John Bartholomew: Poems

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

What we are supposed to do

John Bartholomew Nov 2018

What we are supposed to do

Its an unwritten book
Each page blank for you to write
Prophecy, gluten for punishment, entirety
It is what you will
Footsteps to follow
Not beg steal and borrow
This life is yours
Make it what you will
Swerve that curve ball from paying the final bill
Trickiness
Stickiness
Sometimes were in a cosmic muddle
But always just be you
Don't follow the path set in stone as that's
What we are supposed to do

JJB

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success - John D. Rockefeller

There are many paths but only one journey - Naomi Judd

You set paths for yourself, but as you get older, things change - Ian McShane

What we become

John Bartholomew May 2018

What we become

We start as nothing, made from the depths of our soul
A night of passion, a night of depression, we all have a story to be told

A look in a bar, he may have come far,
a little leeway as a sign of relief

We all have our truths, some a little long in the tooth, life comes and goes with its woes

Were they the right one, I need to question my sums, as I picked you from the crowd of plenty

We could have met when we were young, or an older fantasy, but the time was right at around twenty

The kids that we have and the knowledge we pass, all a cycle down the years by us all

Not much has changed, it carries on through years, as we rise and undoubtedly fall

You want to live forever but it all becomes a chore,
The same job whilst checking your pigeonhole, well what a monotonous bore

The everyday conversations with those people you tolerate,
we have the few that we like, the rest become a daily mandate

Now I'm not having a moan as this could be a short life, really, I'm not knocking it now

We all have our ups, we all have our downs, reincarnation baby, I could come back as a cow

But this deal has its one guarantee, and that we all know,
you will always end up like me

Say what you will, this time has its thrills,
but who in the end will pay that final bill
It always has the same ending, as forever its been trending,
our race has finally been run

Hence

What we become

JJB

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." -- Herman Melville
"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."--John D. Rockefeller

Where Were You? (When The Queen Died)

John Bartholomew Jan 2019

Where Were You? (When The Queen Died)

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

Window Gazing

John Bartholomew Jan 2018

Window Gazing

As I sit here just chewing the cud
Nights lost and debauched with my friend Richard
Picking up that guitar as a kid from Cash Converters
He left me for the sun down under with the students and the surfers

E Minor through to a chord named A Sharp
Strangling that neck with fingers that don’t know where to start
I should have listened to Mr Hogarth for this career in its finest form
Rocking out on stage wow that would have been a storm

But it’s never too late to try and give it another go
Read music they say but I wouldn’t know my **** from my elbow
No, no, no, that’s not the attitude
I’ll plug this thing and never give up as someday I’ll fill those smoky rooms

I joined a band with 2 brothers and bassist of whom I did not know
Mill Hill practice every Sunday just thought I’d give it a go
But only one song and a commitment I could not keep it was always bound to fail
I’ll carry on solo still looking on but really just chasing my own tail

Work carried on as a plumber of which I never did really enjoy
But it paid the bills
A mortgage
A van
And a wedding on the horizon
All in sight except for that unseen tree which nearly stopped me from ever rising

Paraplegic is a word I had rarely ever used
you’re a *******, a ****, I had said once myself how dare I have used that abuse
To be told you will never walk again is a shot that broke my heart
Don’t let it get you down be strong and try for a brand new start
The days go by at the start of this new journey
The loss of once friends and to gain some new is now what must ground me
A different perspective and a sharper humour has now unveiled
Hello new world you won’t get me down just watch this beast unravel

Taking the good with the bad and filtering through the ugly
A different ship to now set sail, get ready for this could get choppy
But as I say and always repeat, life goes on its just how you take it
This second chance given to me a bit lower down, but still determined to make it,
Hey Mr Wheelchair.

JJB

“I had learned quickly that life doesn't always go the way I want it to, and that's okay. I still plod on.”
― Sarah Todd Hammer, Determination

“Know me for my abilities, not my disability.” Robert M. Hensel

“My disability has opened my eyes to see my true abilities.” Robert M. Hensel

#paraplegic #******* #wheelchair #determined #plumber

Wits End

John Bartholomew Mar 2019

Wits End

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

Won't Die Wondering

John Bartholomew Jul 2018

Won't Die Wondering

Do it, just ******* do it
Is something holding you back
Your here just the once, unless religious turmoil is on track
Ingenuity was never going to get you the sack

You clever beast, never regret that time you did
Thoughts of woe and wondering why you never got rid
So many things to do in life, that final last bid
Go on, jump, bungee from the Clifton Suspension Bridge

Time is short, that bucket list will never grow again
One hundred moral sins listed, do them all and put down that curious pen
They'll give you a mark on that audacious headstone once dead, 10 out of 10
You'll have a gathering, whats he going to do next, everyone wanting to be your friend

Its a roller coaster ride, a thousand bumps on course
A name to be made of songs they will no doubt sing
Travelled the world from Auckland, New Zealand to Hertfordshire, Tring
For you are a soul, a man not left head scratching, for you,

Wont Die Wondering

JJB

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues - Abraham Lincoln

It's been quite a ride. I loved every minute of it - Charlton Heston

The flower has opened, has been in the sun and is unafraid. I'm taking more chances; I'm bold and proud - Paula Cole

Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been - Jimmy Buffett

Words wont kill me

John Bartholomew Jun 2024

Words wont **** me

You can write away until your hearts content
Looking at those words that you wish you had not sent
But my heart is broken not laying down dead
I will find solace and happiness is some others loving bed
A lapse in time is all you sadly were
As I tell my heart and my head and on this we can concur
Our severed love is not a chopped down tree
As I still have life and words will not **** me

JJB

Write Off

John Bartholomew Jul 2024

Write Off

We all have the odd car written off
But people can do the same, and mark you as a right off
Fussy down to something you said
Or a letdown in the sack on someone else's bed
A change in look or you've put on a bit of weight
Not for me anymore, as you move onto her best mate Kate
You learn a language together, first German and then French
Sacre Bleu! Mon amie, not tonight love, you can sit on the bench
You prefer your tea when she just sups her coffee
Liverpool forever and then shes a bleeding toffee
A phonecall is more personal than some random text
Message away with no response, as she clearly didnt give two fecks
So that was that and just a waste of time
As perserverance is a key even if the alley is blind
But some wanted loves were never meant to be
As I gaze from the clifftop, just watching the swirling of the sea.

Write Off

JJB

Wrong Size Shoes

John Bartholomew Sep 2020

Wrong Size Shoes

You can't make love fit
It is what it is
A mould
The occasional broken fold
Fakeness is always seen
Remove them quick, it's going to hurt
A broken heart, your ruptured spleen
They've come, they've conquered and they have been
Close that door and throw away that key
As you can't hold hands as the unfitted two's
Kick them off, throw them in the bin
Yeah you,
Wearing those wrong size shoes

JJB

Yesteryou

John Bartholomew Jan 2024

Yesteryou

To think of how we were different
A trip down memory lane that merges with the current
Preference not knowing of what was to come
Not being frowned upon for a bit of fun
We were out to have a good time
Stick by the rules and have you home by nine
It was a time when people seemed a lot more true
Unlike that time you cheated in the ladies loo
That is why I prefered you back then
When you was the original, the honest,
Yesteryou

JJB

— The End —