GIRL ON HORSEBACK

Elegant and beautiful I thought
Admiring the girl on the horse
I couldn’t take my eyes off her
No glance back at me of course

She sits in the saddle quite aloof
A cut above us I’ve been told
A little bit snobby to tell the truth
But she is a beauty to behold

As for the horse she sits upon
A fine thoroughbred steed
A beast like she, looks down its nose
Because like her it’s of noble breed

You expect to be looked down upon
By a girl atop a noble horse
But when on terra firma
I would expect equality of course

But from her five foot one inch stance
She looked down on me once more
Which was quite a feat indeed for her
As I stand tall at six foot four

PC COFFEE TIME

Black coffee
That’s all I crave
Nothing fancy
Just coffee, black
Not latte
Skinny or otherwise
Not espresso
Cappuccino
Mocca
Mocca choca
Macchiato,
Americano
Just coffee, black
But now I’m told
It’s not PC
To order black coffee
Apparently
To be perfectly PC
When ordering black coffee
I must request
Coffee without milk

SHADES OF LOVE

THE LIGHT WENT FROM THE WORLD

The light went from the world
When our love came to an end
I lost everything of worth
My lover, confident and friend

At the moment we discovered
Our love had simply lost its spark
Like the switching of a light switch
My whole world went dark.

PLEASE DON’T LOVE ME

Please don’t love me
Please don’t make me
The object of your affections
Or subject me to your infatuations

Just because I smile at you
And make small talk too
And we have so much in common
Is nothing to pin your hopes upon

Please don’t love me
Please don’t invest your love in me
I’ve been down that road before
I don’t wish to travel it anymore

Every thing is rosy at the start
But too many times love breaks your heart
I will not risk my heart again
So all alone I will remain

So please don’t love me
Friends is all we can ever be
Save your love for the “one”
My dealings with love are over and done

TOO MUCH LOVE

He loves her he says
And he says it often
To elicit a reciprocation
In case her feelings soften

And he does love her
Too much though
Than is really healthy
Soon she will know

For stronger than his love
Growing in intensity
Smoulder the embers
Of his bitter jealousy

She loves him in return
And feels his love
But has not yet felt
The iron fist in the velvet glove

A WORLD OF LOVE

When I walk with you
Through the woods and hills
Just you and I together
The real world disappears
Melts away like a dream
In the cold light of day
That you just can’t quite remember
We avoid the other walkers
Such is our greed for each other
That we jealously guard our company
We are in love
Though we speak of it reluctantly
Lest we break the spell
So we embrace together
In our special world
Cocooned from the real world
By our close proximity
Just you and I
And that is all the world we need

FOR LOVES ADVENTURE

For loves adventure to begin
With life’s journey to share in
Requires only that our souls should meet
And the circle then to be complete
Then with that first sweet embrace
There is nothing ahead we cannot face
For love itself is not the prerequisite
The prize is to keep and treasure it

BEAUTIFUL EYES

Beautiful eyesSo clear and blue
Big eyes,
“All the better to see you”
Eyes, the windows to the soul
What do you see through?

Beautiful eyes
Imperfection free
Big eyes,
“All the better to see me”
What do you see?
When you look through them at me

Beautiful eyes
So honest, so sincere
Big eyes,
“All the better to see clear”
Do they see me with love?
Yes they see with love, my dear?

TAKE A CHANCE ON LOVE

I know it’s difficult to trust again
When deceit is all you’ve known
And lies are all you got to hear
Don’t let it turn your heart to stone

My love for you is boundless
Though the intensity may alter
There will be constancy
My love for you will never falter

Please give me a chance
Put an end to your distress
Take a gamble one last time
The jackpot is your happiness

TWO HEARTS

Two hearts wanting
Standing on the sidelines
Wanting to participate
But fearing heartbreak

Too scared to trust
Past wounds still raw
The wanting so deep
But the spirit to weak

Two hearts wanting
Standing on the shoreline
Wanting to take a swim
But too fearful to dive in

