Animal Crackers


With a neck like a swan
Some as cunning as a fox
The breeding like rabbits
With the strength of an ox
As wise as an owl
Maybe work like a beaver
The cheek of a monkey
Like a dog in a fever
To drink like a fish
Or be quiet as a lamb
To crawl like a snail
And be tight as the clam
Hopping mad as a frog
Perhaps shifty as the shark
Be as dirty as a rat
With the voice of a lark
A symphony of animals in full serenade
A jigsaw of creatures is what we are made.


The book looks great Musty ! Congratulations are very well deserved


A tip of my hat to Neo Soap for his great animal poem

Tommy & Harry was one of my first 'epics' Biz - I divided it into three parts. Those sorts of poems take ages to write though.

Thank you again for buying the book, I'm humbled that anyone would do so


Cheers Frank What a great name too - Accrington Stanley immediately conjures up the north of England


Thanks BB The cover photos were taken by my very supportive brother, without who there'd be no book at all

( I agree on Frank's brilliant animal ode too )

Very clever, I know which ones I'd like to attach to me - but I'm probably kidding myself. We're a motley crew.



It made an impression on me the first time I read it, and I seem to remember the firing squad scene in a film, where the soldier couldn't bring himself to shoot at his friend, but shot at the wall or fence behind him. I can't for the life of me remember anything else about the film.


I loved the book cover too - you make a good team.

The Wallops

Great Britain’s quaintness tally
Includes Virginia Wade,
The haggis, Sally’s alley,
Tom thumb and Hey Jude’s fade.

Each scone with jam and cream lets
Joy grow, but coast to coast
Of all our pretty hamlets
Which one do I love most?

From John o’ Groats and Pinner
To Land’s End views that stun
The Wallops are my winner;
Three villages in one.

It has no cliffs like Dover,
It may not quite be Troy
But Nether, Middle, Over
Give triple Hampshire joy.

Thatched-roofed each Wallop dozes,
Such cottage peace is rare,
Lanes, gardens and red roses,
They filmed Miss Marple there.

As gorgeous as doves cooing
And dollops of ice cream,
Like lovely teapots brewing
The Wallops are my dream.


©

That definitely rings a bell Biz I'm glad you liked the photos - the back cover one shows Ramsgate by the way

Thank you, I wondered where that was.

I'm eating some cheese

It's flavour....does please..

Hope my dreams don't go bad

Wake up grimly mad

We need a footnote telling us the origin of the name - I'd better Google.


Careful Vosne, you'll harden your arteries if you eat too much cheese you know.

As a true dinosaur I have just the book though Biz, The Dictionary of English Place-Names

Quote: Possibly 'valley with a spring or stream'. In old English wella or waella plus hop.

Marvellous trivia

I am the Magic Bullet

You wonder who could pull it
Off, a plot so vast,
I am the magic bullet
Who haunts the US past.

In Dallas on that Friday
How secretly I gleamed,
The sort of do-or-die day
JFK never dreamed.

First shot missed but some dead-eye
Hit flesh, as fate ballooned
How flattering they said I
Caused almost every wound.

The facts are rather hazy
Therefore my nickname suits,
The path I took was crazy,
The oddest of all routes:

Into a back and fastly
Out from the neck, a twist
Performed in mid-air, lastly
Through leg and chest and wrist.

Yet on forensics wholly
State experts did agree;
All those contusions solely
Were credited to me.

I shook the world as lawless
Exhibit 399,
So pristine, smooth and flawless
No magic equals mine.


©

Indeed Vosne - but does cheese really induce nightmares? If so why? Maybe it's just folklore

I think it's fascinating. Although I've Googled it before, I'd forgotten the meaning - my brain can only hold so much information.


However, I could never forget that scene which we saw played out before our eyes on television.

It takes time for wella hops to become wallops

Even as a kid I can remember the vivid shock on November 22nd. I seem to recall the normal BBC schedule being replaced by sombre religious music with no pictures.

For me, the assassination of John Kennedy was a turning point equal to all of the really big historical moments.

The Passing

The passing of depression
Relieves a burdened mind,
Which free of dark suppression
Leaves sadness far behind.

I pass close to the woodland
Where nature tends to thrive,
Confirming in this good land
It's good to be alive.

