https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/17/this-is-the-nopoint1-personality-trait-linked-to-living-longer.html

The sky is now pale lilac edged with dark
The trees where small birds sleep are almost black
A mystic may enjoy a vivid spark
Through having senses other mortals lack.

The sky’s more pale than it is darker grey
I see a pink, a blue in clarity
Now it turns as rapid as dismay
Until devoid of such variety.

And darker still ,in grey it edges down
Until it’s less distinct from those large trees.
But with my words to keep me from a frown
Darkness comes and so my words must cease.

A mirror to the outer world in verse
May save us all from wintering with a curse

I wish I were in Lancashire again

Pendle Hill the pike of Rivington

The mountains of North Wales , the Cheshire plain

I will never climb, my legs are gone,

Dear home, the cobbled Street my skipping rope.

The end wall of the house my mother’s face.

The tree she planted and her helpless hope

The love ,the feeling sad, the lost embrace..

I wish I were in junior school once

more

The powdered ink,, the brass the desks of oak

Children’s laughter to the sky can soar,

Skipping fast and how our arms would a àche

I wish I were a child and has no cares

I miss the. Freedom, bonfire night the War

I came to see you leave, it was well done

I saw your faces blurred and indistinct

My eyes were full of tears I had to blink

Where I looked again the train has gone)

Kindertransport helped you to survive

I hope the children in Ukraine will live

I’m a ghost there’s nothing I can give

But tell you that my children are alive

My children have got children of their own

They live in in English towns, they play their games

English both in manners and names

Jewish in the blood and in the bones

I float away to join the other lost

I died and now you live, at what a cost

I breath as softly as a little bird
Like the robin did in Arnside Wood
Quick yet calm, who for some food would dare.

The view from Arnside Knot is  broad and fair
The atmosphere is  pure, we see trains chug
The Estuary of the Kent will never bore

Further South the Lune runs like  old tears
Morecambe Bay endangers, how it floods
Behind the Pennines rise,   the edges  fierce

Dent is ancient, mobile phones won’t dare
To penetrate  the  music of  its blood
Nor bring   their tones to hurt the mad March hare

Hutton Roof , cathedral, how we stared
A gentle hand caressed my heart to good
Meek flowers grew in the cracks  as safe,as  pure

How my heart expands  and I am glad
For mourning heals and  I am no more sad
I breath as softly as a little bird
I tiptoe on the path  the peace is shared

I wish we were in Silverdale again

The meadow full of flowers,the nettle’s sting

The boarding house,the hedges rich with song..

The sketch pad,ink, the birthday pen

My brother’s humour and his wacky games

I miss his buoyant face, his eyes untamed

At least he’s not in prison doing time.

I liked the way he misprounced my name.

I wish we were on Windermere today

The bouncing sun,the blossoms rich display

Come back now I love you anyway

My heart was stabbed with death,you went away

I saw your shadow cycling in black rain.

May we help each other with the pain?

I wish we were in Silverdale again

The meadow full of flowers,the nettle’s sting

The boarding house,the hedges rich with song..

The sketch pad,ink, the birthday pen

My brother’s humour and his wacky games

I miss his buoyant face, his eyes untamed

At least he’s not in prison doing time.

I liked the way he misprounced my name.

I wish we were on Windermere today

The bouncing sun,the blossoms rich display

Come back now I love you anyway

My heart was stabbed with death,you went away

I saw your shadow cycling in black rain.

May we help each other with the pain?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/03/mental-illness-is-there-really-a-global-epidemic?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

How can it be that he is never here?
How can it be I do not hear that voice
His presence haunts from his old ,battered chair

Though I have money and no need unbare
I feel the grief , the affect of his choice.
How can it be that he is never here?

What is the world when loss turns to despair.
When every sheet by weeping is made moist?
His presence haunts from his beloved chair

Now we learn the symbol of the hare
Unpeaceful, hunted, jugged or potted roast
How can it be that he was ever here?

Into the real we stand and long time stare
We’re begging, blaming,badgered and then gassed
His presence feints with ours in death’s own lairs

Now the world of man has long surpassed
The time we could blame God for what we‘ve missed
How can it be that He is never here?
His absence haunts , symbolic , suffered, real

Curves seem quite unreachable by lines

And differentiation can alarm.

