14th/12

 

Napowrimo 2022

DAY #12

UNCLE WATER

The women here are very beautiful while the men are some of the most handsome in the world the women brush everything several times a day tables chairs floors pathways driveways everywhere you look someone is brushing something or someone and tomorrow they will brush it/them all over again I just want to brush under the table Uncle they tell me and studiously they go about removing every grain of rice that I have just accidentally dropped there and the cat didn't get to fast enough what they don't realise of course is the amount of dust that they are creating no wonder I've been coughing my guts up ever since we first arrived here the dust from the constant brushing and the emissions from the traffic all add up to make a sore throat really really painful have you taken your medicine today Uncle they ask and give me a couple of pills to pop just in case I forgot to take them then they say would you like some tea or coffee Uncle water please I tell them but they always ignore me and bring coffee anyway I wait for it to go cold and then I drink it but it's oh so sweet everything over here is sweet ever so sweet even the fruit growing wild outside has a devilishly fruity sweetness to it but don't knock it there's fruit everywhere no one's going to starve this week or next and there'll be steaks for all hanging off the branches in Tiny Tree before we know it

12042022

14th/11

 

Napowrimo 2022

DAY #11

HELLO AM I EVEN ABLE

They said we're going on holiday and started packing bags

Spent all night weighing them and packing and repacking

In the morning they/we were ready and sitting outside

In the rain waiting for a taxi when it didn't come

They phoned another one from one of their devices

At the airport check-in I ask them where we are going

A far away place they tell me it's called Tahiti

Oh good I exclaim I've always wanted to go there

Really they say laughing behind cupped hands

On the aeroplane and many hours later we touch down

In Doha wonderful place fantastic airport but Tahiti it's not

Don't worry they tell me feeding me my cocktail of tablets

We are only changing planes here we just have to wait

For six hours until they've cleaned and restocked the plane

I sit in the airport lounge and do the easy Sudoku in my book

They do what they always do lippy laptops and mobile things

They tell me last night's football scores like they're important

I don't want to know the scores before I watch the highlights

Hello am I even able to do do anything any more or what

When the second aeroplane lands I'm really excited but

They tell me there's been a change of plan we can't go to Tahiti

They say because French Polynesia is closed due to the lurgy

So we've come to The Pearl of the Orient instead

Wonderful I reply maybe we can still go Island hopping as

I had really wanted to go to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands

They had never heard of Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel of course

11042022

14th/9

 

Napowrimo 2022 DAY #9

& Andy's 150 Word Daily Nonsense Challenge

EAT YOUR HEART OUT

They sell potato fries in the market ready cut up in placky bags

for you to take home and deep fry with your foot long saveloy

ketchup chilli sauce or soy and vinegar and garlic to dip

complementary fish sauce for those who can bear it

gobbledegook personified with double egg and chips

add a couple of rashers of bacon a grilled tomato and fried mushrooms

for the all day brunch wash it down with a litre or two of Red Horse

eat your heart out until pancake day or till the jokes on you

and when the mosquitoes bite you'll know about it good style

you'll scratch yourself stupid and it'll flaming hurt like buglery

when they ask if you're okay you'll say I'm fine as eggs are Eccles cakes

Salamat po but what you should have said is

am I Buxton I feel like a troglodyte on heat

09042022/150

14th/8

Napowrimo 2022 DAY #8

& Andy's 150 Word Daily Nonsense Challenge

LIFE GOES ON

Like fireflies they dart about

the motorbikes and tricycles

lighting up the dark

the Jeepney's of course are not running yet

after the Chinese infusion Asian flu it's not

world wide pandemic phew get a vaccine or two and a booster

when they tell you to don't step out of line and you'll be fine

but whose counting any more wear a mask to shop at the store

one each for your cats and dogs too on public transport

but kids under twelve can still go skat free

helter skelter we all fall down

sideways sometimes

but life goes on regardless

although it's good to reminisce

to say you were there on this occasion or that

it doesn't really matter if you missed it

you weren't the only one

so long as someone was there

to share and witness that great match

made in heaven where two became one flesh

08042022/150

14th/4

 

