Hitching a lift on an iceberg
Penguins drifting by
They are hitching a lift on an iceberg
Antarctic transports’s cool.
Not sure where they are going
But couldn’t help but smile.
It gives your heart a little lift
When penguins just drift by.
In response to- dVerse Quadrille # 215, hosted this week by De Jackson aka WhimsyGizmo
#Keepitalive
#dVerse
http://dversepoets.com/2025/01/13/quadrille-215-ready-for-liftoff/
Where can you reduce clutter in your life?
We are in Antarctica
The least cluttered place on earth.
Unspoilt, uncluttered beautiful
Where humans seldom go.
It’s a haven here for wildlife
A place where nature thrives
Protected internationally
For science and research.
It’s a good place for reflection
And to know what matters most.
We live such busy cluttered lives
While here there’s peace and quiet.
Time to do a stock take
To think of what can go.
A simpler, less complex life
With space for thoughts to grow.
What is your favourite animal?
Right now I’m into penguins
Hope to see one soon.
Cruising to Antartica
In sight of icebergs soon.
We didn’t get to see them
Through the Magellan Strait
But sailing to Antartica
And Falklands after that.
They are fabulous creatures
That live upon the ice
Dignified and characterful
Despite the funny walk.
They live in harsh conditions
Protective of their young.
Everybody loves them.
We hope to meet some soon.
Think back on your most memorable road trip?
A road trip round West Africa
Nineteen seventy five
Setting out from Kano
The place I spent two years.
I went by public transport
Things like transit vans
Not exactly scheduled
You have to hang around.
The first lap up to Zinder
A city in Niger
Not sure where to stay there
But had amazing luck
I met a fellow traveller
Who took me to his home.
They treated me so kindly
The neighbours all came round
They all shared their food with me
A thing I can’t forget.
Then across to Niamey Niger’s capital.
From there to Ouagadougou.
Who else has been there?
I mostly stayed with Peace Corps
US volunteers.
A memorable experience
But there was more to come.
Down from Upper Volta
As Burkina Faso was back then
To Ghana and to Tamale
A north Ghanaian town.
From there to Takoradi
Cape Coast and its forts
Beautiful but a history
That’s sadly scandalous.
We slept in former slave forts
Beautiful but sad
And dined on fresh caught lobster
Prepared and served with rice.
Then Togo and Dahomey
On along the coast.
A journey through a rain storm
The wipers would not work.
I’m struggling not to sleep
Daren’t distract the driver
Or we’ll be off the road.
We get back to Nigeria
But the borders are all closed.
It’s goodbye General Gowan
There’d been a military coup.
There’s a blackboard at the border
I’m scared to photograph
‘All Nigerian Officers
Should collect new badges of rank.’
I can’t get back to Kano
My French is not too good
So I head off back to Ghana
Extend my stay back there.
I can eventually go back home
Ibadan, Jos, up North
Six weeks extended travelling
A trip I won’t forget.
In what ways do you communicate online?
It all went wrong with our heating
and we the wrong side of the world.
It’s all controlled by an online app
Or else we wouldn’t know.
It’s cold at home and frozen pipes
Could burst and cause a leak.
But Patagonia from the U.K.
Is far, far, far-away.
So we’re headed for Ushuaia
A town at the end of the world
There’s a problem at home
And we’re far away.
What are we to do?
The modern world‘s amazing
So different from when we grew up!
We Whatsapp‘d our next door neighbour
From the other end it of the world.
We asked them ‘check it out please‘
Our neighbours have a spare key.
First we turned our alarm off
From the other end of the world.
We’d no sooner sent the message
Than we got a WhatsApp call
And our wonderful next door neighbour
Adjusted the boiler as well.
They needed some more instruction
That we did via video call.
We guided them round
From the end of the world
With distance no problem at all.
It looked like a leak in the bathroom
Had caused the pressure to fall.
So we arranged a call by a plumber
From the other side of the world.
Now I am blogging about it
From a ship at the end of the world
And you are reading about it
From wherever on earth you are!
It’s not the world we grew up in
It’s a wonderful place to be.
We were far away with a problem
But it wasn’t the end of the world.
Postscript: Having drafted this I struggled to send it. An SSL error of some sort! Ironic?
What snack would you eat right now?
I guess it’s empanadas
We‘ve had a few of those.
Travelling the Chilean coast
With Argentina next.
Our last stop Punta Arenas,
Through Magellan Strait
Ushuaia is up next.
There’s empanadas everywhere
A Patagonian treat
It’s mostly made of pastry
A little pastie thing
But stuffed with meat or vegetable
And usually with cheese.
The very joy of travelling
Is trying different things
We‘ve had quite a few of these
But I’m up for something else.
Come up with a crazy business idea.
A poet bleeds and breaks his heart
Spills it out on paper
The reader spares a passing glance
And treats it like a favour.
All the anxt and heartbreak there
The intellectual labour
Keep your troubles to yourself
Or share them with a neighbour.
Spare a penny if you’re kind
Spare it for a busker.
Nothing for the poet though
Empty words and bluster.
Skip around the mulberry bush,
Dance and skip and caper.
Another poem in the book
Isn’t worth the paper.
What is your mission?
Right now I’m missing a mission
I missed when they handed them out.
My mission is missing in action
I’m just kind of messing about.
A mission I’d just like to mention
Is not much what I’m all about.
I‘m not much a mission person
I‘ve yet to work my mission out.
The young are all very serious
They seem to have missions and plans.
But I am missing a mission
I guess mine’s to be an old man.
Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?
No special thing that springs to mind
There were too many left behind.
Yet another packing case
Another move, another place.
As army brats we just moved on.
Never any place for long.
We couldn’t take it all with us.
Just move on. Try not to fuss.
So hard decisions. Sometimes tears.
We’d stay one place at most three years.
Precious things we’d give away
Leave them for some other boy.
So all I’ve left is wanderlust.
There’s no one home for such as us.
And so today we’re in Chile.
Life’s not so bad. What can I say?
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
Well, you can tell by the way I use my blog
I’m an older man, no time to talk
Speak to me loud, keep me warm, I’ve been around
I’m fifties born
And now I’m alright, it’s okay
But maybe look the other way
Or if you can try to understand
How seven decades affect a man.
Whether you’re older or whether you’re younger
You’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Feel the body breakin’ and maybe it’s a shakin’
But you’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive
Oh, can you walk?
Well now, I get low and I get high
And if I can’t get either, I really try
Got troublesome feet need comfy shoes
I’m an older man and I just can’t lose
You know it’s alright, it’s okay
I’‘ve lived to see another day
Or ask again if you understand
How seven decades affect a man.
Whether you’re older or whether you’re younger
You’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Feel the body breakin’ and everything a shakin‘’
But we’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive (oh)
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive (oh)
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I’m stayin’ alive
Well, you can tell by the way I use my blog
I’m an older man, no time to talk
Speak up loud and keep me warm
I’ve been kicked around since I was born
And now it’s all right, it’s okay
And you may look the other way
Perhaps by now you understand
How seven decades affect a man?
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I’m stayin’ alive
Whether you’re older or whether you’re younger
I’m stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Feel the body breakin’ and everything a shakin’
And we’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive (hey)
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah (ah, ah, ah)
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I’m stayin’ alive
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah (ah, ah, ah, ay)
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I’m stayin’ alive
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah (oh)
Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I’m stayin’ alive
From an original song by the Bee Gees – a band from way back then. I‘m blessed with good health and looking forward, God willing, to a good few years beyond the three score and ten I‘ve already had. Wishing each and everyone reading this an equally long and healthy ‘health span’.
Andrew Green's Poems 