Your memory tree

Aunty

Sister

Wave jumping swimmer

 and lover of life.

The first and last on the dance floor.

Always gave the best advice.

Knew the words to soothe 

-best friend second to none.

Some called her Jacky, Miss Griffith, Mrs Chave.

I always knew you as Mum.

Your tree in MINDs everlasting forest

Get free from MSG - (sung to the tune of Mary Poppins)

Monosonoglutamate it is not your mate,

If you eat enough of it your hunger won't abate,

If you say it loud enough you'll always carry weight, 

You're hungry now? But wait and see,

After a full blown meal with MSG.

Once you pop you'll never stop 

becomes your permanent state, 

If you keep on snacking on food rich in Monosonoglutamate, 

Eat healthily and add a prune maybe even a date, 

To flush out all the shit you eat with Monosonoglutamate! 

-it is not your mate! 

Another year without you another poem about you xx

Some days I can't believe how lucky I truly have been, 

To have had the most amazing mum the world has ever seen,

There is never a day that doesnt go by when I'm not thinking of you

What would you say now? And what would you do? 

But the wind had changed course and reshuffled our deck,  

As we re-laid the tables upon Titanics shipwreck, 

Squandered moments I would have been by your side

Times, like flotsam and jetsom float in on the tide, 

You were the lighthouse in the darkness for those who couldn't see, 

Able to put the world to rights with biscuits dunked in tea, 

Always there with the right words at the right time - you always gave us that, 

How many times did you go to the vet  - spent a small fortune on our cat! 

A loving heart it's true to say, 

I'll miss you forever and a day, 

Though gone too soon I'm still the luckiest one, 

To have had you, the very best, as my dear mum. 

#Anotheryearwithoutuanotherpoemaboutyou

Life is like an all you can eat breakfast buffet

Some offerings are delicious and some are not so good, 

Just because you can doesn't mean that you should, 

Saving some sweet snacks for later is strategically best,

Looking for the good stuff and not focusing on the rest

*Definitely don't focus on the rest!

Breakfast has become the biggest meal now you see, 

Stuffing our faces because we love it when it's free, 

Setting your alarm to get the choice and a good seat

How it must feel with the world at your feet 

And even if it looks good doesn't mean that it's nice

Even a free breakfast can come with a tummy churning price.

Another year without you another poem about you & an ode to a seaside town

Butterflies flew from your heart,

As your next life began to start,

Sparks from a welders iron flew from the heels of your feet,

As they struck the road you walked to your own beat, 

You told me ; "Blaze your own trail, some you pass, some you fail, some you bomb, some you nail, a new page, new stage, now straighten your crown, Pick yourself up and dust yourself down"

Onwards and upwards going to build something better, 

To the land of seagulls, where the earth gets wetter. 

#Another year without you another poem about you.

Death by call centre

'Please be patient just keep holding on the line...'

Before you called us you were probably doing fine, 

Sorry we're having high volumes of calls -yet you said that the day before.

35 minutes on the phone to the council -I just can't do this anymore.

On the phone to the bank for an hour and I'm sorry but it's not OK,

Being transfered to eternal departments seems to be the new normal way, 

Called to change the date on my train tickets- clickity-clackity-clack, 

Just another 45 minutes of my life that I won't get back 

Called about my pension as the letter sent said I should do, 

press 1 for this and 2 for that makes no difference they don't have a clue, 

When did these businesses start to act with zero fucks/interest to give? 

Whilst we hang on the phone to resolve an issue -losing the will to live.

'Your call is important' -yet you're waiting in a queue, 

Yes I've tried to do it online but it tells me to call you! 

Calling customer service means you really must keep track.

As another 50 minutes of your life won't be coming back. 

Complicated plants 🌱

• Lots of water, 
• Nutritious food,
• Sunlight oughta
• Photosynthesize mood,
• Heat/warmth; not too little, not too much
• Space away from an others touch

We all need a little space to thrive,

Room to grow to come alive,

Here’s my thoughts I’ll take a stance,

We’re all just complicated human plants

The luggage of life and loss ❤️❤️

We all carry something about us. The luggage of life. Whether we wheel it effortlessly along, neatly packed in shiny hard shells that run alongside us obediently or stacked about us in boxes dusty but organised labelled like a house move, impeding our movement or worse,  dragged along on a chain, taught about our throats.

Be nice.  ❤️

As with any luggage comes loss. You cannot have life without loss.

Even those speedy borders who seem to shine and glow and glide through life -don’t knock them for not having lived! Did you ever think that maybe they found a way to cut the chains about the neck and repackage and streamline their life so it no longer drags them down or gets in their way?

Be nice.  ❤️

For you never know the loss or the pain of the other. The smile that masks the tears. Pushing through life on well oiled wheels or struggling to overcome overloaded boxes on chains that make it hard to breathe.

Whichever life traveller you are or they are.

Just

Be

Nice.

❤️❤️

We just want it done!

2021 we just want it done

No Xmas cheer no nothing fun

Making plans for a future no limit no border

Bringing worry and chaos with a governmental order 

2021 we just want you out

What the hell have the past 2 years been about? 

