Elephant Small Vol 2, Page 2

  that told the story of his life.

  No rhyme or reason, just regret;

  an open book, a testament

  to broken dreams, and shattered hopes,

  in chapter, verse and paragraph.

  Then, with a twinkle in his eye,

  a smile that spread across his face,

  and chuckling softly to himself,

  he told me that he couldn’t wait

  to put the theory to the test;

  proof positive of life’s reward.

  “Ambition, greed and arrogance

  won’t qualify us for a place

  amid the company of saints,

  no matter what our status is.

  Humility, acceptance, faith;

  above all, love will claim the prize.”

  The beggar-man smiled one more time;

  defiant to the very end.

  A message issued from his lips;

  a barely audible, but clear

  reminder to those, lured through greed,

  “Poetic Justice will be mine.”

  15. Heroes

  Parents used to look at us in disgust

  They never liked the tunes we listened to

  When we were teenagers. They didn’t trust

  The things they sung about; what they would do

  “They’re nothing like the singers of our day”

  That was the kind of thing they used to say

  “Turn down that awful racket; why not play

  Something we can listen to.”… But hey!

  We’ll never forget those words; that music

  The Rock Stars, we’ll remember, with a sigh

  Names we all knew well; that we grew up with

  And just like Rock ‘n Roll, they’ll never die

  Times that we remember, with affection

  Are accompanied by a certain song

  Voices cause us moments of reflection

  Nostalgia makes us think it’s been too long

  Some of those stars are no longer with us

  We can’t even remember all their names

  It’s true that some of them took their own lives

  Were murdered, or left in a blaze of flames

  Which ones did you like? Here are just a few

  They conjure up good memories for me

  Do any of them do the same for you?

  Take a look at the list; perhaps you’ll see

  Elvis Presley

  John Lennon

  Bob Marley

  Marc Bolan

  Jim Morrison

  Frank Zappa

  George Harrison

  Joe Strummer

  Sonny Bono

  Ian Dury

  Nico

  Freddie Mercury

  Janis Joplin

  Hendrix, Jimi

  Malcolm Owen

  Van Zandt, Ronnie

  Mama Cass

  Keith Moon

  Johnny Cash

  Joey Ramone

  Ian Curtis

  And last but not least

  Sid Vicious

  May you all Rest in Peace

  16. Gobsmacked!!!

  Precise Peter

  Had a way with words

  And he’d always

  State it clear

  He said accurate description

  And articulation

  Formed the essence

  Of his style of speech

  Now he played guitar

  In a four-piece band

  That he named

  ‘Other Hits Include…’

  Carlos and Jimi

  Had nothing on Peter

  He could teach them

  A thing or three

  The first time I saw him

  Perform a solo

  Fingers fairly flew

  From fret to fret

  An improvised version

  Of that old song ‘Layla’

  But his vocals…

  They weren’t up to much

  I said “Hey Peter,

  That’s a mean sounding banjo”

  He looked offended

  As he spoke to me

  “That’s not a ‘banjo’;

  That’s a classic ‘Fifty Nine

  Gibson Les Paul Standard…

  In Sunburst

  “It looks alright to me”,

  I was joking

  He adopted

  A condescending tone

  “If one can’t distinguish

  Between Formby and Clapton

  Then one should just…

  Keep your big gob shut.”

  17. Two Types of Obedience

  There are two types of obedience

  One is born of respect

  The other is born of fear

  If your superiors command respect

  Your obedience is guaranteed

  But you are merely a follower

  If you respect yourself

  Others will, in turn, respect you – obey you

  You will become a leader

  If you fear the pretender you follow

  Obedience is a result of this fear

  Respect is mutual and breeds obedience

  Delegation works both ways

  Fear is a one-way street

  Obedience from intimidation

  Breeds only contempt!

  18. One Discovery Leads To Another

  Undiscovered – unimportant?

  Out of sight and out of mind?

  In a sense it’s lying dormant

  Waiting for the world to find

  Buried treasure? Cure for cancer?

  Meaning of life? Proof of God?

