Hoyden to Harridan
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Isabelle Allende Monica Ali Dorothy Allison Maya Angelou Margaret Atwood Jane Austen Beryl Bainbridge Toni Cade Bambara Djuna Barnes Pat Barker Aphra Behn Anne Bronte Charlotte Bronte Emily Bronte Anita Brookner Rita Mae Brown Pearl S. Buck Anna Burns A.S. Byatt Angela Carter Ana Castillo Willa Cather Kate Chopin Agatha Christie Sandra Cisneros Ivy Compton-Burnett Anita Desai Kiran Desai Isak Dinesen Margaret Drabble Carol Ann Duffy Daphne Du Maurier George Eliot Buchi Emecheta Anne Enright Louise Erdrich Bernadine Evaristo Susan Faludi Penelope Fitzgerald Janet Frame Marilyn French Tana French Shere Hite Rebecca Goldstein Nadine Gordimer Mary Gordon Germain Greer Radclyffe Hall Joanne Harris Bessie Head Patricia Highsmith Janet Hobhouse Keri Hulme Zora Neal Hurston Shirley Jackson PD James Jamaica Kincaid Barbara Kingsolver Naomi Klein Hoyden to harlot Harridan to crone Jezebel to virago Witch and bitch and whore Doxy to harpy Termagent to hag Concubine and shrew and strumpet Wench and bint and slag Afua Hirsch Maxine Hong Kingston Joy Kogawa Harper Lee Doris Lessing Andrea Levy Penelope Lively Anita Loos Olivia Manning Eimer McBride Mary McCarthy Carson McCullers Terry McMillan Isabel Miller Margaret Mitchell Lorrie Moore CE Morgan Toni Morrison Bharati Mukherjee Alice Munro Iris Murdoch Edna O'Brien Flannery O'Connor Tillie Olsen Grace Paley Dorothy Parker Caroline Criado Perez Marge Piercy Sylvia Plath Katherine Anne Porter Annie Proulx Mary Renault Jean Rhys Marilynn Robinson Sally Rooney Arundati Roy JK Rowling May Sarton Alice Sebold Mary Shelley Carol Shields Anita Shreve Lionel Shriver Mona Simpson Jane Smiley Susan Sontag Muriel Spark Amy Tan Donna Tartt Anne Tyler Alice Walker Fay Weldon Eudora Welty Rebecca West Edith Wharton Antonia White Jeanette Winterson Naomi Wolf (!) Mary Wollstonecraft Virginia Woolf Dratchell to hussy Odalisque to bag Battle-axe to xanthippe Frump and scold and nag Trollop to vixen Wanton, jade and bawd Hussy, quean and drab and Bimbo, slapper, tart and slut There are so many words That you could use to put her down. Where did they come from? Who wrote them down? Who made them up to put her down? There are so many critical words That you could use to put her down. © P Lundy 1997 Don’t They Know?
Don’t they know why it’s colder today? Temperatures dropped when you went away Don’t they know why the sun doesn’t shine? It’s cos it learned you’re no longer mine Don’t they see that I’m walking too slow? That I have nowhere to go Don’t they see someone who’s in distress? And how come that they couldn’t care less? They don’t know How you lit up the room They don’t know How you loved a good tune They don’t know How you handled your spoon I wish you weren’t so beautiful Then I wouldn’t feel so bad I wish you weren’t so wonderful Then I wouldn’t feel so sad And I with you weren’t adorable Then I wouldn’t feel so blue Bust most of all I wish I was with you Don’t they see that the colour has gone? There’s no more light, the days are too long Don’t they see that it’s utterly changed? The world has stopped and been rearranged Why don’t they think to take out their phones? And call that friend they know who’s alone How can they just keep walking on by? Don’t they care when they see someone cry? They don’t know How you made people smile They don’t know How you loved a good time They don’t know How green were your eyes I wish you weren’t so beautiful Then I wouldn’t feel so bad And I wish you weren’t so wonderful Then I wouldn’t feel so sad And I with you weren’t adorable Then I wouldn’t feel so blue But most of all I wish that I was... Walking down these streets with you Laughing like we used to do Sharing all our hopes and dreams Like all these lovers I can see I wish you weren’t so beautiful Then I wouldn’t feel so bad (I’m still in love with you) And I wish you weren’t so wonderful Then I wouldn’t feel so sad (I don’t know what to do) And I with you weren’t adorable Then I wouldn’t feel so blue (I think I’ll write a tune) But most of all I wish I was with you Don’t they know why it’s colder today? Temperatures dropped when you went away Don’t they know why the sun doesn’t shine? It’s cos it learned you’re no longer mine. © P Lundy 2011 The Old Man and The Band
I watched the old man As he watched the band He couldn't get up So that he could dance. Instead he played rhythm Deftly with his hand To make the connections That made him feel glad. His thumb was the bass drum The forefinger? Snare. The second was tom tom The third in reserve. His hand lifted up When the music dropped out And hovered like smoke Till the band gave a shout. Then he played once again With smiles on his face Each rhythm's refrain Was reflected with grace. The man was complete In his dark suit and tie He came every week And he would till he died. Because all that you need Is a firm steady hand To hold on to rhythm And dance with the band. © P Lundy 2016 |
Easy Slappin'
Last night papa came home And he stood across the door And mama said "No papa. You're drunk for sure No easy slappin' No easy slappin' Easy slappin' But you'd better never touch this child." And when you walk down the street You think you're mighty cool But nothing's ever said Although everybody knows about your Easy slappin' Your easy slappin' Easy slappin' But you'd better never touch this child. One night papa came home And he stood across the door And mama said "No papa. I can't take no more of your Easy slappin' Your easy slappin' I'm sick of your slappin' So I'll leave before you hurt this child." © T Beckford 1960 © P Lundy 1993 I Wanna Be Allowed To Disagree
