I like to rest on a country seat
Up on a hill quite near me.
I watch the world go by
And revel in all the green I see.
One morning while I sat resting
A sad looking lady passed by
With a taut rictus smile on her face
She looked like she needed to cry.
A group of ladies were walking ahead
And the sad lady went to pass
Suddenly one of the group stopped,
Looked, and sat down on the grass.
She indicated to her friends then
That they should walk on a bit
And called out to the fraught lass
"Come over here to me and sit".
With just a moment's hesitation
The troubled lady sat down too
"I'm Betty," said the kind woman
"Tell me dear - who are you?"
"I'm Alice," she replied and began to cry
The tears of the broken-hearted.
All her pain came flowing out as if
She couldn't stop now she'd started.
Betty rose and said "why not join us?"
Alice gave an indifferent shrug.
"You'll feel better walking with my crowd,
But first, I'll give you a hug."
Alice at first stiffened and then relaxed
Into the tight grip of her new friend
Her sobbing eased and I could see
Her mind was starting to mend.
They all went off in a chattering line
It was obvious Alice was losing her pain
I sat and marvelled at the kindness of a stranger.
I never saw them again.
Getting to 80
Well, here it is, now looming large
an age beyond my belief
I had always expected my time here
would actually be quite brief.
Around fifty would be right I thought
who on earth needs more?
With greying hair and shorter breaths
and ready for the heavenly tour.
But fate decreed I'd do quite well
in the lottery of life
and I kept on taking forward strides
breasting challenges and strife.
Good luck and fortune 'dogged' me
throughout those golden years
I enjoyed some love and friendship and
the respect of competing peers.
But alas when you approach the mountain top
the heart is a watching sentry
the clearest views are now behind
and hindsight is 20/20.
Carry the Joy
The Joy we feel at Christmas Fills our lives with cheer We could try to make this feeling Linger throughout the Year. How good to feel so happy On every single day To lift our spirits skywards And chase all sadness away. We could help needy neighbours And show them that we care Show badmen how to live well Or tell the lonely we are there. Think of all the kindness that Would follow if we were to say I will try and live my life As if it's Christmas every day. Let us live as if it's Christmas every day.
My Prop Has Gone
Quiet and unassuming was he But with a very high intellect Computations went on behind the eyes At a rate you would never suspect. Partially deaf and short sighted too Yet he swam in big pools of commerce He never gave in to self pity but Accepted that things could be far worse. He was the man to go to for solace or wisdom And was game to join with a crazy plan Even risking his own wealth sometimes He was the very best kind of man. So goodbye good friend and wise councillor I am sorry you had to go Rest easily knowing you have done well And were a man I was fortunate to know. RIP Barry 1933-2022
Write it down/Write it Out
Why am I here? Why show you my poetry?
These are not great poems, they don’t win prizes. But – they are my Poems.
And that’s the point.
I am an average ‘Joe’ and I’ve had an average English life enjoying the usual things and had my share of misfortunes.
In times of stress I have been helped a great deal by writing all my feelings down. When happy or elated the words flow and the pleasure is enhanced.
I have chosen to use verse in my literary ramblings because I find it easy. You may like to use prose or just ordinary sentences. No matter.
You need not show anyone unless you wish to. You can lock the bad times away in a box or put your wit on show via the web.
Whatever you want. Whenever you want. You choose!
So – if you are sad, happy, frustrated, angry, in love, out of love, ill, frightened, politically cynical, depressed, alone, suicidal, separated from your children, doubting God’s existence, wondering how to spend your lottery win, exasperated by the unelected clowns in Strasburg, just become a parent, the cats died etc. etc. etc…… (add as required) ….. then WRITE IT OUT – WRITE IT DOWN.
Broken Heart
You left me and you did not turn Another row - we never learn No "sorry" words this time were spoken I just felt my heart was broken. All the many times of joy We were a happy girl and boy But the ring we bought was an empty token You never knew my heart was broken. All the places we have seen Mountains white and valleys green Moonlight kissing, holding hands Laughing as we made our plans. The things we did as a happy pair The future was coming and we didn't care Now alone I must go on And all the dreams I had are gone. So our book is ended, the cover torn Our children now will stay unborn Pleading words are what I choke on And you still don't know my heart is broken.
