Category: 3. Poems

How dare you?

 

Humiliated

world leaders get dressing down

for complacency.

It takes determination

and courage to do these things.

 

by Scooj

 

Greta Thunberg is an extraordinary young woman. She has managed to bring a difficult message to the world stage and has been given tremendous exposure. I believe her when she says that she will not give up, and I believe that what we are witnessing is the beginning of a movement for change the likes of which we have not seen before.

Her speech is here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2019/sep/23/greta-thunberg-to-world-leaders-how-dare-you-you-have-stolen-my-dreams-and-my-childhood-video

Of course there are those who say that they agree, BUT (remember everything before the but is bullshit) that it can’t be done, that her demands are unrealistic. Those people are in my view wrong and this excuse has been used as a reason for inertia for decades. Had we been taking action 30 years ago, the urgency of action now would not have felt so acute.

The best Donald Trump could come up with on Twitter was this sarcastic comment

‘She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!’

How immature, but then we know all we need to know about Donald Trump. On the other hand Greta Thunberg has behaved with utter dignity and has so much more credibility than any politician I can think of.

I subscribe entirely to Greta Thunberg’s mission and have been waiting for leadership on this issue for decades – little did I think it would come from a Swedish school girl, but then maybe that’s exactly where it needed to come from, from somebody outside the establishment.

The hard work begins now as changes to our learned way of life begin to gain traction. It doesn’t necessarily mean sacrifice, rather it means change, and much of that change will be for the better. Anyhow in its simplest form, the changes are necessary so that our children and their children can live in a world like the one we grew up in (or even better). Do we need any greater incentive than that?

Sovereignty, what sovereignty?

 

Extraordinary

hypocrisy from Boris

and all his cronies

 

sovereignty of Parliament

swept aside to push ‘no deal’.

 

Ground rush II

.

Last minute packing

checking items off the lists

poor preparation.

No sooner is the boy back

than the girl departs for camp.

.

by Scooj

Electric storm

 

Darkest muddy skies

frequent flickering flashes

and muted thunder

 

by Scooj

* That was some electric storm we had over Bristol last night. I cannot recall ever seeing anything like it. We were getting about 20-30 flashes of lightning every minute for more than an hour. It was spectacular. And only one rumble of thunder right at the start, to announce the light show had begun.

 

To Dorchester

 

The engine drags us through

a rich and verdant land

lush from unusually heavy summer rains

 

The rhythm is punctuated by small stations

boasting tidy flowerbeds and once busy buildings

that slumber now as polluting cars

offer a more convenient means of travel

 

I am afforded the luxury of time to think

and to stare out of the window

where I see my life dashing by

each blade of grass a memory lost

 

Closer now to my destination than to my home

the journey has passed all too quickly

I should have liked a little more time, just a little,

to have lingered a while at each of the stops along the way.

 

by Scooj

 

* something of a rarity from me. Always a little nervous of sharing poems other than haikus or tankas.

Out of breath

.

Heart rate is slowing

a mad dash to platform 9

I made it on time.

Well I needn’t have bothered

I don’t live in Switzerland.

.

by Scooj

School swimming lessons remembered

.

That little schoolboy

petrified and insecure;

a bully teacher.

Butterflies in his tummy

and mental paralysis.

.

by Scooj

Blessing and a curse

 

What separates us

from the animal kingdom

is our compassion.

 

My heart weeps for a fledgling

too sickly to carry on.

 

by Scooj

 

  • In a garden hedge in my road, this small ball of fluff was hiding its head from this scary world under its wing. Obviously recently fledged and confused its liklihood of survival are pretty low. It showed no signs of response to noise and will be an easy target for cats or foxes of which there are a great many in the neighbourhood. It was heartbreaking. No sign of its parents.

Outside in

 

Dog rather confused

by an urgent sparrow trapped

bumping the window.

 

Both creatures in high alert

each frightened of the other.

 

 

Forgetful

 

Wrote a nice haiku

in my head this morning but…

can I recall it?

not even a single word

this tanka will have to do.

 

by Scooj