Notes About The Poem

A complete re-hash of my earlier poem of the same name.

Lyrics by a human, namely, me, but...

Full disclosure...

The music is not human ;-)

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Listen to poem:

Can We Have Our Ball Back Please

O my Lord, I hope you don’t see man as virus or disease
This bright blue globe you gave us faces such profound unease
We’re told that we will drown or burn though some of us will freeze
And only you can save us… can we have our ball back please

We drive our cars and fly in planes for holidays on skis
And now they tell us that we’ve brought our planet to its knees
We’re gonna catch the sun and stick up windmills in the breeze
Which feels like ‘fingers-crossed’ so, can we have our ball back please

We make it, break it, use it up
We throw it in the trash
And then we buy another one
Cos all it costs is cash
But now it seems our number’s up
We’ve been a little rash
This Earth unlike the phoenix
May not rise up from the ash

Another storm has ripped up houses, bridges, cars and trees 
The sewers overflowed into the rivers and the seas
But now we’re in a heatwave and it’s thirty-five degrees
It’s really rather hot so can we have our ball back please

The scientists keep saying we eat too much meat and cheese
They tell us we can all survive on lentils, beans and peas 
Which won’t achieve too much when just a few of us agrees
And so I have to ask you, can we have our ball back please

We make it, break it, use it up
We throw it in the trash
And then we buy another one
Cos all it costs is cash
But now it seems our number’s up
We’ve been a little rash
This Earth unlike the phoenix
May not rise up from the ash

This thing that’s wrong with planet Earth is killing bugs and bees
And coral reefs have had their day in many far off seas
Though governments may talk a lot, they never hear our pleas
Their taxes will not save us… can we have our ball back please

We leave our oil and gas right there beneath the sands and seas
Then ship more in with diesel fumes and importation fees
We’re gonna catch the sun and stick up windmills in the breeze
Which feels like ‘fingers-crossed’ so, can we have our ball back please 

We make it, break it, use it up
We throw it in the trash
And then we buy another one
Cos all it costs is cash…
To save the world we’re armpit deep
In net zero decrees
But only you can save us… 
Can we have our ball back please
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Kavanagh  Avatar
August 5, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Excellent! A well crafted piece all round Terry, (just like our planet (ball) used to be); The song ain’t half bad either, you certainly put a lot of work into this piece, and it paid off, not like that miserable oul shite down the street from us, that used to put a knife through our football, if it went into his garden, maybe he thought he was god! Cheers David
Velasco Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Clever and hard-hitting, Terry. The repetition of "can we have our ball back please" is both playful and haunting—really drives the message home. Loved the rhythm and rhyme throughout. Sadly true, brilliantly done!
Flood Avatar
August 4, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Thank you, Rowena. As described to Lin, below, simply splitting each line of the chorus over two lines worked wonders. So glad you enjoyed. Terry
Wolf Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 8:09 PM
'Can we have our ball back please' is just the niftiest title and refrain I've seen or heard since the 50's, Terry. Way to go!
Flood Avatar
August 4, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Thanks, GW. You sure are the man when it comes to compliments. But I’ll accept this one in good grace ;-)
Crandall Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
A lot of sad truth in this, but I love your approach to it, and the refrain, "can we have our ball back please"
Flood Avatar
August 4, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Wrote the original back in feb 25, Needed some serious jiggery pokery to get it ship shape for this musical version. Glad you enjoyed. Terry
Etgen-Baker Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 5:04 PM
you've creatively captured what our 'disposable' culture looks and acts like--all to our planet's detriment. Well done, Terry! enjoy your evening, Sara
Flood Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I had hoped that ‘all it costs is cash’ would make its point and it seems to have done so. Chuffed that you enjoyed, Sara. Terry
Lane Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Terry, you've accomplished a rhyming song of genius and its many factual messages. Applause and ovations to you for your skill. Sad that mankind cannot guide his own steps and has been ruining our planet. God forgives the repentant sinner, but there are only so many balls to give before the game is over.
Flood Avatar
August 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM
All faves welcome here. Thanks Lin :)
Lane Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
It's fantabulous and faved, Terry!
Flood Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Thank you, Lin. When I previously posted this, it was a straight poem, with no chorus/refrain…. Many efforts to make a song out of it, were nice, singy songy things, but lacking something. So I added a chorus but the lines were pretty much the same length as the verses and didn’t quite cut it. When I split each line of the chorus over two lines… the whole thing came alive. Glad you enjoyed, Lin. Terry
Kyser Avatar
August 2, 2025 at 6:38 PM
This is fabulous, Terry. Song goes perfectly with the lyrics. Which generator are you using? Suno? Love it!
Flood Avatar
August 3, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Thanks, Jeff. Took a lot of goes to get this right. I dabble with Suno but I tend to use AImusicgen.ai as I ‘feel’ more comfortable with it. Biggest bugbear is that both apps seem to ignore text prompts, so I have to set as many parameters as I can in the set up stage. To be fair, at the moment I’m working on a free subscription to see how I get on with it or if the novelty might wear off. But what drives me most batty, is having the poem go live, on Soup, before you can input your mp3 file. In this instance, 12 people had visited this poem before the mp3 was attached. Glad you enjoyed this, Jeff: See you on my next tour ;-)
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