Terracotta robots zapping rodents.
Ongoing Zagreb building projects.
Witches, milk floats and Vauxhall cars in Bill's head.
You got Tonsillitis from licking prostitutes’ rancid toes.

Towel used for a century; six frayed threads on its length.
Novel bus design; the driver drives from upstairs.
You drink Earl Grey tea, cold.

I so **** hate slow tardy days dragging till I get my dole for a new tattoo.
Signed on Fri, a 3 day wait till pay day.
It may not be paid right.
Twits!

Nebulous screwdrivers in the sky.
Take me away from the clouds to a desert landscape.
Tattoo my earlobe you minky moo.

OUT



So we went out to see a film, with cars and music:

The Fast and The Furious. It’s like old times, you know,

Nick and Danna, when we had that thing.

Now the film ends and we go to your house,

reality hits home in the usual way.

The bloke you met sends you a text “Hello beautiful…”

and then I know it’s time to leave.

The trauma starts as I realise, this is it,

it’s finally over and I have to move on.

leaded
right now i miss you very much
this feeling inside that
i feel you will shrug off
for too much has happened
we've seen too much
done way too much
for this to matter to you
or me but it's there
right inside me
not going but residing
the feeling that i miss you
and we should of done more
gone to more places
cared for one another more
loved the other more
instead of fighting
but don't they say
those who fight are like lovers?
i'm not sure i agree
tho this feeling is there
is it coz things are changing?
as new events form
and come into being
let's forget the fights and rows
we'll do it all again
from the beginning
the right way
where we only turn left
down the correct path
not the road paved with lead
that leads to wrack and ruin
with false temptations and fakery
let part 2 begin...

LIFE

Life is like a spiral with people coming and going like sand blown in the wind. So many friends, lovers and hangers on. Some I needed let me down and flew away, others ****** me stupid and stuck like ****. I put it down to being human and the allegiances we make to ourselves and others. It has been a crazy year for me as so many changes have happened, some good, some bad. I came out of it in one piece and a better person, having been on a journey through the year. Now a new one dawns – what will it bring?

Four minutes to do what you want
What ya gonna do?
Listen to a pop song
Get half a *******
Smoke a cigarette
Drive round the block
Read two pages of a book
Do fifty press-ups
Recite a poem or two
Watch most of Tom and Jerry
Fly a fuelled up Meserschmitt 163
Queue for a news paper
Chat up your friend’s wife
Have a short nap
Take a few photos on your phone
Say Hi to a stranger
Check your emails
Get bitten by a venomous snake
Write a letter to your mum
Take the dog a walk
Do some mediation to prepare
Or do what in four short minutes
There’s so much you can do
When the nuclear attack warning sounds
And you have just four minutes to live
Before you’re horribly killed
By the ******* bomb...

to what
what to write
what to think
what to do
what to say
what to dispose
what to ask
what to answer
what to design
what to suggest
what to refuse
what to confirm
what to dream
what to add
what to discuss
what to tattoo
what to read
what to eat
what to drink
what to be
what to ****
what to shoot
what to bomb
what to corrupt
what to believe
what to dismiss
what to slaughter
what to obliterate
what to annihilate
what to eliminate
what to terminate
what to graduate
what to *******
what to beautify
what to crucify
what to mummify
what to buy
what to steal
what to create
what to destroy
what to forget
what to remember
what to expire
what to try
what to ship
what to order
what to use
what to fly
what to drive
what to sail
what to crash

Sometimes we grow short
The perfect height for special missions
Ideal for infiltration behind enemy lines
Or licking pussycat shaped lollies ****** style
We will strike at will
And achieve our aims
War mission or five-aside buddy
We live on mars

2 Dog Caught
There was no more playing
Or being seen by the locals
One man saw the dog
He made a plan and acted
He stole and kidnapped the dog
Taking him to his house
To cook alive and eat
A nice meal for him and his clan
The best most tenderest dog
Cooked alive while terrified
Full of adrenaline
What a yummy taste!
A weekly meal every Sunday
But this dog was different
He did not want to be eaten
Being boiled alive was enough
They pulled his fair off
So tender was the skin
Already half boiled for serving
But he was still alive!
And nozzled the lid of the cooker
And leapt out into the frying pan
Full of cold water which hurt
It brought him round
He jumped and ran off
But was chased by the chef
Come here you naughty dog!
We want to eat you...

