Absent

Every now and again I try

To complete a sort of roll call,

Of people that have slipped away

And I don’t hear from at all.

Though this can be the normal

Sliding away by friends in life,

As we battle different challenges

That bring us joy or strife.

So if people should disappear

And now no longer are around,

You can only guess at reasons

For rumours may abound.

Though you occasionally get

Some news from recent meetings,

And so can learn from those

Of any messages or greetings.

For we live in a changing world

With people spreading out far more,

From areas they once grew up in

Before heading to another shore.

With multitudes of reasons why

Perhaps some they’d rather not say,

About why they’ve gone to ground

To surface on another day.

But with the internet and social media

Old friends and colleagues are found,

Though some sadly have passed away

And absent as the world goes round.

*

So back and a bit forward there, but maybe this next poem from my 5th book “Life Presented in Verse” can help look backward a bit?

Back Pass

As I contemplate the world

I must also consider then.

How would I be received,

If I passed this way again?

For unlike the famous saying

We only pass this way one time,

That was more on our whole life

Rather than a local climb.

So back to my conjecture

Of how would I be perceived,

If returning to past haunts

Would I still be well received?

Well certainly I have never

Done anything criminal or dire,

That could be held against me

And cause a greeting to expire.

As I have always tried to live

By not wanting to wear a crown,

And always nice to people going up

I might meet coming down.

And with my other true motto

Possibly the best I ever had,

For if you can’t do a good turn,

Then don’t do one that’s bad.

Thus I really like to think

Happily and with some sway,

That I would be quite welcome

Should I return this way.

For people often mention my laugh

And say I have a ready smile,

But just to be on the safe side

I’ll be good for a little while.

*

Looking back over the year, despite all the lockdown gloom and restrictions, I seemed to have done a lot, (For certain age folks I can hear you say as Mandy Rice-Davis once said, with apologies) “Well I would wouldn’t I?” lol 😏.

To quickly revisit, (go back see?), I had poems and articles in The Daily Mirror twice, appeared in video for Hailsham’s 75 anniversary of V E Day, had more “on air” mentions on Magic F M (thanks to the wonderful Lynn Parsons), and poems read out, produced my eighth book in 6 years at the time, (June) that was aimed at November 2020 but I brought forward (Back & Forward lol). Also I went on live several times for Radio Sussex, Surrey & parts of Hampshire (that ordinary poets can’t reach) 😂, with the excellent Sylvie Blackmore & once again with Joe Talbot who chatted to me as I drove hands free up the M3 ,,,, YUP I’m “Often Imitated, but NEVER Duplicated” as I say….

JOKE TIME : (Get ready Dipsticks, Joke Learners & unaware etc lol)

1) I bought my mate an elephant for his room. He said “thanks” but I said “Don’t mention it”…

2) A Pollen Count can be very difficult, especially if you suffer from Hay Fever!

3) A dog that does magic has to be called a Labracadabra surely?

A rescuing poem for back and forward…

Living Well

If you’re thirsty you may go to the well

To quench your thirst with a drink.

And you may do it automatically

Without ever stopping to think,

About how the water got there

Or the need to put something back,

Because the water may soon run dry

If the well is allowed to crack.

For in our world little comes for free

Although plenty will live for this,

By taking out everything they can

And giving help requests a miss.

For they are too busy taking all

It’s possible to get lazy hands upon,

Ensuring when it’s pay back time

They’ll be well and truly gone.

So for us in a concerned majority

Is the need take care of our well

And other gifts passed on to us,

As they are not ours to waste or sell.

When the sacrifice of many others

Gave them up without a cost,

Only a big responsibility of trust

To see they are never lost.

Thus this commitment is now ours

To appreciate and protect this wealth,

Of the things we may take for granted

All the time they’re in good health.

But just a little thought and effort

Will see our gifts all safely supplied,

And to know our drinking well is flowing

Will meet our wish after we’ve died.

