Love it. Good to see you're returning to the fold BE.

Two of my family dive, can't say I want to try it. I'll settle for films of others doing it - and your poem.

Interesting list of favourite poems. I notice you haven't included Kipling's "If".

That's true. When I read your first post, I answered assuming you were at school, but then I looked at your profile to check, and found that that was quite a while ago, so went back and changed it.

It's not everyone's 'thing', but a lot depends on when and how it was introduced. To be honest I don't remember being over keen myself, but now I can see that a great deal can be conveyed in relatively few words.

I certainly enjoy reading this thread.

I haven't been in a swimming pool or the sea since the seventies Biz Mind you, I did see Jaws at Bournemouth in '76 which kept me out of the water for two whole weeks despite the heatwave Next time I was at the seaside I'd lost the urge.

As much as I admire If's greatness there are many other poems I like more. That said, I know it's the runaway favourite for a vast amount of people

Brief Encounter at Tesco

A squirrel hunts nuts, a bird gains berries,
Each creature must find the next meal
But I do my shopping at Sainsbury’s
Or Tesco if that’s how I feel.

On this day I went to the latter
And what did I actually want?
Tea, baked beans and haddock in batter
Then time out in their restaurant.

Great choices in life films have shown us,
Like Sliding Doors but I digress,
My Tesco break came with a bonus,
No queue (which I find relieves stress).

I sat with a hot cappuccino,
A dad ate the muffin he’d bought,
His boy giggled, reading The Beano
While I read the Daily Mail sport.

I’d just finished Janet Street Porter
And Garfield who doesn’t get vexed
When something rare caused me to falter,
I’ll tell you now what happened next;

In line at the counter and gazing
A real beauty waited, what’s more
Not only did she look amazing
She gave me the glad-eye for sure.

Despite our eyes locked in flirtation
Her coffee was ordered ‘to go’,
She went yet there’s this consolation,
To know a lost chance is to grow.

Though my love life drops every clanger,
As I left the store later on
Parked two spaces from my old banger
A bright orange Volkswagen shone.

A voice from behind me spoke gently,
That girl again blonde and divine
Said ‘Who needs a high-powered Bentley
When you drive a classic like mine!’

We laughed then we chatted, how brilliant,
She’d been to rock gigs in her car,
I told her my Ford was resilient
But hers was the true vintage star.

One Beetle, one ancient Fiesta,
While both antiques proved we were matched
I didn’t once ask her or pester
Was she on her own or attached?
 
It didn't take long to adore her
Then lose the plot, words running out,
The first and the last time I saw her,
My technique was rusty no doubt.

But it’s not good form to keep bleating,
‘Chin up’ is the best of all tips,
Back home I eased my pain by eating
A big plate of haddock and chips.

Although Tesco sells the odd bargain
None can erase memory yet;
The girl with the orange Volkswagen
Is someone I’ll never forget.


©

Haha. I thought "Jaws" would cure anyone of swimming in the sea, but recently saw a programme on TV where people were swimming with sharks. Why?

'If' was voted favourite poem in the country I seem to remember, a while ago.


Wow! Tesco car park beats Sainsbury's for frisson value. Sainsbury had better pull their socks up.

In truth Biz, I prefer independent shops but we're all trapped in Supermarket World. The above poem is completely true apart from minor details like the fictional dad eating the muffin and the girl's quip about the Bentley. Out of the two I go to Sainsbury's far more often - but the Tesco in question does seem to have a high frisson factor ( great word ).

Yep, If's number one with the public alright. I wouldn't go within ten miles of a shark

silence is my friend

When life seems but a folly
And pain I cannot mend,
Despite the melancholy
Then silence is my friend.

The daydreams I love dearly
And poetry I've penned
Could only prosper really
With silence as my friend.

Through certain tranquil places
I often choose to wend
My way; regarding spaces
With silence as a friend.

In untamed forest bowers
Where darker branches bend
Above forgotten flowers
The silence is my friend.

All quiet paths I follow
Protect me and defend;
The deep and hidden hollow
Of silence is my friend.

And when I reach the garden
God’s angels grow and tend
My spirit shall not harden,
For silence is my friend.


©

Should you ever decide to resort to online supermarket shopping,Tesco has the most efficient website, but both are worth a visit. The use-by dates depend on the quality of the branch sending out your order.

However if you shop online there is no chance of brief encounters, but next time you have one, I suggest don't miss the opportunity then live to regret it.


Yes indeed, it can be blissful, however, I rejoice in the ability to choose. I'd say both unwanted silence and unwanted noise outside our control must be Hell.

No way Biz - I think on-line shopping's great for those unable to do otherwise, but I'll never swap physically going anywhere for electronic convenience. Computers can be totally brilliant but they're doing immense damage in other ways IMO.

