Neptune’s Daughters

As a kid, I used to believe in the Seven Seas –
But which on Earth were they ?
Clearly the Channel, the North and the Irish,
But which were the other four ?, I’d say.
But then I learned there were dozens of others,
From the Med to Aegean to Adriatic –
Time for a rethink, I thought, to the map –
Clearly the rolling waves weren’t static !

Some people say they were numbered by the Arabs
From the Gulf to the South China Sea,
Others that they represent the oceans
In one big continuity.
But some say currents can separate them,
So some shall flood while others seep.
And others again say the seas are layers
From the sunlit shallows to Challenger Deep.

As a kid, I used to believe in old salts’ notion,
Until I did no more –
And then I believed in the Panthalassic Ocean,
Lapping ev’ry shore.
And then I believed in gradients and upward swells
For the flows to surmount –
Yet the tides never asked their name as they rose and fell,
And the seas can’t count.

The Also-Rans of the Human Race

The run of the mill are the ones that work,
That pass the quality control.
The boilerplate will keep us warm,
The squares are the pegs that fit square holes.
Vanilla is liked by the most of us,
In the melting pot in which we merge.
And the middle of the highway
Is much flatter than the verge.

We can’t all be an edge case,
That’s why safe and steady sells –
We’re statistic’ly predictable,
Our curves are always bells.
We can’t all be left-handed,
Double-jointed, hazeled-eyes.
Our clothing fits much better
When it’s cut to av’rage size.

Oh sure, we may have corners,
Here and there, which stray from the norm,
But the hard-to-hear truth of it
Is how we’re true to form.
We try to be original,
As a genius or freak –
But just like us, our doubles
Are convinced that they’re unique.

We all so long to be special,
And so we are, in a typical way –
They’ll never refer to us as The Great,
But maybe as the doing-okay.
This world belongs to the mediums,
To the masses, not the kings –
For how could we ever find stuff we liked
If we all like diff’rent things ?

Demergence

How long should we leave the Lego built
Before we break it down ?
How long will the sandcastle stand
Before its turrets drown ?
How long should we sit back and admire
The finished jigsaw puzzle,
Till it’s taking up the table space
Where other things could bustle ?
Time then to embrace the entropy,
Disrupt the orthodox,
And smash the status quo with relish
Back into its box.

Fads & Fangles

It started with vinyl,
Then moved to cassettes –
Now cameras use film,
And our watches use springs.
For all we progress,
So we harbour regrets –
The world has gone wireless,
But we long for strings.

We’re too young to ever
Remember those days,
But we switch-out the hoover
For artisan brooms.
I wonder what’s next ?
A typewriter craze ?
A love for old diesels,
Because of their fumes ?

We’re questioning science
Like never before –
We’re leery of vaccines,
We’re losing our spark.
I hope it’s a fetish,
And not something more –
We’ve no use for luddites,
Or Ages of Dark.

It started with vinyl,
Then moved to 5G –
It used to be fun,
Till the humour was gone.
But if it’s just fashion,
Then let’s let it be –
Be retro today,
And tomorrow move on.