He's a' working on the railroad
Jon drives a train
On the Burlington Northern
Santa Fe
'Cross the wide Missouri
'Cross the Kansas plains
Through a humbling rain
Jon drives a train
Jon drives a train
Got a hand on the throttle
Eyes on the rail
Off to find America
Off to find himself
The landscape's everchanging
And things don't seem the same
Still the past remains
Jon drives a train
Jon drives a train
Jon once had a life
Had a family
But this train's a cruel mistress
She took everything
All the tea in China
All the California gold
Can't buy back what she stole
Jon drives a train
Jon drives a train
Jon met a girl online
Lives in Brazil
He says he's gonna go and see her
And I believe he will
And Jon, he loves his mama
With thirty cats down in Alabam'
He sends her money when he can
Jon drives a train
Jon drives a train
He's a' working on the railroad
Jon drives a train
On the Burlington Northern
Santa Fe
Some say he found Jesus
'Cross the Kansas plains
Through a humbling rain
Jon drives a train
Jon drives a train
a lost friend
I refuse to cry over lost friends
I`m drunk too
It feels good to up the anchor of sobriety
Let alcohol give winds to my sails.
I`m a clipper buying tea in China
not useless toys
Sleek the line, the women admired me
let the clipper sail
I don`t care
I will stay here and
make love to you.
I`m sorry I left you, my Liverpool girl
I went to Brazil to harvest coffee beans
Guatemala I got there by chance
the beach in the moonlight
I have not forgotten my promises
one day more, just one day more
but the ship always sails to other shores
and I never got to write
the poem of my life
A panda, called Amanda
thought she was so much grander;
and ever so much finer
than all the tea in China.
Although a little fatter
(Which did not seem to matter)
than leopard or the monkey;
she was, for sure, less chunky
than mistress trunky trunky;
who had the largest belly
this side of Eastern Delhi.
Amanda lazed, ate bamboo;
sometimes practiced her Kung-Fu
(which didn't make her leaner,
or alter her demeanor).
The panda called Amanda,
knew she was so much grander
than all creatures on the earth,
even with her portly girth.
You sat still at Miss Binnington’s
No swinging legs or kicking feet
Back pressed against chair back
Bottom firmly held to chair seat.
Children seen but not heard
A rule very seldom broken
Only in reply could
Any word be spoken.
The starched table cloth
Pristine white and clean
Ironed and smooth with
Not a wrinkle to be seen.
Cake stand with its little cakes
Placed precisely in the centre
A reverent hush prevailed as we
Waited for Miss Binnington to enter,
Bearing tea in China cups
Delicate and thin
Really the only way then
To serve tea in.
A little decorum followed
Until she quietly departed
And then, only then, was
Our afternoon tea started.
Eat as silently as you could
As delicately as you were able
Only an uncultured yob dare
Put his elbows on the table.
Seventy years and more years ago
Miss Binnington’s now long gone
A more crazy and frenetic world
As the century rolled quietly on.
Children these enlightened days
No longer sit silent and in awe -
Good manners and respect
Don’t seem to matter anymore.
Some times things change
A little more than they maybe ought to
I think sometimes we now
Throw out both baby and bath water.
Broken Dreams
Tonight I´m happy and sorrowful
I refuse to cry over lost friends
I´m drunk as well.
It feels good to up the anchor of sobriety
let alcohol give wind to my sails.
A clipper buying tea in China
not useless plastic toys.
Sleek, the line and the women admired me.
Let the clipper sail.
I don´t care; I shall stay and make love to you.
I´m sorry I left my Liverpool girl
I went to Brazil to harvest coffee beans.
Guatemala, I got there by chance
a beach and moonlight.
I have not forgotten my promises
one day more, just one more day.
The clipper sailed to other shores
I never got to write
The poem of my life
No greater gift then the gift of love
and when given freely, its purely love
Offering oneself to others is love
nothing else matters when we are in love
we can save a soul by one act of love
No precious gem shines more then love
no feeling in the world is more cherished then love
all the tea in China cannot drown love
It is the magic cure for all that ails, sweet love
I could not live without love
Love is my chalice, filled with goodness it
Overflows with goodwill.
Verily I say onto thee,
Enlist in the army of love, and be a warrior of love
LOVE ...
