A Cup Of Tea

When life is an uphill struggle

And people treat you rather uppity

How nice it is to sit, relax

Put on the kettle and have a cup of tea.

A cup of tea will balm your nerves

It also serves to pick you up

And if you've time what better than

To maybe sup another cup.

It is a tonic most harmonic -

Darjeeling, lemon and Earl Grey

And what of all this caffeine in it

I don't care what the scientists say.

A cup of tea is the nectar

Of royalty and housewives

It starts the day off very well

And puts the sunshine in our lives.

Whatever is your brand

Tetley, PG Tips, Typhoo

Inviting friends for a chat over tea

Is the social thing to do.

So next time you put the kettle on

When you've nothing else to do

Invite me round, put up your feet

And we'll share a tasty brew.

Linda French, Hartlepool.

Autumn

Now that autumn is on the way

The children make the most of play.

Leaves are falling off the trees,

Fluttering around in the breeze.

The leaves are so enchanting

As they fall down, dancing,

Every colour lying around,

Making a carpet on the ground.

Then it's winter and the north wind blows

Then like fairy petals comes the snow

To make faces all aglow.

Frozen hands and runny noses,

All waiting for the summer roses.

Then the daffodils start to spring,

And the birds begin to sing.

It's time for laughter and good cheer

Now we know that summer is near.

Sarah Denham, Newton Aycliffe.

Life

I know the life that surrounds me

Is full of happiness and pain.

Some say life is to be enjoyed

But others just look in vain.

Life is a short, short thing -

I'm not sure what it's all about.

Some say childhood is the best part of your life

But I think it's what you do in between that counts.

On the time I've spent alive,

Which right now is not very long.

I know some people put on a brave face,

But not all can be as strong.

The pain you can still see

You just have to look in people's eyes

To see why they are really hurting

Whether it was the truth being told or lies.

We've been brought up to trust machines

And I think that's very sad

Not to be able to trust a human being properly

To have a doubt whether they are good or bad.

So to end this poem with a question

Probably the biggest one we can ask,

What is the meaning of life?

And what is man's greatest task?

Rebecca Gaffney, aged 13, Bishop Auckland.

Contentment

If I could live my life again

Not one single thing I'd change.

No manor born with a silver spoon

With wealth and power or fame,

Blackbirds will sing, as they sang long ago,

Perfumed heather fills the air.

Never ending trek each day at dawn,

Building walls in the wilds of nowhere.

Eddie Rowney, Stokesley.

Monarch of the Glen

Shafts of sunlight streaming through

A canopy of autumn leaves

Striking on the ground below

A dappled pattern weaves.

Standing quietly in the shadows

Of this wild and lonely glen

A stag poised like a statue

Alert for stalking men.

Majestic'ly stepping into view

King of all that he surveys

His red coat soft and silken

Gleaming in the sunlight's rays.

There he stands, this glorious stag

His antlers a giant spread

Scorning every other deer

With a toss of his noble head.

As autumn leaves begin to fall

Strewn on the forest floor

We hear the awesome challenge

Of the stag's defiant roar.

A fearsome clash of heads rings out

As he charged to defend his right

Fencing with their antlers

Bellowing with all their might.

Amid a cloud of swirling dust

His defeated rival takes flight

Followed by a triumphal roar

From the victor of this fight.

The herd of deer calmly grazes on

Knee-deep among the bracken

Safe beneath the ever watchful eye

Of their proud Monarch of the Glen.

GW Skaife, Saltburn.

A Hard Day's Knight

Wagon drivers are the knights of the roads

Driving the motorways with their heavy loads.

Away from home for days on end

The radio sometimes their only friend.

Eating up the miles, we see them go

Traffic jams and roadworks, their biggest foe.

This is the tale of one such driver

A real hard worker, not a skiver.

A knight of the road, my friend Dennis

(Not the one who is a menace).

He works so hard, bills to pay

So down the road he makes his way.

One day his wife, Anne, got the dreaded call

The one she feared most of all.

There really wasn't much time to talk

Dennis was in hospital, down at York.

The knight of the road was bruised and battered,

The bones in his leg, broken and shattered.

So off she went, feeling quite sorry

He'd fallen from the back of his very own lorry.

Now, things fall from the backs of lorries each day,

But rarely the driver, I'm pleased to say.

I send my good wishes to him in a letter

And hope that soon he feels much better.

Valerie Patterson, Brandon.

Without? - I Doubt!

I came within with a hat.

I won't go out without!

Somewhere within, I hung the hat

That I would wear without.

It is not done to wear within;

So, within I am without.

Mayhap a sin to wear within,

'Tis a pleasure when without.

I need the hat I came within with,

For I need to be without.

But I can't find my hat within;

So now I am without.

Someone came within without,

And took my hat without.

And so that hat I came within with;

I cannot wear without.

If within is without my hat.

And I can't leave without;

Then I will find a hat within

That I can wear without.

Someone else within within,

Will go without without.

I had a hat when I came in;

I can't go out without.

L P Brighton, Darlington.

The New Season

This year

For footgear

Lace-ups, loafers

boots and the brogue

Have calmly

catwalked into vogue

Those who design

Declare it's fine

To be sensibly shod

and neater

To shed stilletos and

not to teeter!

Aruna Joss, Mickleton, Barnard Castle.

I Dreamed The Cruel Sea

I watched it from the cliff top

It was cold, dark and grey

The wind was strong, the waves were high

As they rolled across the bay.

Ships were sheltering from the storm

Their anchors strained and taut

They had sailed from across the sea

Into this tempestuous port.

Ships were clashed against the wharf

Unable to set sail

Captains, crews were helpless

In this force ten gale.

Then as the dawn began to break

There was a calmness in the air

The scene below was tragic

Some boats beyond repair.

The sea was still, there was no wind

I saw the great sun rise

It rose up from the tranquil sea

Into a blue and cloudless sky.

I know not how I got there

As I woke up with a fright

It must have been a dream you see

I was asleep that night.

Eric Anderton, Peterlee.