UNDER THE CLOCK

Suited and booted he sat waiting there
Perched on the edge of his seat, restless
He sat watching the great clock hands moving
Slowly as they ticked off the minutes
His palms sweated and his heart pounded
As he waited beneath the great clock face
He asked himself “what was he doing”?
A blind date what was he thinking, madness
He was too old for blind dates far too old
Why did he agree, what would they talk about
He wasn’t young, he wasn’t cool, he was
More Wilson Philips than Wilson picket
But there she was not too young and lovely
His mouth was dry and he felt a bit faint
“I was terribly nervous about tonight”
She said putting him straight at his ease
She slipped off her coat effortlessly
With an easy grace and elegance
When he took off his coat, he hit his arm
On the wall, hit a woman on the back
And knocked over a lamp, she laughed
Sympathetically and she bad him sit

UNAFFECTED

She was beautiful, elegant, graceful
She held herself with dignity and poise
Yet was unaware of her own attraction
At school, boys of her age, for want of her
Cried themselves to sleep, she was unaware
She turned heads and yet did not notice
This was not arrogance or even aloofness
She did not see herself as others did
It had always been so, Her innocence
Not that she did not date boys or even men
She was neither virginal nor chaste
She was chased and pursued but not caught
Her heart when given went to the one man
Who saw beneath as only a soul mate can

PICTURES OF LILY

Her hair was dirty blonde, shoulder length
Curly like loose ringlets cascading down
Her face was Mediterranean, dark, dusky
Eyes black as the night sky in winter, brows
Thick and dark, nose pert, mouth full and pouty
Her skin smooth as polished wood, her figure
Like a Rodin carving of perfection
Dress this in silk and lace, you have passion
Her soft breasts hidden within delicate lace
Hips, buttocks, femininity similarly
Her legs sheathed in stocking of black silk
Stiletto heels shaping them perfectly
A vision as this is not as it seems
It’s the airbrushed woman of my dreams

ANNE

Anne stood on a still riverbank at peace
A silent and untroubled location
She knew well that then was the very last time
She would stand in that special place alone
A joining of hearts in the days to come
Meant her life would be forever altered
Remembrances filled her young head
Of when her own council was all she had
No more, since he entered her life
A soul mate and kindred spirit, lover
A friend and yet so much more besides
The other half of her found at long last
And with this new stranger reunited
They will share the love that is requited

TOUGH LOVE

If you fall in love
And get your fingers burnt
If you give all of yourself
And end up broken hearted
Don’t withdraw from life
Get back in the saddle
Dip your toe once more into the mire
Don’t deny yourself the chance
To swim again in an ocean of desire
You must be immersed
In an ocean of emotional tempest
To feel alive, to be alive
You must take off your vest
Before May is out
Take a risk, take a gamble
If you don’t buy a ticket
You can never win the jackpot
Its better to open up to danger
Take the knocks and live

AWOKEN FROM SLUMBER

Where Sunlight defused by the leaf canopy
Dappled the ground
Gladys rested, quietly
Beneath an English sky
Peacefully sleeping
In a quiet place
But for the church bells echo
In the steeples shadow
A place that was familiar
That had become so to her
It was familiar through all the seasons
She shared an intimacy with the daffodils
That danced in the spring
She was well acquainted with the summer air
Heady and fragranced
She knew the place beneath the carpet
Of golden autumn leaves
And the linen white shroud of winter
Amidst family and friends
Completely at peace
Undisturbed she lay
Unconcerned with affairs of the day
Unmoved by events
Untroubled by stress or strain
Untouched by evil
Unworried by the world
Uninvolved in life
Under the good earth she lay
At peace since her passing
Until she was wrenched away
Awoken from her slumber
Taken from an English churchyard
Her resting place desecrated
By despicable savagery
By the compassionate?
Those with social conscience
Who claim the moral high ground
For their own
Torn from her place of rest
To be unwillingly used as a pawn
In a despicable game
A game of blackmail
And intimidation
To force her families hand
And to be discarded like rubbish
Fly tipped as by gypsies
Or cast like runes by a careless seer
Left to the elements
The old bones of an old lady
Who in life earned eternal peace
Left Like unwanted trash
Unceremoniously dumped
Strewn amongst a hedgerow
In the name of animal rights

RIP Gladys Hammond

LATE

John Ellis worked hard
And spent his leisure time
Pubbing and Clubbing
Till late
Very late
This night didn’t differ
When he crawled into his pit
Much the worse for drink
It was late
Very late
When he awoke in the morning
Thick head pounding
He stared bleary eyed at the clock
It was late
Very late
Slowly what he saw permeated the haze
Dawning on him in the half light
And he cursed
I’m late
I’m late
He hurriedly scraped the ice
Then when he got in the car
The radio confirmed
He was late
Very late
He was a safe driver normally
But today he drove too fast
He took too many chances
Because he was late
Very late
He raced on to the motorway
Despite the spray and patchy mist
He raced on ever conscious
He was late
Very late
Bright red lights
Pierced through the mist suddenly
He braced himself and braked
Too late
Too late
His mangled body sat motionless
In the tangle of mangled metal
And his life ebbed away
Late, late
The late John Ellis