To miss a staff meeting is no joke.
It extends the time between a smoke.
Once outside cigs are passed around:
The air is filled with smoke and happy sounds.
Too soon the session comes to an end:
To the customers’ needs they must attend.
So it’s back to the job,
Where they earn a honest bob.

Norman Stevens

Here is Paulo,
Always on the ball **!
He thinks he’s Ronaldo
Playing on Madeiran sand lo.

The Caistor Couple, Patricia and Paul,
They’re at *****’s to have a ball.
I’m not talking about playing sport,
More about beer and ***** and port.

Paul Butters

This poem is by Norman Stevens in response to MY poem about HIM. Have made some minor changes.

In *****’s Bar on High,
Sheltered from Cleethorpes sea and sky,
Paul Butters utters words of cheer,
While quaffing his pint of *****’s beer.

He sets about his spicy meal,
Loading up for his evening’s sport,
When he’ll aim to be the real deal.

Owner Bill’s Angels prepare another stew,
To help down another “home –made” brew.

They nip outside for another “staff meeting”,
Paul says they’ve gone for a ***,
But THAT I’m not repeating.

Throughout these capers,
Norman reads his informative papers.

Sipping his Nectar Beer,
He’ll leave in good cheer.

Norman Stevens
Assisted by Paul Butters

(C) PB\NS 17\11\2015.

My caressing hands have stopped trying to tame the strings.
They move now more to harmony than to melodious things.
Brassy bands, drunk sailors and the sound of laughter.
The D string, the rough bar-stool clamp and clatter.
The sound of voices, raucous and hoarse with song.
The sound of voices, laughing as they all yell along.

It's a barstool anthem;
It's great and it's loud.
There're no classics here...
but Bach would be proud.

In the "Warwick Arms".


There's a girl wearing fake fur

of yesteryear's youth, weighing

out sexiness in the number

of beers she can afford.

How much oblivion

an unimaginative mind can take

is equal to the power of

a beached whale

drawing it's last breath.

The Russian wipes his moustache

turns around & smirks

that she's somewhat

under-dressed for the long winter.



Going to Japan.



Pink rain:

I could walk through it,

sweet-wrapped.

And the rice-blank  past

would be ample weight in my hand.

Like that of roses, remembered.

In a Murakami bar,

octopi would reach out

& dangle questions.

As a thousand pair of eyes

ask me to give the lesson

no-one ever taught me.

That they alone know.

That only pink rain understands.

Why do people do ... ?
The things ... that they do ... ?!?
  
It's ...
Funny ... to me ... !!!
  
Is it ...
Funny ... to you ... ???
  
NOT ... !!!!! ...
Funny ... Ha Ha ... !!!!!
  
..... " Funny " ......
with ... NO LAUGHS ... !!!!!!
  
When people ... Do Things ...
That ... BREAK ... Peoples' Hearts ... !!!
  
Like Men ... BEATING Wives ... !!!!
Or .... Girls who .... "Connive" ....
  
See .....
These ... Are The People ... !!!
who lives are ... Contrived ... !!!
  
So ...
Why do they do it ... !?!
Their actions are ... STUPID ... !!!!
  
They Think ... they're ...
Sooooooo ... SMART ... !!!!
  
But ...
What's in their ... Heart ... ???
  
A vision of ... TRUTH ...
or a life of ... PURE FARCE ... !!!!!
  
I'm writing ... This Piece ...
cos' of ... something I Saw ... !!
  
A fight on ... my street ...
but hey ... What was the score ... ?!?
  
I'm just at home ... cooling ...
Watching ....  " Channel Four " ....
  
but ...
Next thing you know ...
I'm out the front door ... !!!
  
I hear a girl ... CRY ... !!!
Then see ... a white guy
who CLEARLY ... was ... FUMING ... !!!!!
  
I asked myself ... " Why " ... ???
  
Next thing you know ...
I hear a glass ... SMASH ... !!!
  
The girl ... and her child ...
were making a ... DASH ... !!!!!!!!
  
The White Guy ...
Still SHOUTING ... !!!!!
  
