Photoshoot

 

 

Photoshoot

 

The Classic family photo group

Lined up with siblings three

But the camera was too quick to shoot

So three were facing me

 

He should present a smiling face

To camera's waiting lens

But he's gazing at the camera case

Instead of at his friends

 

With anxious frown he's looking down

To see what has gone wrong

The other three are peering round

As he's taking much too long

 

So when the shot was fired away

Before we were all ready

Three faced to one who looked astray

And the image was unsteady

 

What's more the shot was focussed not

With edges somewhat furry

We were an unattentive lot

So it was distinctly blurry

 

The lesson here is loud and clear

For families in a flurry

When standing there with near and dear

Do not pose in a hurry

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Missing Shoe

 

The Missing Shoe

 

While driving along with the radio on

By the verge I saw a man's shoe

Which made me wonder to whom it belonged

And why there was one, and not two

 

This curious phenomenon is not so unusual

An odd single shoe by the road

Why throw out one shoe in a manner so casual

Is walking in one shoe the new mode?

 

A flipflop, a trainer, a sandal or boot,

Shoes appear to be chucked out at random

There are not so many folk with only one foot

So why do these people just one shoe abandon?

 

Perhaps a hiker developed a blister

Or trod on a thorn and found his sock torn

Or a verruca beginning to fester

Maybe the shoe was hurting his corn

 

Was the wearer beamed up by an alien force

And is now gazing downwards from space

Or found he preferred hopping to walking, of course

Or clumsily broke a shoe lace

 

This sight is not rare so its clear they don't care

About this lonely shoe's fate

And that where there was once a pair

This solitary shoe has lost his mate

 

Whatever the case and wherever the place

By the road when you see a lone shoe

Just there on its own where there should be a brace

Give pause to the question of why there aren't two

 

 



Paper Moon

 

Paper Moon

 

Across the firmament she rides

And rules the heavens, this silver queen

A paper moon she silently glides

Reigning benignly supreme

 

Remote, aloof with dignified mien

Reserved, the essence of tranquillity

Radiating her lucent gleam

Sailing the night sky into infinity

 

Detached, this muse, her surface seen

With cratered volcanoes long extinct

Mountains, valleys and lava stream

Far off still outlined quite distinct

As we gaze up so she looks down
With her cool hypnotic stare
Serenely regarding our earth below
Impervious to our mortal cares

Week by week she waxes and wanes
Gradually slipping behind earth's shadow
Once a month her full face revealed
Then diminishes to tender crescent narrow

Shedding her chilly radiance
She pulls our tides by gravitation
The rise and fall along the sea shore
Equalising the ocean's equation 

Gazing up at this distant being

Its hard to believe with the passage of time

Though detached she appears from human fears

Men walked that ground in 1969

 

 

 

Robber Baron - published Cambridge News 3 July 2014

Robber Baron

 

I thought I loved my blackbird

I thought he was my friend

I fed him dainty morsels

From Christmas to year's end

 

The poor bird seemed so thirsty

He hovered round the pond

Picking round and looking down

Beadily watching each frond

 

He stepped down upon a lily leaf

With neat precise and dainty skill

And seized a small amphibian

Then darted away with his kill

 

Its gilded belly was turned to the sun

It struggled in vain but had no where to run

The blackbird gripped his prey and sung

Then flew off in triumph to feed his young

 

He serenades me all day long

He croons with a beak full of food

But this blackbird has a blacker side

With living prey he feeds his brood

 

My garden's made for wildlife

In nature lies our roots

But that doesn't include this blackbird

Who is brazenly sealing my newts

 

 



Of Mice and Men ....

 

Of Mice and Men

 

There's a vole in the house

Brought in by the cat

Or a shrew or a mouse

- Or it could be a rat

 

To resolve this dilemma

It must first be caught

At hiding they're clever

So the chase may be fraught

 

So nimbly it scuttles

In a dark spot to lurk

From shadows gleam a beady eye

A whisk of tail in the murk

 

Swiftly is zips across the floor

Like a living clockwork toy

Behind the sofa and under the door

To catch it requires a cunning ploy

 

It slips behind the bookcase

And in amongst the cables

With consummate ease it leads the race

To catch it you are quite unable

 

Picking it up is not advised

You shouldn't slip your hand beneath

This is a lesson to the wise

These creatures have needle sharp teeth

 

The answer's a plan both simple and neat

Lay out a wellington boot

The opening close to its whiskery nose

And in it will gratefully scoot

 

Now you must make a painful decision

To check that it is safe inside

Do you put in your hand to feel for its hide

And risk it being nipped with precision?

 

The moral is a simple one

As a vital vole accessory

Inside all well-ordered homes

Wellingtons are necessary

 

 

 



June sunshine...... Published Cambridge News 21 June 2014

 

 

June Sunshine

 

Where and Oh where has the June sun gone?

The skies remain cloudy and grey

A cold north breeze blows all day long

Of sunshine there isn't a ray

 

The bees are still searching for nectar and pollen

And scurry from flower to flower

But the lowering skies the summer belies

As the firmament threatens a shower

 

But the barley field ripples like silk in the wind

With ephemeral poppies scarlet stained

Wild roses arch with bryony twined

So waiting for summer will not be in vain

 

The soaring swallows are flying high

A tortoiseshell spreads his wings to bask

The air is pierced with swifts shrill cry

Apollo will glide from behind his mask

 

 

 

 Postscript

 

Apollo that mighty God now deigns

His beneficent rays to bestow

He has slipped his cloudy mask to reign

Over grateful earth below

 

 

 

 

 



Daisy River - Published Cambridge News 19 June 2014

Daisy River

 

With warming sun and sudden showers

The garden is overflowing with flowers

Snapdragons, poppies, pinks and peonies

Sweet hesparis and columbine

Love in the mist and foxglove towers

Honeysuckle's blooms entwine

Clematis tendrils that mingle with roses

Mock orange and elder their scent combine

But best of all - though humble and small

My lawn has a river of daisies