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THE TURNING OF THE YEAR

Now Two Zero One Four winds down to its close

I wonder once more where the time of my life goes.

As we welcome the onset of Two Zero One Five

There's comfort in knowing the spirit will strive

Through life's hurly-burly...the push and the shove -

For the prospect of giving and getting some love.

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...

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WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES AROUND

A seasonal re-post of my attempt at a Christmas carol - now that Christmas Eve is upon us.

I'll let the content speak for itself and trust you can follow the words in the absence of a

displayed lyric.

Happy Christmas to all on WOL !

MC

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Christmas

CONSIDER THIS

We're each of us given the Earthly choice

Of going for good or bad,

And for that there's reason to rejoice,

Make the right choice and be glad!

Christian, Muslim and all the rest

Should realise that life's a test,

Each deed a mark - against or for

When Death sees us at Heaven's Door.

...........................................................................

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CHRISTMAS IN PAKISTAN

Do they know about Christmas in Pakistan?

Has anyone told the Taliban?

Those callous corrupters of the Koran

Who slaughter kids because they can.

 

"Suffer little children to come unto me" -

Christ's words resonate with minds that are free

But not with Hate on a killing spree

"Suffer...little children!" is Hate's decree.

 

Do they understand Christmas in Pakistan?

...

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ChristmasPakistanTaliban

THOUGHTS AT CHRISTMAS - a re-post

Christmas is a time for remembering the past, especially family and friends who are no longer with us.

But humanity is blessed with eternal hope and optimism that serve to keep us going towards.....?????

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How fitting now in deep December

When days are short and spirits low

That in our hearts we will remember

Those we knew who...

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Christmas

BLUE REMEMBERED LIGHTS

The following - with a big nod to A.E. Houseman - came to me after reading Steve Rudd's poem "Christmas Lights" here on WOL.

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Into my world nightmarish frights

Yon far carriageway shows

What are those blue remembered lights

What sights, what sounds are those?

 

That is the land of a fatal crash

I see it painfully plain

The tragic e...

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EMBRACEABLE US!

People come in various sizes

As do life's brickbats and prizes

Be sure to make your journey fun

No matter what is lost or won

Fame and failure have their place

In everybody's personal race

Enjoy the good...accept the bad

Embrace existence  - and be glad!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

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BEGGAR ME!

It hurts when you want to help and believe...

Realising the reality of  "practice to deceive"...

The person with a dog and proffered cup -

The ingratiating smile that says "cough up".

Not quite sure of what is true,

Or whether the need is in them or you?

.......................................................

 

 

 

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beggar

THE BERLIN WALL - REMEMBERED

It was an obscene reminder that Mankind could divide its very soul

A terrible thing - yet kinder in its parts than the reasons for its whole

A fortress wall of fear - across the furrowed brow of its creators it lay

So that if they dared lift their eyes to heaven it stood there in the way

No Jericho trumpets to bring it crashing down in its blood-soaked shame

Instead, freedom's call ...

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NOVEMBER

Each November we are reminded, watching poppies fall...

Each represents a life surrendered answering duty's call.

And later, in the weeks that follow, when snowflakes fill the sky,

The mind is filled with thoughts of those whose lives had soon passed by.

Each fleeting flake a forfeited future deprived of its true worth -

And like the poppies - sent to fall and fade back in the earth...

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deadNovemberpoppieswar

Halloween

I think I must be due for a reminder to subscribe to "Witch" magazine!

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RELATIVE VALUES

When you think you're so poor you've no pot to piss in

Turn back to days past - log on and put this in!

There was a time - and glad lives were led

That needed a piss pot under the bed

Rich was the life that owned its plain china

Or a Spode commode...was anything finer?

If you think you're poor now with much that is missing,

You won't be regretting you've no pot for pissing!

...

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'ERE YOU...IN THE EU!

The UK's just had a visit from the EU's Jose Barroso

A left of centre politico who's rated less than "so-so"

They want more money - vast amounts

At his Brussels HQ of lost accounts

We don't just suspect they'll waste our dosh

Cos under their cosh - we KNOW SO!

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SCAN THE MAN!

I had an MRI scan just the other day

They wanted a look at my pelvis

But there's one thing that I have to say

They wouldn't let me wriggle like Elvis.

 

They put me on a moving tray

And fed me into a  tube

Once inside there was no getting away

So snug I thought they'd need lube!

 

I lay there reciting while all around

Came hums and screeches and clicks

You never...

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LOVE'S CONFUSION

When desire burns us like a fire

With threats of damnation from above

I wonder if the holy prophets

Got in a tizzy about love.

