Category Archives: creative writing

When A Young Man Named Coker

When a young man named Coker
Said, “your poetry ’tis mediocre”,
I gazed into the fire
And replied, “do you admire
“This poker, my late friend coker?”

Muddy Revisited

“Muddy” first appeared here in 2016. Looking at the state of British politics, and the world in general, I feel impelled to share this poem again.

Thoughts muddy
I will forsake
And take
Refuge in my study,
Among poets who speak
Words that endure beyond a week.

I shall sit listening to birdsong.
The long
Summer days willimperceptibly turn
Into Autumn. I shall the world spurn
And yearn
For Keat’s Nightingale.

A Young Lady Who Comes From Kent

A young lady who comes from Kent
Has all her money spent
On expensive gifts for me,
Which is strange, you see,
I’m married to a girl from Ghent!

Change

Changing faces.
So many graces
But, always, the same change.

Exchange of faces.
So many graces,
But, always, the same change.

Passing faces.
So many graces,
But, always, the same change.

Rearrange of faces.
Long lost graces,
But, the same, inevitable, change.

When A Young Man Whose Name is Bert

When a young man whose name is Bert
Said, “I demand that you iron my shirt”,
A young maiden called Nelly
Covered him in much Jelly,
But she’s always been known as a flirt!

When a young man whose name is Bert
Said, “I demand that you iron my shirt”,
A young maiden called Nelly
Covered him in much jelly,
And bert, he bought a brand new shirt!

When A Young Man Whose Name is Hurd

When a young man whose name is Hurd
Said, “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the word”,
A girl called Nelly
Replied, “so said Shelley,
But the last word, you’ve got that wrong Hurd!”.

(the correct quotation is, of course “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”).

Losing Track

Losing track
Of heels.
In a line,
Women and wine.
No turning back,
Losing track
Of heels.

(The reference to “women and wine” was inspired by https://poetry.elcore.net/CatholicPoets/Dowson/Dowson51.html, although in Dowson’s poem it is “woman and wine”, not “women and wine” which is referred to).