One With Everything

or Stark Raven Mad

I sometimes wonder how I can have

so many wide and varied interests.

What connects all these things?

But then it strikes me that perhaps

there is a connection,

a thread connecting everything,

like those police investigation boards

you see on television cop shows,

red ribbons linking the suspects to the crime.

How can there be a connection between

poetry and literature, American sport,

rock music and martial arts?

What connects all these things?

American sport has its roots in university and colleges,

with links to higher education, literature and the arts.

The NFL team Baltimore Ravens were named

after the poem by Edgar Allen Poe.

The founder of Shotokan Karate

called his martial art Shoto after the pen-name

under which he wrote poetry.

Elvis was a black-belt and blended Karate

moves as part of his stage routine,

his jump-suits more than resemble a Karate gi.

Ian Brown of the Stone Roses band

is 1^st Dan in several martial arts,

he can be seen spinning kicks on stage.

Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan consider themselves

to be primarily poets rather than entertainers,

in fact Cohen started out reciting his poetry.

John Lennon wrote poetry, publishing two volumes

when the Beatles were at the height of their fame.

And in his song I Am the Walrus, he mentions Edgar Allen Poe.

What connects all these things?

To quote Ted Hughes in his poem Crow,

Me, evidently.