Wordstore
I’m going to have a shufti on eBay
because my adverbs have, slowly, run dry.
And the ‘Words’ page in Exchange and Mart,
as the conjunctions, there, are worth a try!
I might nip along to Poundland today,
to hear what the manager has to say,
and pick up a neologism or two,
a gaudy bauble or a sparkling trinket,
nothing too daring, just something new.
A word which a pa...
Wednesday 21st December 2022 10:35 am
What Nana would have said.
Nana was small, but forthright.
You were never in any doubt about
What that pocket battleship thought!
She liked to keep the purse strings tight
And the Cost of Living was the battle she fought…
Two pounds fifty for a sausage roll.
What would Nana have had to say?
“Don’t try and take me for a fool!
Come again, I wasn’t born yesterday!
When is this madness going to s...
Monday 19th December 2022 11:09 am
Roadworks Rap
At the drop of a bureaucratic hat,
They sling their bossy signs around,
“All get into Single File!”
Yo! Slow the busy traffic down!
Man, this business gets me riled!
Until I reach a frustrated
STOP!
Roadworks rage, rage, rage,
Roadworks rage, rage, rage,
Roadworks rage!
We trundle through, twenty minutes late,
Shaking our heads as we cogitate,
"What’s ...
Friday 16th December 2022 11:48 am
The Christmas Card
‘Dear Aunty Mildred
We hope this Christmas card finds you well
We’re sorry we haven’t visited this year,
Same as last year, we’re as busy as hell!’
Signed with a flourish, and a dash of the pen.
The subtext was open, but unwritten, not said,
‘We’ll send you this Christmas card
Just in case you’re not dead…’
Sunday 11th December 2022 11:37 am
William's First Nativity
The camel was played by a lovely lad,
Who drew one’s eye and stole the show!
He found fascination with a donkey’s ears,
Jiggling them happily, up and down.
He just wouldn’t let them go!
It turned out that the donkey was kind,
And really didn't seem to mind!
The camel, in rhythm, danced a merry jig
To Christmas songs, around the infant king,
Holding his tune, in the ...
Friday 9th December 2022 4:13 pm
Heptonstall School
In Heptonstall, a rare species of hardy bee,
Survives each Winter in these Arctic climes
In a hive of purposeful, joyful community.
Each chilly morning, they all happily swarm,
Hugging their coats tight, to keep themselves warm,
Cocooned against the biting Pennine blast!
Children bring their pollen to this Winter hive,
To make Learning Honey, sustaining and sweet,
At a...
Tuesday 6th December 2022 6:48 pm
The Journeyman Joiner
Dad’s overalls were a faded shade of denim blue,
held together, over his shoulders, by a silver clasp.
He kept a rectangular pencil behind one ear
and a Player’s cigarette behind the other.
Frank would eat his sandwich at a workshop bench.
For a journeyman joiner, it was catch as catch can,
and he was proud to be a working man.
Frank’s tools were scattered across the shop
...Friday 2nd December 2022 7:57 pm
The Chisel
I stood and watched my dad, entranced,
as he chiselled a hole into a table's leg.
The chisel was a wand in this strong man’s hand,
As he strove to make that table stand.
His hammer met the chisel’s head, precisely,
Time after time, and time after time again,
carving and slicing into the wood’s bright grain.
Until he brusquely brushed the shavings away,
Like a conjuror ...
Wednesday 30th November 2022 8:47 pm
A Golf Lesson
Don’t hit your grandad with a golf club, William,
it might just hurt, and it isn’t very kind.
He shouldn’t have laid it down in the hall,
leaving it out there, for you to find,
and I know he says that he doesn’t mind,
but his blood makes a mess upon the wall
and it’s a ten hour wait for an ambulance call.
The symptoms of a mild concussion
are difficult to detect at all.
...
Monday 28th November 2022 8:55 pm
History is Bunk
The past is forever being reinvented,
Edited, culled, amended, purged,
Would we recoil in absolute horror,
If something closer to the truth emerged?
Our tethered lives, our scatty brains,
The grubby compromises made from Day One
The fighting out of bombastic battles,
Until only our battered shells remain,
Fleeing home, through the driving rain.
Most days are be...
Wednesday 23rd November 2022 3:50 pm
J.G.Barwell's Radio Show
Thanks to Ruth O'Reilly and ALL FM in Manchester, J.G.Barwell (aka John Botterill) was able advertise his new poetry anthology, Released on Licence ( Poetic Licence) the proceeds of which are going towards the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Ruth is a brilliant presenter and we name-checked Writeoutloud, of course. Here is the link, if you would like to have a listen:
Monday 21st November 2022 2:35 pm
An Elegy from a Malton Graveyard
In New Malton, there is dignity in death,
When you have coughed and hacked your final breath.
A single bed to sleep in, on your own,
Horizontal, blameless, alone, in peace,
In regular, neat rows of fine-cut stone,
With plastic flowers placed at the head.
A dignity, denied to the living,
Is generously bestowed on the dead.
The fallen leaves obey clean symmetry
In thi...
Thursday 17th November 2022 9:43 am
Rillington Motorbike Club
It was the era of Mods versus Rockers.
Scooters, Ben Sherman, and Parka coats,
Motorbikes, Levi’s, and slicked-back hair.