  None of the above; the answer

  Even though it may sound odd

  Is right before our very eyes

  Quite simply, vision; clarity

  Allowing us to see through lies

  Discover truth; reality

  19. Tough-Guy Dad

  He hadn’t cried since he was six

  He’d taken the knocks and fought back

  Always the leader of the gang

  Thought he had what others lack

  Unlike his friends, he got married

  Faithful to his wife, loved his son

  Some things have to be respected

  A happy home is number one

  He would never blink an eyelid

  When presenting gifts to his lad

  No acknowledgement; no ‘thank-you’

  Tough-guy lad, just like tough-guy dad

  Words were not needed, actions spoke

  The final kiss goodnight revealed

  The true depth of mutual love

  Unconditional, unconcealed

  Beside the boy, tucked up in bed

  Toys, clothes, gifts tough-guy dad had bought

  Wrapped in his arms, close to his heart

  Inspired tough-guy dad to deep thought

  Turning away to leave the room

  Tough-guy dad battled with the tears

  That welled up in his tough-guy eyes

  Driving out doubt, allaying fears

  What about people who say

  ‘Children should be seen and not heard’?

  Had they really paid attention

  Considered their thought, deed, or word?

  Observation, care, devotion

  Render spoken thanks obsolete

  The forces of pure emotion

  Produce feelings that can’t be beat

  Speak gratitudes, give platitudes

  Shallow praise for the simple mind

  Locking doors, closed by attitudes

  Tough guys see all; some think love’s blind

  20. What Doesn’t Kill You…

  Who am I?

  Half of ‘we’ -

  Stop trying to fly

  I’m no longer crying

  Tears shed

  Put to bed a long time ago

  Oh, I cried

  Sure I cried – forever

  I cried - tears have all
dried

  So I’m not bitter

  Fitter now than ever before

  Sure, passions paused

  And in my loneliness, I doubted

  Self-esteem

  It took a mighty beating

  But I picked up

  And started over, on my own terms

  Oh, I cried

  Sure I cried - forever

  I cried - but not any more

  An endless dark night

  No distant light to guide me back home

  Still, I forgive you

  Do you have it in you – do you?

  Are you ready to open your mind?

  Find a reason

  To rescue what remains of my heart?

  …or not

  21. Your Thing

  Make the vocal the focal point.

  In the background, the sound of jazz.

  Hip-hop is born; Be-bop, old hat,

  And that yackety sax is torn

  From the track, replaced by pure

  Mellow tones, that endure, not drone.

  Say hello; cherish what you own.

  Perish the thought of losing it.

  Fusing the muse, refuse the shit.

  Keep the spirit of jazz alive;

  Allow it to survive. Dig deep,

  And an urge will emerge within;

  A temptation to commit; not a sin;

  A creation; make it fit

  The lifestyles; the attitudes,

  The moods of the word on the street.

  Have you heard the beat that exudes

  From every pore, when you play

  From the core? Pay your due respect,

  And reflect your true sense of pride.

  Don’t drop behind and hide your love

  Of what you hold above all else.

  Ring the bells; shout out loud, state it clear.

  Never fear, just be proud of your thing

  22. Splitting The Infinitive, Splitting Up Infinity

  To split the Infinitive

  Is as devastating as

  Splitting the Atom, to some.

  I don’t know how to do it

  Atom, not infinity.

  To carefully split a verb

  From its infinitive is

  Not acceptable at all,

  But does it really matter?

  Worse things have happened at sea,

  Any sailor will tell you.

  Do they split infinitives

  So they can know without doubt

  Which is bad and which is worse?

  Let’s look at infinity,

  Beginning to end (?) of time.

  Almost infinite options.

  It can be split up in years

  Centuries, Millennia,

  Hours, days, weeks; even months.

  Then there are minutes; seconds.

  In time, anything applies.

  To justify existence,

  A lifetime is an ‘Era’,

  The Past is called ‘History’,

  The Present is ‘Here and Now’,

  The Future is ‘Yet to Come’.

  Infinity and Tenses

  Go together, hand in hand.

  Why no justification

  For splitting Infinitives?

  Consider Infinity.

  The same consideration

  Applies to infinitives

  Surely there’s something in that.

  To completely illustrate,

  (To illustrate completely,)

  I’ll offer an example.

  I’ll leave you to work it out.

  Is it ‘To Over Sleep’? Or

  Is it ‘To Sleep Over’? Which?

  Was that a Preposition

  At the end of a sentence

  About five lines ago?

  Or are things like that allowed?

  Nothing is ever easy!

