30th April
Days with you
Days with you are the best
when we’re out driving
when you screw up your eyes
you throw me a wink
we go for a walk
stop for coffee
we always have a laugh
you can’t see it in photos
you can’t see it in photos
we always have a laugh
stop a coffee
we go for a walk
you throw me a wink
when you screw up your eyes
when we go out driving
days with you are the best.
29th April
The big day
Roll up roll up, with your friends and family
bring your banners, wolf whistles and cheers
leave all your business, wave around a flag
today's the day, we'll remember it for years.
Stand around in awe
At the things you're paying for
or if you're lucky you might get a seat
bless the Royal couple
We know it's not their fault
I see people voting on their feet.
Some folk celebrate, some folk get irate
The streets are lined with common folk and colour
If you're at home like me, it's all on TV
I can't decide which channel is duller.
28th April
Made of spam
One day only
commemorate their union
choose from many products
for the next princess
Make it a T-shirt, a coaster
or an apron
Print it on your undies
wear it on your dress.
27th April
Ulverston haiku
What a fine day for
posing next to the statue
of Stan and Ollie.
26th April
TV times
My life's taking on a rhythm
it involves too much TV,
one day I'll paint the ceiling
or go on a shopping spree,
I'll stop looking out the window
to check when it might rain,
I will finish reading my book
but for now I'll watch Lorraine.
25th April
Promise
I promise you I'll do my best
at work, at play and home
each day with you I feel so blessed
I'll show you daily I'm obsessed
text love poems to your phone
I promise you I'll do my best
Get all your worries off your chest
you'll never feel alone
each day with you I feel so blessed
If sometimes I feel depressed
I'll try not to moan
I promise you I'll do my best
Each day I have a treasure chest
everywhere we roam
each day with you I feel so blessed
My love for you will be expressed
beyond my flesh and bones
I promise you I'll do my best
each day with you I feel so blessed
24th April
Almost bus-ted
I heard a rumour, was it true?
Someone stole a bus for fun
I heard the criminal was you?
There were some passengers, just a few
They wrote an article in The Sun
Were you the one? Was it true?
You like to do things that are new
You say be crazy while you're young
I have a feeling it was you
Why didn't you take me too
Is it because you took your son?
Is this rumour even true?
They said your face was painted blue
You did that when you were twenty-one
The whole description sounds like you
It was on bus route 152
The drivers shift had barely begun
He'd just popped out to use the loo
Please let me know if it was you.
23rd April
Re-cycled
I've been relocated to a new dry shed
my tyres are inflated with deeper tread,
my silver bells got plenty of ring
so you can play a tune when you pedal and sing.
I might be old but don't feel down
when you take me on a journey through the town,
You'll feel like you're dancing a graceful ballet
On your trusty, rusty old school Raleigh.
I've got flaky paint and a rusty chain
from being left out in the rain,
there's been a turn in my tale
since I was bought from a car boot sale.
I'm not just glad but filled with pride
when I get taken out for rides
here's a tip from a happy bicycle
don't forget to re-cycle y'all.
22nd April
Life's like ice cream
Life is just like ice cream
the flavours are amazing,
sometimes the cone crumbles and
it's sticky on your face
It can tantalise your taste buds
It can be over in one lick
But it's best when it is savoured with
The sunshine on your face.
21st April
Homage to He-Man
You defend your Greyskull and I protect my mind
You're my inspiration and I often find - I have the power
You transformed your tiger into a battle cat
And I transform my little kitty, I even give her plaits - I have the power
You possess one half of a very powerful sword
I own half of Wii console with a Wii Fit balance board - I have the power
You have a double identity Prince Adam but everyone does know it
And it's no secret Ann Wilson is also Ann the Poet - I have the power
Skeltor's a villain, you fight for what's good and true
I also fight for justice but not half naked like you - I have the power
You hand around with Kings and Queens, you've guessed it so do I,
I think you'll find I'm just like you except I'm not a guy - I have the power
Your twin sister is She-Ra but I'm not like her at all
She's a skinny bean pole warrior and I'm shaped like a ball - I have the power
You're chunky, blonde barbarian and I think you're ace
You seem to have my haircut but a much more manly face - I have the power
20th April
Six words
We know
We care
We love
Death matters
We know love
We care love
We love care
We
Matters
We matters
Love we
Care we
Death care
Love, love
Love.
19th April
Night watch
The city aglow
This view sucks breath from my lungs
Wish on a full moon.
18th April
School bully
I saw him years later
in the Wetherspoons pub,
sitting in a nook
Near dominoes and musty books.
I guess he saw me too
Because I heard him tell a tale,
an embarrassing childhood moment
That was off the Richter scale.
For me it was long forgotten
Till that moment in the bar,
life was so much bigger
No emotional scar.
Wondered why he remembered
he retold it with such glee,
then I realised it was more about him
and so much less about me.
17th April
Searching
That boy skulked around with the
moon on his back
searched for secrets by starlight
scrambling around in stones
His mother had whispered to him
on her deathbed
he'd find his fortune
at the edge of the sea
She had talked in riddles all
through her life.
He took this pearl of wisdom
literally.
