Author Archives: philobility

Night Watchman

Entrances all locked and fast

Bolts checked around the back

Windows secured to the last

Holding, at bay, attack

 

Family safely stowed abed

Enjoying well-earned sleep

Though heavy hangs the weary head

The watch still his to keep

 

Guttering lamp gives meagre light

Cold gnaws and gathers round

Corner shadows hold close the night

Time passing without a sound

 

A few more rounds; he might then rest

Wolf kept safely from the door

Dawn’s rays reveal its sad bequest

His burden he’ll carry no more

One Day

One day I will be gone.

That is not a day I fear,

nor one I want others to feel sorrow or regret.

If, on that day, you think of me, do not regard the how or why;

but note, if you will, the when

Remember, if you can, any smiles and laughter,

not frowns and sadness

Mark any things done passing well;

not the failures

Those were my burden, one I no longer bear

Do not pick up any part of that; let it die with me.

Knowing you, in some measure,

you will have been a part of my life, and I am grateful for that.

Loving you, know that you made my life all the better to live,

and I love you the more for it, for all eternity

Go forward, then, positively;

live your own life as well as you can

Be happy and try to share that with others.

Warmth

I’ve reached that point, where all that matters

Is a warm and sunny day

Too often does cold, take bitter hold

And gnaw at my bones like decay

 

When the sun shines, there is some release

From the prison that is my home

I then struggle out, without a clout

With freedom, at last, to roam

 

On winter days, so short and cold

The four walls close in as a vice

Listening aghast, to the weather forecast

Promising snow and ice

 

Bed is sanctuary, where shivers subside

Though my nose asks for cover too

Like Oates to Scott, I know I’m facing my lot

When I briefly pop out to the loo

 

If this land goes to hell, in the proverbial handcart

For the young, I’d feel sorrow in large measure

It isn’t all sad; there’ll be one thing not bad

The heat I’ll enjoy with great pleasure

The Most Common Bird?

Wondrous-coloured paradise bird

Nightingale, so sweet when heard

Hummingbird hovers in still air

Cuckoos tell us Summer is here

 

Consider a less regarded bird

One that little praise has stirred

Seen in quite unwholesome role

All black feathers as dark as coal

 

It scavenges food beside the road

Dodging traffic with its dead load

Wary of people it looks in your eye

Any slight movement, it takes to the sky

 

Wet windy days, when others stay home

This still braves the heavens to roam

Its powerful wings effortlessly fly

Large beak cawing a throaty cry

 

Often found in a murderous host

Its intellect is better than most

The creature is one you’re certain to know

It is of course the crow

BBC Anticlockwise Forecast for Seas around the British Isles

Thames, Humber, German Bight;

Fog remaining overnight

Fisher, Dogger, Tyne and Forth;

Strong winds abating from the north

 

Stormy soon in Cromarty and Viking

Continued, rapid lightning striking

Further west to north Fair Isle;

Visibility steady at over one mile

 

More north west in the Faeroes

Pressure falling; a strong gale blows

Contrast this south west in Bailey

Pressure is increasing daily

 

For those south east in Hebrides

Expect to sail on heavy seas

In Malin and nearby Rockall

Westerly blizzards are to fall

 

Further south into Shannon

Blasting winds like cannon

Calmer waters in Fastnet

Should provide a safer bet

 

Expected shortly across Lundy

A high of 1050; Sunday

Storm force 10, now in Sole

Building 11, on the whole

 

Further south across Fitzroy

Sunny spells to enjoy

But further east, in Biscay

Rougher seas and blowing spray

 

Plymouth, Portland, Wight and Dover

Temperatures rising, hurricane over

This concludes today’s forecast

Dear Auntie Beeb, may it long last

Ship’s Cat

Tom is on the manifest

His job; seek out every pest

No fuss from other busy crew

Focused on their own jobs too

 

Not for him a cosy fire

Or fluffy cushion to retire

Instead a noisy engine room

Is where he rests, his coat to groom

 

He prowls the holds with consummate care

Fixing vermin with his steady stare

Pouncing on some careless prey

A tasty rat for supper today

 

Seldom seen out on deck

The hidden spaces he must check

No stormy seas affect his gait

Stalking surely round every crate

 

Ears rotate, was that a squeak?

Belly-crawling, he takes a peek

Another hapless, shrieking meal

Soon held by claws made of steel

A Tight Ship

The bell is polished every day

Messes cleaned up straight away

Bridge to nowhere spick and span

Uniforms spotless to a man

 

Deck crew mustered on parade

Anchor hosed as it is weighed

Sails unfurled to catch the tide

Captain surveys the boat with pride

 

All is ship shape; Bristol-fashion

Grog divided; each man’s ration

Fair wind blows for foreign shores

Heading set for the Azores.

Ship Wreck

Wretched wooden worm-ridden wreck

Near buried in the sand

Haggard haunted holey deck

Storm driven onto land

 

Tempest torn timber hull

Shattered and salt sodden

Rusty railings rattling full

Crew lost and long forgotten

 

Anchors away for an alien shore

The call went out to the brave

Now silenced sea shanties roar

Drowned by every crashing wave

 

None returned to give the reasons

Why that shipwreck happened then

Lives lost and not lamented

For dragooned and press-ganged men