Thanks to a generous audience at my Poetry a la Carte event in Wareham (see GIGS), we raised £140 for the Green Island Holiday Trust.
    But success is not just measured in money. Soon after the event, as I came out of Sainsbury's one evening, I heard someone call out, 'John Barclay!' It was one of a group of four teenage boys who go around together and with whom I have a slight and jokey acquaintance. ''Will you do a poem for us?', one asked, by way of a gentle taunt. They had not been in my audience for 'Poetry a la Carte' but had obviously seen the publicity. 'All right,' I said without hesitating. 'Jabberwocky!' they proposed. 'I can't do that,' I said, 'but I'll do another one by Lewis Carroll.' They quickly sat down on a bench and, putting my shopping on the tarmac, I stood on the edge of the car park and performed 'The Walrus & the Carpenter' from memory, with appropriate voices for the different characters. They laughed a lot - partly, I imagine, at the strangeness of the situation. I was distracted by shoppers passing behind my audience of four and I faltered near the end, but I did it - my first performance in a car park! And I think I may have acquired some young fans.

The Country Code
(a found poem)

Respect the life of the countryside.
Guard against the risk of fire.
Protect wild life, plants and trees.

Leave no litter.  Fasten all gates.
Safeguard water supplies.  Avoid
damaging fencing, hedges and walls.

Go carefully on country roads.
Keep to the paths across farmland.
Keep dogs under control.

John Barclay

Items that won’t make it into my book (see ‘Round the World’):

(3) PR-speak gems from the Cunard Line brochure

“From dawn to dusk and beyond, on Queen Mary 2 anything can happen – wonderfully.”

“Within elegant lounges and refined public rooms, the twofold delights of glorious relaxation and glamorous refinement are served up in equal measure each day – always with the invigorating dash of freedom that comes with doing just as much or as little as you please.”

“Now you’re considering taking your first voyage with Cunard, you’ll find that, with such a great choice on offer, the decision becomes a thrilling prelude to the event itself.”
 

As a result of international pressure, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani should escape stoning for 'having an illicit relationship', but not execution by other means, although she has already been imprisoned for five years and subjected to 99 lashes. Meanwhile other Iranians on death row face execution by stoning.

TIME TO CAST A STONE

Rejected by her family,
hopeless, helpless, bound in cloth,
buried in earth up to her shoulders –
no single blow will kill her;
a load of stones must strike her head
before the torture’s over.

If we who watch from higher ground
do not condemn this ancient outrage,
are we not then little better
than those who do the deed?

                            John Barclay

GIGS: I am not accepting any more speaking or performing engagements in 2010. I will take bookings for 2011.