IT’S A SNOW DAY

The motorway is closed
All the schools are shut
It’s a snow day, it’s a snow day
The kids can stay and play

The buses aren’t running
The car won’t start
It’s a snow day, it’s a snow day
We can stay and play

The gritter’s never did the job
The salt’s still in the bin
It’s a snow day, it’s a snow day
No work for us today

It’s bad for the economy
For us all to stay at home
It’s a snow day, it’s a snow day
Hip, hip hooray

SEE EMILY PLAY

It is said that Beauty
Is in its beholders eye
Then surely in Emily’s case
Our vision must be singular
Any man with a heartbeat
Must see as I
In order not to mislead
I should state that Emily
Is not on the cover of vogue
She is no airbrushed goddess
She is a normal girl
Perhaps even ordinary
But she is beautiful all the same
She does not see it
In her self effacing way
She sees only her flaws
But in my eyes
Her beauty is enhanced
By her imperfections
And not diminished by them
She is not a perfect beauty
And so to me she is perfection
She see’s many imperfections
But I don’t see any
For example her hair
Which Emily wears long
Is straight and is of that
Undignified shade of mousy
Her ears are small, almost delicate
But they do protrude
Allowing her to hook her hair
Behind them effortlessly
Emily’s nose is a little Aquiline
But cute all the same
Her eyes are a startling pale green
And quite hypnotic
They are punctuated
With thick eyebrows
In the Brooke Shields style
Her lips are full, without a pout
And the corners turn up
Cutely innocent
The colour is pink
At its darkest hue
But all of this is merely,
Window dressing
I look at her in awe
Such is her loveliness
But the secret to her beauty
Is that she is natural
On the day I first met her
On that summers day
When her mouth opened
And those full pink lips
Turned into a smile
They illuminated the room
Her face seemed to radiate
A light so divine
And her countenance
Was at once angelic
And at that very moment
Emily captured my heart
I stood open mouthed
Staring at this goddess
Then when see noticed me
Her cheeks discoloured
To a shade of claret wine
And I knew cupid had struck
Two hearts pieced by a single arrow

THE CATS WHISKERS

You are simply the bee’s knees
The cats whiskers to a tee
And I couldn’t feel more lucky
If I’d won the national lottery
So I amble about the place
A smug expression on my face
Like a cat that got the cream
As you’ve made my life a dream
And you are my little sex kitten
And I am yours, totally smitten

WHEN LOVERS PART

Was it really two weeks ago
When we cried and said hello
And now as we stand in the rain
It’s the time for us to part again
Holding you close again we cry
As the time has come to say goodbye
Only a few more weeks to go
When we will say our last hello
And our goodbyes will be done
As before God we join as one
And never again will we part
Or feel the longing in our hearts
I hold you close as again we cry
Then I kiss you and say goodbye

MR GLISTEN COMES TO TOWN

The snow has come its falling fast
Its time to dance about and cheer
Soon it will be time to build a snowman
I build the same one every year

When the snow is lying deep and fresh
I go to the cupboard in my room
Where I get his hat, gloves and scarf
And of course his birchwood broom

Mum says “don’t you stay out long”
But she knows that I don’t listen
She knows that it takes some time
To build the perfect Mr Glisten

I always start in the same place
And make the body large and round
For his head I roll a smaller ball
Rolling it on the snowy ground

Soon he stands up taller than me
Rising up from the fallen snow
Each year it takes a little longer
As like me each year he grows

Down his front go pebble buttons
From his neck down to the floor
His stick arms wear his gloves
Which don’t really fit him anymore

Then I put on his scarf and hat
His birch broom stands by his side
Marbles to make his eyes shine
And a stick mouth smiling wide

Last the carrot nose goes in place
And I step back and a moment spend
Gazing at the happy snowman face
Then I say “Hello my old friend”

ALPHABET OF LOVE

You are my ANGEL come to earth
The BEST thing that ever happened to me
You are my CONFIDENT, my assurance
You are my DARLING with a capital D

You are EVERYTHING in my world
Whose FRIENDSHIP is beyond measure
You are the GUARDIAN of my life
You are a HEROINE to be treasured

You are my INSPIRATION, my muse
You are JULIET to my Romeo
Your KINDNESS touches every heart
You are my LOVER in the afterglow

You are all the best MOMENTS of my life
You are the NUMBER 1 hit for me
You are my ONE and only
You are PERFECTION with a capital P

