Long Bowler Poems

Pt. I

The Lodger

Morning sneaked inside the flat and lit the dusty air
through holes in the torn curtains forming spotlights on the floor.
He woke from the discomfort of a night in his armchair
and sighed at all...

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Unquotable quotes: Leftists – XVIII

(Note: What goes for the Left can go for the Right, too. All you need to do is to interpose the words wherever possible. Don’t read ideological warfare where there is...

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Take your own sweet time, and let others keep time.
Tea for two always ends up in a hell-uv-a bellowing brew ;    
        tea and sympathy...

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V.
He could hold his breath over a minute,
bullets hit water, didn’t penetrate it,
he’d used this trick before against his foes,
water stopped slugs fast, not many did know.

When he rose again the demons were out,
so Sol...

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II.
They were locked inside, surrounded by moans,
the pained cries of Hell enveloped the home,
the rancher too broken to even speak,
while Rose went and got Sol something to eat.

Sol went to work, and found a heavy...

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I like Muslims,
Particularly Yemenis
And Pakistanis (in Yemen)—
With whom, as a university don,
I happened to live for six years. 

Arabic vowels render 
A Yemeni voice gruff.
So even a greeting would   probably
Sound rude to you.

The...

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III.
There must be a hundred, silent and cruel,
a slow-moving wave as the night grew cool,
Rose had a shotgun, to blast out her hate,
yet Sol remained steady, motioned her to wait.

He didn’t shoot, he had planned...

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Villanelle : The Cricketer’s Hakka : « How’s Zaat ! »

Balls thud into pads bats gloves or whisk past batsmen
At bowler’s end or square leg umpires stare stand
« How’s Zaat ! » yell players game’s...

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Happy 60th Birthday Dad
It’s time to reflect on the great life you’ve had
A reflection on your times of yore
And the years to follow which will be many more

You were born July the 3rd 1947
Today we...

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Written for my friends son, bowling in the picture, for his 13th birthday. 05-13-2020


The sun is shining brightly, a special day has dawned
The spectators they have no idea, the fear that will be spawned
The captains...

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.
A whale in a pail is far more active in a gale or in copious amounts of hail. Putting money into sharks is a shifty act involving the shuffling of coats in cloakrooms. And clown...

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EDDIE MARS AND THE SOLAR WINDS

The biggest band in Lisburn and fronted by Eddie Mars
A guy who could play anything, on his collection of guitars
On vocals, Charlie Venus, who was the joker in the pack
He...

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     Unquotable quotes -  III

When in Rome, do as the Roman Nero.
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the vain and the 
       ...

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An unkempt man approached me one dark evening
'In pursuit', he said, 'of a favour'
'A drink' he explained, but I was unsure of his meaning
When he specified it should be of a refined yet peculiar flavour
Then...

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What If There Was No Tomorrow? - The Polar Ice ‘Cap’

- this time it’s burnt and curled upon a new head. The 
sweet smoke of his sugarloaf effigy black as night, 
surrounded by a material...

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Unquotable quotes (More Cricketing Jargon) – IV

A « wide » is a ball aimed by the bowler at some absent-  
   minded fielder.
The « silly-point » is the fielding position so close...

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Billy Carts and Marbles

Yes, we all played marbles when we were just kids,
Had a big ‘Tom Bowler’ and a bag full of migs.
Held onto your marble with fingers and thumb
No fudging allowed, and your eye...

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"My mind was once the true survey,

Of all these meadows fresh and gay,

And in the greenness of the grass,

Did see its hopes as in a glass..."
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Windswept village,

Ancient 1836,

Tornado torn,

Blasted to bits.

 

Here is the...

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-
Terence a Griffiths of Tyrone or Leitrim!
Did he know but later of 1820 he would be there born
A Flax Grower a renter from landlords of Lord Leitrim's domain
To thresh and sack and cloth and sow...

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A TRIBUTE TO CHARLES SPENCER CHAPLIN

      I bow to
                   First International Star
...

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More than twelve hundred souls
Meet their watery grave.
German U-boat patrols
Spark a fatal shockwave.

This echo of the past
Resounds throughout history.
Rousing war unsurpassed,
Deadly shroud of mystery.

The empire aids Cunard,
Loaning millions in pounds.
Lord Inverclyde toils hard
On deceptions unsound.

They...

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Explosions rock the boat;
Ocean gushes inside.
The battered stern won't float,
All controls lock their slide.

Listing fifteen degrees,
The lifeboats fail to launch.
Swift decent lugs a squeeze
Impossible to staunch.

After mounting seconds
The vessel starts to slow,
While the stark deep...

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Hi there, sixteen, wow I have some things to say to you
Nothing drastic, just some small advice to help see you through
Life will be hard but you manage very good
Don’t be too troubled by what...

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.                                  ...

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Armitage Pod

Armitage Pod was a ‘cuddly’ cat
Who insisted on sleeping in the old bowler hat
His amplage cascaded right over the brim
Forming a blubble all around him.
He was big, he was bold and as fit as...

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