Equal Opportunity
Think what you like Express whatever you feel A funeral without a God? Is it not just as real? Did they live a good life? Did someone hold them dear? If they died a nice person Aren't they entitled to be here? The flames which consume them makes all bodies ash but Souls and spirits cannot burn And can't be bought for cash. Sing songs if you wish to Speak verses and some rhyme Cry and mourn freely For there is no next time. We gather for the send off of someone we all knew Sceptics also need nice places to wish gone friends adieu. Vibrant colours of stained glass Old wood beams and seats Candlelight and fresh flowers Gives an aura which completes. Churches' often have the best sites With gardens meant to cheer Solemnity is inbuilt And we enter without fear. If this God is any good He (or she) won't grouse If some doubters also assemble Inside this holy house.
Termination in Ukraine
She had carried her new baby for nearly 9 months and was last seen on a trolley in labour and frightened. The shells had ripped down the hospital wall as if made of cheese but came there yet more and the grip of death was tightened. They survived barely an hour when cleared of the rubble but despite heroic efforts both died and the tragedy was heightened. Just two more deaths to add to millions from centuries long gone but mankind still seems unable to learn and become enlightened.
Uncertain Curtain
How embarrassing to be a Russian And have the whole world know That you are terrified of freedom And plead democracy just for show. You have to cheat in athletics Or fail to make the grade Fool drug tests and the medics And eliminate those so afraid. Don't invent new items But steal designs for free It's a really great, great pity That's what Russia means to me. Addendum - But that isn't Russia in total What of the average Jo? Who loves life as he has it And doesn't know what he doesn't know.
Wait and See
I know it's February because the radio told me so But today the air was clear and the sun was high. There was no wind to notice nor flecks of rain and the birds sang loud as they wheeled about in the sky. It must be global warming messing with the seasons As spring comes in early and the buds begin to show. I feel my soul getting easy and I relax But mindful that even yet there could come snow. It has happened before and new shoots died As the cold weather snapped back at we fools Who had dug out the garden benches and brollies And had made plans for mowers and tools. Far better to wait and let more days go by To see if the moods of the weather gods settle. Enjoy the changing vista of fields and gardens From behind window glass waiting for the kettle.
Moroccan Pain
He died alone at the bottom of a well and he was only 5 many folk dug day and night to bring him up alive. But he was dead at the bottom injured as he fell what fears he knew in his little mind no-one alive can tell. Imagine the feelings of those rescuers then angry, frustrated and sad who fought so hard to get him out and return him to his mum and dad. Farewell sweet lad your terrors and fright are now all gone and past I hope you are now in a better place and know your happiness at last. Rayan Oram, aged 5 died 8/2/22 RIP
Molly-May aged 5
Oh what to say of my Molly-May who bounds into each new day always with so much to say and fights to tilt the world her way.
Saturday Dad
The first Christmas in this new house and, grieving for the times now gone he starts to make a new life here because now, he really should move on. He got a potted fir tree and put it on a shelf and added balls and tinsel and a star, but it needed something else he thought so searched the shops both near and far. He came upon some small wax apples coloured red with a gleaming skin his little girl would want to save them so he bought a box to keep them in. Still, decades on, this time each year you can search the branches and see among the decorations and presents are red wax apples on my Christmas tree.
Happy 40th
Alas, alas, you are 40 now your 30s are truly behind, you fight to retain your figure and brain cells flee from your mind. You could take lots of vitamins to try and keep your youth, or start wearing false things and cap each dying tooth. But, worry not about the above - treat it all as trivia, no matter how you decompose old friends will always forgivya. They will always see you as you were so your youth you'll never lose, maybe it's time to abandon sex and cut down on the booze?
Free Solace
I love the peace of my river As it flows in and out to the sea Moving slowly but determined It soothes the stress from me. The gulls that cry in the morning Or the Curlew chortle at night Seems to calm my inner soul And makes everything seem right. So no need for pills or alcohol Happiness is within easy reach When the salt waters of my river Lap softly at the beach.
Don’t leave me Grandpa
A very young girl so bereft now with none of her family left her world torn up and over turned with rules of humanity now all spurned. They came with the new day dawning the family shelter just a canvas awning the thugs with guns and machetes then slashed and shot and shot again. Unbelievable torture vented first on women, old folk and then worse children and babies killed out of hand their graves just scratched in shallow sand. Old Grandpa had bid the family flee surely the thugs would leave him be? But no they murdered this man too and what could this young girl do? Crying and powerless she clearly saw her gentle Grandpa sink to the floor. Across the world we heard her plea please, please Grandpa don't leave me .... BBC report of December 8th 2021 Massacre of Villagers in Myanmar (formerly Burma) by the State Army. SO Yet another killing of innocent folk no salvation - what a joke! Mankind hides till the threat has gone and again impotent Gods look on.
