HERE'S TO THE GREENERY
Here's to the greenery of heaven sent scenery
Devoid of Man's cold grey cement.
Here's to the fields and trees
Putting our minds at ease
Each in the way Nature meant.
Here's to the will of Man holding back when it can,
Knowing there's too much to lose;
Here's to those other days
Before the traffic haze
That comes with the cars in their queues.
Here's to our...
Thursday 14th November 2024 4:37 pm
WOKENESS
The term "woke" has been the subject of discussion about its meaning The following may assist
those who are confronted with the word.
Wokeness is the ideology that enables people to hide behind a wall of false virtue, preaching
acceptance, equality and diversity of opinion - at the same time that they simultaneously attack,
cancel and destroy anyone who offends them.
(Basically, it...
Tuesday 8th October 2024 4:34 pm
THERE'S AN ENGLAND
There's an England I remember
That I seem to see somewhere
As my May becomes September
I dream that I am there
The old England that made me
Is forever in my heart;
This new England has betrayed me
Of it I want no part!
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Sunday 29th September 2024 1:26 pm
WHEN YOU WALKED INTO MY LIFE - a lyric
The sun shone out all around me
When you walked into my life
The stars looked down and they found me
When you walked into my life
And I knew come what may
That love had come to stay
In my life
My heart said goodbye to sorrow
When you walked into my life
And I blessed every tomorrow
When you walked into my life
I treasure each new day
Now love lights the way...
Tuesday 17th September 2024 12:22 pm
AUTUMN TREES
Autumn trees wear red and gold,
In royal majesty they stand -
And flaunt their colours, bright and bold,
To decorate the land.
....................................................................
Tuesday 3rd September 2024 4:01 pm
A NOD TO TRELAWNEY
Shall freedom of speech live...
Or shall freedom of speech die?
Here are many millions of English folk who will know the reason why.
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Wednesday 28th August 2024 12:33 pm
SOCIALISM
What to make of socialism = what has it got?
A sense of humour is difficult to spot;
As for self-deprecation, that's something that's not
To be found in that supra-nation state lot.
And answering a question with a question
Is a cause for incipient indigestion!
...................................................................................
Monday 19th August 2024 12:42 pm
RIOT
The history of England is a riot: Fact!
The unruly English faced the Riot Act
When a discomfited magistrate with heated breath
Declared: "Disperse...on pain of death"!
With the war-weary military of the day
Who knew what to do to earn their pay.
Violent mobs need be condemned
But what of political falsehood's trend?
Beware the Janus winking eye
And the falure to enquire...
Saturday 17th August 2024 11:32 am
LOOKING FOR A STATESMAN
Now is the Starmer of our Discontent made furious summer by this stunted talk
And all the crowds that lower'd on our house are in the deep bosom of this England buried.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Wednesday 7th August 2024 9:25 am
THE GOOD SHIP
How fortunate those who take a lifetime's voyage aboard the Good Ship "Friend",
For they are on a journey whose joy will only ever end
When time and tide run out together and the sun of life slips away
And sees body and soul drift off forever to discover come what may
Beyond the clasp of human hand and the cheering word
That friendship offers the open heart willing to hear and be he...
Sunday 28th July 2024 5:45 pm
THE SIMPLE LIFE
Aim for a life of simple security,
One that is based in easeful purity.
Avoid the traps of poverty and wealth,
Both injurious to the health.
Beware of property or its envied lack,
Both may break the bearer's back.
For property only complicates life,
Adding to its woe and strife.
Happy the soul who owns the least
Enjoying most at life's long feast.
If you have enough f...
Monday 22nd July 2024 5:33 pm
MULTI-PURPOSE
Poetry can be likened to one of those multi-purpose tools,
Deserving experience and care and not best suited to fools.
...................................................................................................
Monday 24th June 2024 4:38 pm
TEA FOR TWO
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un,
Hardly my idea of fun;
Talking about defence from aggression,
Sanity plainly not in session.
Clearly the smoke screen to employ
To mask their tendency to destroy;
Attack is their chosen form of defence
Oh, for some sign of common sense.
Paranoia's the name of the game,
Always finding others to blame,
As a wondering world looks...
Wednesday 19th June 2024 3:19 pm
GETTING ON IN POETRY
I've been thinking of a way to bring cheer
To a section of poets - some here?
But I may wait in vain
For a sponsor who might gain
From my "Fogey Old Poet of the Year"!
.........................................................................
Tuesday 18th June 2024 7:05 pm
AN AGNOSTIC'S CREED
One poem that stands out in a favourite compilation, essentially because it was written in days when
religion was very much to the fore, is "An Agnostic's Creed" by Walter Malone (1866-1915). Some of
its verses resonate particularly strongly with me these days. Here are three of them - from a total of eight.
