One drawback of intelligence is appetite of mind,

the ever present hunger for employment or distraction.

For when the body's busy, then the brain is occupied

but boredom strikes in periods of relative inaction.

In ages past the menu didn't offer very much:

apart from formal entertainment and the usual gossip

the only fare available was fairy tales and myth

with religion added for dessert topped sometimes with an epic.

These days however, now we're blessed with wi-fi internet,

there's no unoccupied places in the mental restaurant

where tables piled high with international cuisine provide

a cornucopia of food much more than we could want.

But is our appetite ever sated now we have our smart phones?

Our snacking on our mobiles might cause mental indigestion.

At best it's just obesity but beware diabetes

from gaining all the weight of so much trivial information.

I want to kill a pigeon
and hang its corpse on my allotment
to scare away the other pigeons
slaughtering my crops.

So when I see a pigeon
glide past the window to my lawn
I rush upstairs to get my gun
hoping nothing stops

me getting there in time
to shoot it from the bedroom window.
It's only a .22 air rifle
with pellets sounding little pops

so I may not actually kill it
but if I can disable it,
I can rush downstairs to finish it off
(if no-one calls the cops).

But now it's pecking the grass !
And that's no harm. Perhaps its genes
would lead to progeny eating grass
instead of useful crops.

So I left it alone.

There are very few who deny it now -
climate change by greenhouse gas;
some from fear of profit loss,
a few from bloodymindedness.

All the talk won't solve the problem;
demonstrations are wasted time;
although there are some real believers,
others just join a pantomime.

Most are too busy with everyday problems
to bother much about climate change;
they've jobs to do and money to earn
and see the protesters as rather strange.

In a world where possessions are targeted at you
it's not just the greedy wanting more.
Free enterprise has many benefits
but it's just not possible to ignore

the effect of the market on all the people
seduced by encouragement to indulgence.
Improving their own standard of living
is a major mover in their existence.

And it's not just their own lives they want to improve.
It's human nature to want to see
your children make the most of their lives
by giving them real opportunity.

All of which means the mass of the people
won't risk their personal convenience
for some uncertain climate improvement;
it's not a tempting experience.

Too clever with science and breeding too fast,
we've dumped technological faeces
and overwhelmed the planet at last -
mankind is the Earth's rogue species.

And the Earth would be better off without us !

Grapes of Wrath

When does self-interest shade into selfishness?

When does self-interest turn to greed?

When does self-interest become the priority

above other people's need?

Flying overnight above the clouds eventually the dark began to lighten. A thin strip of scarlet hemmed the whole width of the visible horizon, flaring energy as if the Earth's shallow atmosphere was angry at abuse. Gradually the narrow band broadened upwards, brightened even more and began to push the darkness away from suffocating the clouds. Faint striations veined the new pale grey blue. The now crimson began to flush apoplectic orange, reaching ever upwards into night's empire until its tactics changed. The fiery brightness contracted to a single centre of attack, a dazzling focus of advance. From beyond the cloud horizon the top of a domed head marched forward. Unstoppable a fierce face rose up to slowly scrutinise the carpet of crouching back-bent clouds. He was too fierce to be looked at directly, too magnificent to be looked in the face. Enter the King.

Why is everyone whispering these days?
Why can't they say things right out loud?
I'm sure it wasn't like this always.
I may be old but I'm still quite proud.

Are they trying to keep things from me?
Is there something I shouldn't hear?
I hope it's not just snobbery.
I really would like to get things clear.

Or perhaps there's something I ought to know
but no-one has the courage to tell me.
It seems unlikely but if so
I'd like somebody to try and help me.

Surely there must be some solution
after all the effort I've made,
some way to clear up all the confusion.
Or should I go back to my hearing aid?

I am what I am
and don't give a damn
about who my ancestors were.

They're strangers to  me
and always will be -
an anonymous Him and Her.

Driving has its ups and downs
and I don't just mean the potholed roads.
One day you catch all the traffic lights green
but then turn in the bus lane a yard too soon
unaware of the watching camera
and a charge that's anything but fine.
An empty road is a brief enjoyment
before a T-junction tailback queue
caused by a cautious driver ignoring
the long gaps in the crossways traffic
in case that stretch of road is needed
for a jumbo jet emergency landing.
Stopping to let an on-coming car pass,
you get no gestured thanks from its driver
and later the woman who won't pull over
despite your obvious right of way
V signs you when you beep your horn.
There's the careful driver who won't overtake
the weekend cyclist labouring uphill,
unconcerned by the queue he's causing;
and the polite driver who stops to allow
a car from a side road to filter in,
delaying the traffic waiting behind him
unaware that the road will be clear
as soon as a few more cars have passed -
too kind to the side, a pain to the main !
But in fact road traffic is a great example
of cooperation by all involved.
Sure there are accidents, some of them fatal,
and sometimes drivers break the law,
but if some committee were asked to approve
the idea of vehicles travelling fast
in opposed directions able to pass
each other a matter of inches apart,
no way would it be allowed.

How on earth did the idea start

that allotments are somewhere to relax?

Those TV programmes where old men

never need to bend their backs

but chat over cups of tea in their sheds

admiring their shiny sheets of black plastic

beside their DIY barely raised beds.

No need anymore for winter digging

or hours bending over summer weeding.

So there's plenty of time to just stretch out

on comfy chairs with integral table

admiring the plot where the kids are able

to play on the artificial grass !

The Boss

That power corrupts is no defamation
but rather too kind an explanation.

Size doesn't matter, width or height,
nor favoured hand, be it left or right.
Muscles don't count, tattooed or clear,
nor tone of skin softly smooth or sere.
Clothes are irrelevant, rough or formal,
bust size also, enhanced or normal.
Don't bother about the type of hair,
straight or curly, sleek or bare !
nor the colour, black, red, fair -
the person you're looking at isn't there.
Ignore the skin whether dark or pale
and also the gender, male or female,
shape of nose or size of chin -
the person themselves is somewhere within.
Perfect teeth are just for feeding,
stick-out ears are not worth heeding.
That shape of eyes doesn't matter is clear;
likewise colour but you're getting near.
We all know appearances tell lies
but look more closely into the eyes.
Through the pupils you'll find the guide -
the person you want is deep inside.