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Sep 2019 · 125
Next Step
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
Ideas
So many ideas
Stemmed from the root of my brain
Many can be pretty boring but some are **** insane
A spiders web without any pattern
Some as small as Mercury but could be as big as Saturn
Life has no pattern on whom you may meet
From walking one day to being sat in this seat
But where do I start with a thought oh so new
There is no God I can trust to speak words that are true
It's just a stroke of luck as to what direction
No rota can guide you with a choice or right rotation
It's always down to the person who has the next best thought
For this life and its guidance is something that can never be taught

JJB
Sep 2019 · 255
The Man Bun
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
Bless me Lord for I have sinned
As I once grew a haircut that I shortly binned
But I knew at the time it was thoroughly wrong
Because these things happen when you grow it that long
A look in the mirror and you think it looks alright
Seriously man, that really isn't right
Laughed at behind closed doors and always behind your back
Yeah, it's true, you do look a complete ****
If haircuts were numbered you'd be looking at a one
As the village idiot would even shave it off
That bundle
That irresponsible
That monstrosity to the back of the human head
The Man Bun

#youknowwhoyouare

JJB
Sep 2019 · 105
Talentless
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
Picking up the pieces of a talent now exhaled
Your nothing man
Come join the show
Living off those where you have always failed

Pinching most of their words
Into a flutter that can half fly
You take the fame
The glory
Their right stuff
Where in truth you never tried

For you are a fake, half baked
Let truth be told
You never learnt nothing
But to you that's a something
Where courage is your two faced plain bold

With no friends as that's your lot
Now down that last sorry shot
As you know who you are
And it's a stretch that's gone to far

Because its closing time at this selfish nameless bar

Always believe the truth

JJB
Sep 2019 · 175
Audi v BMW Drivers
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
I could leave this blank as sometimes there are no words
As who has the biggest ego, could never finish second,
never mind third
Mines faster
no mines faster
Then watch this,
No, watch this,
I must be in front
But I have to be there first, I'm more important
Do you not know who I'm meeting, the CEO of some place new
No time to sit and chat, you can stick your pleasantries and brew
Think I'll whack it in the disabled space, this guy can never be late
I'll drive right up your behind, can't be stumped for this date
For I am the most important person on the road
As we don't abide by the rules or the Highway Code
For we are above you as we rule the roads of the land
The Astra, the Focus, the VW Golf, all so bland
We are a range of vehicle that relies on being slick
Usually driven by the same kind of person we all know
Yes, normally, a bit of a *****!


JJB
Sep 2019 · 170
Awash in one's own Time
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
You take it for granted when it's stood right there
Playing with your kids without a single care
These moments they ground you in a time that's now past
Thinking these memories will always everlast
But where does it go in a life that's fast and always unread
Almost ten years ago as you think it through now lying in your bed
A jigsaw of pieces that somehow all interact
Now putting them together to make a perfect fact
Cast them in the river as they are all attached to the same line
As fishings not my thing, I'm just awash in one's own time

For a friend

JJB
“Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.”-Henry David Thoreau
Sep 2019 · 123
Live with being poor
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
I look, we all do, how much are you worth?
No really, how much?
That car, finance?
That house, inherited?
That holiday, a friends villa?
That flight, Ryanair?
I'll carry on judging until I am corrected
And it is what it is as I rightly suspected
Your as rich as me, it's just a smoke screen and a false front
No wonder they say what they say as you really are a ####
I'm happy with what I've got and not living like the encore
As I can get on with this life and live with being poor

JJB
Sep 2019 · 89
Every Last Drop of Breath
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
Hold on to that last thought
It could be your best
Save yourself from falling
Gulping the air back from your chest
Every second of life
Is this all just a test
As were only here once so savior
Every last drop of breath

JJB
Sep 2019 · 337
Behind the Wall
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
Work toilet
Just staring at yourself in the mirror
I hate it here
What's beyond all this
Behind this wall
A man stands tall
An alternative phase on your future
I only came here for a ten minute break
I'm fake
Any excuse I'll take
To dream of another place than here

