Category Archives: books

When I Bought a Fine Old Castle

When I bought a fine old castle

The resident vampire caused me great hassle.

Both her and a ghost

Would eat all my toast!

So I decided to leave for Newcastle!

I Have Awoken, After Wine

I have awoken, after wine,,

With a girl who’s heart

Was not mine,

And romanticising her in rhyme,

Have created art

Through a lie.

But love and lust

Both end in dust.

And there I

Must one day lie.

Memories Are Strange Things

Sometimes a poem stays with me, not because it is, necessarily, one of my favourites, but due to the memories associated with it. One such poem is Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson:

 

“Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

 

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

 

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

 

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.”

 

I remember going to meet a friend in a local pub. It was a beautiful summer evening and I was looking forward to seeing my friend and enjoying good conversation over a few cooling pints.

 

When I got to the pub we did indeed enjoy a few pints whilst sitting in the pub garden, close to the fish pond.

 

My friend is, I’m pleased to say still very much alive and kicking. So why does that poem resonate with me so powerfully? Perhaps because it poignantly evokes the fragility of life and how death comes to us all (including those who we least expect it to visit as a consequence of their own actions.)

 

Having written the above, I am not entirely convinced by my own answer. Yet, whenever I think of Richard Corry, I remember walking to the pub to meet my friend and discussing the poem with him (albeit briefly) over a few convivial pints on a beautiful summer evening.

 

Memories are indeed strange things.

 

Naughty Lou

When a naughty young lady named Lou

Said, “Kevin, I really do miss you!”,

I said to her, “honey,

You miss all my money!”,

She said, “yes, that is perfectly true!”.

A Poet Entranced

A poet entranced

By branches that dance

In summertime.

 

Lost in rhyme

he walks the same

Woodland path

After sweet rain.

 

 

Nature laughs

As branches pour

Forth their store

Of sweet summer rain

When the Telescreens Went on the Blink

When the telescreens went on the blink,

A few took a lover

But, most, being fearful of Big Brother

Did not think

To riot. The Proles stayed quiet,

(Though members of the Thought Police

Where found drowned

In the poorer quarters of town).

Then, when the telescreens all got restored,

Things went on just as before.

Passing Time

My clock chimes

On a spring day.

Women and wine

Are mine,

But my springtime

Has passed

And the fast

Tick tock

Of antique clocks

Appeals not

To girls in heels

Who do not

Feel their clock

Soon must stop.

In My Lonely Hours

In my lonely hours

I have known

The pull of flowers.

I have grown

Weary of being alone

And bought wine

And flowers

To while

Away the time

With painted smiles

And blossom,

Fallen as I.

2 Poems from my Recently Published Collection, “My Friend’s Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses”

Below are 2 poems from my recently released humorous collection, “My Friend’s Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses”, followed by links to the book on Amazon.

 

 

I awoke to a very loud knocking,

In bed with the beautiful Miss Hocking.

She said, “I can not pretend

That I don’t have a boyfriend!”

I said, “Is that him knocking, Hocking?”

 

 

When a young lady named Kate

Said, “Kevin, you really do procrastinate!”

I said, “I beg your pardon!

But I am doing this garden!

But perhaps the garden can wait…”

 

Links:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for the UK).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for amazon.com customers).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5KVPS78? (paperback for UK customers).

https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Robot-Girlfriend-Humorous-Verses-ebook/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (paperback for amazon.com customers).

 

 

 

My Friend’s Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses is Now Available from Amazon

I am pleased to announce that my humorous collection of poetry, “My Friend’s Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses”, is now available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon.

Book Description:

A humorous collection of verses ranging from the slightly risqué to the quite frankly ridiculous.

Links:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for the UK).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for amazon.com customers).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5KVPS78? (paperback for UK customers).

https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Robot-Girlfriend-Humorous-Verses-ebook/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (paperback for amazon.com customers).