Here it is; you have a new chance
To change your lifestyle and enhance
Your health and happiness, or something else
Take control and tighten your belts
A new resolution to greet the fresh year
Resolve to succeed and overcome fear
Grasp life by the horns; with both hands
Broaden your mind and visit new lands
The only thing that stands in your way…
…Strength and determination every day
But you can do it; yes you can!
Stick to you guns, just follow the plan
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
Joyfully, toward home
Deliberately, away from here
Boldly, into the unknown
Jauntily, finding a rhythm
Silently, measuring the air
Quickly, gaining pace
Sagely, holding your counsel
Intentionally, keeping guard
Knowingly, watching the path
Safely, reaching your destination
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
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
What reason brings me here just now
If thought’s involved I know not how
What’s the date? it’s hard to try
Deep inside, I wonder why
This visitor is strange to me
But seems to know my history
What was for lunch? I can’t recall
And earlier’s not there at all
Have you noticed?
Waiting room clocks are LOUD!
So are the people who pass outside the door.
Moreover:
Why does the time go so slowly?
And why do the passing conversations seem so trivial?
Putting these things to one side for the moment
The big question is…
Will it actually be worthwhile
Spending this part of my life HERE?
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
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
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
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