JJB
Sep 2019 · 192
Big Bloke Poem
John Bartholomew Sep 2019
It's a different way of life being big
I don't mean eating until I want to be sick
I mean my height, my clothes, still as tall as you when I sit
Not being able to buy the shirt I want because they all say Slim-fit

That pair of jeans I want but not your off the shelf clobber
My wife looks high and low bless her, as nothing will stop her
A pair of shoes to fit in with the latest fashions
No size 13 sir, you'll have to look online, that's where they usually stash them

I fly to America where they know how to treat me right
Trying on a Medium shirt, hell, its not even very tight
The only thing is their taste in shoes here
I'll order online as I wash it down with a beer

Even getting in a car can be a pain with a certain model
Head space, leg room, come on Mini, us lads want this at a doddle
And what is it the smaller woman that finds you such a pull
Hell, I'm not complaining, look after me and wrap me in wool

For I'm not violent in any which way at all
But get a man who thinks he's big and you'll get it with a bar room stool
Little man syndrome is our worst curse of them all
There is always one you thinks he's hard so has to act like the fool

But I like being a big bloke as you gain a respect for no reason at all
Some look up to you because your big and rather tall
But at the end of the day were just the same as me and you
Finding it hard in everyday life, and a love that is oh so true

JJB
Aug 2019 · 174
Living on a Roundabout
John Bartholomew Aug 2019
It's a funny idea, of course this I know
A life of moving symmetry, around me they all do flow
None come up near me as it's a puzzle to you all
You wouldnt understand my strange brain, the deeper you would fall
I watch you peer as you drive, does he live on there alone
My small garden, one pear tree, guarded by my green gnome
I still pay tax, all common bills, and work not like some hermit
It's the way I live my life, just because others do not see fit
The drive as small as a room, just space for 2 small bins
But drive in forwards, never reverse, for this would be a sin
I sometimes regret what I've done, but hey, you're only here once
No friends visit here anymore, maybe I acted the dunce
For a life of peace, quiet, no neighbours, it really takes some beating
But if the boiler breaks, no plumbers come, I'll live without the heating

JJB
Aug 2019 · 186
Sharks
John Bartholomew Aug 2019
Circling
Waiting
Sniffing
Preying
In for the ****
We all know one
Nothing better to do
Hated but sometimes loved
Monstrous but also as peaceful as a dove

Attack
Ripped
You had been tipped
Blood on the carpet yet to be cleaned
Off they swim with teeth that now gleam
Tails swagging as they have done their job
Everyone looking as they are the top ****
Nice as pie later on as they buy you a pint in the pub
You take it as its them but would really rather snub

For they are the ones who love they're own bark
A little fish who thinks they're as big as the Cutty Sark
Looking up they love you to know they are on the lark
As they are the ******* who ruins your day
For they are what we all know in life as

The Shark

JJB
John Bartholomew Aug 2019
A new roundabout
On the edge of town
Ten new shops to enliven their frowns

Costa Coffee or a Starbucks to entice the local folk
But where did it come from as built in a flash
As just yesterday it was but a local gap

McDonalds, B&M along with a Home Sense
No builders on scene as they are erected overnight
The real trades of the world now taken over by factory plight

Lets build, let's shop as their skills now no longer needed
Prefabbed in a factory somewhere downtown where these are now all seeded

As we don't care as long as the shopper is well catered for
Making our millions along with the rest
We see the dollar as our new friend and the internet our second best

For we also love the pound as we are the megabuck rich
In another life we were really all just ******
Loving the life of a millionaire with the tradesmen now feeling just broke and sore

If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned then trades are next in line
For we see our money as the devil incarnate
And this time round we really could not wait

The world is spinning into a colossal whirlwind of desire and scorn
Our allegiances are narrowly sewn into paper now easily torn
As it doesn't matter what you are taught its to whom you are now to born

Money makes the world go round as it was also Prefab made
He has a million others all spinning around
For we are all some Gods slave

JJB
Why are we asked to pray after a disaster? Hasn't god made it clear that he doesn't give a ****?  - Frankie Boyle

The most heinous and the must cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives - Ghandi

“In God We Trust.” I don’t believe it would sound any better if it were true - Mark Twain

