Seagull on a bag of chips

Thursday, 8 June 2017

Spring 1989

We sat at a table

In The Hard Rock Café

The Stone Rose’s debut

Was the latest thing

Their songs were relayed

And we had a sing

Ate chicken and chips

And looking around

Everyone there

Was tuned into their sound

I’m looking back that now

On that escapade

Surrounded by baggies

Casually displayed

As Madchester’s finest

On the turntable played

And the optimism

On everyone’s face

Made the world seem

A safer and happier place

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

The fallen tree

6^th June 2017 (6 pm) The fallen tree

This evening, whilst out walking the dog,

I saw some poppies in a field;

I looked at them and thought for a while

Of a long ago war and millions killed.

Further on, at the edge of the wood,

I came across a fallen tree;

I pondered the random power of storms

And then another thought came to me…….

On this day in June; 1944

Men ran forth into hostile fire;

On a Normandy beach

Some breathed their last

Amidst bullets, shells,

And barbed wire.

I stood by the tree, and reflected

On soldiers deaths untimely met.

Sometimes, in the simplest of ways,

Nature reminds us, lest we forget.

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Saffie

A well meaning poem

Read out loud

Recited with feeling

To the gathered crowd

May bring comfort

For a short while

And conjure up the image

Of your smile

But after all

It’s just words

And it goes nowhere

Rising like vapour

Dispersed in thin air

Like a statement a minister’s

Bound to prepare

Like a mother’s cry met

With a tearful stare

Indeed, like this piece

I’ve written for you

(Though I tried my hardest

To make it true)

It won’t stop the flow

Of endless tears shed

Nor alter the path

Of the easily led

If I could gather up the bad

Make it all good

Then hand it back

(Like a caring God should)

Drag you away

From where the beast stood

And bring you home safe

Believe me

I would

Saturday, 20 May 2017

Champagne Socialists

A Champagne cork flies across the room,

Hits a picture of Tony Benn;

Flutes overflowing with Dom Perignon

Are raised by ladies and gentlemen.

“Let’s drink a toast to good old Tone”

Is met by a joyous retort, “Hear, hear!”

Glasses charged, discussion begins;

Part two of “The road to Wigan Pier”.

“’Sandal wearing fruit juice drinkers’

Why did he say that? please explain;

The account of the mines was grand indeed,

But part two I shan’t be reading again.

Far too subjective and scathing for me,

And I heard he was of bourgeois employ;

When all’s said and done, he’s a hypocrite too;

After all, wasn’t he an old Eton boy?”

Another stands up and raises his glass

Of fruit juice, (for Champagne is not his thing);

In the background an anthem; “The red flag” plays;

He nods in approval and starts to sing.

Singing and tapping his sandal clad feet,

He pauses, and once more raises his glass;

“Ladies and gents, I propose a toast

To the party’s success and the working class”

“I’ll drink to that” another pipes in

But the bottle is empty, the Champagne’s gone

A vote is taken, agreement is reached;

“Pop another magnum of Dom Perignon” ….

Friday, 12 May 2017

Carry on voting Tory (a song)

Carry on Voting Tory

If you want to see the back of the N.H.S
Carry on voting Tory
If you want it to be funded less and less
Carry on voting Tory
If you don’t give a fuck about mental health
If your prime concern is a billionaire’s wealth
If you want to see nurses get less pay 
Than someone selling fries in a takeaway
If you trust Truss more than the BMA
Carry on voting Tory

If you want to see less police on the beat
Carry on voting Tory
If you want more burglaries in your street
Carry on voting Tory
If you want drug dealers in the park
If you don’t want to venture out after dark
If you want more knives and violence in town
If you want your kids mugged by a drunken clown
If you want to see your local nick close down
Carry on voting Tory

If you want to cut schooling for the poor
Carry on voting Tory
If you want to see classes of forty or more
Carry on voting Tory
If you want to see pupils in grammar schools
Looking down on other kids as secondary fools
If you want to see those of a very young age
Getting judged and rejected at primary stage
If that concept doesn’t rattle your cage
Carry on voting Tory

If you want workers’ rights to be null and void
Carry on voting Tory
If you think all unions should be destroyed
Carry on voting Tory
If you’re happy for people to be enslaved
As the boss gets greedier and more depraved
If you want to go to work and still be poor
If you want to use food banks more and more
Cos you can’t afford to shop at the grocery store
Carry on voting Tory

If you want to see foxes hunted again
Carry on voting Tory
If you want to hear them scream in pain
Carry on voting Tory
If you want village residents to be defied
If you want to see fracking in the countryside
If you want green activists locked away
And climate-change scientists to have no say
If you’d rather hear Jacob Rees-Mogg all day 
Carry on voting Tory

Sunday, 30 April 2017

Theresa the parrot

Theresa the parrot stood on the table

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

In leather jeans of designer label

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

She said to Tusk at a Brexit babel

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

And to Merkel, as loud as she was able

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

To the British public she cried the fable

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

Like Scarlet screaming to Clark Gable

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

Like an old crow sitting on a telephone cable

“Strong and stable, strong and stable”

Like a needle stuck on a turntable

“Strong and stable, strong and stable

Strong and stable

Strong and stab

Strong and sta

Strong and st

Strong and s

Strong and

Strong an

Strong

Stron

Stro

Str

STOP!

Change the record

For fucks sake!