24/Conclusion

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 CONCLUSION

First of all may I take this opportunity to congratulate everybody who completed, or even attempted, the thirty poems in thirty days challenge this year.

As ever, I feel as if I have failed to achieve very much this year, apart from the fact that I was able to complete the April challenge once again.

So, thank you for reading my posts and liking them, here and there, on FaceBook. Also, a very big thank you to the four thousand plus hits I got on my STG bloggage.

Of course it's never about the numbers, but it is nice to know that there are still a few people out there who do actually make/take the time to have a look at my work.

I would like to try and finish the month by writing another piece for my 'Hello Am I Even Home' collection, I had been thinking about the mechanics (for want of a better description) of writing this piece throughout April, but it just never happened.

HELLO AM I EVEN ESCAPING

Hardly holding onto the safety rail

I made my way down the old concrete steps

I slipped a little at the bottom but

recovering quickly I continued my escapade

Only looking around to see if either of my helpers

had noticed that I was missing yet

of course I had no intention of actually escaping

I simply wanted to find out if they would miss me

Starting to shiver a little I wished that

I had put a coat on over my pyjamas

one of my slippers was already soaking wet

and it dawned on me that I hadn't taken my pills

I was already in the city centre

the hustle and bustle and the smell of coffee

that daily greeted the early morning workers

where am I hello am I even escaping

01052024

24/30

 

NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 30

EVEN BIRMINGHAM

They talk like they think that TV is a real thing because they don't know that things can be lost hidden from view or snatched away from them at a moments notice look at Edinburgh and Bristol I go there all the time change buses catch trains and aeroplanes even Birmingham is important to the national bus company I really don't understand why as it adds two hours or more not only to my journey but to anyone who has to travel north from the south west or south west from the north I go everywhere all the time anywhere sometimes places that even you don't know about places that haven't been aired on TV as yet back streets in unfashionable cities where you can only buy bottled water in one and a half litre bottles sometimes it's fizzy but mostly not you need to read the labels very closely

30042024/150

24/29

 

NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 29

GABRIELLA

Dented undaunted waiting for someone

She keeps on asking the same old questions

How do I roast potatoes an' carrots

Where is the (something) that you promised me

How old was I when I first tied my shoes

Did you always call me Gabriella

Is it true that the dinosaurs are dead

Why does that bottled water taste fizzy

How can I talk to all my nutty chums

Mum why do you call my friends nutty chums

Do you think I can go to college soon

Why do all my schoolfriends call me Gabby

29042024

24/28

 

NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 28

FULL ENGLISH

He looks at the blank page

What's the deadline?

Another day another doubt or two

He scribbles something down erases it

and starts again

Pig soup and Potatoes

Fish 'n' Chips or

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pud

Lemon Cheese Cake or

Hot Chocolate Brownies

It'll be back to normal tomorrow

Full English Breakfast

with coffee or tea

What's the deadline?

He looks at the blank page

28042024

24/27

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 27

SUNNY BANK LANE

Tumbledown like Jack an' Jill to the beach

everyday they go up and down the hill

The whites blacks and greys of the cobblestones

that they fall down on when they graze their knees

an' like headbangers both of them fall down

Rolling down the hill down Sunny Bank Lane

where they paint the houses in pastel shades

an' where everybody lives by the sea

Vinegar and brown paper bandages

are applied to the heads of the children

to cure their concussion and make them well

Everyday they go up and down the hill

tumbledown like Jack an' Jill to the beach

27042024

24/26

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 26

JUST A CRACKLING CONVERSATION

Cast in order of appearance –

Me (Sam)

Me (Director)

SAM:

Hey, are you the right... Geezer? They sent me from the agency about a job.

DIRECTOR:

Job? Is that what they called it, Darlink?

SAM:

Yeah, I think so, they said it was a quick twenty nicker, for a walk on part.

DIRECTOR:

Really, Sweetie? I think there's a few formalities we need to get out of the way first, don't you?

SAM:

Tell me about it, but I've gotta go soon, I could've earned a tenner by now, any place else.

DIRECTOR:

Okay, right, in this game we go through an audition process. We invite a number of people in, give them some lines to learn, then we ask them to act out the piece.

SAM:

Is it a bit like playing, Monopoly?

DIRECTOR:

Good Heavens! No, Dearie, whatever gave you that idea?

SAM:

Well, Monopoly is a board game, isn't it? And I'm getting really, really bored. Also, the imitation money doesn't help.

DIRECTOR:

(Shuffling A4 papers) By the way, Honey, you are in The Union, aren't you?

SAM:

I won't be in any, Rubber dub dub, at this rate, if I can't earn a few bob, today.

DIRECTOR:

I'm talking about the Actor's Union, Lovely, although, with your 'boy band' looks, I'm sure the Union won't be too much of a problem.

