More summer

It’s miserable out there
so I think today I’ll stay
cosy here inside my home
and simply have a play

The wind is blowing boisterous
and the sky is full of rain
But it’s summer and July so
the sun will come again

So I’ll spend a day inside
play some music, have a read
as the forecast for the morrow
is more summer here indeed

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

41

The suit I’d purchased for twenty-five quid
all I could afford at the time
just after my twentieth birthday
my life waiting there on the line

The tie was one of my fathers’
as were the shoes on my feet
His passing was five years too early
to see his son’s wedding complete

Now forty-one years have surrendered
themselves to the life we have led
since that day way back in seventy-nine
when Sally and Jeremy wed

And our love it grows ever stronger
kindred soulmates we are both as one
our life just one big adventure
since that day when it was begun

©Jemverse

Sal & Jem’s wedding day – 7th July 1979 [Photo: Josse Davis – Jem’s best man]

To see where I hide

I have a small corner
with a chair and a cushion
Comfortable, it is a place to hide
albeit in plain sight
It is here that I escape into music
to while away hours lost to rhythm
safe in the knowledge
that this is my place
My sacrosanct
My place to hide
And dream
And breathe

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Together

We all went up to Bignor Hill
the six of us as one
It wasn’t actually raining
but there wasn’t any sun
Yet none of us we cared one jot
as this was perfect weather
for a long walk in the countryside
the six of us together

©Jemverse

Photo – The Croucher tackle the ‘Bignor Hill Circle’ – June 2020 – Jempics

Simply back

Simply back together again
the six of us once more
was absolutely all that
we’ve been really waiting for

‘Normal’ is a word that I
think has lost its meaning
at least now here in context
and the way the world is leaning

But the chance to re-unite
our family – six as one
brought us all a joy which
is second here to none

©Jemverse

Photo- all six Crouchers re-united at Hut 101 – Jempics

Simple pleasures

Writing in my little book
really brings me pleasure
just crafting lines of poetry
to hold and yes, to treasure
I just can’t stop myself I find
I simply have to write
be that in the daytime
or late into the night

As when the words are out there
the poet has no choice
but to sit and write and capture them
so others can rejoice

For when the reader sits there
and sees in their mind’s eye
the place the words they came from
and smiles and breathes a sigh
that magic is repeated
time and time again
with lines re-read, repeated
in a poem’s sweet refrain

And if as me a poet
can, when writing takes a hold
capture just a part of that
it’s as precious as pure gold

For though stopping isn’t possible
it’s really nice to know
that pleasure is repeated
from my words when in full flow
So I’ll take that simple pleasure
as I really like to give
pouring out the joy that comes
from words that simply live

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

A stone’s throw

A stone’s throw from the hillside
and a stone’s throw from the beach
Gosh! I am a lucky fellow
to have this in easy reach

And what’s more I have a river
from the sea into the hills
so if I tire of either
I have that to bring the thrills

This really is a lovely place
this Shoreham by the sea
and there’s no other haven
where I think I’d rather be

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

First XI

11 of 12 in the Jemverse ’12 months III’ series

We’re half way through the summer
but I hope it won’t go soon
as now it is first of July
and fades the month of June
The sun at least has been a friend
for weeks now it appears
helping to dispel the dread
that grows from Covid’s fears

So I really hope the summer
stays with us for a good while
as it warms the cockles of our hearts
and certainly brings a smile
And yes the social distancing
on the beaches is a thing
but who can really blame them
when the sunshine has a fling

It seems as though the summer
is being good on purpose here
keeping up our spirits
now we’re at this time of year
So as July kicks off today
I hope the sunshine stays
keeping up appearances
to brighen up our days

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Hot III

I thought I’d write a poem
but my pen was really hot
I’d left it out in sunshine
so the poem it was not
At least for just a while
til the pen it had cooled down
then I could write the words
on this page without a frown

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Virtual hugs

What I wouldn’t give
for an actual real-life hug
but that’s not to be so when
we meet we smile and shrug
throw wide our arms as always
for a virtual one that’s best
under these cruel circumstances
Covid’s given us to test

But the social gatherings we have
at a distance in the sun
are things we all revel in
and enjoyed by everyone
So with every opportunity
afforded we will meet
and though the hugs are absent
just being there’s a treat

©Jemverse

Photo – virtual hugs at the beach hut – Jempics