Thoughtful, but not always to the last
you were first, please step in front, you were first to the bar
I’m normally nice as I always try,
because yes,
I’m that kinda guy

Sitting in traffic, three back in the queue
the guy opposite then decides to let us through
I maybe behind the leader but a thank you is always nice,
because yes,
I’m that kinda guy

I stand for my rights as I know my wrong from right
decorum and manners cost nothing in a world where we all seem to fight
a tip of the hat and an elegant goodbye
because yes,
I’m that kinda guy

Open that door and hold it for the following
don’t be inconsiderate and act like a *****
being nice doesn’t take much effort if you try,
because yes,
I’m that kinda guy

Now listen, I am not always one hundred percent moral
as we all have the odd thought that can be considered utterly immoral
but take what you will from me under this everchanging sky
because yes,
I’m that kinda guy

JJB

Parallel’s, and I am not talking bars
another life, another planet, Astra or Escort, lets keep away from cars
another me, another you, did they do what you do
we all have a twin in life, yes, one of me or two of you

If there is another realm where we all live the same,
then what’s the point of this one if its all the same game
do they have a million pounds and drive that car of luxury
a house filled with gold or made from wicker and trees

I could be an animal living a life in the dirt
or a bank robber, a backstabber or even a girl
what if a man, a man of degradation and easily disliked
his prey in a bar, looking for the ****, lurking, circling, drink spiked

We could be anything in an alternative life
a being made to ****** or the reincarnation of Christ
you could be put on your planet to heal the world
or to exterminate the rest and watch the nations die and fold

Or you could just be you as what you are now
a million nine til’ fives, clock in, do the job, clock out
we are all not successful entrepreneurs in that other life of thought
do what you do in this life as its down to what you are taught

For you could just be what you are now and it’s a sad thought to bear
or stood in a wood, growing through time without a single care
that handsome, wallowing, ancient sycamore tree, oh yes

The Alternative to Me

JJB

I am me and nothing else
I do as I please and **** the rest
I can be selfish but also a really nice chap
I speak no ills and cut out the crap
I want to be loved but can go without
I want to be in town but I live far out
I want the perfect job but sat here with a dream
I had it all in my head until I hit the real life screen
I look at the celebs and wonder just how
I cry myself to sleep with the sweat on my brow
I want to be everything that I am not
I wonder why we are given these dreams in a chase where we all one day stop
I wonder
I ponder
I dream,
Man do I dream.

JJB

I remember nothing, that night I had my crash
7 cracked ribs, 1 punctured lung, the other collapsed, my spine taking the ultimate bash
9 months inside, those doctors saving my life, where would I be without the NHS
27 years old, life just at its beginning, those days gone would now be your best

Waking up I looked at my mum and then looked at my dad, tracheostomy stopping me from talking
6 weeks induced coma, crazy dreams I couldn’t tell you, girlfriend now presumably walking
Knowing before told, who is going to be so bold, to tell me the news I knew but still did dread
Dad by my side, a finalisation they could not hide, it’s unlikely you will ever walk again

This I knew but dare not say, family and friends suffering in the know
A wheelchair for life, not me, its not right, too young for this to swallow
Moved to a place where spinal injuries were rife
Stanmore National Orthopaedic Hospital. an institution where you start to see the light

Moved from ward to ward, progress slow but on the mend
contemplating so many situations and a world I did not understand
faces and places now all the same still lying on my back
I want to sit up, be normal again and get this soul back on track

Taught about so much that I really did not know
your biggest priority now was your skin, pressure sores a definite no-no
learning to go to the toilet in a completely different way
catheters and a tube of ****, a perverted dream for some that even pay

The outside world a playground not built for the likes of those in a wheelchair
a trip into town, get used to the tube, disabled design back in the day not really a care
getting into a car, an ease all my life, now governed by the height of the roof
legs under a table, as some now unable, the world now a minefield is the honest truth

I met some characters in that place, men and women with stories to make your mouth drop
some on drugs, some back from the war, one woken from a spinal stroke, wow what a crop
I met certain nurses, most of whom were fabulous and are still now friends
then there were a certain few, riled and crass and basically, a pain in the ***

And this is where life starts all over again
getting used to the looks, sympathetic and loving, life now on a new trend
from being stuck in that ward where a suppository is now needed for my ***
you’ll know where I am, end of the corridor, bay 3 bed 1

JJB

Can somebody tell me just when did this happen
commentary on when the bean is ready to ripen
we had tea long before time
from China down through the Himalayas, our army marched on this stuff
we all now have a new flavoured taste, the humble cup of tea is now considered a crime

From the elegance of Earl Grey to the builder’s cup of Yorkshire
to be handed this over a mocha or latte, oh how those new snobs do sneer
seventy pence for that cup of drivel, I would rather die a thirsty death
a bit like shopping in Lidl, only at my last breath

Sitting down with paper in hand, let me look like I’m part of a movement
I’m one of you, were part of a clan, our work taking up life’s joyous fulfilment
Order a bagel or maybe a donut, take a box back for the guys in HR
I know I’m being ripped off, but best look like a toff, as I struggle to pay for my flash car

And there we have it and what we create, a brand now known in our time
from the mods to the rockers and onto the 80’s yuppie,
to be different is seen as a crime

They rock up to work, Costa in hand as they clock in with their key fobs
for these are the people of today and will always be seen
as the new age coffee snobs.

JJB