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Best Poems Written by Rob Barratt

Below are the all-time best Rob Barratt poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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My Christmas Box

My Christmas Box by Rob Barratt

We’ll have an X-Men, X-files, X-Box, no socks, X-Factor, Max Factor, Max Bygraves, no war 
graves of a Christmas

I want empathy, an MP3, a hemp-free, hump-free, grump-free,  Humperdink, have-a drink 
of a Christmas

An Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Oh strictly come dancing, come-on come-on, curmudgeonly 
comfy chair of a Christmas

A Doctor Do-Little, Doctor Who, PS2, Snoop Dog, poop scoop, Scooby Doo, *doo-bi-doo-bi-
doo, bi-doo-bi-doo-bi,  …doo-bi-doo-bi-doo, bi-doo-bi-doo-bi …. of a Christmas
*(sing this bit to “Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra)

A God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, eat, drink and be very, very, very merry,  Neneh Cherry, 
cherubim, seraphim, Cherry B, Babycham, Babyshambles, Baby Jesus of a Christmas

An Electric Ladyland, electronic toy, Toy Story, Tolstoy, toyboy, ladyboy, ladyshave, 
Ladybird, Ladysmith Black Mambazo of a Christmas

We’ll have a Kung Fu Panda pandemic, planned pandemonium, potted plants, Pirates of 
Penzance, pants of a Christmas

A no God, I-pod, I want, I got, what a lot, why not, chestnut-hot, gut rot of a Christmas

We’ll have a Band Aid, slow fade, old Slade, teasmaid, Lucozade, “Look at my presents!” of a 
Christmas

I want a no-Mugabe, Punjabi, kohlrabi, Westminster Abbey, get flabby, kimosabe, Abu 
Dhabi, yabba-dabba-doo, fandabidozi, Beaky, Mick and Tich ……of a Christmas

I don’t believe angels exist 
‘Cos I’m a bit of an atheist 
But I hope you all have………….

An archangel Gabriel, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, wing-ding, wild thing, Angel Delight, no 
fights, fairy lights, angel cake, William Blake, Angel Clare, love everywhere, angels above, 
peace and love, peace and love, peace and love…..  of a Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2009



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Distressed

Distressed by Rob Barratt

My furniture is all distressed
It's unusually unstable
The oak bookcase is quite depressed
As is the coffee table

The worktop has a thin veneer
It seethes beneath the surface
The taps know how low they can… sink
And think life has no purpose

The painted window frame's been stripped...
Of dignity. It's lacquered
The blue front door's morale has dipped
The cheese board is cream-crackered

The writing bureau doesn't give a jot
The cupboard suffers mockery
It hates the plates and has no mates
It misuses jugs...and crockery

The kitchen table's past is stained
The dishwasher has worries
Last week it broke down and explained
That it was missing Curry's

The settle never settles
And the new desk is neurotic
The chaise longue is invariably wrong
The sofa is psychotic

The fey pouffé is apt to weep
It's covered in wet tissues
The rocking chair, it never sleeps
The magazine rack has Big Issues

The bed’s always horizontal
The tallboy’s a cross dresser
The umbrella stand is second hand
And feels its worth is lesser

The mirror which reflects, neglects
The fine wine rack which whines
The shelves themselves lack shelf-respect
The dining table pines

The mantelpiece has no mental peace
It's fired up with wrath
The woodburner has lost its spark
The wardrobe is a goth

The exposed beams aren’t what they seem
The ceiling's always plastered
The landing has a manic stair
It's an evil little bastard

The piano's case isn't black and white
The floorboards feel downtrodden
The dressing table's dressed to kill
The mini-bar is sodden

The Ottoman is not a man
But it's no couch potato
The teak footstool's a crazy fool
Who quotes in Greek from Plato

Yes, my furniture is all distressed
But they've reason for concern
Oh... I must get it off my chest
...Tomorrow they will burn!!


(sing to The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood)
I once had the best
Furniture but 
It got distressed
So I lit a fire isn't it good?
Norwegian Wood.

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2013

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The Seat By the Toilet

The Seat by the Toilet - Rob Barratt(rbarratt@cooptel.net)
Yes, the seat by the toilet’s
The best by a mile; it’s
The only seat in which to sit
In the seat by the loo 
You’ve a wonderful view 
Of the road (and a faint whiff of sh….)

Oh, the seat by the lav
Is the seat I must have
I can straighten my legs down the aisle
I’ve got people to smile at 
As they queue for the toilet
It’s the seat for a man of my style

Now the toilet’s so clean
It’s a hygienist’s dream
So you don’t need to wait till the terminus
Rest assured that the rest room’s
Not an infested pest room
Or the habitat of something verminous

In the seat at the rear
There is nothing to fear
And your icy cold heart will just melt
There is room there to dance
Or adjust underpants
If it wasn’t for your safety belt

In the seat by the bog
You won’t sleep like a log
But it’s an en suite location, location
‘Cos if you need a poo
It’s just right next to you
And it’s yours all the way to the station

Though the seat by the privy 
May get rather whiffy
When the occupants don’t shut the door
As they exit the closet
Where they’ve made their deposit
Just reach out, turn the knob, por favor

The lavatorial seat
Will not always smell sweet
But it’s clearly the one I prefer
I’ll pretend I’m the driver
And I bet you a fiver
That nobody else will sit ther (Liverpudlian pronunciation)

(sing)
Oh I do like to be
By the WC
Oh, I do like to be close beside it …………..
(speak)
I will know where you’re going
With your to-ing and fro-ing
Bowel or bladder, you know you can’t hide it

So ….. On the National Express
If your body is stressed
And you’re feeling the need to uncoil it
Make your journey complete
And head straight for that seat
Just relax and stretch out by the toilet

(sing) Oh dear, what can the matter be
I like the seat right next to the lavatory
It brings me great satisfaction and happily
Nobody else will sit there.