  23. Cliché Clash

  You know the old expressions

  ‘Eyes too close together’

  ‘I couldn’t even trust him

  As far as I could throw him’

  That was Johnny to a tee

  A former friend, of sorts

  When I was just a schoolboy

  So many moons ago

  He was much smaller than me

  ‘Knee-height to a grasshopper’

  Skinny’ undernourished

  Devious expression

  But I kind of liked him

  He lived on the New Estate

  ‘The wrong side of the tracks’

  Out of bounds, for ‘good boys’

  Which I was, in theory at least

  I often used to wonder

  Just how far I could throw him

  A few pounds, soaking wet

  I wouldn’t even see him land

  ‘Porky’ once said to him

  ‘I can read you like a book’

  That one really threw him

  (What had ‘Porky’ read lately?)

  It just goes to show you though

  Nobody should ever try

  To ‘judge a book by its cover’

  24. Where’s The Justice?

  A hundred years from now, we’ll all be dead

  A hundred years ago, we weren’t alive

  Following in the footsteps that we tread

  Others will learn from our mistakes; survive

  But will they do any better than us?

  Any different; more successfully?

  Or will they be just like the knockers now?

  Never satisfied with what others do

  How many times did you hear someone ask

  Why do it? Where did it ever get you?

  In reference to an interest that you have

  An obsession that brings rewards to some?

  They just don’t understand the benefits

  That are derived from ‘amateur pursuits’

  Perhaps they think that they’ve got better things

  To occupy their ‘precious’ leisure time

  They’re quick enough to ridicule your work

  Quoting lack of rewards for your efforts

  ‘How did it ever benefit you?’ They’ll ask

  They obviously mean ‘financially’

  Cos money’s all they ever think about

  How to get it; what things to waste it on

  Without ever fulfilling their ambition

  Of living the carefree life of Riley

  So of course they’re jealous of things you do

  Hoping that you’ll never make it pay

  All the while, looking over their shoulder

  To check you haven’t ‘hit it big’ this time

  When they ask, ‘What do you get out of it?’

  You know they’re asking about the money

  And reading in between their prying lines

  You’re pretty certain what they’re getting at

  They’re not asking, ‘Does it give you a buzz?’

  They don’t want to know how it makes you feel

  The question that they’re really asking, is

  ‘Where’s my share of anything it got you?’

  They’re always looking for rewards for nothing

  Despite the unused talents they possess

  They’ve never spent a moment of their time

  Constructively; working creatively

  But as time passes you live, and you learn

  To ignore their thinly disguised appeals

  They’re not really any of your concern

  You hope one day, they’ll find out how it feels

  25. Isn’t It?

  He’d tell me to leave my window

  Open just a touch, at night

  And don’t draw the curtains tight-shut

  Because the air won’t circulate

  And leave your bedroom door ajar

  So we’ll always be sure you’re safe

  I knew Dad had his own good reasons

  Not just a case of ‘just in case’

  He’d always wear t
hat hat, with the hole

  And leave his top button undone

  His manners weren’t always perfect

  But who was I to question him?

  He drank from a cup with no handle

  Chipped and broken, from years of use

  Just like the plate that he ate from

  ‘Unhygienic’ I used to think

  He forgave all my misdemeanours

  And said “You’ll learn from your mistakes”

  He got that right; I’m still learning

  And mistakes are part of daily life

  “Actions are never automatic

  It takes thought to provoke each deed”

  Words of wisdom from my father

  I’ll remember till my dying day

  He shaped my thoughts, my dreams; my life

  Asking for nothing in return

  A loving dad; he had his faults

  Just like anybody else

  He was a diamond in the rough

  Flawed by life’s consistent unfairness

  Fractured, fragmented, forsaken

  By the forces of fickle fate

  Cast out, displaced, relocated

  Rejected by the rogue regime

  That raped and pillaged his homeland

  He showed no anger, bitterness

  I’m not certain time healed all these wounds

  But as Leonard Cohen once said

  “There is a crack, a crack in everything

  That’s how the light gets in”…Isn’t it?

  26. Vote For…?

  Parliamentary by-election

  Caused by minister’s defection

  Cabinet reshuffle pending

  Hansard’s minutes need amending

  Constituency paralysed

  Sworn allegiances compromised

  Converted…? Or impulsive whim?

  Floating voters sink or swim

  Public opinion takes the view

  If you don’t vote red, then you’ll vote blue

  Voting yellow is hard to swallow

  Undecided – who do you follow?

  Left of centre you’re a Communist

  Right-wing you’re labelled a Fascist

  Liberal by your own volition

  …A Molotov Cocktail coalition

  Secret ballot, X marks the spot

  Cast your vote, throw it in the pot

  Exit-poll can only guesstimate

  Who will be the likely candidate

  Opposition wins by a nose

  Adding to the government woes