A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows - Mark Twain
Aug 2019 · 191
Oh, that's him in...?
John Bartholomew Aug 2019
Oh look, it's what's his name
He was in that thing with...
Corrie?
No, well he might have been
Oh, you mean on BBC one a few years ago
Yes
He played a copper along with Denis, oh, I forget
Waterman?
No, he was in the Sweeney
That was the Seventies
He's old enough
The Bill?
No, that was ITV
Well, you've lost me
Google it
Google what?
His name?
Well you don't know his name!
Oh I give up
Hopper?
On BBC one?
He might have been in a film
Hmm, maybe
Right...it must have been Dennis Waterman
I'm telling you, it's not Dennis Waterman
Well, I give up, and so does Google
(2 minute silence watching the programme)
I've got it! Bill Paterson
He looks nothing like Dennis Waterman!
Same age...ish
Your mad
(A shrug of the shoulders)
Right, I'm going out
Yeah...see'ya

Thinks to herself...Bill Paterson...I think he was in a film actually

Oh, that's him in...

JJB
John Bartholomew Aug 2019
Chasm
That's the space you want to fill
Looking out of the window whilst serving on the till
People buying those tickets for a load they only dream
Lotteries around the world letting off that mystic steam

Waiting
Maybe they'll pick you up that unknown multi millionaire
Living a life now in a dream without a single care
Your thoughts of a dramatic career basically now a flop
So why would that man of influence be shopping in co-op?

Dreaming
Looking at the Cava thinking its only cheap Champagne
What should I wear to Sharon's party as that top is now stained
Who's going to be there I suppose the usual bunch of boys
Then he pulled up in front of my door, a Silver Rolls Royce

Hello
Older but not by much he stumbles through, such a panic
Do you have anything to get this stain away from such fabric
Hot water, a good scrub as he ripped it off down to his tum
I took it, soap and then some, you'd be the kind of girl to meet my mum

Someday
Dried under the blower in the ladies toilet
I'm sure if I got with him he'd have my life summed up
So thankful he threw it on and told me I was his hero
I blushed, felt good for a while but then back down to zero

Again,

Someday

JJB
Aug 2019 · 112
Inside a Comics Head
John Bartholomew Aug 2019
So its audience first
Hello
Scan
A quick joke
Scan
Chat
A short story
A heckle
I heckle back
Can I make you feel any smaller
I'll get your name
Your my go too guy
Another story
Racist maybe?
To an extent
Where am I?
I'm up north
Should be OK
Swig of drink
Gather yourself
Joke
A look to the clock
2 minutes left
Last joke
Walk off
Slight wave
Sit in car
Cry
When does this get any better
Drive home
#repeat

JJB
Jul 2019 · 126
Unfinished Everything's
John Bartholomew Jul 2019
There once was a time when the time was now
Make this your plan, your goal, your forever be
But it lapsed
It'll come round again you say
Thinking of that smile and joy
Laughing because they actually liked you
But know its on relapse and that time is gone forever
Seize the minute, the hour, the non forgotten past
Embrace what it was and never let it go
You may meet again in a time when now is no good
Or hear a song reminding you of how they did sing
For there will always be,

Unfinished Everything's

JJB
Jul 2019 · 106
They Say...
John Bartholomew Jul 2019
They say you should always wear sun cream
They say you should always follow your dreams
They say you shouldn't drive to fast
They say you shouldn't swear but then I cannot be arsed

They reckon that times goes faster the older you get
They reckon that No.1 is always a safe bet
They reckon that we landed on the moon
They reckon that he didn't meet Mr Spoon

They are 'the they' but who the devil are they
They are the guiding light in whatever they ever say
They are the ones who told us there was some kind of God
They are the ones with wisdom but I would rather believe my dog

They say wise things but not always right
They say we cant live forever but I will always shine like a light
They say so much within the rules that we all live by
But I'm sick of what they always say as I walk on with a sigh,

Believe your own truth

JJB
Jul 2019 · 164
Life
John Bartholomew Jul 2019
Snap!
And there it all went
Life
In the crack of a bone
But I hadn't kissed the girl of my dreams
I hadn't scored that goal for my football team
Left or Right I never knew which way to lean
This cannot be that, it has to be more than it seems

Nope

So that's it. All gone. It's over?

