As we pause and take stock in present difficulty

There's something that impresses me;

Whoever we are and whatever our role

Happiness is a place called WOL.

Reaching out across land and sea

It's somewhere we're content to be

Whatever we write, whatever our goal

We arrive in hope on WOL

So - let's raise a glass to one another

Sister to sister - brother to brother

In thi...

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As for this virus - I don't dread it,

I dread the idiots who spread it;

Common preservation far from mind

They're out there and you'll find

They think that they know better...

That their "freedom" has its fetter,

To be shaken from the wrists

As they wave protesting fists.

Well, if its freedom you would save

Then avoid an early grave

For your sake and those you see

...

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It seems that these words keep up with the times.  But as long as there is LIFE there is hope; something we should all bear in mind while recalling difficult times in our past.

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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 knew who had to g...

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A personal favourite from my batch of seasonal songs - originally written for all those unable to be at  

home for Christmas, but who keep the best of what it means in their imaginations: now - with added

meaning - given a fresh "airing" at a particularly relevant time around the world. 

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At home the Christmas snow is ...

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An annual reminder of the positive message that Christmas brings to us all.  Sing along!

1.

Lift up your voice - let all rejoice

And make a joyful sound

Cast off the care most folk (alt. mankind) must bear

When Christmas comes around

2.

Look to your hearts - that's where love starts

Where Life itself begins...

And you shall know that faith will show

Forgiveness f...

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Poetry can be perfidious,

Invasive or insidious,

Insulting or invideous

And occasionally just plain hideous.

But all are deemed acceptable

As long as the work's fastidious!

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Well, here we are, looking towards an unusual festive season - but let's also look on the bright side. 

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At home, all alone

So sad on my own

I was wondering how things were so wrong

When your face filled my mind

Loving eyes to remind

Me of what I had missed all along

That night before Christm...

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Spare me your ditty of self-pity...

Your ballad of self-obsession;

Be aware this life we share

Is a "sad and glad" procession

That we all join from another's loin

Without a say in the matter

So make the best of all the rest

And leave out the "me...me" chatter!

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Men are the donkeys women hitch a ride on through their lives

Women are the workhorses to keep men stabled as their wives.

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The legal side of love and romance -

 And this is matter of factual......

Is when to the altar you're led a dance

And they become contractual.

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Is belief the thief of rational thinking?

Is it rather an elixir we each choose for drinking?

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From a previous Remembrance Day - 

For Armistice Day 2020 - in memory of 2nd Lieutenant Ernest Valentine Venner, aged 24, The Rifle Brigade, killed during the Battle of Delville Wood, The Somme Campaign - August 18, 1916.

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There's so much gloom about life being spouted

Please excuse me if I choose to digress,

But this much truth should also be touted

Adaptability leads ultimately to success.

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To be sung along to Old Blue Eyes' great hit "New York, New York".  Sing along.  keep smiling!!  

Start spreading the news

It ain't gone away

Show that we want no part of it

Covid Nineteen !

We can't pick and choose

If we do, it'll stay

With us right in the heart of it

Covid Nineteen !

I want to wake up every morning that's for sure

With no wish to add to its greedy s...

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In these dull days of ennui - seeking a task or two

I found myself wondering - and before I knew

It came to me clearly that this much is true

We all have a job of work to do.

We each plough our own furrow, me and you,

And sow seed  and deed our whole life through

Depending on our talents and what we pursue,

Doing our best in life's hullabaloo.

But whatever we're b...

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A lyric from other days that seems appropriate at this time.

...................................................................................

Be grateful for the dark days,

And when they come along

Don't waste your time in worrying

Just how it all went wrong.

Be grateful for the dark days

And when they come in sight

Don't devote time despairing

Whether things wil...

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It's said the power to be alone

Is managed by very few

But I'm content to be on my own

And don't find it hard to do

Very handy when extremis exists

And the sheep instinct kicks in

To contribute to the plague that persists

With its deadly rictus grin

I lean out of my window here

To watch the world go by

And manage a silent heartfelt cheer

As above the bird...

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Watch out for the stupid strangers

And what they have to share;

Take care with their barefaced dangers,

Wherever you go - beware!

They like to get up close unmasked

And give you what they've got - unasked!

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Did Shakespeare go to university

To ensure his place in immortality?

Did Gray possess a PHD

When he sat in Stoke Poges cemetery?