The detached mind murmurs "Is it ego"?

As down the road to release we go.

Why equate love with desire?

Is there a driven need to inspire

Something deeper than just sex?

That thought will always surely vex.

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TONY AND DAVE

There are folk who will compare

Tory Dave with Tony Blair

But Tone gave what he thought he could

While Dave saves what he thinks he should.

Politicians are foolish if they hope for gratitude

So what we must expect - and get - 

Is platitude after platitude.

Trained in speaking endless tosh

Without any real meaning

Each speech scanned and vetted

Via very careful scree...

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TYRANNY

When tyrants and their bile emerge

The rest of us must face the scourge

And neutralise the bitter gall

That threatens to engulf us all

When a body is ill-treated

Prompt action sees disease defeated

We have to help ourselves at times

To confront Mother Nature's crimes

The same with tyrants' base infections:

Attack them hard from all directions

Until disease departs fro...

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YOU SMILED - a song of renewed love

Nearly never made it to that dance the other night

Nearly stayed at home again - alone and out of sight

So glad I went and found you there

And found again that I could care

This loser's heart was stil so sore from all the hurt it had before

 

You looked at me and in your eyes I saw a stare of wild surprise

Everything stood still and then - you smiled and love began again

 

...

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SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE - an English perspective

Never in the field of human conflicted views

Have so many been bored

By so much about so few! 

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BLESS!

If the Scots (fooled by Salmond) put a tick beside "Yes"

I for one will just murmur "Bless"!

They may see themselves free of sad me and you -

But they'll be prisoners (new) - held by the  EU.

 

See the money flow south

And the trust and jobs too

When the Scots kiss goodbye

To the three centuries we knew.

 

 

 

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SERVES ME RIGHT - country lament

I get memories of our melody before I lost the song

I get dreams at night that hurt me right

Where your heart should belong

I get letters from your lawyer and your Ma and Papa too

But I never get a letter from you

 

Serves me right for trusting love the way a sucker can

And thinking that was all I had to do

Serves me right for being such a trusting kind of man

And thinki...

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THE SNP

Historically, there have been moves to secure "independence" for Scotland by those who  

seem to see a vision of a sovereign country - notwithstanding the alliance that has bound it to    

the rest of the U.K. for centuries.  There was the ill-fated alliance with France to place "Bonnie 

Prince" Charlie on the throne - and this has surely been the prime example of the determination   

...

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LONELINESS

They say you can be lonely in a crowd

(Probably more so if the noise is loud).

Perhaps the trick is being at ease

With having just yourself to please

 

It's wrongly thought that being alone

Means being lonely on your own.

For some perhaps this may be true

And I sympathise with you.

 

Look inward - take some comfort there

And if you're fortunate to share

With som...

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loneliness

AWARENESS

You suddenly said you had to go;

That was when I came to know

That hello sometimes means goodbye.

Now I know enough to not ask why.

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THE LATE DEPARTED

If the Scots become the late departed

Will we English be downhearted,

Knowing they're gone beyond recall

On the darker side of Hadrian's Wall?

 

Or willl we sing aloud in praise

For leaving us our longer days

And New Years free from haggis and Burns

With wailing pipers taking turns

 

To make us deaf to proper tune

And gentle voices born to croon.

Let English foo...

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independenceScots

REMEMBERING RW

You had so much,

So much you gave.

You went too early

To your grave.

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THERE'S NO KNOWING

There's no knowing when death will come

Not even in a hospital bed

So be sure to add to life's grand sum

While there's time for what can be said.

 

Speak out and let the world take note

Do not go through life dumb

Grab existence by the throat

There's no knowing when death will come.

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THE HOLE - remembering WW1

In a blood spilled mud filled hole

Lies a body - but no soul.

What was once a hopeful life

Blown to bits in savage strife.

 

A parody of human form

A thing that had been loving...warm,

Face down - obscured from the curious eye

And the mind that silently wonders why.

 

Jutting past the deathly rim

Stands a foot of what remains of him

Like a lonely last salute...

...

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FOOT IN MOUTH

The summer is barely over

And here we go again.

The gum-chewers and their gangs return

Putting "pro" into profane.

 

Shouting this - waving that,

Too busy with their hands

That if they're not too careful

They'll end up in the stands.

 

Out on the freshly mown grass

Over paid prima-donnas

Remembering their acting skills

Crash to the turf like goners.

 

F...

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HAVING YOUR CAKE

This poem was written with the Waitrose food poems in mind.  I thought I'd invite WOL to tea!!!

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When Rock Bun first saw Cherry Tart

It was plain she sweetened his hard heart

The other cakes upon their shelves

Decided to amuse themselves

Competing with him for their fun

Made poor Rock a hot cross bun!