Yep

But I had so much more to give!

Do it while you can then kid, cos you ain't coming back

****

JJB
Jul 2019 · 165
Angry Skies Above
John Bartholomew Jul 2019
That darkness, that coldness in the air
Today has been a bad day for us all
Never prepared for such shock all at once
A man so loved now gone without despair
The suddeness, so quick before our plans
His ideas a bloom and so plentiful
Taken in seconds from such a blow
He wandered, he thought, he drew
No replacing his thoughts played out in Manga, sometimes Disney too
For he was a closed book with thoughts of his own
A testament to nobody but a world now never shown,

as are

Angry Skies Above

JJB
Jul 2019 · 156
Angry (over a word)
John Bartholomew Jul 2019
Why?
Just one word
Why say it?
It bothers me
It grinds me
It engulfs me
And they know
Since school
In the pool
Those ignorant fools
Its so fickle
But its my pickle
A word so small
Its bigger than little
A whisper
In my right ear
A word to enrage
It brings me to fear

Just one word

JJB
Jul 2019 · 105
Show Me How You Run
John Bartholomew Jul 2019
That first step
A launch into the unknown
Who knows where it could lead
Life's predicaments all in your montage
Dreams of a dream we all had that once
It's a journey of an utter unknown
Could last for years or be over in the snap of a bone
So why do you predict a happy and fruitful life
I just want the best of whilst living as sharp as a knife
Smiling like a fruit-fly who is just here to have some fun
Watch me burn, watch me fly,
But most of all honey,
Show me how you run!!!
Jun 2019 · 1.1k
Remembering when...
John Bartholomew Jun 2019
Remembering when you thought 30 pound was a lot
Remembering when your mum would wipe your bot
Remembering when the World was big and pretty
Remembering when life was ace with nothing ever ******

Remembering when people were fun and playful
Remembering when nothing was a handful
Remembering when asking for a sleepover
Remembering when I shared with my dog Rover

Remembering when I couldn't spell my surname
Remembering when all I wanted was fame
Remembering when I first passed my test
Remembering when I thought my car was the best

Remembering when we first had our kids
Remembering when we took them on their first trip
Remembering when they both left High School
Remembering when they often played the fool

Remembering when I fell over in the garden
Remembering when this all first happened
Remembering when the van first took me to hospital
Remembering when the acceptance was futile

Remembering when I first forgot my wife's name
Remembering when that put me to shame
Remembering when the nurse then changed my sheets
Remembering when I was hoping for that last final heartbeat

JJB
Adrenaline is wonderful. It covers pain. It covers dementia. It covers everything. Jerry Lewis
Jun 2019 · 291
Being Me #paraplegic
John Bartholomew Jun 2019
A blink of an eye
That's how quick life can change
From free and easy
To medication, an uncontrollable bladder and to feeling almost queasy
A spinal trauma that went from tap onto snap
Laughing inside that thank God you're not like that
Now join the band where the view is now half the horizon
From standing up to sitting down with your legs permanently frozen
But these things happen although surely not to you
I used to enjoy my half an hour in the toilet, reading the paper and doing a poo
Now the procedure, the timings, the suppositories waiting to melt
Gloving up that hand and finger until it's time to smell that smell
Hey, thats now what I call life
It's a trauma, it's a story on an everyday basis
But would I change it back for the normal life?
Hell yeah, it's those long paper read poo's that I really miss!

JJB
Jun 2019 · 120
Destination: Home
John Bartholomew Jun 2019
Kicking around these parts of life
Its where you finish that matters
Travel the circumference of the world and nowhere counts
That smile and warm smell of where it engulfs you
Chatter, a taste, this is where I feel safe
A passing whiff of a well known must
Everything you love and fear, yeah that's the stuff
Waking with a slumber of never having any fear
Nights out with people you love, the taste of home made beer
It doesn't matter where you go this is the place where you've grown
From the Post Box on the street to the walls made of stone
This is the place you will always love,
Because this place,
Is home

