Hold-Up on the Suez Canal!

In turgid waters, the ship lies

Beleaguered, focus of all eyes

Vast enterprise: tugs do their best

To dislodge this manifest.

 

A week goes by, rumours abound

Since this titan ran aground

The “Evergreen’s” expansive girth

Halts shipping transport round the Earth!

 

400 blocked ships hesitating

Forced delays, costs escalating;

Angry owners will not wait

Some take the long route round the Cape...

 

Suez - the Wunderkind - lies still

No Canal let-up until

This monster cargo ship’s afloat

Oh, for the time of the small boat!

 

Once thought the marvel of the age

Since 1869 the page

Of lengthy sea lanes seemed long past

With non-stop travel slick and fast.

 

Alas, container transports grow

Their extra weight means ships sink low

Hence this week’s disaster scene;

Pity they weren’t lean and mean!

                      ***

Eureka moment, one week later*

The ship is freed! It’s pure the-a-ter …

The poet’s task, I think you know,

Is to keep up with the flow!

*23rd-29th March, 2021

(c) Poet in the woods 2021

Ball Tampering!

When the sky is blue from dawn to dusk
Ozzie weathermen aren’t fussed
So the talk Down Under turns to sport
“Ball Tampering” makes cricket fraught.

Shock! Horror! strikes the Nation’s game
Commentators cry for shame
A cheating Captain* in full view
The players in a right old stew!

For many an avid cricket fan
The camera close-up clearly can
Put a new spin on ball play
And take the shine out of the day!

(c) Poet in the woods 2018



Note: Stevie Smith - Incident during the Third Test in South Africa on 27/3/2018

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

The spotlight falls upon the Cape
The media circus in full spate
As Nelson Mandela, ninety-four
Hangs onto life – but how long for?

A lung infection so we’re told
Has very firmly taken hold
This elder statesman much admired
Is weakening and growing tired.

South Africans of every hue
Dumbfounded, don’t know what to do
His cry for freedom heard once more
Will echo soon at Heaven’s door.

(c) Poet in the woods 2013

Died 5th December, 2013 What a wonderful role model
and inspiration!