On the eve of Christmas, I'm re-posting this short poem in the spirit of remembrance. and the wonder of life's glorious renewal.

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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 h...

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Posted again - a carol to help the festive mood.

"Lift up your voice - let all rejoice

And make a joyful sound

Cast off the care Mankind must bear...

When Christmas comes around"

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Happy Christmas!

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As we look back upon

The passing of the years,

All the hopes and dreams we had - 

And all the crushing fears;

May we now look forward

To improve on thought and deed,

No matter what religion,

Status, caste or creed.

Tis said we only pass this way

But once - and if that's true,

What better than to seek what's right

In all we say and do?

If Earth...

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Give us the pleasure of a cheerful song

And spare us the measure of the tearful wrong;

Give us the words that are warming and witty

And spare us the whining of spite and self-pity.

Give us the heart to go forward with hope

And spare us the warning that we just can't cope;

Give us the memory of the best that we had

And spare us the thought that the rest is all bad;

...

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Little old lady sternly stands,

Son and daughter lending hands;

So many memories, so much done,

Battles lost and battles won.

An English girl from a country town

Who rose to power beneath the Crown.

For - or against - there's few to match her,

Happy Birthday, Lady Thatcher!

N.B.

Carp if you must but try to be witty,

Whining's depressing - and so is self-p...

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Each time I log on I find a succession

Of poems that serve to bring on depression;

Please excuse this online equivalent of an "earful" -

But for sanity's sake, can we have something cheerful?!

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I am a protesting poet

With an all-purpose axe quick to grind;

If it's unjust I'm ready to show it

Using whatever words I can find.

I will not be limited by brevity,

And sometimes get carried away;

And I've no time for frivolous levity

Making light of what I have to say.

Don't try to woo me with good humour,

I can never be influenced by that;

...

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Considering poetical recitation,

A thought came into my head:

Wouldn't there be more appreciation

 If the poets themselves were dead?

Better to be read when gone ahead,

And earn undying gratitude;

Better to be extinct than extant instead,

Than a slam-bam "I am" with attitude.

All too often the scribbler today

Posing as some meaningful poet

See...

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The famous Australian song "Waltzing Matilda" reputedly has its origins much closer to home - in Rochester, Kent as it happens,...the time of The War of the Spanish Succcession 1701. 

The Royal East Kent Regt. (aka The Buffs") performed duty as escorts to Botany Bay.  Read on...and you'll

see how these old words fit the tune.  The Duke of Marlborough was John Churchill - WSC's ancestor...

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I can understand the jobless man

Who resents being called a shirker,

But I look in vain for thanks for the brain

Whose brilliance gives work to the worker!

(N.B.  Three cheers for National Poetry Day!)

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The passing years are debit slips

In the bank of all our days;

We make withdrawals as life goes on,

When accounts close each man pays.

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CHORUS >

O Lord lead me to the right road!  O Lord lead me to the right road

O Lord lead me to the right road...that's where I long to be

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I was a sinner man - yes sir-ee... I loved sin and sin loved me

We were thicker than flies could be - be wise and heed this warning

REPEAT CHORUS

The easy life was what I sought - everything that could be bought

A...

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The current online letter from the Cyclists Touring Club refers to  www.tellusanotherone.org which has a link to Connect2Poetry and a theme devoted to Rochdale and its environs.  For info. of those of you "oop north".

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I was visiting a memorial to my late father's first cousin killed in Ireland nearly a century ago.  

Next to it was a headstone that told a desperately sad tale of another's loss. 

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Hear...

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The following was spotted on an old gravestone in a London cemetery.  I liked its brevity and the sentiment.

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"Forgive O Lord, this tribute of a tear,

Forgive O Lord, the wish they were still here"

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Humanity harbours dark and light

As the world itself heralds day and night;

The honest sun in outrageous burst

Can kindle drought, disease and thirst,

While the darkest moon can bring relief

Stealing the sun's rays like a thief.

In Nature and Man they both abide

The day and night live side by side.

Disciples of the dark and light,

We strive without an end in ...

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They were once "Conservative and Unionist"

But now it's "Con" - you get the gist:

Con-ning us all about the EU,

Con-creting the countryside we once knew,

Unlike the land they won't be missed.

They called themselves "New" Labour,

As if it was a new flavour,

But the "Guilty Party" is what they are

For what they did both near and far,

And I no longer know ...

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Thinking about Lynn Dye's "Oblivious" on WOL......

