What do you call a hospital That doesn’t have any doctors? Where patients are tended After a fashion By disenchanted nurses Where the senile and confused Wander unattended through the rooms Of the sick and injured Wailing their confusion To their own detriment and the distress of the rest What do you call a hospital…
Home Improvements
For a broken heart, call the plumber It’s just a pump, surely It should be a simple matter to straighten out Tighten a few bolts Seal the leaks Flush out the blockages There! Good as new Anxiety? IT department Brain computer giving random pop-ups? Have you turned it off and back on again? No…
The Umbrella
What’s the point of an umbrella Held over a soaking head by a stranger On a very wet day That ship has sailed, surely This body could not be any wetter Were it to jump in a swimming pool So, what’s the point of an umbrella To share a shelter with someone who has…
Mother Spider
Mother Spider makes a plan And sets to work as best she can She weaves her strands of cruelty tight And coats them with affection bright The tallest tales adorn her nest All underpinned with malice best A fine veneer of fair deceit This faked accord is quite a feat This web’s a work of…
Heat
Mercury’s climbing. Still a phrase, though No mercury in thermometers anymore Up up up It hits you like a wall Wraps around and smothers You push through the thick, soupy heat Leaching moisture from your body Energy from your limbs Head pounds in protest Body sweats out its life Hottest day on record, they say…
How not to cry
Okay, now hold it together You’re overreacting, can’t you see? You feel hurt, embarrassed, angry But that’s no cause for tears Is it? Clench your fists, hard Feel those nails dig in to your palm That’s it, that’ll stop the flow Before it starts No one needs to know How they’ve hurt you …
Wonder in the words
When I was small Letters became words became sentences became Magic, and mystery, and far away wondrous places A strange cat in a very tall hat Taught some lonely children how to have fun But I don’t think I’d ever have eaten Green eggs and ham Discovering poetry in the Hundred Acre Wood…
The young at heart
I’m too old, he said Love’s a game for the young I’m too set in my ways Who’d have me now? Maybe once, she said A long time ago But now? What do I have that anyone would want? They circled in a stately dance Drawing ever nearer They opened doors and drew…
A Shepherd’s Tale
A cold night Winter’s coming And it will soon be time to move indoors But for now, build up the fire Huddle in cloaks Almost hoping for a wolf among the flock Some kind of action To keep warm Bethlehem’s fires can be seen in the distance Dream for a moment of wealthy homes…
A Christmas Feast
The Christmas feast is ready The table groans with abundance The turkey smells like heaven With lashings of gravy and stuffing Roasted vegetables piled high Plum pudding flames To oohs and ahs of delight Crackers pop, paper hats adorn happy heads Raise your glasses to a merry Christmas While outside, noses press to the…
Eclectic Assemblage 