Moon In June Too

What a happy few days in the jewel of the north, at least for those of a tangerine persuasion! Passion combined with principle wins out in the end.

I refer, of course, to the announcement from the Receiver on Thursday that Simon Sadler (a Blackpool-born multi-millionaire and confirmed Seasider) has acquired a 96.2% stake in Blackpool FC (the other 3.8% being held, historically, by a raft of over a hundred small investors). When a wealthy lifelong Blackpool fan buys your club and says it's a privilege to become not just its owner but its custodian, then all the signs are that we can look forward to better days at Bloomfield Road.

With the arrival of Mr Sadler, the spectre of any Oyston involvement is banished for good after 30 years of hurt - and now the rebuilding process can move on apace. I am confident that our new owner will prove to be that ethical custodian of the club we have been hoping for. All I would add is that it would be fitting if Valeri Belokon could be offered some titular position - honorary Club President for instance - in recognition of his original investment and drive to promote the club and his principled action in pursuing the Oystons through the courts to achieve by civil means what the football authorities should have accomplished years ago if their duty to ensure proper governance in English football had been discharged effectively.

There was another (less momentous) announcement from the club on the same day, revealing that I, your Saturday blogger, have been appointed as the first dedicated Supporters' Liaison Officer at Blackpool FC. As unpaid dream jobs go, I couldn't have asked for better than this daunting but incredibly exciting position at the football club I love. It's a good thing I'm retired! This isn't the place to go into details (I don't want to bore the pants off my readers) but I think the SLO plays a vital role (regardless of who does it) in any well-run football club and I will give it my very best endeavours. Wish me luck.

Tangerine Moon - 13th June

I wasn't quite sure how I would approach the week's  Moon In June  theme, but I suppose the intent was to get our band of Dead Good Bloggers reflecting on the role of rhyme in poetry. You will have gathered from reading the poems I've posted here over the years, or have maybe heard me read aloud (if you frequent poetry gigs), that I'm not a big fan of regular metre or very prescribed poetic structures. There are exceptions. I quite like the sonnet form in particular and the villanelle (and have written quite a few in each mode). There is an element of technical challenge involved that, for me, elevates them above the rhyming couplet and even terza rima.

I hope that doesn't sound dismissive of regular verse, the iambic pentameter et al; it is just personal preference. There are patently many excellent poets and poems employing regular metre, poetry which touches the reader by force of the language used and the emotions or ideas expressed.

Conversely, I don't necessarily embrace everything set out in free-form. I have been giving it a bit of serious thought with the current theme in mind... how for instance would I classify a typical poem of my own (excluding those ballads, odes, pantoums, sonnets et cetera)? If I had to pick a label, I would probably go for contemporary lyricism, by which I mean a flowing structure which doesn't have a fixed rhyme scheme or meter but is free verse albeit with a rhythmic flow, employing a combination of mutating meter (line length and stress) and occasional rhymes (internal and end) plus a lot of assonance to achieve an organic effect. (Heck, time out in Pseuds' Corner beckons!)

As a bit of light relief, I've fettled up a deliberately humorous poem today, poking gentle fun at all the rhyming Simons and Ursulas of verse. I love you really.  As a concept, it reflects the age-old timbre of street campaigns, seen recently in everything from Brexit through Global Warming to the dreaded Trumpkin; in content it delivers in full on today's topic.  Let's call it a timely protest by the Rhymesters' Union ;-) I hope you like it...

Ursula of Verse :-)

Rhymesters' Union Rant!

Protesting rhymesters
Raise the chant:

What do we want?
The moon in June!

Rhyming protestors
Rant in cant:

And when do we want it?
Any time soon!

What do we want? The moon in June!
And when do we want it? Any time soon!

The moon in June, the moon in June.
Any time soon, yes any time soon.

The timing, protesters,
Could not have been cuter,
But as for the rhyming -
The less said the better!

Thanks for reading, y'all. S ;-)