The thick and the thin

Around a table with Cluedo and Red Leicester cheese
with good conversation, precious days these
Laughter and merriment the six of us here
these are the days for which we all cheer
As it's all about family and closeness together
for the bad times and good, the known and whatever
For we all are as one, best of friends and of kin
arms linked with a smile through the thick and the thin

©Jemverse

Image – Google (edited)

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Bringing Smiles

[#16 in the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse]

One hundred sixteen years ago
'Old B' he wrote some lines
and sent them to Molteno
in those now long distant times
I can't quite read his writing
but I know so well the scene
on the postcard that he used
as it is a place I've been

My hometown, Shoreham, Sussex coast
though things have changed a tad
my home since the mid sixties
when I was just a lad
And this little piece of cardboard
though it's travelled many miles
still serves the purpose given
as it still keeps bringing smiles

©Jemverse

[Photo – of a postcard in the author’s collection].

William Henry Borrow (the artist) was 19th century English watercolorist who worked largely in Sussex between 1863 and 1893. This postcard, postmarked Bexhill-on-Sea (Sussex) on May 10 1906 and Molteno (South Africa) on 31 May 1906, is notable as it has travelled from Shoreham to South Africa and back to Shoreham again, 116 years after it was first purchased, written and sent.

Ticking the box

Walked a circle round the airport
the rain was in the air
and it was fairly windy
but we loved being there
The three of us and Wolfgang
ten thousand steps then home for tea
is always going to tick the box
in Shoreham by the sea

©Jemverse

Photo – Shoreham from the Airport floodbank – Jempics

Exuberance of cheer

Sunshine returned, it's cooler now
but the beach beckoned silent to me
and I heard its voice and quickened to that
with a wander down to the sea
Catching again the glimmer out there
as the sun on the water it shone
reminded me that these moments in time
need capturing lest they are gone

So I wandered a while on the shore with my friend
as the shingle crunched under my feet
watching the waves as out there they danced
at one with the world and complete
For it's there that I'm always the best I can be
I'm content in my happy place here
just watching the ocean, salt in the air
unbridled exuberance of cheer

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

A place to be

There's a Millennium Falcon built in Lego on the side
my drum in the far corner which I banged loud with Pride
Evidence of music which is a passion as you'll know
my PS Five and TV - this is a place I go
to while away the hours that I have when being me
be that music, games or writing - it is a place to be

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

A good nap

I'm curled in a circle in my little bed
on the floor in the room where I rest my head
when I'm not barking or running instead
as mostly I need a good nap

I'm curled and I'm comfy and that's a no-brainer
as with anything else I'd be quite the complainer
for comfortable snoozes I'm a canine campaigner
as mostly I need a good nap

©Jemverse

Photo – me (Obi Wan Kinobi ) snoozing – Jempics

Selfie with Wolfgang

Took a selfie with Wolfgang (me in the red)
Two chaps on the sofa rear-facing instead
He belongs to my daughter and son-in-law, Lee
but I've known him since birth so he's precious to me
Two good friends together for the selfies one takes
captured there in a moment for memories to make

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Mouse repatriation

We'd heard scampering for several days
and the evidence was there
crumbs in all the cupboards as 
our food they'd come to share
But really they weren't welcome
so we brought some humane traps
and tempting them with biscuits
we caught the little chaps
Then one by one I introduced them
to the garden there to learn
the repatriation one way trip
and never to return

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Mapping the past

No.15 in the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse

Found an old map in Emmaus
worn and dusty and old
thought to myself 'I'm having that'
went out of the shop with it sold

Familiar but different
there are things long gone away
a past the history books have claimed
from our quaint yesterday

And yet there's still a memory
from distant childhood time
places gone, remembered still
with part of them still mine

©Jemverse

Photo -Jempics. Taken from the 1946 map itself. An original 182 Ordnance Survey of Sussex from 1933, it’s significant as it’s pre-Shoreham flyover (1970) – so there’s no blot on the landscape, pre-Beeching (1966) – so the whole of the old Guildford line is marked with all the now long-gone stations, and it’s immediately post-WWII – so the Brighton & Hove Municipal Airport at Shoreham is there but not marked as such. (Emmaus – btw – is a second-hand bric-a-brac and furniture store run by a homeless project).

Peace found

Had ten days last month for wonderful things
to all bring a joy and pull at heartstrings
Places to visit and things to see there
taking photos to later re-live and re-share
Ten days of staycation what more could I need
when living in Sussex for this life that I lead?
As Sussex has all the 'joie de vivre' I desire
with its people and places and things I admire
So whenever a moment affords this release
I'm happy in Sussex as at home I find peace

©Jemverse

Photo – Houghton Hill, Sussex from the garden of the George & Dragon – Jempics