Author: Ian Hunter

I retired from the energy business in 2014 and started writing poetry. At first I shared my writing with family and friends. Then I set myself a challenge to write a poem every day for a year. After meeting that goal I just kept going and started this blog in 2021. I hope you enjoy reading my poems. Remember happiness is just a state of mind and poetry is great nourishment.

Refections on the middle of everything

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If Wednesday is the middle of the week

Do you consider the week half over or half to go? 

If you knew when you will die, would you celebrate living half of your life or having half left?

Are you happy in this moment of time or are you waiting for a happier moment to come along?

I am declaring this moment in time to be transient because by the time you finished reading this sentence, the moment has gone forever and been replaced by another moment

Does this mean you can only be happy for the tiny moment we call now and then lose it all at the end of that moment forcing you to refill the arriving empty moment with more happiness?

What an exhausting way to live, much easier to stay happy constantly and let the moments come visit you

Happy ?% completion of your life

Happy 22nd day of this eleventh month of your yearly orbit around the sun

Happy middle of this week

Happy Wednesday

Happy Thanksgiving eve

Happy Now………..

A taste of her own medicine

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he arrived early at the restaurant

an on-line dating encounter

it was just lunch for their first face to face meeting

messaging chats at first

then a video call

this was their first real date

they had both been married before

the dating scene was intimidating

it was much easier when they were younger

a large pool of unmarried friends and coworkers back then

twenty years later that pool was dried up

forcing them both to reach out further

he checked the time every few minutes

she was late but he waited

after fifteen minutes he sent her a message

sorry I am running late was the quick reply

still no show fifteen minutes later

he sent another short message

asking her arrival time

sorry I will have to cancel she said

something cropped up at work

he left the restaurant disappointed

taking a walk to relieve his frustration

then he spotted her in the restaurant across the street

having lunch at an outside table

with a very attentive man

she was laughing and having fun

a lucky escape he thought

she is dishonest and untrustworthy

he sent her another message

how about same time and place tomorrow

he watched her pick up her phone

ok was the quick reply

he made the reservation with no intention to go

the next day she showed up late

he ignored her messages asking where he was

Lance Armstrong cheated on me

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I was living in Paris when Lance Armstrong was winning everything

My French colleagues despised him

They said he was obviously a cheater

I dismissed their claims as xenophobic

I moved to the US when Armstrong was still winning Tour de France races

Telling my US colleagues that the French were bad losers

When it finally came out that he had been using drugs

I felt he had cheated on me as much as his sport

Cheating crops up in all aspects of life

People cheat in exams

Some cheat on their taxes

Many cheat on their spouses

Cheating is not entirely black and white though

There are obvious extremes 

If you get paid in cash without declaring your real income

Everybody would say you are a tax cheater

Billionaire real estate moguls employ expert accountants

Many of them pay little or no tax at all by claiming depreciation on their property

Are they legal loophole cheaters or successful businessmen

A yellow card may appear when a soccer player trips an attacking opponent

He will be branded a cheat by the opposing team and fans

Others will see him as just taking one for the team

Describing his action as a professional foul

Exposed cheaters often admit letting others down

But how do they feel inside

Knowing that they deliberately broke the rules

To gain an unfair advantage over others

Do you ever cheat on yourself

Breaking your own promises to diet or meet a deadline

Giving in to laziness or procrastination 

Be noble and learn from it so you can forgive yourself

Newspaper delivery boy

Ian Hunter4 Comments

When I was young I delivered newspapers

Carried in a bag over my shoulder

I rode a big yellow bicycle

Early mornings before school

The storekeeper wrote the house number on each paper

Arranging them in delivery sequence

I took the exact same route daily

To make sure everybody got the right paper

Houses in England have a flap in the front door

For delivery of mail and newspapers

Weekdays they slid in easily

But those fat Sunday editions would jam in the flap

Some homeowners were so nice

Meeting me at their open door

With a smile and cookie

Thanking me daily

Others were mean and grumpy

You ripped my newspaper

Why are you always late

You left my gate open again

Dogs were a challenge

Some of them were friendly

Others wanted to attack

You had to learn the hard way

I got soaked when it rained

That bag would get so heavy

Mud splattered my clothes

I got tired pedaling so far

Posh houses were the worst

Their kids would make fun of me

From inside their warm houses

I wiped extra mud on their newspapers

It was hard work and low pay

I was happy to earn small change then

Early mornings you can still see me bike riding today

But I only carry memories around now

The keys

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Barry and Lisa had been married for ten years 

