When the pen takes control.

Beneath the spreading chestnut tree

my love stands waiting expectantly

yet she will have to wait a long time I fear

I’m frightened of these trees so I’m out of here.

Poetry I know may not be everyone’s cup of tea

but of one thing learnt in school I’m sure we can all agree

that one of the lines that is most often heard

taken from an ode to a mouse by the Scottish bard

was his use of such term as a, “timorous beastie.”

Oh how could those cruel men do this to me

this isn’t really the place where I should be

cool waters need to be caressing my sides

as I bob up and down in time with the tides

or sailing oh so swiftly over the sea

Hey diddly Dee, it’s a pirates life for me

with all my pirate chums I cruise the seven seas

our ship may be old but always ready to fight

with guns and sword in hand we make quite a sight

all of us agree life is a deadly game

but our hunt for treasure remains our aim

and if I die whilst we are at sea

a watery grave is the place for me

Although Mary Poppins it’s plain to see

did not possess a medicine degree

as a person she seemed so nice

we all should listen to her advice

and have a spoonful of sugar.

Walking on the crack in the pavement

when young was the path to bereavement

but if you take a look at this picture it’s clear

the reason why for us it used to hold such fear

if you stood on a flower before it opened in the sun

of food for the bees then there would be none.

For those who are interested in history

cast your minds back to seventeen seventy three

because in that year far across the sea

we had the famous Boston tea party

on the throne of England was young George three

and some rich men formed the East India Company

who controlled parliament or so it would seem

who were granted an unfair monopoly

it had to do with the lucrative trade in tea

and in the end lost Britain a major colony

starting the war of Independence you see

I say he but in truth there was an androgenous figure dressed in a silver-white shimmering toga-like cloak. A pair of bare legs ended in pale brown leather sandals. Two black, unblinking eyes stared at me from a white, bloodless face. My first thought was angel but there was something unsettling in the softly uttered, “Please come in, we have been expecting you.” My surprise was even greater when I realised that as I passed through the doorway it did not lead into any form of room, indeed there was no building at all, instead there was just a short passage of what looked like medieval tiles which lead to an open stone archway, through which I saw an unkempt grassy garden bordered by an overgrown hedge. “But, but,” I started to say but my host placed an arm around my shoulder and gently pressed me forward.