Which Roman emperor inaugurated
that almost universal human gesture ?
(Perhaps to keep the volatile crowd placated
with their favourite defeated lest their
anger led to riots on the street)

His name would be remembered ever after
more fittingly than fiddling while Rome burned
or making his horse a senator with laughter
at dull conventionality so spurned
or any other weird imperial feats.

He never could have thought it credible
that such a simple gesture now outlives
his mighty empire and makes possible
communication across language boundaries
with a Thumbs Up to the stranger that we meet.

I listen to the engine running;
its idling speed is smooth and strong.
While top performance isn't stunning,
it does keep pottering along.

The air intake is quite efficient,
not spoiled by smoke pollution yet;
the fuel filter is sufficient
to keep all vital feed lines wet.

The chassis starts to feel its age though;
the bodywork shows signs of wear;
the starter motor won't engage so
the engine needs especial care.

For if it stops, despite how clever
all the intelligent functions are,
they don't continue on forever -
it's me that dies and not my car.

The Well of Loneliness

We've certainly progessed some way

to understanding 'inverts'

since twenties cowardly disapproval

labelled them as perverts.

For what was there to censure but

her 'thespian' male attire

which foolishly served to advertise

her lesbian desire ?

Unselfish love eschewed the curse

of masculine brutality

and woman-ness did not indulge

in phallus promiscuity.

So though the book's a bit too long

without a lot of loneliness,

her writing it may well have helped

some later people's happiness.

That you say "No" you won't come out with me
disappoints but strangely leaves me free
from indecision long endured
instantly cured
amazingly.

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 !