Pumped up teens, who thought they were hard,
Fighting in lumps on the promenade,
During sunny sixties bank holidays.
Rillington, my village, was solidly greaser,
Not a single scooter was ever seen.
We had a Motorbike Club of our very own,
Where l...
Sunday 13th November 2022 8:46 pm
Reunion
A Tuesday night in The Union Pub.
Willy, Gareth, Ian, George, and me,
Like members of an aging rock group,
Settling down, convivially, to discuss
Our imminent, sold out, comeback tour.
A manly hug as we reached the door,
And we felt a glow of friendship,
Like bathing in the summer sun.
We drank our Yorkshire bitter
And relived all the fun!
Refought all the battle...
Thursday 10th November 2022 1:27 pm
Early Learning
“One more jelly baby, grandad,
Then it’s over, final… finish.”
William swept his arms, flatly,
Across his infant chest
In a gesture of finality,
That I could believe in,
And cherish.
I watched the sugar-coated treat,
Disappear before my very eyes,
He seems to swallow it, rather than eat.
Another day, another school run.
William, bedraggled with bag and c...
Saturday 5th November 2022 10:28 pm
Boy Racer
Some lad was doing ninety
in a forty mile an hour zone.
He passed me on a corner
In a car he clearly didn’t own!
What was the flipping hurry?
Was his stupid house on fire?
Had his brain been deprived, abruptly,
Of a vital connecting piece of wire?
Or was he a founding member
Of a firm called ‘Morons for Hire?’
Some fool was doing ninety
In a speed restri...
Monday 31st October 2022 6:49 am
Meeting Juliet
Meeting Juliet
I first met this pretty poppet
on a sunny, Monday afternoon.
We were formally introduced,
though, to be fair, she was halfway
through quite an interesting snooze.
I was instantaneously besotted!
Three weeks old and she had learned so much!
Juliet nestled, affably, upon my shoulder,
listening, intently to nursery rhymes,
discovering meanings in stor...
Sunday 23rd October 2022 9:09 am
Poetic Licence Book Release
Hi all,
Sorry I have been quiet lately! I have missed you all!
I have been putting the finishing touches to my first poetry anthology
called, 'Released on Licence (Poetic Licence)
It has been published on Amazon for £6.50 and proceeds, should there be any,
will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust who supported my daughter ten years ago through her lymphoma.
I hope you ...
Friday 14th October 2022 10:40 am
Too soon to know?
It’s unfair to heighten expectations.
It’s too early to make a judgment call.
I am no real expert in physiognomy,
But, as I gaze down at your lovely face,
There is no shadow of a doubt at all,
Intelligence, friendship, beauty and love,
all flow freely through your every vein.
So may you, with happiness, now proceed.
You have all the support you could ever need,
...
Sunday 2nd October 2022 2:37 pm
Juliet
Born in London, as a new day dawns,
We wake in Prague to greet you,
New Zealand sees your beauty, too.
Majestic, infant Mercury,
Speeding, instantly, around the world,
Though your perfect tiny toes are curled!
We gaze at your loveliness from afar,
Full of awe and love and wonder,
At our brand new, dazzling Northern Star,
The brightest light which shines!
The cent...
Thursday 29th September 2022 4:09 pm
Helping Out
(Based on an Internet post I read last night.)
In a cost of living crisis
We all have to take a stand.
I took a tenner from my pocket
And rolled it around in my hand.
After a moment's reflection,
I was hit by an obvious thought,
So I drove off to a mansion,
On the opposite side of town,
Popping that tenner though the letter box,
It won't take long fo...
Monday 26th September 2022 2:54 pm
A Tram Ride in Prague
Our tram car sets off upon a mighty jolt
And proceeds with haughty, indignant haste,
Which seems to suggest there is no time to waste.
The speed increases as we race down the hill,
We're holding on tight to the guardrails, still,
Before we slow down to an easier rhythm,
As we turn round a corner and start to climb,
Leaving tall buildings and hotels behind.
More tram...
Friday 23rd September 2022 6:30 pm
The Final Blessing
All summer long the land was parched and dry.
The leaves were brittle, and we craved the rain.
Our grass was yellow, cracked and baked,
But the clouds were barren, the land still ached.
The drizzle began as it approached eleven,
Larger drops fell as the due hour called,
Ere glorious torrents descended from heaven,
Splashing down in life-restoring vigour.
Like the tears...
Monday 19th September 2022 12:56 pm
Life as a golf lesson
We live our lives in an uncertain state.
Should we commit or hesitate?
If we waver at the top of our swing,
We go all floppy doppy
And miss the damn thing!
In life, as in golf, we have but one chance.
You can be a wallflower,
Or join in with the dance.
Let your jig be a riotous fling!
Propel that ball with a powerful swing!
Place your head...
Wednesday 14th September 2022 11:46 am
Her Word was her Bond.
Whether her life was short or long,
She pledged her service to the nation,
And the Queen was as good as her word.
All our lives she was always ‘The Queen!’
Intelligent, impartial and serene.
When she was needed, The Queen was there.
She even 'looked after' dear Paddington bear!
Remaining steadfast, loyal and true,
A rock upon which we could all depend,
...Monday 12th September 2022 9:50 am
A Grand Day Out
We travelled the North Norfolk coastline,
To sample its famous sea air.
