This is repeated - now with the correct tag shown.

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Be grateful for the dark days,

And when one comes in sight

Don't waste your time in wondering

When life will turn out right.

Be grateful for the dark days,

And when one comes along,

Forget about despairing

Over h...

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Is anything sadder than a Christmas tree

Abandoned by the bin bags?

Rejected with the empty cans

Discarded on cold stone flags.

Is anything sadder than a Christmas tree

Alone on a NewYear pavement?

It seems to say "Remember me -

And all the joy I once meant".

Is anything sadder than a Christmas tree

In a dust-cart  - lost to sight?

It seems to...

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This verse is on my profile page but I make no apologies for repeating it here at this time.

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How fitting now in deep December,

When days are short and life is low,

That in our hearts we will remember

Those we loved who had to go.

...

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Some years ago, I was priviliged to be in an upstairs room of a small Torquay pub to hear the

tale of the Dambusters' raid - "straight from the horse's mouth".  "Johnny" Johnson was the

sgt. bomb aimer who took his Lancaster around 10 ten times before being satisfied about his

bomb drop on the Sorpe dam.  The dam was damaged but not breached due to the failure

of planning to tak...

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I was feeling so low...didn't know which way to go

When I saw her walk in through the door

She looked straight at me like I was all she could see

And I floated clear up from the floor

Her gaze held my eyes like the stars in the skies

I've never felt anything so strong

The other guys stared and I was feeling so scared

Could it be I was reading things wrong?

...

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Down Heathen Street I set my course

And onward past the inn;

My breast contained a happy heart,

My face a happy grin.

Gregory Lane came soon enough

And at a farmyard gate

A mongrel pup barked "hurry up",

Protecting his estate.

A pheasant blustered from the brush

And rose high in the air,

And in its rush a startled thrush

Made up a flustere...

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Be grateful for the dark days

And when one comes in sight

Don't waste your time in wondering

When life will turn out right.

Be grateful for the dark days

And when one comes along

Forget about despairing

Over how it all went wrong

Be grateful for the dark days

They're made to make you glad

When everything about them

Makes you think you shou...

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This carol is dedicated to Peter Fender and his Philharmonia-Britannica Symphony Orchestra

(www.ph-br.co.uk) - a worthy charity that champions neglected British classical music and the

arts - often combining poetry and music..

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L...

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Lucky it's me -

So glad it's you,

Enchantment in all of the things that we do,

My feelings are many, my words but a few,

Remember - I love you today.

Sometimes it's right -

Sometimes it's wrong,

Sometimes our tune is a now and then song,

But we know our refrain and we know when it's wrong,

Remember - I love you today.

Maybe we could -

May...

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I've always stood apart, you know,

It's something that I do;

I stood apart from those I loved

As I stand apart from you.

Just like the solitary copper

Out on a busy street,

Every day I've stood apart

From those that I might meet.

I've stood apart from life itself,

From all its highs and lows;

I've stood apart too often

To see how fast it g...

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From muscled Mister Olympia to massive movie star,

When he wasn't pumping iron, he puffed on a big cigar;

Then Arnie took to motoring in the governor's own car,

They do these things in L.A. Californ'ya!

Olde-worldy English actor relaxing on a trip,

Puts on a lead-performance that was seen on Sunset Strip,

But his co-star couldn't stop herself from giving him some l...

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The Queen attended the 50th anniversary of D-Day and took the salute at the march past.

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On the beach at Arromanches then,

Young men saw friends die;

Bracing the sands of Arromanches now,

Old men softly cry.

There, by the sea ...

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I've been abroad

And  it's all right,

But here at home is finer;

I'd rather go to the Isle of Wight

Than I would go to China!

I've been abroad

And it's OK,

But here at home is better;

Far away is warm, they say,

But I bet they'd like it wetter!

I've been abroad

And it's not bad,

But here at home is heaven;

I'd rather leave abroad a...

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When nights are long and spirits low,

Remember - still the flowers grow.

When days are short and full of woe,

Remember - still the flowers grow.

