Splendid soldier you
I'm merely your descendant
barely fit to footstep follow
I'm discipled , My kindred hero

Foreign soils desperately dank
Churchillian's major tactical outflank
Death by bulleted blight
******* German bight

Evil eradication in Holland's nether land
Liberation free , Guaranteed
Twas his life he gave
Home to a war hero's grave

Death knell to heroic soldier blue
And maybe I'm a tad bitter 'tis true
My Blood lost his life to a gameplan
After all what's a medal without the man

Martyn Grindrod

My tribute to my Grandad
William Fred Grindrod
20/12/1918 - 30/11/1944
Who would have been 100 years old today.

Ludwig Ii

A Bavarian King with no bone bad
A Bavarian King introverted not mad
A king who lived life by night
A king who stayed out of sight

The Swan king was his given name
from Bavarian bloodstock he came Maximilians Death took away his youth
On throne pomp splendoured and couth

Peer pressure never kneel
Twas Opera Ludwig did feel
Robert Wagner was his one true love
Ludwig fitted Wagner hand in glove

A queen, A queen the Bavarians did wish
Lovestruck Elsa dry eyes diminish
Conformity died during Ludwigs reign
His sexuality showed no shame

Lake Starnberg scene of demise
Mystery death .****** or boat capsize
The King ,The King long live the King
Life lived how he chose Ludwig ii

A Bavarian King with no bone bad
A Bavarian King introverted not mad
A king who lived life by night
A king who stayed out of sight

The Swan king was his given name
from Bavarian bloodstock he came Maximilians Death took away his youth
On throne pomp splendoured and couth

Peer pressure never kneel
Twas Opera Ludwig did feel
Richard Wagner was his one true love
Ludwig fitted Wagner hand in glove

A queen, A queen the Bavarians did wish
Lovestruck Elsa dry eyes diminish
Conformity died during Ludwigs reign
His sexuality showed no shame

Lake Starnberg scene of demise
Mystery death .****** or boat capsize
The King ,The King long live the King
Lived life how he chose with no offspring

Thank You

Martyn Grindrod

Archipelago of fire
Beautiful muchness high admire
Mediterranean sunset, Silvery moon
shallow drift of a blue lagoon

biblical , roman citadel
Rabat rabbit , Mdina befell
allied ally , friend nay foe
Britannia forevermore

Africa, europe nearer unsure
Divided ocean's fight it's land
a Country much sought after
beaches of many laughter

Pleasure crafts, weekend a saunter
line up deep blue still
for Malta's high nightlife
St Julian's hip paceville

Little Malta's big on me
three islands ,three cities more
Sunshine eternal burn
'til adventurers return

Martyn Grindrod

Wife of mine
What see shine
gemstone glow
finger left four

A vows, a vow
spoken, set in stone
A promise unbroken
never needing atone

A milestone me and you
i can unequivocally say
a quarter of a century
not one less nor more a day

years five past
ten amore
fifteen adore
A score i beseech
Anniversary silver reach.


Martyn Grindrod

I tossed a pebble
Spherical from this here Quay
I threw flat pebble
Shore to sea

Round pebble soared to sea
Over Flotsam ,Jetsam, splash
eddy pool formed
Waves splash and crash

Waves rose high
Winds grew wild
developed strong
Rogue wave outstretched long

Storm from wave grew
Restless from north it blew
Blew undersea with might and fright
Aqueous storm formed tonight

A storm of might formed Tsunami
A tsunami of such a force
Nil survivors
Nil remorse

I tossed a pebble
From this here quay
Now there's no you
Now there's no me


Martyn Grindrod

Winter

Fog and mist from Winter Hill drew
over West Pennines it blew
over moorland gorse and bracken
into soot filled chimneys it did blacken
Through howling wind and driving snow
dogwalkers walk in degrees below
The water flows freely down Pick up bank
Thunderous skies miserable and dank



Spring


The hard winter doth disappear
The flowering buds reappear
Starlings arrive cometh May
lighter nights here to stay
Food plentiful rodents group
Barn Owls prepare the swoop
The green grass grow, the wind dies down
Darwen Tower sentinel over Town


Summer


The heat of summer finally here
barbecues ready flowing of beer
The Moorland cattle graze
Too much sun Moorland ablaze
Families depart summer vacation
Off they fly to foreign nation
on their return they did miss
Beautiful Darwen land of bliss


Autumn


Autumn brings forth first frost
Final sign summers lost
leaves fall russet yellowy reds
Butterflies and Bumblebees prepare their beds
Autumnal warmth bereft of heat
Hoddesden walks crunchy underfeet
Washing lines away , Out tumble driers
Kids collecting wood for their bonfires

Martyn Grindrod

Our Black beauty ( A eulogy )

Twas September in your eyes i knew
Pain hath a hold of you
Cruel depths of death
wanted your final breath

Outdoor winds hurried trees
Leaves strewn as bugle blew
Sadness engulfed my sorry heart
Man's best friend pulse withdrew

Shine still , Black fur did
Alas dormant fester hid
Darkness won that day
But our light never fade'th away

Goodbye gentle soul
from me , Taken too soon
When summer ends no sorrow i'l sigh
As autumn will always mean you


A eulogy for our canine friend Ralph

Martyn Grindrod

Nothing tops the melancholy
of the sweet blackbird sing
twee shrill from beak o' yellow
natures feathered cello

The artistry of the Housemartin
low flight,  dancing pirouettes
on land Englishman sow
betwixt wildflowers earthly grow

A wood pigeon hurries tree to tree
A weight in flight rarely seen
Wings ten t' dozen ,audible hum
A quick heartbeat of a big bass drum

Then the May treat the starling
A spring sensation
a thousand wings delightful circle
a swarm , A murmuration.

