{"id":1386,"date":"2015-05-28T13:59:10","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T20:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/?p=1386"},"modified":"2016-06-10T01:01:57","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T08:01:57","slug":"the-bear-pit-oxford-channel-6-tv-1999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/?p=1386","title":{"rendered":"The Bear Pit &#8211; Oxford Channel 6 TV &#8211; 1999"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/bear.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1387\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/bear.jpg?resize=552%2C432&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"bear\" width=\"552\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/bear.jpg?w=552&amp;ssl=1 552w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/bear.jpg?resize=300%2C235&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 552px) 100vw, 552px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Filmed for poetry slot on Oxford 6 one of the first local TV channels in the country. Filmed direct off TV hence quality. Summer 1999? I am stood on location i.e. in the Bear Pit it still there \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>I am a lot younger (40) thinner and beardier&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/129112243\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/129112243\">The Bear Pit &#8211; Long Wittenham &#8211; 1999<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/user40576065\">Shaun Belcher<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The poem is available in Farm Hand&#8217;s Radio above:<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE BEAR PIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Council grass-cutter smooth<br \/>\nthe sliced hay and clover ferments in warm bundles<br \/>\nin the crest and dip of this depression<br \/>\na hundred yards short of the churchyard entrance.<\/p>\n<p>The old building has fallen to dust<br \/>\nliving only as a memory of a shadow at dusk.<br \/>\nHere the cocks once beat a flurry of blood and feather<br \/>\nand the shackled bears were unchained.<\/p>\n<p>Later those bears danced, shifting in their chains<br \/>\nas the first generator spluttered into life under the chestnuts.<br \/>\nThen it was teeth and claws, a rowdy entertainment of<br \/>\nblood soaked pelts and simple wagers.<\/p>\n<p>The clay beneath this hollow has drunk<br \/>\nup its four hundred years of dripping blood.<br \/>\nIt has fed into the roots of every blade of grass<br \/>\nthat now lies as smooth as fur<br \/>\na cloak of lost bets, shattered bones and fears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Filmed for poetry slot on Oxford 6 one of the first local TV channels in the country. Filmed direct off TV hence quality. Summer 1999? I am stood on location i.e. in the Bear Pit it still there \ud83d\ude42 I am a lot younger (40) thinner and beardier&#8230; The Bear Pit &#8211; Long Wittenham &#8211;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[57,60,33,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commission","category-creative-writing","category-poetry","category-readings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6nhh-mm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1386"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1390,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1386\/revisions\/1390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}