Napowrimo 2021
Day THIRTY
APRIL SHOWERS
amazing morning
global warming climate change
brings April showers
Arriving before May Day
even the butterflies call
from the deep forest
wild rabbits hares and squirrels
hibernate they don't
it's been going on for years
don't tell the neighbours down south
30042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day TWENTY NINE
LOST POEMS
Writing 'em down on scraps of pink paper
lucky bags and old sweet wrappers
(that'd be a good name for a band)
lost poems multiple house moves
floods kitchen sink drama's
Trying to recall what the billboard said
as I sped away in my old Cortina
I pushed her up a gear or three and
my baby began to simmer
who wants to have a dogs dinner
not me not you no thanks
Love the way the soundbites
come flooding back but the context
along with the original piece is lost
I'm an ordinary feller der da der der
I'm and ordinary guy der da der der
Der der der der der der der
I remember the tune but forget the words
Whatever happened to total recall
photographic memories et al
reporters notebooks and Indian ink
They talk about the cloud these days
a great place to save and store your thoughts
I'm still living on cloud nine
looking for lost poems
cuckoo land where the two suns shine
29042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day TWENTY EIGHT
WHAT HAPPENED
Baby what have we done
where did we go wrong
what happened when
he said this you said that I said
something completely different
Which day is yesterday
how did tomorrow disappear
when we weren't looking
Perhaps we should have taken
care of the business before it got
out of hand beyond our control
You can't simply let things go
let the grass grow over the tracks
abandon the former things to make
the new seem more real - it ain't
28042021
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 2021
Day TWENTY TWO
HELLO AM I EVEN FLYING
Do you want me to cut your food up for you
one of them asks me at breakfast time
No thank you I reply shovelling my eggs
with a plastic spoon and biting into my bacon
After brekkie they tell me that it's window
cleaning day you remember how to do that
don't you they ask in a round about way
Yes of course I reply we did it last year
Okay they say would you like the chamois or
the squeegee or do you want to foot the ladders
I want to put the soapy hot water on the windows
I inform them in no uncertain terms please I beg
We don't use hot water any more they tell me
we use cold aqueous ozone water these days
we just spray it on squeegee it off and buff it up
Okay I tell them I'll go on the chammy I think
As we go out to the garden to set up the ladders
the health and safety officer hurries over shouting
Have you undertaken a risk assessment he asks
you can't let patients climb ladders without one
Yes of course my caregiver tells the obnoxious man
we have filled out the forms in triplicate for you
They don't actually let me climb the ladders although
they have a better plan they send me up on a cherry
picker strapped to a guard rail to stop me from falling
From the top floor windows I can see all of the estate
as the cherry picker moves along to the next window
wobbling a bit hello am I even flying on this crazy thing
22042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day TWENTY ONE
HELLO AM I EVEN BLINKING
The ball's in the back of the net
but hello am I even blinking
I can't hear or see what's going on
the girls are playing loud music
one of them has got her tablet out
I try to make a joke tell them one
perhaps but they're not listening
they're too preoccupied with their
mobile phones and tablets of stone
graven images only they understand
Why are they even here I start thinking
I've had my dinner and taken my tablets
haven't they got homes to go to
I just want to watch the football in peace
why can't they leave me alone now
Oh no my team has scored and I missed it
they turn the TV off and drag me upstairs
I don't want to go to bed I scream at them
21042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day TWENTY
TRUE FANATICS
from rust to riches
rags at Oxfam don't come cheap
scrapyard scrapheap blues
talk is cheaper than action
necessary sometimes though
stop stealing from us
we are the true fanatics
money doesn't count
when we have such memories
you won't understand and don't
20042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day NINETEEN
DEEP SLEEP
falling through the trees
into the forest of love
picking up acorns
still looking for my lover
following the narrow path
into the forest
walking talking to the trees
further and further
I found her in a deep sleep
unwilling to awake her
she looked so happy
lying on a bed of moss
under the tall trees
why would I want to shake her
19042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day EIGHTEEN
MEDIOCRE
The days seem the same
the grass is green
the ball keeps rolling
people only know what you tell them
poker face or not
The football manager said
take out the pawns and the Knights will fall
Why doesn't he take the pawns out of his own side
and play his best team so he can win every match
no passing back pressing on to score the goals
that would secure the glory on four fronts
It's ours to lose the coach said
before getting tattered by a mediocre side
I thought the coach was Fingland's
but that's another story
18042021
Napowrimo 2021
Day SIXTEEN
HER MYSTERY MAN
What went on down Leaky Bottom school
It would have been the talk of the pub
but of course the bar's not been open since
the pandemic knocked the village sideways
So now it's the talk of the school playground
nobody really knows what Miss did or to who
behind the bikesheds last night apart from
a couple of underage smokers and the CCTV
The school caretaker said he had had an inkling
when he found several suspicious items discarded
in the cricket pavilion but that's always been the
sticky wicket with little room for a batsman to boast
It wasn't until the ANPR sensor picked up a dodgy
motor in the area that the investigation even started
so what did go on down at the bottom of the village
some say it happened in the old red telephone box
But according to the local Bobby nothing happened
There's absolutely no circumstantial evidence at all
only a lot of rumour gossip blah blah and speculation
he tells the Mothers Union at the local church hall
Until someone lets the Cheshire cat out of the bag
we'll all have to grin and bear it only time will tell
then all hell will break loose and the guilty will be found
sackings are inevitable you can't do things like that at school
Miss and her mystery man are married but not to each other
Here's Cain's curse we've all done worse so where does that
leave us sadly not in the playground or the telephone box
so do you still want to play the hanging judge and jury now
16042021