Did Hardy feel the need to blush

At the unqualified talent of "The Darkling Thrush"

Did Kipling require an honours degree

To see his star rise permanently?

Did Masefield boast some intellectual score

To write of the sea and so much more?

In ...

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Wherever we go

Goes the ego,

Admitting we can never bid

Farewell to its companion, the id.

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It's been said that revenge is sweet

But it's neat and often sweeter

Just to press "delete"

And exclude egregious excreta.

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I've just had a visit from pest control

You know - those people who take the role

Of addressing nocturnal visits by mice

(And maybe other things not seen as "nice").

It seems another tenant made a complaint

About an absence of rodent restraint.

I live in a house two centuries old

And frankly would be surprised to be told

That it was free from timorous wee beasties

That s...

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There's a lot of stuff out there about love

And probably more about sex -

With its trendy reliance

On appliance and science

When practice is all that it "teks"!!   

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Do apologists get out of bed each day

To make sure we hear what they say?

Now pursuing perceived crimes...

From distant days and different times.

They raise their supplicant banner high

Beneath its folds they loudly cry

Their endless shame at what was done

That lets them profit from what was won.

One thing seems plain and should be said -

Let the dead say sorry to the de...

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When the fire within me dies

And my spirit flies beyond the skies

To reach that unknown place that lies

Past earthly need of ears and eyes,

This much I know - this much is plain -

That I shall be but born again

To take my place in the timeless train

Of Creation's everlasting chain.

So, save your tears...your sad goodbyes

This breaking of familiar ties;

Be comforted by...

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Much has been made

Of the part love has played

In the course of human existence.

Once lost, one thing's plain -

That to find it again

Requires some personal persistence!

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I was clearing out old papers when I came across the following poem attributed to "Anon" which

had been a part of a late elder sister's funeral ceremony.  It seems very appropriate to share it in

these difficult days.

....................................

Miss me but let me go

But when I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no riles in a gloom filled ro...

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The ready expression of gratitude

May sometimes seem a platitude

But needs must

Before we come to dust

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With a fond nod to a great "standard" from the past.  Play it Boris!  Will it go viral, I wonder??!!

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We must remember this

A kiss can't be a kiss

A sigh can't be a sigh

The government rules apply

Here's why - so we get by

It's now a brand new story

In this land of hope and glory

A case of do or die

So we do...

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There is a letter in the latest edition of a magazine issued to London police pensioners that describes the

experience of the correspondent and a colleague at the time of the Brixton riots when "Two days  after we

had been bombarded with bricks, and anything else the rioters could lay their hands on", they were back on

patrol in Brixton market when they were approached by a young black la...

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Sure to offend some...but hey -

I was at the bar of the Legion minding my own business the other evening when I was groped by a distinctly unappealing member of opposite sex.

"You're cute" she says, "have you got a phone number?"

"Sure.  Have you got a pen?"

"Yep...I've got a pen."

"Then you'd better get back in it before the farmer misses you."

Cost me a knee in the nuts, but he...

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Have you noticed - that right from birth

Human kind is meant for mirth.

Before a baby knows its place

You'll see a smile upon its face,

And when a child is growing fast

A smile's the thing that's sure to last

When life is hard - not being kind

The face will show how folk can find

A refuge from the grief and care

That somehow seems we all must share.

When pressures see...

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Sure to offend some but, hey..........

I was talking to a young woman in the Legion last night. 

She said "If you lost a few pounds, had a hair cut and

cleaned yourself up, you'd look all right."

I said "If I did that, I'd be talking to your friends over there instead of you."

Cost me a fat lip - but, hey...

when you're over seventy.....who cares?

................................

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Where you are born is the passing partner of chance;

Of whom you are born is the invitation to the dance.

...................................................................................... 

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The words come down the centuries - as relevant now as they ever were.

"We have a natural right to make use of our pens, as of our tongue: at our peril, risk and hazard."

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."

"There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times."

"Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues and earthquakes."

"We c...

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The other day i counted the WOL blogs

In total: forty nine;

There was only one you couldn't like

And that was one of mine.

...................................................................

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From the shade provided by tinted glass

It was an opportunity too good to see pass.

Beyond stood two officers of the Law

The perfect target to get what for --- 

According to what the Butler saw..

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Those who demand respect rarely deserve it;

Those who deserve respect rarely demand it.

