Category Archives: Experiences

Imagine

Try to imagine this with me

Quiet your mind, let it roam free

Looking out over a calm blue sea

At a foreign shore where you could be

 

Drift across that peaceful scene

To wave kissed beaches, still pristine

Edged by tall trees in verdant green

No sound but bird song, so serene

 

There, just there, pause and wait

Relish the moment and aspirate

Here where time is more sedate

Open your soul to a higher state

 

A Poor Crop

If my tomato plants could speak

They would surely sing with praise

About the tidy greenhouse

As they enjoy summer days

 

Grow bags lined up precisely

Canes readied for support

Windows open for fresh air

A perfect life in short

 

Why, then, do they bear so little

Of the round and deep red fruit

It offends me and seems selfish

Of that there’s no dispute

 

Each evening I check in on them

Down the winding garden path

But their offerings are so paltry

I think they’re having a laugh

 

My neighbour says they’re dying

But how can he be sure

He says they must need feeding

But, like watering, at that I’m poor

 

An Unexpected Caller

A caller rang the doorbell

Straight way my heartbeat skipped

Who can this be a-ringing

With no visitors on the script

 

The house is so untidy

I haven’t combed my hair

Fish smells linger from the kitchen

The timing’s so unfair

 

No chance to try addressing

The mad jumble of concerns

Again the bell rings threatening

To open my can of worms

 

A moment’s hesitation

Safe this side of the door

Jumping with surprise as

A note flutters to the floor

 

Then footsteps gate-ward tread

As I guiltily scan the card

‘We tried to deliver a parcel today

You must collect it from our yard’

 

A Voyage

I’ve sailed a vast dark ocean

With other random souls

Aboard a metal vessel

Ticking one more of my goals

 

Sea swells fell and lifted slowly

Countless waves rolling past the boat

Blue depths below a mystery

Bright skies beneath we float

 

Time slowed and hid its passing

Flowing gently as a tide

Groundhog day repeated

Date line across our ride

 

Thump-thud the beat of life

In engine room and chest

Moving to the future

Ship sailing from the west

 

Deaf NOT Daft

Dappled conversations

Confusing to the ear

Brightly tinkling chatter

Dull, no longer clear

 

Silent slippery sentences

Using lips to lend a clue

Shattered to staccato

Once they’re not in view

 

Sorry, I didn’t catch that

Say it once more, please

I’m deaf not daft, but sadly

Words are like Swiss cheese

Regret

Mark the crashing silence

That fills the pregnant pause

Once unkind words are spoken

Unjustified by cause

 

Might that said be unsaid

With laughter in its place

If time were more forgiving

Regretting not the case

 

A sage would counsel caution

Just sorry words to use

Least said, soonest mended;

A worthy phrase to muse

 

It Could be Worse

Despite the fuss on the national news

Last week’s earthquake brought hardly a bruise

Barely enough to make walls shake

But ‘quakes elsewhere, leave deaths in their wake

 

Classed as ‘light’; Richter 4.4

Even more slight than in ’84

When we swept up the kids and ran outside

If the earth moves, there’s nowhere to hide

 

Now, it seems, we’ve another ‘grave’ threat

The ‘beast from the east’, a new cause to fret

A Siberian blast, bringing snow and ice

At -5C, the Beeb says it won’t be nice

 

But some can recall the freeze of ’82

When staying outdoors wasn’t good for you

At -26C, that really was cold

It killed by degrees, especially the old.

On Valentine’s Day

With spirit soaring on virtual wings

And laughter in his throat

A man in love extols in kind

The girl who has him smote

 

No bitter tongue or poison pen

Can change the heart now set

The fairest lass in all the land

Was his the day they met

 

Gifts have no price that can’t be paid

Nor want that may be spoke

When love’s sure token given free

Casts off the lonesome yoke

 

No path of cinders glowing red

Or dragon to be slayed

Can slow the cause of being wed

To his true virtuous maid

 

Watching Not Helping

She’s such a little darling

He is as good as gold

When asked to look at the TV

They do as they are told

 

Out shopping they’re so helpful

As they run around the store

Bringing things they think I’ll need

Like chocolates, toys and more

 

Dodging round the trolleys

They’re so nimble on their feet

Trying out the pick and mix

And other things to eat

 

Selfish people can be grumpy

When standing in their way

And nasty managers even moan

About their precious display

 

But they don’t see them with their pals

Outside, when I’m not there

They seem to get along just fine

And injuries are rare

 

At school they are so popular

The teachers know them well

They soon would learn their ABC

If they just sit still for a spell

 

I do my best to help them

Like shopping for their clothes

I get the best designer shoes

And piercings for their nose

 

I think that I’m so lucky

Compared to some I know

My kids are independent

And I love to watch them grow.