Two hearts wanting
Standing on the sidelines
They will join in, in time
Or they’ll wither on the vine

CONCERNING SPURNING

Since that moment of your spurning
How to live without you I’m learning
But as long as the world keeps turning
And a boomerang keeps returning
All the time the sun keeps on burning
That’s how long I’ll keep on yearning

OUR LOVE IS TOUGH

Our love is tough
Our love is strong
Made in England Apropos
As strong as tungsten steel
It’s as hard as granite rock
It won’t melt away like the April snow
It’s made of sterner stuff
The only thing that will break it
Is if we let it go

I THOUGHT MY HEART WAS BROKEN

I thought my heart was broken
On the day she said goodbye
I loved her so much
I loved her too much
All my friends said
“You’re better off without her”
“Plenty more fish in the sea”
But I wasn’t so sure

I thought my heart was broken
But in the end I was mistaken
Though I felt pain
I don’t want to feel again
My friends were right
I was better off without her
And there were more fish in the sea
Of that I was assured

I thought my heart was broken
On the day she said goodbye
But it was not you see
And if she had not left me
Then my friends, the matchmakers
Would not have trawled the seas
And found the perfect girl for me
My future is now secured

DREAMING OF YOU

Walking alone on a bright summers day
I’m thinking of you though you’re far away
Wishing you were with me neath this sky of blue
In my lovers daydream I’m walking with you
I dream of you every step and every stride
Picturing you with me walking by my side
Soon I won’t have to dream to have you near me
And my phantom lover will have to flee
Your perfume will intoxicate me like wine
Then I will really feel your hand in mine
And then we can fall in love anew
Until then I must keep dreaming of you

IMPRUDENT HEART

She fell in love
Too easily
Too deeply
Too desperately
Her heart was imprudent
Indiscrete, Impulsive
There was always another target
Of her affections
Some would deplore her
Some would ignore her
Some would use her
Some would abuse her
Her heart was always disrespected
Always unappreciated
Her love was always unwanted
And always unrequited
She just wanted to be happy
But each time
She strove for love
It just got further away
She gave her heart
Too readily
Too easily
Too cheaply

I COULD HAVE LIVED A LIFETIME

I could have lived a lifetime
Sailing the seven seas
One moment in the teeth of a gale
Then becalmed for want of a breeze
I could have charted new waters
Or discovered exotic new lands
Or battled cutthroat pirates
With sword and pistol in my hands
I could have lived a life of adventures
Sleeping beneath the stars
Lived by a strict code of honour
While sporting my duelling scars
All this and more I could have been
If I’d lived an adventurous life
But in truth what greater adventure
Than to lay in the arms of my wife

PRETTY ANGEL

How pretty she was
A fact no one denies
With the face of an angel
And sympathetic eyes
Her soft gentle mouth
Its true nature it belies
For beyond the facade
She was the devil in disguise

How deceiving she was
Behind the angels disguise
Hidden beneath a mask
Were calculating eyes
Her soft gentle mouth
Could speak only lies
And beyond the façade
Lay the angels demise

BETRAYAL

In your dark betrayal, you have destroyed
Everything in my life that mattered
What I thought was solid, is now gone
Because of you our love was shattered
Like a thousand mirrored fragments
Each precious memory now scattered
Reflects back all those moments of deceit
My self respect left torn and tattered

LOOKING AFRESH

Looking afresh in the cold light of day
All at once life isn’t as dark as it appears
When first you left me for another
Leaving me alone after so many years
I was deeply hurt, but now I realize
You’re not worth the salt of my tears

RING IN THE WINDOW

In the window he saw the ring
The perfect one, a beautiful thing
The most perfect symbol for her
At its centre a Ceylon sapphire
A gem to beguile and hypnotise
And match the beauty of her eyes
Then to compliment its glow
Around it sits a diamond halo
Light playing on its heavenly guise
Like the sparkling of her eyes
All set in a stylist platinum band
Which he could picture on her hand
And pictured himself on one knee
So he could say “please marry me”

IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW

In sunshine or in shadow
Your love sets me aglow
In perfect calm or raging storm
Your love keeps me warm
In times of drought or flood
Your passion warms my blood
In summer bright or winter dark
You are always in my heart

WE HAD IT ALL

It was here, in our grasp
We could see it, feel it, touch it
Something steadfast and solid
Reassuring and comforting
A constant, a given
Something infinite and immeasurable

We had it all in our hands
A living breathing thing
That we gave life
Our own creation, our new entity
But we let it escape from our grasp
Slowly slipping through our fingers
Though we tried to recapture it
It was illusive, like trying to net smoke
It evaded our efforts

So now it's gone and nothing remains,
Of that entity that was us
Nothing tangible, nothing physical
Only memories remain

NOTHING LASTS FOREVER

Nothing lasts forever
Nothing is that durable
Nothing is built to stand the test of time
No matter how sound the foundation
It will fall apart

Love is among the list of shoddy structures
Love doesn’t last forever
Even though we wish it would
And we can make the case why it should
And list the justification
“Because I need you”
“I feel so lost without you”
“I don't want to be alone”
No one is listening
There is no ombudsman
To hear your grievance and arbitrate
You have loved and lost

But knowing it won’t last forever
Doesn’t soften the blow
When it comes to an end
It still hurts like hell
And the pain seems to last forever

I'VE ALWAYS LOVED IT AT THE SEASIDE

I've always loved it at the seaside
But I don’t like dirty postcards
I don’t like kiss me quick hats
Or ice creams on the promenades

I don’t like the sand in the picnic
Or the feel of dry salt on my skin
I don’t like the smell of the seaweeds
Or the sound of seagulls screaming

I don’t like the amusement arcades
And I don’t like the movement of the tide
I don’t like to sit in the deckchairs
I've always loved it at the seaside

I LOVE IT AT THE SEASIDE

I love it at the seaside out of season
When the bathers are not there
The beaches are no longer sun kissed
The sands are empty and bare

I love it at the seaside
On a bright sunny winters day
When you can stroll along
With out people getting in the way

You pick your way along the shore
Picking up driftwood and shells
Skim stones across the water
Without soliciting angry yells

I love it at the seaside
The deck chairs are all stored away
On the sea front all is quiet
And the car park is free all day

I love it at the seaside
The shops are shut and battened down
All the amusement arcades are shut
But not the Rose and Crown

NATURE POEMS

MISTY MORNING

The early morning sunlight
Creeps across the meadow,
Where in the wet grass
The rabbits make their dawn patrol

In the meadows quiet corners
The sun glints on dewdrops
Trapped within the intricacies
Of a labyrinthine spiders web

Though the morning sun is weak
And too soft to burn the mist
It still banishes the darkness
And another day begins

ON SUN SCORCHED SAND

Beneath my shoeless feet
The sun scorched sand
Burned those who dwelt too long
In admiration of the vista
Beneath the swaying fronts
In the shadow of the palms
The white sands
Offered cool respite
I rested a while
Before I journeyed
Across the sun baked sand
To become immersed
In the cool of the ocean

SQUALL

The grey skies are stormy and wild,Strong winds gust and batter the land,
Rain carried by the squall
Peppers the windows like gravel
And stings the faces of the unfortunate traveller
God protect those caught abroad
On such a foul day as this
The winds whistle round the buildings
And make rag dolls of the trees
Being inside looking out is preferable
Warming by the fire with glass in hand
Loved ones safe about you
Ride out the storm in comfort
Until the stormy gales subside

SUNFLOWERS

They bloom in summertime
Blooms of golden orange
Heads the size of saucers
Unnaturally strange
They stand tall and straight
And super model thin
Large headed and skinny
Just like models again
Not grown for beauty
But for their numerous seeds
Ugly and ungainly
These giant unwanted weeds
Maybe I’m wrong to view them
As one of natures messes
But I can’t help thinking
They’re not one of God’s successes

