Its your time to rise up
Leave the darkness behind
Forget your bad dreams
Watch the sunrise
Smile
Fill your heart with light
Recharge your kindness batteries
Smile
Soak up the silence
Breathe deep
Blink slowly
Let the world creep in
At your own pace
Live your morning dream
Smile
Do something creative
Make outrageously ambitious plans
Drink tea
Eat breakfast
smile
Start conquering
Repeat daily
Everybody needs a mirror
not the shiny reflective kind we all look into occasionally
although useful for checking out your appearance
but oh so unforgiving
highlighting every blemish and wrinkle
showing your fat bulges
yelling straight back in your face
you look terrible today
but I digress so lets get back to the point here
everybody needs a mirror into their soul
for those moments when you must step back and reflect
when you are contemplating a big decision
it might be a major financial transaction
a huge change in your career
or a relationship crossroads
ask yourself why you want to go a certain way
what is really driving it
is it the right thing to do
are the risks worth taking
are you being totally honest with yourself
its hard to put your emotions to one side
they keep jumping back in and pleading with you
making you have doubts and second thoughts
it helps to have a human mirror to consult
perhaps a good friend or a partner can be your mirror
somebody you can trust completely
to guide you into the right path to follow
it does not always work out that way
one of the worst things that can happen to anybody
is losing the trust of a long term partner
suddenly your mirror is broken and shattered
leaving you desperately alone and seeking another mirror
if you are lucky a friend will step in to help
but fear not if you are totally alone in such a crisis
dig deep back into your soul and find that unused mirror
polish it well and take a deep breath
it will not judge you or despise you
for all those years of neglect
it will tell you exactly how things are
help you to make the right decision
once things get better you can revisit your mirror
just to say thank you for all that help
it will glow in appreciation
you will feel the self love inside you
and your soul will whisper
keep looking into my mirror
The champagne cork popped
It was a party
For the birth of baby Jane
Jane cried a lot
The champagne cork popped
Jane was ten years old
The champagne flowed freely
Jane drank lemonade
The champagne cork popped
Jane was twenty one
All her friends were there
Jane chugged champagne from the bottle
The champagne cork popped
Jane got a big promotion at work
Friends toasted her success
Jane guzzled champagne all evening
The champagne cork popped
Jane just got married
Her mother cried
Jane drank a lot of champagne
The champagne cork popped
Jane was on a business trip
Dinner with a male colleague
Jane drank way too much champagne
Champagne corks littered her hotel bedroom when she woke up
Jane could not remember the night before
Her colleague was snoring loudly next to her
Jane never drank champagne again
We paused the travel blog while we spent three weeks catching up with family and friends. Today we are flying back to the US so its a good time to reflect on the last three weeks in the UK.
Its hard to describe the pain of being physically separated from loved ones for three long years. For sure we kept in touch virtually throughout the pandemic but its not the same as being together. With the lifting of lockdowns, travel restrictions and quarantine, we planned this three week trip across the pond. We took trains, planes and drove a rental car to be greeted with long hugs from loved ones. We broke bread, drank wine, sipped on many wee drams of fine single malts in front of real fires as we treasured every precious moment of being reunited with our family.
We visited our favorite places in the Scottish highlands, making new memories while reminiscing of previous adventures together.
My daughter moved out of London during the pandemic, taking advantage of remote working to relocate to the beautiful countryside of East Sussex. We fell in love with the Downs, cliffside walks and cute medieval villages there.
During the height of the pandemic, we listened to the Queen of England promising that we will endure the separation of lockdowns and one day all meet again. How fitting that her platinum Jubilee occurred during this trip. We celebrated in style with 5,000 people in the UK’s biggest street party spanning 1.7 miles of the Morecambe promenade. My sister’s jam scones tasted devine as we sat waving Union Jack flags while sipping warm English beer. God Save the Queen.
We shall indeed meet again.
