SEASONS of a SOUL SURVIVOR
A Rose
It’s high time we had the High Priestess
Some quiet planning brings success
I’m hurling the moon at you no less
Dominion over strife as a rule
Love is a rose on the whole
Less thorns please
A life of ease
Smoke clouds possibly I can guess
Less scotch though or we’ll have a mess
I travel the Tower or up the Star
I’ve gone beyond the Sphinx thus far
By Art to the Sun or even by Death or the Devil
Sometimes frequently a thrill or a spill
A racy novel out of me
It’s Saturday and we enjoy a hunt tea!
I’m hurling the moon at you no less
Dominion over Strife as a rule
Halse
Galloping round Halse one day
I fell off into a cowpat I was miles away
I lost my stirrup too
Annis will catch your horse for you
My ratcatcher jacket is
"Vanished" four times and drycleaned to be true
I’m immaculate for my hunting I ask you!
Tolerated eventually with my hunt buttons on
Some things that have been
worth framing I break into song
A few people interested and little goes wrong
I’d love a guitar in it and I’m a
gypsy on the whole
A Hell’s Angel is easier than a
gentleman but I’d prefer the
second role!
An ode to my grey
Cantering under Culworth’s hill
Over one jump
Three more still up the valley
My horse starts losing power suddenly
He’ll never make it over the next one will he?
He stumbles and I bail out fast
Very soon rolling in the grass and mud
Out of his way I get up quick
Trying to avoid a dead horse’s kick
I’ve seen it before unfortunately
He gets up but can’t make it on all fours
He collapses over a heart attack of course
To the rescue they come and he’s towed off later
All my work in the gutter
We’re not in the middle of nowhere at least and we wait for the box
I’m in shock but that’s hunting the fox
Will I find as good a horse again eventually?
Bye Woody.
A new horse
Now in white breeches and oxblood tops
Astride a new horse off we trot
The Meet’s at Sulgrave today no less
Plenty of jumping for the fearless
He gets over everything okay
I’ll have him then
He doesn’t pull as much as my previous horse
He’s done work for a Whipper-In of course
His first night at the yard on Saturday
I’m hunting again without too much delay
I turn up with loads going on
But it’s just the love of riding
That keeps me in song
This one is a bay instead of a grey
With a hogged mane and a white blaze on his forehead
Perhaps I’ll rechristen him Dawnrazor in the end!
A Foxtrotter’s Ball
Boogy on down with Trish
She really is quite a dish
Micky’s got her though
Try a dance with Micro
Nadine and I go Tally-Ho!
The taxi home is painless
There’s Salmon Beef and Ham no less
Some people who didn’t go
The Field Master and I chat for a minute or so
The live band is cool and adds some spice
Some of the grooms are rather nice
It’s black tie again my dear
Well I subscribe to Hello! and we’re getting near!
The Grafton Hunt Point-to-Point
Colin the pub’s landlord caught us a yummy trout
We’re at Mollington for a fun day out
Advocado salad and baby new
Potatoes too; strawberries with yoghurt for you
Sir Michael has a winner that Oli rode
She comes first and steals the show
She earns me thirty quid so off I go
To the bar but only one pint though
I’m wearing my fedora and ratcatcher for all to see
An abercrombie coat for me
Heather gets a place eventually
Sir Richard falls off but makes it to the end
We return to the car at last
Harold thinks I’m a Teddy Boy what a blast
But I’m a gangster boss before breakfast!
A Purston Morning
I’m up in the morning without much delay
I’m Weird I suppose
But I’m jamming good with Gilly today
Presumably a third album and we do okay
We’re tacked up and ready to roll
We take off immediately and set off for a stroll
Half an hour in a car and two hours with a horse
I save myself some trouble and by then its lunch of course
It’s endless fields for me but Ive got an office too
Debsy and I might canter without much ado
I can get my knickers and trousers on without leaning so I can probably ride
I’m black runs anyway so I take it in my stride
We might go through Thenford instead
I’m superstitious about lorries but we can make it it has to be said
I don’t often take a whip to him but he trots on quite happily
It’s chilled out for the summer and Friday’s a lesson for me!
The Restaurant Song
There’s a restaurant
In my part of town
I’ll invite you sweetly
You know we could go down
Don’t have to be my baby
So no need to frown
Just a restaurant
In my part of town
You know the years girl
So swift fly they by
Within without you
With you is always high
Commune on wine there
And let the spirits fly
These plans and stories
Unfurl as days go by
There’s a restaurant
In my part of town
Treat me so sweetly
You know I could be down
published by the United Press
in “A Passion for Poetry” 2002
The Cocktail Queen
Mix and match
The Cocktail Queen
Recipes you’ve never seen
Stumble through the Book of Days
See you with your waifs and strays
More trouble than it’s worth
Remaining straight
Mixing up her fire and air
I’m not very clever there
My magick takes fewer risks
Dabbling in cups and disks
Knights on horseback is the sort of trick
I prefer these days
We miss each other every night
Going out is sheer delight
I fly in and out
Like a shuttlecock
My city link when time to rock
Around again again
Jewels
Twelve seasons he bequeathed to me
Fashioned out in jewellery
Each month a different ring
Emeralds rubies and such things
Sapphire diamond and amethyst
Each holding its own little twist
Condemned to twenty-five years of this
Luxury and frequently past it
He gets me up well as they say
So far few complaints
Candles on the table bright
But overshadowed by a previous wife
By comparison we do all right
There is love tonight
published by the United Press in “Dazzled by the Moon” 2003
