3281 - Strum and dusted

Looking forward to a guitar session
Tonight, had a good 'un last night playing
Beach Boys, and there's more of the same to come
It really pays dividends, practising
Well not literally but know my meaning
Can routinely play now quite well without
Feeling a need to slow down by looking
We don't look when we walk, don't think about
It, talk casually, look around, chill out
As we stroll almost mindlessly along
That's what I want when I'm stood there strumming
No effort required, very little thought
And won't be satisfied til I am one
Of that ilk, able to chat, joke or sing

3221 - 'Good' and 'fun' don't mix

Is it the right thing to do, to cut down
On cigs and booze, although it's healthier
Does it mean I'm boring and old and brown
Tired, burned out, over the hill, washed up, square?
Boozing is partying, fun, debonair
Being good is like my parents, boring
What's the point of that, boredom's heard to bear
Aren't I allowed a Friday night's drinking?
Psychologically weak at resisting
Like English footballers in big games, found
Lily-livered, bashful and full of fear
As has happened before, just the thinking
About this on a Friday night is grounds
For rushing out to buy booze, just, once, more...?

3152 - Yes

OK so you think I'm inferior to
You but that's nonsense, because that ain't so
I don't really know how to compare to
You, because you seem to be so superior to
Me, as do most, but time will tell me so
Time does not exist, even though you say
It does, well there's things you don't know
And as for me, it's not clear that today
I know what's goin' on today, I pray
No I don't, I don't believe unlike you
I don't accept that things should be like so
That things should be like they say, like they say
No, on the contrary, that's not the way we do
Things round here, although we should do, although

Sat 4 April

3086 - Ideal homes, unideal thoughts

It's late, nearly half past one, and I'm here
You've gone to bed, and I'll be there soon, yes
Now what is there to say, what can appear
So many times. so many nights, I guess
I know more than you, that I must confess
Each line is a confession, speech is all
Can you defeat me in this meaningless
Pointless communication, possible
But unlikely, given the overall
State of the universe, the things that are now here
And finite matter, matters nonetheless
Meaning dissipates, disappears, dissolve
Into the ether, beyond my two ears
Becomes meaningless, oh so meaningless

Wed 28 January

3043 - Buzz saw doctors

Left-handed buzz, post-guitar sessioning
Playing these days itself is a real buzz
But I don't play each day would be pushing
It in terms of hand health, mite dangerous
Got to be careful, don't want arthritis
But I play so fast these days, work the joints
In my left wrist and my left-hand fingers
Zooming all over the fretboard. Yet once
Back when I lived in Stockport, strained my brains
Trying to memorise positioning
By note names on the guitar fret - pointless
The way my mind works, it falls down and grunts
When memorising words or info in
Quick time. No, music has to be thoughtless

3022 - Virtuous circle

Just exercised, woo-hoo, gives such a sense
Of pride and well-being, doing the right thing
As time goes on I'm seeing me less tense
About opportunities of doing
My will power's increasing as my drinking
Becomes history and I need to fill
Time differently, better, more interesting
Is all that's around, and more time to kill
Which in a virtuous circle means I will
Do more of what's right and ego intends
And less time-wasting. Not too much reading
Must get the level right, or books might spill
Over into 'doing' time, a defence
Against decisive action, achieving

3012 - Look, don't touch

It's Friday night, but should I play guitar
Or give my hands a rest? After last night
They've felt a bit strained, You know how hands are
When they're over-used. My digits like sprites
Fly over fretboard, sonic dynamite
Portraying thoughts in fractions of seconds
But maybe not tonight, no not tonight
Which means I'll just relax as bed beckons
Read more Clough biog, read how he descends
Deeper into alcohol, still deeper
In his green top, his face flushed red and bright
He'd battle on without Pete, his best friend
So now, as I wonder where's Louis, where?
I'll settle down for a night cheap and quiet

2979 - Opportunity drops

I had a good day, physically fit
After a good night's sleep, did lots of stuff
Including THREE new poems that I writ
Cos I meant to go out tonight, but fluffed
The opportunity, my powder puff
Work ethic failing me again, using
The England match as my excuse! Enough
Nights later this month though, and my showing
Up is now vital, even the playing
Music night this Wednesday. Now that I've quit
Drinking and smoking (for now), I should have
The clarity of mind, the free thinking
To go out and do more, cos I had writ
The material especially. Rise above!!

2920 - While the sun shines

Came home early, got quite a few things done
Nothing interesting, cleaning, ironing shirts
Getting a little warmed up, the sun shone
Through the window of the flat, its rays hurt
Magnified in intensity, they cut
The skin in tiny ways you can't help feel
Nevertheless, I still had time to put
On the guitar and play, and had a real
Go at some Magazine tracks with appeal
That I knew from years ago, as a son
Sitting in the back room, speakers were shit
But still I soaked it all up, tried to fill
The gaps in my mind that are still not gone
Though I have learned to keep them more secret

2839 - Looking back on the future

I'm writing this earlier than yesterday
No, later, no earlier, oh you know what
I mean. It's later IN TIME, quite clearly
But THE TIME's earlier now than when I sat
Writing late last night trying to concentrate
While drunk, with Dylan on my 'phones, but now
I can do that sort of thing, even late
My brain's able to cope with it somehow
Fast forward to the future, speed the plough
Back to today, and unlucky Derby
They lost 1-0 to QPR, a shot
That was the Hoops' only one hit below
The bar or between the posts. You know, hey
Does it really matter? No - I'm over it!

