Opposing

Opposition.
Opposed.
On opposite sides.
Two sides.
One table.
Two ideologies.
One war.
Brought to a head
with radically opposing views
and with differing angles on the same situation 
as if arguing with their own reflection 
they squabbllng like children in the playground 
monopolising radio interviews
monologues without breath taken
there's little hope for peace.
Supposedly here to find a solution 
but a solution to an insurmountable problem 
for with both sides convinced of their right
both sides vowing never to rest until the enemy is defeated
swearing none of this is their fault
arguing what they believe is right
convinced they've followed all the rules
yet civilians starve
innocent children die - a country dies!
Through blind eyes
and with harsh words 
lobbed across peace-talk tables
accusations are made
as if hand grenades 
words as sharp as the shrapnel created
pointing fingers 
like rifles pointed across the disputed lands
land stolen - one side shouts
land held by our fathers - the reply 
factions able to quote the colour of their own history
but not the colour of any possible future



football punditry

Yes Gary
if he'd kicked the ball into the net
it would 'ave be a goal!
and if the keeper hadn't got his hands on it...
that would have been a goal too!!

...back to you Gary in the studio!

Chelfham Station

the sound of steam; just a tea urn in the cafe
the chattering of passengers; guests to a celebration
the crunch of the gravel are the feet upon the viaduct 
the signal set at 'off' redundant in the station 

the posters stand to tell of the places people went to
the fire buckets; props to set a scene
the charming station building never looked so welcoming
with equipment which never looked so clean

but without people to travel what is a station
without it's trains; what purpose can there be
the dream once more the sound of trains departing 
trains to far off places by the sea!




(Haiku)

Briefly I thought I
might watch the Eurovision 
song contest. Briefly!

To Tariff

To tariff (Verb - apparently) "To slap on a reciprocol tariff plus 1% to any country who dare not to bow down to the large orange one"

Sleep

With a gadget 
on your wrist
or a ring 
on your finger
with the help of AI (sigh)
we now monitor our sleep
we unlock 
our best health 
mark data points
obtain insights
see graphs
note habits
grab (sigh)
recommendations 
insights 
tips
choices
so 
we avoid 
sleep debt
we optimize - in
N1 - the lightest sleep
N2 - the most stable sleep
N3 - the deepest stage of sleep
REM sleep 
the dream sleep stage
with 
supposedly 
increased brain activity
(I don't think I'm in that stage)
we process emotions  
err. - consolidate memories 
so 
how long 
should we sleep?
7 to 9 hours 
for an adult
is good
8, 9, 10, 11 or more hours
for a child
is good too!
Quantity verses quality?
Or
quality
verses
quantity?
But
doesn't 
all this
monitoring 
tracking 
analysing 
cause you to worry
and
if
you are worried 
you aren't going
to sleep!

Sorry about the slow
nature of this
piece. 
It's 2am
and I can't 
sleep!
I
just
had
to
write
this

...poem