Post me a letter bomb to ******* up.
Reduce me to pieces for I've had enough.
The biggest bit of me, my thumb.
Look at it just sitting there, on the floor.
I’m like strawberry jam, all over the walls.
Best way to be in this selfish money grabbing world, dead.
Blown up like those stuck in Aleppo.
Blitzed by Putin's bombs in the world's weapon proving ground.
I want no part of it or the world.
Tell them I'm from Aleppo and that I too write.
What will you write about us all, when we’re gone?
Then gather my ****** remains and put them in a hole.
For then I'm home and finally free.
Like all of the others, killed my Putin and the rest.
Worse than the Devil at his worst.
All for power, weapons sales and pride.

NTE Yourself!
NTEs were given out each month
To the reps with low or no sales
In time there were no reps on the account
The Fake God was left alone
Just him and his support to call
They each wanted two fifty k a month
To do the work of ten reps
It was physically impossible
But they went for it and failed
Would they give NTEs to themselves?

Dud Bomb!
The worker was moved from the explosive mixing shop
Into the bomb assembly shop to see if he could manage
Explosive mixing was a fine art like producing wine
He used the wrong ingredients twice and was out
Given a last chance in the assembly shop
The most important job in the entire bomb factory
Ordnance production was hard difficult work
Not every worker could manage under pressure
Yet keep the error free high skill level alive
The batch of explosive he made still worked
It went bang but at only 50% of its potential
When a bomb exploded it needed full yield
Faulty weapons could cost the Allies the war
If the worker had no issues assembling bombs
Things were back on track for war production
If he proved incompetent he was drafted
Into the infantry where the action would be hot!

Easy NTEs
NTEs were issued like candy to kids
Given to low performing reps
Who has bad metrix like no sales
Plus time keeping or tardiness
All accepted them without issue
Writing why on the back
Part of the BPO experience
An easy way out if need be

moon spider
you are so self centric
full of yourself
like we should worship you
we don't matter to you
only your wishes and aims
nothing more or less
you sell us like slaves
make a fortune off our backs
not caring if we love or hate you
you're oblivious to us
your image on all the magazines
your fame is number one
as you are number one
we are number zero
infinately below you
you our boss who loves
all the cash we make you
from our blood sweat and tears
it has always been this way
the moon spider feeding
we food to the hunter
but we say enough!
this ends tonight...

There are people who drive tractors for a living
There are people who ride motorcycles fast
There are times when the two meet
There are times when those meetings are bad
There are times when it's ******* carnage
There are times when the bike rider dies
There are times when he's wrapped round the back wheel
There are times when the bike hits the tractor at 200mph
There are times when both fuel tanks explode
There are times when they miss one another
There are times when the bike drives slowly
There are times when speed limits are respected
There are times when no road laws are broken
There are times when zero accidents take place
There are times when people are sensible
There are times when we all live in fantasy
There are times when we hope this becomes true

Cut and Dried. Bit and Stitched
Oh he still loves her. They married and were in love, still are, have kids and what they had. I won't say they had what all married couples had cos they didn't. She died, leaving him the widow.
Think of that fact, imagine it was you. How would you cope? What would you do?
Oh, he did things. He drank for a year, had dark ultimate sin thoughts, PTSD shell shock. Yes, it was a war and he suffered a defeat. It was his wife, lost in this world. Then he started writing a story, one he must finish. Or all is lost except memories.

