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

The Barred, again - Tony Bradley

You just don't want me, I know it.
Recently, I thought I'd cracked it
I was happier, than I could say
until the bloody barman told me
it's tomorrow, they've changed the day.

Tony Bradley

Christmas Wrapping - Tony Gardner

Just a  warning to you, friends 
When wrapping Christmas gifts.
Make sure youare relaxed and calm
And organised a bit.

What e'er you do, don't sip as you
Fold pretty paper over
Grandma's chocs, or Aunties book
Or brother Bill's pullover.

I know it's pretty thirsty work
And that whisky looks inviting
But  best to wait til later
You don't need to get excited.

I never do, don't touch the stuff
Until the wrapping's done
Then with the gifts beneath the tree
I might just have a 'little' one

All done at last, I'll have a dram
Relax and settle down
Now where's that old remote control
It's nowhere to be found

If  you unwrap your present
And are surprised to find
A scruffy old  remote control
Please give it back.......It's Mine! 

Tony Gardner

December 6th, 1989 - Kathy Figueroa

I can still remember
opening my studio door
and the shock of seeing the newspaper
in the hallway, on the floor

And what that unbidden issue
of the Toronto Star said -
fourteen women at Ecole Poly-technique
in Montreal massacred …shot dead

And I remember the fear
That slowly crept up my spine
As I looked at that awful
Early December headline

Was this surprise at my door a warning
some sort of indirect threat
that if you’re female, bright, and ambitious
this is what you might get?

As it turned out, it was left
by a man with a good intention
who wanted to apprise me of the news
not cause me apprehension

I felt compelled to write this
to mark the tragic date
when common human decency
was overruled by hate

When fourteen innocent lives
with so much potential were ended
by ignoble and evil actions
which can never be defended

Kathy Figueroa

Pirates - Trudie Shannon

The pirates have disembarked,
Have left their decks swabbed clean
And their treasure hidden.
Disguised as tourists
They amble lazy around the streets
Given away only by the thud of a wooden leg
Or the clink of a cutlass
Hidden in a shopping bag.

Trudie Shannon