Morning
It's morning, morning, morning And dawning, dawning, dawning I'm yawning, yawning, yawning I have to go. To work, work, work Can't shirk, shirk, shirk What a berk, berk, berk I can't escape. Rather play, play, play All day, day, day No way, way, way I need money. For life, life, life Kids and wife, wife, wife Such strife, strife, strife I'm redundant.
Old Lady in a Hospital Ward
Suddenly the smile left her smooth face and fear turned the hospital pink skin grey. She knew what was to come soon and perhaps it would be today. She had a strong faith in the next life and hoped she had earned her right to sit at her god's table and have her meagre sins take flight. She had lived a life full of service and done it all on her own. Always there for needy relatives and rarely heard to moan. She never married, but came close but a torpedo sank the Africa plan she carried on with shattered dreams and never picked another man. As a child he had never dared kiss this lady, now with grey tinged brow but in these last quiet moments he bent and kissed her now. Soon, too soon, her old body failed and her spirit flew away but the smile was once more on her face as she went on her way. 1993
Blackwater Men
Where muddy waters flow Where only grasses grow Still roam the souls you know Of Blackwater Men. Blackwater Men will never fade away They still return on two tides every day They come and walk again To view their past domain It's where their bones are lain These Blackwater Men. Long, long these souls will haunt the salty shore Until the time when there's a world no more Then these past men will ride On one last foaming tide To heaven and there reside as Blackwater Men. We who live are richer by far Because they went before And trod the paths of time They ploughed, they fought, they prayed And gave the place some meaning. So now as we follow Let us bless these people Who made the river work and Sowed the seeds of life Which we take with us each day And so we join and say Amen. October 2000 The above may not seem to flow well but it was written to be set to music. This has been done by Clive Smith of South Woodham Ferrers and is a choral work within a suite.
This England?
We can be happy you and I if we look around us in this England we can choose if we stay or fly and have food and clean water at our command. Whatever we are told we do have clean air - see how the lichen grows and our rights though not written are there and the whole world knows. We can vote out shallow members and the corrupt do eventually stand trial we need only fan the embers of a system waiting in the wings. Skylarks still sing in the fields and Cabbage Whites are back in strength we freely collect what nature yields and can walk about after dark. We can worship any God we nominate or have none of it if we so choose in protest we can march or congregate and its only our energy we lose. So think, and think again before you chase sun-blessed places promising dollars or yen, for truly this is a fair and free nation and its like won't surface again. OR So however you think you are doing compare your life and be happy living here is not so bad its just the weather that's so crappy ......
A Strange World
Condemned and imprisoned peers can meet up with friends for lunches dishonest officials retire with fortunes and gamblers prosper from hunches. Incompetent captains of industry ruin giants and run away with riches and the brains of our banks are playing golf and we punters inherit the glitches. Call centres for our local enquiries often based in far Bombay with contact information available but only if we pay. We impede our teachers with paper chains so the dedicated ambassadors leave we overload our medical folk and many more families grieve. We freely vote at election time and always fall for the lies so if we foolishly ignore our wounds we should expect to be infected by flies. 2013 Lord Jeffery Archer allowed out of prison to lunch with friends.
The Older Dad
I won't always be around, my son to watch and see you grow, to help guide your forward march and be your 'steady' as you go. For I am an old dad, my son and may be gone before your star rises to its undoubted potential and you collect life's waiting prizes. I am sometimes sad my son for how much of your life I'll miss but to know you this far would be any dad's greatest wish. Year 2000
Graduation
Were you watching Nanny? And you, Auntie Phyl? From your lofty residence on some heavenly hill. Did you see our girl get honoured surrounded by all that history? She's on her way now, and will cope with life's unfolding mystery. The fair haired child you loved so much has fought and earned her due the tears in my eyes at her ceremony were also there for you. Proud Father 02/07/02
Mary
Mary lived with dad and mum in a tower block kind of slum near some docks used long ago which she could see so far below. She really pined to get away but being ten she got no pay so she thought upon a scheme which would help finance her dream. Her tower block was very tall and to the ground was quite a fall so she set out to get the proof that you could bungie jump off the roof. If she could do it so would others and come with sisters and their brothers they would pay to dive to ground and Mary would charge each a pound. And with the cash she could flee around the world quite merrily so tying rubber bands in line she slowly made a jumping twine. She got up on the window sill not looking down lest she feel ill then Mary jumped out into space and neared the ground at quite a pace. But her plans would come to nought for halfway down she had a thought "oh dear my plan is not complete I forgot to fix the the bungies to my feet". Luckily she landed on a tree and as she struck she said "dear me leaving home like this is such a shock I'll stay home in my tower block".
