Poetry Thursday 42 - 21st century rhymes

Make of this lot what you will but keep in mind not everything is what it seems.

21^st Century Nursery Rhymes

 

Sing a song of 5p,

many years ago,

Four and twenty chicken nuggets,

baked in a taco.

 

 Rishi PM sat on the fence,

Rishi PM sold out his defence,

All his best mates disappeared from view,

leaving poor Rishi to search jobs anew.

 

Keir and Rishi went out to the country,

to see who was the best,

Rishi got wet and caught a chill,

Keir wore a thick vest.

 

Keir and Rachel went to sea

in a beautiful pale blue boat,

they promised thick honey and odd bits of money,

 to keep the country afloat.

 

Baa, baa blue sheep can I have your vote,

no sir, no sir your policies are a joke,

one for the yellow sheep, one for the red,

one for the green sheep not yet out of bed,

Baa, baa blue sheep can I have your vote,

no sir, no sir politically your broke.

 

Hey, doddle, slammer

the snake and the hammer,

the reptile soared through the hoop,

the squirrel laughed to see such folly,

and the striker stayed in the loop.

©David L Atkinson May 2024 

God Bless 

Writing - Cheese rolling!

Have you noticed how many celebration days there seem to be in the calendar. We celebrate everything from Doing strange things with Food to Nothing to Fear days. It is also Memorial Day in America today but I just wanted to focus on what seems to be wasteful and silly and that is cheese rolling day.

 

Cooper's Hill Gloucestershire

Cheese Rolling event: One of the most iconic British traditions since at least 1826, near Cooper’s Hill. Still, the roots of this popular event remain something of an enigma.

What is clear, though, is the fact it’s been a part of local culture for a long, developing from a local festivity into an international sensation.

Traditionally held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill near Gloucester, it’s not an event for the faint-hearted. The event draws participants worldwide to pursue a 9-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down a hill. The winner is the first one across the finish line—usually in some spectacular tumble.

Double Gloucester cheese is always associated with the event of Cheese Rolling and comes carrying a legacy deeply entwined with the countryside heritage of Gloucestershire.

Apparently, there are quite frequent injuries, which is unsurprising when you see the steepness of the hill and the manic enthusiasm of the contestants. The winner keeps the 9lb cheese. 

Election 

It would be remiss of me not to mention the general election due on  July 4th. It could be summed up by describing it as a promise fest in which the promises are not worth the paper they're written on, and I know, although this seems cynical, it comes from years of experience of general elections. The politicians involved are doing their usual trick of manipulating statistics to suit their own story. In reality the voters need to consider their own situation and how it has changed over the last 14 years.

The interesting factors that have emerged so far seem to be centred round late teens. The Labour Party want to give the vote to 16 and 17 year olds whereas the Conservative Party want to reintroduce national service in a different form from post war but nevertheless compulsory. 

I believe we have to move away from the first past the post 2 party system and towards proportional representation.

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 41 - Secretary Bird

 This is simply a celebration of one of God's creations given a very human name. 

Secretary Bird

 

An eagle on stilts with a kick like a mule,

sitting afore glowing screens tasking demurely,

in your outer office but nobody’s fool,

an efficient taskmaster working ruthlessly.

 

Quills quivering in anticipation,

stalking purposefully towards unsuspecting prey,

some luckless menial striving for perfection,

unaware they are coming to the end of their day.

 

No ordinary administrative Moneypenny,

clothed in her black and white finery,

but an elegant and efficient repository,

ready to stomp with final authority.

©David L Atkinson May 2024 

God Bless 

Writing - Vive la difference

 There is no doubt about it men and women are different. When John Gray wrote the book Men are from Mars Women from Venus he certainly got the right idea. It's true biologically the male and female of the species are very different but not just in appearance or biological function, but also in rates of development physically, emotionally and intellectually. In these facts is where the powers that be get it wrong. The bottom line is that men and women are not the same, they don't ever become the same and as such they deserve the right to be treated differently and with respect. 

