Robin

Robin

I bought a bag of mealworms

Which robins just adore

I put it on a handy chair

Thinking it was quite safe there

But alas the bag tipped over

And the mealworms outward did  pour

I stood watching with helpless dismay

As they raced nimbly away

A tidal wave of mealworms

That surge across the floor

          They got under the fridge           

And they’re under the freezer

At the rate that they’re going

They’ll be under the geyser

So fast can they wiggle so rapidly wriggle

As they head to the door

I sweep what I can

With my brush and my pan

But still I find more every day



Waterfallish

Waterfallish

Its louder than a murmur

And its quieter than a roar

So how best to describe it

I’m really not quite sure…

It isn’t quite a gurgle

And it isn’t quite a trill

Its more a sort of burble

That is coming from the rill

It’s a waterfallish sound

That is coming from the brook

When cascading onwards down

In a secret shaded nook

An incessant falling sound

That tumbles on for ever

From the stream that’s wending down

Flowing on to join the river



Parking Lot - published Cambridge News 29 May 2013

Parking Lot

I know just where I parked my car

I left it in a handy spot

Somewhere in this parking lot

It really can't be far

Row B or C, or maybe D

I'll walk along the cars and look

Its tucked into a little nook -

Possibly it might be G...

The colour is  metallic grey

But there's silver ones in every bay

It does seem that so many cars

In this tasteful shade are sprayed.

Row on row and line on line

I peer from side to side each way

But of my car I see no sign

I scan them all from right to left

Without my car I feel bereft

I cruise them all from left to right

I gaze at every car in sight

I fear I could be here all night

And now I'm lost
I feel a fool
I know my car's parked
In this pool

By Nature Grown - Published in Cambridge News 21 5 2013

Flowering Verges

Spare a thought for the verge

As you pass by on your way

                      You’ll find its often a colourful surge                       

Of wildflowers enhancing your day

Cushions of violets in  blue and in white
Rosettes of primroses spangle the bank
Clusters of cowslips catching the light
And celandines grow up the flank.

The golden suns of dandelions

Their faces turned toward the sky

A sheet of shining buttercups

Reflect the sun as you go by

There’s cowparsley – the Queen Anne’s lace

 That foams the edge along the hedge

                         There’s alkanet and comfrey bloom                          

                                 And bluebells sway with slender grace                                     

                             In billowing drifts moon daisies blow                                 

Cascading down the embankment   

In great glistening fields of snow

Rippled by rush of the trucks as they go  

The fiery spikes of willow herb

Flames  later on when summer’s here

             And cranesbills cups of tender blue               

That flowers all along the kerb

These flowers are free for all to see

And all of these by nature grown

Surely it must be a crime
If these are by the council mown...

Autopilot....... Published Cambridge News 15 May 2013

Autopilot

On the way home

I must stop at the shop

             The dog needs a bone              

And we need a lot

There’s bread and there’s milk

And things of that ilk

The clothes were drycleaned

The shoes from the menders

I need some more petrol

There’s posting the letters

The car drives itself

While my mind wanders on

Its running in auto

Just coasting along

I drive down the road
Reciting my list

Anxiously wondering

What I have missed

My hands steer the wheel

While my eyes watch the road

My feet work the pedals

I observe highway code

I keep the speed limit
I stop at the lights
My mind's still in auto
At the junction turn right.

                                                        

And now I’ve got home

The key’s in the door

I can put down my shopping

Safe onto the floor 

 But what have I done?

Of bags there are none

How far have I got?

I've quite lost the plot

Did I stop at the shop?

Oh dear  -  I forgot...

Birdsong - this is for anybody who loves to hear the birds sing

Birdsong

The mornings concerto

Starts warming its strings

When the blackbird tunes his viola

He chinks and clinks in the chilly dawn

His alarm call sounds like winding springs

His voice is a rich contralto

The robin threads his treble note

That interweaves the symphony

The music pulsing from his throat

Entwines the morning melody

                                                                                               

                           The mistle thrush from lofty birch                            

His ringing call holds us in thrall

He stands defiant on his perch

Heard loud and clear above them all  

         

A songthrush joins the orchestra

Repeating thrice each bright new stanza

Cascade of brilliant fluting song

The blackcap sings his clear  cadenza

  

The chaffinchs triumphant flourish

Rose tinted breast and flirts his crest

While his mate so quietly cherish

The secret eggs in hidden nest

  A woodpecker drums while another drums back

Drilling and hammering into the bark

We hear the loud derisive cackle

Laughing from the hidden yaffle

The tiny wren defends his patch

He hops and shrills with vibrant trills

He’s making such a lot of sound

For such a little soul

Starlings cozy gossiping chatter

The field fair with his rattling clatter

And willow warblers falling cadence

Fading gently into silence

                   The skylark pours his constant stream                     

A ribbon of music from the sky

Of liquid silver spiraling down

        A glorious exaltation on high         

 

The night owl hoots the pigeon coos

We wait the lost call of the cuckoo

This all builds up the rhapsody

Of nature’s own antiphony

Surrounding us with heavenly sound

Their wings encircle us - earthbound

   

ps - there are so many birds, I'm bound to have left out some of your favourites.  Has anybody heard a cuckoo this year??

Password.co.uk

Password.co.uk

You really need a password,

In fact you should have two

Or four – or more safe in your store

And this is really true

You shouldn’t use initials

You mustn’t use a name

Or anybody’s birthday

Or other things the same

Or anything that’s  similar

Of  pets however tame

That could be thought familiar

Its all part of the game

Ideally it has numbers

And letters jumbled up

They don’t let you use the symbols

When you are setting up

Some sites need eight letters
Some want only six
Some need added numbers
To put into your mix

You must not keep a handy list

Of this vital information

You have to memorise the gist

And use imagination