Biography

'Performer and Writer of Plays, Poetry, Song & Screen'.

Back Passages

Doug Berry's back catalogue: https://healthinharmonyacupuncture.co.uk/writing.php

Samples from the Back Passages by Doug Berry

On Such a So-So Day I rose, neither late nor early Ate porridge, neither watery nor milky Drank coffee, neither hot nor cold On this, such a so-so day The weather outside, was neither bright nor dreary Passing traffic, neither light nor heavy Faces on the people, neither down nor cheery On this, such a so-so day The day passed, neither eventful nor without comment Night fell, neither noisily nor silent Sleep came, neither peaceful nor turbulent On this, such a Neither here nor there, Fair to middling, Run of the mill, So So Day What are You Doing? (Nothing) Without Nothing there can be no things… It is from Nothing that everything begins I mean without before the Big Bang, Just where would we be? The Ancients said the Dao gave birth to One, One to Two and Two to the Three And from all this, birth to all Things, That includes you and me Everything stands next to Nothing It is the emptiness of the cup, That allows it to be filled Or the void of the mind, Which allows for connection, To the Universal Field The use of zero became the hero, Finally making things add up correctly And on which they then could be, Developed experimentally Although I'd like to see, Less of the nil, on the score-line, Of Coventry City's final entry And a few more noughts, On the left-hand side, Of my bank balance statement Instead of the nada, nowt, zilch and diddly-squat, All terms used to denote, it's not got a lot However, Nothing is also an imposter, A trickster an illusionist As Nothing is actually impossible, Although Nothing can’t be achieved Nothing compares when Nothing else matters, When there’s Nothing left to lose nor fear So Nothing is in fact everything my Friend, But just can’t always be seen The vacuum making things clearer The bigger picture residing within, every living Being And as has been said, by a wise sage of yore, ‘Happy is the Man (or Woman) who is Nothing’ I’m Not Gonna I’m Not Gonna, be the next Heavyweight Champion of the World I’m Not Gonna, play in the following, football World Cup Final and Score I’m Not Gonna, be the fastest, strongest or go furthest anytime soon I’m Not Gonna, get a billion likes for something, I charitably choose to endorse I’m Not Gonna, receive the Best Acting Oscar Award, at no Star Spangled ceremony I’m Not Gonna, be the latest celebrity pinup, posterboy icon to be adored I’m Not Gonna, live in a multi-storied mansion, somewhere in the sun I’m Not Gonna, make the owning of millions, my nice tidy little sum I’m Not Gonna, land on Mars or any other planet in our Solar System I’m Not Gonna, find a cure for the common cold or famine and greed I’m Not Gonna, be the one to prevent climate change and get all the plastic out of the seas I’m Not Gonna, be crowned King, Queen, P.M, President or Dictator Supreme I’m Not Gonna, be anointed High Priest or play any part in the Second Coming I’m Not Gonna, be Leader of the Live Revolution, that will not be social-media screened I’m Not Gonna, halt all the bombings, wars and the para-military scene I’m Not Gonna, stop all the hatred and divisive, divisionary scorn I’m Not Gonna, prevent all cruelty, suffering and enforced manipulation I’m Not Gonna, end Homelessness and every, Mental Health problem I’m Not Gonna, bring Peace and Prosperity, to all those that are newly born I’m Not Gonna, solve all of the planet's, and its every inhabitant's needs I’m Not Gonna, be able to do all these things and much more… But of one thing, which I’m gonna be sure, Is that I won’t be getting out of here alive, And until then, I’ll do my God damn Best, to Help us Survive! Can I Have My Fuck Back Please? Can I have my fuck back please? It’s gone over your fence, without causing any offence, And is now nestled, nice and cosily up in your trees Can I have my fuck back please? I am really so sorry, I don’t know how it happened And I’ll make quite sure, it won’t ever do so again Can I have my fuck back please? For I am now, so very lost without it, With my life no longer expressing, what it was once meant to mean Can I have my fuck back please? Because the words’ use, has since become abhorrent, And the wee-rascal, really doesn’t warrant such derogatory, Rending it no longer inflammatory, from what it was once so proud to be Something ironically, I now find quite insulting to me Can I have my fuck back please? You see, it’s now used in such a glib, surly, offhand way, By those, who really have nothing more worthy to say Having been reduced, to a mere sentence filler, With pronunciation in a bored, mealy-mouthed, casually hackneyed way Gentrified, pacified, nullified, desensitised and sanitised Whereas others, like me, still longingly look back with fondness, And fits of panging, punkful nostalgia On those past glorious, honest, filthful, non-P.C Halcyon days Can I have my fuck back please? As there was a time, when to use it was… Exciting, daring, like committing a crime It really meant something, to express, With such succinct, sincere sentiment To gladly shock, with scandal and awe, And mock the deserving, who didn’t have a clue, Until toward their direction, it came a-hurtling to Can I have my fuck back please? I’ll do my very best to nurture and protect it, to only use when absolutely necessary And teach all new-comers, the wonderful ways of the words world How to properly abuse, amuse and give proper emphasis to what you want to say And in so doing, promise from this day forth, from my vocabulary it will no longer stray So can I now have my fuck back please? Please. Please. What do you say? No??? Yoou Baaarstard!!!

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.