Poetry - October 2021

Nightmare at the Norbreck

There's a fetid smell as you enter the main door
You can feel the years of neglect as you do
It just seems to be not much care taken here
With the underlying smell of sewerage and poo
You're only here for a gaming conference on
And really don't want to stay the night
The reviews on certain websites say it all
About how staying over here gives you a fright
Nothing appears to be clean or maintained
There's a sense of it being too big a place
No attention to detail or pride paid at all
And it just feels like a total disgrace
You'll be glad to be out of there later
As you get the fresher air out towards the beach
And judging by the one star reviews all over
The Norbreck Castle is a place you must not reach.

(Is it too big? Is it just too much of a task to maintain? Or is it just that Britannia Hotels do this with all their establishment (see also Sachas in Manchester) and it's a fetid foul place to stay. Read the reviews and find our the horrors for yourself.)

Draughtsman's Doncaster Drinking

A welcome sight greets me
As I approach Platform 3B
It's the Draughtsman in Doncaster station
And a place I can drink happily
The staff are all really friendly
They know how to look after their beer
A cracking cask selection on offer
And the prices are fair and never dear
You can sit inside and feel all snug
Away from the queues for the train
Especially on a Winter's evening night
And getting out of the rain
With a porter in my hand to drink
The warm glow I have inside is perfect
It's the sort of place I'd love to go
More often to pause and reflect
In between getting the trains I take
It's a wonderful little place
There's more joy in here than on trains
And that is something I appreciate.

(Since I've regularly been changing at Doncaster, The Draughtsman pub is a welcome sight to have a drink at in between trains - and a cracking little place it is too.)

Isomnia Interruption

I just can't get no sleep tonight
My mind is wandering everywhere
I can't seem to settle myself
And feel like I'm in a nightmare
My room is all snuggly and warm
As I'm all tucked up and cosy
But yet there's my restless soul
And the sleep I crave deprives me
It just feels like too much in my head
That seems to not be quite right
There's a sound in the dark
As the still air turns to the night
It's a case of turning around
Making things as dark as I like
Yet nothing seems to settle me
It just feels so helplessly and alike
I want to just shut the eyes
And drift off into the nowhere
The more I think about it
And the more I just end up in a stare.

(We've all had these sorts of moments, and I think me more so at present for some reason.)

Simple Lovesong

You can ask why you love me
And I wish I could answer that
You can say that you need me
And I will take note of that
You can say how much you want me
And I'll listen very carefully
But deep down in my heart
I know that you make me happy
You show your love in diferent ways
From a simple smooch to intercourse
But I think all the simplicities
Are the best ways I know to love
A hug in your arms is heaven to me
It gives me such a happy buzz
And when you kiss me passionately
I want love never to be given up.

(Sometimes less is more - and I thought about putting music to this too.)

Ball Cat Haiku

Brian likes to play
He wants to bounce the ball high
And hit with his paw!

(Brian the cat adores playing ball with me - I bounce it to him, he bounces it back with his paw. He's super clever at it too!)