JJB
“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.” - Anon

“Home is not a place…it’s a feeling.” - Anon
Jun 2019 · 245
Watching a Spider
John Bartholomew Jun 2019
Intricate in its shape
Its delicate pondering of its next right move
Chain of command always on the teeter
What it can eat and who is likely to feed it
Making a web to catch its innocent prey
Watching as it falters into the spiders dinner tray
Labelled as evil by any horror film made
A life of getting by and working hard, no badness does it make
As ugly as it was once crowned by a God with no commanding easel
Screamed at by plenty like the scratching of a trouser weasel
Be careful of the poor thing as its tiny in appearance
Its hanging in the corner doesn't want any interference
Just a life of getting on without the shaking and the shouting
Moving in measures not meant to get the human heart beating

For I am only,

Watching a Spider

JJB
Jun 2019 · 169
Regrets
John Bartholomew Jun 2019
There is always a place for regrets
To store them, to leave them
Come back to them when necessary
Sometimes their storage is a mistake
Remembering things you wish you'd never want too
Mistakes once said in the depths of an argument
Now you shudder for once speaking out of term
But that's what regrets are made to make you feel
A flippant remark or an unsought comment
Words on a text that they should never have seen
Taking them places they should never have been
As regrets,
We've had a few
Lets not make that mistake again labelled number two
Stepping back into that wrong sanctimonious queue
As now we know whats right and whats true,

Regrets

JJB
May 2019 · 110
The Killing of Mother Earth
John Bartholomew May 2019
They were around for maybe 100 thousand years
Killing beasts to survive with flint made into spears
Regurgitating themselves onto a higher plane each time
They claim to have had a God that lived above with light he did shine
And a son who some did meet from a book they seem to revel in
If you did not believe these truths then forever live in sin
From here they spread around the world to places far and wide
They believed in being together as husband with his bride
Churning up the natural land as their need grew ever stronger
Inventing things such as cars and planes and onto what they could ponder
This Earth's oils are now low from extract they had to filter
The bain of life they did not see now swallowing up all that aorta
Chaos and unforeseen destruction now the catalyst for mans end
For ****** the planet of its natural wealth is a price man must tend
As now it is a quiet sphere which bubbles at its own beauty
Seas and plants will kindly grow in a wealth of natural serenity
Vanished is the man that put this destruction into first gear
As the animals now live in world of motion no doubt in silent cheer

JJB
John Bartholomew May 2019
Well it's easy
This is what you do
Tell no one
Nobody
Nothing
Its your idea
Yeah, it's been rattling around up there for years, but it's yours
Write it down
Lock it away
Whack a copyright on it
And when the time is right...
Unveil your life change for this world to see,
And that my friend can answer your question of,

So you want to be a millionaire?

JJB
May 2019 · 107
Scottish Waffle
John Bartholomew May 2019
The noise, the harshness, as course as steel off-cuts
To berate, just one word, will have one man scared
From Dundee to Inverness and Clyde,
Just a sentence from a Glaswegian will make you hide
A friendly hello can sometimes sound like a fight
A nod of the cap, I won't upset you,
Let me just keep out of your sight
A pint in the pub with no eye contact at all
Hello, how are ye, what was all the worry
To be scared of such friendly people I have been a fool
The craic is mighty with the pub next to an aging brothel
Best mates now with the few I was so wary
As like most men drunk it all come out as Scottish waffle

JJB
Just chuck it in the **** it bucket and move on ...... A Wise Person
May 2019 · 758
So sorry for being so rude
John Bartholomew May 2019
The odd word sometimes slips out
I mean nothing by it
It's just human instinct
I say what I mean in the passions of such clout
Offended?
Then sorry
Or am I?
Get a grip woman,
It's just a word that instinctively rolled from my mouth
Well if you don't like this then see me when drunk
I'll tear you to pieces
I'll shatter your dreams
And leave this room dirtier than that of a skunk
Spraying the kerbside with thoughts of a madman
Speaking such truths
Littering the graves of such inbuilt angst
Whilst wittering away and dancing the can-can
Dont try and stop me as this is my food
Living on this tribal urge
The surrounding men have given up their surge
So sorry for being so rude.
John Bartholomew Apr 2019
Trying to keep up with the leading man
Doing everything he does
Seems he's covered the World in his 30 year life span
Comes in everyday even with a stinking cold
He laughs,
He jokes
I haven't met his wife but no doubt stunning with looks so bold
But don't think that that's the man you have to be
We all live our different lives as,
We don't all fall from the same enchanted tree
So what if your not so tall and have the odd spot on your face
It's what makes up the world,
As we all come from a different place
Difference is the exact medium that makes this life a blast
If we all had the same dumb thoughts then,
all our hot dogs would be filled with Bratwurst!

