Land of Hope and Glory - Marcel Le Clerc


This...
This is England
land of hope
and glory
3 years on from that semi-final and this time
this time
it'll be a different story

The planets have aligned
It's written in the stars
We gave the world the beautiful game
Now's the time to take back what is rightfully ours.

Kane is gonna score
The three lions are going to roar
We're going to beat the unbeatable
Defeat the undefeatable
Achieve...
The unachievable
Become kings of the game once more...

This….
is England
land of hope -
and glory

COME ON ENGLAND !!

Marcel Le Clerc

Image : Pixabay - dimitrisvetsikas1969

See Marcel read the World Cup version here on Youtube.

Pain:  A Sonnet - Kathy Figueroa



Ah Pain!  Thou intruder!
With footsteps across my skull resounding
Could your presence be any ruder?!
My scalp’s a drum that someone’s pounding!

From whence you came?  Why torment me?
Please depart, I implore!
Why dost thou not leave me be
And upon my visage stop declaring war?

To halt your conquest of my nose and jaw
I gird for battle with vitamin C and zinc
My nerves are now frayed and raw
As I reach for yet another hot drink

Pain, in this fight I strive for your defeat
And hope this intrusion won’t repeat

Kathy Figueroa

Image : Pixabay - geralt

Daffodils - Tony Gardner


I wandered lonely as a cloud
In search of golden Daffodils
I rambled through the freezing cold
Over lonely Dales and Hills:
I rambled where the rivers run
I didn't spot a single one

....................................................

This morning on my couch I lay
And now my heart with pleasure fills
Sun-shiny flowers in the vase
A host of golden daffodils
I found them not on Hill or Down
But at Sainsburys in town


Tony Gardner(with apologies to Mr Wordsworth)

Image : Pixabay - JillWellington

Social ? Media - Ian Renouf-Watkins



She ghosted me man, ‘like’ totally cut me off
He posted me girl, ‘like’ totally in the buff
Influencers tend to their mindless herds
‘Random’ and senseless as utter turds

Swiping a screen has become such a habit
Thumbs get more sex than an average rabbit
Instant answers even when wrong
Like prefab intelligence very soon gone

Vocabulary is ‘so like’ mmm, ‘so not’ good
That congenital idiots appear understood
Messaging via an ‘app’ is apparently talking
And straightforward dialogue totally insulting

Feminism has been replaced in a makeover
Pictured powdered girls pouting moreover 
Trying so hard to look ‘so’ just perfect
Going too far and ‘like’ losing self-respect

Hairless air-brushed bodies presented
Girls and boys ‘so’ mentally stunted
Swipe left for no and ‘like’ right for yes
It’s hardly surprising they’re a total mess

Turn off the phone then ‘like’ leave it alone
Surgically extract it from your hand bones
Look up not down and perhaps be totally cool
And don’t get run over on the way to f’ing school

Ian Renouf-Watkins

Image : Pixabay - Firmbee

Soldier Of Fortune - Lyndon Queripel



He was a soldier of fortune
In the year of our Lord
When he discovered the pen
Was mightier than the sword 

He was a soldier of fortune
In the army of the Word
Where everything that’s said
Has been over heard

He was a soldier of fortune
In the World of the Third
Where training will be given
But experience is preferred.

Lyndon Queripel
Image : Pixabay - RichardsDrawings

Outsiders - Stephen A. Roberts


This used to be a sea of only white and green
Daffodils were rarely ever seen
Now here they are with their yellow heads
Muscling in on our flower beds
Bobbing in our own sea breeze
Luring in and tricking our bees
As a crocus I’m incensed
That they’re soaking up our nutrients
Where are they from, and why are they here
It’s a blooming existential fear
I s'pose there’s room for them too; flowering in between
They add a welcome variety to the local scene
It’s no great disaster - as others have foretold
Just a lovely harmony of green, white and gold

Stephen A. Roberts

Image : Pixabay - MabelAmber/TanteTati

Bread & Dripping - Joan Etoile


When I was young, food was an essential not a luxury 
With Occupation memories we looked forward to our tea 
We'd quietly put away our hula hoops and stop our skipping 
Then head into the parlour for some tasty bread and dripping 

Renoir voyaged to the Isle of Guernsey in 1883 
Painting rounded nudes down beside the sea 
When he’d captured all those fleshy scenes of skinny dipping  
I imagine he’d head off home for some well-earned ... 

The intrigue of Versailles got sexed up on prime-time TV 
Imagining the shenanigans in the court of Louis X one V 
But when they finished with all that bodice-ripping 
I like to think they’d round it off with some ...

In seedy old London Town, murderers added to the degradation 
Though they perpetrated foul deeds, there’s no insinuation 
That Jack the Ripper, or notorious poisoner evil Dr Crippen 
Turned their chopped up victims into human... 

The moptop Beatles wowed the screaming 60s crowds 
With their modern look and guitars playing so loud 
I’m sure that when they weren’t gigging or day tripping 
John would make them all some lovely ... 

The film Where Eagles Dare, set in World War Two 
Features Nazis, traitors and snowy mountains too 
During the cable car scene, every time so gripping  
I find myself reaching for an extra slice of... 

Of hellraising quartet, actors Burton, Reed and Harris 
O’Toole ended up in Corsica - he’d started out in Paris 
To soak up all that booze that they’d been gulping not sipping  
I bet they still had room for a round of ...

So in these times of lockdown take heart from the above 
Use the time for reflection about all the things you love 
People, places, treasured pets and sneaky afternoon kipping 
And most of all a hearty wedge of good old bread and dripping!

Joan Etoile

Image : ©Kim Connor

Just A Note - Kathy Figueroa



Just a note to tell you, once again
How much you mean to me
And express how I appreciate
And enjoy your company

How much I crave your presence
During nights dark and cold
How wonderful it is to be with you
To have and to hold

I hope you always know I love you
Though I don’t whisper it every day
May my actions tell you more
Than my words could ever say

Kathy Figueroa

Image : Pixabay - geralt

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