Politics - Across the Board!

Is Politics akin to Chess?

Viz: clever moves that may attest

An agenda hidden in plain view;

From Pawn to King is nothing new!

 

Two steps forward, then a slide

In which direction will they ride?

Is all Black or White? I fear

Shades of grey are ever near.

 

Anticipating who goes where

Though each starts in allotted square;

Yet,  unexpected moves may bring

A seismic shift – not a bad thing!

 

Jostling ‘pawns’ form options new

Opposing players may win through

With actions dubious, smart, effete …

Each Nation’s ‘chessboard’ is unique!

(c) Poet in the woods 2026

As November wanes ...

November dies in wind and mist

Though sometimes falling leaves are kissed

By ragged rays of autumn shine

Pre-Christmas shoppers out – big time!

 

The wars continue – peace talks stale

Hong Kong fireball* leaves black trail

Floods* in Thailand’s south claim lives …

But Hope, amazingly, survives…

 

Mismanagement, neglect, or Fate?

Disasters still accumulate

On-line news beeps in our phones

No privacy – just think of drones…

 

Conspicuous consumption peak

As Black Friday lasts all week!

I opt out – I forego mainstream

I watch the leaves fall and I dream …

(c) Poet in the woods 2025

* Both events happened on 26th November, 2025 with extensive loss of life ... 150 people died in Hong Kong.

Hostage Aftermath

 With the hostages released

More food trucks now come through:

Fragile overtones of peace!

Will hope be born anew?

 

But we must still be wary;

With debris swept aside

Rebuilding will be scary;

Ahead - a rough, rough ride…

 

I’m not one for predictions

 But let’s keep fingers crossed

A warmer glow seeps through the smoke,

Perhaps not all is lost.

 

Ways and means and compromise

Will weave a lifestyle new

Though goalposts in this crucial game

 Risk being altered too…

(c) Poet in the woods 2025

Under the Clouds

What shall I write about today?

Terence Stamp* has passed away

A heartthrob of our younger years;

Meanwhile, Alaska** heightens fears.

 

Scattered snippets found on line

Which catch our eye from time to time

As fires*** rage in distant lands

And throw a spanner in our plans.

 

That’s it, you see, the Great Unknown:

Real life beyond our mobile phone

Which gives complacency a shake

With hurricane and strong earthquake.

 

We yearn for peace but invoke war

We try to even up the score…

High level meetings to take place

Where Doves and Hawks come face to face ...

(c) Poet in the woods 2025

* Terence Stamp (1938 - 17/8/25) who starred in Billy Budd, The Collector and several Pasolini films in the 1960s  - not to mention The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ...

** Chosen for summit between DJT and VP

*** in Portugal, Spain, Greece and B.C. Canada

April 6th - a Meditation

April 6^th – and it’s still cold

Though daffs and aconite unfold

Their golden loveliness with pride;

I shiver as I step outside.

 

How can I cheer you all today,

As politics is dressed in grey?

I muse; how was it, years ago?

Perhaps my memory is slow…

 

King Death roams in disparate places

The Middle East put through its paces …

But each day offers a new slate!

We can choose to love - or hate;

 

Ripe age brings wisdom, old folks say;

So, as Spring sports its best display

And social media causes stress,

Perhaps a walk in sun is best …

(c) Poet in the woods 2025

Flowering Aconite 

A Time for Peace?

At last, some good news to report,

It is, you might say, centre court,

We dare to read between the lines

Of a six-week truce that binds.

 

The Middle East, in all its glory

Has Nations each with stormy story;

Some speak of discord or of war

Both are terms we can’t ignore.

 

Now in the air float thoughts of peace

And for hostages – release.

Politics - a restless game;

For many, life won’t be the same …

 

Folks, we’re flotsam on life’s flow

The future is not ours to know

But has common sense prevailed?

Fingers crossed; we’re not derailed…

(c) Poet in the woods 2025

Musing at the Cenotaph

The cenotaph – an empty tomb

In which a Nation’s lost souls bloom

A poignant symbol all agree

Of futile deaths in lands called “free” …

 

Signed Treaties reneged, then unkept;

Countless widows who have wept;

Man’s failure to maintain the peace

Reminds us War is on long-lease…

 

Conflicts blight our news today:

Heartless drones the bold, smart way!

Though pretexts vary down the years

Every time we shed more tears …

 

At stake – vast oil or water deals

Land acquisition, faith ideals.

So, Injustice furls its banner high

War ignites and brave men die …

 

Global warming’s a rough ride!

“To love one’s neighbour,” we should strive

But sadly, human nature’s flawed

It’s simpler to gird up our sword! 