Then something remarkable happened. Not his loss by his suicide. He met another, twin mirror image. What are the ******* chances of that? No ****** would dare take that bet. None.
She lost her boyfriend, a victim in the same war of stolen souls. His lady will understand, for she has been involved in a war and an equally forlorn a battle. I am shocked and try to understand. I wish him well and say remember her, do the book.
Me, alone.

No1 BPO
Each call centre says they’re the best
They never say they’re number 2
Always number 1 in their own way
Is this in most collected revenue?
Or number of employees?
Or with the most offices?
Each call centre says No1
The same saying by them all
Can’t they say something new?

Soldier Boys 1
I went out to Manny to meet a black gal but she never showed. Go to the pub and get ******, I’m good at it! Then back to town my crap Oldham to another pub to have ale and curry. What’s this? Eight lads surround me at the bar get ready! But no fight, fun!

They try to wind me up do I like men? Yea I like you I tell the big one, all muscle.

I show my WOW tat on my **** and what fun! Party time, we drink as one and I have the big lad’s wine down half a bottle in one, then more beer. And I know I’m right, they’re army lads, how do I know? I just do lol.


In the Abbey its mad, big lad spies an old hippy with a recorder.
He borrows it and up big lad’s **** it goes, I almost cried with laughter!
We gave it all waggling devil fingers and partied on.

The army lads left and I set off home but I stopped and went to their pub the Hathershaw, we drank till late.
I had eight brothers that night.

I hope they’re all ok when they get called up to go to Afghan next year.
Two of their mates are already gone.
I’m just a writer I say.

australia 1
when the english lord and gentry set australia up
they did it a certain way and followed a plan
not sending their own equivelants but another set
they sent criminals of all kinds
there were teenagers who stole a loaf of bread
murderers who killed without mercy
racketeers who failed one last scam
and every other kind of bad boy
sent half a world away as punishment
but really they were colonisers
serving their sentences in an alien land
never to see england or their family again
they were controlled by their masters
several centuries later their descendants
lived like kings and had good lives
the criminals bred and become rich
with good jobs, a home, families and more
living in a sunny tropical paradise  
descended from common criminals
how many remember their forefathers?
sent there for english jails were full
to a new empty land full of promise
here was a chance to steal it
so why not send english criminals
ruled over by their masters
who in turn ruled the new land
australia...
the plan worked...

My First Tattoo
There was an 80s goth band who I used to love
All About Eve dragged to the 90s oh so cool
Touched By Jesus was their new album
I saw them gig twice and bought the t-shirt
And even got the tattoo on my right arm
All About Eve in September 1991
I still love their music today...



******* Upside Down In a Blazing Avro Manchester Bomber – Poems from My Life and More

Nick Armbrister

Choice Made
This is what I don't like about my parents dying
The awful ******* grief that kills me inside
The knowing I won't see them again in this world
I will have to wait till I cross to the other side
How will I find myself for the rest of my life?
Wondering knowing feeling hating these emotions
And thoughts that have never ever been like this before
It almost feels like I just saw my parents die badly
But that of course is silly for I wasn't there at their end
I was 7000 miles away in the Japan living my life
With my wife of 4 years who I moved to join
Yes I am selfish for choosing her over them
But they were old and had lived their lives
I am still young with lots to do and live and more
Including feel like this which floors me like a shot
I made my choice and here I am...

****** Earphones
The black earphones were made in Red China by CCP turtles
They worked for a year giving reasonably good sound
Then the right side stopped working it was totally dead
It was out of guarantee just over one year old
The left side still worked fine with clear sound
That was fine if you were ok with it that way
He wasn’t ok with that not at all he cursed their crap
Nowt but mass produced junk made by slave labour
He listened to three songs tried messing with it
Unplugging them bending the wire increasing the volume
He looked at the wire it appeared fine so what was it?
What exactly was the motherf*cking problem!
His white earphones would do the job he swapped them
Tried a song full volume the sound was at both ears
These had something wrong the frequency range was off!
No vocals came thru just a mass of static with bass
Back to his other black pair he’d listen with his left ear
It was better than garbled sound of no music at all
Both pairs made in Red China by CCP turtles

The dream the dream the dream! I write like Liz Hand. The dark underbelly of the city. Not just people dying. All of it. Every city has one. All are the same. The dark 3am beat. Put my poem in your book. My dream of it. An artist painting an artist painting an artist  painting an artist...