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The other evening, intent on avoiding the repetition and depression of news reports on the 24/.7 media

"not-so-merry-go-round", I took a trip back in time via the DVD of the last musical that Astaire and Rogers

made and found myself enjoying the additional presence of Oscar Levant.  He appeared, invariably as the

disenchanted, sharp-tongued pal - reflecting much of his own personality.  H...

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You shall,,

I shan't.

You can,

I can't.

You will,

I won't.

You do,

I don.t.

You may,

I might.

No relationship in sight!

............................................

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A liberal landscape gardener

Achieved some sort of renown

Designing each plot with displays of pot...

He was called Culpability Brown !

...................................................................

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There was once regard given to "choice"

In life's give and take it had a voice;

But now it suffers a transformation,,

Defined instead as "discrimination"..

...................................................................

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"Procrastinate" = to defer action.

................................................................

If procrastination is the thief of time,

Then to aid and abet it must be a crime!

Let this be an admonition

To each pusillanimous politician.

................................................................

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I quite enjoy wealthy people

Even though I'll never be one.

I see them like a fairy story -

And those are always fun.

They occupy a different world

With various types of wealth;

Some inherited, some from talent,

And some from silent stealth.

I gaze into their goldfish bowl

At what they do - or don't.

Sometimes wishing I would be them

But more often glad I...

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English folk would bend the knee

For a sovereign or a bride to be;

But there are those whom it would please

To see all England on its knees.

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Am I equal to Albert Einstein?

Am I equal to Usain Bolt?

Do these questions (just two samples)

Give your intellect a jolt?

Am I equal to Her Majesty

Or Jeff Bezos and his cash?

Rupert Murdoch with his empire?

Sense says such claims are rash.

Being equal before the law...

With talent given opportunity

These two we shouldn't ignore 

For the reality of social unity

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Moan and groan,

Whine and whinge

Grate on the ear

Like a rusty hinge.

..................................

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Signs of virtue however small

Maybe thought good overall

But the selective sort 

With its sanctimonious retort

Doesn't represent virtue at all.

.....................................................

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Spotted in my London street - a van from a well known plumbing outfit bearing the registration mark -

BOG 1

...............................

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An evaluation of the wider ramifications of history................................................................................

The advent of the BLM movement and the assaults, physical and verbal, on the visible evidence of the past

history of the British Empire had me considering a hitherto overlooked/ignored aspect of its existence, not

least with regard to its relationship with bl...

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Please complain to anyone who shares your revulsion and distress at this content.

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Anyone who jumps off a bridge in Paris is in Seine!

Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.

Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

Definition of a will: :a dead give away.

Wi...

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Warning - some viewers may find the following content distressing, disturbing and likely to offend, coming 

as it does from a more robust time.  (Well, you have to laugh, don't you?)

.......................................................................................................................

Definition of a shotgun wedding:  a case of wife or death.

A man needs a mistress jus...

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Justice delayed is justice denied

............................................................................

Despite not yet being tried and convicted

A woman has had a year's jail term inflicted.

Despite reservations, I feel conflicted

At this long delayed justice we see depicted.

Even if the accused woman abused her bail

The final result would still find her in jail

No ...

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Excuse me if I don't wilt

Under post-colonial guilt.

History is chapter and verse of the past,

For better or worse, its die is cast.

If wounds persist requiring sutures

Then let those sutures be better futures

For logic will say that this much is real:

Keep picking away and no wound can heal.

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Common sense can be heard to beseech:

What has been done to freedom of speech?

Now the prisoner of opinion and offence

None of which makes very much sense.

Words chosen have to be - shall we say "foxy"

To avoid the wrath of the me-me orthodoxy,

Like the Hays Office that controlled what was seen

In days long gone on the cinema screen

When couples on a bed had their feet on t...

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I wish for a cure

For what is obscure

...................................

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I can't help but notice the proliferation of signs that are evident around virtually every road and road junction.

Here's my suggestion for impatient drivers wherever they are.

CARING UNDERTAKERS LOVE CARELESS OVERTAKERS!

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Great writers are relevant to any age >>>>>>

"The Americans are certainly great hero-worshippers, and always take heroes from the criminal classes."

Oscar Wilde (from a letter).

"Washington has too many bronze generals."

Oscar Wilde (in conversation).

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Criminal deceit is out on the street

Along with its partner in crime called conceit.

The far right's in plain sight,

The far left's more discreet.