Picked up ... A BILLBOARD ... !!!!!!!!!!
  
and then tried to ... RAM IT ...
Right Through The ... Pub Door ... !!!!!
  
I figured ... " Maybe " ... ?
I should make a ... " Call " ...
  
But ...
This is the ... " Story " ...
of what I then ... SAW ... !!!!!
  
A pair of police ...
pulled up on the street ...
and grabbed the white guy ...
Like Butchers ... GRAB MEAT ... !!!!!
  
The white guy ... Complained ... !!!
and still wasn't ... " tame " ... !!!
  
and this is where ... " NUMBERS " ...
then entered  .... " The Game " ....
  
Next thing you know ...
NOT ... ONE Car or ... TWO ...
  
But ...
  
VAN Upon VAN ...
of ... MORE POLICEMAN ... !!!!!
  
The way they were coming ....
had people like ... Damnnnnnnnn ... !!!!!!!!
  
It took .....
SEVEN ... of them ... !!!!!
to control this ... ONE MAN ... ?!?
  
The rest of them ...
STOOD THERE ...
Just like a ... " Street Gang " ...
  
I took one ... " Aside " ...
  
and said ...
  
"Listen man, why ?
So many of you,
to restrain, this one guy ?"
  
He said,
  
"A one on one struggle
could leave someone hurt !"
  
I then bit my tongue ...
  
But thought ....

( SHUT UP, You Berk !!! )
  
But then ... one of them ...
Tried to ... Argue with me ... !!!
  
I said ....
  
"Look at your wagons,
just blocking my street !
It's simply, excessive !
Don't argue with me !
On my Thursday Night,
I don't want to see !
My road blocked with cars
cos' of, STUPID POLICE !
Your actions, as usual,
aren't necessary !"
  
Now I know they're ...
... " Peacekeepers " ...
  
But Hey ...
  
What's with police ... ???
  
In Fact ......
You know ... WHAT ... !!!
  
... The Police ... !!!!! ...
  
SEE ....
  
Why do they do it ?
Treat People like ... MEAT ... !!?!!
  
They are a ... " Factor "
in ... VIOLENT STREETS ... !!!
  
Don'y You ... all agree ... ???
  
Well ... whether you do ...
Let's make this ... COMPLETE ... !!!
  
What about people ...
Who do .... " Poetry " .... ?!?
  
I've been quite ... AMAZED ... !!!
by the number who ... " Teach " ...
  
and then ... get on the stage ...
with ... NONSENSE RIDDEN SPEECH ... !!!!!
  
I Fear ... for our children ... !!!!!
If ... people who teach ...
write poetry suited ...
  
For .... " ADULT TV " ....
Expletives in poems
and ... " Vulgarity " ... !!!!!
  
YES ... I use it TOO ... !!!!!
  
But i'm ...
  
NOT PAID ... to teach ... !!!
  
It seem that ... " Some Teachers " ...
NEED ..... " Dictionaries " ......
  
Now .....
You may not agree ... !!!
  
But ...
How would you feel ... ?
  
If your child was ... " Reliant " ...
on people who ... " Read " ...
  
Poetry written ...
About A ... " Barbie " ... !?!
  
These are ... The People ...
who think they can ... " Teach " ... ?!?
  
No wonder our children ...
are now ... " Human Sheep " ... !!!!!
  
My Wordplay's .....
More ............. " Lucid " ............ !!!
  
But ...
Many take ... " Pride " ...
In Proving They're ... STUPID ... ?!?
  
So here's my ...
LAST Question ...
  
" Why Do People ... Do It ... ??? "

Touched or felt, could/would/should it be more real?

Your coldness smells refreshing, do your ice cubes contain alcohol?

I sang ' Here's to you Mrs Robinson'
downed a pint of Thatchers
while the guitar played

& in the empty streets
there was the Moon
coarse & incomplete

these strange suburban nights
bring back memories of loss
& of the coming of agelessness

I never learnt how to drive
& still rely on the bus
unable to graduate from life

yet I hope my torn sunsets
& wasted loves
have made me wiser

whispering mantras
not afraid of being the outsider
forever drawing maps




*Thatchers is a cider from Somerset, England.