What happiness to live alone

And all the washing up's your own

To do - or leave for just a while

For later on - and then I smile

At the thought of flushing soap

From dish to sink - no time to mope;

And after that - my dirty duds

Waiting for the cleansing suds;

Domestic chores I tend to see

As inexpe...

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Just stay where you are and say where you are

And I'll come running to you

Forget what I said - I was out of my head

When I accused you of being untrue

Don't hang up on me - I was wrong I agree

Forgive me and say you'll be there

Just give me the word -  I'll take wing like a bird

With nothing between us but air

But you have to agree it wasn't just me

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Tell him -

When you're feeling sad

Tell him -

When you're feeling bad

Tell him -

When you need his arms around you

Tell him -

That you need his love

Tell him -

You thank the stars above

For that precious day...

The day he found you

Never let the chance go by

To hold him close and tell him why

You need for him to stay

Every ...

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Today marks the opening of a great time in UK sporting history and the opportunity to welcome the world to

our shores - and, in particular - to the world's most famous city.  There are "lies, damned lies and statistics"

and the politics of envy and disbelief.   But let us put them all aside for a few weeks while we marvel and

rejoice at the elevation of human aspiration in its fines...

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The victory of Bradley Wiggins in this year's Tour de France puts any coming Olympic

success somewhat in the shade, so great are the demands made on participants in that

famous 100-year old cycle road race.  Imagine a Frenchman scoring a century at Lords...

each day for weeks on end!   Here is my personal tribute to True Brit. Grit! 

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Thanks to bobevansmusic.com for the tune and the version you will hear!

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Go on - walk away!

Should I beg you to stay

When you say

You're leaving for good?

You've told me before...

Many times - and what's more -

I don't think you will

Or you would.

Go on - if you dar...

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The Olympic Torch - so I am told - won't be coming my way

No chance of a fine white tracksuit:  perhaps another day?

I play at how it might have been - with my own Olympic flame -

But  a cigarette lighter waved aloft  just doesn't seem the same!

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Ashley Young and Ashley Cole

Between them couldn't find the goal

We would love  - but seldom get

Kicks high and wide into the net.

Charlie Mitten of old Man. United

Was their penalty king - superbly sighted,

With a penalty hat-trick against Aston Villa,

He showed how to be a killer-driller!

No 'keeper can ever hope to  leap

And reach the ball - le...

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I've travelled  down the major highways

To self-important places;

And I've spent my time in minor byways,

Meeting much-loved faces,

But no matter where I choose to roam,

I end up at the start,

Always finding my way home

To the back streets of my heart.

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O sun tanned youth

Who fired my heart,

Never meant to meet or part,

How many times you'd pass me by,

And leave me wishing I could die.

O brown faced lad

Were you aware

Of this admirer's silent stare?

Were there times when you were near

To saying something I might hear?

O golden boy

Now old like me,

Do you perhaps look back and see

...

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One of the great cricketers and cricket commentators, his decision to retire from UK cricket

commentary was a sad occasion for all who love the game - and his inimitable "delivery".

This short tribute was written at the time.

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With a tone...

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A tiny grey mouse likes to visit my flat

No doubt aware that I don't keep a cat;

The landlord's long lease puts a block on all pets -

For my timorous guest that's as good as it gets.

The woman occupying the studio above

Complained of a rat (try Specsavers, love!);

She went to the agents and gave them what for -

And "Pest Control" followed, to knock on the door.

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Young boy and old duffer

Looking on;

A shout...a cheer...

Where's time gone?

Young girl and old lady

Passing by;

A smile...a wave...

The blink of an eye.

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Re-posted from 31/5/2012 to salute the Jubilee June holiday week-end.

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Dear valued visitor...

So glad to see you here;

The warmest of warm welcomes

In this very special year -

When we celebrate a diamond Queen

Upon an ancient throne,

While Olympic jewels strive to ...

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Dear valued visitor...

So glad to see you here,

The warmest of warm welcomes

In this very special year -

When we celebrate a diamond Queen

Upon an ancient throne,

While Olympic gems will have a sheen

With royalty of their own.

Our land is proudly on parade,

Its capital playing host,

With traditions that will never fade

(Though it's not our...

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The happiest discoveries are often made in pubs - and one of the happiest for me was

an introduction to the music of George Lloyd.  A true prodigy, his youthful career was to be

blighted by WW 2 service with the Royal Marines on Arctic Convoy duty when his ship was

torpedoed and he narrowly escaped death.  His post-war career was overtaken by the

fashion for atonal music and ne...

