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John Bartholomew Jan 2019
Remember back, yes it was a long time ago
When England and its minions lost their one and only,
Lizzy the Busy, she did get about for an older kind of crow

Flying to her outposts and then in her nineties
Still dragging that old codger about, Philip the Greek
Insulting the natives, well he is a kind of royalty

His odd quip on the colour of somebodies skin,
Never mind how are, what a lovely child and how have you been
She married a corker there, no messing

The lands that carried her name all bowing to her superiority
Many of them just peasants not knowing of her really
From Gibraltar through to Hong Kong where they made her royal tea

Man landed on the moon, remembered for a thousand years
If real or made in a Universal studio
The passing of our Queen so real, some still holding back their tears

Reality strikes when you see what she has left of this once great land
Down to her kids to run this Island of such history
And not left it drift to the sea as if built on sinking sand

Monarchy and Royalty march hand in hand from the times of history
Lets not forget the power that we once held
To be banished away by the politically correct to leave us as a sad story

As she would turn in her grave if this once great power dissolved and died
She may not have said it but her wit and allegiance were British through and through
Grow a backbone and be proud again, and show them at least we tried to be true

JJB
“It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.” ― P.D. James, A Taste for Death

“So many of the loveliest things in England are melancholy.” ― Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle

An Englishman, being flattered, is a lamb; threatened, a lion - George Chapman
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
The looks, the small talk, the judgement
I often wonder what they think
Can I ask them a question
Are they going to take offence
What jokes do they find funny
Should I talk to them directly now rolled off the bus named Sunny
Can I offer them a drink, are they even allowed alcohol
Talk to them at my level or bend down eye to eye
I know what I'd probably prefer
How do they go to the toilet and does it all still work down there
Whats in their bag of tricks hidden under the chair
Can they have a boyfriend or girlfriend like normal people do
So many questions to ponder and chew
Should I ask them outright what happened or will it upset them
No, I'll sit and wonder, yeah, live in pretense
A thousand questions when you only have to do one thing
Come on over and ask, I wont sting
I'll talk to you like a the average human being
My legs don't work but I have a thousand stories to tell you
We are not monsters, just the unfortunate few
Give it a go and ask me a question and see what you can see
Only then can you give your opinion on,

What To Make Of Me

JJB
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
Ahem (in your own head)
...........
"AHEM"
Scan your crowd, over the top of your glasses if possible
Tough?
Could be
Depends on who read the resume
On who knows what
On who knows who
On who knows you
This could be a breeze depending whats on offer
Are they here for your wit or for the real thing
This long winded corporate speech, I'm not here to sing
They look like they are tetchy
Some even nonplussed as this is anything but fetching
How to wow a crowd in 5 minutes without sounding preachy
Revert to Powerpoint as a distraction technique
I'm trying to give myself here at the height of my peak
To anyone of any faith, Christian, Muslim or Sikh
The whole point of me being here is to sell my goods to the crowd
I'm here to teach as my product is at its best
You've seen the others all fallen from the same nest
Now look at mine with that extra bit of wow, pizzazz and zest
So this is the part that come Au Natural and you cannot teach
I need the people in front of me in awe and at my feet as this is,

How to Write a Speech....

"Hello....."

JJB
A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. – Max Lucado

Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like. – Brian Chesky

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.  – Albert Einstein

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.  – Bruce Lee
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
You many not have heard the name as its not up there with Gardner or Ms.Hepburn
But this Jewish lady a lot we could certainly learn

Coming through a war which persecuted her kind
A career in acting her first go to but not her true bind

I mean, what could a woman do to change the tides of time
Make the first ****** movie and be barred from the shelves of prime

Titled "The Worlds Most Beautiful Woman" yet not acclaimed for her genius
Put on show as the lady who just wanted Clarke Gable's kiss

No, she had a lot more to for us to see and follow
As this woman's depths were hardly that of shallow

You think your phone is modern day wit and hard grind
This lady had the future in her head with all of this in mind

We marveled at how our gadgets all worked wirelessly on this thing called Bluetooth
She had this written down in a 40's laboratory, the Gods honest truth