There were guillemots and sea gulls
Flying around, without a care!
We journeyed on to Cromer
For fish and chips upon the pier.
Should we stop by in West Runton?
To face the mammoth? Did we DARE?
We walked through sunny Sheringham
As the weather was set fair.
Holt! Who goes there?
A d...
Thursday 8th September 2022 4:15 pm
Cloud Nine
Rising late this morning,
I missed Clouds One and Two.
They had flown off into the distance
To be ensconced into the blue.
Clouds Three and Four were, sadly, no more.
They collapsed in the ether, as I opened the door.
The Holy Trinity of Clouds: Five, Six and Seven,
Were suddenly spirited back up to heaven.
Cloud Eight was delicate and hard to define,
So, I decided to s...
Wednesday 7th September 2022 9:55 am
On Holiday in Sheringham
(With apologies to Dr Johnson)
Will I ever be sick of Sheringham?
Will I tire of the chugging, antique train?
Will I be overcome with a dark ennui,
When the pavements become speckled
With soft, gentle, summer rain?
Will I eventually weary of the rolling waves,
Of the gurgling foam, as it rides up the shore?
Will I say ‘no’ to ice cream wit...
Monday 5th September 2022 6:43 pm
The Old Vicarage Garden
Sitting here sipping my coffee,
Gazing out at a sun-kissed lawn.
I drink it all in. The cooing of doves,
A sparkling rill, the murmur of a breeze.
Intricate weavings of wooden webs,
Amongst the branches of magnificent trees.
Nature is still thrusting upwards and outwards
From this garden, designed two centuries ago,
By people who planned for, a...
Sunday 4th September 2022 9:58 am
Not Long Ago
On the double seats in the Palace Cinema,
With a tense new girlfriend, out for a show.
Trying to make sense of ‘Enter the Dragon,’
Our sweaty hands became entwined.
Did she want me to kiss her?
I just didn’t know.
I carefully eased her head towards me,
And I shared her chewing gum,
For an hour or two!
Not long ago…
Time passed on and we didn’t go back,
Like ‘E...
Friday 2nd September 2022 8:33 am
Back to School
The rain has started falling,
The nights are drawing back in.
Dreary uniforms adorn our shops,
A new school year is about to begin.
A bead of sweat runs down my brow,
I wake up early from a troubled sleep.
The beat of that drum is distant now,
But Back to School is still a trauma,
A river which runs so dark and deep.
In nightmares when, by chance I rove,
Around e...
Wednesday 24th August 2022 11:07 pm
Living the Dream...
I can’t afford to service the Porsche!
I’ve cancelled our holiday to St Tropez!
I don’t have enough left to heat the pool!
And what will all our posh friends say,
When Jemima leaves her boarding school?
Her parents are too poor to pay!
From any rational point of view,
We’re living, now, a dream come true.
Our gratitude, though, is seldom expressed:
Old age pensions ...
Tuesday 23rd August 2022 6:27 am
The Missing Piece
The last one of a thousand pieces,
Ridiculed and taunted me.
I could feel its jagged edges,
Poking out from my old settee.
A Stanley knife was the answer.
I cut a neat slit across the back.
I soon stood in proud possession,
Of the missing piece I lacked.
It was the moment of completion,
Like the day we married, you and I,
Bringing joy and exhilaration!
Y...
Friday 19th August 2022 11:14 pm
Sandcastles
Who will look at my photographs,
When my time on this earth is gone?
Who will shine my cups and medals,
When my final sun has shone?
A journey to the council tip,
Will neatly dispose of my stuff.
Records of the money I earned,
Which was never quite enough…
Life, flattened like a sandcastle,
Washed away by the incoming tide.
Some will have memories, but they ...
Monday 15th August 2022 11:38 am
Middle-Class Achievers
I’m a middle-class achiever,
It’s Waitrose, not Aldi, for me.
I am all the things I have ever despised,
The epitome of petit bourgeoisie.
I have a comfortable life,
With my beautiful wife-
My detached home in the country!
I sip Chilean red wine,
In the Summertime.
Well, all year around,
Actually.
I rage about social injustice,
Internally,
Or jot it down, saf...
Thursday 11th August 2022 6:59 am
Footsteps on the Stairs
1982
Power dressing, shoulder pads, big hair.
At the tender age of twenty-three,
I listened, closely, from my lonely bed,
To spectral footsteps on the stairs…
I wondered, grimly, if they came for me!
They echoed a measured, ghostly tread.
Paralysed by fear, I lay stock still,
Immobilised by my sense of dread!
Who, or what, had invaded my head?
From my upstai...
Monday 8th August 2022 7:56 pm
For the Present...
“Have you got a present for me?!
William asks with a high-pitched
Lilting rise and fall…
But I have no presents ready at all.
“You had all presents, William,
The last time you came!”
Every time he visits us,
His question remains the same.
“Have you got a present for me?”
I then considered a poetic reply,
To circumvent a potential rift.
“William, every mom...
Friday 5th August 2022 8:30 pm
Be Proud!
That really was England winning a cup!
Please do not adjust your sets!
Put black type on your C.V., girls,
Before the world forgets!