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2009

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Second Home

Second Home by Rob Barratt

An escape from the rat race. 
Life lived at a slower pace
An idyllic setting they won’t be letting
The cottage slumbers , 
Like the electricity meter numbers
It’s early March. 
The house is dark
They’re in Marylebone 
Or in Rome
It’s a second home

It’s a mothballed shell, residential hell
It’s a funeral bell, a death knell
For the low-paid locals whose response was vocal
(In the White Rose, before it closed)
But unrecordable  
It wasn’t affordable
It’s an empty place, a waste of space
It hasn’t got a ‘phone. 
It’s a second home

People recall that within the walls
Of this second pad, lived a Mum and Dad
With their family, on the settee
They watched Morcambe and Wise, and ate pork pies
In the blue TV light on a Saturday night
Life was pleasant in Woodland Crescent
But the parents are gone and the kids have grown.  
Mustn’t moan.
It’s a second home

In the shop, the assistant mops a spillage
Cycles to a less fashionable village
And she saved for….how long was it? To get a deposit 
On a studio flat, where you can’t swing a cat
And she silently groans and takes out loans
Despite her persistence, she’s just living an existence
She says, “Why me?” and wishes she
Could spend the days where she was raised
She wishes she could own
That second home

If they want a holiday by the sea
Why don’t they try a B&B?
Life is tough.  Isn’t one place enough?
And don’t try to build low cost housing
‘Cos you’ll be arousing 
The anger of every second home owner
Who’ll fly in from Barcelona, or Gerona or bloody Pamplona
To claim they represent the residents
A majority of decadents. 
Don’t want to set a precedent
They want a postcard picture,
A chocolate box fixture
In water-colour paint. 
Want to keep it quaint
Maintain its reputation
Don’t worry about inflation
Or minimum wage degradation
Sod the working population
Mustn’t lower the tone ………..
It’s a second home

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2013

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Tie Me Down

Tie Me Down by Rob Barratt

Tie me down, tether me to a pole
Rope together the wings on my soul

Fill my wellies up with rocks
Put big pebbles in my socks

Nail my boots to a railway sleeper
My heart grows light as my love gets deeper

Superglue me to the ground
Until an antidote is found

(Not that I want an antidote
I’m quite content to idly float)

Gaffer-tape me to the floor
Let’s hope that they don’t find a cure

Make me hold a lump of granite
I’m really on another planet

Pin me up against the wall
Load me with a cannon ball

Put something heavy in my pocket
To stop me soaring like a rocket

Staple gun me to the shed
Fill my trousers up with lead

I guess that you have got the gist
I don’t need a psychiatrist

So now that you know how I’m feeling
Will someone get me off the ceiling?

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2010



Details | Rob Barratt Poem

Second Home

Second Home by Rob Barratt

An escape from the rat race. 
Life lived at a slower pace
An idyllic setting they won’t be letting
The cottage slumbers , 
Like the electricity meter numbers
It’s early March. 
The house is dark
They’re in Marylebone 
Or in Rome
It’s a second home

It’s a mothballed shell, residential hell
It’s a funeral bell, a death knell
For the low-paid locals whose response was vocal
(In the White Rose, before it closed)
But unrecordable  
It wasn’t affordable
It’s an empty place, a waste of space
It hasn’t got a ‘phone. 
It’s a second home

People recall that within the walls
Of this second pad, lived a Mum and Dad
With their family, on the settee
They watched Morcambe and Wise, and ate pork pies
In the blue TV light on a Saturday night
Life was pleasant in Woodland Crescent
Opening presents, chasing pheasants ……
But the parents are gone and the kids have grown.  
Mustn’t moan.
It’s a second home


In the shop, the assistant mops a spillage
Cycles to a less fashionable village
And she saved for….how long was it?
To get a deposit on a flat like a closet
And she silently groans and takes out loans
Despite her persistence, she’s just living an existence
She says, “Why me?”
And wishes she
Could spend the days 
In the house where she was raised
Life is tough.  Isn’t one place enough?
She wishes she could own
That second home

If they want a holiday by the sea
Why don’t they try a B&B?
And don’t try to build low cost housing
‘Cos you’ll be arousing 
The anger of each second home owner
Who’ll fly in from Barcelona, or Girona or bloody Pamplona
To claim they represent the residents
A majority of decadents. 
Don’t want to set a precedent
They want a postcard picture,
A chocolate box fixture
In water-colour paint. 
Want to keep it quaint
Maintain its reputation
Don’t worry about inflation
Or minimum wage degradation
Sod the working population
Mustn’t lower the tone ………..
It’s a second home

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2009

Details | Rob Barratt Poem

Permissive Path

Permissive Path by Rob Barratt 

A permissive path who slept around
Made her bed with common ground

She was quickly impregnated
And subsequently cultivated

She produced a crop of baby corn
But now she’s shacked up …. With a lawn

One day she’ll hit a rocky patch
She’ll go to seed soon, just you watch

Her secret truth will be revealed
Of how she loved to play the field

I guess she knew what “lost the plot” meant
In her failed affair with an allotment

Nobody could ever make her
Settle down with half an acre

It’s she who is the little flirt
It’s me who likes to dish the dirt

Copyright © Rob Barratt | Year Posted 2009


Book: Reflection on the Important Things