Analyzing love has little charm

Learn instead to read your lover’s signs.

The bitten lip, the tear,the pallor state

A wordless phrase,a touch that conveys warmth..

The narrowed eye, the stare is an a alarm.

Isaac Newton knew the growing rate

I wish I were in Dorset once again

Lyme Regis in the sunshine, in the rain

The little river flowing by the gate

The cafe where we sat but you are late.

The joy in such surprises swells the heart.

The silence in its deepness conquers charts

Absence can be happy as with noise.

All that will remain is our own voice.

On the Cobb I’m nervous all alone.

The wind is fierce and cuts me to the bone.

I d like to draw a map,the Cobb of Lyme

A nest of tangents triggers my design.

Nature did what calculus has learned.

The speed of tiny zeros can alarm

The men who built the Cobb new shape by heart.

The answer seems to be in where you start.

The the waves rolled up the beach and, startled, down

Pulled the shingle made a suffering sound

The script of seashells writes upon my soul.

Yet and yet and yet, I am alone.

No mobile groans are allowed in this hospital.
Please faint on the bed only.Or if pushed,faint onto the nurses’ station.
No lipstick to be worn at night.
Pills must be swallowed your own water.
Do not undress in this cubicle.Undress outside before entry.
Leave your clothes in the bin for people to steal on demand (X ray unit]
Kindly tell us your name before we drug you.
If afraid please report to the nurse paranoia is rampant
.If no night nurse is available please die after 8 am.
If you must have sex in the ward, please do not scream or moan as the other patients may be jealous.
If you have no relations please ask the doctor to oblige when he finishes his rounds.
If you feel weak,do not use your Kindle Fire on the bed
After a heart attack do not resume sex until you get home unless you had the heart attack here in which case please feel free to continue either or both..
Sex is a form of exercise but also can create chaos in public.Try walking instead with or without a partner.
If borderline kindly make your mind up whether you love or hate the doctor
If you have no bosom,you are probably a man.Wards are now mixed so there is no. problem apart from a shortage of braziers.
Cover all your parts before the Royals visit.
Please leave me all your money before you leave the ward when about to pass over
Sex changes by an operation or sometimes naturally.
Are you bored in bed?Get out and walk up and down the corridor to annoy the visitors.
Kindly do not drum your fingers all day.Use a drumstick.
If you have erosive dermatitis, please dry carefully.
If you have an egg please donate now.Fertility counts.
Owing to a world shortage of egg cups,we now use mugs to eat from and saucers for our tea.
Do you have any further problems?Please weigh your words before you start
None of the staff understand the government…so please do not mention Dom Cummings.if you wish to go home on one piece.
Pies are sold in the conservatory.We do not know why.
In fact we know hardly anything but don’t worry,we’ll treat you barbarically anyway.
Be a stoic and accept the NHSl.We all die one day/night
Any tips, feel free.

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/upper-back-pain-exercises#1

I wish I were at Whitby by your side
From the Abbey Steps we saw the.whole
The sound of gulls aswirling round our minds

The atmosphere of Yorkshire blunt and kind
Salty air,the North Sea,winds that groan
I wish I were at Whitby by your side

See the children taking donkey rides
The fishermen look anxious , happy, worn,
The sound of gulls is swirling round my mind

From Saltburn,Staithes to Bempton bold cliffs rise
Then Bridlingon where Hockney was a boy
I wish I were at any by your side

The two weeks break seemed long when we arrived
Now all my past seems like an old map torn
The sound of gulls is calling you to mind

To be in Whitby is to be alone
The pie shop’s open yet I feel forlorn
I wish we were at Whitby side by side
The sun and air, I dream into your mind

Each body cell can widen or contract

Like individual beings, each minute,
Each shows a different world than we expect

With secrecy, new visions may impact
Our hidden mind with metaphor’s astute,
As body cells each open or contract

From our pain, experience distracts.
The mind and heart and soul can each re-route
We see a world more changed than we expect

The world of trust, of relaxation, tact,
Tensions in the mind will soon dispute.
The choir of cells may sing or lose affect

Faith in the unknown, what shows our lack?
Can we reach such faith in minute steps?
We “see” our ” world ” as fierce attack

As glows the candle, at sweet Fire it hints
Let each respond in their own dialect.
Each body cell can widen or contract
We see new worlds, not mirrors dead reflects

The holiday we never had again

In Weybourne, we were happy at the dawn

We saw the sun ascend in tongues of fire

I saw the place where images are formed

From the door we looked straight to the North

The Wash lay to the left,a land of seals.

