Morning light
Soft tones
Long shadows
Crisp air
Gentle breeze
Big breath
Eyes closed
Clear mind
Deep breathing
Body relaxed
Positive thoughts
Inner peace
Opening eyes
Saying hello
To myself
I answer
hello back
I ask
myself directly
you happy?
long pause
I answer
yes deliriously
with a
Wry smile
Jimmy walked the same trail every day
a short loop through the woods next to his house
it was wide and well maintained
today was cool and showery
something caught his eye behind a tree
he went over to investigate
an old rusty metal plough half buried in the ground
he wondered how it came to be there
and why he had never noticed it before now
miles from any open fields in a mature wooded area
he came back the next day to dig it out
with a couple of makeshift skids
he towed the old plough home with his 4×4
it was badly rusted but cleaned up well
a nameplate read property of Kelsall Farm 1957
there was a family with that name not far away
he took some photographs of the plough and went to see them
old man Kellsall lived there with his wife
he recognized the old plough from his fathers farm
it brought a tear to his eye
recalling how he used to ride the tractor as a boy
the farmhouse was destroyed in a fire in 1965
his father passed away soon after
the plough was the only remaining evidence of the farm
Jimmy towed the plough to the Kelsall home
he set it on a platform in their front yard
old man Kelsall smiled from the window
as he ploughed through all his childhood memories
Leaf blowers create unnecessary noise pollution
Shattering peaceful mornings
Give that lazy landscaper a broom
Leave that leaf be where nature put it
All 2 stroke engines are noisy
Especially those screaming motorcycles
Make all motorcycles 4 stroke or electric
Eliminate 2 stroke powered weed whackers
Use electric or manual landscaping tools
We do not need any 2 stroke engines in this world
Lets get rid of jet skis
They are a big disturbance to waterfront dwellers
Unwanted noise and unwelcome wake would disappear instantly
Nobody needs to travel that fast over water
Another unwanted water craft is the flyboard water jet
It allows people to hover over the water
A totally useless piece of equipment
Disturbing marine wildlife in shallow waters
No more flyboards please
Lets stop using acronyms for everything
LOL BRB WTF BFF IDK IMHU
Language was never meant to be abbreviated
We should all speak and write in full clear sentences
My friend Norman went to order a coffee at Starbucks
He asked for a small coffee and was offered a tall size
He insisted he wanted a small coffee
Much to the disdain of the Starbucks barista
Starbucks coffee language should be banned
Then Norman can order a small coffee without being corrected
Single use plastics cause extensive pollution and harm to wildlife
Plastic bags, utensils, straws, cups, plates and wrapping material are the worst
These products should all be uninvented
Although plastic itself has many beneficial uses in medical devices
So I would not un-invent plastic as a material but restrict it in certain products
Whoever invented tobacco products made a huge mistake
Smoking causes serious health risks and death
Nobody needs to inhale nicotine and carcinogens
The world would be so much better without any tobacco products
I do not like the taste of brussels sprouts
In fact I hate all cruciferous vegetables
My life would have run a lot smoother if they had never been invented
No more smart Aleck brussels sprout eaters to mock my eating habits
Lets also un-invent all smart Alecks while we are at it
everybody seems hell bent on saying something
social media expects you to express yourself constantly
restaurant and bar patrons talk non stop
texts and emails must never go unanswered
there is something wrong here
because expressing oneself
is basically repeating something you already know
you never learn anything new by talking or writing
the only way to learn is to listen or read
listening seems to be a dying art
we should teach our kids to listen
we should all try and listen more ourselves
listening is more than just hearing the sounds
listening styles must be adaptive to the circumstances
playing yourfavorite song on the radio evokes appreciative listening
listening to a political speech requires evaluative listening
when somebody is upset they need an empathetic listener
a biased listener only hears what he wants
lovers can talk for hours because they practice relationship listening
to form an opinion of what is being said requires critical listening
next time you get the urge to express yourself
try listening first
Higgledy piggledy pop!
Can you touch your top?
Higgledy piggledy whoa!
Can you touch your toe
Higgledy piggledy hi!
Can you touch the sky?
Higgledy piggledy go!
Can you crouch down low?