Martyn Grindrod

Splendid soldier you
I'm merely your descendant
barely fit to footstep follow
I'm discipled , My kindred hero

Foreign soils desperately dank
Churchillian's major tactical outflank
Death by bulleted blight
******* German bight

Evil eradication in Holland's nether land
Liberation free , Guaranteed
Twas his life he gave
Home to a war hero's grave

Death knell to heroic soldier blue
And maybe I'm a tad bitter 'tis true
My Blood lost his life to a gameplan
After all what's a medal without the man

Martyn Grindrod

In remembrance Sunday my tribute to my Grandad
William Fred Grindrod
20/12/1918 - 30/11/1944

Red robin sing
messages you doth bring
t'ween hedgerows you hide
whispering secrets totherside

ebullient flyer
dash between, betwixt
garden to church spire

Sharing tales
from beyond the ghosts
scarlet cravat uppermost

Martyn Grindrod

Springs first morning
Freshness unmistaking
The larks early call
Their singing did befall

A roving along this wondrous path
I viewed a chiselled epitaph
Etched into splendid Larch
Read 'beware the Ides of March'

Perhaps a soothsayers warning
Was unexpected this Spring morning
This is so nondescript
Had I stumbled upon a Crypt

This isn't a Roman arch
It's merely a tree of Larch
This is not ancient Rome
This is not a catacomb

Twas the 15th day of March
I found the secret of the Larch
Words weren't scribed by t'other factors
than a mere plethora of actors

It was the scene of a play
of Ceasers fateful day
where Brutus and Cassius
hatched a plan to **** Julius

A roving first day of Spring
Where Butterflies Flutter, bees did sting
Down wondrous path i passed
Where Ceaser breathed his last

Martyn Grindrod

Red is Romance
It's God is Isis
Red is Hell
Identity Crisis

Red is ****
Temptress alluring
Red is Tempestuous
Bloodthirsty , uncaring

Red is lust
lipstick tempting
Red is Devil
Evil ,uncaring

Red is Sunset
Heat giving , warming
Red is Sunrise
Seafaring warning

Tell us your secret Red
Speak your mind
are Cruel or are you kind

Thank you

Martyn Grindrod

The fondness I feel 
for her with the sweet disposition
enlivened a slumber inside of me
her serene voice of velvet twee

It called her name 
It shouted mountain high
It whispered meadow low
it wandered in on shrill wind blow

Up, down my valley's it blew 
Through peaks and troughs it knew
It sighed , It groaned on a grassy dew 
My fondness found sweet dispositioned you



Martyn Grindrod

I have been there
A paradisiacal spring
Abloom of my senses
Affaire du cœur

She wandered inside
tiptoeing her way
Striding even
inside my garden of eden

Just the once for a month or so
weightless inertia
took over our souls
but we were there

To replicate is impossible
Our waters they rippled
We got drunk at the inn of love
We got severely tippled

Martyn Grindrod

Amidst ashes pumice lay
Life in cinders Pompeii's disarray
Vesuvius plumed angry swell
Archeologists unearth deathly knell

Volcanic ***** ample spume
from molten lava to darkened gloom
Roman bathing in waters pure
Nimbus of fire blazing coiffure

In A.D 79  it's eruption ooccurred
No time to flee , No time for prayer
For sure a wrong analogy of mine
but this 'Furnace it froze in time

Martyn Grindrod

The fondness I feel 
for her with the sweet disposition
enlivened a slumber inside of me
her serene voice of velvet twee

It called her name 
It shouted mountain high
It whispered meadow low
it wandered in on shrill wind blow

Up, down my valley's it blew 
Through peaks and troughs it knew
It sighed , It groaned on a grassy dew 
My fondness found sweet dispositioned you



Martyn Grindrod

Wife of mine
What see shine
gemstone glow
finger left four

A vows, a vow
spoken, set in stone
A promise unbroken
never needing atone

A milestone me and you
i can unequivocally say
a quarter of a century
not one less nor more a day

years five past
ten amore
fifteen adore
A score i beseech
Anniversary silver reach.


Martyn Grindrod

Atop fathomed abyss
glides serenity
the river queen
a picturesque scene

under water surface
the furious pitter patter
to stay afloat
a feminine steam powered boat

This Protected bird
The mere's beauty absurd
Neck long insane
Nature's aquacrane

A swan to swan
curved apart
a beacon of love
an emblazoned heart

Martyn Grindrod

Sing me joy
shrill bill o' yellow
'neath night sky red
tune my feathered cello

Liven that hawthorn tree
with it's yearly bloom
lift the melancholy
make happiness from gloom

The warbled delight
of a morning song
sing blackbird that tune
from dawn til dusk long

Martyn Grindrod