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Taking a lead from the excellent JC....and with a nod to a famous song from Al Jolson.  Sing along!

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Foot, foot, footsie - I sigh

Foot, foot, footsie, - Oh my!

Even though the virus now forsakes me

Away from you no words can tell how sad it makes m...

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Anyone with an interest in the American Civil War

Who fought where and when, and what for...

Will know of the Massachusetts Fifty Fourth

A regiment that fought and showed its worth.

Strange that BBC online made no mention -

In the circumstances a very curious abstention -

Of the BLM daubing of its famous US memorial!

My thoughts on that are inquisitorial..

Just what was it ...

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Here, in the embrace of England, with its detailed history of "class"

There's a movement abroad intended to make equality come to pass.

But that presumption tends to present two rather pertinent questions:

Equality with whom?  Equality with what?  PLEASE SUBMIT SUGGESTIONS.

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Equality is a hocus-pocus word

Crusades in its name are frankly absurd.

A flight of fancy...a myth...a mystery -

A "never been known" throughout human history.

In reality here's a reasoned reference:

Those who claim it aim for preference.

Better by far for social unity

To strive for equal opportunity!

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As I plough on through my 8th decade it seems to be that the various "isms" that have obtained currency in 

the latter decades of my lifetime are based in nebulous notions, the foremost of which is that of "equality".

I dare anyone to define that single word in any way that is recognisabe, or achievable in life.

It has certainly never been known on any continent, in any country or any cul...

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What to make of the desecration of Churchill's statue?  Perhaps it's best to think that WSC would have merely

jammed his cigar firmly in one corner of his mouth and growled "Let 'em do what they think best. That's the

democracy that I and this country fought to preserve."  

But there is a lingering contemptuous distaste for the ignorance of the fact that without that old man and his

pu...

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The following is a piece of fiction within its context but I wish it had been seen at the time in place of the

inflammatory assumption and supposition.

"A man's suspicious behaviour in Minneapolis led to the required attendance of police to investigate.

The ensuing interaction between the suspect and the officers resulted in the former being held on the

ground under forcible restraint,...

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The other side of the coin that rarely gets any currency in a country that has arbitrary death in its DNA.

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One hundred and thirty one left for work

During the year two oh one nine.

They never returned to kith and kin,

Nor did any retire or resign.

"Killed in the line of duty" remains the log line

Added ...

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 Don't talk to me of "due process"

When I'm marching with the mob;

It messes with my actions 

And how I view my job

Of trashing up the neighbourhood

And plundering the shops,

Making hay as the sunshine sets

On the guilt or innocence of cops.

...............................................................

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Say what you must

And do what you can -

That's my idea

Of an admirable man

......................................

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They say "Everything comes to those who wait"

And that includes the farewell breath;

But most would have it hesitate -

That final curtain called death.

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Can you separate love from lust?

Religion would remonstrate: "We must"!

But how better to put both to the test

Than try to work out which is best.

What joy to know they're hand in hand

To lead us to that promised land

That's often sought but seldom found

When sentenced to remain Earth-bound.

Lust has its place to draw us in,

There's much to say for so-called sin;

Then...

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The lines below are a result of an incident just witnessed in the street outside my flat. 

I've just been leaning out of my bathroom window

Taking a breath of much needed air

When a young woman with a dog paused below

Looking on as her mutt did its business there.

I watched, somehow knowing she wasn't prepared

To clean up when the doggy deed was complete

And sure eno...

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When humanity and nature become corrupted

The health of both is interrupted

And hidden forces find a way

To grab their chance to make both pay.

The unlucky are like lambs to slaughter

While the rest seek hope in soap and water.

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Shh. now..they kept it quiet,. 

But don't keep it under your hat;.

I got the startling news just now,

The first I knew about that!.

It wasn't reported in the papers  

No mention on the news,

But it's a fact, not silly capers,

(No, I've not been on the booze!).

The world knows about Piccadilly,

Its famous history in London Town

Where for centuries the free of spirit

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In anticipation of the accusatory sycophantic sob

Let me state at once that the NHS does a marvellous job.

But I have this nagging concern about those helping hands

How come so many are imported from distant far needier lands,

Whose people are now without the medical help that they deserve

And when falling sick have lost the ones who'd help them hold their nerve?

Why have our "pa...

