The Buck

At the Buckingham Arms with my Bro for a beer
Our local, our pub - we both love it here
Conversation will flow and we'll have a good time
with a chat and a game over beer or a wine
It's our mindfulness tonic for mental health's sake
so we'll waste not a moment this pleasure to take

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Easter’s Grace II

Once some several years ago
In hallowed ground near here
I bowed and offered humber prayer
the beach and sea quite near
A little chapel on the shore
at Easter time at home
with crown of thorns up on the wall
for people to atone
And now as then on Saturday
the sun becomes the son
as at Easter his forgiveness
is complete for everyone

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

The new me

New week and new me
at least that's the intention
as I don't want to dwell or
perhaps even make mention
of what this past fortnight
has been my malaise
which sadly protracted
itself there for days

As I'm mostly I think
a quite chirpy fellow
not given to stupor or 
times when quite mellow
inactivity rules and
the mind gather dust
and an ache of the limbs
like a mildew or rust...

...takes over and holds
with insidious intent
and proclivity there
a confidence dent
It's an alien concept
which doesn't compute
engenders confusion
there oft to dispute

Polar opposite even
I'd be bold here to say
so whenever it comes
it's whisked swiftly away
and gregarious me
full of yellow not blue
comes back to the fore
as here is my due

So with that cheery thought
on this fine Monday morning
with all malaise past
and new chapter dawning
it's into the yellow
I jump with a cheer
for this is a new me
quite in evidence here

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[The ‘malaise’ was Covid-19 to which, after over two years of caution, we finally succumbed. Fully recovered now though, I’m pleased to say]

Came up for air

I came up for air, been down there a while
it was getting quite hard to breathe
but at the edge of my sight
I saw a feint light
and knew I would there find relief

And the scent of the roses in the sweet air
was as fresh as e'er I recalled
such was the respite
from the depths of that night
it was just as if Springtime had stalled

So I breathed it deep in with lungfuls a-plenty
filling my boots with that fayre
knew life had returned
as that darkness I spurned
and seized that good moment right there

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Mist walking

Found myself walking along the Broadwalk
heading into the mist
the sunshine was there above me somewhere
as the sky and the shingle there kissed
Ethereal silence descended as I
strode eastward along on my walk
giving passers by room as they grew from the gloom
with whispers there as they talked
and it was cathartic and pleasant for me
with barely a ripple of breeze
winter cold still but healing the ill
as I wandered close there to the sea

©Jemverse

Photo – The Broadwalk, Shoreham Beach, West Sussex, UK – Jempics

A kindness

It's not being selfish as sometimes you need
a kindness extended to self
a pampering here
for a top up of cheer
all to keep you in perfect health

And it's not just your body but your mind of course too
that needs looking after each day
mental health care
to keep you aware
and help you along on your way

So a day given over to yourself is well spent
for a kindness once in a while
to bring peace of mind
and help you unwind
all topped up with a good healthy smile

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

The whole I am

Some weeks you just need one
to recharge your soul
for relaxation and rest
and to get you back whole
For when you keep going
bits drop off and fall
and though gradual a process
you're not quite your all

So sometimes a recharge
is the right call to make
to top up the batteries
with respite to take
and you know it makes sense
and is no fake or sham
as the evidence there
is the whole you, I am

©Jemverse

Photo – Gracey Croucher of Emily Rose Croucher in the woods. I chose this one to accompany my words as it sums up to me what ‘free spirit’ and the ‘I am’ is all about. Sometimes it’s good to simply have ‘me’ time.

The Music

The music was there with something afresh
it had found and picked up on the way
Something perhaps
with live music’s lapse
that made it quite special today

Seemed the musicians had put in their all
throwing energy full in the licks
As they could not perform
‘Cos now’s not the norm
so they put all they had in the mix

And whatever they’d done the music it thrummed
as my spine tingled there with the sound
It had gusto and flair
and it hit me right there
with my feet tapping loud on the ground

And it did what it always set out to do
to the listener waiting to find
A new way to heal
the ills they all feel
as they hear something new and unwind

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Jab

Got the text on Monday morning
best news I have had
as today in just a little while
I’ll have had the job
And yes, we’ll still be careful
but if you need a thing
to put a smile upon your face
and give you cause to sing
Then this is up there at the top
of all the things to give
Something truly wonderful
allowing all to live

©Jemverse

Photo – Googleimages

For Pops

Look at me now Pops, I’m an older man now
I’m past sixty, the years have flown by
That slap in the face
has long turned to grace
yet still on this day I will cry

Nineteenth of February nineteen seventy-four
etched in my mind for all time
The day that you left
leaving family bereft
although all these years later we’re fine

Just four of us left now, Mum with you now
We are older and wiser and free
Yet still we recall
as the years pass and fall
with that promise that one day we’ll see

So this one’s for you Pops, this day I remember
once a year with a glass in the air
As with happiness here
with you share a beer
and the memories happily share

©Jemverse

In loving memory of my father – John Alan Croucher (10/5/34 to 19/2/74)