We don’t need ancient history,
Grainy images in grey and black,
Sad reflections on our years of hurt,
You have brought our football back.
When Chloe Kelly removed her shirt,
After slotting the ball in the German goal,
And threw that...
Thursday 4th August 2022 12:35 pm
A Holiday Job at the Woolgrowers
It was my first day at the Woolgrowers,
So, they gave me a special job.
I was holidaying from university,
And they thought I was a knob!
“Go to the warehouse, Johnny,
The boss needs a long weight.”
Well, being such a bright spark,
I did as I was told…
Standing at the storeroom doorway
Until I was numb with cold.
“Excuse me, can I have a long weight?”
I interru...
Wednesday 3rd August 2022 8:59 am
A Postcard From R.A.F. Oulton
I gave my today,
For your tomorrow,
I gave my young life,
To keep Europe free,
From fascist bullies,
And tyranny.
I flew out from Oulton.
In the dead of the night,
To rain down shells,
From way up high,
Dodging the tracer bullets
Which sparked the night sky...
Raked with the gunfire
Our bomber dived, out of control…
And the order to ‘bale out,’
Was...
Friday 29th July 2022 10:10 pm
Levelling Up
One year, the Thames was flooded.
I think it was back in Cameron’s time.
There were subsidies and grants galore.
“These terrible scenes of devastation!”
Were all that the Media could explore!
“These poor, benighted middle class!”
The Press couldn’t wait to kiss their ass!
At a similar stage of our climate crisis,
The City of Hull was washed away.
There was no talk o...
Thursday 28th July 2022 7:04 pm
Happy Birthday... To Me!
It’s got to the stage
Of my mum’s old age,
Where I buy all my own cards
For her sign, and address them to me,
When she can summon up the energy.
So, I bought myself the birthday card
I wanted to receive,
The one I truly deserve,
Though some may wonder
At my nerve…
A line of superheroes bedecked the top,
Hulk, Captain America, Ironman, the lot.
“You’re no...
Monday 25th July 2022 9:21 pm
Poetry is...
Poetry is a passing smile.
The waft of your hair,
The touch of your hand.
Poetry is the whisper of the breeze
On a warm summer’s day.
Poetry is an act of kindness,
From an unexpected source.
A friendly greeting in the street,
From strangers whom we chance to meet..
Encouraging words on a greeting card.
Picking you up, when times are hard.
I overthink my p...
Friday 22nd July 2022 8:40 pm
Murder, Most Foul
Charlie’s marriage was stale and cold.
It had begun to go wrong as soon as they’d wed.
She said he smelled; her ways were too ‘old,’
So, he and Elma had separate beds.
The situation was desperate!
He couldn’t afford a divorce.
Charlie was in his forties,
The marriage wouldn’t last its course…
Naturally he sought out a ‘hitman,’
Someone of the highest repute,
...Tuesday 19th July 2022 8:20 pm
Cromwell
I am not a Cromwell devotee
He was far too puritanical, for me.
And a bit fanatical - banning Christmas!
Preferring to stand on his dignity.
His government was dictatorial
And inclined to pomposity!
This poem is rather cavalier,
But I pray that you revel in it,
Warts and all.
However, I couldn’t be a royalist,
The Divine Right of Kings
Cannot be condoned!
I...
Sunday 17th July 2022 9:14 pm
Scarborough Festival
"Scorecards! Cards sixpence each!
Get your scorecards here! "
The old man in the white coat was always there,
His booming voice echoed around the ground.
Balmy, sunlit weekdays at the festival.
Bright azure blue, and cloudless, skies.
Not even the merest breath of a breeze.
Seagulls squawking, eyeing up our sandwiches,
As we lay out our picnic on a rickety old bench.
...Sunday 10th July 2022 12:54 pm
A Walk, to Remember
Mum’s Care Home is next to the cemetery,
Affording me some rather mawkish pursuits,
Like a health-giving walk amongst the dead!
This encouragement to physical exercise,
It occurs to me,
Is an exercise in egocentricity.
In my morbid ramble between the stones,
I search for those I may have known.
Based on the dates of their demise,
Or names remembered f...
Monday 4th July 2022 10:26 pm
Repeating Patterns
(The shirt referred to in this poem, is now in my profile picture)
On the flight path from his junior school,
William looked, with interest, at the shirt I wore,
“That’s a repeating pattern, grandad.
Yellow, white, blue, red, and green!”
“My flabber is well and truly gasted, William,
You’re the brightest boy I’ve ever seen!”
Life’s recurring patterns crop up, remorse...
Saturday 2nd July 2022 10:27 pm
Alone, in a bar.
A singles bar is a lonely place,
I was in there. Billy No Mates,
Waiting for someone to pour me a drink.
So, I snaffled some salted peanuts
From a tempting plate, right in front of me.
When a ghostly voice suddenly announced,
“You are looking most handsome, sir,
If I might be permitted to say.
Your clothes and shoes are elegant
And you sparkle, sir, in every single...
Friday 1st July 2022 9:15 am
Stoned
Put that stone down and turn your back!
Look a little further within.
Guilt is ubiquitous. It crosses our land.
There is no one you can crucify
To take away your sin.
Stop screaming abuse at your TV,
Condemning the proclivities of celebrity!
They are no different to you, or me.
We know temptation only too well.