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Come, take a walk with me in beautiful South Devon - starting high above Kingswear and following the track that leads down to the coast and the estuary of the River Dart where the Mewstone Rock lies opposite the 

old wartime coastal defences.  Let your mind float free in the air, unencumbered by four walls  Walk along

as often as you please.

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I get email promotions about gadgets and gizmos seeking funding.  The latest aims to "treat your fat" via the

"Cryofreeze" method.  The link provides big glossy pics (plus prices and promises!) - New York/USA based,

promoting a waist-belt device and accessories that are offered as aids to reduce fat via so-called "freezing".. 

A thought about how frozen water becomes ice has me wondering ...

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On the few occasions I now look at the main media news I am assailed by the latest fatality rate from Covid 19

bad enough in itself, but I find myself getting mad at the utterly unnecessary use of the phrase "sadly died".

Not sadly---tragically!.  But why use either word at all?.  The opposite of sad is happy - and no one would

expect to hear that victims have "happily died".  That conjur...

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Let's all cheer up at the recollection of those in the media who don't always get it right.

Racing commentator watching jockey Tony McCoy in a formidable lead: "Tony has a quick look between his 

legs and likes what he sees."

Interviewer asking racing driver Ralf Schumacher at a Grand Prix: "What does it feel like being rammed up the

backside by Barrichello?"

Racing pundit Brough Sc...

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If you are feeling obsessed with self-doubt and anxiety - and who isn't? - then bear in mind this excellent

advice from that great worldly-wise wit of yesteryear, Dorothy Parker.

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

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It has been observed that if women seek a quiet time all they have to do is hang around with men.

Men won't say a thing unless there's food in mind or the house is on fire.  Women don't read in the

bathroom because men allow them solitude wherever they want it,  It's harder for men to find

peace and quiet. The loo is probably the only refuge where they can be alone, but even there they

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War may be the ultimate insanity but there can be righteous madness in it,

We British are slow to anger but once roused our aim is to win it.

The elation of a nation that prevails can be derided

By those who call it jingoism in the freedom that's provided.

But celebration embraces commemoration for those who suffered and died

So feel free to call it what you want when tyranny is den...

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It's strange how nightmare times can turn into the stuff of dreams

And how in the pitch black of nighttime something brighter gleams.

Sinking back beneath the duvet, my tired head welcoming the pillow

I seemed to see another life and hear the sound of leather on willow

Through closed eyes helped by the shade of a tightly drawn-down blind.

I saw the images of the scenes I once k...

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Others can make you good;

Others can make you bad;

Others can make you miserable;

Others can make you glad.

You'll note I've mentioned others

But this is what is meant:

Just don't depend upon others

If you aim to be content!

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When life leads you a not so merry dance

As a partner of passing circumstance,

Step out to meet its fitful tune

With hope and you will find that soon

The dance will change - and you will too -

So keep in step and follow through.

Until the not so merry dance

Comes to an end and life will chance

To change its tune and see your feet

Skip readily to a happier beat.. 

.......

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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

Maybe we could

Maybe we would

Always be tender

It's good that we should

When love comes so rarely

It's misunderstood

Remember - I love you today

The smile that I know

The way you say hello

The thrill...

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Call it artistic attrition

But I decline to budge.

In a poetry competition

Who's there to judge the judge?

......................................................  .

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We English can take a lot of stick

That often misses what makes us tick.

Our reticence to boast and preen

Can be misunderstood and seen

As arrogance that needs pulling down

From those who view it with a frown,

So used are they to those who brag

And spare no chance to wave a flag.

With a knowing smile we carry on

Whether humble goose or noble swan,

Confronting the fash...

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I see Greta Thunberg's back online

On both climate change and the virus...

Talking about how it would be fine

To have the two combined inspire us

To make this world a better place

In terms that suggest many things

That keep control of the human race

But not those pulling her strings!

..............................................................

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The wife's back on the warpath again. 

She was up for making a sex movie last night and all i did was suggest we should hold auditions for her part.

..............................................................................................................................................................................  

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Living this life from day to day

Let's beware of three words:

Could, might and may.

Let us be careful not to react

Like startled birds

And regard them as fact.

It is essential not to take fright

When they appear...

Could, may and might

But instead let's behave like wise people should

Resisting false fear

Of might, may and could.

.....................

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Tell her -

When you're feeling sad

Tell her -

When you're feeling bad

Tell her -

When you want her arms around you.

