Robert Sheppard: my recent 'Wordsworth' transposition is published by New Boots and Pantiscracies

I’m pleased to say that I have received an email from Andy Jackson in the last hour to inform me that my Brexity-Covidy poem ‘Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour,’ is, within the hour, to be published in the wonderfully named blog New Boots and Pantiscracies. I love the combination of Ian Dury and some Romantic Blockheads, one of whom was Wordsworth, of course, the victim of this current ‘transposition’, which was made in March (in the early stages of the pandemic). See here: https://newbootsandpantisocracies.wordpress.com/  I also link to it on my blogroll. 

(I know Wordsworth wasn’t involved in Pantocracy as such.)

This poem, from the group of transposed Wordsworth’s sonnets, called ‘Poems of National Independence: liberties with Wordsworth’, dealt with the Cum and his effects on British politics (pre-Barny Castle, it is worth saying). The reference to the National Thrust pertains to the running theme of government-sponsored post-Brexit dogging sites.

In the time it’s taken me to type this, the poem has appeared. Thank you Andy

I hope you enjoy the poem here: https://newbootsandpantisocracies.wordpress.com/2020/07/20/postcards-from-malthusia-day-eighty-six-robert-sheppard/

I also read it on video here:

This is day 86 of the Covid project, 'Postcards from Malthusia' so there are many more poems to explore at New Boots.

There is a ‘hubpost’ for other poems from this 14 poem sequence, here.

There are two posts about the background to the project: one that looks back at Book One, The English Strain here and another at Book Two, Bad Idea here . The 'Wordsworth' poems are from Book Three, British Standards, an on-going work. Much the better for being published in part this afternoon!