarious construct will come crashing down around us and the survivors will wake to a very different world.

The planet does NOT need saving, it has taken care of itself for billions of years and will continue to long after we fade into history.

What we need to save is us... from ourselves.

The only question is; do we deserve it...?




Tuesday 11 December 2012

Thank you for your support



I would just like to say a big thank you to every-one who supported my FreeBook Promotion over the weekend to celebrate the release of my new book, 'Apocalypse and Beyond...' in paperback edition from Lulu.com. Considering it was kind of on the spur of the moment I think it all went quite well, although I think I learned a few valuable lessons for when I repeat it in the New Year.

A special mention needs to be made for my twitter followers who added their support, in particular those who spread the word by retweeting or otherwise bringing the event to the attention of their followers;


@LisaCorelli                                           @DelDeviant 
@JackPlues                                            @Rh_onda   
@Dezignlicious                                     @TracyRiva


 Any-one who missed the promotion will have a second chance at a free copy of the book in the New Year when I intend to run another similar event. In the meantime my books are still available in Kindle format from Amazon and as paperbacks from Lulu. Also, 'Apocalypse and Beyond...' is enrolled in the Kindle Owners Lending Library which means Amazon Prime Members can download a copy for FREE for upto a month at any time.




Sunday 9 December 2012

Waiting



I’m just killing time
While time is killing me
Remembering a time
That is yet to be
I’m just standing still
Going no-where fast
Waiting for a moment
Coming out of my past

I’m strolling on the brink
Of my sanity
Carrying the burden
Of humanity
I’m watching life bloom
Then wither away
Moments glitter briefly
But they never stay

I’m counting each grain
Of sand that is falling
Hearing all the ghosts
Of past lives calling
I’m feeling each grain
Bring me nearer the door
Waiting for the time
To shed this skin once more