26042024

24/25

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 25

OH FOR FIVE MORE MINUTES

Sitting there taking everything in

talking three languages now but

only understanding the odd word

how happy they are and I am

in the smallest town in the province

everybody's up by four am and eating

night time's over and the sun is up

would you like more coffee uncle

they ask and something else to eat

no thank you I reply I'm full it's

mostly the heat that I don't like

but just listening to the kids at play

oh for five more minutes in paradise

25042024

24/24

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 24

GLORY BE...

Of all the warring nations that think that they can win

of all the generals armies with his conscripted men

the likes of this we've not seen since that other mad man

'an they're handing out ice lollies an' candy to the men

as they march towards certain death at Certain Death's Doors

The mothers an' the girlfriends an' the kidz they left behind

as the body bags fill up an' the graveyards overflow

An' another type of Antichrist with more blood on his hands

upsets the apple-cart of salvation once again

It seems like we can't win against their military might

But we've got friends relatives an' neighbours on our side

an' we'll fight an' do what it takes to win this war of words

we'll protest in the corridors of power throwing rotten eggs

Eggs Benedict an' breaking heads we're not falling for that one

as they unfurl the Union Flag and the Star Spangled Banner

An' threw another spanner in the works of Adamic man

the good book reads lyrical in places in The Psalms

an' the Song of Song's an' The Proverbial new man

an' the King of King's an' the Lord of Lord's He won't be long

He's coming to take his people home to glory be...

24042024

24/23

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 23

STILL LOVING YOU

At one of the places we used to go

I met somebody that we used to know

In the back alleyway over the grid

my memories of the things that we did

I think about you every single day

I'm still loving you since you went away

So how I wish that you were really here

even every time that I comb my hair

My memories of the things that we did

in the back alleyway over the grid

I met somebody that we used to know

at one of the places we used to go

23042024

24/22

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 22

YOUR POETRY

Never read much of your poetry

I hardly wrote a rhyme or three

can't tell you what a stanza is

or Iambic pentameter

Where am I going wrong I penned

a lyric for your lady friend

but you told me that it didn't scan

so I gave it to her other man

Didn't know about Haiku

it might as well have been a Sudoku

or any of the other Japanese stuff

like Senryu Haibun Renga or Tanka

Even though I'm feeling fine

I couldn't recite without mistake

a single line of Keats or Blake

and Shakespeare or Dylan T

Ironic as life can be sometimes be

I wrote a poem but it didn't rhyme

but you said that it didn't matter

because it sounded kind of fine

You talk about concrete poetry

sometimes like it grows on trees

I asked about robotic form

You told me it was not the norm

22042024

24/21

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 21

DE-ESCALATION

An' there goes I but for the grace of God

oh what a bore for the rich and the poor sods

They say that World War Three is on the cards

firing rockets at each other to test their gods

While politicians want to talk um down

de-escalation being the buzzword across town

It's only Word War Three or Word War Four

They talk-talk chit-chat chew-chew jaw-jaw mee-maw

Oh what a bore for the rich and the poor sods

an' there goes I but for the grace of God

21042024

24/20

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 20

SUNSET

Beautiful as a Somerset sunset

see-sawing as far as the eye can see

we walked for days and days through rolling hills

why wouldn't you live here if you could do

apple scrumping before the orchard sheep

sampling those too sweet for the lambs to eat

20042024

24/19

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 19

TURTLE MANIA (PERHAPS)

Finally traded up my faithful Honda fifty

for a Fazzio 125 it's got a variable speed Yamaha engine

okay it's a 'twist and go' but it acts like a pocket rocket

Scooters and scooter boys are making a big comeback over here

there's no real enforcement of safety equipment in the provinces

but in Manila everyone is wearing a helmet these days

I'm still waiting to see my first Lambretta (or Vespa for that matter)