In a very erudite piece of writing by the author Bill Bryson he encapsulates one of the differences between the two sexes. It is also an amusing interlude that enriches his writing and could be a strategy used in all writing. 

I include the passage for your entertainment. 

Although the store had only just opened, the food hall was busy and there were long queues at the tills. I took a place in a line behind eight other shoppers. They were all women and they all did the same mystifying thing: they acted surprised when it came time to pay. This is something that has been puzzling me for years. Women will stand there watching their items being rung up, and then when the till lady says,

'That's £4.20, love,'

or whatever, they suddenly look as if they've never done this sort of thing before. They go 'Oh!' and start rooting in a flustered fashion in their handbag for their purse or chequebook, as if no-one had told them that this might happen.

 

Men, for all their many shortcomings, like washing

large pieces of oily machinery in the kitchen sink or

forgetting that a painted door stays wet for more than thirty seconds, are generally pretty good when it comes to paying. They spend their time in line doing a wallet inventory and sorting through their coins. When the till person announces the bill, they immediately hand over an approximately correct amount of money, keep their hand extended for the change however long it takes or foolish they may begin to look if there is, say, a problem with the till roll, and then — mark this - pocket their change as they walk away instead of deciding that now is the time to search for the car keys and reorganize six months' worth of receipts.

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday - 40 - My History

 History is a collection of accounts of earlier human events, some recorded accurately, that we need to study so as to avoid making similar mistakes. Altering history will not allow for future positive development of the human race. This is a little of mine. 

My History

Always liked history from being quite young,

learning about old stuff and when you could carry a gun,

cowboys and Indians, Japs and commandos,

plenty of global conflict and film stars in death throes.

 

Then there were the gangsters, men like Al Capone,

not to forget Robin Hood and all the Knights - now gone,

life before seemed to be an oft repeated battle,

the human race appeared to thrive on its own death rattle.

 

Baby boomers raised to the receding sounds of war,

films, toys and games reflected the time before,

compounded by the nuclear threat during early years,

resurrecting a violent vista and life-threatening fears.

 

Then a peaceful reaction in the sixty’s later hours,

festivals of love, ban the bomb and lots of flower power,

even under the arguments of a chilly war,

the possibility of a peaceful future once more.

©David L Atkinson May 2024 

God Bless 

Writing - politically correcting history

 There's nothing like righteous indignation to drive along an idea no matter how frivolous or how hastily thought up. In my opinion history is the human race's natural break on making mistakes that have already occurred. So it is a worry when the current trend for wokeness and politically correctness begin to create groups that want to wipe out historical events as if they never occurred. We have witnessed statues being pulled down there have been threats to rewrite stories, which are deemed classical, without any real thought as to the consequences of those actions. 

Love thy neighbour (1972)

Ever since Love Thy Neighbour was first transmitted in 1972, it has been criticised for its poor handling of issues of racism. It was made in an era when Britain was struggling to come to terms with mass immigration, and Love Thy Neighbour was said to exemplify those difficulties. 

This programme ran for four years, 53 episodes and 8 series. In fact that really is my point it was something that actually took place in history over 50 years ago. Irrespective of how poor, how funny or how unsuitable various aspects of the programme were they took place and as such should be learned from rather than burnt or altered to make it politically correct.

Edward Colston statue 

After the statue of enslaver Edward Colston was toppled in Bristol in

June 2020 and dumped into the city harbour, ripples spread across the UK. In the following six months there was an unprecedented public reckoning with the legacies of slavery in Britain – most visibly in the removal or alteration of almost 70 tributes to enslavers and colonialists, including 39 names on streets, buildings and schools, as well as 30 statues, plaques and other memorials. 

There is a childlike naivete in the above actions. We cannot erase all of the bad things that occurred in history. Should we erase all memorials and references to the detonating of nuclear devices over Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Then should we shun all things American because they are the only nation on Earth to attack another nation with such an evil weapon? 