.................................................................................
Monday 10th June 2024 6:28 pm
SPOT ON
There's a classical music YouTube blog I turn to quite a lot,
With a presenter who wears a T-shirt with words that hit the spot
And constitute the reason why my attention can be got:
"Abnormal is OK...Stupidity is not!"
..............................................................................................................
Saturday 8th June 2024 6:44 pm
PRECIOUS
Is there anything more precious in life than a woman who is kind,
Who endures its slings and arrows, but seldom seems to mind.
Adorned by Nature's passing years to become a Sheba-wise sage,
Well able to handle the opposite sex from infancy to old age.
So, my lads, whoever you may be, pray to your god that you find
The pleasure of the treasure that caring designed - a woman who is ki...
Thursday 6th June 2024 4:33 pm
BEACHHEAD - JUNE 6, 1944
Running, screaming, cursing and more,
Those who made the Normandy shore
Rushed on in a swirl of carnage and noise,
Many little more than boys.
Praying inwardly to survive
Hoping to find their mates alive
And reach a place that offered protection
That cheated the Grim Reaper's casual selection.
Bravery and cowardice share a human name,
The spinning coin of circumstance al...
Sunday 2nd June 2024 4:08 pm
BEACH - June 6, 1944
They splashed ashore on their target beach
And death came flying from out of their reach,
Returned in kind from grey battleships behind
Aiming but not always accurately to find
The concrete and cemented bastions that lay
Ahead - to keep expected forces at bay..
A break in the weather had foxed the foe
And saw the dawn-mist Allies go
Boldly where Angels would fear to tread
...Wednesday 29th May 2024 4:24 pm
THEY SAY - a love song for Spring
Winter days are drifting by
Each one passing with a sigh,
How cold the days have grown.
The love you thought was here to stay
Has somehow sadly slipped away
And now you're all alone.
They say that the first day of Spring brings a chance now
It brings you the chance of romance.
They say new affections will lead you a dance now
But all you recall is her glance.
They say...
Saturday 25th May 2024 3:40 pm
PERFECTION THAT LASTS
Many males of youthful years seek physical perfection
And put a lot of effort in that particular direction,
But who would bet against the personal selection
Of the hope of developing perfection in erection?
............................................................................................
Tuesday 21st May 2024 2:27 pm
OPPORTUNIST
You'll have heard about the MP for Dover
Who took the decision to cross over...
And I don't mean the Channel -
Never mentioned in the flannel.
Employed by this opportunist rover!.
.....................................................................
Thursday 9th May 2024 5:19 pm
MAY RAIN
I don't really mind seeing the rain in May,
I view it as April showers - suffering a slight delay..
And I take some satisfaction on a particularly foul day,
Imagining politicians on their traffic-jammed Ulez way!
........................................................................................
Monday 6th May 2024 4:18 pm
FOLLY'S FOOL
When you feel a fool to folly,
Or a surfeit of melancholy;
When it seems you're on your own
And facing fractious life alone,
When it looks like hope is gone...
Go and put the kettle on!!!
.............. ......................................................
Sunday 28th April 2024 5:29 pm
SAINT GEORGE'S DAY
The time approaches to mark England's English day,
And bring to mind memories that somehow find their way.
We are not a perfect people, equal to many, better than most,
How else to explain the alien host that heads for our island coast?
An American poet of other days knew this when she wrote
Words that robustly resonate, still surely worthy of note...
"I have loved England, and ...
Sunday 21st April 2024 4:31 pm
LOVE, COME IF YOU CAN
Love, come if you can to find me,
And if you do, then please be true
And be sure to treat me kindly.
Whether the quiet sort
Or with passion wrought,
Attend if you will,
Let me drink my fill;
But if you can't -
Don't mind me!
...........................................
Saturday 13th April 2024 6:24 pm
OUCH!
I received this observation from a long time pal and couldn't resist posting it for its jovial literary connotation.
Read on.
Despite it being windy and wet, I decided to erect a marquee in my garden, complete with flashing lights
and the rhythmic beat of loud music:
Now is the winter of my disco tent!
...............................................................
Tuesday 9th April 2024 5:49 pm
WHY?
Once, it was the future ahead,
Now, it's time gone by;
Then it was a smile for where life led,
Now, it's a wistful sigh.
And from within - a querulous cry
What was the purpose...
To emerge, endure and die?
But no sign or sound
Supplied a reply,
Begging the eternal question = WHY?
..................................................................