Upset, injustice, unhappy, unseen, 

No interesting answers to where have you been?! 

2021 we just want you gone

To hug who we love how can that be wrong? 

Sick of the 4 walls zombie mobile screen glare, 

glad rags swopped for stay at home lounge wear, 

2021 get it ticked off your lists

Rule makers and breakers with iron fists

Onwards and upwards let's get on with the show 

New year, new start slow quick quick slow

2021 really put us to the test

2022 lets give it our best

And pretend we don't see how 2022

Sounds like 2020 too! 

The walkers

Out with their dogs or themselves, as first light pokes and pushes open their curtains- here they come, 

getting out the 4 walls, out from under the feet of homeworkers or away from that annoying fridge hum, 

Morning greetings so chirpy n chipper

Fisherman out for the mackeral and kipper

Dawn breaks with such beauty yet some never bare witness to the show

Waves crash against ( unforgiving) rocks much like the markets (now) go 

Walking the woods and parks unchained and free

Wading in wellies that go upto the knee

As we mentally tick off our list of to do's

Kicking up mud in our hiking shoes

Passing through all the mud and dirt

Carrying our pain and trying not to hurt

Walking on the eggshells of our collective nerves

Keeping our distance with preplanned swerves

With a fríendly socially distanced stroll - we call them the talkers, 

Running on coffee and fresh air for here come the walkers

Never Give Up

Never give up on trying something anew- however slight, 

Shake up your life, make those dust mites take flight, 

Never give up on people: for some you lose and some you win, 

Some lift you up, some wear you thin, 

Never give up on love, 

The sweet the sublime even the knife in the spine, 

Makes u ache or makes u warm like turning water into wine, 

Never give up on the magic and possibility of a new day, 

Seasons change; one is leaving whilst another is on her way, 

Whatever rain and blustering winds may knock u from your seat, 

Clouds'll clear and you'll get a silver lining to bring you to your feet, 

Never give up on life: With all its skullduggery and humdrum existance,

Its still a beautiful world and worth going the distance,

Never give up for there is so much more to see

When u worry less about the past and the future you begin to set yourself free, 

Never give up on trying again, 

Keeping your patience, & counting to ten, 

Never give up on faith: through hell and high waters it'll keep you strong, 

It'll carry you through on the notes of a song,

But also

never give up on giving up, Abandon it all with grace and wit, 

For when you've given it your all it's also important to know when to quit.

           ❤️🧡💛💚💜

2020 the year that wasn't

2020 the year that never happened-the silence was deafeningly loud, 

A cough a sneeze you'd never believe made u really stand out of a crowd, 

How can it be with all our skills that we cannot put it right, 

faces covered like the best kept secrets hidden in plain sight

Onwards and upwards we hope we can be

Healthy and happy and most of all free

To love & to hug & to kiss oh my word! 

No mixing, no fixing, no shouts to be heard

Orders to Shelter in place within your bubble 

No haircuts, beards grown, upon last years stubble, 

We're hoping and hurting, a heavy heady brew, lucky to have friends and family their love like a glue, 

Asking each other how you are becomes the limit of what we can do 

Lockdown 2020 winter edition

2020 we are always going to remember, and not for Guy Fawkes on the 5th November, 

For there was no gunpowder, treason or plot, 

2020 we want it gone and forgot, 

Condensation drips down windows condemnation like damp fungus lingers, 

Like how loneliness and isolation grip with strong and bony fingers, 

Give us our friends and family, lovers to hold, 

Whilst we hope and pray every sniffle's just a cold, 

Like listening in a storm to Pavarotti singing Nessan Dorma, 

We're all rising and falling in our privately collective trauma, 

We filled out name and number for track and trace, 

Wearing knicker-esque masks that blanket the face, 

Washing our hands over and over like Macbeth in that play, 

Scrub hard enough and maybe we can return to normal one day, 

Stay at home they say and you won't put a foot wrong, 

Take care of yourselves and most importantly keep strong, 

#Haiflu

#May

Walking and watching, 

Nature so oblivious, 

Unknowing growing, 

#June

Panic attacks peak, 

Unstable, fearful, tears streak,

Trapped, caged, stay at home, 

#July

A new routine starts, 

Back to work - a new normal,

Still my bleeding heart.

 

#August

Waiting, foot tapping, 

Belatedly, mask wearing, 

Warey stay cations

#Sept

Complacency brews,

Try to force feed opinions, 

Rebel with a hug,

 

#Lockdown lessons

Respect is distance, 

Love kept under lock and key, 

Hugs aren't free, 

Life in a locked down town March 2020

Lockdown March 2020

The most popular word of 2020 #lockdown an instant game changer,

Hitting the pause button to hide from an invisible, salavitating stranger,

Too much time to reflect on troubles; real, imagined and true,

We went home if we had one, for it was all that we could do,

Mother nature continues, no tricks up her sleeve, 

Spring has sprung and birds are singing without reprieve,

Those we loved the most measured by how far our distances grew, 

We went home if we had one, for it was all that we could do, 

Sheep are in lamb; fat, woollen, balls, 

As the world's markets fall, trade and industry stalls, 

We became trapped in our own cages like wild animals in a zoo, 

We went home if we had one, for it was all that we could do,

Capitalism crumbles and socialism kicked off its slippers to run into the fray, 

What good are all those riches if they can't grow them their own way, 

Keeping a wide lense and reserves of hope for this new world view, 

We went home if we had one, for it was all that we could do,

As the world got really silent, in this it had no choice, 

There came a calling for unity and love in a calm and reasonable voice, 

All facing the same eye of a storm, but in a different boat, alone or with a crew, (lucky you!) 