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Recently, I posted the words, now here's the song...a breezy alternative to the admirable profundity often found on WOL.  Recording/vocal credit goes to Pete Dymond in Bristol.

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I thought I'd post this as a gentle antidote to the harsher world.  The tune (a personal favourite)

is adapted from the music of Kingsley Mellanby, a composer from Hampshire, UK.

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The sun shone out all around me

When you walked int...

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I never gave much thought to love

It was a stranger to my heart

I never knew what life could be

And I thought I was smart!

I didn't care that love wasn't there

What you don't have you don't miss

I didn't know what it was to share

The commitment in a kiss

I never gave love the time of day

Or the things that lovers do

I never learnt how to act t...

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For Jack Lytton - brother-in-law - who has just signed off this life to chart the great unknown.

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It's the tang of the spray

On a bright summer's day

When you're carried along by the breeze.

It's the bite of the wind

When your face feels skinned,

Salted by cold winter seas.

It's th...

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Greg Freeman's "Duty" reminded me of some old lines I penned about Lord Nelson.

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Lord Nelson was a Norfolk boy,

A Norfolk boy was he,

And he sailed into our English hearts

Aboard the "Vic-tor-ee"!

Lord Nelson was a parson's son,

A p...

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I was cycling along carefully, mentally flossing,

When I saw straight ahead a pedestrian crossing.

But if you are uncertain what I am about,

Let me remove any shadow of doubt.

I refer to the facility supplied by the law,

That's meant to give sensible foot passengers the floor;

But by chance as it happened - and looking at a loss,

At that moment a pedestrian see...

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I once knew a guy you would never call shy

From the way that he acted and dressed;

He'd say "It's no shock when the world wants to mock...

I've been called the worst things by the best".

Then there was this gal - she was more than a pal,

By nature most generously blessed.

I'd buy her a drink and she'd say with a wink -

"I've been called the worst things by the ...

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Railway station platforms bring partings back to me,

The traces of the those lonely places locked in memory.

How many times we stood together, awkward, you and I,

Each entrapped in misery's web of how to say goodbye.

Now those days are long ago, the platforms owned by others,

In their turn seeking out the words that brothers need for brothers. 

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Put away those negative thoughts, it's always best you should,

Don't let them creep into each new found day;

Like germs, they can infect you and never do you good,

And left untreated, find a way to stay.

Ac-cen-tu-ate the pos-i-tive - so the old song goes...

And push aside those nagging doubts and fears;

The thoughts that bring you happiness will wipe away yo...

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The preacher's eyes had a fire that seemed to burn right through,

"The dead are all around us - watching what we do"!

I must confess

To a degree of stress

When I recall his words

In the loo.

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Consider the guy

Whose prize

Is the size

Of his freehold

That draws many eyes..

Whilst he seems

Free from cares

About who would

Go shares

In the vacant space

He owns upstairs!

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Keen-eyed keeper of the skies,

Lord of everything that flies,

There's no way your watchful prey

Will wait to pass the time of day.

Patrolling country, cliff and city,

You were not designed for pity;

Not for you the hurting heart,

You were born a deadly dart.

Nature fashioned hawk and prey

To keep the balance in her way;

Not for you to reason w...

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How can love cover the distance?

How can love manage the space?

The memory's a miracle worker

But it doesn't make up for your face.

For a lifetime you lived close by me

I saw you most every day

And I thought that you'd always be there

But suddenly you went away

You can't put a price on the life we knew

But when you left that life was through

E...

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In olden days, those golden days,

When trust was the public watchword,

Lubricating work-worn wheels

And not just some hotchpotch word,

As safe as the Bank of England, sir!

Were words you could rely on,

And those safeguarding public wealth

We never dreamt to spy on.

But times can change - my, how they change,

And beyond banking's portals

Those ...

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(or what if he really doesn't know the answer?!)

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"O say, do you see..." were the proud words composed

When America's great journey to freedom began.

O say, do you see the hooded head hosed

Now America feels free to ill-treat when it can?

O say, do you see when a president declares

It's OK to half-drown...

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If you're in line for a change of scene

With others of like mind

With attentive staff and lots to do

But no need to unwind

A break in sunny Cuba...

It's hot on any day

Rendition Flights are offering

A trip to Guantanamo Bay.

No hassle with your booking

They'll take you right away

You can even go via other lands

To maximise your stay

Sampling...

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As spring approaches, here's a ballad for all who may have been unlucky in love.

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Winter days are drifting by

Each one passing with a sigh

How cold the days have grown

The love you thought was here to stay

Has somehow sadly slipped away

And ...

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