Nobody's Perfect

JJB
School is practice for future life, practice makes perfect and nobody's perfect, so why practice? - Billie Joe Armstrong

Stop hating on yourself for not being perfect. If God wanted perfection, He would have made you an angel.

Nobody is perfect, so get over the fear of being or doing everything perfectly. Besides perfect is boring. - Jillian Michaels
Apr 2019 · 569
An Office Full Of Weirdos
John Bartholomew Apr 2019
We are all different
But some are more different others.
The Asian lady who cant't stop drinking her tea
The perverted Iranian who has not one wife, not two but three
The strange fella who makes noise as he walks
Probably harmless but must have a woman that he stalks
The bodybuilder who talks to no-one unless in trouble
Trying to grow a goatee but looks like daft stubble
Always the computer buff who knows how to hide his secret sites
If we knew how to access his stuff he'd soon enough take flight
The chubby man who's wife we believe is Thai
Most British girls just turned him away, well at least he tried
Then there's the cheeky sod who says he's wheelchair bound
Comes out with some screamers but no one utters a sound
And how could I forget the older lady who's divorced three times
You didn't know that? Oh you'll find out down the line
And then there is me who I think to be plain and normal
But God only knows what they say about me, nice and informal?
Not from this lot

An Office Full of Weirdos

JJB
I am weird, you are weird. Everyone in this world is weird. One day two people come together in mutual weirdness and fall in love. ~ Dr. Seuss
Apr 2019 · 174
Crusades
John Bartholomew Apr 2019
Waking up with that one goal
Achieving what's in your heart and your soul
The smallest of things
The largest of things
We all have our private crusades

JJB
Mar 2019 · 232
Planets
John Bartholomew Mar 2019
The planets align to tell of a different wonder
Astronomers talk of us in sync as if God planned it
But if I am being truthfully honest
I'm just happy being me
Living my life
Happy
In love
On this wonderful planet

JJB
Mar 2019 · 122
Wits End
John Bartholomew Mar 2019
I think the title is a little less than needed
For you live a life begging from daddy,
For more I've always pleaded
Grow up stupid girl as your balance is always red listed
As you flick through those sites so fast on things you can't afford
Your fingers now have blisters
Dreaming of a life fulfilled, good food and well bred horses
Now stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere, teaching her kids the same of a times that she endorses
For her car is a Range Rover with a spate battery in the footwell
Advertised on Exchange and Mart as a car that
Mar 2019 · 299
Describe Me
John Bartholomew Mar 2019
Fat
Thin
Living with sin
Depends on how well you know me
My past misdemeanors
You could well take me to the cleaners
On discrepancies I've done in the past
I seem so nice and pleasant
With a smile that seems so repellent
Not even a fly would fear my charm
But it could all just be an act so decisive
That it has other means and devices
That keep me at reach from a length of your arm
But I can turn it on when its needed
Talking the bull with the waffle I'm feeding
And have them eating out of my palm
But that only comes when times can be hard
Concocting the odd story like a once well known Bard
But not as well known as the great Billy Shakespeare
For I am an honest man with the odd story that's a lie
We all have that in our depth even under a shirt and a tie
As times can be hard sometimes we all live in fear
See, you cant describe everyone with same artists brush
We can be rude, we can be transparent and some are just lush
If your looking from just the outside then what a great toosh!