Faults you see in others, correct in yourself.
Not e...
Tuesday 28th June 2022 2:42 pm
Whose words are they, anyway?
I gave you my words, my turns of phrase,
Those I’d accumulated over many, long days.
Now, you use those same words back to me,
In stilted lexicography, in dated old vocabulary!
A nasty fall, he scrapes his knee.
“Don’t worry, grandad, I’ll be fine!”
“Want to go for a walk, William?”
“Not yet, grandad. Maybe…. Later.”
Words to use but, maybe, later disca...
Sunday 26th June 2022 1:10 am
The Blue Balloon
I half blew up a blue balloon
And left it, deliberately, untied.
Then... I let it go...
It was a childish piece of grandad fun,
Which William greatly enjoyed.
The balloon made a whoosh for the window,
Colliding, abruptly, with the double glazing,
Directing it up to the ceiling,
Farting out air on the way.
Anticipating its imminent death,
It made a sudden dash ...
Thursday 23rd June 2022 9:16 pm
A Poetic Complaint.
I think I've contracted 'Long Poetry.'
It started a good while ago.
At first it was a mild disease,
Consisting of just the odd line or two,
With nothing much to show.
But, now it's coming out in stanzas
And in great long turgid verse.
I think it's a type of diarrhoea,
Or, maybe it's something even worse!
Words keep on pouring out of me
In the form of poetic dysenter...
Tuesday 21st June 2022 9:27 pm
Confessional
The genesis of my narrative invention
Began in the throes of Catholic confession,
What counted as a sin?
Where should I begin?
“I have disobeyed my mother
Seven times, father,
I have used bad words
Three times, father.”
The numbers were arbitrary.
The sins, venal.
I had to confess something.
“Two ‘Hail Marys’ and an ‘Our Father.’”
The priest passed sentence
...Sunday 19th June 2022 7:39 am
In the Shadow of St Leonard's
I sit here, in the graveyard of my dreams,
Weeping stupid, futile tears,
For friends whom I have never known,
The chances I let pass me by
And for all the places I have never lived.
I did not live in Wentworth Street
And view Saint Leonard’s lonely church,
Halo'd by the setting sun,
Or wait in glorious trepidation
For my lustful new lover to come,
Whilst sipping...
Monday 13th June 2022 7:53 pm
We Are Where We Are!
We are where we are.
We’re a planet, not a star!
Global peace?
Carbon neutral?
It’s fair to say,
We need to raise the bar.
Still, we are where we are.
Can you afford an electric car?
Is renewable energy on the way?
Which of us will be able to pay?
Who’s forking out for the cladding
On all those high-rise towers?
Where are we with H.S.2?
Someone needs t...
Friday 10th June 2022 8:56 pm
Word Search
It comes to something when,
In the cradle of democracy,
Words like “shameful,” “egregious”
And “failure of judgement,” carry insufficient weight,
With the man in question
(Or those who sit behind him,
Avoiding our eyes, studying their navels
And their imperilled majorities)
To bring about the change
Our country craves.
What would the Gray Report have to say?
I...
Thursday 9th June 2022 2:47 pm
The Queen and her Platinum Generation
Whether her life was short or long,
She pledged her service to the nation,
And our Queen was as good as her word.
Her generation respects tenacity
Sharing her tact and diplomacy.
Life was to be lived with trust, honour
And consideration for one’s fellow man.
They don’t talk about their trouble and woes
But struggle to do the best that they can.
They scrimp, they sav...
Wednesday 8th June 2022 12:50 pm
A Jubilee Line or two...
The crown is a symbol recurrent in poetry.
This hollow band runs through our history.
So, let us pay tribute to Her Majesty, for
Heavy is the head which wears the crown!
She manages the task with seeming ease,
Like a tightrope walker whose aim is to please
By staying upright to the very end of the line.
Steadfast and unstinting duty has kept her true.
Giving her unwavering ...
Tuesday 7th June 2022 10:23 pm
All Things Considered
Taking into account the phases of the moon,
The history of the world
And all that might happen soon,
The pandemic, energy costs, inflation,
Growing international tension,
Partygate revelations
(Always worth a mention!)
Diabetes, dyspepsia and flatulence
Which plague me every night,
All things considered… I’m all right!
Friday 3rd June 2022 10:12 am
The River of Lethe
When I leave a room, the life still goes on,
But in my mind, I am somewhere new.
Those people and their problems are gone.
I have assumed a different point of view.
Banished. Exiled. Forgotten.
I have pressed the re-set button,
So, I can focus on the here and now.
Out of sight is out of mind,
An attitude that is rather unkind…
I have left jobs, towns, relationships
...Wednesday 1st June 2022 9:04 am
Becoming a Nokia G50
Where my phone ends and my hand begins
Is utterly impossible to discern,
They merge so seamlessly into each other!
I make more screen-time promises every day,
But it seems that I never learn.
“No! Don’t take your eyes from the screen!
Focus! You pathetic knave, you useless slave!
Your total attention is what I crave.”
My mind, or what is left of it,
Wanders o...
Saturday 28th May 2022 2:06 pm
Shapes
“Shapes are everywhere, grandad. EVERYWHERE!
There’s a triangle, here’s a square!”
William pointed through the moving car’s window.
