Goodwill

candles celebration cutlery dining
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Goodwill

The days are so short, late of the year –
Won’t you come on in ?
When the sun is down, and the frost is near,
And the gales begin.
But there’s always a shelter under our gable,
There’s always an extra chair at the table
For any stray stranger who’s hungry, and able
To pay us with only a grin.

The weather gets cold, this time of year –
We’re chilled to the skin.
It gets so hard to volunteer
And rattle the tin.
But there’s always a welcome here in our home
To help turn the grey to polychrome,
For unlucky souls who unwillingly roam,
While the wheels of fortune spin.

The season gets busy, every year,
And we just can’t win,
With the thanks so small, and the price so dear,
And our patience thin.
But there’s always a place at the table that’s set
For the unbidden guest coming-in from the wet,
In time to remind what we often forget:
That there’s always room at the inn.

Regifting

person s holds brown gift box
Photo by Kim Stiver on Pexels.com

Regifting

Sometimes, presents are boring,
And nothing more than a pair of socks,
And they never thought to keep the receipt –
So we leave them mint in the box.
And next year, when we’re short of a gift,
We cheat –

We pass the parcel,
Round and round,
Re-wrapped and tagged,
And tagged and wrapped,
Until a welcome home is found,
Or else it’s broken, lost, or scrapped.

Sometimes, presents are boring,
And nothing more than love and peace,
And sparing a thought to live-and-let-live.
So we leave them, tossed-aside and creased.
But next year, when they’re short of them both,
We give.

We pass the wishes,
Round and round,
Beyond the walls,
Across the rift,
Until the needed hope is found,
Within an unexpected gift.

Foxing Day

snarl

Foxing Day

On the Second Day of Christmas
We rode out with the pack,
And we galloped through the woods
As we waited the attack.
On the Second Day of Christmas
We cast the braying hounds
As they scurried for the scent
And they ran the fox to ground.

So blow the horns and raise the cries,
Let slip the hounds and shred the prize,
And show to all your blameful eyes
This menace needs controlling.

On the Second Day of Christmas
We wished for peace on Earth
As we hollered for the fox
As we wrenched it from its berth.
On the Second Day of Christmas
As we cantered through the mud,
And wished to all goodwill
As we slathered for the blood.

So blow the horns and raise the cries,
Let slip the hounds and shred the prize,
And show to all your blameful eyes
This menace needs controlling.

Villain Elle

shallow focus photography of person s face side view
Photo by Marta Branco on Pexels.com

Villain Elle

Bad girl Ellie – dangerous to friend,
Hanging around with her trouble-brewing sort,
They always knew how she’d turn out in the end.

Not an easy woman to defend –
Probably at what she really shouldn’t ought.
Bad girl Ellie – dangerous to friend.

Build your hopes up – and watch them all descend.
Hanging around her will only get you caught.
They always knew how she’d turn out in the end.

Seeking action ?  How much can you spend ?
Probably life for the trouble you just bought.
Bad girl Ellie – dangerous to friend.

Sex and menace – hazardous to blend:
Hanging around, and you quaff her by the quart.
They always knew how she’d turn out in the end.

So they tell me – none would recommend.
Probably wise, but I’ll take my chance to sport
With bad girl Ellie – dangerous to friend –
I can’t wait to see how she turns out in the end.

Overwhelmed by Subtlety

teabag
Cup & Saucer made from Earl Grey Tea Bags by D Postlethwaite

Overwhelmed by Subtlety

You undergo life just a little too much,
You taste ev’ry nuance and stray molecule
In vision and sound and in palate and touch,
You never can blend them to seamless and whole.
But the good and the bad must equally live
Inextricably encurled –
You are, I fear, too sensitive,
To suffer this imperfect world.

This verse was inspired by a friend who insists she can’t use teabags because she can taste the paper.

Taking Care of Business

Taking Care of Business

Machines have always given lip.
We used to use the rule of thump
To make ’em jump-start with a jump,
Until their clutches got a grip.
So have things changed ? Not on your nelly !
When they claim ‘does not compute’
We kick ’em with a hard reboot –
It’s just a diff’rent sort of welly.

The Case for Privacy

abus brand close up closed
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The Case for Privacy

The things you don’t know about me
Would surprise you,
I know –
Or at least, I would hope so.
If I thought that you knew,
If you’d even a clue,
Of the things about me
That I daren’t let you view –
Or if upon learning
You showed no surprise –
Then you’re far too discerning,
And worldly wise.
I know how I’d feel
If I thought it could be
That you find the appeal
In the same crap as me –
If I thought it were true,
Then I think we’d be through –
So I swear, never share,
What you secretly do.
We can laugh and engross,
And pretend we are close,
And gossip on who’s seeing who –
But keep a firm grip
So you never let slip
All the things I don’t know about you.
And maybe then, maybe,
You won’t get to see
All the things you don’t know about me.

Basecamp

phone

Basecamp

Wherever you have got, and how you got there,
Is less than I could care – you come, you go –
And sometimes you will telephone from out-there.
You’re somewhere else, and that is all I know.
And so I’m left back here, back in your old life,
To vaguely wonder where on earth you haul –
And if you can remember what’s my number,
Then maybe I shall someday get your call.

Holy Trinity, Batman !

trinity
detail from Trifacial Trinity by Anon.

Holy Trinity, Batman !

The Son is the Father,
And the Father is the Son,
And the Ghost is the both of them,
And yet is also none.
They all three knew the Virgin,
Since they all are but a-one:
So the Son is dad to Father,
And the Father son to Son.
They always are and always were
Since time was first begun,
So the Kid’s as old as time itself,
Yet Dad’s the oldest one.
So Son is full of peace and love,
But Father’s down on fun,
And who knows what the Ghost’s about,
When all is said and done ?