I did see what looked like an abandoned VW Beetle in a field but the

nearest thing I saw to a Transporter Van was a Mercedes Vito

it's interesting that in Manila they call the Beetle a Turtle

19042024

24/18

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 18

FOR FAMES SAKE

The odds are even if she comes or goes

although who can tell no one really knows

She talks it up but she don't know that we

don't want to know cause we don't really care

there's owt for nowt and nothing don't come free

less a little bit more for her to wear

Those people say they're famous for fames sake

but when they smile I run a mile or three

in another direction to the fake

because you know there's nothing much to see

Then to escape your news I wouldn't choose

to engage with your lurking royal face

on the other hand babe you wouldn't loose

if you chose to choose to come to my place

Although who can tell no one really knows

the odds are even if she comes or goes

18042024

24/17

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 17

APART FROM G

Think what you might have been if you were sober

the other no-marks are pushing up daisies now

I wouldn't wish that you were me

toing and a froing going nowhere fast

but it can't last the privilege of the

upper classes up against the unwashed masses

She's seen it all before from her front yard

the fireworks dancing sweet across her street

competing with the Beamer's drum and bass

what a drag but things look proper like they should

Yesterday was much the same apart from G

he should have known that things were getting worse

but she don't tell him the things he ought to know

of course the curtains have been drawn a long time too

All the nobodies are pushing up daisies now

think what they might have been had they been clean

17042024

24/16

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 16

THE HELICOPTER CREW

I used to live on the sixteenth floor of a twenty two storey tower and every night when the helicopter buzzed the windows people would say 'the balloon's gone up' it was far from unusual for there to be a lot of trouble in the bars and on the streets in that vicinity in those days not only that but different gangs were fighting each other for control of the lucrative illegal drug trade and all of the gangs were at war with the police mystery fires would break out in twelve storey tower blocks and because the gangs prevented the fire brigade getting close enough to extinguish the flames it would inevitably result in the eventual demolition of the blocks they don't call helicopters choppers or balloons in this part of the world but they still truck past flying sick patients to hospital motorbike accidents fell walkers galore and worse 'what service do you require fire police or ambulance asks the call handler on the emergency phone ninety calls - every sixty seconds - someone falls heart attacks strokes no joke for the paramedics if there was only something anyone could do to make things a tidge better for someone else for the nurses the doctors the inpatients and staff not to mention the helicopter crew

16042024

24/15

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 15

TURN IT OFF

TV who needs it bleeds it to buglery

ain't got time to sit there and watch that

horrific as war is and the propaganda

that goes with it bare faced lies brainwashing

Who needs it they're looting the seven eleven

but there's nothing left to eat they're too late

read between the lines recharge the satellite phone

send an SOS message to the waiting world

They'll send the conscripts in first - bullet fodder

but the crack troops will be close behind

if you're still watching the live feed turn it off

they can track you by the incoming calls you take

Lose that jail break phone that you've got stashed

lose it or lose your life please don't use it

we've got one or two too many hero's here

filling up those body bags all too quick

15042024

24/14

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 14

STILL CONFUSED

Crying herself to sleep day after day and night

never knowing that things could be made right

her muddled mind still confused about Confucius

she was hiding things in cupboards willy nilly

stuffing newspaper clippings into plastic bags

in a vain attempt to recycle something anything

perhaps to do her bit to save the planet

but things aren't like that in the real world

sleeping in the kitchen wardrobe was never a good idea

claustrophobic as a left luggage locker

clutter that won't come out of the closet any time soon

the booze cabinet was full of half empty bottles

something fishy was sitting on the pantry shelf

but there was no way of finding it amongst all the other trash

a little bit of organisation wouldn't come amiss

if only she knew the value of decluttering the mess

what a transformation she could make in such a short time

14042024/150

24/13

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 13

RECYCLING

Anything mid-century she shouted

slamming the door behind her as she left the house

I outbid some guy for a Chesterfield settee -

she didn't like that - leather stinks she screamed

so the Ox-blood sofa and the Queen Anne armchair

went back out as fast as they came into the house -

the next day she started to throw out all of her best shoes

first the knee length boots then her ankle boots and stilettos

all the leather and plastic and man made fabrics

went the same way into the recycling skip in the yard -

I couldn't find my football boots but I knew where to look

the same place that she slung everything else she didn't like -

her fifties kitchen remained intact along with the recipe books

it was my job of course to scrub the Yorkshire stone flags

delicate as they were she wouldn't hear of them being replaced

13042024/1/150

24/12

 

GLOBAL/NAPOWRIMO 2024 DAY 12

THE NATIONAL SPORT

Went to the basketball arena here

it's the national sport and man can they play

they can hit the basket from the centre circle

running up and down like a troglodytes uncle

sweating for Quirino like there's no mañana

It was the Mayor's cup and each Barangay

played each other in Saguday at four o'clock

or so they told me but the first game kicked off at six pm

after the beauty contest and the fashion show followed by

all the introductions then prayers from the Pastor

a couple of speeches from the Mayor then more of the same

until the first two teams started warming up

These guys were spot on

Harlem Globetrotters eat your heart out

these guys never missed a shot

from anywhere on the court

when they started all hell broke loose

More noise than a jumbo jet

more kidz than a kindergarten

more goals than City on a good day

More baskets than a weavers cottage

more fans than Real Madrid

more miles than Timbuktu

More motorcycles than the Manx TT

more scooters than Easter weekend

more tricycles than a school playground

More hot dogs than the Charcoal pit

more hamburgers than MacDunky's

more Filipino's than a boodle fight

More rice than a paddy field

more gas stations than the state of Texas

more parasols than umbrellas

People to see knowledge to acquire

other fish to fry

Cock fighting

used to be the thing

but this is the biggest spectator sport now

12042024