The Ghost Ship - Tony Bradley

A reality check, I’m ailing
all my devices are failing
this wall’s too high, I’m scaling
my verve, my zest, are trailing
this wall’s much too high, I’m scaling

My boat’s taking in water, I’m baling
the sails are ripped, they’re flailing
my colours to the mast, I was nailing
but, like my skin, they’re paling.

Tony Bradley

China’s Virus - Kathy Figueroa

China’s birthed another virus
A lot of people will be killed
Now it’s reached North America
Only drug companies are thrilled

It’ll thin the population
Decimate it in short order
Too bad we don’t have quarantines
Or a way to close the border

So many people are now sick
The frail and elderly will die
The government should act …and quick!
Why it hasn’t, we wonder why

Oh China, fount of strange disease
This export is one we don’t crave
Use caution not to spread it, please
Don’t send foreign folks to their grave

Kathy Figueroa

HRH (retired) - Donald Keyman

Cry for Prince Harry I’ll not shed a tear
His protection will cost us dear
But the only crown he’ll ever wear
Is his ring of monk-like hair

I find it hard to sympathise
With someone who gets free chopper rides
To his bolt-hole on the coast
Where lovely Meg will butter his toast

He’s done good work it cannot be denied
It seems he won’t toss that aside
But he’s bored of flunkies and Royal sages
And prying tabloids with their lurid pages

One day maybe we'll see him back
With Archie readied for the flak
And in these times where everyone wins
Wills and Harry will be joint kings

Donald Keyman

Cellar Club - Stephen A. Roberts

There are offices there now;
windows shining brightly out into the dark.
Maybe the power we felt back then
is still burning underneath those corporate car parks,
leaking upwards at 120BPM
into photocopiers and desktops,
faxes and laptops;
making them all secretly hum
those 80s tunes
deep into the night.

Stephen A. Roberts

How to make yourself happy - Tony Gardner

Try to tickle a tortoise
Just a tiny tickle each day
He'll titter and smile and be thankful
And take all your troubles away.
For in making other folk happy
You'll brighten your own Life each day
So try to tickle a tortoise
You'll always be happy and gay.

Tony Gardner

A Cup of Tea - Kathy Figueroa

There are times when weighty matters
Must give way to much lighter stuff
Instead of news of gloom and doom
You want to hear some happy “fluff”

It’s a self-preservation thing
Designed to keep you hale and sane
As the world burns and stomach turns
And U.S. war drums beat …again

So make yourself a cup of tea
Maybe get out your sewing kit
Sit next to the kitchen window
Breathe deeply and relax a bit

How stately stand the trees outside
How pretty are the lights of town
How grand the sky that opens wide
How pure the snowflakes drifting down

Kathy Figueroa

The Best Things In Life Are Free - Lyndon Queripel

You don’t need me to tell you
Surely I don’t have to explain
Why they call the rich eccentric
And they call the poor insane.

Lyndon Queripel

2020 - Ian Duquemin

Something good is sure to happen
Wars and famine all to cease
Tears to stop, and hatred ending
Bring about a world of peace
Love your neighbour, give a smile
Show the prayers you have are plenty
Make a change, and let it flow
And flood the world in 2020

Ian Duquemin

Le Dejeuner sur L’Herbe - Richard Fleming

A July day in southern France.
The picnic was a simple one:
cheese, ham and crusty fresh-baked bread,
a little wine to wash it down.

Post-lunch, we fell into a trance.
Our holiday had just begun.
We dozed, our paperbacks unread
I sought the sun, you slept facedown.

Waking, I chanced an upward glance.
Above us swallows wheeled and spun
as though they were unwinding thread
from an incredible blue gown.

Richard Fleming