He said all this with an air of complete surprise.
But I felt challenged to open my eyes,
To perceive this world with the mind of a child.
Yes, shapes ARE everywhere, it cannot be denied.
I was impressed by his delineation
(He only turned fou...
Friday 27th May 2022 8:59 am
We all live in the past...
The present flows rapidly behind me, as hard as I try
To hold a precious moment in my tremulous hand.
It slips. It’s gone; I watch that golden instant slide away
In the rear-view mirror of my chequered history,
Adding to all the endless acres of slurry and mud.
Our past; the opaque, unfathomable morass
Of what once happened, and can never happen again.
All the happiness, ...
Sunday 22nd May 2022 11:00 am
Stuck in the Mud
Four horses were stood in a Care-Home field,
Sadly, chewing over the price of hay
And how much silage they ate each day.
“I used to inhabit a fine field of my own
With lush green grass, not rubble and stone!”
“Now we’re all stuck her in our filthy coats!”
“We are literally up to our knees in mud!
I’d complain to the farmer, but he’s no good!”
“Our foals ...
Friday 20th May 2022 8:14 am
Woodland Sanctuary
As I crested the hill, I gasped for air.
The climb had been steep
And my aging lungs...inept.
My reward was an arboreal oasis!
I sat down, gladly, to gather my breath,
On a seat-shaped log from a fallen tree.
Regaining consciousness, I looked around,
Amazed at the tree trunk cross-sections,
The whorls and swirls of hard timber,
Strewn hither and t...
Saturday 14th May 2022 5:40 pm
The Scan
Today I examined a picture,
It was my first ever picture of you.
You were beautiful and peaceful,
Right from the very start!
Your eyes were closed,
There was a smile on your face.
You were dreaming your dreams
Of a wonderful life, which is yet to be.
This scan has given us prescience divine,
Of Glories we cannot yet behold!
Your hands were lying at your sides,
...Thursday 12th May 2022 7:40 pm
#freedom
(for my grandson)
Freedom is the imagination of a child,
Feelings flowing freely, stories running wild!
Uninhibited by life’s accountancy,
By endless dwelling on profit and loss, not yet
Hemmed in by grey stone walls or iron fences,
By petty quarrels or narrow self-interest.
A child’s imagination soars over such mundanity!
A life still to be lived, will not be so const...
Saturday 7th May 2022 9:30 am
A History Lesson
As a child I found a stinking gas mask.
It consisted of decaying rubber and plastic.
Uncomfortable though it was, I tried it on,
Constricting my breathing. As under a green sea,
I saw my sister, smiling…
I didn’t keep it on for very long!
I flung it back into the drawer
With all the farthings and the ha’pennies
And a ration book, redundant relics
From the Second World...
Wednesday 27th April 2022 8:41 am
The Skylight
This skylight is a work of art,
A Rachel Whiteread Installation,
Worthy of the Turner Prize.
Yet all I do is open my eyes!
Framed moving pictures depict the heavens,
Exhibiting patterns of every fresh day.
A Rothko print of solid blue
With a ‘planes streaming vapour trail
Arrowing through…
Louring skies tinged from grey to black,
Hailston...
Saturday 23rd April 2022 12:40 pm
A Convenient Time
“Her timing was impeccable,” Amanda said,
When she told me that her mum was dead.
I mumbled words of weak condolence
As she shed some silent, angry tears.
Yet her grief seemed somehow heightened
By the frustration felt by those of us
Still lumbered with this mortal coil.
“Why did it have to happen NOW?
In the middle of this Easter rush!”
Let’s not beat about th...
Wednesday 20th April 2022 4:13 pm
My Mother, Waving Goodbye.
I could see her on the first-floor landing
As I drove off from the car park below,
Her hand was raised, waving gladly.
She was peering, blindly, towards me,
With eyes which had ceased being able to see.
A mother’s smile was on her face
Epitomising all her love and grace.
I stopped the car to dab my eyes,
She would never see the tears I cried,
When I spotted my mothe...
Tuesday 19th April 2022 10:11 am
Your Tears Returned
Two separate, lonely tears descend your cheeks,
Through the moody darkness beneath your eyes,
Precious pearls which leave no streaks.
Are you crying for all those refugees?
The brutality heaped upon our fellow Man.
Or is your sadness so much closer to home?
I will solve your sorrow if I can.
I will roll those tears back, ascending your face,
Retracing their path to your bea...
Saturday 16th April 2022 7:46 pm
Hand in hand
Come, put your loving hand in mine
And share this moment quite sublime.
The brush of your flesh, your gentle touch,
Acknowledgement which means so much.
We struggle through the day-to-day,
With never-ending, enervating obligations,
And soul-destroying bills which we must pay!
Let us make some time for just you and me,
Time to enjoy our own unique intimacy!
Let’s pee...
Monday 11th April 2022 10:33 pm
After Life
In this individualistic age
Why should I be constrained
By organised religious belief,
In my assessment of what the After Life
Has in store?
I used to believe that when we die
We’d be just so much compost on the floor,
Now I’m convinced that there must be more.
I hanker after Elysian Fields,
Perfumed gardens with laurel leaves,
An army of angels mopping my brow.
I’...