*

I think many people will relate to my next poem, “Where?” (which to be sequentially accurate should have been my 3rd posted poem, but Hey back and forwards can get mixed at times, and it IS my Blog, so lol please allow me 💔), thanks! It also tables that “where” have years and things gone, but also what can arrive? What is in a name for example? Whoooooooooo knows a?

Where?

Where have all my years gone

And can I please get them back?

I promise that I won’t waste them

For I never let sad times stack

Up too highly in my world,

In those years of mine now past.

And I nearly always enjoyed myself

I guess why time went so fast.

So where have those years gone

Along with so many great days?

For I can still vividly remember

The songs and music that plays,

Like a magical memory jukebox

Rewinding much love and fun,

As they bring back situations

Where all was said and done.

Oh I can recall so many people

Sadly though some have gone,

Though their days are remembered

When they danced and faces shone,

From disco lights and silhouettes

Or maybe it was too much drink.

But that was in the distant past

Which makes me stop to think,

Just where have my years gone?

For it doesn’t seem that long,

When my features were pristine

Like some newly written song.

Now as I look very fondly back

Over all those years I’ve had,

And people met and places seen

With more happier days than sad,

I feel my lifetime has stretched

Across many a stunning sunset,

But I hope for more to come

As I’m not ready to go just yet!

*

Well I guess I could have fooled you there, because there was no real mistake (Oh yes there was, well it is that time of year), but that poem goes both back and forward too…. like a well-oiled machine my Web Blog, lol DON’T leave me James Harvey, (my now publisher and website guru), but it all shows I’m very real… any doubts? lol

A BIG shout out now and MASSIVE THANKS to all who follow me on here, and I hope you still enjoy, please message me with any POLITE suggestions, comments at the end etc, but I REALLY DO appreciate you being around me, and ha ha be a bit quiet if I just wrote this for me, but people do tell me in various places, (what ? lol) that they enjoy the Blogs and James’s updated website for me…. (James and I are redoing & updating all my books for more appeal and Amazon alignment too. Only 3 books to go now! 

I hope our latest “joiners” on here, Vicci and Sharon B are still enjoying it all? Henry The First I KNOW you are, and Ted n Beth are very proud of you….👿👿

SO looking forward. I just mentioned updating all my books and that is ongoing, I have just begun to work and have ideas for Book NINE, aimed for about end of 2021, have a few ideas to move on if Curse Covid doesn’t lift much and I will continue to promote the charity HELP for HEROES of course, AND on that note, please contact me on here, Facebook, email = lw1800@hotmail.co.uk etc if you want any of my books (from only £5 up to £9.99) each for larger books (6,7, & 8) as all sales donate to that charity (H 4 Heroes).

The photos are quite easy to work out, backwards & Forwards, Daily Mirror, and ending with a forward “Awakening” ….

Last poem then and very much for the future, for we never know what that holds instore as the poem suggests…..

A Dream of Dreams

I dream of images and thoughts

That come like falling snow,

Cascading round my startled mind

So my reasoning will go.

For I don’t know if I’m asleep

Or blindly staggering along,

A path of light shining in the dark

With a backdrop of sweet song.

So please allow my puzzled look

Whilst I try to see the light,

Or is it dark with floodlights on

Trying to make things right?

For many astounding visions

Now awake silently within,

A body shell shocked in wonder

That thinks heartache is a sin.

Thus all my cherished desires

May parade brightly all around,

With rows of celestial beings

Playing music with no sound,

That mocks inner ambitions

Presenting a not guilty plea.

For I’ve done nothing wrong

Whatever they say of me.

For these exotic silent dreams

Can never show how I feel,

Or exceed my released ecstasy

When I discover you are real.

*

I think that closes this Blog nicely then, so with a sincere wish of safety, health and whatever Christmas will be for you, I say again thanks and Cheers! Ted n Beth say “Hi” too, and as ever,

 The Journey Continues DETERMINDLY FORWARD …

Love, Peace, Light & Safety,

Laurie xx