The big young potentially dangerous Russian stood in front of me. He thought what he had to say is important. He gave my soldier friend a note. Read it he said, it's says what they thinks about me. I nearly fight Ivan. He thinks I'm a banker and rich. I say Bro, I fly planes and write books. Dead it!, he tells my pal. My poem is about it because it's real.

A BREAK IN THE OLD ROUTINE



Do you ever find life gets dull?

And you need a break in the old routine?

Come with me and we’ll do just that.

It’ll be ******* up to work as we go

for a drive down those winding country lanes

to somewhere long forgotten.

Maybe if we go to the right place

we will meet our past selves from other lives.

The trees speed past and the sky is ever so blue

and time has no meaning, almost like it doesn’t exist.

We are there now. It’s just what I expected

but only so much better. I’d like to stay here forever

and ever…

Kookie
The job got really kookie
2 almost sales in a day
Both failed at the VT stage
1 was the wrong business name
Plus a scheduled meeting
1 was a customer sick of holding
Who chatted with his pal
The calls added to a prior 1
This cx wanted the service
On a future date not today
Call me back in a week
2 sales that never were
A 3rd if the cx still agrees
After checking 48 rivals
VOIP service is fierce
Getting sales is gold dust
Another day of bad juju
Tomorrow will be different
Will tomorrow soon come?

Goth Fall
What a cool gothic chick I hooked up with online.

We shared the same interests.

A pretty, kind, intelligent, funny woman.

I thought this is it.

I've met my soulmate.

No more loneliness or being misunderstood by the wrong gals.

What a catch.

Something stopped us being together.

She sensed it.

Bad news got in the way of us.

Half a bottle of ***** engulfed my oblivion.

It's cancer.

I don't know how bad.

I'm gutted.

She sent me this message:



Heya nick lovely lad...im so sorry for not txtin u....ive had bad news n i need to deal wiv it.i wud love to have met you but now i fear we cannot...u see it wouldn't b fair on u. Ur txts and books and pics av been lovely to get each day and have helped(are helping)but i have dark times ahead...i knew i was being kept from you for a reason. Ur far too lovely for me crash into ur life only to leave you brokenhearted one day. I am sad beyond words not for my battle ahead but for my chance of meeting you being ruined in the cruelest way...you are an amazing man and an amazing spirit... Im sorry for toutching your life and being so unavailable...that was never fair of me and not my intention...bless you gorgeous man,you will find good love,its in ur future.love Katie xxxxx



I was on a real downer.

I deleted her number, my awfully capable defensive mechanisms kicking in.

Later she emailed me, in response to my flurry of skyfall emails.

Why didn’t I reply to her text about my gig?

I’ve no recollection of getting that text.

She would have gone.

Imagine her being there, after I was outa my ******* face on *****.

Due to her.

My wounds healed.

But no.

We’re apart.

And darkness engulfs me again.

Welcome back old friend...

RUFE

A late summer pacific sun burns down on this tiny coral atoll, here are three Zero floatplanes codename Rufe. They share such a common beauty that all warbirds have. Waves gently wash over the floats of the planes, resting in the cool and calm of the ocean. Delicate pastel colours colour the scene, the purple of the planes and orange of the sun, the blue of the sea.

In a few minutes a Rufe will take off, building up speed through the mirror smooth water until she is free of the blue liquid surface, she will be in flight in her sky where so much danger lurks. Hellcats and Corsairs.

Rufe has the handling of her Zero brother so she will be okay –

she is a bird of the summer sky battling her enemy.

'There is a special mission. It will change the course of the war. We want you to lead it.'

