The walking frame and the smile

I saw you struggling with your walking frame
Guessed that you must suffer too much pain
I smiled because you caught my sidewards glance
Then  your face too by  smiling was enhanced

So  often older people are ignored
Lost and lonely hidden at the core
Once this man  fought in a  major war
I hope by some fine friend he was  restored

I saw him disappearing  down the  road
His posture more erect,  his back less bowed
And in my heart I felt the smiling too
 Enchanted by the essence , by the cue.

I got on a bus,  ignored my phone,
Smiling   still I  pushed the door key home

Through the window

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After dinner, Mary and Stan often went for a longish walk.They liked to go to a road where the richer people of Britain lived.,where there were some Georgian houses and one Tudor house.
At dusk, they would stroll by looking into the lighted windows to see how the rooms were decorated.And if the front garden was large sometimes they crept in to see more
One beautiful house they liked from the outside was spoiled for Mary by the garish tartan wall paper.
What sort of people would live there, she asked Emile who was in her handbag.with his head peeping out
Well,they have a cat called Percy,he mewed softly.
Why Percy?It is a noble name from the British past of course, she answered…
Earls of Percy were involved in affairs of state.
Well.Percy is Chinese, Emile said to her wittily.
He ought to be called Hu Ar U then, Mary joked ,or tried to as her sense of humor was somewhat lacking or maybe just odd.Still she looked lovely despite her moth eaten clothes bought in Sales in colors nobody else wanted like purple and lilac and bottle green.
She and Stan crept slowly up the garden path and peered nervously into the empty sitting room trying to identify the paintings on the walls.
All of a sudden, a woman who was completely naked came into the room and lay modishly on a sofa as if she were a trained dancer.She was a sight for sore male eyes.
Are they about to have a drawing class, Stan whispered.
She must be a model for a Life Class or an abstract woman with cat ,if Percy gets into the frame, Mary mused
Percy might scratch her then.Stan muttered.She could scream.
Suddenly a loud voice was booming at them.
What the hell are you doing in my garden?
There stood a big man in plus fours and an oversized red jumper with matching cheeks
We were admiring your wall paper, Mary said.I think it is very unusual.
He smiled in gratification.
I chose it, he cried.All by my self.
But why is there a nude lady on the sofa, Stan enquired?
I am so annoyed, the man told them.My fiancee likes to walk around nude but she forgets to draw the curtains first.
Does she want to make an exhibition of herself, Stan enquired hopefully.
We wondered if it was for a life class, you know, students learning to draw and become artists of note.
Well, that’s a good idea said Arthur thoughtfully.
The woman got up and came over.She opened the window.To their astonishment, she was Annie, their neighbour and Stan’s mistress too.Stan might have known but he had kept his face immobile after years of practice.
Fancy seeing you here, Annie whispered creatively in her sweet little voice
I am trying to seduce Arthur but with no success so far except a marriage proposal.
You need to be more discreet and indirect, said Stan.
If you act like this he will think you are an artist’s model and likely to be featured in the Tate Modern Annual Show of Infamy Now, would a man like this marry or even sleep with such a woman as you appear to be walking around like Eve before she ate the apple?
I don’t know said Annie but my clothes are all in the tumble dryer, anyhow.
Did you wet yourself? Mary asked her kindly
It’s nothing to be ashamed of.We all do it now and then especially since public conveniences were shut down across the UK.And now ,even coats are machine washable.
Well,I knocked over some lemon barley water in a big jug and so I decided to wash all my clothes. while I was here as Arthur as a tumble dryer
That’s a very strange tale Arthur told her.You look ravishing hanging out of the window with your nipples pointing up.Let me take a photo of
you.Say, Cheese
But will you put it on Twitter, Annie asked anxiously.
No, dear.I am not so cruel.Why don’t you get your clothes and make us all some tea/
I can’t make tea, she yelled and without pausing she dialled 999.
What is it Fire or Ambulance the lady receptionist asked politely?
It’s a kettle.
Is it on fire?
No , it won’t boil.Can you send Dave the paramedic
please, as he makes good tea.
We are quite busy so it may be two hours or more she was told.
I thought this was an emergency service, Annie said.
But who defines what an emergency is? the lady asked her philosophically.
I will die without this tea, Annie informed her in a ringing tone
Ok, hang up and I will send the ambulance now.
Arthur seemed a little surprised
I have private medical insurance, he cried.But they don’t make tea not even for old people.
Well, in the UK tea has always been essential to the National Health
But it will soon be drying up and we shall get flasks from the dustmen on Sundays instead.
I just don’t believe it, Arthur said and he then passed out on the rug which stood in front of a bookcase full of leather bound volumes of poetry.
Will he live?Read more tomorrow and pay the price… a few minutes of fun and gaiety.

A support not a cage

Elijah had hidden in a cave

Fearful of Queen Jezebel’s rage

God was polite

He would whisper in the night

Religion is a support not a cage.

I wish I could hear that small voice

That whispered in my ear was a choice.

After the wind and the rain

The fire was no pain

Did God whisper because he was hoarse?

This world has got depths we can’t see

As the butterfly said to the tree

He dove into a flower

sipped nectar for an hour

As the fish swam down deep in the sea

Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit | Book review

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/recollections-of-my-non-existence-rebecca-solnit-review-annie-mcdermott/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw65-zBhBkEiwAjrqRMHqgERUMneuIuSOVyDiOP7rZp8pvq4HIG06jWYRLoP85OhiTUPcnnRoCX0gQAvD_BwE

I thought of crazed wasps. Goodbye to some more Tories

I wonder what rhymes with pedantic

Without being excessively frantic?

I thought of crazed wasps

Whose teeth I would floss

Yet that is not really romantic

Pedantic seems related to feet

In poetry that might be quite neat

Pedes obscuro

Might made a detouro

In search of a very fine beat

Podiatry’s a useful profession

Especially combined with Confession

The priest cuts toe nails

While with sin we regale

We get rid of out corns with a Blessing

Psychiatry is not for the weak

Stick your finger in a hole in the dyke

We try to contain things

Until we are bursting

Then our madness comes out in one leap

Prayer is essential these days

Job comes to mind in this fray

But why would God help us

More likely he’d scalp us

Electing Cameron, Johnson and May

Even Alfred got puzzled


Alfred,cat ,both black and white
Do not be afraid
Alfred dearest, that was News
Before the Trump  arrived
Alfred how I miss you now
I hope you’re still alive
You look quite puzzled or afraid
I’m sorry I was sad
In this world of madness  now
We search for tidings glad
If you have another home
I don’t mind now you’re gone
I hope you find a  warm bed place
And sleep  until  you’re done

Accelerating into madness

close up photography of cat
Photo by Amir Ghoorchiani on Pexels.com

Who owns the weapons of mass extinction?
The Queen has been raining since 1954 at least
Brtain  is a mock-democracy.
We sell instruments of torture to keep the Economy entranced
Across the  globe people are  locked up without trial  but has it made the
 world safer?
You can kill one Osama but there are others.Why not use the power
of reason?  Why not  think? Why not wonder?
It’s madmen  playing games to make their names