Wednesday 6th April 2022 11:16 am
Retirement Time Crush
(The challenge, set by Rasa Kabaila, was to write a poem with the word “crush” within it. It was supposed to be a 10-line poem but I always write too much!)
Mention ‘retirement’ to the working poor,
And they will swear and go purple in the face!
"What lounging around watching day-time TV?"
I must tell them, sternly, this is not the case!
We are within a remorseless crush...
Sunday 3rd April 2022 8:51 pm
Forever Young
GRANDPA IS MY BESTIE
Is emblazoned across this shirt
Which you used to own.
It looks so tiny in my hands!
A visual manifestation
Of how incredibly tall you have grown
In such a very short time!
It makes me sad, yet happy,
To see it lying there.
A token of the special bond
We shared.
And share still.
Time has moved on, Will,
Your shirts are double that si...
Thursday 31st March 2022 10:51 am
The Death of a Poem
Writing a poem is like committing a crime
At least that’s what it feels like,
Most of the time!
The poem was found at the back of a drawer.
It lay, disregarded, lifeless and moribund.
Foul play was suspected, but who was to blame?
The suspect's motives, opportunity and means
All had to be carefully inspected!
Do we detect a motive here?
A reason for putting pe...
Wednesday 30th March 2022 4:28 pm
Homeless
I thought of you as a friend.
We shared our bread
Our innermost thoughts
Our shopping bills, the very air
We breathed, our lives, our home.
Now, ‘our’ has become just ‘I’ and ‘me’,
Did the marriage of our minds
Simply fail to satisfy you.
Did I snore? Did my breath smell bad?
Was I the worst nightmare you ever had?
I am out on the streets,
As the col...
Monday 28th March 2022 1:33 pm
Jolly Fine Words
Words are jolly fine!
They are a veritable mine
Of communication tools,
Enlightening, intriguing, illuminating,
Freely available to any old fool,
As I am duly demonstrating!
The words and phrases Shakespeare used
Forsooth, are equally available to you and me,
They are ready to hand and entirely free.
I can adapt and modify the Bard’s great words,
Imagining that t...
Sunday 20th March 2022 5:49 am
Soppy Love Songs
We hang upon the melody for its gentle fall and rise,
So, the entry of the violins should come as no surprise.
The affirmations of undying love, run rife,
Life without you, darling, would be such a chore!
But I am questioning the morality of love songs.
I’m, frankly, dubious about their integrity
I’ve been duped by their delusional qualities
Oh, so many times before
And I d...
Thursday 17th March 2022 10:11 am
Just a Bit of Banter
Does this place look familiar?
Do you feel like you’ve been here before?
Listen! Someone is ranting!
About not giving to the poor!
“If they’re hungry and if they’re homeless,
Well, that’s what the workhouse is for!”
Bob Cratchit is in there,
But he doesn’t look up!
He has too many eviction notices,
To be prepared, in time
For Christmas Day!
The offices of o...
Monday 14th March 2022 1:05 pm
In Praise of Words
Words are wonderful!
They are infinitely adaptable.
Words are the ultimate in recyclable
Resources. Horses which are unbeatable
On so many different courses.
“Words can mean, what I want them to mean,”
As Humpty Dumpty scornfully said.
Which was witty, if not entirely true,
In Alice’s view.
Words will come unbidden to my mind
Then disappear into the misty air,
...Sunday 13th March 2022 12:32 pm
Let Sleeping Poets Lie
I used to teach proverbs back in the day.
Well, ‘teach’ may be overstating the case.
Anyway, it was acceptable in the eighties,
As they say.
You could teach what you wanted to,
At the time.
I would give them the first part
And they would finish the line.
But time waits for nobody, and time
Has healed our knowledge of proverbs.
An adage? Silence...
Tuesday 8th March 2022 8:37 pm
'For mash get Smash' re-hash.
Only the crumbliest, flakiest
Finger of Fudge
Tastes like chocolate,
As soft as your face.
A totally tropical taste!
Very small and neat,
But not a ha’penny worth
Of difference.
Full of Cadbury’s goodness,
Never tasted before,
Kills all known germs. Dead
Fresh with the tang of citrus,
Like sixpence worth of heaven,
So give your kids a treat!
Tasty, tasty,...
Sunday 6th March 2022 9:11 am
Strong Box
Some challenges go too deep
For free verse expression or rhyme.
Too stark, too near the bone,
Too entangled amidst the rhododendrons
In the forests of my mind.
Too sensitive for public scrutiny.
I only reveal what I want you to see.
So, the distance is kept
Between you and me.
These words are a shield, a poetic device
Protecting my insecurity.
My poems are saf...
Friday 4th March 2022 12:54 pm
Merely a Player
In our college production
I landed the plum part.
Estragon, a dimwitted stooge
For the cerebral Vladimir
In Samuel Becket's fine play,
A role which suited me just fine.
I'm not sure why.
Typecasting was alive and well
In 1979.
I enjoyed the knockabout humour,
The bandinage, the quickfire exchange
Of insults, intensifying
Until we wounded each oth...
Tuesday 1st March 2022 9:10 pm
An Epiphany
After forty years at the chalkface,
Retirement enticingly beckoned.
Time to reflect on a teaching life
Of missed opportunities,
Of driving the unwilling,
At the government’s behest,
To the shores of Lake Knowledge
To oversee their drowning
Whilst faithfully recording the results.