......

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LAST POST

This is the closing (21st) poem on my new CD of verse with music settings: "POETRY TO PLEASE".

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There's this to say for getting old,

You take more care against the cold

And value each new day.

 

And this to say for getting old:

You want to keep and not to scold

The children at their play.

 

And this to say for gettin...

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TAXING THOUGHTS

You can only be taxed on what you earn

And so with that in mind, I turn

To politicians - lazy and lax

Who talk about a bedroom tax.

I live long-term in a one-bed flat:

I'm taxed on what I pay for that.

Should I expect a refund made

On the basis that if I will downgrade

To a studio - (bedsit if the word suits you)

And hand my flat to someone new?

Of course not - but I'...

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tax

LE TOUR

Le Tour is coming to Yorkshire,

With sculptures in fields and on hills;

So much devotion in praise of hard graft

From the descendants of those dark satanic mills.

 

 

 

 

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SHAFTED

Uruguay 2 England 1

...............................

Out-thought

Out-fought

Out-passed

Out-classed!

........................

England shafted twice over: by Uruguay and Liverpool - ouch!

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COMFORT

When the thought of sex torments and teases

Take comfort in the thought you're spared its diseases!

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WOL makes the SUNDAY EXPRESS letters page

My last post described an article by its resident poet in last Sunday's "Sunday Express" - and I 

emailed a considered reply.  

Those at WOL and its supporters - but especially the excellent John Coopey - may be pleased to

know that today's edition of that national paper carried my letter (only slightly edited) - with references 

to WOL and JC's wickedly funny "Ode To Roy" included..

...

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"HARSH WORDS FOR DIRE POETS"

Last Sunday I was entertained by an article in the Sunday Express written by its resident poet Martin

Newell under the above title and taking up the remarks by Jeremy Paxman about modern poetry.

Mr Newell wasn't taking any prisoners. I quote:

"As a working poet for almost a quarter of a century, if this matter ever goes to the barricades, I will be

with Paxman.  The problem is that poe...

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direpoets

ARROMANCHES - a Re-post of Remembrance for 2014

On the beach at Arromanches then

Young men saw friends die;

Pacing the sands of Arromanches now

Old men softly sigh.

 

There by the sea at Arromanches

They cheer a much-loved Queen

But the Arromanches that their Sovereign knows

Is not the place they've seen

And the Arromanches where their Sovereign goes

Is not the place they've been.

 

On the beach at Arromanche...

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Arromancheswar

"SPOKES" review

Delighted to see that the Yorkshire anthology of bike poems has got a nice review in the current issue of

"CYCLE - the magazine of the famous Cyclists Touring Club - with many thousands of members.

Poetry reaching out again....and even more pleasing to this member and contributor from WOL.

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Spokes

GRAFFITI - an age-old habit

Gradffiti has been around for thousands of years: some scurrilous, some deserved and some to  

make us think...but most with the advantage of being entertaining.

How about the following (reportedly noted in a "ladies" in Kent)...

"I wish I were what I was when I wished I were what I am."

OR - one for us poets (in a university...where else?!):

"TS ELIOT is an anagram of toilets."

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BILLY CONNOLLY

The series from Billy Connolly on the subject of death was both interesting and "laugh out loud"

entertaining - as only he can be.

I'm not into man-made religion.  The teaching that Jesus was a simple man clad in the simplest 

garments hardly goes hand in hand with the luxurious trappings of the "ranks" of the organised

church.  And any religion with no joyous songs needn't bother knoc...

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death

BOWDEN HILL DAYS

Growing up in rural Wiltshire,

A racing bike was my pride and joy,

A Raleigh Lenton (Reg Harris approved!);

 What's not to like for a fifties boy?

 

And I still recall with fondness, 

It was British through and through...

Cyclo-Benelux, Brooks, and Dunlop  -

All those famous names I knew.

 

I lived on top of Bowden Hill, 

My very own Mont Ventoux,

It loomed abov...

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JEREMY CLARKSON

I grew up with the nursery rhyme that has got Jeremy Clarkson into trouble.  I remember as a boy

wondering what it was about and it was pointed out that it probably had its origins in the historical

context of slavery in the USA and, in particular, escaped slaves in hiding.   

Historically then, it has some relevance which has probably seen it pass down the years - and

successive gener...

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THE MENIN GATE -11 November 2013 (Music Setting)

Written following the ceremony on November 11, 2013, a copy has been received by the Adjutant,

Wellington Barracks SW1.  The poem is especially relevant this year...the 100th anniversary of the

start of World War One - "the war to end all wars".  This version is included in a forthcoming CD

of my work called "Poetry To Please".  

