15/22

 

Napowrimo 2023/my15th year/day 22

THEIR TABLETS OF STONE

They think that hosing it down

won't make it wet but

they've been wet behind the ears

for a long time now

They're more naïve than an optimist

facing a firing squad

it's a dead certainty that something

is going to go terribly wrong

They take the subway train because

they think it's safer than walking

they hate buses don't like overcrowding

shopping in Oxford Street isn't their thing

They say the electricity won't go down

like it did in nineteen seventy four but it will

then all their computers and mobile things

and even their tablets of stone will be silent

22042023

2021 #23

 

Napowrimo 2021

Day TWENTY THREE

NUMBER SIX

Voices are difficult to disguise

accents even harder

Where do you come from

they ask me constantly

I know your voice

recognise your accent but

I can't place your face

You're not from around

these parts they say

when I order a cream tea

saffron cake or a pasty

The thing is nobody is

these days apart from a few

the chosen few that think

that anywhere past Exeter

or Bristol is up the line

No worries they say

when I mention the Senior Service

Proper job perfect that's ideal -

and the Players Navy Cut

cigarettes that I used to smoke

Those were the good times

coughing my guts out

upstairs on the Red Dragon 

Back in the smog filled days

up the line at Number Six

Who are you they ask me

over and over again

23042021

NaPoWriMo 2018 Conclusion

NaPoWriMo 2018

CONCLUSION

This was my tenth year of taking the challenge of thirty poems in thirty days, so I now have three hundred NaPoWriMo poems in the bag. As I have said before I only tend to get two or three decent pieces from each challenge and this year was no different. I did however, write several pieces about Plymouth and therefore I now have the beginnings of a Plymouth collection. I also managed to add a few bus poems to my pet hate collection, so all in all it was a successful month. May I leave you with a fun one?

ON THE RING AND RIDE

We're on the Ring and Ride and

the driver's fishing for compliments

checking the whether (or not) forecast

in the horror scope section of the Local Blag

All that can wait but we can't we're going to

be late for Coronation's treat and East pretenders

so please Mr Bus Driver give us a break and

put your Wellie to the floor and get us home

10518

Day Twenty-Five

DAY TWENTY-FIVE

ON BARKERS HILL

The clouds they move

like juggernauts

across the sky

each one represents

a different world

they all have names

like Merrivale

and Transit Way

On Barkers Hill

behind some

distant ones

the sun appears

to light the day

An Orange Flash

bus or bust

then nothing more

then rain...

250418

Day Eighteen

DAY EIGHTEEN

LATE AGAIN!

It's not just waiting for (buses) it's waiting on buses too

Just when you think you can get an early bath

(laugh) they stop at Tesco or Asda and make you wait

Late again! You just can't win the bus lottery

When you're three (buses) down and stuck outside Home Park

You might as well get a season ticket and call it a draw

Then you'll really suffer like all the other barbers there

Up the Pilgrims! - Argyle argie and all that razzmatazz

180418

Day Seventeen

DAY SEVENTEEN

EMBLAZONED ON THE YELLOW FLASH

Standing here waiting at the cold stop for the bus

you end up hating every car that passes by

Who took the public out of transport?

Who took the ting out of waiting (for the bus)?

Lifting one foot in front of the other

it's often easier to walk

Talking about brick walls and falling on deaf ears

shouting the odds don't/won't get you to work on time

Ting – it's my stop next – if the barber lets me off...

The thing (ting) perhaps about Plymouth buses is that

they/I/we don't understand what they mean by

the statement emblazoned on the Yellow Flash

Up to every fifteen minutes! What does that mean?

They only run every thirty minutes at the crucial time

when people are trying to get to and from work and...

I have to get three buses with a fifteen minute wait

between each one – ha! Maybe that's what they mean!

170418

Day Nine

DAY NINE

MAYFLOWER OR ARMADA

Overheard at Royal Parade

On the back of the forty three

Alright John? Alright Tom?

Who's harder Mayflower or Armada?

What about the Southway bruiser?

Ernie (will) settle with West Park

If they still want to fight tonight

Never mind the winner who's the loser?

Back to school tomorrow John

Back to school tomorrow Tom

Who's harder Mayflower or Armada?

Dream on John dream on Tom

090418

Day Four

DAY FOUR

STANDING HERE WAITING

Waiting here at daft o'clock crazy

for the bus 'cos I love my Baby

To the factory gate to earn some dollar

it's better than being out of collar

A drop of rain on my swede don't faze me

some of the things you do amaze me

So I'll keep on taking those purple pills

'cos the Doctor says they ward off ills

I love the City buses but I hate the hills

you couldn't walk far like Jack and Jill

It's a pity that they always hang a trout

to make me late for any shout

Swizzles not Matlow but I mop the decks

on the factory floor of Dick's and Beck's

Love hearts for my Baby 'cos she's so sweet

everything I do's to give my lover a treat

040418

Day Eleven

OLD FOGIES

The evolutionary omnibus

I’m not going to go back all that far

The clippie shouting out fares please at us

And people jumping off in front of cars

No not a shameful thing to catch a bus

You’re not a third or fourth class citizen

The shame is in the prices they charge us

It’s cheaper sharing taxi’s with your friends

This deregulation generation

Have never seen a corporation bus

Only confusion at the bus station

There that’s why us old fogies make a fuss

110415

Some other posts of mine where I mention buses: Getting Wet, Bus Degradation, What really annoys me #2.  Overheard (in the bus station), Love on the bus, Even Bradford, The Grass is Greener, Nobody Cares, Blank Verse, Fashionista, Haiku, Round and Round, Last Stand, Cowardy Custards, Everybody's Mad,   

Was a clown...

ROUND AND ROUND

He must have thought that we said circus

Because he took us round and round

Oldham, we told him Piccadilly

But that bus driver was a clown

He gave us the cold Sholver

When we tried to shout him down

It cost us an extra hours pay

To get back to Manchester yesterday

280714