Tell her -

That you need her love

Tell her -

You thank the stars above

For that precious day...

The day when true love found you.

Never let the chance go by

To hold her close and tell her why

You need for her to stay

Every day an...

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In the interest of raising a smile in these wayward times, here's something guaranteed to offend SOMEONE!

My missus packed my bags and as I walked out the front door she screamed "I wish you a slow 

and painful death, you bastard!".

"Oh", I replied, "so now you want me to stay!".

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A wave can mean hello...

A wave can mean goodbye,

But it's as well that we should know

The difference - and this is why;

Especially now in this time of dread

To use common sense and savvily save

Our courage and keep our collective head:

Prepared for a returning "hi" after the "goodbye" wave

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Clutching our ticket to life,

We wait at the station

Where risks are rife

As we seek our next destination.

The ticket is not marked "Class",

We take our chances to go on as one,

Hoping to continue the journey and pass 

To a safe arrival when it's done.

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Tea for one

And one for tea

Just stay at home

Act sensibly

It makes sense

As far as I can see

There's no requisit

For anyone to visit

No caring or sharing

No nosy folk staring

We can enjoy enough

Of the stuff for three!

Earl Grey for you

PG for me

Semi-skimmed will do

(No lactose-free!)

Now let's see

How healthy we can be. 

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Right you lot...sing along in accordance with the latest government instruction !

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Tea for two

And two for tea

Me for you

And you for me

Can't you see

How healthy we would be?

Nobody near us

To see us or hear us

No friends or relations

On viral visitations

Can't you see how happy we would be.

...

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OFFICIAL - for strict compliance until further notice.

If you feel a sudden unease

And an overwhelming need to sneeze,

Speedily settle the matter at issue

By sticking your nose into a tissue.

Then throw it away and understand

It's vital to vigorously scrub each hand.

Steer clear of germ and acquaintance alike

And tell this virus "On yer bike!"

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This Wuhandemic

Is now totemic

Of an epidemic

That is systemic -

And points to this panic-buying polemic.

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I find in retirement my lifestyle situation

Now provides a surprise reason for self-motivation.

Restricted by personal physical restraint

I find I'm advised not to do what I cain't!

In domestic terms it's "make do and mend"

An instruction to which, I (with difficulty) bend.

I accept it's no cause for wider elation

But I'm happy "as is" in my self-isolation.

...................

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Those of a certain vintage will remember with glee the various scabrously funny songs by Tom Lehrer.  I

still recall doubling up with laughter at some of the content.  One for the atomic age was "We'll All Go Together When We Go".  Then there was "The Masochism Tango" and "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park".  In grateful

memory of the great man at this time, may I draw WOL readers to his hugely ...

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With a deserving nod to the late lamented Big O.

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Don't be any dumber than you are

Self-isolation shows the way

Or be any glummer than you are

Live your life day by day...only the lonely

Only the lonely

Know the way I feel at home

Only the lonely 

Know what it's like when you can't roam,

Th...

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I wonder, when she wakes in the morning

Has she been dreaming of me...

When the darkness makes way for the dawning

Is my face the face she would see?

I wonder, do her days feel longer

Are her nights over too soon.....

Does the memory of our love get stronger

When lit by the light of the moon?

My world is on hold and it seems that

There's little in life to be fo...

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It's always nice

To get well-meaning advice;

And here's my own:

Sometimes - think twice!

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How glad i am that I happened to be

In the England I knew and used to see,

When roads and lanes were mostly free...

Hurrying home from school to tea.

How glad i am that I used to know

Those places where I would come and go,

Up hillsides high...over bridges low

To see my England on daily show.

How glad i am to recall country air

Like champagne when cycling every...

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Greta Thunberg, the media's muppet,

(On anonymous strings,this well-travelled puppet),

Tells us here that the world is on fire;

Anyone got a boat for hire?

Whiie a media hack was on the box

Saying Russia and China are in the stocks

For causing the storms from off the Atlantic,

But excuse me if I appear pedantic -

The prevailing winds from off that ocean

Are westerly - no...

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In the cause of lightening up someone's day - read on.

A boy asked his Granny.  "Have you seen my pills.  They're labelled LSD".

"F..k the pills", Granny replied, "have you seen the dragons in the kitchen?!"

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Age is but a number,

Death is but a phase;

Allotted time spent awake or in slumber

To mark our passage through mortal days.

