It's just a Flat Cap - Kriss Lee

It's just a flat cap
Seen on stages worldwide
worn with aplomb and pride
Rakishly clamped down
Atop a head of aging curls

It's just a flat cap
Worn by my Grandad
Saw action through two wars
Still on his head at the end
Went with him to the grave

It's just a flat cap
Worn by the conductor
On the southbound train
Sweat stains in the band
Smuts stuck to the peak

It's just a flat cap
Worn for such comic effect
Peak aimed skywards
Cockeyed angle on his head
Mr Grimsdale, yelled out loud

It's just a flat cap
But more than that
It's a symbol of hard graft
A metaphor for common man
A hat worn on all occasions

It's just a flat cap
I said as I left it on my head
But we're having Sex she said!
I reached for her and drew her close
OK she sighed, "You can leave your Cap on"

It's just a flat cap
Worn all day to keep me warm
But no matter where I go
At the end of the working day
Home is where I lay my Cap

It's just a flat cap
But famously on a workshy head
Provided much needed comedy
Lightening the days toils and woe
Trying all the time to hoodwink Flo

It's just a flat cap
With a peak and not a point
Nicely rounded to fit upon Oblio's head
But perfectly weighted too for flight
Allowing Oblio to win at Triangle Toss

It's just a flat cap
Hiding multi coloured hair
As I get older it might be more fair
If used it for another purpose too
In front of my ugly mug might be an idea

It's just a flat cap
It's something else too
If you're guilty of something bad
You insulted me, or maligned me
This is for you, try it on, if the Cap fits, wear it

Kriss Lee

No Strings - Diane Scantlebury

Without strings
Bows will fire no arrows,
Without strings
A guitar makes no sound,
Without thoughts
A mind can’t trip over,
If wisdom’s pearls
Cascade to the ground,
Without strings
A puppet has no animation,
Without life
A body is just a pile of limbs,
Where there’s no loving spark
To pull on the heart’s strings,
Or inflate the lungs of the soul within.

Diane Scantlebury

Negative Earth - Lyndon Queripel

There’s no easy way out of here
There’s no secret track
I tried sometime last year
And I was lucky to get back

There’s a northbound path uphill
It’s so crooked and narrow
You can climb along it until
You’re scared of your own shadow

You can cross the border down south
But the bitter wind and the rain
Will leave a sour taste in your mouth
And then blow you back again

It’s a wicked trail to the east
Just days of dust and thirst
The long nights are cold at least
But I don’t know which is the worst

It seems your dreams are way out west
But it’s so full of dirty tricks
You’ll be left alone and depressed
Just looking for another fix

So as you travel near and far
Your ideals will start to curdle
Look behind from where you are
And you’ll find it’s all a circle.

Lyndon Queripel

The Only Way Is Up - Lester Queripel

The only way is up
Unless you would rather go down
Do you prefer to wear a smile?
Or do you prefer to wear a frown?

Will you be optimistic or will you be pessimistic?
Will you be idealistic or will you be realistic?
Is a paradise lost a paradise found?
Can the value of a person be measured by the pound?
To ‘go up’, you need to leave the ground
Light the blue touch paper and retire
Light the fire
Head for the sky
Head for the stars
Head for Mars

The only way is up
Unless you prefer to go down
Do you prefer to wear a smile?
Or do you prefer to wear a frown?

Lester Queripel

After Reading About Diogenes Of Sinope - Adam Clayton

When you're in the sun
All things eternal
Come to your fingertips
As light dances on the air
You understand something
Fractured and fragmentary
It lies out refracted
Bearing cryptic truth

You carry these wonders
As you wander
You carry a heat
That cooks up a thunder
You could collapse
Your world forever unknown
As sunlight warms your toes
As shadows and fixations
Put on dancing shows
You cannot bring the day to close

Adam Clayton