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)

This time last year III

This time last year
rather innocently
we went up to London
town where did we
gather therein at
the Royal Alert Hall
to raise a loud voice
with glad anthem call
for Christmas carols
there with the throng
as myriad voices
joined there in song

And as we all sang
on the last encore
not one of us knew
what next lay in store
As there in that moment
triumphant the cause
as the joy was repeated
in the loud applauds
But now we have lived
with it under our noses
we have a new hope
as 2020 it closes

So as another new year
waits there in the wings
we hear the loud voice
as the whole nation sings
and the hope we now have
as life it resumes
is evident here
in our joyful tunes
A carol at Christmas
sung loud with the throng
as myriad voices
unite in the song

©Jemverse

Photo – Carols at Christmas – Royal Albert Hall, London – December 2019 – Jempics

Rocks and shins and A&E

August Bank Holiday Monday
sun is shining and it’s warm
so to the beach I should be heading
as you would ‘cos it’s the norm
Yet instead I sit in A&E
my leg still causing pain
Not my first choice I’ll admit
to be in here again
Strangely though it was the beach
just last Wednesday night
where I sustained the injury
the reason for my plight

And it’s been getting worse and worse
so much so that here now
I’m sitting in the hospital
wondering if somehow
that fall upon the shingle
when a rock and my shin met
has resulted here in something
to now give cause to fret
And it seems that I was sensible
to visit here today
to find there’s nothing broken
I am quite relieved to say

But you can see here from the photo
and the bandage round my shin
that the fall upon the shingle
really did some damaging
And the doctor’s diagnosis?
is to rest it for a week
no walkabouts or wanderings
or footfalls so to speak
So recuperation beckons
to allow the leg to mend
as lots more time down on the beach
I do intend to spend

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

19 February 1974

The knock at the door
I remember it well
though forty-six years have now passed
The vicar right there
with something to share
for a slap in the face that would last

It was anger I felt
with a fist in the air
that my father had left in that way
And I heard not a sound
from that hole in the ground
as I stood on that February day

It’s a picture I have
that years never fade
A boy of fifteen there bereft
Not a word of a lie
quite unable to cry
in spite of the void that was left

But thankfully time
the healer of ills
has mellowed the anger to love
And the man of those years
can now shed the tears
as he thinks of his father above

The slap in the face
has turned to a hug
lingering, precious and mine
and though there’s still sadness
there’s also a gladness
with his memory shared at this time

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

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

Sleep II

I’m working on the premise
that something soon will change
and when I’m least expecting it
A move to rearrange
will catch me by surprise one day
and the dove-cote doors will close
cocooning me in slumber
from my head down to my toes

It’s taking its sweet time mind you
so I hope it won’t be long
for this burden is quite wearisome
and I’m not so very strong
But when it comes I’ll tell you
Relief will be the thing
And though I will be miles away
in all my dreams I’ll sing

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Breathe

I saw the end of the tunnel
It shouted my name
So I ran to the light
and found freedom again

And breathing in deep
that heavenly air
I shouted out loud
and laughed without care

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[‘Breathe’ is dedicated to all asthma sufferers]

Brightening

Just a few words is all it takes
to change the way I feel
Escapism? maybe sometimes
but they have the power to heal

Just a few words each morning
finds a way to say
something new to bring a smile
and brighten up my day

©Jemverse (12/14)

Photo – from #Jemverse on instagram, July 2018, Jempics

Filling Summer’s boots

And, as they promised, sunshine
burned in the sky today
A cloudless blue spread overhead
with warmth akin to May

Yet it is still mid-April
several more months still
for warmth to build to sultry heat
and summer’s boots to fill

It lifts the spirit, days like these
mere words cannot portray
the pleasure that a warm day brings
in every single way

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Heavenscent

It possesses a certain
something that soothes
and reminds me of summer
with its calming moods
Just a squeeze of the sachet
when winter is here
or a rub between fingers
when summer is near
brings out that pure fragrance
that, with purest intent
and a small play on words
is to me ‘heavenscent’

©Jemverse

Photo – Lordington Lavender farm, West Sussex, UK – Jempics