‘Der Zauberlehrling’ is a ballad by Goethe (1797) and there are a few English translations, which may differ in word choices but are basically the same concept. An unnamed apprentice, wishing to be as powerful as his master and to lighten the load of the chores, uses a magic spell on a broom, which grows a head, arms and legs. Pleased with himself, he watches the broom fetch water from a stream, pool, or similar, to fill a bath or cauldron. However, when there is enough water, the broom won’t stop. The apprentice, forgetting the magic word to end the spell, resorts to chopping the broom in two. Even worse, the two pieces are now two brooms, fetching more buckets of water and flooding the place. Luckily, the sorcerer returns and all is righted.

This story was the inspiration for Paul Dukas’ music – properly termed a symphonic tone poem – titled ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (1897). It’s a fantastic, dramatic piece, the perfect soundtrack to the animated short in Fantasia. It’s not possible to hear the music without imagining Mickey Mouse causing chaos with a pointy hat. There are three main differences from the original ballad. Firstly, the broom is not merely cut into two pieces, but many splinters. For some reason I always found the most disturbing bit of this scene was not the splinters coming back to life as approximately one hundred brooms, each with two buckets of water, but when Mickey is chopping at the bristles, which strongly resemble a moustache wriggling around on its own. The second difference is that the sorcerer (who I have discovered is named Yen Sid – ‘Disney’ backwards) is angry, his eyes bulging like boiled eggs. Mickey even gets a spank with the broom to help him on his way back to the well. I have the notion that the sorcerer left his hat out on purpose, and that it was a test of Mickey’s character. The third main difference is that in the ballad, the apprentice forgets the magic word. It doesn’t seem as if Mickey even knew the magic word. He has to flick through the pages of a spell book, while caught in a whirlpool. When the sorcerer stops the spell, he gestures grandly with his arms, dispersing the waves. Of course, no one speaks in the animated sections of the film, so there couldn’t be a magic word.

‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ is brilliant, although not my favourite part of the film. That award goes jointly to Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ and Mussorgsky’s ‘Night on the Bald Mountain’… dinosaurs and demons!

Image from Rotten Tomatoes website, (c) Disney.

Keep them in the fridge or they will squidge,
try not to scoff them all in one go
(your tastebuds love it, your tummy won’t though),
then nothing is left but a sticky pan
and your failure at a sugar ban.

In September I celebrated completing A Strange Belief by making some rocky road from a recipe I found on the internet. It turned out pretty nice but I was glad when the box was empty because something this indulgent is dangerous to have around!

We are the robots! We’ll churn out books by the million.
Relax and let us craft your tomes, you’re sure to sell a billion.

We are the robots! We’ll grace your library shelves.
Human authors are done for, stop kidding yourselves.

We are the robots! We’ll generate your writing.
There’s no need for you to create at all…
Isn’t that exciting?

This poem was inspired by the developments in AI which are affecting the creative industries, in this case the writing community. If you feel strongly about the subject of this poem, please check out the story ‘Art Club’ in my dystopian collection, After the Burning.

New releases, library loans, charity shop finds.

Memoirs, sci-fi, classics and crime,

So many books, not enough time!

My shelves are loaded with books not yet read,

I ignore them and buy some more instead!

It’s such a problem I had to pen this rhyme,

So many books, not enough time!

The e-reader’s filled with hundreds more,

Reading is starting to feel like a chore.

Up the TBR mountain I climb,

So many books, not enough time!

The poems all have one-word titles, such as ‘Futility’, ‘Cursed’, ‘Blossom’, ‘Martyr’, ‘Doubt’, ‘Ethereal’ and ‘Sensory’. The imagery is effective without being overdone, while the formats of the poems are varied for interest and the occasional use of internal rhyming is sophisticated. I’d definitely recommend this collection even if you’re not much of a poetry reader. Congratulations to the author on a stunning debut.

Independently published in 2022.

There are 5 poems and 13 stories. Those that particularly stood out for me included ‘Madame’s Wondrous Toilet Mask’ by Sarah J Huntington, ‘Dark Corners’ by Edward Barnfield, ‘Special Delivery’ by Julie Sevens and ‘No Fixed Abode’ by Ben Walker. I couldn’t quite see the link to vintage ads for a couple of the stories, perhaps it was too subtle for me to grasp. However, everything in this anthology is worth reading. The cover design by Ellen Avigliano is excellent; if you look closely at the ads on the cover, you’ll see how well they fit the theme.

Amazing Offer! is available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions, published by Brigids Gate Press. All proceeds from the book will go a charity, the International Rescue Committee.

So, what are the ghosts angry about? What happened to them while alive, how history has dealt with their reputations, or how we still aren’t learning from past mistakes. I’m glad that they’re angry. It makes for dynamic, impressive poetry, engaging with feminism, colonialism and the environment in particular.

My favourite poems were those about Neanderthal Woman, Tutankhamen, Genghis Khan, Mary Shelley, William Shakespeare, Homer and Joan of Arc. However, all of the poems were so good and none felt out of place. I liked that the poems were literary without being pretentious, which makes them suitable for all readers. I think this book would be a great resource to help history students with what can be a dry subject. Although there is powerful language used, there’s no swearing, so I’d say it’s suitable for teens. Finally, I want to mention how much I like the cover design. The ghosts’ expressions are compelling you to open the book and find out why they’re so furious.

In summary, an excellent achievement and I hope the author will write another collection.

Independently published in 2021.