Poetry Thursday 147 - Not Funny

 A couple of offerings today of a lighter nature. 

Funny

 

After all the words and sentences I’ve learned something about me,

and I’ve been writing stuff for 15 years or more,

I’m not the slightest bit funny.

 

It doesn’t matter how hard I try,

after all the metaphors, similes and so on,

my jokes are the sort to make you cry,

 

Dad jokes but without the punchline,

the intention to amuse is present,

but the skill is not really mine.

 

But writing is the drug of choice,

no wish to go cold turkey,

just hope that someone hears this one small voice.

©David L Atkinson June 2026 

Remember the Emperor succumbing to a grifter's tale that he had a fine suit of clothes, when he was in fact naked. Well, art is open to that sort of grift. 

False foods

 

Had a slice of science training,

learnt a bit of human anatomy,

a smaller chunk of plant biology,

I might sound like I know what I’m saying ,

 

Green stuff is not that good for you.

cell walls contain cellulose,

defined as roughage is close,

appendix no longer able to do what it is meant to do,

so the final outcome is just more poo.

 

Then the fallen one jumps on the green band wagon,

adds a plant to his artillery,

pungent, stringy and full of water,

good for you is celery.

 

Like the emperor’s suit of clothes,

taste is in the eye of the beholder,

each mouthful is no gastronomic rose,

celery needs a cold shoulder. 

 

Speaking of taste, consider the oyster,

who decided this would be good to eat,

in fact a starvation buffer,

now a delicacy to the elite.

©David L Atkinson June 2026  

God Bless 

Writing - Messages

 I've written about messages in writings in the past. Dickens highlighted social problems in the nineteenth century, and George Orwell wrote about totalitarianism and democratic socialism. I was inspired to write about a possible future energy crisis. 

Blurb

The story is a speculative journey into a possible future that may lie ahead of us all. There is evidence that such a future may not be impossible. We have been warned that unless we increase the ability to produce electricity, there could be power cuts in the next ten years. Our modern-day lives are permeated through with the need for electricity and its production.
Although Cessation could be categorised as a dystopian story, I find that rather a negative word, and the purpose of writing the tale is to allow elements of hope in a seemingly desperate situation.
The story begins in 2023, a couple of years after the lights go out for the last time. Our group of survivors is thrown together on a farm in the low Pennines north of the M62 motorway and within striking distance of a number of northern towns which could prove useful for supplies. Initially, the group is small and lives on a farm called Serendipity, but as time passes, the size of the group waxes and wanes for a variety of reasons. 

Although the story was written several years ago and begins in 2023, the issue could occur any year in the future. Nowadays, if I were to write something along dystopian lines, it would probably be about a public reaction to the poisonous form of capitalism that the world is under the thrall of at present. There are so many countries that are being run for the benefit of billionaires to the detriment of the larger population that something must break soon. 

Don't fight shy of tackling thorny problems! 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 105 - SOE

Not the Special Operations Executive, but rather Save Our Earth. 

SOE

 

Surely we now know that it’s true,

year after year the evidence mounts,

not single events or one issue,

but the conflated event counts.

 

Lip service is paid and change threatened,

but the road to hell are good intentions,

yet the clear threat has beckoned,

no change implemented because of deflections.

 

Yet some nations are making progress,

all electric trains in Holland use wind energy,

our drive to electric cars is in distress,

no spend on infrastructure, the litany.

 

The Germans are replacing diesel trains,

hydrogen driven beasts emitting water vapour,

our science reversed by political brains,

worshipping the old-fashioned oil abuser.

 

Norway and Japan have made changes,

the UK is striving to introduce,

the Earth needs positive accomplices,

not promises that fail to produce.

 

Everyone needs to set an example,

profit is a barrier to improvement,

clinging to traditional practices is unacceptable,

the Earth is in need of our commitment.

©David L Atkinson August 2025 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 55 - Power of Plants

 When I was coming up my dad allowed me to garden with him and grow vegetables. It was necessary after the war.  It could be a positive step forward for children today. 

