Thursday 29 October 2009

Laugh And Be Merry




Laugh And Be Merry

By John Masefield


Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,
Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.
Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span.
Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.


Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time.
God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme,
Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of
His mirth
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.


So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,
Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by,
Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord.


Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin,
Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn,
Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends.

Friday 23 October 2009

Some proper poetry






To give you a rest from my inane scribblings, a proper piece of writing by Lewis Carroll.

Jabberwocky

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"


He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree.
And stood awhile in thought.


And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came wiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!


One, two! One, two!
And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.


"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy! f
rabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy. '


Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.






Angus Dei on all and sundry

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

Angus Dei politico

Wednesday 21 October 2009

The Binge Drinker


Slumped invisible in the gutter
Mingling unknown with the litter
Pants awash with stale urine
Last nights Donna on the chest
Blinking at the slate grey sky
Seeing dogs’ mess eye to eye

Stumbling home to go to bed
Blood oozing from a damaged head
Liver hurting, bowels unleashed
The last of dignity breached
Brain throbbing, face flaccid
Throat sore from stomach acid

Creeping up the stairs to sanctuary
Mouth feeling like a columbary
Fall into the welcoming duvet
No strength to wash, no sense to care
Fall asleep with blood soaked hair
Curled up in the filthy lair

Awake at noon and have a shower
Clean clothes on, and feel empowered
To go again and have some fun
To drink and drink, the nights begun
Fifteen vodkas ten more unknown
This time though the livers blown


To A and E, carried in
Concern about the yellow skin
Diagnosis given with no feeling
Not much hope of proper healing
Life was fine, life was free
But this young girl is twenty three


Mother’s crying, dad’s in shock
Daughter’s face the hue of chalk
Prognosis given, no hope there
All say that it is so unfair
Blame the clubs, blame the pubs
No sympathy from those in scrubs


Self inflicted they all say
Abstinence would keep at bay
The waste of life, it’s clear to see
That this young girl would have a life
With no pain and parent’s grief
Her life would not be so brief


Too late for her, too late for them
No point in trying to condemn
Empty place at the table
No more music no more fun
A life extinguished before begun
The lifestyle of youth today

But having fun will still hold sway


Angus

© Angus Dei

Thursday 15 October 2009

The Whale


The Whale it seems is in decline
There’s not so many in the brine
Although they talk and sing to mates
Their future is in dire straights
Unless hunting of them by us
Ceases or at least abates

The Whale it seems aint doing fine
There’s not so many in the brine
We kill them off for our delight
And put them in an awful plight
We turn them into oil and steaks
And all we do for Whales is take

The Whale it seems will need a shrine
There’s not so many in the brine
We kill them off by our design
And leave their bones to sink down deep
With no responsibility to keep
These wondrous animals alive

The Whale it seems is nearly gone
And soon will come a blood red dawn
When there are no more Whales to see
No Blues, Bowhead or Humpback
No more Beaked. Ginko or Fin
All will perish through our sin

Physeteridae, Kogiidae and Monodontidae
Will in the brine no longer be
No more breaching, no more song
No more pods all in a throng
No more Orcas or Dolphins there
In the brine for all to share

The Whale it seems is in decline
There’s not so many in the brine
Although no harm to us they make
Their future is in dire straights
Unless hunting of them by us
Ceases or at least abates


© Angus Dei

Angus Dei on all and sundry

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

Angus Dei politico

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Beautiful Soup








As the weather is getting colder, I thought that this would be appropriate.

Lewis Carroll



Beautiful Soup


BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!




Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!




Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?




Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!


Yum, Yum!

Monday 5 October 2009

What If


What If

What if it only rained at night
And days were clear and bright
What if time would just stand still
And people ate their fill
What if countries all got on
And used brains instead of brawn

What if earth still had her lungs
And we all spoke in tongues
What if no one lived in fear
And life was still held dear
What if winter never came
And no one lived in shame

What if all cars ran for free
And we could all agree
What if money was unneeded
And pain never went unheeded
What if age was seen as wisdom
And each person had their own kingdom

What if we could live forever
And still remain as clever
What if trains were free to use
And there was no abuse
What if shopping was a pleasure
And life was full of leisure


What if all the Governments cared
And all the wealth was shared
What if computers always worked
And never went berserk
What if greasy food was good for us
Would we eat them with no fuss

What if, what if, you ask
It’s quite an impossible task
To know what if occurred
If what if should excur
To all our lives and all our drives
Would happiness derive



© Angus Dei

Sunday 4 October 2009

The pencil and the snail

The pencil

The pencil is a wondrous thing
It draws lines thick
And draws lines thin
It goes to there and back again
And fills up paper
That was plain


And when it’s blunt
You can re sharpen
At the back or at the front
And scribble on again
With a pencil you can erase
So your scribble’s no disgrace


Some are black and some are blue
Some are in another hue
And all of them are made of wood
Through the years it has withstood
And on one end you can chew
Let’s hope we never say adieu


The pencil is a wondrous thing
It draws lines thick
And draws lines thin
It goes to there and back again
And fills up paper
That was plain



©Angus Dei


The Snail

The snail it has a life that’s fine
Gliding along on a stream of slime
It hides from sight among my plants
And feeds it’s fill as if in a trance


The snail does what it wants you see
It doesn’t care bout you and me
It eats the young shoots not the old
It doesn’t need to be cajoled


It can devour a plant at night
And makes the garden look a sight
It eats from crown down to the root
So I just squash it underfoot



© Angus Dei