Children's Memorial Hiroshima 

The dropping of the device – codenamed 'Little Boy' – on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, claimed the lives of an estimated 140,000 people. Estimated 35000 children were among the dead. Compare those figures with those coming out of Gaza. Then add those killed in Nagasaki. 

In summation, history is a collection of accounts of earlier human events, some recorded accurately, that we need to study so as to avoid making similar mistakes. Altering history will not allow for future positive development of the human race. 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 39 - What's in a Kiss

I actually started this poem 3 years ago and decided to clean it up a little. 

What’s in a Kiss

 

When I was young Tom and Jerry,

chased each other across the telly,

and Tweetie pie a yellow bird,

had Sylvester cat to whom he deferred.

 

Top Cat was the leader of a gang,

a bunch of felines to harangue,

and wily fox had a plan

to catch the road runner after whom he ran.

 

But then there were more serious crimes,

committed by felons from olden times.

Prince Charming stole an illicit kiss,

from a beauty in somnambulant bliss.

 

Kidnap and imprisonment by the ugly beast,

of a tender beauty who was fleeced.

Snow White an innocent kitchen skivvy,

held captive by seven of diminutive physiognomy.

 

Pinocchio a little wooden chap,

attempting to escape his father’s trap.

Mowgli abandoned to his fate in a jungle,

his nurture left for animals to bungle.

 

What are we subjecting our children to,

when exposed to stories of such vivid hue,

maybe we’re giving their minds a chance,

to be applied in unpredictable circumstance.

©David L Atkinson May 2024 

Of course today's news is full of new stringent rules for the social media platforms to follow to keep our kid's safe. Bring back Tom and Jerry. 

God Bless 

 

Writing - Naked Ape

 True or false. Does it matter? In these days of scams and false news what does the photo below show?

Is the orang really offering to help the man out of the pool? 

There has been all kinds of speculation but if you take the photo at face value it still speaks volumes. It may be that the orang is demanding food or just wanting contact. Perhaps it is going to rip his arm off and beat him senseless with the bloody end. Is it taking the 'mick' and preparing to flip him the finger? Different interpretations are our domain. 

The facts are simpler to a point. The man works in an animal sanctuary with the orang utan so they 'know' each other. It could be that the beast wanted food, reassurance or was offering help. The bottom line is that an undomesticated ape was reaching out a hand towards the human animal. On a simpler level the ape was not afraid of the naked ape. 

There are many instances where it is claimed that dolphins and whales have come to the aid of people in trouble in the sea. The above is from a claim that a dolphin rescued a dog and returned the canine to its owners. It could well be true because whales and dolphins are very intelligent creatures. Our interpretations are valid as far as they can go because we cannot communicate with the apes and sea mammals to ask them about their intentions. In any event it is fun to speculate. 

My hope is that for the sake of the naked ape there is some truth in the actions of the above. It would make the world a kinder place. 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 38 - May-be Masters of War

 Two parts to the blog today, one seasonal and the last political.

May - be

Aptly named for the potential it might show,

perhaps there won’t be anymore frost,

then seedlings can safely grow,

and the drab damp winter could be lost.

 

It could be that the world is brighter,

with flowers decorating our views,

maybe signals that days will be warmer,

T-shirts and shorts in the news.

 

Perhaps we’ll need fresh suntan cream,

to ward off potential burning,

sun worshippers can but dream,

of an Indian summer coming.

 

But as the name suggests nothing on Earth is certain,

early in the year always room for doubt,

time yet for summer acclimatisation,

so ne’er cast a clout till May is out.

© David L Atkinson May 2024 

I heard this on the wireless yesterday and thought how apt it is for the current state of the world. My wish is that ordinary people make their voices heard.

Bob Dylan

Excerpt 

Come you masters of war

You that build the big guns

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

A world war can be won

You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes

And I see through your brain

Like I see through the water

That runs down my drain

God Bless