Total Pageviews

Saturday 29 September 2012

SUN (HAIKU)

trees hiding the sun
until the sharplight breaks through,
bullying, blinding

Friday 28 September 2012

WRITE AND WRONG

I don't know where to begin,
which order to put the words in,
adjectives, verbs, nouns, names,
language mischief, playing games.

I can't think of any ideas,
no mental block panaceas,
clever, funny, fiction, fact,
creative ideas won't interact.

I haven't a single solution
to this poem's evolution,
but I do have someone/something to thank,
'cause this page is no longer blank.

Thursday 27 September 2012

SO IS......

I saw it,
I witnessed it,
I confirm it.

You didn't see it,
you didn't witness it,
you can't confirm it.

It's my word
against your word.

You can't rely on me.
I can't rely on you.

The truth is out there,
so am I,
so are you.

So is......


Wednesday 26 September 2012

THE SEASONS

The seasons have lost their discipline,
their sense of order and sequence,
their place in the great scheme of things,
autumns, winters, summers, springs,
sometimes all in one week,
sometimes all in one day,
that's not supposed to happen,
that's not the usual way.

What's behind the chaos,
look for clues, find the source,
is Man to blame for the confusion,
or is Nature taking its course?

Tuesday 25 September 2012

WHO WHIPS THE WHIP?

From today's BBC News site:

The official police log of a confrontation between Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell and officers in Downing Street last week has been published in full for the first time.  The document, printed by the Daily Telegraph, appears to confirm Mr Mitchell called the officers "plebs", something he has not admitted to.

So, who whips the Whip,
who is the chief whipper
of the Chief Whip,
who's gonna flash the lash,
step forward with swishes and flails
with a cat o' nine tails,
who's gonna whip the Whip?

Who's gonna whip the Whip,
flog and flagellate,
to cane and spank out the truth
of what happened at the gate,
when the Whip got lippy,
who'll be his Mr Whippy,
who's gonna whip the Whip?




Monday 24 September 2012

ANDREW MITCHELL - CALLING ALL PLEBS

Andrew Mitchell, the Government Chief Whip,
decided to shoot from the lip,
when he chose to berate
the cop on the gate,
giving a full explanation the slip.

Standing there in his bicycle clips,
Andrew Mitchell, like a long line of whips,
perhaps fancied a rant
with language so cant,
that a tape would be riddled with blips.

So, calling all plebs, join our hike,
with cudgel, with sword and with pike,
for an anti-Mitchell campaign
he took the pleb name in vain,
let's tell him to get on his bike.




Saturday 22 September 2012

ONE LESS CRITIC

Someone criticised 
a story of mine today.
I took it well - outwardly,
but inside my demons conspired
to seek out the critic,
the poison pen prick,
and beat him to death
with a thorny stick.

Later in court, in my defence,
after the beating,
after the critic's
pleading and bleating,
I'll look at the judge,
all bewigged and becurled 
and state one less critic
is a service to the world.

Friday 21 September 2012

GROWLERS (VAN MORRISON & BOB DYLAN)

Hey where did they go,
with their young men's voices,
back in the day
when you could hear all the words,
come gather round people,
and help understand this,
why Van and Bob sing
like catarrh-coughing birds.

They still draw the crowds
with their legendary status,
still command the stage platform
like the rock gods they are,
they know how to stare
with a menacing scowl
and they've evolved how they sing,
now adopting the growl.

All those tours and those travels
on the hard-nose highways,
all the years of freewheeling,
all the blood on the tracks,
have I told you lately
that I still love them both,
even though their worn voices
are so full of cracks.

So hail Van the man and his Bobness,
to the hat wearing two, hats off,
but just now and again music legends, 
clear your throats and have a bloody good cough!





Thursday 20 September 2012

JUST SAD

Usually,
I can find words
to touch a heart,
to record an observation,
to criticise and chide,
to applaud a celebration,
to attempt to raise a smile,
to confuse with crafty guile,
to tell a joke,
to have a poke,
to be bombastic,
to be sarcastic,
to try for bawdy farce,
to be a clever arse.......

but today,
like yesterday,
and especially the day before,
the news from Manchester
has left me feeling sad,

just sad.


Wednesday 19 September 2012

HAIKU x 4

purple flowers fight
for star billing in the vase - 
yellows dominate

*

heron on a roof
disguised as a silhouette,
live statue at dusk

*

I collect marvels
like memories but more so - 
diamonds amongst paste

*

tea sends steam signals
to the girl in the cafe - 
she smiles a faint smile

Monday 17 September 2012

EBACC, EBACC, EBACCALAUREATES ARE HERE


UK Education Secretary Michael Gove announces changes to school examinations, with GCSEs being replaced - hmmm, a little Beatles & Village People came to mind.......