They were working class folks both employed 

doing their best to raise a family

two daughters and a son kept them busy

Lisa worked the night shift as a nurse

Barry was a firefighter and worked 24 hour shifts

sometimes they were home together

some nights they had Lisa’s mother watch the kids

the family car was a big old pickup truck

Barry kept it going by repairing it himself 

it was not unusual to see Barry under the truck with tools

they paid their bills but had no savings

one evening after the kids were in bed

Lisa told Barry she had some news

she was tearful and upset

she told Barry she was pregnant

he was very supportive and told her it was ok

they would find a way to make it all work

even though it was totally unplanned

a few months later their truck broke down

Barry had a friend tow it home

he started working to try and fix the engine

but soon realized it was totally blown 

they did not have enough money to fix it

James was delivering the mail

he saw Barry next to his truck and Lisa was crying

is everything ok he asked

our truck is dead and we have a new baby coming said Barry 

a few weeks later there was a knock at the door

a man handed Lisa the keys to a brand new truck

we did not order this said Lisa

the man replied its paid for and registered in your name

Spider chase

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Slinky spider

Hairy  legs

Creeping slowly

Across bedroom

Pausing often

Sneaky meander

Over carpet

Eyes swiveling 

Sees me

I lunge

Quick dart

Chase on

Throw shoe

Big miss

Spider hides

Under bed

I wait

He waits

Who dares

Next move

I wait

He waits

Peek under

See him

Beyond reach

Spider waits

I wait

Formulate plan

Get broom

Slide broom

Under bed

Force spider

To move

Other side

Plan executed

Spider runs

Across floor

I race

Around bed

Fly swatter

In hand

Spider faster

Escapes easily

Under door

Open door

Spider disappeared

I wait

spider waits

No sign

I wait

spider waits

I surrender

Spider won

Emotions of endurance athletes

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For all you endurance athletes out there, here are some of the emotions you experience during a marathon, triathlon or a cycling century

Anticipation– Waiting at the start, fully prepared and wanting the race to commence

Euphoria– The race is underway, floating along in a crowd

Adrenaline– Setting a quicker than usual pace early in the race

Fortitude– Slowing down to normal pace, still a long way to go

Boredom– not even half way and your mind is wandering

Denial– Your pace drops off and your legs feel tired, you believe its just a minor blip.

Anger– Why did you get into this, who decided it should be so long

Bargaining– Telling your tired legs they can have a short rest but must then go on to finish

Depression- You seriously think about quitting, when will the pain end you ask yourself

Acceptance– You know you will not achieve a great time but will finish with dignity

Fortitude– Not far from the end, you decide not to give up and just keep going

Adrenaline– close to the finish and cheered by crowd you get another burst of energy

Euphoria– you cross the finishing line feeling no pain or discomfort

Afterglow– You get a buzz and want to do another long race sometime soon

Vegetarian Stanza

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Have an avocado

Beseech the peach

Tomato tomorrow

Appeal an apple

Ban the banana

Scrape the grape

Stow the strawberry

Bury the berry

Care for carrots

One onion in

Beat the beet

Sell the celery

Beg for eggplant

Raid the radishes

Water the watercress

Top the tofu

Tear a pear

Order an orange

Lemonade your lemons

Grapple a grapefruit

Courage for courgettes

Heart in artichokes

Please your peas

Warn the corn

Rebuke the cucumber

Pepper your peppers

Meal a melon

Letter a lettuce

Spin the spinach

What does the word wireless mean to you

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When I was young we would listen to the wireless

We never used the word radio back then

Our wireless was box full of tubes that took a while to warm up

The big dial would crackle as you searched for a station

Posh voices delivered the BBC news

Sing Something Simple played golden oldie tunes every Sunday

Our wireless was the focal point of our home

Today we live in a totally different wireless world

Satellites give us GPS for perfect navigation

Cellular phones connect us to everything from anywhere

Bluetooth puts beautiful clear music in our ears

Wifi connects us to all the electronic wizardry in our homes

Alarm systems no longer have miles of wires

Check out your home wireless security camera far from home

Speakers stream music from your phone wirelessly

You can turn on the lights with a wireless switch

Turn up the heat on the HVAC without touching the thermostat

Pre-heat your oven on your way home from work

Do all your shopping wirelessly

Charge your phone on a wireless charging pad

Cut the cable and stream your TV channels wirelessly

Throw away that key and open your front door with your smart phone

Wires in our lives have been replaced by electromagnetic radiation in the air

It like living inside a huge microwave oven

We are slowly cooking ourselves wirelessly

Twenty Minutes

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there is something special about twenty minutes

its nowhere near an hour of your time

but a lot longer than a fleeting five minutes

you can devote the most special things to twenty minutes

if you are running really late

tell them you will be there in twenty minutes

its your guaranteed get out of jail card

saying you will be seventeen minutes late sounds too cheesy

when you decide to steal some time for yourself

make sure its a full twenty minutes

ideal for a period of mediation

or a brisk cardio boosting power walk

you can almost lose yourself in twenty minutes

get deep into your favorite book

listen to a few Ted Talks

reply to that overdue long lost friend email

take a twenty minute power nap

wake up feeling refreshed

sleep longer and you will wake up grumpy

you will still be tired if its shorter

have a really useful meeting in twenty minutes

longer meetings are boring for all participants

people can stay focused for this amount of time

they will all thank you at the end of a that meeting

clean out your messy closet in twenty minutes

even the most tedious task can get done

without causing you pain or suffering

you will work harder knowing its not a long job

twenty minutes is the ideal duration for making love

anything shorter is a meaningless quickie

going at it longer steals precious time from your partner

best not to overtly set a timer on this activity