Lizzie Bevis

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

They mistake my softness for weakness,
Like petals scattered in storms of hurt;
Not seeing how deep my roots extend
Through layers of wisdom and lessons learned.

Each kind word I choose to speak
Is backed by mountains moved in silence;
Each tender touch I dare to give
Springs from battles fought with resilience.

I've learned that armour weighs down the spirit,
Thorns can wound the hand holding the stem;
While my quiet strength flows like morning light,
Warming others without consuming them.

So let them wonder at my gentleness,
Let them question my peaceful stance;
Because I have found that mighty rivers
Flow with grace and not arrogance.

In a world of sharpened daggers,
I choose to be the sheltering tree,
Not because I cannot withstand the storm,
But because I’ve learned to just simply be.

My strength lies in understanding
That my heart does not need to prove,
The power that sustains its caring beat
And the quiet force that dares to love.

©️Lizzie Bevis

#peace #gentleness #kindness

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

So, This is How it Begins…

In the emptiness of this moment,
I am witness to an avalanche.
My world, once solid
Is now water running through
My desperate fingers.

They say time stops in freefall,
but this isn't stopping;
This is stretching,
Like toffee pulled to its limits
Until the strands give and snap.

I stand so very still,
Like a statue carved
From all of this numbness,
Watching pieces of myself
Scatter like startled pigeons.

The sound.
Oh, the sound.
It is not in the breaking of,
But in its absence;
With so many conversations
That we'll never start or finish.

As empty rooms
Greet me with silence,
And dust motes float
Through spaces where
Our dreams once lived.

And all the while,
This acceptance
wraps around me like smoke,
And I know.
Oh, how I know,
That this is how change begins.

Not with wings,
But with the death
Of everything
That was once
So familiar.

©️Lizzie Bevis

#change #coping

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Wisdom spills like morning light
From youthful lips untouched by spite,
Pure and simple, crystal clear,
With virtue adults long to hear.

Why is the sky grey and blue?
Why is there a shadow over the moon?
Questions that we've long forgotten,
Wrapped in wonder, freshly gotten.

They see the world with untrained eyes,
No filters yet to cloud their skies,
No prejudice to dim their sight,
Just raw perception and pure delight.

In their logic, direct and true,
Lives the insight we once knew,
Before the world grew complicated,
Before our minds were educated.

So when curious children do speak,
Their random thoughts, pure and unique,
For in their words, both odd and sage,
Lies innocence that vanishes as we age.

©️Lizzie Bevis

#children #innocence #wonder

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

If it Ain't Broken, Don’t Fix it

Tinkering hands
Lead to restless minds,
Always seeking
What they might find,
In systems running
Perfectly well,
Please, act with caution,
Results may repel.

Leave alone what
Smoothly flows;
If working gears
Continue to go,
For in the quest
To meddle away,
We sometimes cause
More disarray.

Wisdom lies
In knowing when
To step aside,
To leave again.
For changes made
Without true need
Can plant dysfunctions
Stubborn seed.

If it works,
Then let it be,
Sometimes that's
The wisest plea!
Not all that’s old
Needs to be renewed;
Leave it alone
To see itself through.

©️Lizzie Bevis

A cautionary poem.
In England we have this saying ‘If it ain't broken, don't fix it’ implying that it is silly to try and fix the unmendable, to put it simply…it is a waste of time.

#mending #tinkering #caution

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

'Twas the Night of Disaster

The stockings were hung,
but they fell off the wall,
The tree was so crooked,
it threatened to fall.
The cookies for Santa
got burnt to a crisp,
and Grandpa was snoring
with quite a loud lisp.

The cat ate the tinsel
and their whiskers did glow,
while reindeer-shaped lights
blinked sporadic and slow.
The wrapping paper ran out
halfway through,
so presents got covered
in the old Daily News.

But Christmas still came
with its usual cheer,
despite all the chaos
and Dad's missing beard.
For love and good spirits
cannot be undone,
by festive mishaps
and misguided fun.

©️Lizzie Bevis

#christmas #festive #fun

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

Medieval Mud Slinging

Thou art a gnashgab mewling wretch,
Thy face doth like a codfish stretch!
Thou art a boil-brained muck-sprout,
A maggot-pie with addled snout!

Thou fustilugs, lily-livered mumblecrust,
Thy wit hath gathered quite some dust.
Thou art a motley-minded lout,
A hedge-born knave without clout!

Thou art warped and wayward sock-knocker,
A cumberworld, a scobberlotcher.
A flibbertigibbet, saddle-goose fool,
Who'd lose a battle with a stool!

Thou art a shrivel-headed apple-john,
A dalcop, pribbling bobolyne!
Away, thou canker-blossomed pest,
With thou weather-worn poorly-mannered jest!

©️Lizzie Bevis

This poem was inspired by my daughter who was giggling at Medieval insults, I think that it is safe to say that old English insults were quite colourful!

A modern English translation for those left scratching their heads!

Medieval Mud Slinging

You are a grumbling, moaning rascal,
Your face stretches like a codfish!
You are a stupid, foul mouthed,
Maggot pie with a muddled snout!

You are a clumsy, cowardly fool,
Your wit has gathered quite some dust.
You are a muddle-headed ruffian,
A low born scoundrel without influence!

You are warped and greatly perverse,
A burden, an idle person.
A chatterbox, a simple fool,
Who'd lose a battle with a stool!

You are a shrivelled apple head,
A foolish, prattling idiot!
Away, you canker infested pest,
With your tiresome, ill-mannered wind up!

I hope that you enjoy reading this poem!

#old #language #insults #english #fun #medieval

Lizzie Bevis Dec 2024

Britishness

Tea flows like the River Thames,
While tutting spreads like wildfire
At queue-jumpers
And umbrella-shirkers,
As passive-aggressive notes flourish
Like ivy on garden walls
A POLITE NOTICE:
Your parking leaves much to be desired.

———

Digestive biscuits dunk and drown
In piping hot Tea at 4 o'clock sharp,
Followed by a national moment of silence,
As Scones wage their silent war
Devon versus Cornwall;
The cream-first heretics
Face jam-first purists,
While the cucumber sandwiches mediate,
Their crusts banished like medieval traitors.

———

The weather forecast foresees
Cloudy with a chance of small talk,
And a 90% probability
Of complaining about the weather.
Shorts and sandals brave December,
While summer coats guard
Against the August sun,
And somewhere, someone
Is wearing socks with sandals.
Ooh, Suits you, Sir!

———

Red buses pass red buses
Followed by a ritual of waiting,
Until the bus arrives
Five minutes late, of course.
While Big Ben counts the moments
As patience is wrapped in politeness,
Where every grumble is a nod,
Until the next apologetic shuffle.

©️Lizzie Bevis

If you know…you know!

#britishisms #behaviour