BEASTS OF THE AGE

Where once was beauty
Now stand the monsters
Towering tall and lean
Arms stretching outwards

These beasts have spread
Across the land and sea
Like a virulent rash
Reaching out to infinity

The towering beasts
Came here to save us
Cleanly making power
Without dirty green house gas

They stand as sentinels
Unsightly and offensive to the eye
Come to save the world
With their clean power supply

In light offshore breezes
Windmill arms turn slowly
It’s a shame they can’t work
When it gets a bit blowy

HANDBAGS AND GLADRAGS

Alligators and Crocodiles
Swam the murky waters
Unchanged in their ancestry
And in their sons and daughters

Oh how time had left them
As the world kept spinning
Swimming the murky waters
Since the worlds beginning

Until they then fell foul
Of fashion entrepreneurs
Valuing them for their skins
For devotees of couture

JAMBOREE BAG

EUTOPIA (HAIKU)

Darling buds of May,
appearing in endless dreams
of bountiful days

POETS OF YORE

Great poets, wordsmiths of yore
Prose and rhyme did write
Of matters that went before
Viewing them in poetic light

ALL ENCOMPASSING

A compass point
Will show due north
And knowing where north resides
Lets you find your way
To all points due
This differs greatly
From a moral compass point
Which only has one position
And always points you to
“Do the right thing”

THE SAINTS AND THE ANGELS

The Saints and the Angels
Watch over us all the year round
You never know they are there
For they never make a sound

But they are there nonetheless
Watching over us everyday
And they are there to listen
When you have a need to pray

And should some weary soul
Let slip their earthly bonds
They have angelic company
On their way to the great beyond

AM I BOVVERED

She drove in the exit as I drove out
And I hit her car with a mighty clout
With a chorus of colourful language
She got out to inspect the damage
Her hair was pulled back from her face
Eyes bulging as if sprayed with mace
Skin tighter than the string of a bow
As if she’d had her head out the window
I wasn’t sure if she was injured or ok
Or if her face always looked that way
I inquired if she was injured or hurt
Her response was certainly quite curt
Then I pointed out she was at fault
And she reared up like an angry colt
We exchange details insurance and such
And got in my car and wished her luck
I pointed out her horse like behaviour
And the extent of her driving failure
She was a very long way past miffed
The angry girl with the Croydon facelift

THE YOUTH OF TODAY

Whether Right or wrong
Or for good or badThey all do it, Girl and boy
Or laddette and lad
Lads swear like troupers
Loud and loutish
Girls swear like fishwives
Drinking to excess
So lacking in respect
For themselves and for others
Morals like alley cats
That would shame their mothers

WHEN I WAS A KID

When I was a kid
Life was simpler than it is today
We chose our friends
Based on the things we liked to play
When I was a kid
And we Choose teams in the school yard
If you didn’t get picked
No one thought to play the race card
When I was a kid
Race creed and colour were meaningless
The only “Race issue"
Was arguing about who ran the fastest

POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION

It’s about time we realised
Discrimination is futile
Between black and white
Muslim, Jew and gentile
The old and the young
The homeless and the cherished
The left and the right
The perfect and the blemished
Atheists and believers
The contented and the whinger
Able bodied and disabled
Brunette blonde and ginger
The east and the west
From Asian Orientals
Continent against continent
To European Occidentals
The happy and the sad
The skinny and the stout
The stable and the mad
The in and the out
The north and the south
The Oxbridge and the common
The straight and the gay
Man versus woman
At the end of the day
Nature will discriminate
And will eliminate
Those perpetrators of hate
The senseless bigots
And the world will be rid
As nature will choose
Between the smart and the stupid

LIBERALS

Don’t you just love the liberal crew
So called because of their liberal views
But when you examine their reasoning
Their liberality is merely posturing
Charles Kennedy was deposed of course
Because he was too fond of the sauce
Jeremy Thorpe had to go way back when
Because of his fondness for young men
While Menzies Campbell was told
He had to go because he was just too old
The party so proud of their liberal principals
Are in reality not that liberal at all