[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Poem


On Oct 28, 2007, at 12:12 PM, Judith Evans wrote:


a hard week for bp


rubs hands in glee

(I really like the poem except for the last line, which doesn't seem
right poetically -- I also have doubts about it politically, though
I suppose Browne was at the helm at the relevant times.)
Yes and no. Baglan Bay's chemical plant was built, (full disclosure) under my father's supervision, in the 1960's. Browne, and I find I omitted the final "e" from his name, became CEO in 1995, so it's sort of only his plant but Baglan Bay's history and the new green-ness of BP was what I wanted to think about. In the final line I was trying to play with "refined" and "finery":
May 2, 2007 -- John Browne stepped down as chief executive of BP PLC yesterday, three months earlier than planned, after losing a legal battle to prevent the publication of claims he let a former boyfriend use company resources. Tony Hayward, who was scheduled to replace Browne Aug. 1, takes over the position immediately. BP, Europe's second-biggest oil company, said allegations Browne misused resources were "unfounded or insubstantive." Browne's move follows a ruling by the High Court in London, that he lied in his bid to block publication by the Mail on Sunday of Canadian Jeff Chevalier's account of their four-year relationship. Chevalier claimed Browne supported him with BP "resources and manpower," and paid him a "large sum of money" over their relationship, court documents said. "In my 41 years with BP I have kept my private life separate from my business life," Browne said in the BP statement. "These allegations are full of misleading and erroneous claims . . . I deny categorically any allegations of improper conduct relating to BP." 

Shares of BP slipped 0.4 percent to 563 pence.

David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon

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