LDV Poetry: Moving forward

Devastating

 gruelling

what a cruel night

and so unexpected.

Friends and colleagues

dismissed

so much expertise

discarded

as if on a whim.

But new members

signing up in  thousands

standing up for ideals

 of fairness and honesty

 in a society where

fear and grievance

 is the norm.

So moving forward

 with fresh commitment and confidence

we come together

with our skills and strengths

to rebuild the party

 which cares about people

and  where the individual matters.

 A fairer society with

equal opportunity for all

* Sue Sherwood is a new member of the Liberal Democrats from North Norfolk.

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16 Comments

  • Paul in Wokingham 31st Aug '15 - 9:58am

    Labour in turmoil.
    Tory dog whistles get blown.
    Whither the Lib Dems?

  • nigel hunter 31st Aug '15 - 10:19am

    A Lady with a bit of class. Wish I could be adept in the poetry area.

  • “so unexpected”. Really?
    Denialism won’t take us forward.

  • “So unexpected”, I give up, it was obvious to many of us but nobody listened or simply refused to, starting with Ashdown..

  • Lovely Sue – honest and uplifting. Thank you for sharing 🙂

  • Good work Joe!

    Here is another haiku Paul (with apologies to Yoda)

    When fear leads to hate
    If Lib Dems existed not
    Reborn they must be!

  • And good work Sue of course!

  • David Evershed 31st Aug '15 - 2:30pm

    Why I am a Liberal by Robert Browning

    “Why?” Because all I haply can and do,
    All that I am now, all I hope to be,–
    Whence comes it save from fortune setting free
    Body and soul the purpose to pursue,
    God traced for both? If fetters, not a few,
    Of prejudice, convention, fall from me,
    These shall I bid men–each in his degree
    Also God-guided–bear, and gayly, too?

    But little do or can the best of us:
    That little is achieved through Liberty.
    Who, then, dares hold, emancipated thus,
    His fellow shall continue bound? Not I,
    Who live, love, labour freely, nor discuss
    A brother’s right to freedom. That is “Why.”

  • Bill le Breton 31st Aug '15 - 2:49pm

    Well done Sue.
    For the 1996 publication: *Why I Am a Liberal Democrat*, I wrote:

    A very liberal haiku

    Because restrictions rankle
    boundaries limit
    privilege petrifies
    poverty paralyses
    borders divide
    discrimination deadens
    fear frustrates
    ignorance imprisons
    conformity constrains
    class encrusts
    myth enshrouds
    duty deforms
    authority anaesthetises
    Let me love liberty
    trust tolerance
    explore experience
    encourage equality
    enjoy justice
    challenge convention
    crave community
    give generously
    value individuality
    spread concern
    relish reason
    pursue peace
    demand democracy

  • Mark Smulian 31st Aug '15 - 2:57pm

    Does anyone else remember the late Henry Young, who used to walk round Liberal assemblies with a tray suspended from his neck selling pamphlets of his poetry?
    He was much concerned with pacifist causes and so that was what we assumed the poems would be about when Liberator gave in to his pleas and bought a copy.
    We were startled to discover a poem that began: “The bed was hot and so were you…” Ooh-er!

  • John Tilley 31st Aug '15 - 7:58pm

    Mark, I do remember Henry Young. From Harrow, yes? He advised me once to sign up people to the Liberal Party at flower shows. Although I have never actually followed that advice I still like to think that there is an element of good sense in it.

  • SIMON BANKS 1st Sep '15 - 11:39am

    There was an old party in yellow
    Who spoke in a whisper, not bellow.
    While their leaders enthused,
    The plebs were confused.
    Can we count on your vote? Hello? Hello?

    Well done, Sue. Unexpected? Well, most of us knew we’d be taking a beating, but not that bad in terms of seats. As has been extensively discussed, polls including Ashcroft’s Tory one showed a much less drastic decline in our held seats.

    Still, as Sue says, there are signs of a rebound and we have an opportunity.

  • Richard Underhill 1st Sep '15 - 5:12pm

    Joe Otten 31st Aug ’15 – 12:57pm Please may we have a transation of “kiki said… “

  • “Devastating, gruelling, what a cruel night, and so unexpected.” – With all due respect it shouldn’t have been totally unexpected. Every single election after 2010 told exactly the same story about what could be expected in 2015.

    “Friends and colleagues, dismissed, so much expertise, discarded, as if on a whim.” Again, with all due respect, I don’t think it was done on a whim. More like out of sheer anger and a feeling of betray. Your core voters in 2010 were young people and those in higher education, the party and every single MP made a commitment to them to vote a certain way on a policy that was very important to them and would shape the rest of their lives and that promise was widely broken, then the leader said he wasn’t sorry he broke it he was just sorry for promising it in the first place. Discarded yes, and rightfully so in my opinion. But certainly not on a whim.

    Rebuilding will be impossible without first learning from the defeat.

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