The VIP - a daft ditty!
There’s a village deep in the heart of Brittany,

With some lovely buildings, church and Marie,

Where not so long ago they faced a tragedy.

They had two bars and a fine boulangerie,

An etang which really was something to see,

And good folks who formed a fine community.

The horror occurred without any warning,

And suddenly the folks got up in the morning

With low hearts and a deep sense of mourning.

The village had lost its VI and unprepared

They had nobody in mind who actually dared

To fill the post, being both awed and quite scared.

So, the Mayor took up the task he faced,

And adverts were in the papers placed,

Asking for folk to apply in great haste

To fill, as you’ll see, the VIP vacancy.

He waited and waited somewhat helplessly

Praying to God that somebody would see

The advert and apply to the villages VIP.

The good burgers held their breaths patiently

And at last somebody took the vacancy.

There was great rejoicing at the good news,

And certainly the chap had all the right views

To fill the position, driving off their sad blues.

He had all the advantages of the semi-literate

And the folks celebrations were almost immediate

That they’d filled so well the Post of Village Idiot.

The Human Spirit:

There is written within us the capacity

For responses ranging from shallow to deep,

And emotions of huge complexity

Whilst we’re both awake and asleep.

We dream such wild dreams, day and night,

Our hearts soar to touch God’s face,

Living or dead our souls take flight,

Bowing not to time or space.

Music reaches somewhere within,

Which logic says should not exist

And lights the dark places wherein

Lies that which God chose to kiss.

We are more by far than intellect,

And mere sinew, flesh and bone,

And thus we weep when we reflect

On sorrows, though to us unknown.

And he’ll lay down his life for a stranger,

Or she, a child she knows not at all,

Both fully aware of the danger

But driven by their spirit’s call.

This human spirit will wildly dance

To a tune a wandering fiddler plays,

And hurl itself in absurd romance,

Losing and loving through all the days.

It’s a divine spark that make us stand,  

While tears run free across our cheeks,

As we stare at a planet, or a grain of sand,

And the heart and soul within us speaks,

That gives us awe at the world around,

And the touch of beauty that takes our breath,

Making thought redundant and the only sound

A demanding pulse that’s denying death.

Hate and Love wear different clothes,

Both will drive us where madness dwells.

Better that than our spirit grows

Stunted and cold and we sell ourselves

To the rational, sane, safe and the dull,

And beauty in nature, music and art

Passes us by as we crouch in a hole,

Totally crushing both our soul and heart.

Live life, love, rage, rant and shout,

Take the world, shake it by the tail,

Passion is what life’s about,

Free your spirit, let the soul prevail! 

Happy Birthday Ditty For Steve The Man, Mann

A happy birthday to dear Steve,

Who as usual will soon leave

To warmer, sunnier parts,

Breaking all of the hearts

Of his friends and his foes

Because everyone one of us knows

He’ll spend a three month all smiley

Leading the complete life of Riley!

A happy birthday to the Mann,

Who lives as full on as he can.

May all his travels be smooth

And copious cheap beer sooth

All the troubles in his life

(No, not his ‘trouble and strife!)

And beach, sand and sun

Make him the chosen one!

Then to Facebook we’ll turn

And for photos we’ll yearn

Of barbecues in shorts

With drinking games for sports.

And Karen only drinking wine

(Remarkably, from a beer stein!)

And Manno counting sheep

As he drifts into sleep.

So cheers to our dear chum,

Let his plumbing all be done,

And the food and beer flow

Where ever he may go.

I wish him happiness without end

As a quite extraordinary friend,

But if he thinks I’ll raise a glass

He can kiss my bloody … posterior!

Are You, By Any Chance, God?

Once upon a time there was this hole in space, surrounded by stars, planets, asteroids and fine things like that.  People who lived on the planets which went round the stars which in turn went round the hole thought the hole was God. 

The people were very small and the hole was very big so they decided God was mighty. 

In the greater truth of the objective universe the hole was but a very little thing and within it there was nothing.  Yet were the people on the planets which went round the stars which went round the hole wrong?  For isn’t God said to be everywhere?  Wouldn’t that include the empty hole?  Indeed, can a hole be empty?

…………………………………………….