I grew in the 60’s in Merseyside
It was the height of Beatlemania
I fell in love with their music
As a teenager I had to make choices
Rival gangs were Mods or Rockers
Mods wore stylish clothes and had short hair
Their music of choice was Mowtown
Rockers had long hair and stuffy clothes
They only listened to heavy metal
I grew my hair long and bought Led Zeppelin LPs
At college I turned towards Punk Rock
It blended well in with the student gangs
I became a fan of Elvis Costello
After graduating everything changed
I joined the workforce and no longer had to choose a gang to be in
So my choice music was wide open
I listened to a lot of pop in the 70’s
That is probably my goto decade
But I have still discovered other music genres along the way
Mellow jazz is very good for relaxation
I sometimes turn to crooners like Sinatra and Buble
There are however some genres that I never got into at all
Bluegrass seems boring as all the tunes are so similar
I never felt drawn to Rap or Hip Hop
Yesterday I was watching the TV series Justified
The Theme music stuck in my head like an ear worm
I looked it up and discovered the band Gangstagrass
Their music is a blend of Bluegrass and Hip Hop
I listed to more of their songs
They almost all rang my bell clearly
So why is it that I like Gangstagrass so much
But still don’t feel drawn to Bluegrass or Hip Hop
I think the answer is gin and tonic
I could never drink either on their own
But mixed together they make a delightful beverage
It ok to know what you like
But you don’t have to know why
Its a right of passage for every man
Firing up the charcoal grill to cook a meal
I remember so well my first efforts
Struggling to light damp coals
Putting the sausages on before the grill was hot
Walking away and leaving them unattended
Returning to see dripping grease well ablaze
Serving my family the charred sausage remains
Their look of horror still haunts me
But they had waited so long for dinner that they ate it anyway
I eventually mastered the art of lighting the coals
Planning well ahead to allow time for the coals to get hot
And learned when to put the food on the grill
Keeping a spray bottle of water to extinguish grease flare ups
We enjoyed many a fine meal from those grilling days
I always dreaded to next day cleanup
Especially if the ashes had been rained on
The metal grill was such a pain to scrub clean
Remnants of food stubbornly welded in place
I began to grow tired of the entire process
It was just too time consuming
We grilled less often
Then I discovered the joys of gas grilling
No more messy charcoal and instant self lighting heat
Grilling was welcomed back into our cuisine
Al fresco cooking and dining is so much fun
Then we moved to a high rise condo
No open flame grilling permitted
Everything had to be cooked in the kitchen
The magical days of grilling outside were gone
Disillusioned and depressed I sought counseling
My grilling mentor introduced me to modern electric grilling
I was fearful of cooking directly over a heating element
Visions of food dripping onto the element filled me with dread
But fear ye not with a modern Ninja electric grill
A cast iron griddle sits above the electric heating element
That drains grease away into a collecting tray
Cleanup is easy every time
An electric smoke box to burn wood pellets
Multi function electrical controls
To grill, bake, smoke, broil or air fry
Temperature probes monitoring food while cooking
All hooked up to your phone via bluetooth
Science has taken all the guesswork out of grilling
Dial in your cooking times and walk away
The App tells you when the food is ready
My days of high carbon footprint grilling are over
My Ninja grill is powered by clean electricity
Which is partly generated by renewables
I like to think that my electricity comes exclusively from atomic power stations
So I can serve my guests the most delicious perfectly cooked dish
NINJA NUCLEAR CHICKEN!
I never really understood urban art
Odd shaped statues in plazas
Huge abstract paintings on walls
Strange structures in streets
I never spent much time figuring it out
That all changed today
After a guided tour of the Miami design district
The guide was an artist
Taking us to six areas in the district
Explaining what the artist was trying to convey
Showing what the shapes and textures represented
Many of the pieces were functional
Providing seating or shade
I was fascinated by whole collection
I started to see things in a new way
Appreciating the use of trees and plants
In a symbiotic relationship with the man made structures
Fascinated by the shapes and textures
I was in awe of the vision of each artist
Taking an idea or a concept
And creating a physical form to portray it
I wonder how many people just walk by
Giving a fleeting glance these structures
Not stopping or taking the time to absorb them
Exactly like I had before today
An extra dimension just opened up for me
My eyes have been opened
My mind is more curious
Architecture with an artistic twist
Art with architectural flair
Artchitecture?
do you remember back in the day
when we only had bar soap in the shower
a fresh bar was the always best
refreshingly dry and clean for that first shower
then left on a wet soap dish it soon became soggy
especially in households who shared a shower between multiple occupants
you never knew what might be lurking in that soggy soap bar
occasionally there would be some nasty grit embedded in the bar
which you only detected after almost lacerating your flesh while lathering
soggy soap was so hard to grip and would jump to the floor
it had a mind of its own and was hell bent on escaping
forcing you to rummage around the base of the shower or tub
the bar would get dented and misshaped during its frequent spills
then back in the 70s somebody invited soap on a rope
you could wrap the rope around you wrist and never drop the bar again
hanging it up between showers to let it dry naturally
it was the most brilliant invention
no more slips in the shower picking up dropped bars
but the soap on a rope boom imploded
when shower gels and body wash came along
these are far more hygienic and easier to use
I was thinking of gifting some friends soap on a rope
showering could bring back memories from a forgotten era
however I learned just in time before purchasing
that soap on a rope has become a popular cult gag gift
for the person whose activities are bordering on illegal
and might soon need that soap on a rope
to avoid them bending over in the prison shower to pick up lost soap
Cheeky Monkey Poetry 