Nothing can QUELL my burning passion
You are ROMANCE made flesh
You are my SOULMATE
You are the TREASURE of any quest

You are the star in my UNIVERSE
My VALENTINE each and every day
You mean the entire WORLD to me
You are X –RATED when we play

YOU are the only one I want to be with
With you I have reached my ZENITH

SO I WILL GIVE YOU MY HEART

You are a vision in my eye
A veritable goddess, exquisite
Perfection, that’s what I see
When I look at you
But when you look my way
You don’t really see me
It’s as if I am invisible
You look right through me
You don’t even see my beating heart
So full of love for you
More with every passing day
But I cannot make you see me
So I will give you my heart,
I can give nothing more
Being invisible and insubstantial
Here it is, take my heart
Guard it and keep it secure
Until that moment when
You feel the same as I
And the heart I gave to you
Becomes more precious than a gem
That instant when your heart
Takes you unawares
And I am no longer invisible
That moment you crave to be with me
And will be content
To be my only love

KIWI GIRL

She was a tiny little thing
Barely five foot, Pint size
But larger than life
With huge grey eyes

Her first words were
I’m not an Aussie
I’m from New Zealand
And I’m a Kiwi

Christened Katherine
She preferred Kitty
At first glance
I thought she was pretty

Perhaps not beautiful
Well not obviously so
But certainly pretty
But not to the shallow

She was not compelled
By fashion or fad
In her cargo pants
And shirt of plaid

Her stocking feet
Made little sound
As on fairy steps
She flitted around

She had a delicious chuckle
Rich and fruity
When she laughed
Was when I saw beauty

A smile lit up her face
And her big eyes
Transformed her
From pupae to butterfly

Her laughing eyes
Glanced aside
And she was caught
Her look was spied

Her pale skin
As she blushed
Turns to crimson
And away she rushed

Though she dressed
Not to impress
She had a figure
Hidden, nonetheless

My eyes followed her
Though no others did
My pretty Kitty
This gorgeous Kiwi kid

Do you try to hide?
From the wicked world
The pretty girl inside
Oh lovely Kiwi girl

Because I already spied
The pretty girl inside
When first I looked
Into her big grey eyes

GETHSEMANE

In that favoured retreat
Of Gethsemane’s garden
Did the Prince of peace
In his agonies
Sweat blood upon
That fertile ground
Forsaken by his father
Doubting his destiny
And how wretchedly betrayed
By that simple Judas kiss

ON A HILL IN CALVARY

On a hill in Calvary
In a savage unenlightened time
Nailed upon a rugged cross
By brutal hand
They thought to kill a man
To snuff out his light
That light of purest love
Unquenchable, indestructible

On that hill in Calvary
He died for us
The shadow of that cross
Cast upon the bloody land
Was an illuminating shadow
That spread light and love
Shining across millennia
Unquenchable, indestructible

On that hill in Calvary
He died for us
In that savage unenlightened time
Murdered by brutal hand
Humiliated, dehumanised
But through his love for us
And his sacrifice for us
He redeemed us

DESIGN FOR LIFE

When you look out
Across the cityscape
The first impression is one of planning
With order and method
A systematic landscape
Above a thriving community
Running as a well oiled machine
Every element doing its part
A symbiotic relationship
Every person a cog in the machine
A perpetual entity
Evolving and changing
Redesigning itself
Outside the conurbation
As if in stark contrast
The country side and nature
Appear chaotic and haphazard
Without order or method
Simple and ordinary
Lacking the sophistication of civilization
But in reality the urbanites live in chaos
Dysfunctional and self-destructive
While in nature there is structure and order
And the closer you observe it
The more of its complexities
And intricate structures are revealed
Everything precision engineered
With order and purpose
Every organism contains nature’s code
The building blocks of our world
And of our universe
True sophistication exists at every level
Complex and extraordinary
So let man builds his cities
While God builds everything else

