Progress

It was long long ago, and far far away
and I'm sure that it's long been forgot
So don't let the mem'ry of that long lost day
make you wish, what you were, you were not

The times they have changed, it's all different now
and things don't work the way that they did
The things that society would not allow
now no longer have to be hid

You can say it out loud, that you're gay and you're proud
You can wheel down the street in your chair
You can wear a Hijab and be part of the crowd
In theory as free as the air

But there's always one hater who's just gonna hate
It's their right, that we cannot deny
But their foolish opinion's not part of your fate
You're not a dumb fish so don't rise to their bait
You've the right to be free and the right to be great
So just wave the haters goodbye
As the world moves and passes them by

Safekeeping

It's winter and the fields are white

with snow in which with sheer delight

we play and gambol while it's light

but after comes the reaping

We take ourselves back to our home

to chocolate cups with creamy foam

and fires that warm us to the bone

and never hear the weeping

For there are those of poor estate

of threadbare garb and empty grate

for whom snow brings a harder fate

as in the frost comes creeping

Then that which brings such winter joys

to warm and thoughtless girls and boys

the poorer folk it just destroys

and leaves them dead not sleeping

Now I'm not saying don't go play

when winter brings a snowy day

But a little help goes a long long way

Add them to your safe keeping 

Wasted

Youth is wasted on the young

They live in dreams of what's to come

and miss a passing world of fun

Youth is wasted on the young

Age is wasted on the old

Their lives are stories to be told

But all they do is fret and scold

Age is wasted on the old

Better

With every hill I climb or corner turn

another vista's there, my soul to burn

Another view of lakes and lofty crags

Another wind-blown sky, clouds torn to rags

Another torrent rushing down so fast

like youth spending each day till all are passed

'til all are gathered in the pool of age

for this poor fool to put down on the page

I wish I could a better poet be

to better render everything I see

Stories

My life is a book full of stories
The anecdotes tumble and fall
Wherever I go things just happen
I'm sure I've not told you them all
But where are the stories from others
The tales that I'm hungry to hear
I can't be the only one having
adventures from year to year
It may be a matter of seeing
It may be just being there when
the thing that is happening happens
and having a notepad and pen
Just make a note of the occurence
then later when you read what's there
If it feels a bit thin, be like Shakespear
"Exit stage left, chased by a bear"

iambs

 

The children sing their skipping rhymes
Which bring to mind my childhood streets
In what I'm sure were simpler times
the human heart in iambs beats

But streets and roads and cities grow
as trade advances and retreats
Now city's rhythms ebb and flow
just like a heart that iambs beats

And nations too enlarge and shrink
with victories and then defeats
But through this all without a blink
The human heart in iambs beats

Time's cliche

Time changes tomorrow's potential
overnight to the facts of today
Then without any doubts existential
as history, throws it away

So hope for the best
Prepare for the worst
Live each moment as if it's your last
At the end of the day
I hope you will say
I'm all done, but it sure was a blast

Balance

There's no resurrection, no life after death
When you fall off you cannot remount
So when the time comes and you draw your last breath
Be sure that you've squared your account

There'll be debts that you owe to the people you know
for kindness and help on the way
and some for the ones that are already gone
leaving you with no chance to repay

So I hope all the good that you do in your life
for loved ones and those past recall
will tip the worlds balance on the blade of that knife
and leave it a bit better, that's all

A thing of beauty

Do not cry because it's over,
that it will not come again
Rather, celebrate its being
and the memories that remain
For it was a thing of beauty
that soared in it's domain
And though we'll change about it
It will always be the the same

To the Bride and Groom

From now on
You must remember every little thing
For in your autumn when you look back to your spring
I'm sure that you will come to understand
That all the best things happen hand in hand

And still he lies there sleeping

The world is spinning round and round
My mind is broken and unsound
Gravity does my limbs confound
And still he lies there sleeping

He drank me under, and again
From dark brown ale to cheap champagne
He drank like an uncovered drain
And still he lies there sleeping

There's things to do that must be done
For morning brought in by the sun
will not allow an overrun
And still he lies there sleeping

I envy him his ease of mind
Responsibility declined
Lazy, if I should be unkind
And still he lies there sleeping

But love him also for his peace
His beauty shines without surcease
He is his maker's masterpiece
And still he lies there sleeping

Chance

Take every opportunity
to maximise the odds
When offered, always cut the cards
and don't put faith in Gods
Don't trust in mathematics or
the feeling in your gut
For every golden rule there is
a hidden get out.
But...

I'd never say you shouldn't take
the time to chance your arm
For as the old ones always say
'The third time is the charm'
And though it goes against all sense
there's something we all ken
That one chance in a million
comes through nine out of ten

So always throw the dice once more
to see fate misbehave
And bring good fortune surfing in
upon the seventh wave

Did you hear tha...

The click as the hammer falls on an empty chamber
The screech as the oncoming semi jack-knifes around
The hiss as the sodden grass puts out that ember
The crash as the lightning bolt impacts the ground

These things are things you should be glad to remember
The bullet with your name on won't be heard
The thing that marks you up "Return to Sender"
will do it's job in silence mark my ...