Rhymes or Reason

The cold strikes deep into my soles
my feet seem glued to frosty ground
my breath like smoke around me curls
through chatt'ring teeth, an eerie sound

the winter chills call every year
they keep us chained inside all day
but now I think I've found the cure
at last to help us get away

and all I need is your warm hand
to hold in mine and let me know
you'll help me leave this frozen land
let's not hold back it's time to go

so smile my love and hold me close
there's nowhere we can't go, we're free
there'll be no chilblains on our toes
but warmth and comfort soon you'll see

we rush to close our own front door
to keep the heat in while we're gone
then hurry to get in the car
we're on our way, it won't be long

just long enough to beat the cold
as winter wind swirls round our ears
the new year will be getting old
when we return and grey skies clear

the darkling clouds that brought us down
now roll away to show the blue
and warm bright sun's a golden crown
a healing balm for me and you

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Today was Fry's day, so I hope you all enjoyed your Turkish Delight?

 

MY WINE XXX

 

I'd like a bit of wot he's got ? =- oh yes got too much heh?

 

I love a little tipple
I guess most people know
But only at the weekend
As driving never NO

 

It snowed down our way all last night
and now the world has all turned white
it's like a winter wonderland
but in my mind like pure white sand
that swirls and sparkles in the sun
and makes me want to dance and run
and laugh at everything I see
a not quite grown up child that's me

when I was small the world was large
but as I grew and soon took charge
of my own fate and future self
I left some things upon the shelf
but one thing I couldn't quite forget
unlike the others who I met
was how to act and stay so young
that even when the world was wrong
I still could sit and quietly ponder
how strange new things filled me with wonder

a curiosity so great
I'd sit and read and stay up late
until I finally understood
fresh new things, I felt so good
that I was proud to shout aloud
when all alone or in a crowd
that I had just learned something new
perhaps you can feel something too?

a quickening of pulse and mind
that helps leave troubles far behind
as you dress up to gad about
in pure white snow, and laugh and shout
just like the child we all once were
as snowballs whistle past your ear
to split into a whitening dust
you'll soon be laughing fit to bust
while happy children scream and shriek
let's hope it stays around all week!

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For the sake of the local bird population I'd like to see the snow melt away fairly quickly, but the little boy in me still enjoys looking out of the window at the thick white carpet of untrampled virgin snow.

 

nice one cyril!!! Gods way of temporary covering up the worlds blemishes ; so we can all pretend and start again!

 

Jerusalem in Ukraine

I came across this dwindling crowd

Their skins all shrivelled ; rotting shrouds

they talked 'bout hopeless lives

Forsaken women ? Forsaken wives?



They shrieked about their fallen men

wanted them all back again

But sometimes Beelzebub he holds sway

Takes what he can on careless days?



Some say they fight for glory

for the mother & father homelands

They have the same Gods

bearded priests stand and nod

shake their smokin prayer pots to God?



These wars have been played out ; many seasons

ruled by seven deadly sins

Unable to share they steal back what was ‘theirs’

Empire building always part of the wares?



I recall the wars of the ancients

When David faced Goliath immense

He said ‘right’ on my side swung his sling ;silent smile

brought down satanic strengths consequence?

fitzgarabaldi © 2022

 

The daylight fades another night
comes rolling in to dim the white
of snow that's lingering around
it seems to deaden all the sound
of cars that pass along our street
and birds that scrabble round to eat
the food I've spread around the garden
with luck it won't have time to harden
into icy frozen nuggets
that stick and won't slide down their gullets
before they have a chance to settle
while I watch and put on the kettle
then grab a tea bag from the jar
to make a warming cup of char

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Wodin's day today, and tomorrow it's Thor's day. I can see why the days got these Viking god's names, the weather reflects them quite well. However, that doesn't explain why we still call them that in the summer!

 

Memoires – do they count?

I got memories in my Head
That I hoped I never loose
But when I regurgitate sometimes
They can give me violent blues

I can almost touch the past
And some say ‘well really it’s still there’
And if I go back to hallowed places
Yea I can kick up some old dirt

Some say that all the tenses
Are really woven all together
Well I can get the point of that
But right now it’s stormy weather

I wanna see and feel
Those cobbled streets again
And shout out across at neighbours
And most of all the family glen

We had so many chances once
But left them on back burners
And now when I wanna talk
The echos are just yearners

I remember Ma tried to hold it all
Said “Let’s just stay together”
But Da said ‘No just let them go
They need some stormy weather’

And now our stories some untold
We’ve got clipped advert versions
If you wanna take off; go to the moon?
Then prepare for shows ‘closed curtains’

fitzgarabaldi © 2022

 

Past successes are all gone
but still the life force lingers on
the pulse still beats within the heart
that's not yet deigned to fall apart
and pounding blood flows through the ears
just as it's done for many years

and so my friends I am still here
to blunder through the pain and tears
but also through the joy and laughter
till I reach my own hereafter

but till then I'll try to write
the words that help us to unite
the things that matter to us all
until that final curtain call

when will that be you might well ask
but that's a monumental task
to find out when it's time to leave
so you can all stand by and grieve

the memory of me once gone
who knows it might not be too long
until you hear me start to snuffle
and off this mortal coil then shuffle

but that's the fate that waits for all
of us down here, the siren call
of angels with their trumpets bright
who must lead us into the light

to meet our maker, then to tell
our tales of life both heav'n and hell
and then await His final choice
He clears His throat then starts to voice
His judgement for us each and all
some will be saved but some must fall

for good may win and badness fail
the bad will rot in hellish gaol
while all the good souls born of Man
live with their God, if they can

and those who didn't care either way
will never see the light of day
but wander through the cosmic night
forever banished from His sight

the sceptics and agnostics who
couldn't see the message, sent to
them from up above our world
will now know as they slowly curl
into the foetal shape like babes
to sleep in darkness all their days

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Bit sombre for a Frixxxxxxday, but not to worry, it's due to thaw out over the weekend, and the snow and cold will fade away as the temperature rises to around 13 degrees C early next week. Phew! We'll be sweltering over Christmas at this rate.