July 30, 2021
Last trip he jumped ship
Off life's ocean liner
Asking you what's that got to do
With the price of tea in China
Uninspired he grew tired
Of the massive here and there
Another sign of the times
With the man who doesn't care
Taking all he's given
In opinions over time
Says a fool will only do
Enough to get by
According to the warning
In the buyer beware
Much the same in what you give away
The man who doesn't care
No need to borrow sorrow
In these days of make believe
Easily seen within reach
As they hand it out for free
Time is wasted in the making
If all you do is stop and stare
That's why each day he goes the way
Of the man who doesn't care
I sit in my yard with a cup of steamed coffee
and watch a mother bird feed her little baby
The fence does not impede my curious eye
nor the strapping beans that are taller then I
My dog is lazily wagging his tail to and fro
the sun is playing hide and seek with a go
Life is good in Postal County, all is just fine
and the sky is the color of white April wine
I sit in my lawn chair as I wander and stare
at the shape of the clouds so puffy and fair
If truth be told I wouldn't trade this time
for all the tea in China cuz , it's mine...
July 1, 2018
MAMMOGRAM
The doctor sent me for a mammogram
He said it was the right thing to do.
'It's only a simple little check-up,
Making sure all's clear with you'.
Not aware of what lay ahead,
I was in for a dreadful shock.
The nurse said to take off my bra,
Then plopped my boob on a block.
Another block came crashing down,
Which squashed my right boob flat.
Oh such pain and the agony,
As on that block my boob sat.
I was told to stay very still,
But I nearly fainted with pain.
Now once this is over, that's it,
I'll never come back here again.
The right side has been completed,
My left one had still to go through.
Nurse said I must return yearly,
But I thought 'I've got news for you'.
When finishing that cruel ordeal
I needed to calm down a bit
One thing that really works for me,
Is to have a chocolate hit
It is the best food invented;
Endorphins released to the brain.
What a blessed relief I found,
Its calming effects do contain.
My boobs were bruised black and blue,
I needed to wear a binder.
I'll not go near that vice again,
Not for all the tea in China!
Copyright © Vivien Wade 2014
Broken dreams
Tonight I`m happy and sad
I refuse to cry over lost friends
I`m drunk too
It feels good to up the anchor of sobriety
Let alcohol give winds to my sails.
I`m a clipper buying tea in China
not useless toys
Sleek the line and the women admired me
let the clipper sail
I don`t care I will stay here and
make love to you.
I`m sorry I left you, my Liverpool girl but
I went to Brazil to harvest coffee beans
Guatemala I got there by chance
the beach in the moonlight
I have not forgotten my promises
one day more, just one day more
but the ship always sails to other shores
and I never got to write
the poem of my life
Your my cup of tea
Your the only one for me
I really like you
you make me glad
I can't stop thinking of you
have I've been had
Quickly kiss me
before I turn blue and sad
When I hold you
my thoughts turn naughty and bad
I couldn't leave you
for all the tea in China
I wouldn't leave you
for all the tea in China
There isn't enough of anything
if it comes without you
I couldn't leave you
I wouldn't leave you
for all the tea in China
I worked so hard
to find my love true
I couldn't be happier
that you love me too
It's time for those blues
to fly away
It's time for happiness
time to play
All I want is to be with you
each night and each day
I couldn't leave you
for all the tea in China
I wouldn't leave you
for all the tea in China
There isn't enough of anything
if it comes without you
I couldn't...shouldn't...wouldn't...leave you
for all the tea in China.
Let's take a coffee break.
I'm stayin' up too late again
but wanna say this to you, my friends:
Your presence to me has more value
than champagne soaked diamonds coated with all the tea in China
pixie dusted to oblivion's paradise paradoxically coated with
olive oil and sweat pheroming gruntingly
grudgingly
boisterously beautifully
to somewhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you. Very much.
The dress was a vested interest
In looking good; the hair drifted down,
Soft Grecian lines that curled
Over sun-browned skin
Camouflaging freckles on her back.
Roving eyes took in the seated diva;
Her throne(worth all the tea in China,
Maybe more) was The Solar Bird,
A bronze, by Miro.
Her exit was the East Wing’s nearest door.
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