Dawn’s Promise

As the dim, slate grey sky of morning creeps from the horizon

Whist birds cling yet to their roosts, waiting permission to sing

Listen carefully in the still air to the sound of dawn breaking

It is as real as you

….

Gentle zephyrs and eddies can be felt as birds and leaves start to stir

A low vibration hums electrically, almost imperceptibly in the air and through the ground

Light is changing, warming, as the first rays of the sun define individual clouds

A new day brings its promise to those who can look, listen and learn.

Spot the Homonyms

How often does a duck pay its bill?

Rock is very hard to play

If you sit next to a Pole, the conversation will be a little stiff

Irish express themselves quickly

The water in the well was very heathy

The tips of my fingers feel as hard as nails

When will he write his will?

The gold in the cave is all mine

He used a novel approach to writing

Always season meat in Summer

An amp is the current unit of electrical flow

A net catch doesn’t count the net

I saw him saw the wood

He ended his fast in a hurry

My climber rose to the occasion

Organised Religion (Part 2)

Each of us makes our way every day

Spending heartbeats, uncounted confetti

None can be sure of the length of our stay

On paths more knotted than spaghetti

….

Yet many hold their fate to be known

Faith tells them the final destination

This is their choice, their solid keystone

Let’s hope they do find salvation

….

But as countless planets suns’ orbits steer

Through space and invisible matter

What lives such as ours exist elsewhere

Would they, such beliefs, bespatter?

…

Might they argue that lifeforms, capable of morality

Should endeavour to co-exist in peace

Tolerance and respect, not divisive insanity

For the time we hold earth’s lease

Organised Religion (Part 1)

Should a rose be thanked for the perfume it wears?

Must a machine be praised for its labour?

Does a mother expect gratitude because she cares?

Would a deity favour its own over a neighbour?

….

If there is but one god, known by different names

Does it make worship a requirement of believing?

Does one faith have its ear, as each proclaims?

Or are religions simply self-deceiving?

A Wonderful Life

I’ve been lucky to have had a wonderful life

Most of it with my lovely wife

She’s helped make true my dearest wishes

And doesn’t complain if I leave the dishes

….

Together we’ve made our own way up

Achieving more than I dreamed as a pup

We’ve travelled to places; seen many sights

Not had too many pointless fights

…

For our children, I pray for much the same

Without them seeking fortune or fame

Looking to themselves to make life good

Loving husband and wife through adulthood

After Covid

We must get through this, pulling together

No cause to even consider whether

But what of the future, after the storm

What will be the post-covid ‘norm’?

….

When this virus has gone, before another arrives

People will pick up what is left of the lives

So much of what was usual before

Will not be so, for most any more

….

A vaccine would let contacts resume

There isn’t one yet, so let’s not assume

Jobs will have gone, shops and businesses lost

These will only be part of the cost

….

Public health weakened, treatments delayed

Diagnosis of new conditions simply not made

More children and adults with teeth decayed

Increased obesity for many not weighed

….

Councils struggling to make ends meet

Unemployed and homeless out on the street

Promised grants from an empty purse

Not enough to stop matters getting worse

….

Society itself will become more fractured

Less money about, fewer goods manufactured

A bigger gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’

Inequalities increased, demos and boycotts

….

Lost schooling reducing chances for many

A shrunken economy another enemy

We must stay united, support those in need

Act for the common good, then we’ll succeed

Passing Storm

Once again, as often before

Angry waves torment pebbled shore

Streams and river can hold no more

Gorged, they greedily flood and score

….

Boughs and tree tops bend, submit

Dancing, possessed, as some mad fit

Corn lies flat against the ground

Wheat and barley, bent and drowned

….

Wind howls around a shabby cottage

Lichened thatch, now in its dotage

Uneven windows rattle and crash

Climbing roses twist and thrash

….

Smoke struggles up the sooted stack

Puffing and swirling, blowing back

Flickering candles show eddies within

Guttering answers to the banshee din

….

The moon, it seems, races each dark cloud

Revealing weathered hills, stood solid, proud

Brighter still flash exploding bolts

Snapshots with ten thousand volts

….

Lightning shatters an oak asunder

Earth itself quakes with the thunder

Sheets of rain now throw themselves down

On cobbled streets in the nearby town

….

In the cottage, through the open door

A silent shadow peers out in awe

Hears distant rumbles, sees the oak aflame

As, passing, the storm echoes its name