where art collides

How many times (in nearly a decade)
Did I hear him raise his voice?
And while others raucously their views made
Not he, ‘twas not his way nor choice.

Rather, he liked to take the middle ground
To mediate, to quell and smooth
The clanging cymbal of the “I am” sound,
Conflict?  He’d rather deflect and soothe.

I did hear him raise his voice to sing of Love
And although no Caruso he,
God and His angels rejoiced high above
“A Christian sings! Praise be! Praise be!”

He wondered long at the limitless sky,
At hands that flung stars into space.
Together we’ll sit and watch Red Dwarfs die
When we meet in another place.

I read a poet called Whitman who wrote
“A reasonable man achieves naught”
But JW realised something of note
When those to the Cross, he brought.

Leek Pie for Two

“Back to the future” they say
Surely they mean back to the past?
When two suddenly became three –
And another was place set

Eighteen brief years
Of that extra place mat
And then a lifetime
Of cooking for two

“As long as he’s happy, we’re fine”
“We can do what we want now”
But what I want to do
Is cook again for three

chocolate cheesecake (other flavours too)
sherry trifle (ahaa)
apple tart and custard (yep)
jam roly poly (okay)
chocolate mousse (other mousses are available)
bread and butter pudding
rice pudding (not a particular favourite I have to say)
rhubarb crumble (neither is this)
plum pudding (mmm)
steamed sponge pudding
sticky toffee pudding (uhuh)
ice cream (Davison’s Manx Ice Cream)
fruit salad (healthy option)
strawberries and cream (definitely especially with raspberries added in and topped with sugar)
lemon curd (ye-es – not yess)
lemon meringue pie (memories of childhood)
syllabub (in a champagne glass in my experience and never enough of it)
baked apples (bit boring in my book)
tiamisu (mm)
yoghurt (pronounced yo – gurt)
baked alaska (brrr)
barbecued bananas (ideally cooked with sugar and brandy then topped with cream)
flan (of all sorts though not quiche which is unsuitable as a dessert)
gateaux (fluffy ones are best)

and finally

cheese and biscuits (strong and smelly and including TUC and preferably eaten before the sweet and washed down with red wine)

sorry if I have missed anything out – comment if you like

For the record the first leaves fell today,
The first act of autumn
As the season holds sway,
The swath of russett, withering wound,
Scars the hedgerow, then lies bloodless on the ground.

The rake renews the grassy sheen
Though thankless is the temporary stay,
For tomorrow battle will renew,
Continued work aplenty
As night descends on day.

My shoe my shoe, it’s driving me nuts
Alternate steps squeak, no ifs no buts
I’ve altered my gait, tried to change my tread,
Every other pace taken makes a sound that I dread,
When walking along my damn foot’s too noisy,
And oil is no option because that’s too slippery
It wasn’t like that when I tried on the shoe
It seemed perfectly fine when it was brand new
But now it’s at home and I’ve worn it around
It’s too late to take back to the shop I’ll be bound
I can’t sneak up on friends and surprise from behind
They can tell that I’m coming coz the squeak springs to mind
My shoe my shoe, I’d be ever so glad
If someone could help me, it’s driving me mad

All trains delayed
Overhead line problems
At Peterborough

Huge queues milling
On the platform
At Kings Cross

It isn’t quite the same
As the spirit
At Dunquerque

Adversity has not yet
united us – we are not
At one with each other

The commuters are tired
This is the last thing they need
At going home time.

20mm tonight they said on the radio.
Doesn’t bother me I said,
Then I went to the grandstand
And saw people mud-wrestling,
Hang on, no, they’re walking to their tents on the old pitch and putt.
A joke in there I thought (dimly).
Can’t imagine doing this any more but
Perhaps in a different country, like Robert Pirsig did.
My second time through the book was finished today.
It’s the later edition with the postscipt.
Memorable. Like the MGP but more upsetting for the majority.

Let us know if you’ve read it as a parent or a son or a daughter.

After 25 years you’re back they all said; we’ve been waiting.
I’ve been oh so busy my response – weak perhaps.
I can now see how they won the war, again.
I really enjoy American company and always have. Florida is very cosmopolitan but elsewhere less so.
What a great country, makes us look rather insignificant I feel.