Stuff I am working on and stuff I wish I hadn't worked on
Some of them might come to something
A SHOWER POEM
THINGS I LIKE IN LIFE
(Don’t read the () if you don’t want, it is a semi visual poem)
What is it that is this life?
(Shampoo)
If not a second-hand shop
(Conditioner)
In a large cold metal shed.
(Shower gel)
Opening parcels with a knife,
(Hotter water)
Waiting to go back to bed.
(Warm dry towel)
Promises
​
A promise is a promise until the future doesn't fit.
A promise is a promise though the future is a blank.
A promise is a promise though you fear a little bit.
A promise is a promise is a promise - is it not.
jacb Sep 2019
The Dog?
​
I have a white dog
Not sure how I got it.
Mistakes happen occasionally,
But the colour wasn’t it.
The breed is uncertain,
Or rather I don’t know it.
The size is rather midlin,
But the size wasn’t it.
The fur is rather furry,
It’s full, we need to brush it.
It’s skilled at early moulting,
But the fur wasn’t it.
What was the mistake?
It’s a dog! That's what.
Oh why did I go to the pet shop?
Because it was near the wrong bus stop.
jacb October 2019
LEGACY
​
My Granddad gave me his canoe before he died.
Not a bequest but when he gave it me, I cried.
Now I receive my winner’s medal on the stand,
But what can I bequeath, give to a younger hand?
A few Olympics ago my father stood on this rostrum,
I saw the personal cost that the award took from him.
I saw the joy of achieving a job well done,
What can I give for the inheritance of a younger one?
What will change an attitude, the way of doing things?
So that it becomes the way that WE do things.
The way that the young learn from the old,
The way that WE beat the rest of the world.
I will pass on to my own son, that
No well intended central diktat,
No campaign, policy or manifesto,
Will bend the will or change the heart or soul.
It can't be forced, but it is nurtured
As we stand aside and encourage
So that younger may be stronger, better
Experienced, fighting against the tide.
​
August 2012 November 2019
Serendipitous Disinterested Fascination
This is actually what was printed on the door label on our HiSense double door American style Fridge Freezer. The first verse is the actual label wording on the fridge door without any edit or change whatsoever
​
This door could not close
When the clapboard laid down.
If forcibly closed
The door will be damaged.
The door could be closed
When the clapboard
Perpendicular put.
Remove the label after skilled operation.
Or with one modification for a slightly more CP3O effect
This door will close not
When clapboard laid down.
If forcibly closed
Damaged the door will be.
​
The door could be closed
When the clapboard is
Perpendicular put.
​
After skilled operation
The label remove.
November 2019
Olympic Legacy
What will I leave behind?
The fact I ran quickly?
Faster than everyone else?
That my picture went viral?
Front of all the papers?
What was my difference?
What did I do to make change?
Was I driven?
Was I confident?
Was I self-controlled?
Was I determined?
Was I too obsessed?
Was it in my genes?
What do I tell those who are to come?
Who only know the electron and pixel.
That the body is not a machine, but
An amazing organism
Needing care and training
Needing food and nurture
Perhaps I will have to tell those who come
How to pick the sport that suits your body
Or
How to pick your trainer
Or
How to pick the age you are born in
How to pick your parents
How to pick your genes.
​
August 2012 and November 2019
WILDING
Who sounded the gong; Who made a bad pong
And who did not do what they should have done?
Who carried on; Who put more in their wallet,
Who worried about now and how they felt?
Is there a way off of this slippery slope
Or are there too many of us to agree?
Could we all work to give us hope
And can we leave our kids worry free?
Oh dear!
Jan 2020
Yu Wah!
​
Does it go, does it come
Does it come, does it go
Are the parts more than the sum
Are we all allowed to know?
Does fiddling with the words
Make it rhyme or understood
Is the implication carried
More important than the word?