Penultimate

The week that's passed, I believe will be
the penultimate week I'm away
on business for the work that I do
hip hip hip, hooray!

I know that I won't miss this thing
these business trips and travel.
One less small inconvenience
I'll not need to unravel

And yes I've seen the country
on the journeys I have known
but, truth be told, I'd rather
stay comfortable at home

So now that this penultimate
week away I can now shun
it's one more item off the list
ticked and checked and done

©Jemverse

Photo – the inside of Kings Cross station, London – Jempics

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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]

London Tales #1

I'd forgotten the five o'clock darkness
on these cool autumn days
comfortable in ignorance
I've become set in my ways

Thankfully though this daily trudge
this commute in darkened time
is something I can live without
as it is no longer mine

Save this week to London
once more to the 'Big Smoke'
before the dawn has made it
and I have yet awoke

©Jemverse

Photo – early morning London – 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 Plan (Part II)

We built some raised borders

for the allotment to grow

laid them out in the garden

where they’re ready to go

…

Just one minor problem

they’ll not fit in the car

but the allotment is close

and not very far

…

And the frames they are light

so I’ll carry them there

one on each shoulder

not too much to bare

…

And in situ the plan

is for cardboard and compost

for a ‘no dig’ solution

which cuts down the work cost

…

Especially when all

the produce has grown

and the fruit of our labours

by the plan we’ll have shown

©Jemverse

Photo Jempics

Part 1 of this little series was published as ‘Back to the allotment‘ on 24th March 2021

Life

I love what I do
don’t get me wrong
I’m in quite a lovely position
As forty years done
with the grief and the fun
I enjoy in this time of transition

I put in the hours
use my mind to the full
enthusiastically driven
For the passion is there
as all are aware
from the help that I’ve often given

But I still need a rest
and when weekends arrive
they are welcome with arms open wide
Two days that are mine
to relax and unwind
whether out and about or inside

So I’m happy with life
quite content with my lot
six decades have seen to all that
And with balance in place
with work/life at pace
I know I can keep it intact

©Jemverse

 

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

The passing of days

To the week that was
That has now passed
It’s had its ups and downs
Some high times
And some lower ones
Some smiles and yes, some frowns

I’ve worked it well
I’ve worked it hard
I’ve taken every hour
And used it wisely
Making most
Of honesty and power

But now it’s Sunday
Yet again
And rest comes to this frame
Before the morrow
Brings with it
Another week again

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Taking a break

Mid-December is here
We’re winding down fast
Christmas it seems
it with us at last
Just a few days to go
and all of them manic
as colleagues and projects
go into a panic
But the end of the week
slows down quite a bit
so everyone here
can get used to it

Several days off from work
more important things loom
Time for family and friends
which we’ll all see quite soon
And then we’ll forget
what drove us berserk
as we all take a break
from the pressures of work

©Jemverse

Telford

I quite like travelling
But sometimes it’s a chore
Especially when your working day
Is eighteen hours or more

Telford up in Shropshire
Two hundred miles away
But on a train – eleven hours
To get back within a day

Beyond the call of duty
To retain one’s sanity
So I’ll not be doing that again
Too much travel there for me

©Jemverse