They are a singing, swinging crowd,

They chant their slogans brash and loud,

They go as far as is allowed,

And, in their daydreams, further still.

They sip champagne and spit their bile,

They chuck their rubbish on a pile,

Yet, when the cameras roll, they smile –

Although a tad against their will.

They smooch and stroke and clap their hands

To music from some h...

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Six Nations wake from slumber

As winter turns to Spring

For tribal warfare on the pitch

It’s a Celts and Saxons thing

They’ll be singing hymns and arias

From the Tiber to the Tay

And the week feels that much longer

As we wait for Saturday

And the squads are called together

From places far and wide

There will be sunshine and foul weather

There will be shir...

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Jacques Tati’s films should be universal,

They have so little dialogue and chat;

Yet, for some, his cinema bewilders,

The satire and comedy fall flat.

Perhaps it is the Frenchness of it all –

A supposed intellectual conceit –

Or maybe it’s down to Monsieur Hulot,

Whom he chose to interpret and repeat.

Is there not a hint of pretentiousness,

Do miming and humour...

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Behind the crouching silence,

All human life is there.

The règlement de comptes,

The murderous affair.

The husband’s racked with jealousy,

The lover’s gripped by fear,

The old men play their dominos,

Now tragedy is near.

The policemen bow their heads

And lift the bodies up;

The wife flicks back her hair

And sips her coffee cup.

The lights blaze in...

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In the hammock

On days of tomatoes

Cheese and bread

When light breezes

Make the orchard leaves

Chuckle and quiver

With gossip from the mountains

When a head of dead wine

Falls in step

With the mood

Rather than being a weight

On your ankle

There is time to marvel

At the power of stillness

And the way that calm

Can be the raison d'êtr...

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As I walked

through the garden dew

'tween clipped box and shapely yew,

'tween hard hornbeam and

'tween friends

a perfect peace descends

As I walked

from the round green room

past dusky shade and roses' bloom,

past shapely hedge and

past huge urns

the garden quiet returns

As I walked

in the lakeside glory

to the enchanted terrace torri,

to the ...

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The weather map seems to have burst into flame

We wonder if climate change is to blame

Perspiration pours down skin like tears

I’m in shorts for the first time in 20 years

The city roasts in a concrete sea

This weekend we await the 39th degree

It’s too hot to move and the kids won’t nap

We need drinks on demand and patience on tap

But the thing that bugs me most, I fear

...

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We've heard sectarian and racist hate
seen a governing body in a sad old state
fans forced to flee flying fists in fear
but football's problem is not just beer.

We've Neo-Nazis, ultras and yobs
most whom must hold decent jobs.
Some come just for the fight I hear
so football's problem can't be just beer.

We over-pay schoolboy prima-donnas
to create cheap imitation Maradonas
for a si...

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Flat chimes ring out,

As hammers beat gainst metal forged in mankind’s heat,

Singing village tunes over river and hill,

As sunlight beams burn where mist lingers still.

The call rings out from hamlet village and town,

We are here, know us by this resound,

Like feral packs at bay sounding out,

The familial call of belonging-metal signals about.

Then the bell dance ...

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Finding you wasn't hard

Although you all looked the same

Beneath ever changing skies

Stark bright and upright

Against Summer cornflower skies

Bathed in sleepy Autumn hues

Pure, under skirts of wintery slate

Did you think, at twenty two

Generations would stand here

Imagining the glory, the fear

Gripping anger and sorrow

Racing clouds allow the sun a turn

You...

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(to the tune of 'coming round the mountain')

The Greek people they have had it up to here,

With those ‘haves’ that say these times must be austere.

Forbes’ list shows the same old picture

The poor pay up - the rich get richer

Publishing financial crimes without a fear.

Has the Parisian Republic gone berserk?

I mean, growth through spending... ...

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