Month: September 2024

Can’t find it

What details of your life could you pay more attention to?

You say there’s a place for everything

And everything has its place

But the trouble with that for me you see

Is I don’t know where that is.

I know it goes here or hereabouts

And this goes over there

But I still don’t know the exact right place

Though I really try to care.

My wife does cares, cares very much

She’s driven mad by me

Everything I ever touch

Goes where it shouldn’t be.

It could be a man and woman thing

Or perhaps a missing gene?

I’ve looked for that gene all over the place

But it’s nowhere to be seen.

Attention to the details? That would be a start.

What details of your life could you pay more attention to?

Attention to the details??

Well that would be a start!

I kind of blunder through in life.

I don’t do details much.

I find it hard to concentrate

To finish what I’m doing.

My mind will be on something else

Or simply getting finished.

In consequence things don’t get done

I miss those little details

The little things just don’t get done

The task will be unfinished.

Even worse there’ll be no start

I don’t see what needs doing

Or I might forget what I said I’d do.

I don’t do it on purpose.

Worse than all the household chores

I miss those little cues

I’m focused on my selfish thoughts

And might not notice you!

Shed this cold

What’s your #1 priority tomorrow?

All I want’s to shed this cold

And just be well again.

To clear my nose,

Be able to breath

And feel myself again.

Tomorrow I’ll be resting

Just as I am today

And probably I’ll be sulking

I hate to be unwell.

Once I really liked to dig…..

In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled?

Once I revelled in hard work

I really liked to dig

But now I am a convert

And kinder to the Earth.

It’s really good to labour

I like to toil and sweat

Too many years behind a desk

Just staring at a screen.

I like to feel adrenaline

And know that I’m alive

I get that through hard exercise

But also through hard work.

I love to dig and work the earth

Rejoice, enjoy outside

But better to work with nature

And get her on your side.

Digging dries the soil out

It’s structure gets destroyed

You mess up micro-organisms

Sadly worms get sliced.

I’m a recent convert

To the principles of ‘No Dig’

Better to add compost

Than to just disturb the earth.

It’s better to work intelligently

Than eye-bulgingly and hard

Work with Mother Nature

And get her on your side.

We’ve been to see Charles Dowding

Been learning what to do.

Don’t just put your head down

You have to think things through.

Check him out on YouTube

Or maybe get the book.

It’s all very well to work real hard

But better to get it right.

I rub along

What’s the trait you value most about yourself?

Oh God I hate these questions

They really are the worst.

I find it quite a struggle

To be kind about myself.

I’ve always been self critical

Is that a positive trait?

It’s an ingrained habit

And one it’s hard to drop.

I think it makes me cautious

I know I can be wrong

I’ll look for a consensus

And try to go along.

I’ve had to be adaptable.

I had that kind of life.

I pick up on the folk around

And learn to just fit in.

I still do what I want to do

But maybe on my own

If no one else is interested

Then I’ll be fine alone.

So guess that’s it ‘adaptable’

I rub along ok.

Didn’t really like this prompt

But did it anyway.

Poet, athlete, gardener… does that sound bad to you?

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

I’m lucky enough

to be pensioned off

Living out retirement.

I have the money

I need to live off

So money‘s not an object.

I don’t know what

you‘d call a ‘job’?

I needn’t work for others.

The ‘work’ I do’s

To please myself

So money doesn’t matter.

I had to make a living once

When money was an issue.

If that hadn’t been the case

What would I do different?

I guess it would be

much like now

But have happened

much, much earlier.

He’s three things

I might have done

Or maybe I’d do

All of them.

The first thing that

I’d like to be.

Perhaps a full time athlete.

Preparing myself everyday

to compete around the circuit.

There’s no way I’d be good enough

To ever make much money

But I’d find it so satisfying

to be the best I could be.

Then of course there’s writing

Penning silly poems.

I could entertain myself

But there’s no money in it.

I’d maybe write a novel

Maybe I still will

But since I’ve never started one

It’s doubtful that I will.

The last is the most practical

A life I could have had.

A life outside and gardening.

Growing our own food.

We grow so many fruit and veg

We can not eat it all.

Give away to neighbours

Whatever we can’t store.

That would be a good life

We could feed ourselves

Have fresh air and exercise

And time for other things.

I am very fortunate

For these three things I do:

Poet, Athlete, Gardener.

Does that sound bad to you?

Of British cultural heritage there’s really quite a lot…

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

Of British cultural heritage

There’s really quite a lot

Literary, architectural

And not forgetting sport.

First there is our language

We gave it to the world

It’s very widely spoken

And known around the world.

We are the land of Shakespeare,

Charles Dickens and Jane Austin,

Of Hardy and George Orwell

To mention just a few.

Cathedrals, Churches, Castles

Old established towns

Architectural history

And character abounds.

The ancient Magna Carta

A thousand years of rights

A cradle of democracy

And parliamentary law.

Museums and galleries

Stately concert halls

Opera and Ballet

Not to mention rock.

And let’s not be forgetting

We gave the world our sports

Football, Rugby, Cricket

And Lawn Tennis too.

The name across your chest

What brands do you associate with?

I’m a good bit older

Than some who write on here

And remember a time of labels

IN your clothes

and not across your chest.

Once it was their quality

The fabric and the cut

That said you wore good clothes

Now it’s the name across your chest

And that is all you’ve got.

Last year we were in Helsinki

A Marrimekko shop

Famous for their fabric

Distinctive well cut clothes

But all folk seemed to go there for

Was branded shopping bags.

I wish that I could tell you

I never caught the bug

But out on a run you have to wear

The proper branded goods.

ASICS or New Balance

Adidas or Nike

These are now the running Gods

With athletes second place.

Once your favourite football team

Would proudly wear their crest

Now it is their sponsors name

That’s splashed across their chest.

Formula 1s ridiculous

Simply covered in brands

Every sponsor wants a slice

Of racing drivers’ clothes.

We are all now bill boards

For others on the make

They don’t rely on quality goods

They just trade off their names.

Taking the odd day off.

What could you do more of?

The thing I must do more of

Is to take the odd day off.

Forgive that this is short day

Afraid it’s all I got.

There’s people who make things happen and people things happen to.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I wrote about this recently

But here it is again.

There are people who make things happen
And people things happen to
If you don’t take control of what happens
Then it will just happen to you.

If you don’t want to be a victim
Don’t just let things happen to you
You have to make some choices
And make things happen for you.

If you don’t take charge of what happens
Then good things won’t happen for you.
If you don’t take control of your own life
Then other people will.

It’s easier to give advice

Than follow it at times

I constantly need to hear this

But following it is hard.