the gargoyle

 composed quickly one evening, on realising that loneliness is a false emotion, a trick by Evolution to ensure that humans breed...

           The Gargoyle

Deep in the night, the day creatures sleep,

You drift into slumber, your quilt round your head. 

Nightmares are rising, more real than you know

And Our lives unfold while you're safe in your bed.

Sometimes restless, sometimes calm,

The gargoyle accepted her fathomless fate.

The portals closed; completely alone, 

The friendly moon glared through the huge metal gate.

A brimming red eye looked imploringly on

But too nervous to hope, from the past and the pain,

She covered her head with her tail, on the ground

And settled on stone, in her cavern, again.

Some would call sweetly as they travelled by,

She'd approach, quite cautiously, ready for flight,

"We understand. We know what you are."

Then tweak at her scales and laugh into the night.

A time of contentment came with the years,

The moon had been lying, a dead, cold face.

Too scared to believe any more in her myth,

She felt some strange strength in her own dark embrace.

She longed for the peace that would come with the end

As she heaved on her ribs to draw her next breath

To feel no more loneliness, hunger or cold, 

The tranquil release that would come after death.

Just in time, before no return,

She sensed a presence that burned in her being.

Darker than night, a smouldering form

With piercing bight eyes that shone with their seeing

She growled as she cringed in the shadows, but knew.

He turned to leave, but threw her a glance.

The gate turned to dust and the moon shone unhindered,

She welcomed his challenge, to give life a chance.

This time she'd die if she'd made a mistake,

He could be false, like the others, or more -

HE could be mistaken, like her in the past,

But, accepting his hand, she unfurled a claw...

december 1994

 Summer Rain

You don't notice me till you need me

You rejoice when I arrive

But if I linger you despise me

While your thirsty flowers thrive

2005

 From 'Just 32 Years of Stuff'
which I recently refound and wanted to record somewhere before I lost again.
Written between 1974 and 2006.

A Cautionary Tale

I call to you and my only goal

Is to burn your heart and devour your soul.

My candy draws you towards my fire,

But to crush your spirit is my sole desire.

So, BEWARE, my pretties, of the cursed dove -

I dwell in hate... but my name is "LOVE"

January 2006

My car had been parked often under a large silver birch tree during the year, and was well overdue for a visit to the local hand car wash.
A few days ago I drove in after dark and finally got it the bath it so dearly needed.
Soap was sprayed on and then jet-washed off, which caused tiny cells of algae to stream slowly down the windscreen, and in the bright lights of the site it looked just like the effect that was used for the Matrix.

A story about one german shepherd puppy [under a year old]
My youngest has just sent me a post about a really obedient young shepherd who complies with an instruction to NOT eat a rib while human leaves the room.
My reply to her, as it was before she was born:
"Gorgeous!
It reminds me of Torba.
He was a terrible thief and a dog-training friend had advised me on how to "cure" him.
I set up the kitchen as advised and went out.
The theory was that he would steal the meat from the work top - meat which was attached by string to all the saucepan handles on the kitchen shelf, so get terrified by all the clattering and never do it again.
When I returned, he had not only had the meat, but all my lovely saucepans were chomped to destruction, and he'd had a whole Munch Party all by himself."

Reward for recovery.

Well, that was something else!
I've needed a treat of some sort after my health-hiccuping first half of 2013, so I've finally managed it.
No, I haven't been fondling human-weary dolphins, leaping ravines on a monocycle or hurling myself out of aeroplanes with wild abandon and only a few bits of fabric to aid and ease the landing.

A few weeks ago I came to the realisation that I could afford a new "toy".
More of an extravagant essential than that which I would normally consider a thing of joy, but I have to be reasonable.
Three times I attempted to buy one, and three times I failed, but each visit to the shop has brought me a little bit closer to fulfilling my quest.

The first time I touched the box, then something else came up and I had to reassign the money.
The second time I was determined to get one, and even decided on the model, but they were out of stock.
The third time I even got one into my shopping trolley, but then the reassignment thing happened again and I put it back.