Say anything you want to, say it to me Use any word in your vocabulary Say it in curses or speak decently Use any language but please speak to me. Then I wanna be allowed to disagree Make up my own mind on what I see I hope that you will do the same for me So we can both agree to disagree. Your right to silence is now history Freedoms eroded due to liberty Compulsory ID and CCTV Remove the last vestige of your privacy. But you should be allowed to disagree Make a bit of sense from what you see If honesty's a rare commodity Then why should you believe. I wanna be allowed to disagree Make a bit of sense from what I see I hope that you will do the same for me So we can both agree to disagree. © P Lundy 1993 Caoimhe B
Dedicated to Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall, who didn't make it back home safely. Caoimhe B I read that you'd been wounded in the knee Another trigger happy Israeli And you had only just turned twenty three. Caoimhe B How do you do these things so fearlessly You risk your life for others' liberty Highlight the occupier’s cruelty. Caoimhe B You didn’t have to leave your family West Cork is such a lovely place to be You could’ve had a life that’s easy free. But you went to help them bury their dead Pushed away the dirt to find An old man’s head And a little girl Who’d suffocated in bed And a baby’s foot, ‘Cause it was all that was left You dug out corpses with your bare hands Sifted through the filth Of the unholy lands And you showed the world So we would understand The depths of man’s inhumanity to man. Caoimhe B I read that you were in your own country Protesting at Ahern’s complicity* In the invasion and the anarchy. Caoimhe B I think you make your point so cleverly You show us that we all act selfishly By doing nothing we are so guilty. Caoimhe B You make me feel ashamed that I am me I get indignant at the things I see But all I ever do is watch and read. While you go and help them bury their dead Push away the dirt to find An old man’s head And a little girl Who’d suffocated in bed And a baby’s foot, ‘Cause it was all that was left You dug out corpses with your bare hands Sifted through the filth Of the unholy lands And you showed the world So that we’d understand The depths of man's inhumanity to man. Caoimhe B We need you more with each atrocity So there is only one thing left to plead Please bring yourself back home safely. (*Taoiseach Bertie Ahern allowed Shannon Airport to be used for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.) © P Lundy 2007 Without You
I’m supposed to be a singer But I can’t even talk I should act like a performer But I can’t play the part without you I can’t do a thing without you I would like to be a lover But I don’t have the heart I could be a true believer But I’m lost in the dark without you I’m all alone without you But if there’s nothing I can do You know that I’d still wanna do it with you And if you couldn’t hear a sound You know that I’d still be here Hanging around Wondering what I can still do To get close to you I would love to be a winner But the race will not start I feel tired and I feel tethered I’m a prisoner of want, for you You’re all I need to get through I would like to learn the lesson But it keeps getting harder I’m afraid of being foolish But I’ve made it this far just for you I’m all alone without you And I feel no triumph when I’ve won Nor any tragedy when things go wrong I’d be in limbo I’d be a joke Flailing around without purpose or hope Wondering what I can still do To get close to you I feel no triumph when I’ve won Nor any tragedy when things go wrong I’d be in limbo I’d be a joke Flailing around without purpose or hope Wondering what I can still do Racking my brains ‘til it drives me insane Trying to use weighs That I haven't before To get close to you. © P Lundy 1993 Slatternly Girl
She held her cup In both hands To keep warm Like some girls do With fingers spread She dipped her head To every sweet Herbal mouthful My slatternly girl Means all the world And more to me If I could describe The curve of her smile Then a poet I might be She took me up To her room And her house Was dark and cold The ashtrays full The curtains pulled The walls were blue The fridge was empty My slatternly girl Means all the world And more to me If I could describe The the look in her eyes Then a poet I might be She shaved her hair Pierced her nose Tattooed her ass And painted her toes She keeps me appraised Of her dole full days And what her best friend says She swears is gospel My slatternly girl Means all the world And more to me If I could describe Her slovenly style Then a poet I would be. © P Lundy 1995 |
Unamused
She came to me last night Did she bring a new song? Angry that try as she might What did she say was wrong? Our children were still out of sight But has it been that long? She was upset about their plight She's coming on too strong She'd trusted what I'd said You didn't lie to her Of all her suitors I impressed The honesty was there Our fecund future would be blessed And what you said was fair Our tireless passion know no rest You made a special pair And yes those times were good A bit of praise at last I always was in the right mood Because you had a blast! I touched her like a lover should You didn't go too fast In beauty's birth we did collude The inspiration vast But then I let her down What did she say you'd done? I swore I'd always be around She was your only one Then there was someone else I'd found What's wrong with having fun? She wore her clothes but made no sound It's what you do when young It broke her heart to see I think she's gone too far All our children so lonely In fact it's quite bizarre Undernourished, frail and weak You tried to be a star While I caressed the phantom she You played a mean guitar She came to me last night I'd tell her to feck off! To tell me that this isn't right Have you not done enough? I've given up without a fight It's not like things weren't tough So now she will switch off the light Go on and call her bluff. © P Lundy 2008 Epic Dream