Jan 1st 1945.
It's cold and snowing.
Otto led the mission to hit the Allies.
His white painted jet was one of hundreds.
They took off and kept low.
Surprise would be theirs.
It was a fifteen minute flight to the target.
An airfield in Holland.

Guns tracked Otto's warplane.
Not Allied guns.
His own side's.
He's shot down before he can fire his guns.
His Salamander named Her was hit by friendly fire.
There was no chance to swerve away nor eject.
The air ace screamed when his jet hit the frozen earth.

German soldiers reached the crash site.
They took him to hospital.
Otto's injuries were severe.
He should already be dead.
And won't survive the night.
Was he assassinated?
Taken out by his own side.

****** secretly visited the gravely injured pilot.
The Fuehrer told Otto about her and her son.
They were taken to a camp and killed.
Otto whispered,
'I only ever loved two things: Her and flying.'
****** shouted:
'You love a Jew!
You betrayed me and **** Germany!'
'******* ******!'
'I ordered their deaths.
And yours.'

Otto closed his eyes one last time.
He was flying with you...

Empty
In the nascent
empty vessels of time,
I hear your voice.

See the trees bend now/majestic storm force here, now/you cower indoors

Wet sodden grass just like my life.
Are you the stone or am I?
Death chains rattle, beer cans open.
I am doomed and embrace my darkness.
Enjoy my end.
All your actions carry consequences.
Do yours forsaking me?
Remember me and my end.

Therate
I want them to find all lost bodies on Thera.

Thirty metres of ash hides them.

Brothers and sisters cremated alive.

There was no divine guidance from a higher divinity over her last 4 years.

Wishful thinking on her part, oh yeah.

She, Katrina, acquired a taste for gin.

Life goes on, so her mate said.

Jesus failed continuously from 2013.

Ikea replaced him.

Memories (by Mel) from THE RANTINGS OF A DAMAGED MIND book by nick armbrister and mel grobler
Today as I sit and think of you,
I remember your face so dearly.
I can still see the love which shone
As the lights flashed across your face.
I remember a straight line across your jaw
And the tightness of your expression.
I can still see the creases on your face
As you smiled at your friends.
You seemed so sure and confident
And so relaxed and patient.
I stood and watched you and
When your gaze met mine, I glanced away.
I glanced away even though I didn't want to.
I turned away though my heart was screaming.
I felt as though you were still looking at me
And your gaze seemed to tear me apart.
I wanted to run up to you and hold you close
and perhaps then you would have known how I felt
About you...
I see you so clearly in my dreams and it seems
as though you're a part of me, but you suddenly drift away.
You drift away because my grasp on you isn't secure.
You drift away in dark and smoky clouds.
I reach out for you every way I can.
I whisper your name as I walk down deserted alleys and high mountains.
I see your face in everything I do,
and I fumble with sweet thoughts of you.
Will I ever make you mine or will you always
Be a memory that I failed to erase.

Monochrome images swirl and collide on the surface of my mind,
round and round they go through the loops and coils of my brain.
Slowly they submerse themselves in colour, so much colour more
than in a rainbow.

Every image and sight I have ever seen is in here all waiting to show
themselves when the time is right.
The alcohol I had earlier helped so much to create this massive trip
in my head, I see a billion faces all at once, the power of the human brain
is awesome if only we knew how to use it, people could fly and swim
forever in their minds.

I spiral and glide down the dark alleyways and doors that lead to different
times and feelings all so alive in their own little place.
This is my access to the collective mind of the universe and of everyone
who has ever lived and who ever will.

Just your words on paper, nothing much,
random thoughts of daily life.
What if this was the last letter on earth?
Worth the world then or in my possession
if I was stranded far away on the moon
would your words be my lifeline and save me?
Or prolong my agony, make my stay there my Hell?
A curse or a blessing in my hands now.

