The Wrong Place? - Lester Queripel

Everywhere I went I felt as though I was in the wrong place.
So I jumped aboard a spaceship and headed for outer space.
My destination was the Moon.
I thought there'd be plenty of room.
But when I got there I wasn't alone.
So I jumped back in the spaceship and went back home.

Lester Queripel

Days We Knew Before The War - Lyndon Queripel

I am a generaI and I lead the fight
My blood will tremble at the sight
Above the ranks I'll get the thanks
Blazing tanks through flanks of the night

I am a hero and I’m strong and brave
See the free country I fought to save
Pin medals on my chest and put the best
Flowers fresh and blessed on my grave

I am a coward and I had to run away
My feet on retreat for I could not stay
I’m still alive and so I try to survive
For I might yet fight on another day

I am a bullet and I found my mark
I ricocheted along with a spark
A soldier falls behind the walls
Telescopic sights, infra red dark

I am a child and I’m waiting for
My father’s face at our back door
Until his return how I still yearn
For those days we knew before the war.

Lyndon Queripel

Fancy Food - Joan Etoile

Does every cook want to be a celebrity?
Me, I just want a bit of tea
With no posturing or tasting menu
A plain steak please, leave out the wagyu

Why do these people crave shallow fame
Their TV faces lit by the blow torch flame?
A modus operandi that makes no sense
When using the simplest ingredients

It takes no time to make a Guernsey treat
Some crispy vraic or rabbit's feet
Do I need to be told by chef Ram-say
That my bean jar is a cassoulet?

Joan Etoile

The Phantom Bikes of Grandes Rocques - Tony Bradley

It's just after dawn, I'm on the beach again
and something so really strange occurred
I saw it, or did I fantasize . . . ?
(I'm quite capable, . . . I'm a bit of a nerd .)

Two bikes raced along the road, beyond the dunes
but my still sleepy eyes and brain detected
in an eery moment, that made me shiver
there were actually no humans connected.

I paused, half-asleep, to consider the event
I probably appeared cool, quite laconic
I reasoned, that if there had been riders aboard
they were obviously invisible, and at that speed, bionic .

I was suddenly startled again, whilst still assimilating the facts
another bunch, three this time, in the opposite direction
I know it wasn't the Valkyrie, or headless horsemen
but I don't view that beach now, with the same affection.

Tony Bradley

Frog Army - Diane Scantlebury

From the pool
And strangely squelching,
A dark horde emerge
In clinging black suits,
Bare feet slip slapping
On wet tiled concrete,
As they tip water from
Their sodden rubber boots,

Now stripped to the waist
They peel off dripping trappings,
To dry out in the heat of the sun,
Reborn from the chrysalis
Of their soaking wrappings,
A bronze-bodied army,
Laughing, drenched and having fun.

Diane Scantlebury