Then We all went home if we had one, for it was all that we could do,

The infinite monkey theorum

Bish,bash, breathe,
Waxed, worry, weave,
Faceless the slander,
Where it thinks to meander,
Quandrical the quest for qwerty,
Formally unfathomable now functionally flirty,
Chunky, clunky,
Retro, funky,
Thumping away on ancient keys,
Feed in more paper, chop down more trees,
Drop down a line, don't lose what you'll say,
Captcha those threads before they stray,
The industrial revolution gave many a resolution,
Carried upon Daisy's wheel,
Yards and yards of ribbons of spiel,
The monkey bangs and bashes too maddened to think,
A meaning to be found in the clunk, slunk, stink,
For with the passing of time something must be created,
Keep typing, keep trying, for this too has been fated,
On and on to infinity riding the tails of a kite,
Do it enough times and you'll eventually get it right,
From chaos an order winds tight upon the spool,
From these unstoppable chimps in the tiny typing pool,

The humidity of a dishonest storm

A snapshot of the day to day; the drudgery, the skullduggery,
This story weaves,
Such luscious leaves,
Oblivious to the heavy hearts; rich and ripe and caught in a humid, dishonest, flow,
Against a backdrop of rolling clouds, menacingly shaking their fists at those marching below,
Sun breaking through to stretch her warm fingers out to beckon you near,
Grumbling black clouds that back off as the light breaks through fear,
Don't listen to what you're told nor believe all you think you see,
Not so trapped in a dark cloud that you can't break free,
Sway with boundaries, push borders, shapes and form,
Don't get sucked into believing in a dishonest storm,
Shuffling along, head bent and shoulders braced,
Better to weather life's storms and troubles faced,
unbeaten, pushing on, don't pump the brakes, cruise and just steer,
Striding forwards into your future, from this present moment, this now and here,
Smile and laugh in the face of it -for it is truly a beautiful world,
As the lies of dishonesty float over your head; unbroken and uncurled,
A little break from menotony, a little break from the norm,
Unwrapped and released, from the lies of a storm,

Working in a typical English pub

Measured and treasured a hazy, heady, brew,
Hugged in the hands of the many and the few,
As we collect, stack and wash glasses until they gleam,
Conversations at the bar just letting off steam,
Counting out change -make sure that it's right,
The locals rarely tip as they're far too tight,
Some come to drown their sorrows others with a raging thirst,
Seeing the very best of people as well as the very worst,
Here comes trouble hurtling, full throttle, down the track,
If you punch him in the face you'll not be welcomed back,
Whilst they sit at the bar judge the quality of the beer,
Watching out for those heavy hitters that have no fear,
Happy go lucky are who you prefer to serve,
A psycho-therapy siren you mix with vim, vigour and verve,
'Time at the bar please' is what we always love to shout,
As we clean up, wipe down and kick them all out,

Goodbye my Love

She had looked like someone who was finally saying goodbye,
Nodding at the well-fitting familiarity as she passed on by,
Crossing sunny plazas watching, being watched, from terraces full to overflow,
Joining with the hearts and minds of good and brave as well as those she didn't know,
Beautiful green spaces she had memorized so well,
Picnics in parks, such larks-! And stories they could tell,
Sliding down secret side streets to avoid the hustling, bustling, throng,
For leaving had felt like losing a limb yet staying had felt so wrong,
Now she's gone yet somehow she'll always be here, in a time unset by clocks,
Constantly returning on the crest of a wave as the tide washes onto the rocks,
For within her DNA she carries the spirit of all the good people and places she knew and had met,
Whispering upon the summer breeze "I'll always love you" and "I'll never forget"

Prompt: What is poetry and what can it be for our world today

I think it's the meat on the bones that keeps the world fed,
Or maybe it's between the spaces of the words that are left unsaid,
The baring of a soul, written on, or between the lines,
The breakups, the heartaches, the stepping on life's landmines,

The laughter, the loves, that takes away all the fears,
The lyrical lexus that brings sweet music to the ears,
That opening of the head that gets creative expression to flow,
More personal than a story, for the poet you'll get to know,

A literary licence on any topic for anyone with something they want to say,
Poetry reflects the world and it's differences in a brutally honest way;
In the bleeding hearts song,
In the putting right the wrong,
In something pretty or gritty,
In a little bit of a ditty,
Deep, dark and dirty,
Romantic and flirty,

So go on grab a pencil and write what you feel
Just always remember to keep it all real,