Detonate the Night
The attack came with the ferocity of war
War like only we can know
For we knew this moment was coming
But we didn’t think it would be so
Bad in the way that death is final
And all knowing that life ceases
When enemy explosive discharges on our positions
All we can do is to wait it out and endure
Those who survive must be ready to resist
Throw our enemy back from whence he came
But killing him is more preferable to that
For he will return in twenty years like he has done now
We will bear his bombardment and emerge
Then we will defeat him and smash his army and weapons
And savage his homeland as he does ours and we will win
Once the shells stop we will rally those who remain
And we will charge his guns so Victory is ours

Kaput Scripted
The top boss carved the account up some more
He put in place an extra step so no duplicate accounts were made
This was fine in the managers’ eyes an extra layer of a layer
And it created work for a back office guy making those accounts
It was his job to do it not the call centre agents
If they made a new account they got beasted and fired
It was easy to create a new account yet full of risk
Send the details to your TL and then in the form
So back office has it and will make the account
The account will be made and sent to your TL
Who will reassign it to the rep that made the call
No double accounts no confusion yet more stress
Adding to the wait time while the rep does compliance
Completes a needs assessment vets the customer
Sends a promo approval to his TL who sends it
To the manager who sends it to the client
All the while the patient customer holds like a fool
When all this is done and the account is sent over
The closer calls the VT team who complete the sale
If the DM has funds on a working card all is fine
If any step fails the whole thing collapses
What a nice time for me to be endorsed
To a different version of my old healthcare account
No more sales on a failing B2B account

Zoos Comet
Her empty lies mean more than all the halls of silence.
We've been shafted, double penetrations are the worst.
Are they excited at where they'll wake up after committing suicide?
No more ****.
Metallic grey sparks on metal elements realigning.
A case of falling space objects.
In town they complained of the noise.
**** rock could have flattened them.
The Theran dance goes on.
Cast out by the hand of fate.

Snake Oil Seller
The magic number is 4 explained the sup
Whose position was higher than his chair
Just add these users to pay a lower connection fee
His word roll off his tongue like oil off a duck
Does the customer know what a snake the sup is?
Already he knows what to spend the cash on
It’s his party trick adding extra users
Get 3 physical phones and 3 virtual ones
And save 20 bucks on the hook up charge
Then pay 120 a month for 4 extra phones
Which are totally not needed with 4 numbers
The business has only 2 workers not 6
This snake of a TL has already been reported
Will this result in further escalations?
The crooked sup is too powerful to flinch
Nothing scares him and he is skilled
A nice guy snake selling snake oil
How far will he fall off his chair?

ADULT/FUNNY THEME BE WARNED

Oh My Back!
My next door neighbour told me a funny story the other day
It’s about Phyllis who lives down the road
She was out with her fancy piece called Tommy getting laid
Having a bonk in his car down a country lane
She was there with her legs open not thinking of her husband
Going at like a prize stallion chasing a filly winning his race
Then Tommy cried out in pain and started crying
Phyllis thought he was joking about
‘Oh **** it! My back has gone Phyllis! Call the Fire Brigade!’
‘You gotta be joking Kev. But hey! I love a man in uniform.’
Kev managed to reach his hands free kit and call 999
Within five minutes the fire engine arrived
Four beefy firemen in uniform assessed the situation
Hiding their smirks they planned what to do
One fireman got the Jaws of Life from the fire engine
It took several minutes to cut the roof off Kev’s Jaguar
His expensive cool motor was now a convertible!
Then over the next hour they slowly lifted Kev upwards
And placed him in a rigid stretcher to minimise further injury
An ambulance arrived and Kev was taken to hospital
Phyllis got busy mucking and bucking each of the firemen
In Kev’s convertible Jag which was now a grinding parlour...

Crimping Tent
There are certain things that occur in the Crimping Tent
Like making hot air balloons, pink inflatable castles and blow up dolls
And crimping men’s nuts just the way they like them
Crimped vertically, laterally or horizontally
The crimping business was a lucrative one
Making clothes and accessories and *** toys paid well
Even the curtains in National Express buses were crimped
The crimped look was always in fashion and a cash incentive

Metro Cats
The city is like the one Nostramadus saw
A modern metropolis where everything happens
Life death destruction creation
Around people who inhabit this place
And other locations like it globally

Ready for anything expecting it now
And it will in a massive way soon soon soon!
For we are being prepped for it

Expect the worst!
Get ready to die!
On and on and on!