Napowrimo 2022

DAY #4

WONDERFUL PEOPLE

The spaghetti was Italian until they added the sugar

Like sweet sweet coffee and sticky soft drinks

Shaking like a wooden roller coaster

The tricycle thunders downhill and up

Stutters to a halt gives way to a Jeepney

Manila it's not but we are in the Philippines

Wonderful people and excellent food

Would you like a coffee Uncle they ask

Twenty times a day and some Pandesal

After breakfast they say It'll be dinner time soon

We go to the Carinderia to eat Mami

It's thirty five pesos and ten more for an extra egg

There's sixty eight pesos to the British pound today

I give them a hundred they deserve to keep the change

Like sweet sweet coffee and sticky soft drinks

The spaghetti was Italian until they added the sugar

04042022

2019/13

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Thirteen

ABOUT THE

MOON AND MARS

They know not what they got

they're open all night and all day

but nobody knows that but me

sit in or take it away

They think the grass is greener

in New York or LA

and if they could get a visa

they would fly there someday

But I think that they're dreaming

about the Moon and Mars

outer space is looming and

landing pocket rockets on the stars

If I had a Jeepney

like some of them do

I'd race around Manila

like a mad thing too

They know not what they got

no they know not what they got

they know not what they got

no they know not what they got

13042019

2019/12

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Twelve

JUST FOR THE RECORD

They say that you can fit fourteen adults into a telephone box but just for the record we had twelve lads in a box type Viva coming back from Norwich when I had to hitch a lift after we beat them two nil in 1976 the driver said I'll fit you in but we've got a dirty big net in the boot and we're going to drag a lake on the way home and catch a rake of fish of course he fell asleep and we ended up sideways on in a ditch at the side of the road thankfully no one was hurt and when we got the car righted there was eleven City fans pushing a beat up Vauxhall Viva at something past midnight in the middle of nowhere but we got it running again and eight hours later we reached Piccadilly I was skint having spent all my money in The Silver Dollar pub (before the pool table went crashing out of the upstairs window onto the street) so somebody gave me two bob for the bus fare home which is a roundabout way of saying that we just travelled three hundred and sixty-five kilometres from Saguday to Manila via the worlds biggest indoor arena and the wonderful gardens there with twenty three adults and eleven children approximately give or take a baby here and there in a Toyota Hi-Ace van beat that if you can 12042019

2019/11

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Eleven

ACCIDENTALLY WAITING

Accidentally planned on purpose we drive along the

street with no name to the road that goes to nowhere

pero no one really cares they're only here for the ride

they say that taking part is more fun than winning nine

times out of ten everywhere is about two hours or more

from anywhere else in Metro Manila and the heat doesn't

help much pero why would it we pass a dozen restaurants

on every avenue that aren't restaurants at all they are just

hamburger joints with sweet spaghetti pero that's the way

they like it we couldn't live without it they tell me they tell

me lots of things and then change the plans at the last minute

without telling me or when it's too late for me to do anything

about it that's why sometimes I think some things are like an

actual preconceived incident accidentally waiting to happen

11042019

Here's another version : 

ACCIDENTALLY WAITING II

Incidents accidentally purposely waiting to happen

We drive up streets with no names looking for the road to nowhere

But no one cares they're only here for the roller coaster ride

The taking part is more fun than winning nine times out of ten

Journeys by car in Metro Manila take two hours or more

The heat is relentless but the air conditioning helps much

We pass by dozens of restaurants on every avenue

American brands not restaurants at all hamburger joints

They all sell Filipino sweet spaghetti 'cos they like it

They tell me things lots of things then change the plans at the last ditch

Without telling me or when it's too late for me to change much

Actually that's why I often sometimes think things are like this

Preconceived incidents accidentally waiting to happen

11042019/1

2019/9

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Nine

THE BAMBOO KUBO

III

We/you/they rent this

place/space/kubo

by the hour or part

thereof see page three

paragraph two article four

sub-section twenty seven

or if you've got very good eyesight

or super specs simply read the

small print at the foot of each

page anyway after twenty four

hours give or take a few seconds

they took the Karaoke machine away

followed by all the tables and chairs

and then finally the beds disappeared

09042019

2019/8

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Eight

THE BAMBOO KUBO

Hot as a troglodyte's carbuncle they

were up running down the beach

swimming in the sea at

something before six breakfast at

eight fish more fish and rice

would you like more rice uncle

no thank you I tell them

would you like another coffee

yes please the coffee comes sweet

as heaven two types of sugar

white and brown what other sugars

have you got I ask them joking

they go to try to find some but all

the cane sugar has been fermented

and distilled into vinegar no worries

I'll just drink the coffee as it comes

they tap a coconut tree and fill a placky

bottle with the sticky water It'll be wine

this time tomorrow they tell me all thirty

of them plus children staying at the Bamboo Kubo

08042019

THE BAMBOO KUBO

II

Five four three four one

I don't know what's going on

everybody else takes it in their

stride Pied Piper style the sand

is so hot it's burning my feet

Apart from that the games

have started how do you confuse

a basketball player put him in a

volleyball court and tell him to

take a kick (of the football)