Schools have created many a pig’s ear
From the finest, expensive silk,
By trying to de...
Tuesday 22nd February 2022 6:51 pm
Learning French
The problem of how to speak and write in French
Was deemed somewhat esoteric
At Norton Secondary Modern School,
Akin to learning how to solve quadratic equations
Or the tedious business of saying please
And thank you.
Physics? The periodic table? Really?
It was surprising how many subjects
Could be enthusiastically jettisoned
If you really put your mind to it.
But, l...
Friday 18th February 2022 9:08 am
An Academic Reflection
Steve and I were friends at university.
We shared a taste in beer and music
And a healthy disinterest in Philosophy.
We casually lounged about in tutorials
Or meandered off to the lecture hall
Or sought some solace at the Union bar
Two dilettantes spending, unwisely,
Our much-vaunted, ill-gotten student grant.
Remember them?
We were “wasting hardworking taxpayer’s m...
Tuesday 15th February 2022 11:56 am
Hide and Seek
Grandad’s garden is huge.
It has lots of places to hide.
Behind the tree, within the shed,
Behind that ginormous bush!
Eyes closed; I have counted to ten,
A trick I have learned from TV.
“Grandad! Where ARE you?”
A faintly distant reply comes
From somewhere in the garden,
“You have to find me, William.”
A pause. A rustle in the bushes.
“It’s the whole point of the ...
Saturday 12th February 2022 8:08 pm
Twenty Minutes to the Bell
Tired old teachers never die,
They just return, on supply!
I know I am in trouble
When I keep glancing at my watch.
A bead of sweat rolls down
My furrowed brow.
A hand shoots up.
“Yes?” irritated teacher voice,
“What is it now?”
“Can I go to the toilet?
I am desperate. I need a pee!”
Laughter. A belch and then a fart.
Raucous laughter
Some of them can b...
Friday 11th February 2022 7:15 am
Old Leather Balls!
Old style leather balls, with laces,
Were murder to play with when wet
They soaked in all the water
And, if you tried to head it,
You nearly broke your neck!
And yet, and yet…
Tot Temple and ‘Woodbine Wilf’ Oxendale
The stars of our Rillington team
Would flick it back and forth to each other,
As though it was as light as a feather,
And fire it into the net.
I...
Wednesday 9th February 2022 8:45 am
Gizza Game
Matthews played for Stoke City
At the age of fifty or more!
Stan was moderately talented.
He could pass the ball quite accurately,
But he didn’t often score!
If he could play on in later life,
I’m asking myself, why not me?
Before you seek my elimination
From your fantasy football league squad
Consider the relevant legislation
Concerning age discrimination…
My...
Monday 7th February 2022 4:38 pm
The Changing of the Guard
Poor old grandad!
He’s not the man he used to be.
He’s out of puff when he goes up hills.
He has to stop to take his pills.
He has arthritis in his knee.
He forgets to wear his glasses
When he reads a story to me.
Poor old grandad!
He has to sit down in a chair.
When I jump on his shoulders,
To hug him, and bug him,
I’ve noticed some gaps in his hair!
...
Sunday 6th February 2022 12:16 pm
Sonnet 18 Revisited
Inspired by an episode of ‘Paddington’
and with apologies to the Bard!
--------------------------------------------------
Shall I compare thee to a marmalade
Sandwich? Thou art more wholesome and more sweet.
Even if the filling was farmhouse made
And the bread was baked using artisan wheat!
Marm’lade sandwiches have all too short a date.
They’re eaten before the kettle ha...
Friday 4th February 2022 12:32 pm
Tetris
These shapes descend on my computer screen.
Slowly at first, but then more quickly,
Squares, rectangles and awkward
Objects best described as a T.
Small, huge, and medium sized,
Appear unannounced and
Unexpectedly.
Except, you do expect them
But not in that unusual order,
If you see what I mean.
I arrange their descent to complete
A line across the bottom whi...
Tuesday 1st February 2022 12:49 am
In the eye of the storm.
A church stood high on a cliff top
Far above the tumultuous sea.
It was a stormy night,
As the vicar fought the violent gale,
To reach his night-time ceremony.
He foresaw a depleted congregation
On such a tempestuous night,
But turning on the bright church lights
No parishioners could he see.
They clearly preferred to worship
Vicariously.
The vicar presse...
Saturday 29th January 2022 9:11 am
Dubious Flowers
Old age is not as I imagined it.
Country walks by sylvan streams
Throwing sticks for my Labrador
to chase and retrieve.
Slippers by an open fire
Bouncing my grandson on bony knees.
Time in which to luxuriate,
Before my poem’s final
Full stop.
Instead, age exacts agonies,
Diminishing time, money, and sense,
Brings relatives with their problems
Minus solution...
Friday 28th January 2022 4:03 pm
Bubbles of the Mind
Is this a bubble that I see before me
Or is it a bubble of the mind?
My grandson and I are busy blowing bubbles,
Thereby reducing time spent watching TV.
We’re forever blowing existential bubbles,
Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles, just William and me.
Bubbles are the ideal poetic material
Offering up their onomatopoeia
And redolence of childlike hopes hopes
Of flo...
Friday 28th January 2022 4:01 pm
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