When health and wealth ebb to and fro,

Remember - still the flowers grow.

When friends and family come and go,

Remember - still the flowers grow.

When life has little left to show,

Remember - ...

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Here's a bit of fun as we approach the Christmas month - some sympathy for all those Mums &

Dads left behind by their technically-savvy kids!  All credit to Pete Dymond and Marcie Summers

(who does a great job as "the kids" on the audio).

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I am  today's new woman

I only care for me;

I'd quite like kids but then again

I'd rather have them without men.

I am the free-range female,

I think that men are fools;

I use them, then supply the shove

Before they think that they're in love.

Why can't they understand it?

I only want it all;

Cash, sex and kids - but they must know

I want t...

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I have completed a Christmas carol and it occurs to me that it would be a fun thing if others

who contribute to WOL blogs could come up with their own.  After all, it's coming up to THAT

time of year and perhaps we can add to the list of carols currently known and loved.  I will

post my own - with a modest audio track - shortly.  So...how about it, fellow weavers of

words - any ...

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Why do I sigh for autumn

When summer's sun is here?

For autumn mist cannot resist

The turning of the year.

And Yuletide's barely over

When fancy finds the spring

Then how I sigh for sapphire sky

And songbirds on the wing.

When days are lengthening lightly

With evenings moonlit clear

Why do I sigh for autumn

Now summer's ...

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The following originates from a piece of scurrilous libel carefully scrawled on a docklands

wall in 1960's east London.

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Excuse me, son, the sergeant said, we'd like to have a word

About some information the lads and I have heard.

...

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Misty, come the memories

Of long departed days,

Reminding me of happy times

Spent walking Highland ways.

Distant mountain silhouettes

Like giants stand and stare,

To tell me that I've long since left

But they're still waiting there.

The images of those I knew

I see in my mind's eye.

They pass before me even now

As then they passed me by;

Gho...

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No one loves a dentist, friend,

Like surgeons and the knife;

No one means it personally,

It's just a fact of life.

No one likes reminding, friend,

About their rotten teeth;

The dee-cay on the surface

And who knows what beneath.

No one likes the visits, friend,

The waiting in that queue;

The numbness when the treatment ends

And your mouth w...

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Man must care for Earth's estate

There lie his origins...and his fate.

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I know that it always hurts

When I think of you,

And I know it always will

Every time I do.

The memory of what we had

Just won't go away,

And knowing that it turned out bad

Darkens each new day.

| know when we said goodbye

Something in me died;

You seemed to be so very sure

When you said I lied.

It wasn't just the words you used

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Heroism has always intrigued me.  But I often wonder whether it is but "one side of the coin".

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Hero and coward,

Two sides of a coin;

How hard you may look,

You won't see the join.

A flick of the fingers -

The hero's in...

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Jack Frost silvering the grass,

Crunching underfoot like glass,

Adding to a rider's woes,

Freezing fingers, numbing toes.

Steaming horses tread with care,

Warm breath misting in the air;

In line across a windswept hill

Where their master waits until -

In the gloom they surge and fade,

Strengths and weaknesses displayed,

Ghosts beneath a leade...

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One of the great events of my lifetime was the removal of the hated Berlin Wall.

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It was an obscene reminder

That Man could divide his very soul,

A terrible thing...yet kinder in its parts

Than the reasons for its whole.

...

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I saw him appear from the door of the shop;

"Excuse me," he muttered, believing I'd stop.

But I knew what was next and ignored what he said,

Silent, unseeing, I walked straight ahead.

I hurried on by to a brief pause and then

"Excuse me," he called, vainly trying again.

Entering the shop, I felt I had sinned

As another "excuse me" was lost on the wind.

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This was recorded by the excellent Pete Dymond and Marcie down in Bristol.

O.K. folks...read - or sing along!

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I was the one who knew everything,

Had a "Bachelor of Loving" Degree;

But love taught me and now I know nothing

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Young man - mark them marching by,

Their medals catch the light.

