The Kiss of the Mummy's Sister

A poem by Carole Bromley from the children's poetry anthology Chasing Clouds

Christmas Sounds ... a poem for children by Carole Bromley

Arthur's Theory of Quantum Stiles

Einstein’s Theory of Simultaneity 
… or Not Now Albert (after Albert Einstein and Thomas Morley)
by Jonathan Humble 

It’s about TIME
but now is not the TIME
for it is not how now works.

Fa la la la la la laaah.

In fact now is meaningless; 
now is a clumsy construct 
from Newton’s classical calendar.

Fa la la la la la laaah.

Behind the TIMEs,
now is neither here 
nor is now there.

Fa la la la la la laaah.

For TIME is not on now’s side
and to live for now 
would be wasting TIME. 

Fa la la la la la laaah.

You see, existence transcends TIME 
So, there is no now.
Now does not stand the test of TIME.

Fa la la la la la laaah.

Now’s not the month of maying
when merry lads are playing,
for participles (past or present) are pointless.

Fa la la la la la laaah 
… fa la la la la la laaah.

Einstein's Theory Of Simultaneity

This Work Is Done

Love is Blind

Derek and the Eternally Perfect Petunia Bed

a poem for children written after Maya Angelou

One Poem at a Time

In 1945, a journey of rescue and rehabilitation began for 300 Jewish refugee children abused by the Nazis during World War Two. The rescue was arranged by Leonard Montefiore, supported by the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief with the children cared for under the direction of child psychologist Dr. Oskar Friedman.

This was the focus of a marvellous film in 2020. The Windermere Children, written by Simon Block, directed by Michael Samuels and featuring amongst others, Iain Glen, Pascal Fischer, Thomas Kretschmann and Romola Garai, chronicled the events in 1945 at Calgarth in Troutbeck Bridge.

Accommodation blocks that had been used to house workers producing the Sunderland Flying Boats became the temporary home for the children who were in desperate need of care. Dr. Friedman’s supportive network offered opportunities for sport, education, outdoor recreation, art therapy and healthcare. From the brutality of Nazi death camps to the tranquillity of the Lake District, the children’s testimonies, which now form part of the Lake District Holocaust Project exhibition in Windermere Library, record how they felt they’d arrived in ‘Paradise’.

Jonathan Humble

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