Saturday 6th April 2024 6:13 pm
POETRY ON TV
Congratulations are due to Channel Five
For keeping verse (and fun!) alive,
By offering viewers welcome shares
In the pleasing company of Pam Ayres,
Wending her gentle Cotswold way
Taking pause to have her say;
Reminding us to rhyme "excoriate"
With her shameful exclusion from Poet Laureate.
While the poetry world lacks the gumption to sketch a plan
To select this succes...
Wednesday 3rd April 2024 3:54 pm
PERVERSE
It is said of woman that inspiring love is a must,
Yet Mother Nature has her own perverse plan -
To ensure procreation she ensures hapless man
Is inspired less by love than insistent lust.
..........................................................................................
Monday 1st April 2024 5:58 pm
WORLD POETRY DAY
I hear that today is World Poetry Day
So the good, bad and indifferent can have their say,
In whatever form they care to choose,
How nice if anything memorable ensues!
But it can seem like an excuse for the outstretched hand
From the poetry elite and their support seeking band
Playing the hard-up tune for their cause
Keeping it going...milking hands-up applause,
While the u...
Thursday 21st March 2024 4:13 pm
25p.
I've just had a letter I thought I*d mention,
From that government department that pays my pension.
It seems that as I reach four score
They want to pay me 25p. more!
Their correspondence came as a surprise
Such official largesse brought tears to my eyes
Not least in times of fraught economy
Did I expect to see such generosity!
So. dear readers, when you approach ...
Tuesday 27th February 2024 12:23 pm
ELECTRIC CAR
There's something unsaid about the electric car -
That's its worth to net zero will certainly mar!
It's an invention which is merely seeing a renewal,
But the problem is its power is sourced by fossil fuel !
............................................................................................
Monday 26th February 2024 3:42 pm
FAREWELL LADY ENGLAND
Noble Lady England now wears a rancid gown
From the feckless, foolish and faithless busy doing her down
She sinks in a crime and grime-filled gutter
Her once regal voice a feeble mutter:
"Please forgive my condition...my pitiful state...
You who recall I was once something "Great"..
I'm no longer the name I used to be,
Gratitude has gone and what you now see
Is the result o...
Monday 19th February 2024 3:09 am
THE PROPERTY DEVELOPER REVISITED
What care I for gate or fence?
Come talk to me of pounds and pence.
What care I for trees and fields?
Pray tell me what the profit yields.
What care I for bird or beast?
(Unless the creatures are deceased!).
What care I for a vocal majority
When I've got the ear of the local authority?
I'm so grateful for uncontrolled immigration
Carte blanche to conc...
Friday 2nd February 2024 4:47 pm
GENERATIONAL DECAY
The more I see
The more I say
We seem seized
By generational decay.
All around expediency rules
While politicians take us for fools,
And "isms" are trotted out by rote
And change is needed when we vote!
Essential services now seem filled
By those whose caring appears chilled
Compared with the dedication in other days -
Now firmly focussed on just what it...
Wednesday 31st January 2024 4:01 pm
HATE SPEECH - a warning
Let us be chary of the term "hate speech"
Lest it becomes a strident screech
Designed to silence the critical voice..
Let us consider the ramifications
On satire and opinionated protestations
Before commencing to rejoice!
Warning: The Law is a blunt instrument.
..........................................................................
Monday 22nd January 2024 1:17 pm
TAKE YOUR LOVE
Take your love
But don't forget me;
Take it back
And as you go,
Take this heart
But say you'll let me
Keep that heart of you I know.
Take those arms
You used to hold me;
Take those lips
As sweet as wine;
But remember
How you told me:
You'd be forever mine!
.............................................
Sunday 21st January 2024 4:25 pm
SIR JOHN BETJEMAN REVISITED
Recently, I was delighted to find myself watching a most worthwhile "Parkinson" repeat from years
ago, in which the deservedly popular Sir John Betjeman featured as a guest, along with the likes of
the Oscar-winner Maggie Smith and the always erudite and entertaining Kenneth Williams.
But it was Sir John who preceded them into the Parkinson domain and who proceeded to delight the
audie...
Friday 19th January 2024 5:44 pm
ISMs
Cynicism is the last resort of idealism;
Optimism is the balance of realism.
............................................................
Thursday 11th January 2024 5:31 pm
CONCORDE - fondly remembered
With a passing nod to a certain high-flying English poet.
..........................................................................................
My heart leapt up when I would see
The Concorde in the sky;
So was it when its flights began,
Flying faster than a bullet can
Its silhouette so gracefully
Lodged in grateful memory.
................................................
Monday 8th January 2024 3:22 pm
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