The Perfect Verse

10/10/2020

Linny’s lament
(or ‘When the squirrel ate my strawberries’)

When squirrels ate my strawberries I was very, very cross,
I know that in the scheme of things, ‘twas no earth-shattering loss
BUT………
I’d tended them and watered them and treated them with care.
I’d watched them grow, and then turn red- and they were O so fair!
I nestled them and nurtured them and showered them with love,
Looked forward to the taste of them like nectar from above!

O Strawberries, O strawberries!
Your smell, your taste, your look-
Now lost to me- damn squirrel thieves
You know not what you took!

So, I will place a little plaque
To mourn my berries red,
And I’ll not brook the callous friend
Who laughed that they were dead!
But I will wave them in her face
When soon the next ones grow,
And leave her to her raspberries
That blackbirds fancy so!

10/10/2020

Ode to the Shed of Cheese!
O SHED I love thee, let me count the ways
Thou has grown mighty in these turbulent days
From small beginnings, to old weavers home
Resting near water- making this your own.
Chiller humming
Orders coming
Business booming
Fame is looming.
Azure blue your brave new livery
Housing gifts from red to ivory.
Yellow, black or mottled face,
Mellow or with piquant taste.
CHEESE- the blessing from the milk
Crumbling, hard or smooth as silk.
You house them all and send them forth
Gently cradled- East, South, North

MONGERS- we depend on thee
Make the world a place of cheese
Take the curd and find the whey
To give us roundels every day.

But - shed we love thee, let us count the ways
Now you’ve grown mighty in these turbulent days
From small beginnings, to old weavers home
Resting near water- makes you Bovey’s own.

12/10/2019

30/09/2014

Parody of Rudyard Kipling's 'IF' for a retiring teacher

If you can dream your pupils better, smarter,
Than others in the school that we won’t name!
If you can meet with MPs and Inspectors,
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can keep it calm and wheels still turning
Not worry when the sprinklers get things wet;
Not panic when the staff-room is what’s burning,
Not the great ambition of the bottom set!

30/09/2014

The cat sits on the fence to watch the birdie walking by
He licks his lips and tries to pounce before it starts to fly
But in his haste he does forget he's high above the ground
And misses but recovers quick with dignity refound!

30/09/2014

To thank a member of a village community

The meetings in her kitchen are legendry and sweet
And the coffee-morning circuit needs Anne to make her treats.
Where would the village ever get their great supply of jam
If Anne was sitting down and not stirring the jam-pan?

30/09/2014

Part of a poem to a one-year-old

Now he’s crawling, exploring and laughing a lot
And he likes standing up in his playpen and cot
With his toys and his presents he’ll have lots of fun
And grow up a big boy- now Freddy is ONE

30/09/2014

To a friewnd who was retiring

( To the tune of ‘Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy’)

She is a famous music girl from Bovey Tracey way
She has a lovely style that no-one else can play
She is the top girl of them all
And now she’s leaving us and she will be having a ball
Cos she’s retiring now to take up yoga-ing
She’s that Soosie-Woosie Music Gal who does love to sing.

30/09/2014

A poem to a friend on her birthday

You love to make sure everyone is happy and content
And after all the work there is some money to be spent.
Sewing classic dresses or making cakes so fine
And when you’ve done all that you like to have a glass of wine!

19/09/2014

Ode to my Shed

Oh shed I love thee, let me count the ways,
Thou dost remind me of French summer days.
Thy dark red roof absorbing the warm rays
Turning the rain into a sunny haze.

Thy crooked door creaks open into dark
Where mice and snails do ever make their mark.
Thou guard’st my treasures, thou my garden ark,
And stirreth in me my creative spark.

So shed, I thank thee for making me smile
And causing neighbours for to stop a while,
They have shed envy - for you do beguile
The birds from off the trees to thy red tile.

Oh shed, I love thee and thou art all mine
Thou art the shed of sheds, thou art divine!
And I will plant by thee a sparkling vine
So I can sit by thee and sup my wine!!!

20/09/14