Category: Poems

Barge Life.

The barge sits there
Waiting for us to board,
The ropes are freed,
And so are we as we move,
Move gently down the canal.
The engine throbbing gently
Moving us past Natures canvas
Painted all around us.
At the side of the water
The birdlife looks at us
In their serene way.
Further and further we glide,
The peace only interrupted
By the soft throb of the engine,
And the wonder of Nature’ Symphony.
We glide to a stop for the night,
Sitting on the deck in the evening light
Peace reigns,
Except for the song of the birds.
As darkness encroaches
The birds stop singing,
Silence surrounds us.
Into a dream filled sleep we sail
Until we awake refreshed,
Ready to continue our journey,
The journey of life,
At four miles an hour.

Perfection Failed.

In this life we look for it,
Look for perfection.
Strive as we might,
It is always out of our grasp.
What we need to realise
That perfection is impossible,
And if we ever reached it
For what would we strive?
Our lives would be meaningless,
We would have nothing for which to aim.
So instead of striving for perfection
Be satisfied with the good,
The good in your life,
The good in your life that can be reached.

Nature’s Canvas of Majesty.

Looking up to the sky In the early evening light
Nature’s palette revealed its wondrous glory,
The canvas of blue streaked with bubbles of grey
Surrounded by fluff balls of pink,
Merging into patterns of orange, yellow and red,
Filling my soul with the glory of nature’s wonder,
Painted with the brush strokes of its glorious majesty.

Escape.

Each day, as we go through life
We may enter a room,
A room where there is no escape.
No matter how we search
We appear to be trapped in a box,
But that box which we are in
Can always be surmounted.
As all we need to do
Is think outside the box,
And an escape from reality awaits us.

Threshold of Your Mind

In our lives we have teachers
Who invite you in
To the house of their wisdom,
There you can learn what they know.
But in this world,
There are other teachers,
Teachers who are so wise
Who do not invite you into their house,
But they lead to the place
That is the threshold,
The threshold of your mind.

Symbols for Words.

I looked round in the coffee house
And there they were,
All ignoring each other.
At the first table
Sat a lady with her laptop,
Typing her life away in rhythm.
At the next table were two ladies,
They too were on laptops,
Not speaking to each other
Just tapping away.
There was another laptop lady
Sitting on the next table,
And then two more tables
Both with men tapping their ‘phones.
The last table had us sitting there,
Talking and laughing,
Enjoyment to the fore.
Nobody else was talking to each other
Like we were.
Are we just old fashioned,
And use spoken words to talk,
Instead of symbols.

No Flying Tonight.

It was a beautiful summers evening,
The heat of the day had cooled,
So my lover and I sat in the garden,
Sat together,
Our love needing no words.
The swifts raced above us
High in the blue sky,
The blackbirds enthralling us
Enthralling us with their songs.
Beside me was my scotch,
Malt, of course,
I picked it up
And there in it
Was an interloper,
A fly was drinking it!
I wasn’t having this
So I hooked it out,
And onto the floor he went.
Not having a clue which way to go
He crashed into the wall,
Fell down a hole in the ground
Tried to fly out but couldn’t.
I thought serves you right,
I can’t fly either,
After I’ve had a scotch or three.

The Lady in White.

In she walked,
This tall slim lady.
Blonde hair waving,
Waving from side to side.
Her face beautiful to look at,
Her long chiffon dress
Sailing in the breeze.
Her slim legs walking,
Walking in high heels
That glided across the floor.
All looked around at her,
She just looked ahead,
In her own world.
A beautiful elegant lady,
The lady in white.

Your Path

The path of your life lies ahead of you,
As you walk along it you may stumble.
Others come to your aid
And walk with you for a while,
They leave and once more you are alone,
Walking the path to your future.

Ahead you see others stumble
And you help them rise,
And walk with them into their future
Until you have to leave,
And move onto a different path.

Along every path you travel
Others may join you,
Or you may join others on their path,
But the path you walk is your path,
And nobody can walk it for you.

“It’s your road, and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.” Rumi