Till we are used to terror plots
Desensitized to mass shootings
Not shocked by enemy air attacks
Unfazed by natural disasters
Even accepting alien invasion

All of this and more coming to a city near you
Knocking the buildings over and slaying the people
People like us who are totally ******
Just worthless pawns in the big game

A galactic **** piece chess board
A universal ******* of death

We are being shafted and told the end is nigh
The lucky ones will be removed in the Rapture
And some more will be Satan's slaves
As for the rest well...

We are all ****** nuclear quake tsunami burn style
When our cities fall

Third Scam
A Top 5 publisher offered the writer a deal
He felt like he was cloud walking
Just for a few minutes till he found it
The part that said the writer had to pay
For his book to be published
This broke his set in stone rule
NEVER PAY TO BE PUBLISHED
Not in a competition or publisher
He asked his top level pro contacts
They advised what he felt in his gut
This is a well dressed up scam!
The third he’d been sent
He would get a real book deal
It took skill and hard work
That’s what made luck

Forty years after its birth the rebel F-20 is an angel of the sky.
Purple in colour to blind its enemy’s eyes, it has laser weapons
and ******-vectored engines controlled by thought.
This is the craft for mercenaries flown by the daring
and 21st century knights into battle –
they fight for the new republic and the ancient rebel way
against an old royal enemy as deadly as the devil.

Different Days
A day like no other for several reasons
I found out my wife is a man with a hidden *****

A day like no other for several reasons
For somebody stole the engine from my car

A day like no other for several reasons
Due to me falling into the river and drowning

A day like no other for several reasons
As my credit card was cloned three times

A day like no other for several reasons
I’m a day older and a day stupider by design

A day like no other for several reasons
My neighbour’s dog bit off my right ear

A day like no other for several reasons
I went hiking but got lost and never came back

A day like no other for several reasons
I resigned from my job and went to the rival

A day like no other for several reasons
As this is a different day than yesterday

hail thee sky gods
for the power of the sky is here
up in the blue miles aloft
destroying democracy's enemies
with explosive eggs
dropped from big metal birds
but not all made it home
for the enemy was strong
and cunning with a will to fight
one yankee boy sat on the edge
buffeted by a wind like none
two hundred miles an hour
threatened to rip the boy apart
he sat there on the edge
an edge four or five miles high
behind him his airplane burned
and was doomed like its crew
did he actually jump
and use his 'chute?
ten men in an alloy coffin
full of gas and ammo and bombs
ready for was and will for use
who hit them?
**** shells from who?
it doesn't matter for they were named
on the devil's list
off to hades
would they be able to pay?
the ferryman needed payment
his was an arduous job...

Reasons
He worked in many BPO call centres and was considered a tenured agent
Meaning he knew what he was doing and could be trusted not to **** up
Not all tenured reps were so trustable or blemish free some really ******* up
Getting caught having *** in the security office with the guard watching the CCTV
Spotted raiding the biscuit cabinet that belonged to one of the vendors
Attempting to bribe the client by approaching a rival company to sell secrets
Setting up a rep you don’t like to take the fall for fraud that you actually did
Swing thru the axle of the boss’ Jaguar sports car so he died in a high speed crash
All this and more was done by so called trustable tenured reps over the years
It was an example of what not to be like no matter what the reason or motive

That Crap
Same old **** on the account
Divide and conqueror defeated in battle
Wait till the account folds
Client pulls it out we can't wait!
All reps reassigned or leave
Something better than this
We are not made for this moment
We deserve better will be greater
Unless you want us to be depressed
And cry like puppies the account failed
There's more to life than sales
B2B outbound cold calls
Hey buy our service make us rich
At first we believed till we woke up
It's the same crap as the rest
Just dressed up differently
What we do next will be better
Cos we ain't doing that crap!