Power of Plants

 

Studied and grown forever,

plants an inextricable part of humanity,

yet disregarded for their importance,

without which would lead us to insanity.

 

Plants are disregarded to the nth degree,

taken for granted, increasing neglect,

areas of growth decimated,

when we need to be showing due respect.

 

In crisis when forced back to basics,

by war, famine or natural phenomenon,

growing food becomes a major focus,

a fundamental factor we rely upon.

 

Yet when humans believe they are doing well,

plants are relegated to a back seat,

even a nuisance to be ploughed under,

but without them what will we have to eat?

 

The perverse destructive nature of man,

allows us to use plants as a sign of love,

to lighten the load when we are ill,

yet in the way and we give them the shove.

 

It’s good to remember our human needs,

to appreciate the simple miracle of a plant,

useful in every aspect of existence,

and the importance to life they grant.

 

Our children should learn how to grow them,

be aware of the roles plants play,

understand relationships between flora and fauna,

and hope they have wit to let plants have their say.

©David L Atkinson August 2024 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 35 - Animal lovers

 I have been watching David Attenborough's new nature programme Mammals on BBC. The recurring theme of species being seriously depleted as a result of global warming and other human activity I found quite depressing. It had inspired me to write the poem below as a warning to our own species to behave ourselves and respect the planet. 

Animal lovers

 

Known as a nation of animal lovers,

cats and dogs in homes by the million,

but behaviours taught and learned uncovers,

tendencies for creature abandon.

 

Wood a nation of animal lovers,

create such havoc in habitats,

depleting species as planet abusers,

acting as proud animal aristocrats.

 

The naked ape needs to take care,

humans are not invulnerable creatures,

of microscopic viruses we must be aware,

lest they become our teachers.

 

Animal lovers responsibilities maintain,

history we have created must inform,

from future damage we must abstain,

and proactive corrections immediately perform.

© David L Atkinson April 2024 

God Help Us 

Writing - Fossil Fuels

 Cop28 dipped its collective toe into the fossil fuel reduction issue. I am not describing it as an argument because science agrees that we must reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Of course, the statement issued was minimalist in its nature but what can you expect from a committee of 192 or so? 

Its Warming.

Right now, annual global average temperature is about 1.1 degree Celsius hotter than pre-industrial levels. 

Its Us 

Human beings are causing climate change, largely by burning fossil fuels. Rising temperatures correlate almost exactly with the release of greenhouse gases. 

We're Sure 

An overwhelming 99% of scientists agree that climate change is being caused by human greenhouse gas emissions. There is no meaningful debate about the basic science of climate change. 

We can fix it. 

The basic facts of climate crisis are grim: the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground for us to stay below 1.5°C of heating,  and fossil fuel companies aren’t going to do that without a fight. 

The fight needs to be taken to profiteering fossil fuel companies and weak and corrupt governments. 

God Bless 

Writing - Green Messages

 Irrespective of whether you are a climate denier or not the evidence that there is some kind of progressive problem with the Earth's climate is plain. We are assailed daily with examples of extreme weather events and the devastation that is occurring as a result. But if you are skeptical the effects of polluted air on the human body are obvious. Particles in the air from burning petrol and diesel fuel cause physical reactions ranging from asthma to shortening life expectancy. 

So we need to do something! Of course, the fossil fuel-producing companies, are already kicking and screaming against reduction in their profits. 

Blurb

A man is found dead in the massive Kielder Forest in Northumberland and the initial reports suggest suicide. A member of Patrick A Steele’s team feels that is not the whole story and an investigation ensues that leads the team into conflict with some of the most powerful people in the UK. Steele can mete out his own brand of justice initially but when the power companies and the government become involved Steele has to tread carefully. 

Earth plc was quite prophetic as it was published almost 10 years ago. If you read the prologue on the Amazon sample for Kindle you will learn of some thoughts that tempered my opinion regarding the subject of global warming. 

My bottom line is that the human activity on this planet is such that we are damaging our own environment and as such need to change behaviours and habits. 

God Bless