Jackie – Forward To The Past

Post 65: The Turning of the Season

On this, the last day of November, I am minded to look forward to the turning of the season. First, two ‘shorts’, written in the past, around this time of year. ABOVE Black sky above me Pierced with impersonal sparks Glittering The whole firmament shimmering As if shaken lightly by some giant hand I stare […]

Post 64: Eighty Years Young!

Eighty Years: October 1944 – October 2024 AN ORDINARY LIFE So, here I am; officially eight decades on Now old enough to contemplate what’s gone The luck to live an ordinary life The bliss of being loved by my true lover The fulfilment of that life as Wife and Mother With knowledge that I would […]

Post 63: Our Allotted Space

Firstly, two poems; which readers may have seen before! EVERYBODY NEEDS . . . Everybody needs a garden It should be the law! Large or small, a patch of earth Could teach us all of nature’s worth No matter rich or poor Everyone should know the pleasure When you harvest what you sow There’s no […]

Post 62: Colour Blind?

SKIN COLOUR (what is) I am not black. I am not white And nor is any human being Why do so many denigrate Skin colour; when it’s in the seeing There’s tints of every colouration From deepest brown to lightest pink That we perceive in any nation It’s no excuse for racist think They say […]

Post 61: Growing Old Gratefully!

THE GOLDILOCKS GRANDMA I feel like a ‘Goldilocks’ Grandma Having reached my eightieth year And part of that generation That the State and our country held dear My childhood was blessed by protection From poverty, hunger and fear I grew up with blissful assumptions That all that I needed was near I’m old enough to […]

Post 60: What Have Labour Ever Done For Us?

What have Labour ever done for us? Beware, beware the fourth Estate The dangling fruit of a right wing gain But is the price our welfare state? How much of that will still remain These niggardly Tories with indifferent rigour Have battered the weakest with belt tightening vigour Ignoring the many who’ve had to make […]

Post 59: Persuasive Party Politics

And so, and many would say ‘at last’, we are going to get the chance to elect a new government on July 4th; which happens to be our 54th Wedding Anniversary! Just a few short days since the announcement, and the febrile atmosphere in the media is almost palpable! I have been writing this blog […]

Post 58: Nature Knows Best!

EVERYBODY NEEDS . . . Everybody needs a garden It should be the law! Large or small, a patch of earth Could teach us all of nature’s worth No matter rich or poor Everyone would know the pleasure When you harvest what you sow There’s no better satisfaction Than this basic ancient action. And, you […]

Post 57: The Outbuilding; the first Twenty Years!

ONE OF THOSE DAYS 14th May 2005 We’ve had one of those days A day spent walking Along flower strewn cliffs. Spent gazing out at sea Spying guillemots and gulls Chough, swallows and raven It’s been one of those days We dreamt of long ago While biding time In semi-detached townland. One day, we’d […]

Post 56: Springing Forward!

As the Spring Equinox influences our daylight hours, thoughts and actions turn to gardening tasks; that don’t destroy nature’s tried and tested systems. NATURE LOVERS? We need to learn to love the slug That leaves those shining silver trails And are found in every garden corner While we admire more adorable fauna That look so […]