Category: Point of View

A Whale shouldn’t die like that

On By jovisgoesIn Anger, Poetry, Point of ViewLeave a comment

Fin-whale-breaching

The giant fin whale swam along with the tide
A nineteen-foot calf was swimming by her side
They were swimming away from her mate’s now dead shell
Trapped in a lagoon and then all shot to hell.

She’ll raise her young calf on her own from now on
Not mating again as they only take one
Her mate had followed a herring shoal in with the tide
And for a short while there were those who had tried
To help him turn and head back to sea
But the cruelty of nature would not let it be
At eighty feet long and a shallow cliff lea
It could not turn around to escape and be free.

And then a vile streak in the locals took hold
A most wicked shooting match began to unfold
The most handsome of whales was trapped and revealed
As shooters took aim and young children squealed.

They fired and they fired and they fired and they fired
Stopping only to reload and then when they got tired
They even drove speedboats across his shot back
Leaving deep deep prop cuts as a further attack.

And when they were done and the whale was no more
His body burst open and in death he’d now score
For the stench of his now rancid corpse was so rotten
This beautiful creature wasn’t easily forgotten.

There was a man who tried hard to get him free
But one man alone is as a wood with one tree
And by the time he had got national press all aware
The whale was now dead, so bored, they’d not now care.

 

©Joe Wilson – A Whale shouldn’t die like that 2014

Many years ago I was enthralled by the work of Farley Mowat the renowned Canadian environmentalist who died last month. From reading his book, based on real events ‘A Whale for the Killing’ published in 1972, I took to studying whales as a hobby and I quickly realised just what a perfect creature the Fin Whale is. It is the only whale that is match coloured along both sides giving it the same symmetrical beauty as a dolphin and is the second largest creature to live, the Blue Whale being the only creature bigger. It is so amazing it can lift its entire body out of the water. Why on earth would you fire thousands of rounds of ammunition into a creature so beautiful? Why?

This is a small tribute to the memory of Farley Mowat (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) and to people like him who try so hard, such as the Sea Shepherds who try to stop the massacre of bottle-nose dolphins each year in Taiji, Japan ostensibly for food, even though most Japanese people shun the whale-meat.

Drunk in beauty

On By jovisgoesIn Poetry, Point of View, wisdomLeave a comment

I‘m drunk
I’m drunk
I’m drunk on the possibilities of life and those that choose to live it
I’m drunk with the goodness of some and how they shine out like a beacon
I’m drunk on the wonders of good books and the pleasures they bring to the reader
I’m drunk with the beauty of music and the excitement and peace it can evoke
I’m drunk by the way a thought can just pop into my head and allow me expression
I’m drunk by the beauty of nature and how it can beguile me in its diversity
But I’m captivated by the person who would take the trouble
To see another struggle and ask if they might help in some way.
That is far more honest than any of our politicians or most celebrities
It is one person at the basic unspoilt level of humanity
that we sadly rarely encounter, and much less embrace in our busy lives.

©Joe Wilson – Drunk in beauty 2014

She Thought It Rained Today

On By jovisgoesIn Loss, Love, old age, Poetry, Point of ViewLeave a comment

old lady

She thought it rained again today
But the rain was in her mind
The frailty that now struck her down
Was so brutally unkind.

There were some times when it felt so bad
And others when it all came back
But just for a fleeting moment
As if she was peering through a crack.

Her senses were leaving her slowly
Her eyesight was failing her now
And when she needed the lavatory
Well, the bag on her wheelchair was how.

She remembers she thinks she’s a burden
Or is her memory playing tricks on her too
She just wishes that it would all go away
Or does she, she’s forgotten that too.

 

©Joe Wilson – She Thought It Rained Today 2014

The European Elections

On By jovisgoesIn Competition, Poetry, Point of View, politicalLeave a comment

EU_Flag_blowing

I’m minded today we have a choice
to make our mark and raise our voice
but there are those, it’s very funny
who’d tell you how they’d spend your money.

All over Europe pundits gather
getting themselves in quite a lather
giving opinions on issues political
trying to make them sound so critical.