Yeah, go on, I'd love you too,

Describe me

JJB
A bad system will beat a good person every time - W. Edwards Deming

I'm a good person, but with many defects. - Enrique Iglesias

I just want people to realize that it doesn't take much to be a good person. Simple things is all it takes. - Brian Ortega
Feb 2019 · 313
A False Promise
John Bartholomew Feb 2019
Wake up and don't look back
Let's get this ship back on track
You took the wind out of my sails but for me I will prevail
As this blip is never going to hurt me

I said some stupid things and from now I will carry on trying
For it was all in the past and the future looks good, steered away from your vows and your lying
The oddity and your empathy will linger in my brain
But my eyes have seen some sorry things and from here I will refrain

Telling me of your past and a load of it pure trouble
Most of it just made up like a sketch with Fred and Barney Rubble
So don't whisper sweet nothings in my ear finished off with a loving kiss
As the meaning was there but never been bolstered, as those lies were nothing but,

A False Promise

JJB
Feb 2019 · 653
Sugermummy
John Bartholomew Feb 2019
We would all love an easy life,

Wallowing away on a beach in the sand,
Not a worry in the world, cocktail in hand,

Lying back, shades on, what else: Dolce and Gabana
A light breeze, a click of wrist, someone to fan you

But you paid for nothing as its a part of her deal,
Being back home, worked to the bone, this is where I now feel

I may not love her but its worth it for the ride,
As that is a just a word to those who can easily hide

Having the looks, the chiseled chin and charm is a God send for some,
A workout in the morning, pump some weights and a quick run,
Then onto the lady of my life for false kisses and fun

You pay her in kind as she knows the score,
A fair bit older where plastic now covers the raw

But if its paid for and shes good for the laugh,
Then whats the big deal as this is my hollow craft

I'll use this body as this is what I was given,
BMX to a Harley, this body was made to be ridden

And I know that people just see me as shallow,
But jealousy is human and only hides in your shadow

Because life is short and its best to see it as funny,
Hell, if you had the chance you'd soon have what I have,

Love you babe,

Sugarmummy

JJB
Feb 2019 · 161
Valentine
John Bartholomew Feb 2019
Valentine
Be the love of mine
I'll get you laughing at my jokes topped up on cheap wine
Take you out to Wimpy or MackieDee's if you like
Pick you up at 6, always room on the back of my bike
Dressed to impress, tight jeans and my brand new Nike's
You could never mock my way with words
The texts I send you followed by the emoji of the smiling ****
I'd ask you to be my girlfriend but for now your just my bird
Not being the richest I always pay you kind
We go out during the week, have a coffee, chat and unwind
Your smile starting to pull at my heart, think its love I'm starting to find
Now that day is here do I tell her how I really feel
Love like an orange, at what point do I start to unpeel
Is it in a card or after a peck on the cheek, to say those words before that lifetime kneel
All a bit early after only a few weeks some might say
A sign from God if you believe in all those who pray
But no, the time has come, this is the day
To commit to someone who will be by your side for life
Having them there even if they are your trouble and strife
No receipt to take them back once that days not so bright
But hey, give it a go as were a long time dead
We all have different tastes from soda to flat or even French bread
Those two words are a commitment once lovingly said
So I'll say it now and maybe out of the blue
Will you be my Valentine as, well,
I really do love you...

X

JJB
Feb 2019 · 753
That Last Cup of Tea
John Bartholomew Feb 2019
You wanted to make a few quid but this really wasn't the way
You'd sneak it in stashed in a sack, it happens everyday

Thai police are not that bothered now on a little bit of sniff
A couple of packs lodged in between, those dogs wont get a whiff

Twenty grand for a weekend away, lovely when an easy job goes right
But that fella you met was a grass and a snitch, should have kept quiet on that flight

Now here you are, a quick court trial now lining up for that bullet to the head
You have one last wish, be it something to eat before you lay in your final death bed

Nothing comes to mind in a situation that you thought you'd never find, just one thing to take me back home
A well made cup of tea and that feeling to be free, a delicacy I will now never know

Blindfold on and the sound of guns being carefully loaded to the max
The things we do to fill our pockets in life and avoiding that wanted tax,

พร้อมแล้ว! (ready I presume)

จุดมุ่งหมาย! (that's got to be aim. ****)

ไฟ!!!!! (Well that last cup of tea was ni..........)