They rabbit in several different

languages at the same time

if it sounds like Spanish it

probably isn't it could be Tagalog

or Taglish or really bad English

They change direction as often

as I change hats not that I do

change hats very often that is

but I'm sure you get my drift

my shirt is sticking to me now

I went fishing this morning and

caught a piece of driftwood well

if the truth be known I stumbled

across it walking up the beach

you can't beach driftwood can you

Love the bamboo Kubo thirty

of us plus kids staying here

right on the beautiful beach

they've got a well pump in the

shaded courtyard and a little shop

The shop sells ice cold pop Red Horse

Ginebra and apple juice so what's what

it's nearly twelve noon the games will

resume again soon no time for football

we have a programme a schedule to keep

I gave the kids a togger ball to kick around

they picked it up and booted it rugby style

over the beach volleyball net you can take

a horse to water but you can't make him think

they think soccer is an Americano TV show

Hello Joe they say when they see me Wanna

drink San Mig or Gin come and sit with us

I try my sixty-five words of Tagalog but they're

hell bent on practising their English I worked

in Hong Kong for ten years one man tells me

Do you speak Chinese Mandarin I ask him

No everybody speaks English he says and

all my china plates speak Tagalog anyway

what were you doing over there I ask him

earning money to support my family he says

The minutes morph into half-hour segments

even the Karaoke Machine is quiet at mid-day

everything is a subsidiary of something else

these days I'm waiting for Peaches and Cream

to come on again I know the words to that one

I can smell the fresh fish cooking on the bamboo

grill the rice is cooking too and It'll soon be time

to eat again I think I'll go for another walk on

the red hot sand I got stranded earlier with bare

feet standing on my towel a local rescued me

Don't you just love flip-flops or slippers as they

call them down this end there's always a means

to an end and this is no exception the moral of

the tale is wear protection or get your tail burnt

shorts and tee shirts are better than burning up

08042019/1

2019/7

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Seven

GOING TO THE BEACH

We are all dead dead excited sitting

here standing around eating drinking

just waiting for the jeep

to take us to the beach

three generations maybe four

cousins brothers sisters lovers

mothers fathers aunties whatsit -in-

laws uncle Tom Cobley and all

a couple of tricycles are packed

with water beer and rice and beans

I guess we'll buy the fish when we

get there like we did the last time

Short Interlude (beer rice and veg)

Everybody's dressed in shorts

of sorts tee shirts T shirts and

basketball uniforms de rigueur

only brand name trainers will do

they say the mosquitoes only bite

after four pm and before six am

but I've got a whole colony of ants

climbing up my legs and a 

multitude of flies licking at last

nights bites

I'm still waiting for the jeep to come

but everybody else seems to have

settled back into the usual routine

eating drinking telling customers

that the Carinderia is closed 

because we are going to the beach

at Dinadiawan

07042019

2019/5

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Five

HOG ROAST HOT

Perfect looking into your eyes crazy

beauty comes in stages babe pero not me

even though It's mega degrees daisy

waking beside my lover sets me free

If I was rich with plenty of money

goodbye hello which way lady tonight

waiting for you to come find me honey

alright lover it's much too much goodnight

Funny as the weather when the sun shines

sitting here burning up crazy baby

laughing like a bottle of mango wine

one more drains the day down slowly maybe

Saguday gets hog roast hot too lady

can't find anywhere but you that's shady

05042019

2019/3

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Three

WILD DOGS

Chaotic from

sun up to siesta

only motorbikes

a few tricycles

wild dogs and Englishmen

venture out barking mad

in the mid-day sun

The delivery trucks

and Jeepney's still

come thundering through

and the main road

to nowhere never ceases

At night the crickets

drive you crazy pero

that's part of life in

this little bit of paradise

03042019 

2019/2

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019

Day Two

THE WEDDING

As a little girl drags her dog

leap-frog in the mid-day heat.

Saguday – Diffun Quirino

to the wedding we have come.

The Tricycle with the aubergine

side-car wins the first race.

02042019

Global/NaPoWriMo 2019 Introduction

2019 INTRODUCTION
Hi, I know I said that last year was going to be my final year of doing the NaPoWriMo challenge of thirty poems in thirty days. However, I'm sitting here in The Philippines thinking about the global aspect of the challenge and I really want to get a few thoughts down in this bloggage and elsewhere online. I won't be posting to any of the prompt sites or doing any of the prompts (although, never say never).

CHARIOTS
Chariots race 
up and down
like worker ants 
from town to town
01042019