I HAD FORGOTTEN HER

I had forgotten her
I had forgotten
The way she looked
With her bright elfin face
And brown soulful eyes
I had forgotten
The sound of her voice
With its sweet honeyed tones
And her infectious laughter
It had been hard
But I had forgotten her
I had forgotten
The smell of her hair
The taste of her lips
The touch of her skin
I had forgotten her
She was off my radar
My senses were free of her
Free of her intoxication
Free of her narcotic
It had taken months
Going cold turkey
To cleanse myself
To detox
To shake her from my consciousness
And exorcise her from my soul
I changed jobs
Decorated the house
Rid myself of everything that reminded me of her
And I was free
My life was once more on an even keel
The stormy seas had been quelled
All was calm and safe
Such comfort there is in safe
The wounds had healed
Though the scars remained
I had peace of mind
Since I had forgotten her
Well I had forgotten her
Until that fateful day
When I found it
Down the side of the sofa
A small pearl button
Such an innocuous item
Evoked such potent memories
Of a violet lamb’s wool sweater
That accentuated her breasts so well
The button was a casualty of an encounter
Discarded in our passionate haste
And in that instance of recognition
She was all at once back with me
My senses reawakened
Her scent was in my nostrils
I could feel her lips on mine
Her caress on my cheek
I could hear her infectious chuckle
And I saw her sitting beside me
Close enough to touch
And as the wounds reopened
I realised I had not forgotten her
I had just shut down
Disabled my interface with the world
Hid in my castle and pulled up the draw bridge
And created my own world within
I held the button in my fingers
As my castle walls fell
And the world flooded in
That little pearl button
Spoke to me in volumes
And I knew I loved her still

SNAPSHOT

I held her picture
Posed for posterity
A picture of a young girl
In a summer dress
A “hand me down”
Pattern faded
With fraying hem
A pretty young woman
Face of innocence
Framed by brown tousled hair
Naïve and unaffected
Unsure of her beauty
And more beautiful
Because of it
Such a wonderful snapshot
Of a perfect moment
So long ago
I fell in love with her that day
My heart melted
Like the snow in spring
I love her still
And every day in between
Tears welled in my eyes
As I looked at that picture
Of naïve beauty
And they fell unchecked
As I remembered
The woman she became
And the love we shared
Until she was taken from me

LOVES METAPHOR REVISITED

Not even the angels above
Could make a better match
So please be with me
And I will make you happy
Such is the depth and breadth
Of my lasting love
Intense and profound
Broader than the horizon
And the measure of an ocean deep
Enduring till that watery abyss
Dries to sun baked desert
And its powdery form runs
Through your fingers
And loves metaphor is blown away
Like smoke on the wind

THE RUSTIC STILE AT LANES END

At lanes end
The rustic stile
Stands sentinel still
Marking that special place
Where the fates conspired
Our souls should meet
Though we purposely
Trod opposing paths
We met at that rustic spot
And to help you cross
I took your hand
Small and silken soft
Guiding you safe to my side
And despite the presence
Of each others companions
We were to all intents
Quite alone
And in those moments
When hand touched hand
We at once beheld
Our lives from that point on
Would be forever altered
And were content
With that destiny

At lanes end
The rustic stile
Stands like a monument
Marking the place of alteration
A significant place
A spiritual place oft revisited
And on such sojourns
We would find renewal
As the energizing memory
Of that special moment
Assailed our senses
Essentially invigorating
Like imbibing the waters
From the fountain of youth
And our hearts would once again
Resound with joyousness
And sweet moments of romance
Those excited tingles
Of loves first passion
When hearts beat faster
And desire courses
Through every fibre
The thrill of blossoming love
Adding to the strata
Of our love laid down
Through all our years
By returning to the place
Of loves wondrous inception
We keep our love alive
And in equal measure
Love returns the favour

ALL OF MY LIFE

All of my life
I have had no talent
Hidden or on show
No gift or endowment
No skill or mastery
No bent or flair
Ability or forte
Nothing to mark me out
From the common herd
Or stand me out from the crowd
All of my life
I have been ordinary
Mediocre and average
Quite mundane and everyday
No hint of genius
Expert only in my ordinariness
But content in my mediocrity
All of my life
I have been un-ambitious
No goals to be achieved
Not driven by desire
In any shape or form
Some might say shiftless
I would say satisfied
Happy with my lot
All of my life
I lived a half life
Until my outlook changed
When I saw you smile
And heard you speak my name
I was born again
With new purpose
A new vocation
To shed my mediocrity
And cast it aside
Like a well used coat
And dig deep within myself
To find that dying ember of desire
That almost imperceptible spark
So clearly visible to you
And breathe life into it
Until white hot
And then fan the flames of passion
You have ignited in me
All the rest of my life
Endowed with your gift
I will feel extraordinary
And with my new found ambition
My one and only goal
The soul purpose of my being
Is to make you truly happy
As happy as you have made me
And with all my heart and soul
I will dedicate myself
To always loving you