Bible Story

In an old dirty street
On an evening so mild
The salesman bought a Bible
For his little child.

With an olive wood cover
Pages edged in gold
Both testaments within it 
For his 5 year old.

"I've got a picture Bible Dad":
She had shyly said
"But I would really like
A proper one instead."

So moved by a sense of occasion
For that's the way I am 
I bought my child a Bible
From a book shop in Jerusalem.

A clammy evening in Old Jerusalem and a Book Shop is open. It seemed the right time to buy a Bible.

Pooh Sticks with Amy*

When you were small we used to go
to the stream near Nannies place
and on the way we'd pick up twigs
to use in our 'Pooh Sticks' race.

Standing on the up stream side
of the bridge we'd watch the flow
carefully noting the currents beneath
we let our race sticks go.

Swirling and twisting they rush along
caught in the flow of it's gurgling song
round stones and pebbles 'cross mud and sand
we leaned o'er the parapet hand in hand.

Here come the sticks now neck and neck 
let's see which one is fast
yours charges on and takes the lead
mine hits the bank and comes last.

Magical moments I fondly recall
as my old age now comes on
how lucky I feel to have had those times
it's a pity that they are now gone.

But wait - you have a baby now
you can show her a Pooh Sticks race
and relive the joy we shared
in the stream near Nannies place.

*with thanks to AA Milne


Gland Tidings

There's a prostate gland within me
Just sitting in the dark
Not allowing me to pee free
- thinks straining is a lark.

Now I'm fat and fifty
The damn thing lets me know
I'm no longer urinal nifty
My system is on go slow.

I'll have to get it sorted
But I really don't know when 
I'll book the op...Oh excuse me
I have to 'go' again....

Men and women have different afflictions which may strike at any time. We all have ways of coping with the pains and frustrations. I try to laugh at mine. I wrote this poem twenty years ago.

Trees Company

I only ever wanted to
Be an ordinary tree,
To grow big, green and upright
- have people look up at me.

From a drifting seed to maturity
Growing stronger tier on tier
Hosting birds and squirrels
As the seasons changed the year.

Left alone for decades 
Happy all the time
Until the impact of a car
Meant I became a shrine.

Putting flowers at my foot
Folk gathered and they wept,
For the dead were only youngsters
And forever now they slept.

I'm not just a tree now 
I stand for something more
An earthly reminder of some people
Who tread a heavenly shore.

I often passed the big tree on my way to my office. This particular morning the area was all torn up and cordoned off by police tape. In a small village every one knows every one and I quickly learned that three of the local young folk had died when their car slid on the wet bend and rammed the tree. Not doped, not drunk, just unlucky and now just dead. To me, now, this lovely tree suddenly appeared sad.

Beams

I see bright beams escaping
Reaching for the ground,
Glorious beams of silver which 
Escape the black surround.

These storm clouds which assemble
Gathering power in their midst
Can't stop these shafts from trying
To let the calm persist.

There's example here for people
When hope is out of sight
Within your hell and blackness
Seek the beams of light.

I was driving and the sky was lowering at me over the estuary. Quite suddenly the black clouds parted in several places and bright shafts of sunlight burst through and lit up the ground.