 

What to say, she's gone away
our daughter's off to France
her hubby's there so no despair
at the ferry's slow advance

while overnight, with all its might
the ferry moves her close
to where he waits behind the gates
of the house that they both chose

and when it docks she'll wind the car clock
forward by an hour
then turn the key, drive off to see
just where she's heading for

coz she's been stuck without much luck
with us for several months
while letters flew she had to chew
her nails down more than once

until at last the die was cast
her visa then came through
so now she's gone to sail upon
the ferry, with its crew

across La Manche, to Northern France
and there she'll drive away
in Brittany she hopes to be
with hubby that same day

and then next week they're off to seek
his parents for Christmas cheer
though part of me is sad to see
she won't be with us here

but no regrets, just don't forget
your mum and dad, so long
coz though we love to have you here
we know where you belong

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Yep! Off she went this afternoon into the rainy gloom, to head for Portsmouth and the ferry. She made it with just minutes to spare and is now settled into her cabin for the overnight crossing. Tomorrow she will finally be home with her husband and the cat in their own house in Brittany. It's been a long three months for all of us as the bureaucracy ground slowly through the process of issuing her spousal visa (she's English and her husband is French). However, it arrived yesterday morning, so she's packed a few things and gone, just in time for Christmas!

 

Funny old thoughts

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T'was the day before New Year and the rain was coming down
I thought I'd do some shopping, and perhaps go into town
but the thought of getting wet soon made me throw away that wish
instead I'll stay at home and try to cook a tasty dish

from all the different leftovers "curried sprout pie anyone?"
to desserts from all the rest
I'm sure the gannets will all scoff until they've done their best
to eat me out of house and home, I'm sure you know the score
and when they've stuffed themselves quite full they'll still look out for more

but "That's shallot" he used to say, Ted Ray that is, the comic
he's long gone now of course but in his day he was quite a tonic
his radio show always made me laugh when rain just poured outside
it's sad he can no longer "Ray's a laugh", not since he died
and all the other funny men I still can hear their voices
and when I do something inside of me I find rejoices

for they were fun and brought me sun when rainclouds gathered round
I often wish I could still hear that warm inviting sound
of Sidney Mincing standing there, covered all in rags
while Ted Ray made me laugh as he told never ending gags
about the little man who had the strangest of emporia
the laughter I had then still gives me unexplained euphoria

so welcome to my world of oldies who still 'Carry on'
'Beyond our Ken' to 'Round the Horne' and finish with a song
or like old Ted who played his fiddle and bowed to end his act
I'd like to hear them all again right now, and that's a fact

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Happy New Year!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR ‘23

happy new year for who as ‘23 we wish in
just you and yours and kith and kin?
lets wish real hard and through our prays
Include all breathing life that’s mother earth

the wounded and the fallen
in war torn fields not far
the oppressed in brutal regimes
their villages/homes left scared?

For those show on the Amnesty page
freedoms brutally torn
street dwellers in our cities
perhaps ‘free’ but have no real home?

Those animals caged and tortured
to make a dime or two
or forest homes just torn apart
quick riches to accrue?

To all who cannot say that I am truly free
safe; dry and warm ; nurtured and fed
Can’t cry I’m free ; I’m truly free

© fitzgarabaldi 2022/23

 

WOW LOVE IT XXXX

 

Well done, I know you have New Year

 

Candy posted, to my delight: "I'd like to hear them all again right now, and that's a fact."

My reply:
I wonder how many of these oldies were recorded. If they were like radio broadcasts, you could likely download them off of archive.org or some similar site. Just load'em up on your computer or flash drive and run'em to your merry little heart's content!

 

That is true xxx

 

Winter Days
09/01/2023

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The cold sharp beauty of the sun
the clear blue skies that daily glow
the rustling of the bare brown limbs
the chill as winter breezes blow
I know the cold inside my bones
the tightness here inside my chest
my aching muscles let me know
my aging body needs to rest

but all the while as I sit here
the world keeps turning there outside
the birds and other creatures fear
for life and limb, and some have died
lost in winter's yearly chill
lost the battle fought each day
to keep on pushing up that hill
to find their place of rest, then lay
within the warm and cozy bosom
mother nature feeds her young
they suckle at the teat of life
then fly the nest to sing their song
the song of life, eternal chorus
hark I hear them on the wing
they brighten up the cold days for us
hoping they'll soon herald spring

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Happy Moonday everyone. It was full moon the other night, and when I got up at 4am to get a painkiller for my back, I looked out of the front door to be blinded by the intense brightness of the moon. I reckon I'd have got a moontan if I'd gone outside, but it was cold and I wasn't wearing much, so didn't venture beyond my own front door. Perhaps one day I'll be in warmer climes and be able to go moon bathing! That would be a first, and I wonder if I'd get moon burnt? What does moon burn look like? Would I go brown, or pure white? Answers on a postcard please to....

P.S. Please excuse the artistic licence in the poem, I know that birds aren't mammals and don't suckle, but it's a poem not a science documentary!

 

ABSOLUTELY love it xxx

 

great stuff has a very strong feel of Thomas Hardy about it a poet whom I think has describe the english countryside so distinctly - have you read him?