Sunset coming

There's a sunset coming though a ways off yet
I can see the glow to the West
as the evening time approaches now
a bid at my behest

It's yellow, pink and pastel
and full of warming glow
foretelling of a different time
that all too soon I'll know

It's a sunset of the summer
one of a perfect day
and though it's lasted many years
I'm ready now I'd say

So here I breathe and deeply
satisfaction is replete
as the sunset coming gathers pace
and sees this time complete

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[And yes…there’s a metaphor here. Third line of verse three gives a clue to what it portends. But I suspect there will be several more over the next few months to give the game away]

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40th

In days of heady youth, future just a dream
the wisdom of a caring mother prompted application
to an embryonic beginning

Forecasting fortitude to longevity never seen
decades passed to forty years
and as youth acquiesced to age, retirement loomed

Now wisdom of age to fruition seen, the curtain call
beckons to a new beginning
at this evening sunset of a twilight year

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics; the Jemdrift driftwood sculpture ‘Time’ (2001)

[Tomorrow – 28 February 2023, I’ll have been part of the UK’s Civil Service for 40 years]

Commuting again

Tomorrow I'm back in London again
commuting up there on the train
leaving at dawn when no-one's about
travelling daily again
There's a bit of excitement but also a doubt
as Covid has not left us yet
but I'm boostered and jabbed and protecting myself
so I've really no reason to fret

It's back to Westminster so a walk through the park
daily is what I will do
for unless it is raining and blowing a gale
I'm avoiding the risk of the tube
I've a good book and music and a game on my Switch
so I will make the most of this time
and I'm sure the long hours will pass in a flash
and the journey and days will be fine

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Stations

With its long reach
this station clad
with many journeys
I have had
Over the years
to different places
some with airs
and some with graces
Quiet, it exudes
a charm
which here has never
done me harm
A comfort even
home from home
from all the stations
I have known
For this is Shoreham
part of me
in this town
beside the sea

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Normality

It's a first for me today
no trains for quite time
not since the first lockdown
have I braved the ridden line

And yet today to Worthing
I must venture yet again
for my first day in an office
and a journey on a train

So I'm taking all precaution
best foot forward and the rest
to make the day enjoyable
my safety to invest

And I know that it will all be fine
despite the butterflies
that I've now got in my tummy
which I guess is no surprise

So Shoreham station here I come
to travel on a train
and take another step to bring
normality again

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

The whimsy of a long moment

Took a moment yesterday
to smile and drift away
somewhere very pleasant
where once we got to stay

It was a special moment
and I wanted it to last
so I really took some time
to make sure it slowly passed

In my mind’s eye there quite clearly
I saw everything which we
had shared when there together
my soulmate Sal, and me

So, lingering with whimsy
I stayed there for a while
to savour the long moment
with pleasure and a smile

And the lovely thing about it
is I’m sure it won’t be long
before the memory is reality
and the whimsy turns to song

©Jemverse

Photo – Pompeii, Italy – Jempics

This time last year II

This time last year
our bags were packed
and excitement it was growing
as we both knew
what we would do
and where we both were going

To somewhere hot
across the sea
four hours or so by plane
with nought to lose
to join a cruise
Croatia again

This time last year
the sunshine found
when autumn chill was here
First thing we did
with nothing hid
was drinking ice-cold beer

In somewhere hot
across the sea
escaping for a week
remembering
as our hearts sing
these memories to keep

©Jemverse

Photo – Dubrovnik old town, Croatia – Jempics

Twenty hours

I’m on a train to Yorkshire
in bright sunshine for the day
Left when dawn was breaking
as it’s many miles away
Just shy of twenty hours
this working day for me
From the South Coast and then back again
by midnight hopefully

Some may question if my sanity
is all there and quite intact
as the day will be a long one
there is no doubt of that
But the purpose is resourceful
and the outcome will be great
despite the early start
and the getting home so late

©Jemverse

Photo – Kings Cross station, London, UK – Jempics

Really really big

Three thousand people
In Brighton last week
met Brian to talk about space
Not a seat there was free
it was thrilling to see
with excitement right there in the place

The screen on the stage
was the biggest I’d seen
and when filled with the cosmos out there
It filled one with awe
with the things that you saw
and the wonders that he had to share

There was Einstein and theory
and other deep things
and we all lost the plot several times
But the man on the stage
was a seer and sage
and he kept us all feeling just fine

There were quantums and quarks
and black holes and stars
thousands of light years away
Talk of time travel
and other strange things
to mess with your head some would say

But despite all the vastness
and really big stuff
It was good to remember that we
have a life for the now
which we all somehow
need to capture quite wholeheartedly

Astrophysics aside
the professor complied
that really when all’s said and done
reminding the crowd
as we all clapped loud
that the journey had been lots of fun

©Jemverse

Photo – Professor Brian Cox at ‘The Brighton Centre’ – live – Sussex – February 2019 – Jempics

Dubrovnik

1 of 16 in the Jemverse ‘Venetian Vistas’ series

Flew into Dubrovnik
Walked round the city wall
It really was quite beautiful
with plenty to enthral

The views of Adriatic
seas with islands in the bay
was really quite breathtaking
and spectacular I’d say

Games of Thrones was filmed here
Kings Landing by the sea
And it gave a special way to start
the cruise for Sal and me

©Jemverse

‘Dubrovnik’ starts the 16 part Jemverse ‘Venetian Vistas’ series, charting a Marella cruise of the same name in August 2018