2837 - Both sides of Dylan now

Here I am, 3:15 on Friday night
Been out on the town with Nance and Dermot
Listening to Dylan on headphones, I write
It's easy when you know how, or know not
Hope I can read this tomorrow, a lot
Of hope there, it may be hope that's misplaced
But I hope not, I hope all's in the pot
And that when all's done, I won't be disgraced
In life you mustn't go too fast, be paced
You can plumb the depths and can hit the heights
Life can be cold and life can be red hot
These things can be avoided or be faced
Until the end you never quite know quite
So I'll end shortly with that timely thought

Fri 23 May very late when drunk and listening to 'Another Side of Bob Dylan'

2800 - Redhead

First day back at work, some good laughs despite
My possibly being marked way way too low
For last year's performance, but like a kite
I lift myself on the breeze and just go
Not just in France, sunny weather here too
My head's slightly red, now the sunshine burns
The top of it through my thin hair! Swallowed
An enormous lentil dhal soup that turned
Me into a hydrated state. I learned
That I've got Friday off. It's 'Good.' So quite
A short working week this week! Getting slow
Now in my thought processes, I've returned
To vegetable as day becomes night
An early night will do me good, you know

2786 - Late night sermon

Ah, uh, oh yeah, well right, it's all good, yeah
I'm writing this before I go to bed
That's obvious, I couldn't write it, where
In bed? Of course not, so I write instead
Before I go there, before my old head
Turns off its light and heads toward dreamland
Now you might think about the things I've said
And decide that they're bollocks. They are, and?
You think there's no value in that? I planned
It that way, having tried making sense, pear
And apple, I'm no Cockney, right said Fred
But I know everything is built on sand
I learned it in Sunday School back somewhere
Last century, when young brains were unfed

2780 - Good food for good thoughts

I'd better write today's sonnet right now
In case I forget, like I did last night
The main thing on my mind somehow
Is food at the moment, healthy diet
I like reading articles people write
On super foods that really do you good
If you can keep off booze, you get real bright
Physically, mentally, seems to get hard
Then not to self-medicate, to retard
That diamond-hard perception, turn to cow
From genius, escape from this blinding light
Crash the Porsche and hobble into a Ford
But I think I'll resist that urge, and so
I'll read more 'Bleak House,' save more cash tonight!

2551 - Sleep no more

Last night I woke and took three hours to sleep
Again, my mind racing, thinking guitar
My fingers racing on the fretboard, keep
Thinking of playing, racing here and there
The mind is where it starts, both near and far
And it would just not stop, lying in dark
Which gradually became light, plus the fear
That mum's operation was today. Stark
Reality, I hadn't texted! Work
Was also a worry. So counting sheep
Wasn't really an option. I was scared
I wouldn't last the day. In the end, walked
Through it, and then to town, room of people
Delivered my poem. It was better!

Wed 26 February

2542 - I can work it out

Unusually I've done some work at home
Preparing for a job application
Yes, the time has come now to try to roam
Without rising to the provocation
Some people have no shame or honour, on
The various charters and codes of practice
Nowhere does it say pick on staff you can't
Relate to because you're boring as piss
Even if they help you understand this
Job and do all the real thinking. But some
Disasters can become a waystation
To better situations with less stress
Keep focussed, think of my kids, and I'll come
Through this sooner or later, hope it's soon

2524 - Write on cue

Hey hey I woke up early, wrote some stuff
Before going to work, it's good doing that
Might do it again when not feeling rough
The brain works fastest then, it's far more smart
Had arranged to go out tonight, but not
Going, it's too cold out for my liking
And Tom's not going either, he has got
Somewhere else to go to, less travelling
For him, it's in Liverpool where he sings
Quite often. Meanwhile, I'm happy enough
A date has been set up after a chat
On Facebook. Not sure when it's happening
But I can't wait for it and that's the truth
I'm tired now so I'll read, then early night...

2500 - The late late show

Two thousand five hundred - what a milestone
That's how many daily sonnets I've done
Each one a fourteen line poem, each one
A summary of my day under sun
And moon, and very often it's been moon
What with lots of late nights and having fun
It could still be better, got to press on
If riches can't be mine, then some things can
And one of them is living in this land
Another's having a permanent band
Playing in my head. And there's my quick hands
Almost able to reproduce the sounds
In my head. And there's odd glimpses of fans
They pop up like mirages in the sand

2488 - Hip op tick tock

I forgot yet again to write a poem
My excuse this time? It was Christmas Day
And I was busy having a good time
Stayed with my mum. Although she has a frayed
Right hip, she was up for a hop today
In the pleasant winter sun all along
The prom at West Kirby, our tops arrayed
With Santa hats, mentally both still young
Bringing smiles to all so that nothing's wrong
Some nice food and TV, watering the stem
Of the plant of family unity
And continuity. Year's nearly gone
So we reflect, reflected in sea spume
All the rights and wrongs equally we weigh

Wed 25 Dec 2013

2468 - Who do we appreciate?

2,4,6,8 - who do we appreciate?
We (or at least me) appreciate all this -
Primary colours and dark chocolate
Sunshine but with a cool refreshing breeze
Sweating with little clothing on bodies
Eating great food, drinking beer, staying thin
Pleasing others and in return being pleased
Being busy doing my kinds of things
Seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, being
The sound of music, rhythms that gyrate
Motion, travel, and obviously, bliss
Laughter, wit, even things embarrassing
Having all of the answers on my plate
Keeping hope and joy alive, a long kiss