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Easing Up

 

May 17th,
Twenty twenty one.
Some indoor meeting,
Is now back on!

A giant leap forward,
For England’s pandemic,
Slowly we’re crushing,
An unprecedented epidemic.

In a few days we can meet,
Up to  6 people indoors.
And to hug other households,
Will be illegal no more.

Uniform including masks,
Mandatory at high school,
Will be enforced no longer,
An old fashioned  rule.

Overnight stays,
Allowed once again,
In our local area,
We don’t have to remain.

And although care and caution,
We’ll need to employ,
New changes are bound,
To reenergise with joy

 

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Book Launch

Over the last year or so, I’ve found myself writing about an eclectic range of topics, including local events, documenting history in the making with COVID 19 and bespoke, requested poetry to name but a few. It’s been a busy but very rewarding year and I wouldn’t have it any other way! But I’ve also thankfully found some time in between to work on a very personal project too; a poetry book documenting my own family’s struggles as my daughter tragically battled with leukaemia.

I couldn’t be prouder to launch In Our Shoes, which not only details Jess’ story but also our heartbreaking process of dealing with bereavement.

It’s available to buy on Amazon, with all profits being donated to Children’s Cancer Charities. I can’t promise it won’t bring a tear to your eye, but if you can spare a bit of cash and would like to have a read, you’d be helping a good cause. Click here to see more.

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Life Through the Right Lens

When you’re on the cusp of something new,
Being brave it sometimes the only thing to do.
Listening to Experience, Reason and Pride too much,
Can keep great new things out of touch.

Instead I prefer to listen to Attitude,
Who seems to be of a more optimistic mood,
And recognises that beautiful  things can grow,
From challenging the status quo.

 

 

 

 

 

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World Poetry Day

It’s World Poetry Day; I thought I’d write a stanza or two,
To raise a metaphorical glass to the clever things poetry can do.
A shapely expression of language; the form can take so many styles,
A quick limerick, varied verse, or perhaps just something to make you smile.

Some poems use figurative language, describing in a non traditional way,
Some poems prefer rhyme, adding pattern to what they say.
Some poems play with meter, giving structure to their length,
So many styles of poems, each with their own strengths.

But one of the wonders of poetry, in my mind anyway,
Is there are no hard or fast rules, to how you say the things you say.
So happy World Poetry Day to everyone far and wide,
And by toasting World Poetry Day, we’re somehow all allied.

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Not Dropped A Balll…..

I’m not normally a football stadium attendee,
In fact I’ve only been a couple of times – two, maybe three.
This time I went, not a ball was in sight,
My support today was for the COVID 19 fight.

I marvelled at the vaccination hub, so incredibly set up,
I’d say far worthier than football for a winners cup.
Swiftly I moved from check in to jab,
Efficient, organised and generally fab!

The wonders of science delivered through a quick sharp scratch,
From something so small, protection can hatch.
An incredibly great development, hopefully will end our isolation,
The race now on to vaccinate the nation.

Vaccination card in hand, I was quickly outside,
I took a moment to reflect and hope so many are filled with pride.
For what the NHS have done to support us all,
I’ll remember forever the football stadium trip, with no sight of a ball!

 

 

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Lockdown Easing!

Optimism is in the air, whilst some feel easing is too sluggish,
The UK is divided about the lockdown easing recently published.
Four incremental steps, five weeks between each,
Irreversible being the aim, is what Borris set out in his speech.

For the economy especially, it’s another blow again;
Just schools and outdoor socialising at first spells a few more months of pain.
Yet an aim of 4 months until back to normal means we quickly pick up pace,
A public health concern as we’re still running the vaccine race.

Perhaps it’s too ambitious, but only time will tell,
What we unfortunately know is some people will still become unwell.
As we’ve seen throughout, it’s a fine tightrope to tred,
Balancing what we’d like like to do with the consequences we all dread.

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WOW

The 12th February 2021; a palindrome AND ambigram combined as one,
Point in time stunt nuts –  24 hours and then gone.
It seems sometimes that numbers can wow the eye too,
Upside down, forwards, backwards- on every level the same view.

Inspired today by the rotator date, but many words do similar or the same,
It looks never odd or even until you pull up and play the game.
Multiple wonders of language –  take a closer peep now and then,
And marvel at our language, which unlike dates, treats us time and time again.

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Bright Spring

The juxtaposition of a bright sunny sky with snow on the floor,
The sun with its hats on, Jack Frost still knocking at the door.
A parallel perhaps with society’s fragility of today,
Still loosing too many, whilst a rescuing vaccination programme is well underway.

With days getting longer and spring on its way,
And the numbers of those vaccinated growing by day,
It won’t be too long until brighter times arrive,
And we’ll tell the story of how (amid losing too many), we managed to keep so many more alive.

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My Best Friend, Hope.

Last year, I had the pleasure of writing a poem for an event , my specific brief being to write about friendship.  Heavily intertwined with the poem  I created were some reflections on hope and the power that can bring us.  In light of the COVID news we currently hear day in day out, this feeling of hope feels needed now more than ever, so I thought I’d share the work more widely.

 

Good friends come and sometimes go.
How long they’ll stay, you don’t always know.
Written as a book, life has friends for a chapter, and friends to the end.
Perhaps only fate knows the reason for each friend.

At first you might wonder who will stay and who will go.
But in spite of the timespan, true friends are easy to know.
They’re the ones who help you weather all storms.
Love you unconditionally, in so many forms.

People who accept you, even when the going gets tough.
You might see them often, or maybe not enough.
Honest and don’t judge, or make you feel small.
Always find time for you, even if just a quick call. 

People are great, but complete dependence can be unwise.
Life is so fragile, you don’t know what may arise.
For that very reason, and I’ve learned the hard way,
Self reliance allows true freedom, come what may.

Learn to love yourself, trust yourself and ALWAYS have hope.
Then whatever life delivers, somehow you’ll cope.
Friends can be there to help and lend a hand.
But on your own two feet, with hope you must stand.

Hope is always within you, albeit can go awry.
But if you dig deep,it can push you to try.
By kindling hope, there’s a positive possibility in sight.
Motivating you through, whatever the plight.

So three cheers for Hope! My invisible very best friend.
To help conquer adversity, on you I depend!
People can’t see you, you live in my mind.
But thanks goodness you’re there, and our lives are entwined.

 

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Lockdown Learning Report Card

Timetable delivered online, pupils join us at home to ‘school’ via tech,
Lessons for my son delivered through interactive presentation decks.
Organised so well, an appearance of effortless transition,
But it must have taken so much, to get to this position.

The effort and command of the teachers, I wouldn’t ordinarily have seen first hand,
I’m so impressed how well they’ve made virtual learning land.
Lessons I once had, I see again from afar,
As I pop my head round the door to ask how lessons are.

So just a little thanks to schools, for making good of a situation so bad,
And for the new skills pupils are learning from the experience we’ve all had.
Be it time management of their day, online working, or interacting on video,
They’ve learned new things, we thought these new ‘mini adults’ needed not yet know.