JJB
Feb 2019 · 218
I Don't Do Bad Drivers
John Bartholomew Feb 2019
Judgemental?
Yes
A car that hasn't been cleaned in ages
It makes you think
Their driving?
Gonna be bad

You step in and already the signs are negative
A mess of untold takeaways, how do some people live
11 Magic Tree's all hanging from the mirror
On the passenger seat their food, an old McDonald's wrapper

CD cases shoved into the depths of the car doors pockets
From Jane McDonald onto Steps, please God, just stop it
Penny sweet wrappers all mixed with their mint Extra's
On the back seat a GB map and a DVD of Michael C Hall in Dexter

I start to wonder what the state of their house really is
Not Hoovered for weeks, stinks to high heaven with old food in the fridge
But let's not stray as they might actually be a surprise
Jumps in, no seatbelt on, no, this really is a pigsty

Whacks it into first, revs right up, let's skip that trip and put it in third
Who teaches these people the way to live in life
Did their parents skip a growing up class on how to live nice
Or maybe I have morals that sour down to being too pleasant
Were nearly there, just a quick ride which I'm starting to wish I hadn't

Getting out I thank them for their generosity, until next time,
She replied,
"Don't be stupid son, I'm your mum, your always welcome for a free ride!"

Think I'll try dad next time

JJB
Feb 2019 · 130
It's Everybody Else
John Bartholomew Feb 2019
I sit and think, is it just me?
I say a sentence which makes perfect sense to be hammered down again
I try to stay positive but my thoughts are never on trend
Sometimes I stray as this life's not all it's cracked up to be
I wander into my unknown, a place where I start to see
My thoughts and my vision see a different kind of light
It's just not one that others like, a mentality they try and fight
As I like another kind of state, where people are kind and free
Not the hang ups and the moanings all barking from the same tree
To hear a song and get its rhyme and rhythm
Let your mind settle, drift away in the clouds while I sit back and listen
Don't start with your patronizing along with those why's, what the hells and woes
Let go of those worries as well as the past, remember when I swept you off of your toes
Then you think back and there were good times that we once had
So why all the complaining now, times move on from the good to ever approaching bad
Maybe it's not you as this is how it's now spelt
It's the everybody disagreeing with you and what's right now, hence,

It's Everybody Else

JJB
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
Jan 2019 · 195
What To Make Of Me
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
Jan 2019 · 546
How to Write a Speech
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
Jan 2019 · 175
Hedy Lamarr - Bombshell
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
Jan 2019 · 230
Anything You Invent is Art
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
Jan 2019 · 174
That Madly British Way
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
Jan 2019 · 1.9k
Lollipop Lady Blues
John Bartholomew Jan 2019
It doesn't take much, for me to be late in the morning
A bad nights sleep, another day at work, it can be oh so boring
20 minutes, does it really matter, in the grand scheme of things
Jump in the car, radio on,
Same DJ with the X-Factor wannabes wearing their bling
Its a short trip but can still be delayed once more
Further down the road by a woman who makes my head sore....

Hitting the roundabout 2 miles from anywhere
The traffic backs up to give us all a timely scare
What on Earth could delay us on this trip to a place of ethical sanction
As without work our lives would halt without function
Bills to pay and food to buy, we need the income from some money tree
What is holding me up as already late,
Maybe set my alarm earlier but hey, what will be will be
The slow jaunt on the bumper to bumper ride
Its only 10 minutes more but time is not on my side.....

And there she is,
My delay
Luminous in stature holding the road like shes some traffic God
Chatting away to the ladies as if she's PC Plod
Holding that lollipop on her black and yellow stick
She's really starting to get on my wick
Some of us have places to be old lady like she even cares
Kids crossing the road, go play Chicken, like they'd even dare
Really, all in all, she is doing a good job
And there's me rushing and acting like a bit of a......wally!
As if I did knock a child over I'd forever be sorry
Even when it rains she puts up her brolly
Stop the parent and kids from always getting wet
I suppose in the end she is the safer bet
Maybe I will always be late but nothing I can't sort with a brew,
Instead of getting,

Lollipop Lady Blues

JJB
That's the story of my life; I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop - Marilyn Monroe

I don't like lollipops - Eoin Colfer
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