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Let's you and  me go

Together we go

Eagerly exercising inflated ego !

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Authority has a duty far and near

To keep river and stream channels clear.

To that end I duly make a mention

Of that which surely needs attention.

The flow must find its way unimpeded

To where its content is most needed

The ocean waits - with a beckoning arm

To where the flood will do least harm.

To do less earns guilt and rightly so

When the growing silt interrupts the ...

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You are the music in my heart

With every beat I feel a part

Of some romantic symphony (alt. rhapsody)

Written just for you and me

You are the prelude bringing joy

The magic touch that you employ

Never ever out of tune

And never will I be immune

And so I see - it's you and me

Meant to be in harmony

You are the melody in my mind

And with each note I seem to...

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By all means...

Let's keep our plastic out of the oceans

And our carbon out of the sky;

But there's never a mention

Of what's going on with the sun,

And I admit to wondering why.

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Were you around in nineteen fifty six

For Mother Nature's conjuring tricks?

When they might have rung the warning bells

For what befell old Tunbridge Wells

That distant August bank holiday that saw

The likes of which wasn't recalled before.

And far beyond that Kentish city

The wrath of nature showed no pity;

In town and country - high and low

Piling up the heaps of hail ...

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These lines form a comment of mine elsewhere on WOL.

Life is a frail and passing thing,

To which, like love and hope, we cling.

When healthy we barely spare a thought

For that which fate and fortune have brought;

But all things must come to an end

And our pleasure must be in the spend.

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 I wandered lonely in the crowd

That ebbed and flowed in overspills

Some striding upright:...others bowed,

As if overcome by nature's ills.

Across the pavement....in the street,

My heart stepped out to join those feet..

.

Downtrodden or well-heeled, shoddy or fine, , 

Each seemed to wink as if to say

You're not alone - come join our line

Here is where you need to stay

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In an age when we're constantly steered towards giving,

It's worth bearing in mind the cost of living!

The announcement that the BBC seeks a £3 increase in the licence fee cost - sending it close to £160 per annum - was a salutary reminder of the increased cost of living. Some 58 years ago, the BBC sought an

increase in the said annual licence fee from £4 to £5 - despite opposition by MPs...

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Were you around back in nineteen sixty two

I mean mentally aware and not just alive?

Then these lines may mean something to you

With their tale of political duck and dive.

Back then the Common Market in question

Comprised a total nation tally of six,

But even then there was the suggestion

That we could face a "political fix" (read "tricks").

Lord "Clem" Attlee ann...

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When I see the words "Poetry Competition"

I envisage the portals of poetical perdition.

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I' ve just been reading an online bit of news

That has a fiction writer a bit quick to accuse

The coin marking Brexit lacking a punctuation sign

That actually isn't necessary - what's shown is just fine.

When content is added  that uses the word "and" -

Continuing a sequence that goes hand in hand.

Then there is no need for a punctuation mark;

"Semantics and pedantics" - alway...

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We've developed a frightened vulgarian society

And lost all sensible sense of propriety.

It's goodbye to good cheer

And hello to fear;

Have you seen the latest?

It's called "eco-anxiety"!!

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A personal "take" on a show song.

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You are the music in my heart

With each beat I feel a part

Of some romantic symphony

Written just for you and me

You are the prelude that brings joy

The magic touch that you employ

Never ever out of tune

And never will I be immune

And so I see - it's you and me

Mean...

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Hardly a day goes by in this snowflake age

Without a media rant and rage

And repeated warnings of this and that

While the media moguls are growing fat

On what they feed the gullible masses

With what they presume successfully passes

For fact to trouble the susceptible mind

That wakes each morning expecting to find

The result from posters I can clearly recall

Tha...

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Too many people go travelling

Taking to the air

With the atmosphere unravelling -

They do not seem to care

Hoping to help their personal woes

By visiting distant shores

That's the way the ozone goes....

Vapour-trails by the scores

Spending cash to head away

At any chance they get

I'd much prefer they made my day

<But I wouldn't place a bet>

On the...

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Music is medicine for the mind

A drug - but of the healing kind

That can serve to sooth the savage breast

Or see a soul rise to the test.

And if words are added to adorn

A tune from inspiration born

Something magical can glisten

To make us see even as we listen.

Amazing Grace of a timeless sort

That survives to give solace and support;

So let us give thanks ...

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