Those pointy bits are not decorative

Ouch

I'm not very good
With plants,
Which they seem to know
In advance.

As soon as I own them
They start to wilt
And die,
Except for the cacti

On my sill,
Which, try as I will,
Won't give in.
Resilient, they reach

For the sky, occasionally
Surprising me,
With a sharp, sudden
Prick.

17/1/11.

A retrospective weather report

The sunrise on Monday

The sunrise

On Monday

Was stunning.

Pinks and reds, spread

Across the sky,

To surprise

Me when I left

For work.

I lingered,

Trying to soak it in,

And I wondered

If everyone else did too.

Did those

People at the bus stop know?

Or care?

Did bus drivers stare

At the horizon?

(Probably best

If not, since admiring views,

In my experience,

Tends to compromise

Road safety.)

In the staff room,

To brighten the mood,

I mentioned

The beautiful dawn.

'Ah', said Mr Byham,

'Red sky in the morning,

Shepherd's warning.

That means there's a storm

Coming.'

Rather more doom

In that response

Than I expected.

(But then again,

It has rained

Quite a bit

Since.)

13/1/11

A chocolate story

A good weekend! Which involved making chocolate brownies. Yum yum yum. But here is a story about chocolate with a much less happy ending....

When hot chocolate goes bad

She found it
In the corner
Of a cupboard
And she used it
Once or twice.

Then one night
Before bedtime,
She poured out a mug-full.

This tastes,
She thought,
A bit odd,
A bit off.
But she didn't investigate
The best before date,
Until it was too late.

The past-its-best powder
Was already inside her,
Disrupting her physical
And moral
Systems.

Next morning she felt
Out of sorts, disgruntled,
Almost - yes - curdled.

All day long
She frowned
And put down
Her friends
And she even forgot
To recycle.
(The end.)

9/1/11

Greenwich (pigeons)

Greenwich

The pigeons are nicer
In Greenwich.
By which
I mean healthier,
Plumper,
More delicious (probably).

They live mainly, I'd say
On M&S sandwiches
And bits of quiches
Left behind
By middle-class picnickers.

The pickings,
I admit,
Must be slimmer
In winter
But they still look a lot better
Than the ones in the car park
Of Tesco Xtra.

2/1/2011.

Bean burgers and sock puppets

New Year 2010

On New Year's Eve
We stayed in
With sloe gin
And whisky
To make bean burgers
For dinner
And sock puppets
For fun.

By 11.30
We were weary,
More sleepy
Than merry
But we went, anyway
To the park,

Where, along dark(ish)
Paths people wound
Their way to 'the mound'
With its view
Across to the London Eye
And around.

The night was nicer
Than the day had been.
Greyness doesn't matter so much
When it's dark.

1/1/2011

Happy New Year!

Granny

Granny, Christmas 2010

We've got a coloured vicar now
He's ever so nice
We see him and his wife
Out riding their bikes.

Was it last Christmas
We went to the service?
I haven't been since.
And we don't
Get the church magazine
Any more.

Steve and Fiona called
She said something about
Selling the house, or -
I'm not sure.

I haven't sent
Many cards this year
I've lost my list.
Denise moved it,
I think,
When she was last here.

Anyone for a drink?
Coffee, tea?
We have a cup
Before bed,
Don't we,
Reg?

And biscuits?
That's it,
Help yourselves.

27/12/10.

Luke's take on yoga

When doing yoga, I apparently resemble a frog in most positions.

Yoga

'Are you stuck?'
'I'm doing yoga.'
'You look
Like a frog.
Is that one called the frog?'

'This is child's pose.'
'What?'
'Child's pose, that was;
This is downward dog.'

'You still look
Like a frog.'