The passing of a second
Should never be in haste,
To rush when no one beckoned
Reveals the time you waste.

The passing of a minute
With peace can so beguile
A few remain lost in it
To meditate a while.

Some evening, tired and run down
Don’t only heal yourself,
If briefly gleams a sundown
Enjoy its passing wealth.


©

Yes it's lovely to be able to catch the sky in a brief moment of glory as evening descends.

It seems for a time, we will only be able to pass by the woodland, not enter into it. Let's hope not too many ash trees are destroyed.

[quote=belly button;62140112]
Animal Crackers


To quote just the beginning: "With a neck like a swan
Some as cunning as a fox"

Animal qualities well portrayed bb, thanks for your comments by the way. Animal Crackers reminds me of the great Marx Bros.

In the garden just now

I saw some more bees

They looked pretty cold

Sat in the trees



Though they were quite fat

And had furry knees.

It's terrible Biz, I'm hoping the same thing


Love it Vosne

It's about time some channel broadcast a Marx Brothers film Frank, I haven't seen one for ages

Carry On Kenneth

Raucous cackled leering Sid,
The lifeline pay was paltry,
Fond of Hattie; God forbid
The thought of Charlie Hawtrey.
When the cheap films stunt your fame
As smaller stars get bigger,
When you crave the dating game
But hate your face and figure.

Mangelwurzel round the Horne,
Loud at another soirée
Using slang to fight the scorn
Of gays he talks Palare,
Comb your riah, bona noise
And when you feel frustration
Have the Barclays, sexual joys
Are dead despite temptation.

Everyone's a crashing bore
Except your mum, it's noted
Lou sits in the front row for
Her son's shows all devoted,
Yet the heart aches long and blind,
Were yearnings in the closet
Cruel and why was life a bind,
O Kenneth please, what was it?

In a restaurant rejoice
To smash the rules that cage us,
Flare the nostrils, raise the voice,
Proceed to act outrageous,
Make them plead for more until
They're crying tears of laughter,
Catch the instant of a thrill,
The empty flat comes after.

Bitch about your awful health,
Read endless books on culture,
Acid-toned despise yourself
And every liberal vulture;
Gleeful at the great divide
Where pain removes the bayonet
Grateful go with suicide,
Leave diaries to explain it.


©

Cape Jealous

Cape Jealous the cliff-top location,
Cape Jealous above a long span
Of beach for the perfect vacation
Where she lived ten years with her man.

The marriage vows humbly committed
Endured because both deeply cared,
A true golden oldie still fitted;
The Windmills Of Your Mind they shared.

Though wonderful under full moonlight
To gaze down on nocturnal seas
She felt in the glare of the moon slight
Doubts and a puzzling unease.

A decade in love till a dreaded
September of turmoil appeared,
She learned of the woman he'd bedded
From collars where was lipstick smeared.

She had her own way of responding,
Hysterics and fights there were none,
His fondness for sex and absconding
Instead made her buy a small gun.

He drove off at noon so she waited
With weapon concealed in a drawer,
By evening it’s certain she rated
Their marriage a horrible chore.

Hair washed and tied up in a turban
She filled a glass calmly with ice
Then made him a homecoming bourbon,
A routine he’d always thought nice.

Dear reader you may not believe it,
As he entered glad to betray
She casually let him receive it:
The bullet that blew him away.

It wasn’t a b-movie drama
And yet after briefly he’d raved
And fallen the whole panorama
Seemed black and white Bogart-engraved.

She waited till sirens came blaring
Contented that vengeance was best,
Beyond inner hatred and caring
She happily faced her arrest.

Some men deceive women they’ve married
And never think problems can build,
Cape Jealous reveals how one carried
His wife to the brink where she killed.


©

Poor Kenneth. The audience only ever saw his persona, and it seems he always wore it when out in public. A very sad tale.


Served him right. The trouble is she would have double suffering. It's not fair.

The Diaries are an awesome read Biz - hilarious, heart-warming, bitter and sad. A true hero of mine.

I expect you are mortified to be in the spotlight of a heated debate on self publication Musty.......but just remember....Any Publicity is Good Publicity .


Once again all the luck in the world with your book x

I think you know me as well as Biz does BB

Thanks so much for your kind words

Turns page over