Everything is there
If possessed by possessions
Throw away the key
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CLP 02/08/2019
Tag Archives: Poems
Glass Half-Full
You always insisted
The glass was near half-empty
So kept topping up
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n.b. If someone’s glass is always half-empty it means that someone is steadily drinking the top half. Best to let them choose to finish it, or re-fill it themselves.
CLP 01/08/2019
On Dawn
Awake to the Sun
Cool breeze pulls at the grasses
Scatters flower seeds
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CLP 28/07/2019
On The Front Foot
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Eyes level, focus
Backlift, then swing through the line
Lead with head, not foot
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n.b. If a batsman always leads with the front foot there is the serious risk of being yorked by the bowler adjusting the length of a delivery to pitch the ball underneath the bottom of the bat. What a good batter does is watch each ball’s line and length and play each delivery on its merits, whilst taking into account the match situation.
n.n.b. Alexander “Boris” Johnson, currently Her Majesty’s Prime Minister and Minister for The Union, prattles on about being on the front foot all the time. He purports this to mean he is being positive and setting the tone. Superbia et ante ruinum exaltatur, as they said in Rome, before it fell.
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CLP 27/07/2019
On the Continental Shelf
Is it only me?
Isles off the end of Europe
Look somewhat adrift
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n.b. It is claimed by some that breaking away from the EU will free the UK up to exploit commercial opportunities further afield.
Take a look at the map and tell me where these opportunities lie?
When you note that the richest part of the UK is the corner closest to Europe, it is clear that working as closely as possible with the EU would be a good idea. Perhaps even better if efforts were genuinely made to distribute some of that wealth more evenly – as the EU is committed to doing through its regional aid grants.
Whatever happens from here will only lead to more tenuous connections with the UK’s closest and most significant trading partners in mainland Europe – unless departure from the EU is binned.
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CLP 24/07/2019
On Biscuits
Life can be busy
Dilemmas and trilemmas
Cheeses and pickles
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CLP 12/07/2019
Ripe
Sea of barley
Heads dropped
Ears heavy
Blades need to be dusted off
Harvester readied
It’s time
And the wheat will be ready too
Soon enough
CLP 10/07/2019
On the Roadside
Set free and at large
Motorists fail to stop at
Black and white crossings
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n.b. A recent analysis of animals found dead on the roads of Britain has identified that badgers are the most common wildlife victims of road traffic.
I have seen many dead badgers on roadsides over my years travelling the highways and byways, as well as deer, foxes, squirrels and hedgehogs.
I have to admit that the outcome of this survey surprised me, as hedgehogs and foxes almost carpet the roads at some times of the year. On my travels I have met plenty of people who can tell stories of personal encounters on the roads with live foxes, deer and hedgehogs, but I have never met anyone with a story about running a car into a live badger – despite seeing them littering the gutter and verges in rural areas.
Although there is only one “winner” when the steel of motor vehicles hits a living being, a badger’s body would cause significant damage to panelling of a car. Such incidents would surely lead to a part in motoring anecdotes, but I have yet to hear any such stories; whereas tales of car-strikes on foxes are often shared, for example.
It is understood that in early summer young male badgers start moving on from the family set of their birth to seek out new territories. This movement into uncharted terrain often leads these adolescent animals to encounters with the King’ Highways and motor traffic.
However, badgers are also treated as fair game by some armed with a gun, or dog(s). When illegal baiting, hunting, or shooting has taken place, a common way to dispose of the kill is to leave it by the roadside, to make it seem it has been run-down – so I have been told by a representative of a badger supporting charity. Once a badger has been battered, flattened and tattered by passing traffic it is hard to tell the original cause of the brock’s demise.
Perhaps more research into badger road accidents is needed.
Meanwhile, all hail the vixen who was identified as having trotted from Norway to Canada across the Arctic pack ice; a distance of over 2,700 miles / 3,500 kilometres.
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CLP 09/07/2018
On Space
No one can hear you
Your inner voice answers
You are not alone
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CLP 08/07/2019
On Politesse
Polite to the point
Of rudeness? Formality
Without connecting
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CLP 07/07/2019
Voyage des Mots 