His face cracked
Every wrinkle a ravine
A broad smile of marble tombstones
Rolling his sapphire ivory eyes

I'm ninety three
He chuckled...  Ninety three
Yes,  it goes fast son I'll tell you how fast
I've only as many memories as you

The air hangs heavy today
After last nights banging of the drum
Its strobe light pyrotechnics
The awe inspiring deluge
That washed even criminality from the streets
The old horse-chestnut tree who's shade I often steal
Proudly exposes its now swollen spiky fruit
We sigh together, this old friend and I  
Another summer will soon come to pass
Let us drink its final rays

Far, far too many things to say
Unable to
Control my thoughts and
Know even if I could I wouldn't

Of all the ways you could have told me...
Finding out for myself, hurt
Finally admitting the evidence as evidence hurt

Another day blurs into
Night,
Day, night, day, night, day...

Disabled by the brutality of your
Immature
Ego

Powder, lip gloss and dilated pupils
Rolled up notes and cheap thrills
Somewhere near the beginning of the end
Your worst enemy is your best friend
It's alright, it's just a phase you're going through
In the urban sprawl it's what you've gotta do
because....
You're a crowd pleaser, out to please
begging for friends, on your knees
You're a crowd pleaser with the latest bent
pleasing friends that are just for rent
You're a crowd pleaser, a fresh appetite
with a heavy pocket that'll soon be light
...
Wake up, leave, while they laugh with you
Exit and pay yourself what you are due
Leave before your whole soul is sold
Start a new chapter before this one's old
As you leave the sparkle and the geezers
Enter stage right the fresh crowd pleasers.
...
They're a crowd pleasers, out to please
begging for friends, on their knees
They're a crowd pleasers with the latest bent
pleasing friends that are just for rent
Just crowd pleasers, they're up all night
Lines not solitude (their primary fright)

Powder, lip gloss and dilated pupils
Rolled up notes and cheap thrills
Somewhere near the beginning of the end
Your worst enemy is your best friend
It's alright, it's just a phase you're going through
In the urban sprawl it's what you've gotta do
because....
You're a crowd pleaser, out to please
begging for friends, on your knees
You're a crowd pleaser with the latest bent
pleasing friends that are just for rent
You're a crowd pleaser, a fresh appetite
with a heavy pocket that'll soon be light
...
Wake up, leave, while they laugh with you
Exit and pay yourself what you are due
Leave before your whole soul is sold
Start a new chapter before this one's old
As you leave the sparkle and the geezers
Enter stage right the fresh crowd pleasers.
...
They're a crowd pleasers, out to please
begging for friends, on their knees
They're a crowd pleasers with the latest bent
pleasing friends that are just for rent
Just crowd pleasers, they're up all night
Lines not solitude (their primary fright)

His squidgy wet nose prods my cheek

Ending another night’s sleep on the sofa

Our eyes meet

His happy, optimistic

Mine red, realistic, sad nearly sober

I stroke his silky chocolate brown head

An expression of expectation

Raised tan eye brows

Head cocked to one side

Long ears flopping

Happy mouth agape

Pink tongue lolling, panting

His mood is infectious

He spins to catch his elusive tail

Then checks for signs of my approval

He asks for nothing but love

I cast off my petty worries

Because for now...

I'll live in the here and now

A lesson instructed to me everyday

By my faithful canine companion

Before we face the world together

Our daughter asks for the umpteenth time when you will be home.
I just smile and say "not long now" whist staring at a docile phone.
This is only the forth time in six months that you have gone missing with no trace.
The first time you fell asleep in a strip bar
"On a work do" you amazing disgrace!
The second time you fell asleep at a party, the third you did the same.
Top marks for invented excuses, invention,  has never been your game.
So now, I sit here waiting, with our daughter and this phone.
Telling her not to worry and that her mummy will soon be home.

May I present a challenge?
Imagine if you will
You have created a flying explosive device
And it needs a name that will thrill.

A name, a good name, which name?
Well, none of those below.
Some twisted suits have already used them.
****, EVEN Tacit Rainbow.

What really goes through their minds?
As they sit and discuss the name
Of their creation that's destined to ****
Butcher, destroy and maim.

Just try if you can
To read the whole of this edited list
Imagine how many have exploded of each
With out angrily clenching your fist

Little John
Honest John
Hellfire
Matador
HARM
Terrier
Nike-Ajax
Corporal
Sea Sparrow
Redstone
Bullpup
Mace
Nike-Hercules
Regulus II
Atlas
Thor
Lacrosse
Jupiter
Quail
Hawk
Tartar
Falcon
Polaris
H­ound Dog
Pershing
Entac
Firebee
Shelduck
Jayhawk
Cardinal
Firefly
Petr­el
Redhead/Roadrunner
Redeye
Mauler
Skybolt
Nike Zeus/Spartan
Condor
Phoenix
Typhon MR
Falconer
Overseer
Taurus
Kingfisher
Cardinal
Walleye
Hornet
Ma­verick
Big Q
Minuteman
Blue Eye
Viper
Firebolt
Bulldog
Harpoon
Focus
Perseus
Firefly
Stinger
­Compass Dwell
B-Gull
Agile
Seekbat
Delta Dagger
Thunderbolt[7]
Patriot
Aquila
Teleplane
Streaker
Tomahawk
­Firebrand
Roland
Peacekeeper
Penguin
Pave Tiger/Seek Spinner
Sidearm
Skipper
Wasp
Sea Lance
Ripper[7]
Trident II
Midgetman
Tacit Rainbow
Pave Cricket
Have Nap
Peregrine
Exdrone
Javelin
Pointer
Hunter
Coyote
Skeeter
Outlaw

­Wow, you're still reading
And you've managed not to throw up.
Just wondering how many innocent victims
Of a tax funded device called Bullpup.

Bordered by an old fashioned picture frame
A man, curiously familiar, moustached, astute
With a smiling bride, his eyes aflame
And a brown "The Spy Who Loved Me" suit  

This was the first "real" connection with him
Displayed on my grandparents window shelf
Some how I knew I was missing a limb
Some how I knew I wasn't entirely myself

Patches of my memories dwell in clusters
perhaps I am mentally impaired.
I remember going to Ghost Busters
I remember being really scared.

Shaking inside trying to be brave
ashamed to being frightened of ghouls.
But that film soon became a fave
just as did playing snooker and pool.

I am aware that I have not let him know
that whist every time I have nearly drowned.
An island of him has rose from the flow
and let my two feet again find the ground.

Also, that as I have moulded myself into a man
he has been an integral aspect of my design.
Thanks to him I can have an extraordinary tan
I love a pun, good whisky and being on time.

So lets heartily toast the bygone days
now we can laugh about the happy and sad.
And let's swirl a whisky each others way
Because when all said and done, your my Dad.

Goodbye  wasps
Goodbye  bees
Goodbye  pollen from the trees
Goodb­ye  midges
Goodbye  flies
Goodbye  scorching cloudless skies
Good­bye  seagulls
Goodbye  ants
Goodbye  sunbathers in tiny pants
Goodbye  sunburn
Goodbye  oiled skin
Goodbye  iced drinks laced with gin
Goodbye  tourists
Goodbye  throngs
Goodbye  men wearing sarongs
Goodbye  hosepipe
Goodbye  lawn  mower
Welcome  to the no­isy leaf blower
Hello  Autumn
Hello  cool bright day
Hello  rolli­ng around in the hay
Hello  harvest
Hello  fruits
Hello  hiking in hiking boots
He­llo  warm colours
Hello  warm hearts
Good riddance Summer
Autumn starts