The high tide carries sand from Yorkshire shores.

Blakeney church now stands up well inland

We had not seen that vision pure before

Driving back through Walsingham,I sang

I learned my own heart from these little ears

There is no need for headphones nor the smart

Let your intuition help you when you steer.

I remember everything you said

Now I am alone in my new bed

Against sadness:no-one old must weep
Nor lounge in a melancholy deep
Was Van Gogh senseless to permit his muse.
For even genius ,is the price too steep?
We see the yellow chair but not his views
Nor his mind where technique made strange leaps.
Nor was his journey broadcast on the news.
Against sadness.

Happiness or joy is hard to find
When we rest, the News lies on our minds
Yet some are cold towards the slaughtered priest
His nose a beak of bone in old face lined
Now Muslims go to Mass and join Christ’s feast
Against sadness.

What rages in the mind make men kill thus?
In Syrian wars the innocents fare worse.
But these are our near neighbours so we weep
And wonder how to end the frightening curse
The sins we once committed hold us deep
We hold our hands out, wanting to be nursed
Against sadness

I wish I were on Hutton Roof again
The limestone and the little open flowers
The sea at Arnside like a distant gem
The spaciousness, like days with far more hours

I wish I were as agile now as then
I’d climb the mountains, hills,the little lanes

Windermere below still winding on
The handsome Lake the old man, Coniston

I wish I were in Dent, the curious shapes
The hills and their deep mystery engross
The height, the little river, the mistakes
The lost loved man alive, to hold me closeI

I yearn to be on Hutton Roof today
The holy smell of grass, the feel of air

The earth has its own gravity and grace
Perception will develop as we grow
Maintain the sacredness of this our space

When we live, we need to find our place
The process may be long and very slow
The earth has its own gravity and grace

The good and bad both need to be embraced
Grace comes easiest to those who’re low.
Maintain the sacredness of this dear space

Good and bad make patterns as in lace
And through the gaps, the living waters flow
The earth has its own gravity and grace

Life must grow at its own steady pace
By our intuition ,we will know
Maintain the sacredness of this dear space

Of the fruits of earth, the living taste.
Admire the flying birds from thrush to crow
The earth has its own gravity and grace
Maintain the sacredness of this dear space

How white and blue together recollect us
to the summer sky and the imagined swallows
darting in exquisite geometry
under the great domed space of the heavens,
like the Basilica in Constantinople
containing and giving space.
And how I held you for a moment that was infinite
and then you were gone like an angel fearing enchantment
into some finite boundaried world

We walked on sea shores with our mates
Though the ocean separates
Now we’re abandoned on the shores
By the loves we’ll see no more

We still stand on shifting sands
Expecting , needing, helping hands
But the people walk on by
And we’re too afraid to cry

Lost in places we once knew
But recognised by very few
Our eyes look out but do not see
Filled by tears we can’t set free

Shall we stay here evermore
Hoping lovers we adored
Are on their way back to their home
As slowly, sadly we still roam?

The sturdy walls that bear the sky
Have been shattered from on high
And feeling smaller than the snails
We hear the long lost sea winds wail

Oh, weep for him and me, wide seas
Embrace our souls in your salt breeze
See the crushed and broken shells
Hear the tolling of the bells

The dentist wants to charge in advance in case I die in the chair

Surely it’s not electric?

Not the first time apparently.

Is it not murder?

I don’t know I’ve never been murdered 

Have you ever committed suicide?

That’s murder too 

So that’s a No?

Yes.

I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well-I Iknown verse from Ecclesiastes:

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Here it is in modern English:

Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

This is a parody, but not a very gross one.

George Orwell

The brightness of this sweet sunlight,
The songs of birds whose brood take flight.
I love to take such earthly pleasure,
To fill my mind with precious treasure.