'I don't want to burn...'

Otto flew onwards.
It was a joyous flight.
Then trouble hit again.
His other worst fear.
Engine failure!

Must land.
Where where where?
Altitude has gone.

Trees are so close.
Wrong place to crash!
Touching close.

Want to close my eyes.
But I must to see my end.
Drop the ***** to glide longer.

There!
A field.
Thank God!

I can make that.
Keep the nose down.
Don't want to stall.

I can do this!
Dead stick landing.
I was trained for this.
Here we go!
Bump!

Bump and slide.
**** that's rough.
My warplane is sliding.
Come on now, stop!

Oh crap!
A ditch, right across the...

Mama save me again!
I don't want to die.
Mutti!

Otto came too and shook his head.
His vision was blurred and pained him.
A sweet smell wafted towards him.
The drip of petrol was audible.

He panicked and dug at the brown earth.
It was mixed with broken Perspex, above him.
Undoing his straps, Otto tried to escape.
The broken canopy trapped him.

Drip drip drip went the gas.
Then... just out of his vision.
A boy, aged about eleven.

Help! Help me! Hurry. Please!

The boy ran over.
Looked at the inverted plane.
And saw the trapped pilot.
Did he know that Otto was the enemy?
And had killed his father?

Otto flung off his flying goggles.
They made eye contact.

Help me! Hurry now.

The boy found a steel bar.
With the intelligence of the young,
he levered against the wing.
It leant against the ditch edge.
Moved with a sickening jolt.

There was a gap.
It was enough.

Otto dug at the earth and cut his hand.
Bending double, he crawled out.

Drunkenly standing, he looked at his plane.
He shook his head and felt his broken ****** nose.
Then fell to his knees and vomited.
Fractured ribs knifed him.

Otto passed out.
When he looked up, the boy was gone.
Without him, I'd be dead...

Hidden
Call me The Baron. My full name is Nicholas Arthur Armbrister. I ****** hate that name! Do you know how I feel? My first name used when I’m naughty. “Nicholas, you’ve had a new tattoo!”

You must be part German with a name like that. Say it slowly out loud:

A-R-M-B-R-I-S-T-E-R.

They got images of ******’s panzers and Blitzkreig, Stukas and goose steps. No denying my heritage, I’m part German, on my dad’s side. Armbrister.

He was in the British Army in World War 2, a Tommie. None of his mates guessed he was part German. Doing his bit for King and Country. His name is Arthur. The middle name I don’t tell anyone. Even today, I’m unsure why? Makes me eccentric – Nicholas Arthur Atmbrister – The Baron!

My dad is my best mate. His stories of seeing Manchester in flames, December 1940, when he was in his dad’s car going from Ashton to Oldham, fascinated me. When he was conscripted, I knew he was no German. He saw his army mates die and became a man. How can I compare? Arthur, the name I never use. Known only to me and my family.

Some things are hidden, for hidden reasons. Others are an open book, for me to decide. What would you think if I told you my middle name is Arthur? After my dad. He saw **** bombers high over Coppice. A silver speck against the blue. Our gunfire missed by miles. If these same planes had bombed my dad, I’d never be born or called Arthur.

He told me how he collected warm bomb shrapnel, when the Germans did bomb. Memories of an old man, passed down to me. When I’m in Manchester tonight with her, I’ll think, What is it like to see a city burn at night while under enemy air attack?

1 A Dog
There was a small black dog
He lived in Red China
Just a normal dog
No different from the rest
But he became notorious
Due to his fate
Before then he was fun loving
And loved to run and play
Being a street dog by the market
He was well know and fed
The stall holders gave him food
So he never starved
He slept under the stalls
And was stroked regularly
The locals saw him as a friend
Many looked for him
Each day part of the scenery
This was until he disappeared