(c) Poet in the woods 2024

The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London

Powder Keg Politics

Revenge is such an ugly word,

Vendetta, feud, so sad, absurd

As life is tough at best of times,

Just look at history for signs…

 

Our planet is all we have got

Why must we its edges rock?

Why can’t people pull together?

Conflict starts at end of tether…

 

A case in point: the Middle East

Always jeopardising Peace;

A powder keg with a short fuse

Whose politics makes headline news…

 

On the sidelines, we observe

The creation of huge curve,

Which could, if feelings run too high,

Overwhelm, so more souls die…

 

Why do we choose to live this way?

Allies form, then slip away

Our chessboard plays resentful pawns

And today this poem spawns!

(c) Poet in the woods 2024

Puddles, Pagers and Politics!

It’s time once more to pen new thoughts

And paint the world with all its warts*

As exploding pagers** hit the news

And debates across the States confuse...

 

There’s Portugal - engulfed by flames

Central Europe – where it rains

So floods endanger myriad homes;

What a cataclysm of unknowns!

 

We should tread carefully, pay more heed;

Man’s life is in his hands, we read

But as I search for seeds of hope,

I dangle from a much-frayed rope!

(c) Poet in the woods 2024

* What Oliver Cromwell purportedly said in the 17th century when sitting for his portrait : "Paint me, warts and all!"

  ** In Lebanon

May 14th - in History

On this day, in times long past:

French King Henry *breathed his last

As Ravaillac’s blade his lights put out;

The State of Israel came about:

 

New country formed in ‘48

Amid fierce Middle East debate;

The Warsaw Pact** was signed and sealed:

Realpolitik - Cold War revealed!

 

Space Race: high-tech, Land of the Free

Saw Skylab launched in ‘73

And someone of whose name you’ve heard

Birth of Facebook’s Zuckerberg***!

(c) Poet in the woods 2024

* King Henri  IV 1610

** 1955

*** Mark Zuckerberg born 1984

Under Pressure ...

The pressure mounts, world tension rises

From Middle East come bad surprises;

Dried up is that pool of calm

Our ‘qui-vive’ blocked in mode ‘alarm’.

 

Does life, dear Readers, still make sense?

I would not wish to cause offence

But everywhere the newsreels turn

Lie harsh lessons we must learn…

 

Injustice, violence and crime

Upset our joie de vivre – big time

Horrors roll out and increase;

Where can poor souls now find peace?

 

Good news rarely makes the cut;

As fear and drama and bad luck

Beset our human kind in waves

Conclusion: no one now behaves…

(c) Poet in the woods 2024

November 4th - A Meditation

Another blank sheet glares at me

What does my crystal ball tell me?

The world is in a right old mess

The Middle East – turmoil and stress …

 

Did Nostradamus* tell us true?

His quatrains spoke of chaos too

Upheavals, unrest, maybe war

Predictions many still explore…

 

I am no harbinger of doom

But news streams into every room;

Today - harsh earthquake in Nepal

Causes more deaths to deplore …

 

It’s all too much; is there a way

To keep the God of Fear at bay?

Politicians’ lives are fraught

Has history no lessons taught?

 

We reach the back end of the year

Where glowing autumn colours cheer!

Dame Nature does her best to please

But can we see this wood for trees?

(c) Poet in the woods 2023

* French physician and reputed seer - Michel de Nostredame (1503-1566)

Trying to Make Sense

I can’t help wondering WHO you are

Or where you hail from – near or far?

But gee, it’s great you come on line

And pause awhile to read my rhyme!

 

You’ve no doubt noticed I speak plain,

And from a vested stance abstain

But still, I try - and don’t we all? -

To make sense of life’s rolling ball!

 

Observing climate change is rough;

Understanding politics is tough;

Reporters’ noses to the ground;

Let’s face it, is news media sound?

 

So, status quo? There’s no such thing

A change in mood means hefty swing

With old alliances forgot

Enemies now tie the knot …

 

Moves on this chequerboard advance

Pawns tend to lead a merry dance

The game, alas, in parlous state;

Outsiders on the qui vive quake…

(c) Poet in the woods 2023

Angst at Dawn

It’s the uncertainty that weighs

On our hearts and souls these days

The hollow echoes of sad voices

Faced with scary nightmare choices.

 

A distant rumbling as mass hordes

Make moves south as time affords;

Disruption as supplies run short …

Has history no lessons taught?

 

Meanwhile, the God Angst reigns supreme;

We pray that this is a bad dream

But will brave diplomats prevail?

Thoughts of peace crawl, like a snail …

(c) Poet in the woods 2023

Upsetting Thoughts

There’s much that I could write about

Our  dear old world’s a mess – no doubt;

F16 fighters for Ukraine?