Gone Away
Oh how we miss those loved ones who have gone. We miss them now, we always will and the memory of them still lives on. Some times it's right for the suffering to leave. Others are forced early into oblivion by mean Gods and we who are left here in confusion can only grieve. Oh how I miss those loved ones who have gone. I miss them now, I always will and the memory of them still lives on.
Bethlehem Donkey
Beneath a star a boy was born, a special child was he, mum and dad and some kings looked on as did an old donkey. This donkey knew that great things would follow this baby's birth now the world would change for a Saviour was here on earth. Like the others gathered round the donkey knelt before the rough manger on the ground and donkeys would for evermore. That is why, if you sneak at Christmas to a donkey's stall without a sound, don't even speak! just look around the wall. You may see the donkey kneeling facing towards the east overcome by an ancient feeling representing all other beasts. This simple animal every year shames mankind it seems for we just raise a glass to cheer forsaking the Saviour's dreams.
Play Rhyme
Sindy had a dog it liked to take a jog but got hit by a log it's buried in a bog. Fred had a cat who chased a rat into mummies hat how about that? Barns had a squirrel whose name was Cyril made of brown material it looked quite imperial. Molly May had a pig whose favourite food was fig and liked to dance a jig when hanging from a twig. George had a horse which ran every course covered in tomato sauce it died of course. For Small People
Sunny Morning Walk in the Park
Listen you Ducks and Squirrels this is a special morning my eldest child graduates today and her honoured future's dawning. She had good cause to march to the beat of a different drum but she's straight and works hard, loves her life, her God, and her fun. She's the first to get there from this side of the track she's honoured us all now and there's no looking back. So forgive me Ducks and Squirrels if I want to shout out loud from every tree and roof top I'm proud, I'm proud, I'm proud. 4th July 2002
Thank You Present
I bought you some flowers today, the idea just popped into my head I had just passed by my old house and was glad I lived here instead. I was lonely in that old place and the vomit rose in my chest as I relived the despair for an instant but soon the pain came to rest. For now I live in happy chaos within a surprising peace for surrounded by love and affection I bask in blessed relief. So there you have the reasons why the idea came into play to stop at the very first florist and bring you flowers today.
November
There's a beauty in November, with a mildness not known before, and a stillness at twilight which happens more and more. For the world is getting warmer and the winter comes on late. Deeply coloured leaves cling to the trees because autumn won't abate. She stays around and fools the plants who rise early but at the cost of a swift overnight slaughter from an unexpected frost. Then this murder ceases and a warm calm descends, and living plants try once again as the climate makes amends. So, do I like this changing world when the natural order bids adieu? Having shorter winters with soft winds? Yes, I surely do.
Salute!
So rest young warrior In yon ditch or field And know that we are grateful For the might that you did wield. Rest easy in your graves For it's not you who sinned And we will always honour you Though you are but dust in the wind. The suited table talkers who fail Send our young to die But don't include their own children When they give war a try. It's the unemployed and poor who sign up for wars and adversity While the rich kids catch a jet To a foreign job or university. So many generous immature souls Come forward when the Bell is rung When the politician's remedies fail They pass the bile filled cup - To the young.
Relate
How can I ever relate when I'm secure, fed and free to the threatened, hungry and desperate folk who live across some sea? I have never suffered pogroms or seen bayonets in play or had to decide which of my children got a little food today. And what of state rape of women or Rwandan hands cut free how does all of this affect an Englishman like me? Well, I am not innocent or untainted for the guilt is just the same if I prosper in my comfort when my country invented the game.
Old Time Dance
Getting older and slowing down pausing while the world spins round no longer planning super schemes I'm dancing slowly through my dreams. Looking back to times I've spent drinking down a whole week's rent memories flood in countless streams I'm dancing slowly through my dreams. No worries about my destiny now I know how it will be - no anxieties stored in reams I'm dancing slowly through my dreams. Getting older ain't so bad I've had a wife and been a dad life isn't always what it seems I'm dancing slowly through your dreams.