Today I completed said quest, and managed to get one of my very own, into my house, and even with a price reduction....
Go me.

I'd bought one years before which is still faithfully working very well, but I'm quite aware that its retirement days are approaching and I really need one for each floor of my house.
This means I do know the huge price is worth it, even though my last model cost £100 more than my car at the time.
I'd initially begrudged the price, but have since learned that it was a good investment on boring essential household equipment [unlike buying a custom-built trike, which is much more exciting, but that's another story].

Without unpacking the other shopping I set about the preparations to operate my new machine, undoing the box [a mini quest in itself] and assembling the contents [the easiest part].

You could say I knew what to expect, with the younger, fresher machine, not forgetting all the researched upgrades for better performance.
Well, it's lighter than you'd expect, surprisingly quiet and the power cord reaches all around my house from the kitchen socket, but -
DAMN! That thing's lively!

Imagine, if you can, extra-hyperactive baby weasels, on a caffeine AND sugar overload, and who had just been told they were going to Weasel-Eurodisney.
This little Dyson vacuum cleaner is more excitable than that.
It almost pulled the next-door-neighbours' dust through the wall.
You could suck out eyeballs with that thing. Internal organs, probably.
I hoovered a tile off the floor, and it wasn't even one of the loose ones!

It's even "aware" of it's over-enthusiasm and has little handles to pull to make it more easily let go of wayward curtains, long-lost socks from under immovable furniture and curious-dog tails that wag too close to the "suck zone".
Like valves; but on my first "date" with this new Dyson I had given the operating instructions only a cursory sweep, of course, and hadn't committed all the little gadget-buttons to memory.

I'll appreciate it for years as I have its predecessor.
It's like hoovering up with a spaceship.
It's also like trying to control, by hand, a tornado!

Housework is mostly a repetitive evil, but this thing has been fun, and made it a lot easier.
Once I get to grips with all the labour-saving functions it should be a breeze.
I'm just glad I haven't got small children in my house. I could lose them forever and be left wondering where the tapping and those funny little muffled voices calling "let me out!" were coming from.

Yes, I ache all over now, because I shouldn't even be lifting more than "the weight of a half-filled kettle" for another three months according to the surgeon, but I couldn't possibly have waited any longer.

Ask me how I am tomorrow, haha; aches are always worse the next day.
Actually,I'll probably be hoovering again, and won't hear you because I'll be making laser-fire noises or chuckling at new mishaps.

And, no, you're not borrowing it.

Dilemma

Tesco in dereham has had a horrible "bad drainage" smell in the entrance area since before christmas 2012 [at least].
The staff deny any knowledge of its utter obnoxiousness, but will admit that they've had the same complaint from other customers.
Being a hardened cynic, I have formed the opinion that it is possibly a ploy to get people to buy more air fresheners/smelly candles.
But that's not my point...

I like "awkward moment" stories, but one I haven't come across yet goes like this:
You walk along one of the aisles in a supermarket and it is empty except for one girl who is stacking shelves.
As you get halfway along you notice the terrible smell.
Impersonating a really vile fart which had been trapped in a jar for years like an evil genie, fermenting, before being released to the public in full force.
Your mind races as you consider consulting the shelf stacking girl in case she hasn't smelled it.
There may be some "off" produce in the area - but, no. She might think it's you.
And what if it was her?
Would you truly want to embarrass the poor thing that much?
So you decide to run.
No again.
What if someone races around the aisle end, in a rush to grab some ingredient they forgot to buy earlier?
They might just get a good look at you, then smell that odourous vapour themselves.
They would definitely think it was you.
Unless you're pulling a really wry face. A look of utter disgust.
But the other shopper might have little or no sense of smell, in which case you'd just look incredibly daft.
your best bet [from experience] is to slowly abandon the offensive area and leave the aisle with as much grace as you can muster.
Better still, leave entirely and continue shopping somewhere else.


Similar dilemmas can happen in public toilets from the cubicle next door, but when it's busy you often hear the accompanying sound effects, and reactions of people waiting.