As Zelensky visits us* again …

 

Then talk of hostages held fast

As history long shadows cast,

Uncertainties in distant places

Despair etched deep on many faces…

 

I make no claim, denounce no plot

A politician I am not;

Observing - quietly gripped with fear -

Where do we go forth – from here?

 

Revenge, prepare, attack, deploy

More sweet innocents destroy …

A word - three letters - comes to mind -

To say it though, too stark, unkind …

(c) Poet in the woods 2023

* Visit  to Brussels of the President of Ukraine

A Russian Cocktail

September: Wow, the sun still shines!

I trawl the news these troubled times

For some choice nugget to relate :

The Olympics - Munich*  a dark date …

 

Israeli athletes lost their lives

To scary Black September guys…

Spotlight on Russia (not the war):

Mikhail Gorbachev - no more.

 

World leader who changed Kremlin’s face;

Think Thatcher, Reagan, the Arms Race

A wind of change; chess moves - detente

In Russia though, mixed memories haunt…

 

Back to the mundane – fuel costs rise

Why is that no real surprise?

But as I said, the sun still shines,

Rays of hope for better times?

(c) Poet in the woods 2022

*11 athletes died (September 5th, 1972)

Mikhail Gorbachev  2.3.1931 - 29.8.2022

A Tough Call

If we’re not careful, days go by

Achieving nothing, on the fly

As August swelters in the heat;

Far niente* is so hard to beat!

 

Another morning - deep blue sky

My plants look wizened – will they die

Though watered daily in large doses ...

How long before they ban our hoses?

 

This week, large grain ships leave Ukraine

As Turkey's brokers take the strain;

But eyes revert to Middle East

 Where tensions flare up, threatening peace…

 

A powder keg – in all this heat

Worries our-man-in-the-street

Hence, I leave you with this thought:

Has history all its lessons taught?

(c) Poet in the woods 2022

* dolce far niente = doing sweet nothing

Curtains!

Good Friday under Southern skies:

A cacophony of birdsong cries

No cars, no humans – a surprise

Just aircon hum;

I stroll along straight leafy streets

Past empty driveways, quiet retreats

Where wheelie-bins are lined up neat;

In sight - no one…

 

Faded awnings, sun-burnt dry

”No junk mail” signs as I go by

Carports open to the sky

But not a soul;

Yet, Via Dolorosa thrill:

Families on pavements mill

And nearby churches start to fill

As lone bells toll.

 

City of Churches – Adelaide

Come-as-you-are now on parade

Sartorial splendour not displayed

It’s so laid back;

Hymns loudly sung with on-stage band

The well-known story – God as Man

For whom the cruellest death is planned

To re-enact.

 

The centurion who watched it all …

The sponge with bitter-tasting gall …

The crowds of followers in awe

Of this event;

In excruciating pain

This sacrifice was not in vain

The temple curtain split in twain

Proof of intent …

(c) Poet in the woods 2022

A Sense of Unease

More rumbles in the Middle East

As tremors threaten fragile peace

Revenge, distrust, flare-ups, disorder

Israeli troops amass on border.

 

Fabled Jerusalem, twin-souled

For Jew and Arab faiths - pure gold;

Those land disputes have rankled long

To whom do territories belong?

 

Deadly rockets wend their way …

Alas, this is no Guy Fawkes day

Unlucky children lose their lives

Such news is dire – but no surprise …

 

A test for Biden*; laisser-faire

Is quite the wrong approach – beware

Each day sees deaths and escalation

As cracks appear in this key nation.

 

The Premier has his work cut out

Who in this drama has most clout?

As the embers of this latent fire

Are lit by sparks along the wire …

(c) Poet in the woods 2021

* Joe Biden US President

Israeli-Gaza Conflict  since 10th May, 2021

Map showing Gaza Strip

 

Flower Power et al.

After several days of harsh May chill
The Ice Saints* vanish o'er the hill,
Their snowy beards mere cotton wisps
The sky, a deep blue, beams - sun-kissed.

Beyond the headlines, other news
But you must search to pick-up clues:
Spa-Franchorchamps, the Grand-Prix race
Will still, amazingly, take place!

Surrogate babes in the Ukraine
Await collection - but in vain
Their adoptive parents kept apart
Trapped sadly in this maelstrom heart.

A red, rafflesia tuan-mudae
Grows, giant-like, into the sky
What a Sumatran masterpiece!
Nature's wonders never cease.

Israeli leaders coalesce
Will years of squabbling stand the test?
Some borders open, some stayed closed
What will happen next – who knows?

(c) Poet in the woods 2020

* St. Boniface, St. Pancreas and St. Servatius - because their
saints days fall between 11-15 May, after which there is no frost.



The biggest flower in the world!