A long day

Waking up

Feeling fresh

Logging in

Hit refresh

Ready to go

Come what may

A big old surprising

Working day.

Emails come

Zoom calls go

When will it end?

No one knows!

Work is crazy

Work’s a mess

Everyone’s feeling

A little bit stressed.

Colleagues are great

They keep you sane

Sometimes you wonder

If you share a brain

They help you out

And give you help

To stop you from making

A little ‘yelp’.

You get through the day

It’s time to log off

Where did the minutes go

On the clock?

They’ve all been ticked off

And you have a bit

But you’ll be back in on Monday

To get back at it.

Keeping track

It can be hard

To keep on track

Things might change

You’re rolling back

But each time you try

To tackle that hill

You get a little further

And further even still.

When you reach the top

You see how far you’ve come

You look on up ahead

There’s another hill to come!

Life is full of hills sometimes

There’s no knowing when they’ll end!

There could always be a downward slope

Just around the bend.

The tracks are there to guide you

Though sometimes you’ll fall off

There’s no need to panic

When you don’t feel strong enough.

Follow the track and plan ahead

What can I do today?

The tracks were laid one at a time

So we need to take them that way.

A nose for pizza

I’ve got a nose for pizza

I know exactly when it’s done

If you put four in

I’ll ring the alarm

As each one of them is done.

All of these lives

Do you ever consider

When you see groups of people

‘What happens in all of these lives?’

Who do they know?

What do they do?

Have they ever planned a surprise?

What do they eat?

How do they sleep?

What are their wildest dreams?

We all aspire

And we all admire

But we don’t wear these things on our sleeves.

People are filled with nuance

Even if that’s not how they appear

The complicated truth of people

Is that nothing is ever clear.

So when you next think about people

Just wonder, ‘where do they go?’

Maybe one day, one of those people

Could become a person you know.

Sheep on the hill

Sheep on the hill

You’re so very still

As I’m far away, I really can’t tell

Maybe you’re singing

Or playing a game

With your lambs, who don’t behave well.

To me you’re a dot

But I know inside

You’re a full rounded protagonist of your life

Do you get stressed?

Is your kitchen a mess?

Do you sometimes wish you had stripes?

Are horses your friends?

Who else lives in your ends?

How many jumpers have you grown?

You’re a brilliant sheep

But to me you’re a dot

Looking up from the train below.

Every day

Every day

For half a year

I’ve put my finger to screen

To scribble a poem

Digitally

To produce a rhyming stream.

Some days the words just trickle

And other days the waves might crash

Whatever the water

There’s always a poem

That I might hope to catch.

I don’t wake up with a poem in mind

But I knead some ideas like dough

You must let them rise

You might be surprised

How far that they might grow.

Patience and persistence is needed

On days it feels a struggle

You might wake up

Feeling upside down

And all your words in a muddle.

The more of those days

You can work through

The easier it gets to overcome

You might even find

In the trickier times

That you actually have more fun.

Creating is not a habit

Neither is it a chore

When you learn to make it your own

That’s when you want to make more.

Creating is something we all do

From doodling to conversation

Planning your day

Is building a frame

On which to put your creation.

So think about what you want more of

And so the things you’d like to see

When you might want to stop

Please, please do not

Because that’s when you’ll learn to be free.

Reunion

After nearly two years

We’re all reunited

From Tennessee to Macclesfield

First a wedding

Now a baby

A reunion with great appeal

Celebrating with friends

And catching up

What has everyone done?

Two years have passed

In the blink of an eye

But right now we’re all having fun.

Whisky is poured

Water is spilt

Beers are guzzled down

A boy on the way

The sunniest day

A great time in Macclesfield town.

Sun

Sun is good

Sun is fun

Sun is absolutely second to none.

Corn hole

Barbecue

Cooler of beer

Could it be true?

That summer is here

Packaged Sandwiches

Have you ever considered,

Who made this sandwich?

And how did they get inside?

They must be quite small

To get in there at all

Let alone to assemble and slice.

Maybe it’s a conveyor belt

Each person plays a part

The sandwich assembling team

I’ll do the cheese

You do tomato

The smoothest sandwich making you’ve seen.

I got one from Pret

A small baguette

I imagine a team of French chefs

Spreading the pickle

Slicing the cheese

To whom do I owe my mercis?

The breakfast triple

That must be hectic

Ingredients fly out the pan

Building each part

Then cutting in half

Ketchup all over the plan.

Who’s in charge

Of cutting those angles

So both halves will fit in the packet

Imagine if one

Had the angles all wrong

Consumers would kick up a racket.

The sandwich is humble

A handling snack

Easy to grasp and indulge

The method mysterious

Flavours of genius

And secrets they don’t divulge.

Friday come early

It’s Friday come early

It’s time for a beer

Four days off this week

There’s no more work

Or lists to do

Friday’s come early, eek!

We’re going away

For about four days

To return, on Tuesday the next

Until then, that’s me

Liberated and free

I’ll see you next week, I expect.