Then I dreamt that the world got warmer Bitter and frightened Humans flared, heavens fried Rasta smiled in the knowledge that He’d said it all along Then I woke and you smiled And said I only sing so you’ll love me Though lovable is something I can’t be While spending half my life inside a dream. Deserts swelled oceans disappeared they Offered up old ground Manna melted away into the sky But the brightness of morning hit me Harder than concrete So I scrawled and I rhymed And said ‘I’m gonna write a song for you Cos it’s about the only thing I can do So listen and I’ll make your dreams come true For you’. © P Lundy 1993 Easygoing Baby
Easygoing baby Tell me why you’re feelin’ so down There’s no one less deserving Unhappy isn’t what you’re about You don’t invite disaster By behaving in an unpleasant way You only deal in sweetness Never have a bad word to say So easygoing baby Tell me how you’re feeling I hate to see you this way Sitting there and crying Easygoing baby Tell me why you’re feeling so down I’ll wrap you up in cotton wool You’ll never have to suffer fools I’ll hire a guard to watch your door So when I’m gone you’ll be safe from harm I’ll keep you warm when nights are cold While you’re in need my life’s on hold I’ll stay with you, this oath I swear When you're in need I will be there Take it easy baby Keep on shining your love light Go back to who you once were Happiness personified It’s just the way the world is For there to be good there must be bad But I am here to shield you From anything that may make you sad So easygoing baby Tell me how you’re feeling I hate to see you this way Sitting there and crying Easygoing baby Tell me why you’re feeling so down I’ll wrap you up in cotton wool You’ll never have to suffer fools I’ll hire a guard to watch your door So when I’m gone you’ll be safe from harm I’ll keep you warm when nights are cold While you’re in need my life’s on hold I’ll stay with you, this oath I swear When you're in need I will be there. © P Lundy 1998 Four On The Floor
I woke up with the room already warm By nine o’clock I was in the mood for fun We met up at a café at half past ten To get ready for the day's adventure Then we took a taxi to the fields and the tents And met some friends... It was gonna be a lovely day We lost everyone within an hour or two Bumped into people we never expected to The conversation went from deep to trite The general theme was 'everything is alright' Then we went and Danced to four on the floor We jumped around and Danced to four on the floor The rhythm made us Wanna dance even more Everyone was smiling Everyone was dancing with me I believe you can find Whatever it takes to make you happy Yeah I know that you’ll find Whatever it takes to make you happy We sat around a fire as the sun went down The field looked like A happy party battleground All manner of indulgence was strewn around A dozen different systems fought for sound We got a second wind around half past ten Courtesy of that crazy great mate again Who said he’d see us right down the front We’re gonna go right down to the front We took off and then we Danced to four on the floor We jumped around and Danced to four on the floor The rhythm made us wanna dance even more Everyone was smiling Everyone was dancing with me I believe you can find Whatever it takes to make you happy Everybody is dancing There’s a sea of faces smiling at me Yeah I know that you’ll find Whatever it takes to make you happy And that you’ll live your life The way that you want to and Not the way that you are told to. © P Lundy 1997 I Never Knew a Girl Like You Existed
I’ve been looking everywhere Tryin’a find a special girl I’ve been all around the world But I still couldn’t find her I’ve been looking up and down I’ve been looking all around I had been to every town But I still couldn’t find her And then one day I walked out my door Now I don’t have to look no more because I never knew a girl like you existed You are my dream come true If I had this chance and then I missed it I would be such a fool We had lived on the same street Just waiting for the chance to meet Sometimes the more you look The less you see (You can’t see the wood for the trees) But ever since I walked out that door Well I don’t have to look no more because I never knew a girl like you existed You are my dream come true (I'm so in love with you) If I had this chance and then I missed it I would be such a fool (I know what I must do) With your mermaid eyes You are one in a million I know what I must do (Give you my love so true) Ask you a very simple question Will you marry me? Because I never knew a girl like you existed You are my dream come true (I'm so in love with you) If I had this chance and then I missed it I would be such a fool (I know what I must do) With your mermaid eyes You are one in a million You make me feel so good (Give you my love so true) And all I wanna do Is spend the rest of my life with you. © P Lundy 2011 |
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