Look and hold your head up high,

You'll see no finer sight.

Old men passing in their pride

Were once as young as you.

Now - as then - they're side by side,

But now they're growing few.

And should one chance to catch your eye,

Young man, don't look away;

In far-off fields their co...

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My heart leaps up when I behold

The Concorde in the sky:

So was it when my youth began;

So is it now I am a man;

So let it be when I grow old,

Or let me die.

This 'plane flies faster than a bullet can;

And I would wish its days to be

Boundless - each graced with that high-flying "V".

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Do you remember my England?

When people said "How do you do?"

And most of them were folk you knew,

And everybody joined a queue...

I do.

Do you remember my England?

When neighbours seemed to care and share,

And it was just not done to stare,

And "barbers" used to cut your hair...

I do.

Do you remember my England?

When "addict" meant a pin-...

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The knocks came loud at half past four;

The wife woke from her sleep.

"You give that noisy pest what-for,

I hate the little creep"!

Her husband squinted at the clock

And rubbed his tired eyes;

He'd give that yob a nasty shock,

An unforseen surprise.

"What's your problem, son?" he cried,

Flinging back the door,

And quickly stopped in verbal str...

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Sunrise creeping, daylight peeping,

All is silent, all are sleeping.

Alarm clocks whirring, stables stirring,

Dogs start scratching, cats lie purring,

Voices rising (some surmising),

Smell of coffee - appetising.

Harness jingling, senses tingling,

Sweat and horse-breath intermingling.

Race day thrilling, people milling,

Horses happy, k...

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The audio version is in song form by the excellent Bob Evans of www.bobevansmusic.com -

I do hope you enjoy it.  I did, but I'm biased!!

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Make your mind up if you want me

Tell me now or let me go

Can't you show what's in your heart

...

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Some folk covet honours,

Others wealth and fame;

But what's the use?

When life cuts loose

We all end up the same!

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Persian Punch found a secure place in the affections of the racing public - always trying his

best.  And when he collapsed and died in the final stages of a race at Ascot the sorrow was immediate and heart-felt.

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Brave eyes wept at the Ascot course

When he came to the end of his run;

For the going ...

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When livin's hard I'm on my guard

Against the hurt and pain

But with you near fears disappear

Your lovin' keep me sane.

Health and wealth can go their way

Like showers of summer rain

But I need you around each day

Your lovin' keeps me sane.

It's a crazy world we live in

We're all in need of more forgivin'

For things we say and do

Hoping th...

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Is it not the way of Man

To look upon each day,

And do the very best he can,

And do it while he may?

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Recalling the metalled track from Higher Brownstone to the old WW2 gun emplacements 

opposite the Mewstone rock at the estuary of the beautiful River Dart in South Devon.

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Near Kingswear Town, there stands a tree

That stands alone and wa...

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Out along a snow-flecked street,

Two giggling girls I chanced to meet;

In play that saw them free from care,

Their breath like smoke upon the air.

Face to face with hands locked fast

They jumped for joy as I walked past.

Bobbing to a silent rhyme,

Taking turns in perfect time.

I've said goodbye to sixty five,

But the youth within me came alive,

...

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Sunday always seems to be

The day my thoughts go flying free,

And times gone by return to me,

From yesterday.

A Sunday street's a bygone street

That echoes someone else's feet,

And other voices, soft and sweet,

From yesterday.

A Sunday bell's a timeless knell

That tolling has a tale to tell,

Reminding me when all was well,

From yesterday.

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I just wish that sometimes we English were left to do things in our own time.  I'd be quite

happy to re-set my watch when crossing the border.r.r.r.r.

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Turning back our English clocks

By now should be a crime.

Let backward winders join the Jocks

For ...

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The intention of the present government to "relax" planning laws is hardly reassuring.

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What care I for gate or fence?

Come let us talk of pounds and pence.

What care I for trees and fields?

Pray tell me what the profit yields.

...

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This is a nod to the Elizabethan poets.

