Adrian Mitchell

Adrian Mitchell (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist, and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament movement. Quotes Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people. Poems (1964), Preface. I was run over by the truth one day.Ever since the accident I've walked this way "To Whom It May Concern", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991) Written in 1965, after hearing British troops might be sent to the Vietnam War. You put your bombers in, you put your conscience out,You take the human being and you twist it all aboutSo scrub my skin with womenChain my tongue with whiskyStuff my nose with garlicCoat my eyes with butterFill my ears with silverStick my legs in plasterTell me lies about Vietnam. "To Whom It May Concern", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). Lovers lie around in itBroken glass is found in itGrassI like that stuff "Stufferation", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). Other stanzas follow this pattern. Roger McGough wrote a version with the refrain "I like that stuff". Here are some happy English soldiers.They are going to make the Irish happy. "A Tourist Guide to England", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). May I borrow your wheelbarrow?— I didn't lay down my life in World War IIso that you could borrow my wheelbarrow "Ten Ways to Avoid Lending Your Wheelbarrow to Anybody", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). Now God killed John Lennon and he let Barry Manilow survive,But the good Lord blessed little Adrian Mitchell with the fastest cock alive. "Adrian Mitchell's Famous Weak Bladder Blues", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). I would have walked on the waterBut I wasn't fully insured.And the BMA sent a writ my wayWith the very first leper I cured. "The Liberal Christ Gives a Press Conference", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). When I am sad and wearyWhen I think all hope has goneWhen I walk along High HolbornI think of you with nothing on "Celia Celia", from Adrian Mitchell's Greatest Hits (1991). External links Adrian Mitchell's homepage Category:Poets from England Category:2008 deaths Category:Novelists from England Category:Playwrights from England Category:Anti-nuclear weapons activists Category:Activists from England Category:1932 births Category:Journalists from England Category:Pacifists Category:Socialists from England Category:University of Oxford alumni Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Category:People from London