16th April
The Dream
A bright pink bowling ball bounces
down the tenement stairs.
In the opposite close
above white bedsheets flapping in the breeze
people dangle aquariums from windows
not to show off their tropical fish
but to give them some sea air
Gulls fly in sequence
As if part of an air display
their cries are like fantastic
classical music
A conductor with a handle-bar moustache
Picks up the bowling ball
Raises it above his head
And proclaims "Strike"
On this signal
He is showered in
multi-coloured seagull shit
and I wake smiling in confusion
wondering how those bed sheets
were so white.
15th April
Skint
She used to save 20p's in a Smarties tube,
scrunched fivers into balls and kept them in her coat.
She'd scratch for coppers to put
towards the electric.
She felt rich if she had a twenty pound note.
She got peace from that feeling her belly
like hundreds of rats trying to scramble out.
That was all before the credit crunch
Now she's got nowt.
14th April
Standard Lamp
I'm the light that's not really bright
In a living room where no-body lives
In a house that's not really a home
In a street in not really a village
In a county without it's real borders
In a country that's not really ours
In a culture that's full of labels
In a culture that celebrates difference
In a country where we can keep learning
In a county that's got it's real hero's
In a street where we can be neighbours
In a house where we can relate
In a room where we can relax
I will keep shining.
13th April
Howling Joe
Howling Joe the blues kid
kept ideas in a jar
to give him lots to sing about
when he played his slide guitar.
12th April
Stride
Striding past fashions
Displayed in the markets
In colourful side streets
Sunrise ahead
The skyline of London
Walking into the city
I'm feeling empowered
In this place that I dread.
Back straight, eyes forward
Shoulders relaxed
Enjoying life's ride
No need to wobble
Stagger or tip-toe
I live for each moment
I stride
Every song in my throat
Is a song about freedom
I sing every word
Under my breath
I gaze at the buildings
Smile at new faces
Every new step I take
I'm closer to death
Back straight, eyes forward
Shoulders relaxed
Enjoying life's ride
No need to wobble
Stagger or tip-toe
I live for each moment
I stride
I'm a musician
with a bad sense of timing
a stand-up comedienne
I laughed till I cried
A partner, writer,
lover, fighter
I'll be a proud teacher
As long as you stride.
Walk tall, walk with strength
I'll be at your side
Stride.
11th April
Sitting write down *
That day was
a great day,
I sat around in
the hot sun,
Just like me
eagerly
waved at
strangers.
Lively,
Strong and
Full-bellied,
I looked
all around
watching
thinking,
it's always easy
to get a lift
when you write.
- I was writing a poem to mirror a poem I liked but changing the meaning. I wrote this after reading a great poem Walking Black Home by Bejamin Zephaniah.
10th April
Poem 10:
Today a haiku
'cause Sunday's a day of rest
Not quite a cop out
9th April
She used to live in a bubble
Now she sits at the office desk
popping bubble wrap
one by one
till it's all gone.
8th April
The woman in the photograph
Pulling herself across a single bed,
In a blood stained box-room,
Neon lit, yellow walls.
Head bloated
to the shape of a globe
No hair, fixed smile.
Her face looks burned
A mass of red veins
Second layer of skin.
Her right hand
Holding her up, rests
on fagends and ash.
Her ancient bedspread
is littered with crumbs
and dirty crockery.
Her left eye stares into the camera,
Her right eye socket is empty
Like a piece of broken shell
that's been removed.
She's wearing leather sandals
And a white summer dress
stained with blood
Her head looks
too heavy for her small body
She won't stop smiling.
7th April
April Fool
Inside four dull walls,
talk of last night's Lambing Live.
Outside the sun shines,
what a way to live.
6th April
Cruel Gift
Gift wrapped mockery.
Feeling each twist of the knife
she smiled and said thanks.
5th April
Reflection
I looked into my Guiness glass,
a face pulled out a tongue
"You might as well be daft" it said
"It's not as if you're young".
4th April
On a day like this
One day, at the end
of a conversation, I will turn
to the lake, stand spot-lit by
the sun, while you are
taking photographs
an orchestra will appear and
I will sing you a perfect song.
3rd April
By the parking meter
Yesterday in the multi-storey,
Waiting by the parking meter,
I heard a man talking about a pedicure.
Knife between toes,
Scraping dead skin.
It made me think of those tiny fish
and the thousands of dead moments
we swallow each day.
April 2nd
The Switch
His blonde Moroccan mirage
Bright eyes in a crowded street
She was his joyful girl
Soft lips of cumin and salt
At Manchester's switch on
Crumbled together to keep out the cold
He longed for the skies to light
Illusion is everything.
April 1st
Billy from the next close
He struggled home with his guttural cough
Clutching his wax jacket around the collar.
Cursed the wind that battered his red face
as he walked across Michealson Bridge.
Passed those rotten floral tributes tied to railings.
He's been a widower 23 years now.
As he passed the works canteen
Thought of his old mates.
Looked up at the derelict tower.
The sign on the boarded up window used to read "Jesus saves".
Today it read "Jesus is dead and it's your fault"
"Aye that'll be right" he muttered.