EBACC, EBACC

Gove, Gove was a man who thought he knew the answer
To improve examinations in schools
Gove, Gove’s on a mission to overhaul the system
With harder tests and tough marking rules

EBacC, EBacC, EBaccalaureates are here
EBacC, EBacC, EBaccalaureates are here

Someone should have told him to simplify the language
But Gove is fond of complicated babble
Once we get the hang of this high-fangled wording
It could be a game-changer in Scrabble

EBacC, EBacC, EBaccalaureates are here
EBacC, EBacC, EBaccalaureates are here

EbacC, Gove, Gove,
The teachers are waiting,
For the latest changes
From the examination setter

EBacC, EBacC, EBaccalaureates are here
EBacC, EBacC, EBaccalaureates are here

*

ALL WE'VE GOT IS GOVE


Gove, Gove, Gove,
Gove, Gove, Gove,
There’s nothing he can’t do to education
There's nothing he can’t do to save the nation
Nothing you can say to change his EBacC test
Nothing you can say as GCSEs are laid to rest

It’s changing.

The old exams are brushed out of the way
Baccalaureates are on the way
No point in trying to hold on to the past,
Just learn the world has changed but learn it fast
Nothing you and me can do to stop wee Mickey G –

It's not easy.

All we’ve got is Gove, (da, da, da, da, da)
crickey, cripes, by Jove, (da, da, da, da, da)
All we’ve got is Gove, Gove, Gove is all we’ve got.

All we’ve got is Gove, (da, da, da, da, da)
crickey, cripes, by Jove, (da, da, da, da, da)
All we’ve got is Gove, Gove, Gove is all we’ve got

*

G-C-S-E

Students, something new’s on the way,
I said, students, here comes a new day,
I said, students, get your tongues round the word
It’s Bacc-a-laureates

Students, a new system for schools,
I said, students, sort the brains from the fools,
I said, students, keep your minds on the work,
Michael Gove is watching

So say goodbye to the G-C-S-Es
Say goodbye to the G-C-S-Es,
There’s so much to enjoy for each girl and each boy
Certificates of joy

Etc, etc

SONG FOR RITA


This is a song for my mother - 1925 - 2011 - If anyone is interested in recording it for dementia charities, please get in touch.

CHORUS
Songs of you come easy, from love’s lament to lullaby
Songs of you come easy, we said farewell but not goodbye

Your memory preserved forever,
Showing you in silhouette,
You gave us all we’d ever need,
You gave us nothing to regret
So many moments looking back,
Crystal clear inside our minds,
A decent soul, a loving heart,
Heaven’s child, one of a kind.

CHORUS
Songs of you come easy, from love’s lament to lullaby
Songs of you come easy, we said farewell but not goodbye

No one said life would be easy
You were dealt a heavy hand
Left to raise your sons and daughters
We were too young to understand
You kept us safe, you were our haven,
You found the will, you found the way,
You taught us right, you taught us wrong,
You loved us each and every day

CHORUS
Songs of you come easy, from love’s lament to lullaby
Songs of you come easy, we said farewell but not goodbye

In darker days and troubled nights,
After all your faith and prayer
Your three angels held you near,
To comfort. you with loving care
Came the hour, came the moment,
Came the time for life to cease,
In spite of all the tears and sorrow,
Came your time to rest in peace

CHORUS
Songs of you come easy, from love’s lament to lullaby
Songs of you come easy, we said farewell but not goodbye


Saturday 15 September 2012

CAMERA-TOTING GITS

Privacy's a precious thing,
but can be ruined in a flash, 
stolen by photographers
who want a load of cash.

Listen all celebrities,
when semi-naked or fully nude,
paparazzi photo-hungry hounds
eye you with gratitude.

Editors of trashy mags,
crave exclusives from a pap,
they happily pay gazillions
for the latest starry crap.

Readers wait with bated breath
for the gossip and the pics,
salivating over supplements
of celebs stripped to their knicks.

If you're a famous person,
say, in a sanctuary chateau,
beware the long lens lurkers
snapping away like billyo.

And once the pics appear in print,
that's about the end of it,
unless the law can catch and charge
the camera-toting git.

Yes, privacy's a precious thing
for peasants and future Queens
but gossip makes loadsa money 
from bestselling magazines.

If people are apoplectic
at this glossy, intrusive trash,
stop buying the bloody gossip rags
and save yourselves some cash
......and some integrity
......and some dignity.......










Friday 14 September 2012

WE HAVE A CHOICE

Eye for eye
tooth for tooth
lie for lie 
truth for truth
easy to loathe, to despise
harder to forgive and compromise
easier to attack, to shoot to kill,
than find the way, than find the will
to navigate the road to peace,
to find the patience, to do it well,
to climb to heaven
or slide to hell.

We have a voice,
we have a choice..........