Waste

On 09/11/202508/11/2025 By Peter's ponderingIn bravery, broken things, courage, death, duty, Fact, horror, Poetry, Remembrance, war, waste18 Comments

Regular readers will remember that I have often reposted “The Last Remembrance” to commemorate Remembrance Sunday. Today, I am offering this simple but powerful poem instead.

I first discovered this poem in September 1968.

Waste of Muscle, waste of Brain,
Waste of Patience, waste of Pain,
Waste of Manhood, waste of Health,
Waste of Beauty, waste of Wealth,
Waste of Blood, and waste of Tears,
Waste of Youth’s most precious years,
Waste of ways the Saints have trod,
Waste of Glory, waste of God,– War!

It was written by Rev Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, an amazing man. You can read about him here: (Woodbine Willy),

Well, that explains it!

On 07/04/2025 By Peter's ponderingIn broken things, Common sense, fear, horror, Insecurity, nonsense, politics, Re posts, responsibility, truth31 Comments

August 1968

The Ogre does what ogres can,
Deeds quite impossible for Man,
But one prize is beyond his reach,
The Ogre cannot master Speech:
About a subjugated plain,
Among its desperate and slain,
The Ogre stalks with hands on hips,
While drivel gushes from his lips.

W H Auden

The poem responds to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 20, 1968. The invasion by 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops toppled the reformist regime of Alexander Dubcek, which had ended censorship earlier that year.

In sharing this, I found that I had no categories or tags that adequately covered the content. I am not surprised!

Just Listen

On 30/07/2024 By Peter's ponderingIn accountability, broken things, childhood, community, death, decline, Facts of life, Mums, philosophy, Poetry, politics, Rapid rhyme, wellbeing49 Comments

Listen to the leaders

ruling, fooling

claiming, blaming

listen to the leaders

Listen to the mothers

caring, sharing

minding, binding

Listen to the mothers

Listen to the children

pleading, needing,

crying, dying

listen to the children

Just listen!

Comeuppance

On 30/05/2024 By Peter's ponderingIn accountability, broken things, bullying, creativity, Poetry, responsibility39 Comments

My thanks to Sir John Betjeman for his marvellous poem Slough which inspired my meagre effort “Comeuppance.”

Come friendly bombs and fall on Trump,

He really is a dreadful chump.

His lying face I’d like to thump,

And see him rot in jail.

Come bombs and blow to kingdom come

All those who treat us like we’re dumb.

I’d like to see them suffer some.

Yes, those beyond the pale!

Come missiles and some cheaper drones

Those ones controlled by mobile phones.

Let them smash the feeble bones

Of those who need to pay.

Come everyone let’s rise and speak.

Let’s show the bullies we’re not weak,

That we will not stay mild and meek,

That we will have our say!

Slough can be viewed in full HERE.

Stitched Up?

On 29/05/2023 By Peter's ponderingIn acrostic, broken things, creativity, fun, humour, photography, Weekend Writing Prompt, Weekly prompts21 Comments

This is in response to Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #313 where the given word is STITCH, and the word count is 10.

Shucks

Thanks for that!

I have

Completely repair

Holes?

The Buddha with the Golden Necklace

On 27/04/202327/04/2023 By Peter's ponderingIn beauty, broken things, Diversity, harmony, Living well, My life, nice things, Peace, photography, Poetry, Re posts, water, wellbeing31 Comments

Carolyn, over at doesitevenmatter3, in a post on 18^th April, shared her poem about heart scars, and went on to discuss the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi as a means of healing scars.

Kintsugi was invented around the fifteenth century. Ashikaga Yoshimasa, of the Ashikaga shogunate, broke his favourite tea cup. A Japanese craftsman repaired the cup and transformed it into a jewel by filling its scars with lacquer and powdered gold.

I mentioned that I had a buddha in my garden, that had been repaired, and enhanced, that way. Carolyn expressed a desire to see it, so here it is, together with a friend, overseeing my small pond which is, incidentally, home to a frog called Princess Carolyn (named in honour of another Carolyn, yetismith)! You can see her here. (the frog that is!) There are three photos!

A Clean Rhyme

On 29/11/2022 By Peter's ponderingIn #Not a sonnet, broken things, creativity, fun, humour, Just because, Poetry, Silly slices of my mind24 Comments

(If you didn’t see the dirty one you can find it HERE)

My rhyme is now back from the cleaners

It really is looking like new

However, there may be a problem

The wonkle is missing a screw

It was definitely there when I sent it

And it definitely isn’t there now

I’ll definitely call a nice policeman

But I definitely do not know how

Because with a non-working wonkle

My wimwom can never connect

And if I can’t give all the facts to the law

How can the nice policeman detect

I’m at my wits end with this problem

I really don’t know what to do

So I’m writing this rhyme to ask for your time

If I cannot fix it, can you?

The Joys of travelling by rail — Broadsides – A collection of bits and pieces

On 26/11/2022 By Peter's ponderingIn broken things, Fact, funny, horror, railways, Re posts, toilets, transport26 Comments

John had to travel to London by train. Read his very funny/Not funny at all account of his journey here!

A horrendously overcrowded jam-packed standing-room-only journey by train from Nottingham to London. Somewhat surprised to get an email from East Midlands Railways enquiring if I enjoyed the trip. My reply is below: “What a splendid journey. We found ourselves lodged in the connecting corridor of two carriages, along with many other of your passengers, far…
The Joys of travelling by rail — Broadsides – A collection of bits and pieces