Author: admin

Ode to the Agèd

To the Agèd

When I was young (you weren’t so agèd)
Someone let me know, that all of us,
Eventually, have a time to go.

And I was scared – afraid to think
That I’d be left alone. One day I’d be
Without you despite in time I’ll grow…

Add fifty years, it’s much the same…
Still I’d like to know, how and if and
Whether I will manage on my own.

You taught us well: But did we learn…?
Hardly being grateful. You care for us.
You never stopped – ever being faithful.

You nurtured us. You loved us so:
Loved us as we grew. You love us now!
Uniquely, as no-one else could do.

(And by the way, we love you too…
… Never said enough. It all gets lost…
We rarely say the all-important stuff.)

You give so much. We’ve got so much;
You gave us family. But give me strength,
I do not want to sit atop that tree.

(When you were young and they were old
Was it just the same? Did you feel you’d
Learn enough to pass it on again?)

So thank you, thank you, thank you. Now
Standing on your shoulders, it’s time for us
To learn to be, to be the title holders…

For now you’ve aged and I am ageing,
Growing up, needs must. I pray our young
Will get at least, half-as-much from us.

Notes: Written over 6 months for my parents, but unfortunately too late for my Dad.
I read it out at a family service and it seemed both too late and timely, addressed to both Mum & Dad.

The Ability to Live in the 3rd Person

The Ability to Live in the 3rd Person

I live in the third person
You can live in the third person too
Yes he, the poet lives in the third person. He does…

And we can live in the third person together
You don’t (very few of you all) live in the third person now…
But they can, the poet and his friend, they can live in the third person…

Conjugational: Aren’t I?

Aren’t I

I am, aren’t I?
You are, aren’t you?
He is, isn’t he? And surely, she is too, isn’t she?

We are, aren’t we?
You are plural, aren’t you?
They are aren’t they?

Notes: One of the problems with Conjugationals is how to use the second person plural. Sometimes, I use the word in the Conjugational, either for effect or to at least make it different to the singular…

Congestion Conjugation

Congestion Conjugation ~ or ~ Traffic Conjestion

I am traffic
You are traffic
He/she is traffic

We… are all traffic!
You… are all traffic!
And they are all traffic too!

(I repeat, We are all traffic!)

Notes: My first conjugational, which came easy to title with congestion being so close a relative. The gist is that we should not complain about traffic because we are all traffic.

Toilet Bowl Philosophy…

Toilet Bowl Philosophy & Toilet Seat Religion

For centuries, millennia, Man has looked for God
& mankind looked to God for rules
for Man to live with Man

And children; when I say Man, I mean us all, you know
old men and boys and girls and mums,
and babes and every ones

Now God is lost, we have no faith nor holy rule of law
No guidance borne of magic tricks;
we find we’re all there is

So let me tell you what I think – the rule should be today:
To others be as you would wish
that they would be to you

And do for others, as you’d wish, that they would do for you
And hope (and only hope it is)
they do do it for you

And so the philosophy of the loo…

I hope you find it clean and safe: I hope you leave it so.
The seat is dry, the rim is wiped
the bowl is fresh and white

The choice is yours – as life presents – depending on the need
there’s brush and bleach and paper or
a soak if you prefer

And even more the good for you, that you went one bit further
– if you can leave it better
than it was left for you

And tell your friends respect the one, the one who’s next to go
Tell them to think it through
and learn the lesson of the loo

Take this thought & make it wide. Apply it to your life.
Think of others, look after things
– the toilet’s just the start!

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Written 2007-2010