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I like a handsome hound for sport,

But a pretty pup's my treasure;

The hound will stretch and not be caught,

My pup will stretch with pleasure.

The hound will bare his teeth at me

If I should dare to scold him;

My pup will bare his soul to me

When I re...

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There's this to say for getting old:

You take more care against the cold,

And value each new day.

And this to say for getting old:

You want to keep and not to scold

The children at their play.

And this to say for getting old:

It's always welcome to be told

To take a seat and stay.

And this to say for getting old:

You may not be so brash ...

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She said it was over between us,

She told me that I had to go;

Her ideal affair didn't mean us -

I asked myself: "What do I know?"

She said she'd found love with another,

She told me she couldn't say no;

That I was just like a big brother -

I asked myself: "What do I know?"

She said she was brimming with pity,

She told me she knew I was low;

T...

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Wood smoke, the good smoke,

Drifting through the trees,

Brings the haze of other days

And childhood memories.

Wood scent, the good scent,

Pungent and sublime,

Brings to mind the yearning kind

Of youth that envies time.

Flame glow, the same glow

As passion's rich red rose,

Sight and scent by nature meant

When youth to adult grows.

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Take me back to Rock and Roll,

To that music in my soul,

To the music that was ours

When we were young.

It hasn't left me yet,

Gee babe, how could I forget

Any Rock and Roll song

That was sung?

Take me back to Blueberry Hill,

Fats sure knew how to thrill,

To Buddy and the Crickets'

"Peggy Sue",

With Chuck and Jerry Lee,

Tha...

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Darling, when I hold your hand,

There's something I don't understand,

It's hard for me to say.

Though you may be close to me

Am I the person that you see

With your eyes so far away?

Where do you go when you go where you do?

Have I been fooling myself that you're true?

Behind your eyes do you see someone new?

Where do you go when you go where you do?

...

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In all honesty, I wrote this originally as a Country lyric but it seems to work well enough as a stand-alone item

of verse.  A fond Tribute to the late lamented "Man in Black".

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I put a lot of sweat into the songs I wrote,

Every last word and every last note,

So i...

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In 1944, in a night-time rehearsal for D-Day off the Devon coast - code named "Exercise Tiger" - U.S. forces were attacked and suffered more casualties than on Utah Beach.

This poem is in memory of those lives, the loss of which was kept secret for four decades. 

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Sunset slowly trims its lamp

Beyond the Start Bay Light

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Pausing high above the beach,

I watch the children out of reach,

Racing down the golden sand,

Leaping...laughing...hand-in-hand.

Children dancing in the sea

Remind me how I used to be,

Free from care and full of fun,

A happy boy beneath the sun.

Time goes by, yet time stands still,

And moment follows moment till

What is now once went before

...

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The robin sang his song to me,

When I walked out by Galmpton Quay.

Alone he sang at twilight's gleam

Beside the darkening Devon stream.

I am life, his sweet song said,

An angel's voice above my head,

Exulting in his melody,

The robin sang his song for me.

The tiny songbird touched my heart

That day beside the dreaming Dart.

My spirit soared as...

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Be still, my heart, my breath, my mind,

Be still and leave all grief behind.

Be still beyond this mortal air,

Be still in God's immortal care.

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Threadbare though his home may be,

The spider doesn't mind;

He takes to tea the passing flea

And others of his kind.

The spider can be found online,

A host beyond compare;

He's always having guests to dine,

His larder's seldom bare.

He likes to welcome company by

To watch his skill at weaving;

But when they think it's time to fly,

They fin...

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Fame is such a fickle dame,

That in her clasp who would dare claim

To stay the same?

Like love, Time holds fame in its hand

And cruelly pours away the strand

Of golden sand.

The wise man smiles and winks an eye,

And nods to bid his time goodbye,

Not asking why.

But skill, like art, survives the years,

Evoking joy and countless cheers,

...

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How odd there's no law

Against being a bore;

You're so sure in your core

That there could be.

When you're stuck with a bore

Exercising his jaw

Right next door; you're so sure

That there should be!

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