I know I should have handled the brief encounter better - I think the attention I got on that occasion tripped me up a bit, as I'm so unused to it Never mind, perhaps it's an English thing

While I think we're exceedingly fortunate to have all that choice before us, I'm not a fan of visiting supermarkets. I also think online shopping is fantastic, and would hate to be without it. I know it is bringing on the demise of the town centre as we have always known it, though problems with parking haven't helped.

We just have to accept that we're going through a period of change.


Aaahh well. You'll be better prepared next time.

The times they are a-changin' indeed Biz.

Jack Looks Back

I had my own solution
To London's prostitution,
From watching them I knew
How evil were the harlots
Adorned in blacks and scarlets
Who spoiled the East End view.

They offered presents milky
In stockings tight and silky
Assuming I would pay,
Among those I selected
Not one of them suspected
My goal was hunting prey.

To any woman willing
I never paid a shilling,
I pounced before they stripped,
Away from noise and lamplight
To murder every tramp right,
I plunged the knife and ripped.

From Whitechapel to Shoreditch
I made each Cockney jaw twitch,
Most feared the next attack,
The wealthy also chattered,
Their faith in mankind shattered
By someone known as Jack.

Five girls had come a cropper,
Before long every copper
Worked like a busy bee,
How lovely to go strolling
Past boys in blue patrolling
Then smirk with secret glee.

Soon I retired unbeaten,
Like Milton, Drake and Eton
A legend of the state
And yet my name stays hidden,
A mystery forbidden
Since eighteen-eighty eight.


©

Brrrrrrrr! You're not trying to frighten us? Anyone would think it was Halloween.

Not to worry I've got my witch's outfit at the ready.

You're no witch Biz I nearly reposted Halloween with Elmer - an old poem I wrote about a bloke who gives poisoned sweets to trick-or-treaters. Though Jack the Ripper's actual crimes were terrible and Elmer's just a fantasy, overall the Ripper piece is less disturbing throughout. I know it's Halloween but I wasn't in the mood for full-on horror

I never am. Never watch horror films, much prefer a bit of idyllic escapism.

It's not far away now I know
My flesh creeps, here we go
As it approaches woe oh woe
Grown adults known to weep
In bold hearts fear of it seeps ...

It knocks, a shock at my door,
A cry I hoped to hear no more
Or its originator ever again meet,
Dear God not that: "trick or treat?"

LMAO, your twists just keep getting better Frank I had the dreaded knock on the door at about seven last night The rhythm of this reminds me strongly of Vincent Price's rap in Thriller, by Michael Jackson.

Someone I know was recently surprised to find both The Wizard of Oz and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in my DVD collection They're part of my 100 favourite films, which all sit on one shelf Also included are Fantasia and The Exorcist

The Invincible Ice Ages

When Channel depths conceded
To glacial terrain
A bitter rule succeeded
Old isotopes explain.

Of every era we see
Ice ages known to thrive
Before 10,000 BC
Were hardest to survive.

The freeze reached every corner,
Destroying miles of green,
All flora and all fauna
Crushed by a white machine.

A few defied the grinding
Regime with axe and spear,
Their only hope was finding
The woolly mammoths here.

But even hunters must shun
Siberian degrees;
A time comes when you must run
Or be dragged to your knees.

The harshest desolation
Those struggling groups were dealt,
Forced into grim migration
With nothing due to melt.

I think of scarce resources,
A world encased in ice
Then pray that nature’s forces
Keep us in paradise.


©

(Sorry that didn't work out quite right )

The blessed rain came from Heaven here.............I'm pleased to say.


All I can say is if you're not a Gemini you certainly ought to be.


Nature will have its way sooner or later, we're just very fortunate to be here at the right time.

Frank, I wish you wouldn't put your title in the title space, because it isn't quoted with your post and I usually copy it and slip it into your post, but today I forgot to paste it in place before I deleted stuff.........and I made a right hash of it.

Funny you should say that Biz - my Mum was a Gemini and I'm a twin ( fraternal, not identical )

How did they cope in the ice ages? I wouldn't swap modern comforts for that hell at any price.

Sorry Biz. Noted. Frank

Why, butterfly?

A butterfly a strange brief transforming creature
features for too few instants peripherally and by
in a scheme of things, if indeed there is a thing
or any scheme to life. If a philosopher perchance
may see one pass by and ponder on and on and
on just why as all existence does its entity can be
and then must surely die; and I, such big thinkers
may postulate, speculate on everything's mortality.
A poet may well see like Keats, latinate lepidoptera
as a "thing of beauty" as his own fine words relate
"a joy forever" enduring past its but ephemeral span.

Aaahh well it all fits doesn't it?

I give thanks every day for living in the here and now, and I do wonder what is ahead for those who will outlive me.


You wouldn't believe how many goes I had at getting it right this morning.


I love catching their moment on the wing, but sadly have only seen the odd one this year.

That was much easier and quicker.