The conversations with my friends,
The closeness only death will end,
To share my life with those who care,
How could we have better fare?

Those who suffer pain and grief,
From whom love’s stolen by a thief,
Let us take them to our hearts,
So their healing path can start.

Those who fear friendship and love,
Who set themselves at too low worth,
Do they know how courage grows
Through acceptance of our woes?

Life seems tragic comedy.
Love may be part remedy.
Yet when we give our hearts away
We shall have grief and pain to pay.

But if we lock our hearts up tight,
And keep all feeling out of sight,
We will wither like dead leaves,
Of our whole life we’ll be bereaved.

So choose your path with care and thought;
Never be by lies distraught.
All humans are as gold to me.
With my love,I end my plea.

I didn’t know I’d love you
With both my heart and mind
Every love is different
Each is a special kind

I didn’t know I’d miss you
In quite the way I do.
For we can’t feel emotion
Before its time is due.

Yet all human lovers
Must part and go their ways.
Some may die and fall to dust
Some may go astray.

I didn’t know I’d miss you
With all my tender heart.
But .as we’re made of fragile flesh.
We all must sadly part.

I should be grateful
For being found and known.
I wish you were still sitting here.
And I were not alone.

When we feel so lonely
No-one else will do.
It’s not that I’m just lonely.
I’m lonely, just for you.

Not quite a sestina but I did get all 6 end words into the last two lines… I have never done this before

Feelings drift in lazy summer air
As silent reverie gives minds an ample space
Trees more heavy bowed by excessive leaves
Droop like shades across their garden home
Sun near horizontal in its streams
Creates deep shadows where it cannot reach.

The ripened plums are almost out of reach
Their fragrance lends a splendour to the air
And as their leaves fall gently by the stream
More gaps are made and sunshine ripens space
Such a cherished respite is a home
Hear small wild creatures rustle in the leaves.

Yet even here the world outside can reach
Despite our music sonorous in the air
For News we hear,so pity from us streams
We cannot stay forever in this space
Technologies as they stamp around the home
Take up our mind and good thoughts outward leave

And yet we must still reach for mental space
Streams of mercy leave homes aired with grace.

https://wp.me/peqkRQ-At

How like a dream this world appears to me
My mind unfocussed spreads itself about..
No details, just an outline I can see.
And vagueness dimly fills me up with doubt.

The early sun made joy rise in my heart
As I looked out upon the gardens gold.
Of nature and each season we’re a part.
As with patience we let all our self unfold.

We are as nothing in the vast space of this sky
Where stars send light from deeps of long ago.
And yet despite my nightmares I shall try
As fears make fences if we don’t say No.

We have to make our dreams a home on earth;
from where creative thoughts are given birth

Is that Mary? Hello I’m Dr Guinness.

Hello doctor have you got my results?

What results?

Have you not looked in my file?

No.

So why are you ringing me up?

I believe your blood pressure was rather high when you were at the hospital.

That’s hardly surprising in the circumstances.

What circumstances?

I had a gastroscopy and six biopsies.

Well we haven’t heard anything yet,

When I was told that consultant is written and you want to see me I did not realize it will be only about my blood pressure. It might very well have gone up now.

Well what was it last time you read it?

134.985/56.222

So so what does that come to?

Ah, it’s about 2.5

Have you not got a calculator on your phone?

I think two and a half is good enough.

But what does it mean?

Well I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.

I’m only a trainee doctorOk I’ve put it on the computer you blood pressure is two and a half.

But two and a half what? Is it 2 1/2 times the normal?

I really can’t help you there

Don’t you think you ought to have looked at my file because I was expecting you to tell me that I have or have not got cancer and all you’re an interested is my blood pressure.

Will I’ll tell you a secret we get paid a fee for every blood pressure we take.

What is the fee?

10.

10 what?

2.5 x 4=10. That’s intriguing

I think we’re onto something here.

No it’s just a coincidence.

It’s exactly four times two and a half

I don’t know which medical school you went to but I don’t think you’ve done enough training to be a real doctor.

I’m afraid nothing is real now.

Our bodies are real and we need foodAre

I suppose that’s why there are more shoplifters now.

I do all my shopping online so I don’t see all those criminals with guns and knives in Waitrose.