While driving along the dual carriageway

I passed a lady in the cycle lane

whose bike had a loaded luggage rack in front

and panniers full both sides of her rear wheel.

Behind her back were two small children

in tandem. Amazed by the unexpected sight

I braked in awe of her overtaking men.

And then she rode through the red traffic light !

(stopping would need such an effort to start again ?)

Tweets 17

Hoping to stay together through many years

companionship's worth more than sex.

I value what's between your ears

more than what's between your legs.

               WINTER

Days of wet, days of snow,

stuck indoors, nowhere to go,

dreams of sunshine, beaches, sea -

time enough, for now TV.

        ISRAEL  AND  HAMAS

Such atrocious acts that hate arouses.

'A plague on both your houses.'

           LANDSCAPE

Between the weakened peaks

weakly stretches the desert.

        FEMALE EMPOWERMENT

If men can have orgasms, so should women.

If boys can be boys, so should girls.

The winter warmth of bedclothes cedes

to the heat of summer sun.

As the welcome warmth of friendship burns

when love has again begun.

When you're old, an ounce of youth

is worth a ton of wisdom.

Writers embellish ordinary -

gild the daisy.

Is it just my male viewpoint

makes old women seem

so much older than their youth

than old men do theirs.

           LIGHT  MY  FIRE

A crush is the flashy flare of kindling.

Love is coal that catches.

The downside of intelligence is boredom;

that of self-consciousness, egotism

A distant romance

Sometimes at the Friday disco

I really like just sitting and watching,

with a pint of cider and a bar of chocolate,

the same attractive lady dancing.

Without a partner, of either sex,

just on her own she brings to life

the music's rhythm able to flex

her presence into sensuous sight.

I like her voluptuous body swaying,

the concentration on her face,

the sinuous angling of her hips

that pulses beauty into space.

She never seems to notice me

although she cannot help but know

that I'm there watching her again.

We certainly never meet eye to eye.

But I think she likes my admiration

restrained by my propriety

so disco evenings we enjoy

each other's stand off company.

And that's as far as it goes.

Perhaps a stumble, some minor slip,

the slightest fumble or loss of grip,

something slippery or too well polished -

whatever I'm holding crashes to ground.

I'm well aware it can't be abolished

but will some-one please turn the gravity down ?

Though ordinary, no kind of heart-throb,

when young a romance was always possible.

It's only now when I'm old and odd

that I feel for those whose lacks are visible.

The horror on the young woman's face

on my asking her to dance with me

certainly put me in my place

as a now impossible partner-to-be.

So late but since I've come to know

the sapping of confidence by rejection,

it's sad of course but much less so

than the plight of the unattractive young.

No need to tell her, she know's she's good looking,

knows all the men really fancy her.

At times their attention is overwhelming

with presents of perfumes, jewels and fur.

She loves adulation, adores being wanted

but always escapes when she's hunted.

No need to tell him, he know's he's good looking,

sees in their eyes the appreciation,

has only to choose from the women who seek him

and prove he's worth their admiration.

But, favoured in feature, he'll always be tempted

unless he can be prevented.

Everyone says they're a wonderful couple,

handsome and beautiful, made for each other.

But life will be different after the nuptials -

how will they cope as father and mother ?

And can they adapt to domestic living,

so used to receiving, unpractised at giving ?

Just another TV ad

This poor animal is unloved

and sometimes even reviled,

often imprisoned in a cage

and experimented on.

And when on its own in the night black wild

viciously hunted by fox and cat !

Please can you help with just a pound

to adopt a lonely rat ?