STUDENTS

They’re back again

So here we go

More noisy parties

As they put on a show

You can’t get parked

No room on the street

Complaints from everyone You meet

The pavements are packed

But they won’t give way

Consideration please We pray

You can’t complain

‘Cos no one cares

We cannot meddle

In their affairs

So we’ll count to ten

And try to cope

It could be better

This term, I hope.

BTL, Durham

REMEMBER

Our forces today are losing their lives

Just as they did long ago

Fighting a war in a faraway land

Trying to beat their foe.

As they fly away from their bases

Laughing and waving to families

Big smiles upon their faces.

What heartache their families have to bear

Each day that they are gone

Waiting, worrying, wondering

It just goes on and on.

Today, as we remember

Those brave souls lost to war

Utter a prayer that the powers that be

Will decide there will be no more.

Dot Young, Durham

VISITATION

Sometimes we are many

Sometimes only one

We observe, record and measure

And then we are gone,

We see your little world

We call it a minor sun

Remembering the ages

The good and evil you have done.

We witness your puny technology

And the negative effort that you give

We are far in advance of you

And thus name you primitive.

For you do not love one another

Or call your neighbour brother

The reason is quite simple

You are too busy killing each other.

We have, over time, examined you carefully

Scrutinised your human road

Listened to your faint radio signals

And cracked your genetic code.

You have a very long road to travel

To reach where we are

Whether you will ever make it

Depends on how much you risk and dare.

Sometimes we are many

Sometimes we are one

We observe, record and measure

Then swiftly we are gone.

Gordon B Bannister

GORE HILL

Within my lifetime

Gore Hill was a field

Confining cattle.

No people pined to populate

So pleasant a place,

None ventured to violate or vitiate

That peaceful pasture,

In after-years, ensealed

Beneath homes and highways

Of a council house estate.

Ken Orton, Ferryhill Station