Doctor (Sigh)

I am a General Practitioner - a Doctor to you and me!

I treat the aches and pains you have

it's me you come to see

you who sit on rows of chairs

in my waiting room

for just ten minutes of my time and a prescription - I presume 

...(sigh!)

I am a General Practitioner - a Doctor to you and me!

I know everything about your body

and what every ache and pain could be

I've read more books than you'll ever know

I've studied many medical quirks 

bring your medical queries to me

for I know how your body works

...(sigh!)

I am a General Practitioner - a Doctor to you and me!

I've studied hard and passed exams

been tested almost endlessly

I have standing in this community

so the people say

I fix them up - whatever was wrong

then I send them on their way!

...(sigh!)

I am a General Practitioner - a Doctor to you and me!

But when I'm walking in the street

people ask about their knee

or to have a listen to their chests

"it's just a little wheeze"

or why they have a little lump

"Could it be my arteries?"

...(sigh!)

I am a General Practitioner - a Doctor to you and me!

So I can diagnose myself

I know what's wrong, you see.

When I begin to feel unwell

if my temperature begins to rise

I know straight away what the problem is

so it doesn't come as a big surprise!

...(sigh!)

Being a General Practitioner

I've climbed the greasy pole

and it's been a very, very hard slog 

for me to reach my goal...

...(sigh!)

the training's been relentless

and cost a pretty penny

it took me countless years of work

the examinations were many!

The hours are long

the work is hard

paperwork comes in by the yard...

the responsibilities are huge

peoples lives are in your hands

yes the wages aren't that bad

but they don't match up 

to the tough demands!

...(sigh!)

So I like to go off skiing

but the time is hard to find

and I might go and have a tumble 

it's always on my mind...

...(sigh!)

I sigh for I am a Doctor - a

tired

busy

very busy

pressurized 

over-worked...

Doctor to you and me

it really is a tiring job

so I prescribe myself some rest 

with a lovely cup of tea!

Click here to hear me read this piece

Rubble and Razorwire - Christmas Is Cancelled

Behind locked gates and baracades - Christmas is cancelled

death at the time of love, 

hope, 

and celebrations

planned festivities have all been cancelled 

and sacred locations lay bare empty behind checkpoints manned by solidiers with guns

baby Jesus lays in a manger amongst rubble and razor wire...

...war stops play.

Christmas is cancelled!

Building Preparing Gearing up to Christmas

Anticipation - foresight - expectation

Planning - organising - finalizing

Shopping - browsing - buying

Bustling - buzzing - teeming

Deciding - Selecting - Ordering 

Preparing - arranging - finalizing

Decorating - adorning - embleshing

Wrapping - gluing - tying

Reflecting - reflection - reflect 

Arriving - arrivals - arrive

Excited - aroused - agog

Begining - start - commence 

A Lighthouse

A lighthouse sat upon a cliff

converted now a "B & B"

sit and take your breakfast perched

where a beacon lit

shone across the sea

what need a lighthouse on a day like this 

with distant views across the bay

this guardian over a dangerous coast

where ships aground

sank in the bay

A fortress sat a witness to

storms where many sailors died

whilst families waiting said a prayer

to a guiding light 

and harbour, safe inside

Signals warning mariners away

its light a shinning beam of hope

Captains knew to heed it's warning

the massive waves 

gave all no hope

Enjoy the luxury provided there

safe from storms, tucked warm inside

imagine the desperate battles fought

on jagged rocks

'gainst winds and tide

...and raise your glasses

to those who died

(haiku)

Adults are just large

kids with half an idea 

on how to do stuff 

Priceless

The Amazon the man who just delivered us 3 toasted sandwich makers works for, 

is a company that was worth over $1.1 trillion in 2022

The Amazon rainforest is the lungs of our world and so its value is priceless.

The Amazon the man works for is a company second only in size to "Apple" leaving Google and Microsoft way behind.

The Amazon rainforest covers 6.7 million square kilometres and spans 8 countries and it's size to us is key and so is priceless 

The Amazon the man works for owns many well-known subsiduaries offering many different services including "Audible", "Amazon Web Servers, and "Ring" Doorbells

The services the Amazon rainforest offers are not just food, water, resources and medicines, but it stabilises our climate so it's value is priceless.

The Amazon the man works for has become the world's largest economic and cultural icon and has changed the world of retail - forever!

The Amazon rainforests store between 150-200 billion tons of carbon, if we reduce it's size further our climate will suffer, therefore it is priceless.

In 2012 the Amazon the man works for acquired "Kiva Systems", 

ar robotics company and mover 200,000 robots now find their homes working in the vast Amazon warehouse network.

The Amazon rainforest is home for over 3 million different species and over 2,500 tree species. That is one third of all tropical trees that exist on earth! It's value is priceless 

The Amazon the man works for has a "paid-for" subscription service with millions of subscribers and it offers many benefits including access to Amazons streaming service and next-day delivery of their products 

The Amazon rainforest is free to useo and is the worlds biggest carbon sink, which makes it priceless 

The Amazon the man works for, latest statistics show, will become the number one company in the world before too long. 

When humans cut down trees from the Amazon rainforest, the biomass releases its stored carbon back into the atmosphere as CO₂ where it has a warming effect. Us not cutting down the trees, would be priceless 

In 2022, the Amazon the man works for had grown to have over 310 million active users.

We have lost almost 20 Percent of the Amazon rainforest since the 1970's yet we know its value to us is priceless

...the Amazon the man works for had a charitable arm called "AmazonSmile". This was closed down early in 2023, Amazon said to focus their giving in other directions which were estimated at more than £100 million in 2021

The Amazon the man works for co-founded "The Climate Pledge" in 2019 into which they gave $B2.0 and made a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040. 

The Amazon the man works for, as part of that pledge, also announced a partnership with "Rivian", an American electric vehicle manufacturer to bring 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on stream by 2030

The Amazon the man works for says it will eliminate millions of metric tons of carbon per year in so doing

The Amazon the man works for is a company we trust and so maybe that's the reason Amazons revenue for the twelve months ending September 2023 being over half a trillion dollars! That is more than a 10% increase year-on-year. 

The man who works for Amazon who delivered our 3 toasted sandwich makers in one of the companies electric vans is just one man out of a total worldwide workforce of an estimated 1,500,000+ people.

Is the man who works for Amazon to blame for Amazons huge carbon foot-print? - No! He is just earning a living. Giving us what we want! Giving us what we want, when we want it! Because we want it now!

We are all to blame and we all need to start loving the Amazon rainforest as much as we love, the Amazon the man works for 

...and maybe we need to be thinking about our planet a little bit more