Looking to where has a signal because you can't get your WiFi
Hedy had this equated and sussed before Vodaphone even tried

You'll be thinking next that GPS was invented by 2 guys Tom-Tom
How disappointed you would be and completely Wrong (Wrong)

Sometimes I feel genius is too weak a word for a person with such heroism and valour
Rising through what she had to do even if it was a version of Samson and Delilah

Look up this beauty of a time that is nearly forgotten
As there is a lot to learn from a lady so overlooked and almost downtrodden

Never let your genius be dismissed and shunned from afar
Because the world needs people like the once beautiful and quietly inspirational,

Hedy Lamarr

JJB
Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid - Hedy Lamarr

American men, as a group, seem to be interested in only two things, money and *******. It seems a very narrow outlook - Hedy Lamarr

I can excuse everything but boredom. Boring people don't have to stay that way - Hedy Lamarr

I must quit marrying men who feel inferior to me. Somewhere there must be a man who could be my husband and not feel inferior -  Hedy Lamarr
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
Lonely on a summers night at home
A touch, a laugh, sick of being alone 
No number to fill this space on his mobile phone
That card he found on the bench in the park
A random direction as throwing a picked up stone

Working every hour that this God sends 
A TV life has it's perfection, everybody has a friend
Maybe it's authors have yet to meet a man like me 
A life yet to comprehend 
She sounds nice on the call but that's how it's supposed to be
The perfect girl would never just fall from the nearest tree

Money in the wall for a stack of our queens head
Cash only my love for these knickers on the floor and 10 minutes in your bed
Life has it's imperfection and for these he's sometimes flawed
But your only here once and a long time dead, 6 feet under this grassy worm ridden floor,

But hey,

Nobody's perfect


JJB
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
It's mediums cover an untethered mass of production
And yes, it usually just comes from a bit of fun
Kids in the class to a scratch in the sand
From learning the recorder onto a rock and roll band
See it as tosh, well class it as you will
Marvel at its psychedelia whilst swallowing the bitterest pill
A bedroom left in ruin from a woman, hardly feminine
I forget her name, oh there we go, nice work Tracey Emin
Rose tainted spectacles for the ones we love and desire
In reality, probably better off in the fire
But don't knock it until you have tried it as you have no right to really speak,
An artists soul can encapsulate a moment even it is dreary and bleak
Pick up that pen sat by your side and have a squiggle,
Look at things, objects, people, best place? Probably Lidl
The odder the human the better the detail to find and pick
Start to build a portfolio, everything has to start brick by brick
As,

Anything You Invent is Art

JJB
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
What is made can usually be traced back here
From the car to an independent hops bar,
Serving its very own mind blowing beer
We are seen as a disruption, a small disturbance out on our own at sea
Ruling the world and the oceans years ago, ships crafted and made from the Royal British oak tree
Let our language be spoken at every outpost no matter where we did sail
Not all stories of heroism and splendor as some were deceitful, leaving many worried and plenty frail
Places we did not conquer still stand strong without the British rule
To think we could conquer Ireland, oh such fools
But the British way has set paths for many to follow
Austin Powers, Yanks with English accents through to Sleepy Hollow
From the telephone, the toothbrush onto the television
All used throughout the world and perfected to precision
Hate us for winning two timely World Wars
We'd all be speaking German yah, Zwei plus zwei ist vier!
Music from the 60's set the kids all in a spin
It carried on throughout our time, daft lyrics still make me grin
So don't knock us for having a mind of our own
Whilst people sneer and mock our ways, we always had our very own tone
As it is what we are and I hope it will stay,

That Madly British Way

JJB
Anything said in upper-crust British automatically sounded intelligent - Nancy Kress

The British nation is unique in this respect: they are the only people who like to be told how bad things are, who like to be told the worst - Winston S. Churchill

British aren't really known for their physical loveliness but firemen, generally speaking, are gorgeous - Emma Thompson

British humour is very cruel. It's my favourite kind of humour; if it isn't cruel and funny it doesn't really cut the cake for me - Jason Sellards
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