Category Archives: Our Girl on the Outside
It’s Not Dark Yet
“It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.” (Bob Dylan) Whatever your personal belief system, everyone acknowledges that, at this time of year, many folk are gearing up for celebrations of some sort or other in about four weeks’ time. … Continue reading
Leisure (with apologies to William Henry Davies)
By: Lydia Crow What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to sit and stare. No time to sit before machines And stare at phones and tablet screens. No time to see the latest shows, … Continue reading
Farewell, Facebook
By: Lydia Crow I’m not sure when certain developments started to change how I felt about social media, but it was certainly several years ago now. Whereas once it was something which brought more joy than not, now it … Continue reading
Be Counted
By: Lydia Crow I’ve been here before. Back in May 2017, I relaunched my #OurGirlOnTheOutside column on ShiverWriggle, with a reflection of how far the western world had come (not in the best direction) since my previous poetic musings. … Continue reading
Heathland
By: Lydia Crow A fire scorched the heath last night. A burst of flame cast a shadow as far as the eye could see; leaving a changed land in its wake. A numbing, a pause. But even as we … Continue reading
Nurse-Bashing and Avocado-Smashing
By: Lydia Crow May-Go-Round No sooner had the Conservative manifesto been published, than there was a retraction – sorry, a clarification – of policy relating to our more elderly nearest and dearest. Even some of the more right-wing newspapers … Continue reading
A Change of Shape
By: Lydia Crow I started Our Girl on the Outside some years ago; before the ShiverWriggle hiatus, and before I cut half the content from the site and subsequently emerged bleary-eyed to throw out a few more bobs and … Continue reading
Brexit Gets Harder
By: Lydia Crow Brexit gets harder As the Spanish Armada Scratch heads, befuddled.
Punching Nazis (or, ‘Sorry Mum, It’s Hard To Know What’s Right Anymore’)
By: Lydia Crow Do not resort to violence, You must learn to understand. Try to speak their language, Don’t draw lines across the sand. But when violence is their language, Inciting fear and hate, Interpretation falters, struggles; It’s too … Continue reading
Inauguration Week
By: Lydia Crow Amused disbelief, derision, horror. We mock the trumped-up man-child. Laughter turns to fear, and the newspapers threaten tears before bedtime. And now, just waiting. Heads bowed, they shake in horror at this brave new world.