The red cushion was resting peacefully
On the teal blue leather chair
A prime position in the room
To witness all that happens
I asked him boldly to tell all
He remained tight lipped
Refusing to break the honorable cushion code of silence
I offered him a stiff drink
In the hope it would get him talking
After three more he started to loosen up
He leaned close and in a low whisper said
They usually start drinking before dinner
He makes those cocktails way too strong
They switch to wine with dinner
Piling the dirty dishes in the sink
The poor dishes stay unwashed until late the next morning
Drowning in cold water
They usually stay up very late
Binging on Netflix into the wee small hours
The both drink scotch after dinner
Most nights they fall asleep watching TV
Usually she goes to bed first
She turns off the TV
Leaving him snoring
He crushes that poor yellow cushion
Who winces every time he slumps in the recliner
Eventually he drags himself to bed
Leaving the poor yellow cushion gasping for breath
I asked him if they ever behaved really badly
Oh you would never believe it
I have seen things go on that would make your hair curl
I filled up his empty glass
Hoping for him to reveal more
But he suddenly remembered his code of conduct
Shaking his red head in defiance
I sensed he was about to clam up
I asked if anybody else in the room might talk
He pointed to the carpet
With a strangle look of intrigue on his face he said
Just ask the carpet about that huge stain in the corner
On a cool morning in Bogota Columbia
A beautiful red rose stands proud in a large field
Bathed in sunlight
Nurtured by experienced growers
Its time to harvest
The rose stem is cut
It joins a bunch of roses
Packaged in a large box
Shipped by truck to the airport
Flown to the US
Trucked to a flower store
Arranged in a chilled display cabinet
Purchased by a loyal customer
Driven from the store to his home
Presented to his wife
Lovingly placed in a vase
Celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary
He always bought her red roses
He gave her a card
Inside she found a note
These roses have travelled far to be with you
Now is the time
For us to visit their home
There were also two plane tickets
A few days later they flew to Columbia
A driver took them to Bogota
She smiled when she saw the fields
A sea of red roses she beamed
The farm manager gave them a tour
She stopped to smell the roses
He cut a bright red rose for her
For the journey home he said
She held the rose in her hand
All the way to the airport
She carried it on the plane heading to the US
They were stopped at the border and customs control
The officer spoke apologetically but firmly
So sorry Mam you cannot bring flowers into the country
The confiscated rose was tossed into the trash
An unceremonious end to its short life
His wife shed a tear
Never mind said her husband
I will buy you another rose
Lets drive straight to the flower store
She smiled and squeezed his hand
On a cool morning in Bogota Columbia
A beautiful red rose stands proud in a large field
zip up your pants
hopefully the zip does not jam
its a long way to walk home
with your hands covering your exposed crotch
zip up that dress
its very hard to do alone
especially if the dress is way too small
and shows off all your slippage
zip up the tent flap
to keep the bears outside
bears do not know how to operate a zip
its now safe to cook bacon inside your tent
zip up your mouth Mr Politician
its not about the amount you speak
the quality of your words is unacceptable
unzip only when saying something meaningful
zip up that big family portrait file
its too big to send via email
the file will be creased and wrinkled when unzipped
the faces in the photos will look much older
zip up that history lesson
the inventor of the zip was a very sad man
he never recovered from a broken relationship
he spent the rest of his life seeking closure
Barry the brick was made in 1940
he sat in a yard for a few years waiting for somebody to buy him
maybe I will be in the facade of a grand building he thought, or perhaps near the front door of a small family home
he hoped it would be somewhere with lots of activity
one day in 1954, a truck pulled up and a man started loading bricks
the bricks were all excited and looking forward to an adventure
Barry was fortunate to be loaded on the side of the truck where he could see out
the inward facing bricks asked Barry to tell them what he could see
Barry told them they were passing open fields where cows and sheep grazed
we are going down a lane towards an old derelict farmhouse, they seem to be in the process of rebuilding
the truck stopped and all the bricks were unloaded in a pile
they started chatting about who would end up where in the wall and who would have the best view
the next day the bricks were picked and placed next to a wall
one by one they were cemented into the wall, they were all facing outward and had a great view over the farmyard
Barry was placed high up and had the best view
when the construction was finished, the bricks watched the old farm being transformed into a vineyard
they saw grapes being harvested and wine being bottled
soon there were daily visitors, wine tastings, parties and live music
they watched the vineyard being passed on to other generations as time rolled on
by 2019, a few of the bricks became loose enough to sneak off the wall at night and steal wine from the tasting room
they would bring it back to share with all the other bricks in the wall
they had wild parties and told stories late into the night
Barry got so drunk one night that he fell off the wall and smashed into the yard below
Barry never recovered but the other bricks held a celebration of his life
he had seen a lot during his 79 years
RIP Barry the brick.
Diamonds are just stones
Hidden in rocks
Yet they take on a new meaning
When mined cut polished and mounted
To the extent where they become
An absolute must have for most of us
A typical engagement ring
Costs two months salary
Thats a huge chuck of change
For a piece of rock
That you can easily lose
Over the course of a marriage
If you could measure your marriage commitment
By the price ticket of your engagement ring
Then surely the wealthiest couples
Would have the lowest divorce rates
Unfortunately studies have shown
That those with more expensive engagement rings
Have higher rates of divorce
Maybe its not such a wise choice
To spend a college education budget
On that bridezilla wedding
With an expensive shiny rock on her finger
Would you care more about
The size of your daughters wedding ceremony
Or the happiness and duration of her marriage
sometimes life is like being a tightrope
a constant battle to balance everything
one slip and you face eternal doom
however many careful steps you make
you can never seem to get beyond the middle of the rope
the end is in sight but you just cannot get there
you might see carefree people dancing on their rope
others walk their rope with eyes closed oblivious of the dangers below
when something makes you lean over to one side
it takes enormous strength to keep yourself upright
if you can find your equilibrium its an easy journey
so what is the secret to keeping everything balanced
you would not choose to ride a bicycle carrying a heavy bag in one hand
wearing a back pack will help keep you balanced as you pedal
riding uphill is less effort if you discard all those unnecessary items
so think carefully before taking on any new tasks or burdens
when you do take on a burden keep it well balanced
celebrate the gift of riding your bicycle along the tightrope of your life
enjoy the ride and marvel at the beautiful scenery along the way
Cheeky Monkey Poetry 