Charlie Frog
Charlie Frog was tired of jumping cos he said it hurt his back so to stop the pain a-thumping he rode a skateboard on a track. This track was long, the track was vast and wound around his lake one day when going really fast he ran down Mr Drake. Such a fuss made Mrs Drake about her partner's tumble that all the members of the lake gathered round to grumble. They decided then and there to settle Charlie's hash by asking Mr Grizzly Bear to give the frog a bash. Mr Bear said yes he'd do it in return for a honey pot there should, he said, be nothing to it if he used an old fly swat. So Bear hid behind a tree as Charlie came in sight and slowly counted 1 2 3 and struck with all his might. Charlie let out such a yell and fell off in a muddle but recovered quickly as he fell into a muddy puddle. Charlie was unhurt of course for water was his home, and now, filled with much remorse he took his skateboard home. Charlie hadn't realized just how his skating had offended but he knew his priority now was to get his friendships mended. So he went round one by one to apologize to his mates for being so very troublesome and he gave them chocolates.
Try to Duck
You do your best you do your time a member of mankind straight down the line getting ready to enjoy life's plan then someone somewhere starts the fan...... Lumps as big as bricks fly in What have I done? What is my sin? As the brown stuff sticks to your last shirt the taxman strains and adds a squirt. You work to make your plight seem better then behold there comes a further letter just as you thought you were hassle free you've underpaid your VAT. As if such disasters are not enough your family can make it really rough you've just got square and it was hard now a wedding goes on your credit card. The nest is empty, just you and gran each day drink wine or open a can but comes a duty you cannot shirk to mind the grandkids so mum can work. Some pains in the chest now - just a few but angina comes as a relief to you for distracting pain means one avoids the annoying itch of haemorrhoids. Then prostrate trouble, the time has come to have a doctor's fist rammed up your bum. Surgery and pills follow but you stay placid but find friend Willy now stays flaccid. In hospital now - the last resort no chips, no booze, no sex, no sport it's heaven time, no more escapes About now the angels pinch your grapes.
New Shed
Alone at last in my garden shed The beds are made the dog is fed In the quiet I await creative thought But comes there nothing, zilch, nought. It's not supposed to be like this I should exploit this place of bliss I take yet another sip of tea but Still no talent envelopes me. The grass is dew wet and wild birds sing Today is warm as if it's spring The flowers nod in the zephyr breeze With apples falling where they please. This is autumn at its best My favourite month - keep the rest Summers gone, it is no more Now squirrels seek their winter store. I try something employed by poets passed To glorify nature! The subject is vast So inspired by the beauty on display The words now flow - I've something to say!
Some Future?
With our conditional sunshine, and smoke-filtered rain, we alter nature's colours and flush our future down the drain. See our choking oceans and there's no expanding ice we harvest shrinking forests beneath El Nino skies. Cars, cars and still more cars designed to feed our yearning no problems to the planet as they are catalytically burning. The fish are going, tigers too let's make haste to the moon for it will be our only refuge if we don't do something soon.
Here and Now
We must enjoy the future The times we have had have gone There's more life behind us now Than is left as we go on. The only reason to be alive Is to make the good times last Just look forward to more happiness And not be a hostage to the past. We got things wrong sometimes But we survived and got to here We sorted the bad bits from the good And know what to cherish or fear. So enjoy every little thing you do Savor the moments as they arise Smell the flowers and hear the birds Accept that life is a beautiful prize.
A Mother and New York
A one parent boy left with his Mum By a Dad who never wanted to go With much financial upheaval Where the standard answer was no! Later he knew that against the odds She had nurtured him with warm feelings Passed on honesty and unease in equal parts As war bombs had left more than cracked ceilings. Twenty years on and the world has changed When enthusiasm means more than a degree With seven day working while still in his teens He started his own firm and was boss free. Life intrudes and the company must go But he has talent others thought worth buying Now shaking important hands at foreign meets He becomes used to first class flying. New York was where he always felt close To his Mother from yester year To look upwards at the churches to wealth And know he had earned his right to be here. To be in this money Mecca And recall from where he had come He knew it was only made happen By the love he had had from his Mum.
Fight Aging
I will not just sit and wait For my old age to arrive But will duck, evade and hustle And keep the will to strive. I want to live and to discover Life's wonders that remain Feel and taste new experiences Even those involving pain. For what possible reason should I Embrace the end that is coming When I can fight and fight again To keep all my senses humming?
