BIRD LIFE

I looked out of the window and what did I see?

All the pretty flowers and lots of greenery.

Then I saw a blackbird sitting all alone

Shouting "nobody loves me" and starting to moan.

Then came another bird - there for all to see

Flew down on the fence, saying "What about me?"

So the two little blackbirds were chirping all the day

Snuggling close together and feeling very gay.

What's this now? Another bird flying rather low

Then sat alongside his feathered friends who he didn't know

Now three little blackbirds were all sitting on the fence

The feeling now between them was getting rather tense.

When down came another bird looking for a mate

He was feeling lonely and hoped he wasn't late.

So now I see four blackbirds contented as can be

It really now has made my day and all ends happily.

Jean Allaway, Darlington

THE REPLACEMENT

I was devastated by the news

When I heard the other day

That a distant relative of mine

Had sadly passed away.

Swimming round his little bowl,

Life became a bore

So he started leaping in the air

And landed on the floor.

He's gone now to the "Great Lake"

That's up there in the sky

Where all good little fishes go

When they have to say "goodbye".

I hope he had a good "send off"

But somehow knowing you

He was probably wrapped in toilet roll

And flushed straight down the loo.

As the replacement for my late friend

I would like you both to know

I'd much prefer an aquarium

With lots of space to grow.

Shiny pebbles and some weed

And in case I want to hide

A castle, with an open door

So I can swim inside.

I'd like my food served twice a day

And it must be really "good"

I don't like flaky dried stuff

I prefer "The Yorkshire Pud".

I know my standards are quite high

Cos I'm different from the "rest"

Others may have pleased you

But now, you've for "the best".

Jeff Race, Crook

DRIVEN TO EXTRACTION

All weekend, I'd endured a bane,

The dentist's being closed.

I'd swallowed tablets, all in vain:

No analgesic blocked the pain

Of dental nerves exposed.

Exigency demanded I

Solicit expert aid,

Although averse, the urgency

Of pangs, meant an emergency

Appointment must be made.

I plucked up the courage, yesterday:

Subdued by craven streak

The dentist diagnosed decay:

Withdrew the tooth without delay;

Uprooted, so to speak.

The ache has gone, beyond recall;

It's bliss, and that's the truth

The price to pay - a gap - is small,

I'm thankful he removed it all.

The tooth, the whole tooth and, nothing but the tooth!

Ken Orton, Ferryhill Station.

LOVED ONES WAITING

We wait upon our distant shore

Looking at our loved ones standing o'er

The bridge of rainbow, ready to cross

And we wait and watch and wonder, knowing that no loss

Would e'er befall you,

No trouble come your way, for Spirit watches o'er you

Every hour of the day.

We try to ease your footsteps

On your pathway to on High,

We try to raise you up, to lift you up each time you cry.

Higher and higher you make your way,

With lightsome hearts and mind,

And we are always close to you,

More than you'll ever find.

So hasten on your pathway,

Do not get down and dim,

The sadness that besets you we will never let it in

To stay and harm your thinking,

To settle you in gloom,

We have you lighter, brighter

And help to make more room

For the heart to glow and glisten,

For the magic of His love

Always to enfold you and bind you with His love.

Judith Kendall, Newton Aycliffe

BLACK DEATH

Me dad was one and both me granddads

and there were uncles by the score.

But that was in days long, long past,

and now they are no more.

They had large white eyes and flashing teeth,

and lips so ruby red,

all shining out from ebony faces.

But now that race is dead.

Going in-by for eight hour shifts,

deep in the bowels of the earth,

they suffered clogged-up lungs and broken backs

to give a purpose to their birth.

Now the pits will be flooded,

no more hewing black diamonds from the seams

A tradition crippled by greed and time,

leaving a million shattered dreams.

There will be no more fluttering banners,

no brass bands with beating drum.

There will be no more mates and marras,

the miners' life is over and done.

Janet Evans