Clogged and Bogged Down!

Clear skies with tiny nip in air

Spectacular October cheer

Where autumn tints in rich profusion

Show reds and russets in collusion.

 

Boitsfort’s tree-lined avenues 

Bold tapestries of vibrant hues ;

Though leaves that cascade in the rains

Seem hell-bent to re-block drains !

 

The Commune calls for strimmers’ clout

Their buzzy motors jerk weeds out 

In minutes local kerbs scraped clear ;

The task is endless – year on year!

 

Tsunamis wreck the Philippines !

Alicante now awash with streams

So, climate change in all its glory

Tops politics for this day’s story !

(c) Poet in the woods 2025

Boulevard du Souverain - Boitsfort

 

Dark Thoughts

I look for light these troubled times

As inspiration for my rhymes

But bad news tends to dominate;

What is this world we now create?

 

New leaders come upon the stage

Recalling times that still enrage;

With the D.T.* lobby in the wings

We ponder roundabouts and swings!

 

Thin ice, as climate change pervades

South-East Asia – under waves?

Mask-wearing now so déjà vu

But is life safe – for me and you?

 

Millennials seem smug, content

With their computer lives now spent

Through screens, on-line, and all alone

Contact reduced to mobile phone …

 

Meanwhile, the glaciers drop away…

Bush fires - the order of the day?

Floods, tsunamis, rental hikes …

Is Armageddon in our sights?

 (c) Poet in the woods 2022

* Donald Trump

At Firing Point?

Despite the day, no April Fool
Not even NAZIs, made this rule
«You will be shot, if you go out!»
A top flight threat which carries clout...

A country in Asia's south-east
Where virus inroads have increased
Declares it now will open fire
On people in the streets; how dire!

Like Emile Zola's famed «J'accuse!»
Which also splashed across the news
Extreme reactions born of fear
Are symptomatic of this year...

This crisis* brings out good and sordid
Brave volunteers should be applauded;
While many help and give their time
Others order food on line.

Common sense grows and dictates
How we should get food on plates
As distribution lines are taut ...
Do we buy more than we ought?

Sane restrictions put in place
Thank God - no gun points in our face
But those who live in hotter climes
Have much to fear these troubled times ...

(c) Poet in the woods 2020

* COVID lockdown

Over the Edge

Man thinks he knows what he’s about
Politicians love to stand and shout
Global Warming’s just a phrase
The latest catch-all fad or craze.

But dramatic pictures on TV,
Bring home this new reality
Tsunamis, typhoons clearly show
Nature’s rumblings come and go

With a frequency we’ve never seen
Disasters scarcely off the screen
Why, the Philippines were struck this week
With giant waves - ten thousand sleep

Never more to wake again;
Our Planet’s angry - that is plain.
Europe so far seems immune
Could Turkey’s fault line rupture soon?

Etna and Stromboli lie still
After many a destructive spill
But history oft repeats itself
Around the Continental Shelf.

Man’s deadliest sin is Pride
“Not guilty”, says he, open-eyed
But we may have reached the Tipping Point
And then whose nose is out of joint?

(c) Poet in the woods 2013