Tiger by the Tail

When you have a tiger by the tail,
You care the most about which way it's going;
Cling on, and hope you do not fail
To make the best of how events are flowing.

Your enemies demand that you condemn
The tiger and its every deed and act.
If wise, you'll pay no heed to them,
Focus on trying to keep yourself intact.

Darkness Lessens

Slowly winter's darkness lessens,
Solstice gloom abates;
As it does our spirit freshens,
Attains enlivened states.

Pale snowdrop blossom
Refreshes hopes,
In a landscape softened
By replenished light.

As nature quickens,
Grows lushly verdant,
Keenly our mind anticipates
A Springtime bloom that scintillates.

A Fine Watch

I was in a Kurdish cafe the other night, and accidentally dropped my pocket watch on the floor. The proprietor picked it up for me, and commented that he had one just like it, except his had a chain.
      I explained that the chain that came with mine was no good, so I had removed it.
      His was plated in fine silver, and dated from 1923.
      I confessed that mine was a cheap Chinese fake, from eBay.
      He told me he had got his from a market stall, the person who sold it only charged £2.50!
      My fake cost £5 :-(
      At least I don't have to wind it up.

Grand Dreams

'Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.'
It's a kind of wild insanity
To think that we should know it all,
Even though we are so small.

We're cousin to the hairy ape,
Yet robe ourselves in wizard's cape.
Our dreams are grandiose in scope,
Though for insight we must grope
In the dimness of our simian minds.

We still harbour aspirations,
Despite our innate limitations, 
That we can comprehend all things.
Cold truth delivers painful stings. 

The first line is, of course, a quote from one of Shakespeare's famous Hamlet soliloquies.

Comedy Festival

Can the Comedy Festival
Destroy your sense of humour?
Hour after hour of trying to laugh
Can be a bit of a bummer.

True humour comes from daily life
And has a spontaneous ring.
But monetising it is rife,
They'll suck the blood from anything.

Swans in the Night

On Mile Straight the swans are sleeping;
Only one a watch is keeping.
The others float on current free
Heads laid upon their backs.
Lost in dream,
They let the stream
Take them where it will.


Mile Straight is part of the Grand Union Canal running near the centre of Leicester.

Bacon or Sausages?

Forty-two mil for a painting
Done by Francis Bacon.
Supposed to be his boyfriend,
It looks like mangled sausages;
Which sends disturbing messages
About humanity's values.

Acceptance and Rejection

If I cried when anyone died,
When would I stop sobbing?
Six billion folk on Earth in all,
Not one of us immortal.

Tabloid papers they all say
A killer storm is on its way!
It may blow one or two away;
I won't let it spoil my day.

Headlines howl of disaster ahead,
As though we soon should all be dead.
I greet it with phlegmatic shrug.
The media's like an addict's drug,
A conveyor belt of misery.
They won't get to me today.

Crucifixion

Why crucify a tree?
Seems quite odd to me.
Yet in the world of horticulture,
This concept's very popular.

Indiscreet Display

Sitting in the launderette,
Waiting while my clothing dries.
Young girl bends to load a washer,
Her bum crack's right before my eyes!
I'm pretending not to look.

These low-cut trousers that she's got
Really do not hide a lot.
The effect holds no allure.
The friend she's with is more attractive;
No surprise her style's demure.

Jade Rabbit

Jade Rabbit wanders round the moon:
Will Chinese folk arrive there soon?
They have their eye on Luna's craters,
Are sending complex apparatus.

Is it all for national glory?
A dull old patriotic story?
Or do they have real aspiration
Toward a meaningful exploration?

Jade Rabbit is a lunar rover operated by the People's Republic of China. 

World War One (Revised Edition)

Easy to rewrite history,
Now that they all are dead.
Dan Snow's the lead revisionist,
He'll rearrange our heads.

Forget contemporary accounts,
Replace with an all-new version,
That makes the generals into heroes
And dispels the harsh aspersions.

Dan Snow has tried to 'debunk' the 'myth' that our troops in WW1

were 'lions led by donkeys'. He uses the straw man technique, and

answers a charge other than the one that was made, i.e. he defends their

courage when it was their competence that has been impugned. He 

also asserts they had been 'trained to fight small colonial wars'.

Everyone had known for years that war in Europe was likely, as is

obvious from contemporary documents e.g. 'The Riddle of the Sands'.

The basic method of trench warfare had been invented during the 

American Civil War, as had iron-clad battleships and submarines.

There was no excuse for a lack of readiness.

The General - by Siegfried Sassoon 

Snow's revisionism 

Winter in High Latitudes

The sun first rises, then it sets.
I'm not ready for it to set just yet.
But it does it anyway.

No-one Expects the Modern Imposition

People try to impose themselves
Even on our inner being.
It's not enough we let them rant,
They insist on us agreeing,
As though we must join in their chant.
Their effrontery's breathtaking.

They insist they're always right,
Want to make a new orthodoxy.
They try to achieve oversight,
Force through their notions so poxy.
Freedom was a passing phase;
We haven't got the moxie
To stand up for our rights.