An August Evening with Amy
What more could I ever want On an evening such as this A Blackwater River sun setting And the wind now light as a kiss. Spring here can be magical With the promise of summer to come But watery suns threatening autumn Are much preferred by some. Pause for a moment with the oars still And gaze at the lowering sun's glow We drift briefly on the slack water Then turn our bow to go. Such a simple joy to embrace Calm, quiet, and sublime We should do it much more often We just need to make the time. 30th August 2013
Engineers in the Graveyard
We can't recall his name We should hold it dear Here lie the crumbling bones Of a Railway Engineer. Shame on us forgetting He helped our nation steer A simple direct digging man Was the Canal Engineer. Bleach clothes or clean the drains No need to live in fear The bugs and bacteria cleansed By a Chemical Engineer. Tall buildings and bridges Spanning valley, road or mere Do duty for a hundred years Let's praise the Structural Engineer. Steel, mining, plastics, planes Ships, milk, bread and beer We only have the life we do Because of an Engineer. So cast the bronze or plaster Write the plaque out clear "Beneath this monument lies A Very Worthy Engineer".
Brain Storm
A clever lady with a ready smile Will always stop and chat a while But behind the eyes something unsaid I'm not well; I've got cancer in my head. She carries on her life each day Rolls with life's waves easy sway But now finds it hard to leave her bed Because she has cancer in her head. No angry words and no "why me"? With gritted teeth she shuns pity She accepts her path of life has led To getting cancer in her head. She went the way she wanted to No fuss, no rage, no pain Just named on a bench on her favourite trail Which she won't walk again.
Innocent Innocent of Rwanda
Oh, bright boy of another race Tears stream down your young brown face Of your parents and siblings there's no more trace Why were you not born in another place? This bright young lad sits beneath a tree, Telling of the loss of his family Speaks to a microphone but he's talking to me And I sit comfortable in my land of the free. His parents were hacked to death And he watched them draw their last breath Brothers and sisters all gone too, Now what's a thirteen year old boy to do?
Burial at Sea
Throw me off my Westerly Into the tidal sea Open a bottle of something red And have a drink on me. February 2020
Non-Stop Anguish
It's been a year since he went and Rare is the day he doesn't come to mind We wonder if we could have done more But would vet heroics have been kind? It's best to believe that there is a plan With pre-set lights that blink on When the beast or person is due to leave And it's been planned all along. We should not stress the moment Of what to do when those lights are lit Get an ease of mind that tells us There is nothing you can do about it.
Claws
I had a dream the other night - no normal dream was this No demons or plunging lifts Nor Michelle Pfeiffer's Kiss. The dream was of a crustacean Who lived within the sea. A large blue shell lobster Who sought friendship with me. We had a fulsome conversation And opinions it had a lot. When suddenly it shot upwards A passenger in a wicker pot. I regretted not saying au revoir But we met again that day It was around lunchtime And it was on display. It nodded to me and then Very quietly said Do me a big favour please - Order steak today instead. I couldn't contemplate its death No plunge in boiling water After all it may well be Some lobster's son or daughter. I ate a plate of steak and chips Not what I would wish But had I enjoyed lobster I would have felt shellfish. October 2003
Daniel
A little lad I never knew Born to a life of hell This busy fat world just went on And the watchers did not tell. You were starved of love And rifled bins for food Your own mother broke your arm Then silenced you for good. Did no one see the bruises? Or note your half age weight? You were tortured daily but It was noticed when far too late. Oh my heavens how I weep For it always is the same You lived - you died - we never met But I feel I am to blame. Daniel Pelka, died March 2012, aged 4
Passing the Curlew
May I hear the Curlew as I pass away?
It's been part of my life for so long.
The nesting chortling on the marshes
has become my favourite song.
If I sit still on the seawall
as the sun fades away to the west.
The bustle across the mud and beach
is the sound that I love best.
Because the Curlew endures so
and will always remain
I know their cries will reverberate
within my dying brain.
Carol of Hope
It's that time of the year again
When our hearts fill with cheer again.
Across all the lands
Nations could join hands,
Now it's that time of year again.
Just think how good it would be
If the world joined with you and me;
With our differences gone
We could move the world on,
Now it's that time of year again.
You can say that it's only a feast,
And pointless to man or beast;
But this Christmas we might
Put some old evils right,
As it's that time of year again.
Be you Christian, Muslim or Jew,
We share the planet with you,
So let's make amends,
Let us all be friends
Now it's that time of year again.
Late October
Come on, come on now Winter
You are waiting in the wings
The days are shorter and colder and
we fear what your north wind brings.
Don't hold back your coming
Get your cold bleakness done
We will shelter where we can
Until once again we feel the sun.
As I See Things 