The River of My Life

The sun is hot
The sand is dry
the wind cuts like a knife
and though it is a desert, through it runs the river of my life

My home is still
my garden, bare
completely free from strife
and though it is a desert, through it runs the river of my life

I live alone
I have no kids
I never had a wife
and though it is a desert, through it runs the river of my life

The river of my life was once a trickle
Through youth it grew, got faster every day
In middle years a torrent carrying everything before
then slower as the years all run away

It traveled from the mountain tops
through hills, across the plains
until at last it finally reached the sea
And behind me is a canyon carved by such a mighty knife
and though it is a desert, through it runs the river of my life.

A Viking Horn Triskelion

When the working week is done
and offices and factories close
a sudden change o'ertakes my son
At weekends he's a viking

With linen clothes and leather boots
and hand made shield and helmet
he holds true to his nordic roots
At weekends he's a viking

When he was wed to his lovely víf
he gained another father
Then we took on a hieroglyph
because our son's a Viking

a viking horn triskelion
is father Odin's symbol
Inscribed for ever on our arms
because our son's a Viking

A step into the dark

There's many a slip twixt cup and lip

The best laid plans will oft fall down
You'll never know what ill winds blow
in the darkness on the edge of town

The rich live soft, the poor live hard
The poorer-still lose their feet and drown
in the rivers of shadow that ebb and flow
in the darkness on the edge of town

The party girls with their hair in curls
with strings of pearls and silken gowns
Stray from the light and are lost to sight
in the darkness on the edge of town

The bravest men with the stoutest hearts
Set out to build their own renown
They won't retreat but are just fresh meat
in the darkness on the edge of town

By day they search the trackless sand
No marks, no evidence is found
Though many crossed they all were lost
in the darkness on the edge of town

You may know where you've come here from
but don't step out when the lights are down
You won't know who you're going to
in the darkness on the edge of town

Sympathetic'ly renewed

The staircase has been turned about
That archway was a wall, before
the front room and the parlour joined
in one unbroken stretch of floor
The kitchen's twice the size it was
The outside loo and coal shed gone
The pantry's now a cosy nook
with comfy chairs to sit upon

The upstairs has extended too
A bathroom has been fitted. There's
a bath and shower, bidet, loo
and cupboard underneath the stairs
For there's another staircase that
leads up into the attic space
that now serves as a little flat
for son who can't get his own place

Yet from the outside nothing's changed
My childhood home looks just the same
From brown front door to grey backyard
They've even kept the same old name
4, Beehive Cottage it was called
Which sounds so rural, even twee
But, built between two busy roads
it is no haven for a bee

So when I saw it up for sale
I had to take a little look
as sympathetic'ly renewed
was written in the agent's book
But Sympathetic'ly My Arse!
They'd torn its heart and soul apart
and turned it into just the same
as any modern builders 'Art'

So while an outside loo's no pleasure
I'll mourn the passing of this treasure