...........................................................

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MY LONDON - music setting

This is posted to herald the welcome signs of spring in this great city.  Now put in a music setting, 

intended for a currently produced CD of "poems to music" called "POETRY TO PLEASE".

...........................................................................

In all the world there's nowhere quite

Like London on a soft spring night

When saffron sunset sends its grace

To linger...

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GLOBAL WARMING-how long forming?

When the westerly winds and wet came storming

How come they said "It's global warming"?

On high ground in the snow and sleeting

Why so quick with "global heating"?

In January sixteen sixty one

Samuel Pepys (yes, that's the one)

Wrote of dusty lanes and flies

That seemed to fill the winter skies

No peep from Sam why flies were swarming

No word from him of global warming

...

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Globalwarming

STRANGE

It's strange but when we drift apart

You're never nearer to my heart,

And when life finds you far away

You're right here in my mind each day

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PROSTRATE WITH A PROSTATE

The recent posting of "Male Health Issues -No1" saw me digging out some lines I wrote for my late brother-in-law who suffered and had to endure an emergency hospital admission to enable him to pee properly.

This is a re-post from January 2012 - with sympathy offered to all those who know what it's about.

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I ask you guys, isn't it gre...

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THE GALMPTON ROBIN - New Music Setting

The robin sang his song to me

When I walked out by Galmpton Quay.

Alone he sang at twilight's gleam

Beside the darkening Devon stream.

 

I am Life,  his sweet song said,

An angel's voice above my head.

Exulting in his melody, 

The robin sang his song for me.

 

The tiny songbird touched my heart

That day beside the dreaming Dart.

My spirit soared as I passed by

...

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robinDart

A CURIOUS COVE

Michael Gove...

A curious cove,

Looks and talks like a toff.

A socialist with half a mind

(I hope that doesn't sound unkind)

Would think that good reason to scoff.

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IFFY SMIFFY

The Environmental Agency boss

Has made much of Somerset cross

Lord Smith likes wild land

Beyond human hand

Now they think he doesn't give a toss!

 

It seems he hasn't a clue

About just what he should do

Too little too late

From this minister of state

As for dredging - you can blame the EU!

NB  Apparently some EU directive has interfered with the old procedure and p...

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OUT WITH THE "IN" CROWD-or IN WITH THE OUT CROWD

I'm intrigued by the correlation between the number of Russian political leaders whose names end with "in" - and the backward steps in human rights in that country.  On the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics....

..................................................................................

It seems that they would happily line up Gays

For fearful souls to beat or shoot in

Old Mother ...

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THE COUNTRY SINGER

I loved to drive to the old songs

On the radio each day

They said the things I felt myself

And sure wished I could say

 

One day I met a wise man

Who read me clear right through

He said "You gotta learn son...

That's what you gotta do!

 

Hear that radio when you ride

But listen to what I say -

You could sing of what's inside

If a guitar you could play".

 

...

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BLACK BLOOD - a poem for the Great War

My father survived the Western Front and the Italian Front in the Great War, promoted from the ranks to

2nd lieutenant, 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, attached to the 5th Division.  He was in

uniform again for WW2 and died aged 50 of TB when I was five.  I have a book about the 5th Division left

by him, containing some handwritten recollections of that terrible conflict...

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war

FALLEN ANGEL - a song

You sparkled like a shining star

When I first saw you from afar

You promised what I'd never known

And I sought you for my own

 

But love with you was not to be

You couldn't share your light with me

However hard you said you tried

The glow between us dimmed and died

 

Angel - you are my fallen Angel

All hope of love with you has flown

Angel - you are my fallen An...

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Angel

SO - WHAT CHANGES?

The Poor are always with us

Jesus Christ said so.

And who are we to disagree?

The Son of God should know!

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PAYING YOUR WAY

It's a truth in every business - the essence of all trade,

To come up with some thing or work for which you can be paid.

If in payment there's a lack...of cash return, a dearth -

There's the old way to recall - goods for money's worth.

 

If you have no gift for inventing, or creating from your mind,

Travel to look up those who have...seek and ye shall find!

Where family used t...

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CON

Con-sider the Conservethemall Party

Con-cerned with all but us Brits true

Con-spiring with the rest of the  turncoats

Con-tinuing rule by the EU.

 

Con-sulting none about our borders

Con-spicuous in their neglect

Con-sidering all others before us

Con-tempt for the concerns we expect.

 

Con-niving to despatch our billions

Con-tained in annual sums

Con-ceding a  f...

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