There’s just one place
where I want to be
and that is Kernow
by the sea.
.
By the sea
upon the shore
I would stand there
for ever more.
By the Book (sic)
By the Book (sic)
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Author Archives: Words from a Lentil Institution
A 🐝 Bee Day?
A 🐝 Bee Day?
Is there such a thing
as a 🐝 Bee Day?
A day when the humble 🐝 bee
is treated like royalty?
If not, there should 🐝 be:.
And today is that day
the twentieth of May
when every 🐝 bee has its day.
Shall I or Shalln’ty?
Heaving and hoeing;
Going to Australia,
Row boys row, tie the man down
as the fair maid of Zennor
parades through the town;
Keel the haul,
onan hag oll
.
Ny wonn vy
What half of that means
nor the other half,
to be honest
as I am –
even though
I have Cornish
in my genes.
.
.
.
Translation:
onan hag oll: one and all (the Cornish motto)
Ny wonn vy: I don’t know
In Bude
Imbued ,
as I am,
with the sun, the sea,
‘and’ the sand;
I sense a quiet
tranquility
almost within reach.
.
The beach, soft underfoot,
attracts my step,
and from there
I blur
the thin line between
sea and shore –
Soaking up the one,
having momentarily
forsaken the other –
still, I endure.
.
In Bude,
as I am,
upon a summery spring day
I reflect upon the merry
month
of come what May.
.
In Bude,
as I am,
I currently have the time
to stop
and construct
this rhyme.
I have super vision – revisited.
Yes, my vision is super –
I am watched over all of the time,
by a person, known in rhyme,
as my super visor, Igor.
He likes to climb mountains,
his favourite…?
Of course, it’s the Eiger.
And, whilst we are mentioning mountains,
let us not forget
yet
that there are also fountains in the world.
Just one letter can make a difference
between a sock
and a hard place.
Bandstand
I did a handstand
at the abandoned bandstand
just they other day.
.
No band had recently played there,
no tuba, drum or cello:
not a viola, nor a clarinet,
or cor anglais so mellow.
..
Anyway, a handstand was achieved,
with no one there but me,
and just the distant echoes
of a bandstand band to see.
The wild flowers
The wild flowers were livid;
they were all of a tizz;
because someone had told them,
that, ‘Pedigree is the bizz.’
.
‘We are as good as them,
if not better!’ they cried.
‘We can grow in places,
where they’ve wilted and died.
.
We look as pretty
as any fine flora,
have you seen how we flourish,
we have many an adorer.’
.
‘A weed has never won
at the Chelsea Flower Show;
and from your lowly status,
you can’t expect to grow.’
.
At this, the weeds became
even more livid,
and brought in a cousin,
‘Introducing our Triffid!’
.
There was no contest,
weeds came out on top,
but it’s a shame that the Triffid
didn’t know when to stop.
Grounding myself in the garden
Feet firmly footed
planted upon the earth,
I watch the birds at play,
breakfasting, competing,
and it brings me such mirth.
.
You have to smile at their antics,
the way they swoop and swerve,
perched or poised to swirl aloft,
with instant take-off, landing soft.
.
Two male blackbirds compete for love;
the coos of communication from dove to dove;
twittering, tweeting, chirps of joy,
or just of greeting. ‘Ahoy! Ahoy!’
.
For thirty minutes in the garden
is something for which
I beg no pardon,
and worth much more than time can tell.
An inquisitive bee
An inquisitive bee
enquired of me
‘What is it like
to sail the sea?’
.
I thought a while,
and then replied,
it’s a lovely life,
the sea to ride,
.
upon a boat,
that stays afloat,
and doesn’t sink at all.
.
Why do you ask?
Do you feel the call?’
.
The bee
looked at me,
and said,
‘Why is the sky blue?
and where do Rainbows come from?’
.
‘What is a quoit?
Where is Nepal?’
And then it took flight
out of my sight,
with ne’er an answer at all.
Monkey puzzled
A monkey was puzzling over a tree
“This tree has got the puzzle of me!”
said the monkey.
“I don’t know what it’s supposed to be,
and why somebody would name it
after me…
and a puzzle.”
Graeme Sandford 