John Bartholomew

John Bartholomew May 2020

Who turned the life off here
Nowhere to stop for some food or a beer
Camden Town now silent from life
You look back now, was weirdly quite nice
Big Ben stood silent, no ring of its bell
Has London lost soul, its heart now fell
It needs a poke to wake from this blip
A capital fallen quiet, its just having a kip
Its clouds gather clearly, the skies now replenished
This Earth needed a rest, for its time could soon finish
Let's look after what we have killed, as we all need that break
Our surroundings have just one life, for reality cannot be faked

JJB

John Bartholomew May 2020

Furloughed

A word that is new to me,
Crept up like a bug over the China seas,
Where a chunk of the land have now been put on this epidemic called furlough,
You'll soon get your job back, in this temporary new low
So the Government has promised to pay us eighty percent
Yeah, thanks Mr Johnson, that still just about covers my rent
And back to work with a tax increase so large to pay for this mess
Its coming people, mark my words, don't believe a word that politician says

John Bartholomew May 2020

This New Life

In lockdown with no friend's
This is sadly our new trend
Making good as of this **** virus
Listening to music you'd not heard in ages,
Guns & Roses, Kylie Minogue but still a big no to Miley Cyrus
Conjuring up recipes with what's left in the cupboard
Coriander to Cumin, it still tasted wretched
To speaking to your neighbour on a Thursday night
And probably never again in a years time
It has brought us all together in a funny way of speaking
Even some celebs seem more normal from what they have been Tweeting
The live chats from inside their home on the news
Then comparing who earns the most from the size of their kitchen, its hard to choose
And then cutting our hair in the surroundings of our own homes
Then watching how its done from YouTube on our mobile phones
This is bound to cause some trouble and strife
But don't worry people, it won't last forever
It'll be over soon enough,

This New Life

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

In the Sticks

Some of us like being surrounded
Hemmed in
Pollutant by sin
Surrounded by these monstrosities
These towers of brick

Some like to feel more grounded
Breath the air
Escape that corporate snare
Hear the birds sing with flare
And live the life they call
In the sticks

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Soulless

Soulless;

A void that cannot be filled

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Memory

That choice you once had and failed to grasp

Love is forever

Life is not

Never let go

Of that one

Memory

JJB

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”― Mark Twain

“Right now I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”― Steven Wright

“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”― Cormac McCarthy

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.”― Guy de Maupassant

“Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget; it was a hard line to walk.”― Stephenie Meyer,

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Lockdown Love

I do,
The vows that you made,
And how that love fades,
On lockdown from this virus,
We never thought it would divide us,
Just how much more can this last,
Never knowing it would spread this fast,
Been through the bad now into the rough,
But we'll carry on together with this lockdown love

JJB