Fun is a taste that fades so fast,

a brief exhilaration

that sometimes can leave us aghast

at later realisation.

Enjoyment's usually less intense

and also less dramatic,

governed more by common sense,

and not so problematic.

Joy, if it happens, can outlast

the moment, getting stronger

as after-taste of happenings past

lodging in memory longer.

Pleasure has a subtler flavour,

languidly suggesting

its need for leisure time to savour,

mentally digesting.

Delight is a snack with delicate scent

inhaled without intention,

a fragrance all too quickly spent,

impossible of retention.

Jubilation is the topping

sportsmen sometimes make

when their triumph involves stopping

sharing out the cake.

Ecstasy is supernatural,

religious manna for a prophet

but fantasy for us as mortal

with little chance to quaff it.

Satisfaction is the base

of every wholesome meal

where sound decisions make the case

how good achievements feel.

Happiness is the bread of life

infused with family -

parents, children, husband, wife -

the oldest recipe.

Poorly said

Born in poverty, poorly bred,
poorly raised and poorly fed,
poorly praised or educated,
with poor prospects poorly wed;

poorly paid and poorly led,
social benefits poorly spread,
in poor health (what hope ahead?)
poorly doctored, surely dead.

Don't talk to me of an Afterlife;
there isn't one.
And as for hopes of Paradise,
you make it here.
And don't you dare to mention miracles;
we live on one
and know for all life death is natural
and nowt to fear.

There is no Hell although it would be
justice for some
and only troubled minds face Purgatory
year after year.
With sects created from the gullible
by charlatans
how anyone can still have faith in prophets
is unclear.

Our modern world sees less observance
of religion
although some people still need something
to revere.
And so, despite continued brainwashing
of children,
the trend is that belief in God
will disappear.

Beautiful women display in a bubble
of untouchability tempting a prick
and even if there's no immediate trouble
when men lose control of the drive in their dick,
unwanted intrusions, albeit youthful,
may not be forgotten by those victimised
and test reputations of the untruthful
defending themselves with obvious lies.
Years after the incident think of the shame
occasioned to parents, friends, children and wife.
Although you may try to escape from the blame,
the consequence surely will ruin your life.
So, gentlemen please pay attention to such
an obvious maxim - look but don't touch.

The actuality is it's just another
dormitory like any other
but permeated by the idea
of somewhere new - Brasilia.

The summer sunset peered through the bedroom window
and blushed at what it saw.

Urbino, Italy

The grandeur of the palace re-awakened
all the old anger at outrageous riches
derived at base from peasant poverty.

The same few biblical events all taken
uncritically on walls and shadowed niches
in gloomy paintings brainwashed laity.

And so the visit kept my thanks unshaken
for our democracy, despite its glitches,
more intent on gaiety than deity.