Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Sorry, Sophie

Because you said you were leaving
I grasped the only chance
to ask you out for an evening -
drink, meal, somewhere to dance ?

Your instant, almost echoing
"No" took me aback completely
so when I saw you still standing
there and in the middle clearly

of planning to stay by taking
your coat off, I became confused.
My comment "I thought you were leaving"
was in no way meant to be rude.

I'm sorry if I was appearing
resentful. Rudeness has no excuse.
Please forget my importuning.
You've every woman's right to refuse.

But as ABBA sang 'Take a chance on me'
please forgive and just dance with me.
For several weeks a single peacock
keeps on flying along the track
between the hedge and my allotment
to and fro, forward and back.

Glowing in sunshine when it perches
I love its brightly coloured wings.
It doubtless wants to attract a mate
though unlike some it never sings.

But why keep flying up and down
over the same place all the time?
Do butterflies have territories
to be defended in their prime?

Sunday, 13 September 2020

 I don't envy the rich their money,

the famous all their fame,

or the powerful their power -

for to me it's all a game.

But what I do feel jealous of

is their ability when aging

to shack up with the most attractive,

much younger, beautiful women.

Thursday, 27 August 2020

I strain

Too much gazing at screens

accessing social media

strains your peering eyes

exacerbates peer pressure.

Tuesday, 25 August 2020

Out of place at a soiree

Me ? I neither know nor care
if it's brie or camembert.

Sunday, 23 August 2020

My first thought was "How very sad" -
an old man sweeping his garden path,
so slow, bent over, doddery.
But then I thought "No. How heroic."
Instead of sinking in an armchair,
hiding from coronavirus,
watching palliative TV,
he's out there keeping things tidy.

Thursday, 23 July 2020

A sick society

So many hooked on drugs and guns,
so many hooked on violence,
so many ignorant of the world
never needing evidence.

So many careless of their health,
so many hooked on opioids,
So many hooked on fantasy wealth,
so many bigoted paranoids

rotten with racial prejudice.
So many liars, so much greed,
when your society is sick,
concentrate on what you need.

Forget the primping cheerleader
telling you everything is swell -
before you try to make it great
you need to make it well.