Pubs (Remove filter)
The Ballad of the Harbour Bar
Said Willie to the Dazzler
As they settled in the snug
We’ll take a pint of Bushmills malt
To fill yon claret jug
Then the silver jug was lifted
And held to Dazzler’s lips
To celebrate the winning
Of the Open Championship
In the sunlight on tobaccoed walls
As gold on silver fills the west
In black and white and green and red
The mythic Georgie Best
...
Thursday 18th July 2024 8:36 am
The Harbour Bar
Said Willie to the Dazzler
As they settled in the snug
We’ll take a pint of Bushmills malt
To fill yon claret jug
Then the silver jug was lifted
And held to Dazzler’s lips
To celebrate the winning
Of the Open Championship
In the sunlight on tobaccoed walls
As gold on silver fills the west
In black and white and green and red
The mythic Georgie Best
...
Thursday 18th July 2024 8:17 am
The Boot
Walking past The Boot tonight
a warm but sunless dusk
The door was open wide
drinkers shuffling and spilling out
I think of that favourite friend
who brought me here five years ago
We played some pool, supped our beer
as he talked of his dilemma
His partner wanted children
but regrettably, he did not
she gave him ultimatums
and he wasn’t sure what to do
When the world stopped for...
Thursday 10th August 2023 5:08 pm
Quixote's Windmills
I got out of bed every Sunday morning,
Old as I was; ate a full English breakfast,
Followed by porridge, I was ready for storming
those bastards on the Parish church doorsteps,
The Quakers, Wee Frees, the Muslims n' Jews,
Non-Conformists, Joves Witnesses united as one.
All preaching and pleading;
"don't sit in those pews",
You really don't want to be sitting in here,
G...
Friday 9th December 2022 2:16 pm
Hidden Talent
We know it will kill us,
But we do it anyway.
Huddled together,
Like this.
In this place of ill repute.
The townsfolk think poorly of us.
But I am sure
Someone in here,
Has read Rimbaud.
Written poetry,
Dreamt of Dante.
Sunday 5th December 2021 5:51 pm
Pubs
Yes, our pubs are all great places,
Where people love to get together.
They are always full of laughter,
And no one cares about the weather.
One may choose to get quite tipsy,
It makes reactions all slowed down.
You say things you wouldn't sober,
Then visit every pub in town.
And if you have no more money,
From someone else you'll have to borrow.
And know that when you go to bed
You...
Sunday 2nd May 2021 12:45 pm
YOU COULD SMOKE IN PUBS
Back in those days
you could smoke in the pubs,
we’d suck on those sticks to our finger tips
then casually, carelessly drop the stubs
and twist them into the floor with our feet,
openly, brazenly, never discreet.
The stench of burning carpet, the smell of spilt ale
would meet in a plume of noxious gas,
fetid, fusty and stale;
like a fart in a working man’s café.
A flo...
Sunday 11th February 2018 8:00 pm
Old Fred
They know what he drinks
and that he likes it in a glass with a handle.
They know he never comes in on Tuesdays.
They know where he sits,
and how all of his stories
have changed over the years.
They know his kids and grandkids,
although they’ve never met,
and on the day that he doesn’t show up
they know who to call.
(Originally published in t...
Monday 13th February 2017 8:00 pm
Pringles' Bladder
Friday 27th February 2015 9:48 am
A Pub I Used To Know
The polished wooden bar
is just how I remember.
The optics, the glasses
everything is the same
The beer and pint pots
Drinks for the masses
And the barmaids smile is just as nice
as a barmaid that worked here thirty years ago
For thirty years ago I knew them all;
bar men, barmaids
pot men, and land lords.
Bar loungers, beer drinkers
and Pool playe...
Saturday 20th July 2013 9:25 am
Then the muse of good mood arrived ...
Great...
Tuesday 14th May 2013 4:52 pm
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