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Nichola Vaughan Poem
My image was dull drab and dreary
(It hadn’t be changed for a while)
I thought that my hair had potential
... It was time I updated my style
But the last time that I’d had a haircut
I hadn’t been pleased with my “do”
I’d lost half my hair – though I’m certain I'd said
“Not too much – just an inch, maybe two”
So I thought “Why not go for a colour?”
No need for a salon for that
Just pick up a packet whilst shopping
and hang my head over the bath”
It was time that I tried something different
“Mousy brown” was my natural shade
But I wanted dramatic I needed a change
(and to knock several years off my age)
So I checked all the products on offer
“Nice and Easy” one packet said
Be it platinum blonde, jet black, (even blue)
just mix it and pour on your head
I picked one that said “Cos I’m worth it”
... I was worthy of glamour and glitz
I read the instructions, I did what they said
(I didn’t miss out any bits)
And the guide on the back of the packet said
My natural colour would mean
That my hair would have rich reddish wood tones
(with a truly remarkable sheen)
But the result that I got was quite different...
It was (without being too harsh)
Not “red wooded tones” but more “cowpat green”
(The colour of wet bogging marsh)
A disaster of epic proportions
My attempts at coiffure D.I.Y
I needed an expert to save it
(A stylist who could “Do or Dye”)
I rang a salon that could help me...
Said they’d soon have my hair looking nice
Which they did (…..after five hours labour
and a frightening three-figure price)
So when you see them all smiles in the advert
With glorious tresses in shot
Don’t be fooled when they tell you
“You’re worth it”…
I've tried it...
Believe me...
I'm Not!
Copyright © Nichola Vaughan | Year Posted 2019
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Nichola Vaughan Poem
In homage to the waters around the UK and all those who sail them...
Late at night and early dawn
Like clockwork - every day are heard
Those dulcet tones “set fair” to warn
With poetic, most prophetic words
What lies in wait just off our shores?
(Which seem so very far from home)
Where lashing rain and winds of force
See Salty Seadogs battered; blown
By storms... but these will clear; will pass
It has been stated; thus foretold
Like crystal ball or looking glass
To comfort sailors brave and bold
For all my life a fascination
And still today I find that I’m
Anxious with anticipation
To learn ‘conditions maritime’
The thought of Thames; of Dover; Wight
Of Lundy… I wax lyrical
To capture my long-held delight
In rhyme (or is that “Dogger”(el)?
Enraptured every time I hear
Those places of such mystery
The pictures in my head are clear
Tucked up in bed ... no wish to be
In storm force winds in German Bight
Or making headway out in Humber
Or windswept by a Viking night
Whilst they are there… I safely slumber
In Faeroes, Forties, Forth, Biscay
Perhaps in Shannon, Portland, Hebrides
Those bobbing boats will cut their way
More safely through unsettled seas
In North and South Utsire waves form
In Cromarty the seas are rough
Will Tyne and Fisher bear a storm?
In Trafalgar... is the going tough?
Will warnings of a storm wind mean
A night of fighting elements?
Will calmer Fitzroy set the scene
For ships to sail with elegance?
Will raging gales in Bailey thwart
The hardiest of Naval “Sole”
Or will they give it not a second thought?
Will South-East Iceland take its toll?
Or forewarned, forearmed, such wisdom used
May lessen any perils faced
Will knowledge gained by Shipping News
Make the Irish Sea a safer place?
Will Lundy, Fastnet, all the while
Take courage, strength and fortitude?
Will you face the rigours of Fair Isle?
What kind of test will Rockall prove?
Will Malin treat you kindly or
Be as devilish as it may be?
And Plymouth – being close to shore
Will that prove to be a sanctuary?
Four hundred words (just less) to say
That which all sailors need to hear
To guide; to set aside; allay
Their deepest worries; darkest fears
Each time I hear the Shipping Forecast
I offer up a silent prayer
I listen, transfixed, to the broadcast
And think “Stay Safe and Take Good Care;
….May time and tide grant fairer days”
And if I had my way, I would
Bless all who sail the ocean waves
With “South-west; “Three-to-Four”; and “Good”
Copyright © Nichola Vaughan | Year Posted 2019
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Nichola Vaughan Poem
Friends? Reunited
Via "Facebook Message" the invitation
Reached me - bold in bright blue tint
With sprawling “school days” animation
And scrawling script in child-like print
Announcing that another year
Could not surely be allowed to pass….
Would I care to raise a hearty cheer
Alongside others from my class
Who shared my school days long ago
Let’s assemble for a “night of fun”……?
A chance to gather and show
What sort of people we’ve become
To stand around in idle chat
Make small talk filled with selfish boasts
Speak lies disguised as truth and fact
Charged glasses held aloft to toast
High-fliers basking in the praise
Of status and who seek to seize
On empty hollow accolades
From those who mask their jealousies
By claiming meteoric heights
Through stories of their own endeavour
- Who use choice words to pit their might
For status of a higher measure
Whilst those of us who simply strive
To make our way - without attention -
Down the route of ordinary lives
Will spend the evening without mention
For those with lofty aspiration
(In their opinion – all that counts)
Have no time for peers of lowly station
Whose lives it seems do not amount
To anything held in esteem
No sign of greater glories gained
Those High-Speed-High-Achievers deem
Us fit for just the inside lane
But I choose a quiet path to tread
So I will not gather with the pack
I will focus on what lies ahead
For I see no point in looking back
Copyright © Nichola Vaughan | Year Posted 2019
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