WRITERS BLOCK  ã 2006 

Where to start

How to begin

Sometimes it’s easy

When the pen’s in a spin

But to look at blank paper

With my thoughts off elsewhere

Getting down the first word

Is not easy I swear

The fear and frustration

As I see paper, virgin white

When writers block hits

I become stiff with fright

I know I’ll see

Light at the tunnels far end

A pinprick it will do me

When will this darkness end?

 Then it comes

A thought, an idea

Banished at once

The frustration and fear

I was worried for a while

I had dried up for good

Now my face has a smile

As I knew it would

No more blank paper

And no more virgin white

I’m off now on a caper

I must work throughout the night

My pen’s working overtime

To make up the lost ground

To write down my thoughts

While they’re still fresh in my mind

      

           

Recycled Thoughts - ã 2006

We take glass unless it’s broken

We take paper if it’s not too wooden

We don’t take card, as it’s too hard

Nor paper if it’s glossy

We are not fussy,

We are just choosy

We take tins by the hundred but

We don’t take plastic as that’s too drastic

We like to think we give a service

We like to think that we are green

Our customers may think we are a mess

That our ideas are not what they seem

One thing is for sure

We are all at sea

Our ideas of keeping our planet green

Is way off the mark, we are not what we seem

Perhaps, if we recycled our thoughts

And didn’t just pretend  

Our customers green ambitions

Would be met halfway in the end

A greener planet could then be achieved

If every last one of us could start and believe

That what was put out would be taken away

Whether glass or plastic, tin or card

Magazines or papers it shouldn’t be hard

Virtually everything is recyclable

It just needs effort and the will applied

Then generations to come could live greener lives

                                         

                                                

The Interview - ã 2006

Welcome to the interview

Please put yourself at ease

Our questions aren’t meant to stump you

They are just a bit of a tease

There’s coffee, tea or water

Please help yourself throughout

I hope we don’t intimidate

If we do please don’t walk out

I’d like to start by asking

Do you know what the job entails?

You should as you applied for

The job and all its pitfalls

Next I’d like to ask you

Who you think you’re working for

Is that right, you think

The company’s worth a whole lot more

Id’ like you now to present your work

You’ve put together overnight

Please don’t be shy, project yourself

Let your ideas take flight

That was quite enjoyable

We understood the topic

And we quite are impressed

The edges they need sharpening

No doubt it will be better when

This has been addressed

The questions come one after another

One about this and yes about t’other

When will it end I ask myself

As a question I once more fend

And then I realise to my relief

Were almost at the end

Just one more thing before you go

What would you do on your first day?

A prudent answer is then returned

Now I hope and pray

LEST WE FORGET we Remember Them-ã 2006

What a day to be twenty-one,

A clear blue sky,

A brilliant sun,

A contradiction!

There is no birdsong,

The silence is eerie!

A feeling of unease,

Fills my being!

As I look at

The foundations remain,

Just like graves.

I have visions of grief!

Panic and fear, of

People I’ve never met but,

Will not forget!

The rows of reminders,

And yes the gas chambers,

It’s painful to the eye!

Two remaining huts are full

Of the inmates memorial!

A tangled, metalled mass,

A sculpture of a brutal past!

Remember Them

It is an August day,

I will never forget!

No where, no way, no how,

I’ll never forget the day,

And my visit to Dachau!

The torment they went through,

I can’t begin to know!

But I can honestly say,

My heart is filled with sorrow!

We all know where we were,

The day that Elvis died,

Likewise J. F. K!

But the day that’s most imprinted,

On my soul,

Is that day in Dachau

When I was twenty-one years old!

 

ODE TO THE MINDLESS - ã 2006

Wheel treads scar the blades of grassy sod

And leaves behind a sea of mud

A year it will take to repair the mess

To overcome the deeds of the mindless

But as each year goes by it gets much worse

While we pedestrians edge past and curse

At cars and vans parked on paths and grass

Whilst the disabled cannot pass

Perhaps one day they will see the facts

In blocking the way on grass and paths

Of their ignorant ways and selfish acts

If they are disabled, disgruntled and cross

With no way around for them to pass

They will see the circle turn in full

See once and for all how the mighty fall

Now that they can plainly see

Through the eyes of their disability

The moral here is plain to see

What goes around can come back for free

If you wish to park wherever you like

Be prepared for the future to bite.

                                    

                                                           

TORNE’ DI SURRENTO - © 2005

 

Come back Sorrento calls to me

From Naples bay in Italy

What finer place is there to be?

Than with the summer sun on your back

Feeling so carefree

To visit Pompeii

With its volcanic ruins and rubble

While nearby Vesuvius quietly bubbles

Waiting its turn to cause more trouble

Go to Positano with its caverns and caves

To Salerno with its wartime graves

To Amalfi with its beautiful church and piazza

Evening drinks in Sorrento thereafter

Take a boat to Capri

Or a trip to Rome

It won’t be long

Before you’re on your way home

Go for a swim

Do the butterfly

Or just relax

And let the day go by

Read a book and forget yourself

It will soon be time to go

When there will be a whisper on the summer wind

Saying Torne’ Di Surrento

 

THE HARD SELL - ã 2005

I hear a knocking at the door

And so I pad across the floor

With dogs running at my heels

First there are barks

Then there are squeals

I open the door just a crack

As a man with a clipboard peers back

Would you like double-glazing he coyly asks?

As he starts on his impossible task

If you look around I think you’ll find

I’m double-glazed at the front and behind

Ah! Says he, now I see,

We do some nice conservatries

We can fix your roof

We can pave your drive

Our estimates are free

Won’t you let me try?

I’m afraid I won’t

There’s the Phone, goodbye

I shut the door and go to the phone

Breathe a sigh of relief that he has gone

Hello I say down the telephone line

Is that Mr.’X’? can I prevail on your time?

Before I can say no she is spinning her line

Would you like a new kitchen?

We do some nice ones in pine

 

CONTACT - © 2000

Across the universe

Many, many miles away

Someone is doing the same as me

Are you there? He seems to say

Am I the only one like me?

Is my breed unique to here?

Is there anyone on any other worlds?

Say, on that bright star up there

I would like to talk; indeed converse

If possible across the universe

Send messages by radio and get some feedback

Make contact with some like-minded souls

As an interstellar hack

Perhaps one day we may even meet

Off-world friends in their Starfleet

THE GOOD LIFE - ã 1999

Rolling waves break on the shore,

Lapping the sand and shingle once more,

I look out to sea, as a gull cries on high!

Then dives for a fish, in the blink of an eye

To feel as free as a bird on the wing,

It must feel good to soar and sing!

Yes you can fly, see as far as you care,

But there have to be drawbacks, up there in the air.

                                                                       

All beings have their limits,

As well as their gains,

So a seabird can fly,

But on land I’ll remain!

I’ll just have to paddle,

Instead of making a splash,

If I was meant to have wings,

I’d find them on my back!

We should all be contented,

With our lot in life,

Make the most of what’s given,

It can save all the strife!

I’ll walk along the seashore,

And look out to sea

I’ll think that yes I’ve a good life,

And I know so has he!