Once upon a time there was a man who lived upon an island on his own.  Never had he seen another two legged beast which walked with its back straight.  He was fit and strong and his brain was faster than the brain of any other creature on the island.  Yet he was an ignorant man, weak and dull.  He thought he knew all things but he knew very little. 

All the animals knew him and feared him, for he was God.  He knew he was God but it excited him very little for he had always been God and thus took his Godliness for granted.

Was the man, on his own on an island more right or more wrong than the people upon the planets which went round the stars which went round the hole?  For isn’t God said to be within each of us?

………………………………………………

Once upon a time there was an anomaly in space, empty of nearly all things, but because it was different all the creatures on all the planets which circled round all the suns which circled round the anomaly feared it was some super weapon and were suspicious that their neighbours on other planets which circled other stars, knew its secret. 

Thus it was that the anomaly become the depository of fear, and the fear grew so large it became a super weapon and destroyed the planets that went round the stars which went round the hole in space where God lived and also destroyed the man who was God upon his island.

Thus the anomaly / hole became filled with debris and gas and dust.

Did God die when the hole died and the man died?

………………………………………………

Listen.  Once upon a time there was a space anomaly / hole filled with dust, debris, gasses and the like and slowly, even as the universe counts time, all these materials came together and became for a nanosecond a great star which exploded with extraordinary violence. 

Over time the residue from the explosion, leaving a hole where the great star had been, formed many stars and planets upon which creatures started to creep and fly, swim and walk.  And as they grew in smartness and curiosity they found the hole and space and by general consensus it was agreed that within the hole was God.

Was this a new God, the old God or just an empty hole?  Perhaps it was all three?

A Birthday Gift

It is not long, not as history goes,

Thirty four years, most half forgotten

Except for the great joys,

The sorrows and fears,

And, who knows why, random bits

That now seem quite meaningless.

I know.  I’ve been there, done that,

Eight boring, exciting years ago.

And so I must find words for you,

Words that mean something significant,

That say something about life.

You must never stop growing,

Never stop changing,

Never stop taking chances,

Never stop making mistakes.

Never find black and white,

They are illusory,

As are most simple choices.

If you are lucky you'll never stop

Being a child, being curious,

Trusting, getting burnt, trusting,

Finding joy that is so fierce

It makes you hurt but

You would rather die

Than be without it.

Life does not begin at

Thirty four or forty,

It begins each day

With the sun and the rain of dawn,

And if you believe that this day

May be wonderful, may be all flowers

And love and touch and comfort

And jobs well done, well, it may be.

And if you don’t think like that,

Then it probably won’t be.

Life is attitude of mind fuelled by enthusiasm.

Not every choice you face is your choice,

But how you face it, that’s your choice,

Your ultimate freedom.  Life is not always

What you make it, but it may be what you

Hope it.  And 34 is so young that there

Is still almost endless time for folly,

Glorious folly, for learning and for hope.

The hope may not be for now,

May not be for tomorrow,

But hope for someday.

You must hope,

For in hope, there lies chance,

In chance there lies hope.

The Rainbow

I touched the gold at the end,

Caressed the softness,

Inhaled the fragrance,

Felt silk upon my lips.

The gold is not mine,

It never was,

It never can be,

But I have touched the gold

At the end of a rainbow,

And my heart bleeds;

Bleeds with sorrow,

Bleeds with joy.

Unanswered Prayer In The Dark

The dark cloud which hangs over me,

Like a vampire feeding on optimism,

Pours the ink of despair over my inner vision

And darkens the lens that filmed my dreams.

The claws of some known but vicious monster

Are tearing at my heart, flailing my love

To a tattered cloth that I hold desperately

Around my bowed shoulders while my free hand

Futilely gropes for this unseen enemy’s throat.

The sorrow in the air is deep and palpable.

It makes it hard to breathe, clogging my lungs

With the acrid taste of death, my death,

The death of hope, of freedom, of respect.

My self-pity scratches like a rat, starved

And ready to eat anything to survive.

It gnaws at the marrow of my soul,

And my light become darkness,

My reason cowers, mewling in the corner

Of the now black cave that was my mind.

What can I do, Hidden God?

What can I do?