Long Calais Poems

Translation of « On est les oubliés » (They/We are the neglected and forgotten lot)
by the songster-poet Gauvin SERS
(For the last two years, this young unassuming Frenchman, full of verve and disarming airs has been...

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Absolute deafening silence...

during and after a moderate snowfall
today January 19th, 2024,
within Southeastern Pennsylvania
and elsewhere across the Eastern Seaboard,
whereby blanket of whiteness
muffles sounds of civilization.

I hate a spoiler alert
regarding weather forecasters prediction,
especially when meteorologist
wannabe spouse doth...

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Let hope rely upon your Maginot
for swift retort has choked your Gallic might.
It crushed your will beneath its undertow
as diligence receded in the fight.
Your flailing forces teeter on defeat
and any hint of truce shall be...

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“What is he, this lordling, that cometh from the fight?”
by William Herebert, 14th century
translation by Michael R. Burch

Who is he, this lordling, who staggers from the fight,
with blood-red garb so grisly arrayed,
once appareled in lineaments...

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My wife and I share a passion for travelling, the world we love to see
We travelled through France and Switzerland and we're now in Italy 
Day one was a trip in a cable car to...

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A permanent fixture on the news 
over here on the BBC

Is the Refugee Crisis so much so
it may just as well be given it's own
individual segment 

And the general running theme throughout
is how we aren't...

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I didn’t want to join as a pilot, and could wait till next Monday, 
To become a rear gunner, but I choose to be a wireless operator, 
By waiting another three months. There were 30...

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I’m striding with my jacket, you turn off the rifle
You lead me by the hand, because I can’t say so
You say you don’t love me, but you pull me close
Early morning, I trail your footsteps
You...

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Bulky ute voyeur selects sleek sporty stalion
    Driving by, supersedes her oversized sedan
    Wide wheel arches have Porche comparison
    Voracious engine's enthuse easily enchants


  ...

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Moo

It bounced down my street like a mad thing on heat
Or a kangaroo doing a trick
The farmer that blocked it was knocked off his feet
By his cow on an old pogo stick

So a cow on...

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Off the stuccoed walls, the shells peel 
The wounded babes bleed
There is a story of harrowing kind
To every war
This one is no different to others
The babes die in Aleppo
The world maintain the stony silence
Mothers' hearts...

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chhh-ta-cuff, chhh-ta-cuff


The train chugging back and forth
Looked out of the window.
The beautiful landscape floating by
I wish I was there in the fresh air
Aha, the train stopped at Calais station,
the engine driver has got down. 
It...

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The cigarette Smoking
When I lived in Britain that place where refugees in Calais 
try to hide in a lorry for the crossing to the promised land.
And haven where pubs are full and pints of lager...

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What if the Rubix cube was round?
Would everything lost be found?
Maybe Boris Johnson wouldn't be head,
three cheers for Mary Berry as pm instead.
Would we have ever left the EU?
Say 'bygone' to the Dover/Calais queue.

COVID may...

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Evening of life when struggles are over
Living without luxuries on a small monthly pension
Never needing the ferry back from Calais to Dover. 

Fleet-footed days driven from season to season;
No clutter but the essentials with access...

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They wait, waiting to break the law of any country, they rush in their thousands to gain access to the tunnel**.  Why, what do they envisage is at the end, a pot of gold,...

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How many galleons per mile
Were spread the grand Armada fleet,
Hoping strong England to defile
After a huge naval defeat?

Surging steady through stormy seas
How many galleons per mile
To drag brave England to its knees
With solemn Spaniards sans...

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If I am ambitious, on one future day,
I will make the swim from Dover to Calais.
If I am ever granted carte blanche,
I will cross the body of water French call “La Manche”.
Many athletic swimmers have...

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Moonlight glowed in a gown of gold array
Luminant stars sparkled above Calais*
I would drive my love in a horse-drawn sleigh
and keep her warm with blanket of crochet.
As snowflakes fell, I'd offer a bouquet
and speak words...

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