Skeletons found in many a cupboard
the found out grimace, some have blubbered
and later when all votes are counted
disappointment follows campaigns mounted.

In Germany too they’ll do their thing
as seats stay put or make a swing
France and Italy, Ireland too
votes for Europe are quite a to-do.

Votes are counted on Sunday of course
and Dimbleby brothers roll out in force
the great Swingometer comes into play
as seats are won across the UK.

After all the dust has settled
new MEPs all keen and mettled
all take their seats with po-faced pride
personal pleasure they try to hide.

And so to business for some it’s new
there are many and various things to do
like getting claims in for their expenses
the sitting places – the search for fences.

Alliances to make are the next big thing
who’ll vote with you on anything
but represent those who for you voted
or you’ll be out next time, I hope that’s noted.

 

©Joe Wilson – The European Elections 2014

The rest of the day (a pun)

On By jovisgoesIn Poetry, Point of View, TimeLeave a comment

the_resting_traveler_by_petura

Wandering the hills and the forests
lost and in search of the way
to find a quieter and more gentle pace
in the maelström that has become today.

A sense of immediacy surrounds us
our needs they have all so changed
but stopping, sitting and thinking
may yet save us from going insane.

Sit on a stump and pause for thought
and watch as the world goes by
but this is the world of nature
which just ambles along like a sigh.

You could sit right here for the rest of the day
the peace of the moment sublime
but the irony of taking the moment
is for the moment we don’t have the time.

 

©Joe Wilson – The rest of the day (a pun) 2014

Air

On By jovisgoesIn Nature, Poetry, Point of View, RegretLeave a comment

air_edited

The air that I breathe
is the air that you breathe
is the air that she breathes
is the air that he breathes
and the air that they breathe.

We should protect it for all of us
for it has become so fragile
from our poor maintenance.

I am ashamed,
we should be ashamed.

©Joe Wilson – Air 2014

The Choice

On By jovisgoesIn Poetry, Point of ViewLeave a comment

right way wrong way

The ever reducing spiral of the mind winds tighter,
tighter like a coil wrapped round a wiring loom
Until the tension causes it to snap, and
within the consciousness of man all hell breaks loose
And one will paint the finest representation of life,
while yet another will turn to the gun and kill
Thus exposing and exploding the myth and proving
man’s control of his own destiny, and his right to choose.

Path thus chosen will your life be that of the artist
who struggles to create and entertain and educate
Or will you choose the more deadly path
of violence and easy money and unlawfully acquired gain
Will you be a man of whom your parents
would one day be proud and say he always did his best
Or will you be the man who spends his every waking moment
serving out to others some ill-deserved pain.

You are a full-grown man now, you have to make a choice,
and that will show which way you choose to walk in life
Will you walk a wise man’s path working hard the honest way
and will you make your mark with pride
Or choose the darker path of distrust and deceit
and thus dishonour all who gave you help along the way
A path that causes those who cared far more for you
than you for them, to take the choice from you to hide.

These things of good and bad you now must choose about,
but take this thought with you to your heart
The path is not chosen for you, free-will,
remember, it’s yours and yours alone
So consider this when you ponder, it’s a choice
you may come to regret, if you choose the lawless way
And if you live that life, you must take into account,
the fact that you may just simply die on your own.

 

©Joe Wilson – The Choice 2014

Thoughts of Old Age

On By jovisgoesIn Loss, Love, old age, Poetry, Point of View, PovertyLeave a comment

800px-Flickr_-_HuTect_ShOts_-_Old_Age_Steps_-_Masjid-_Madrassa_of_Sultan_Hassan_-_Cairo_-_Egypt_-_16_04_2010
Photo by: Ahmed Al.Badawy, Cairo, Egypt

He was a very poor and sad old man whose pride belied his fear
That one day he’d be a burden to his folks who held dear.
He’d worked hard every single day, now he didn’t cope so well
He knew that his ears were a problem too, he was going deaf he could tell.

He guessed it was just a sign of his age, he’d soon be eighty-one
He’d been fitted with a hearing-aid, but he forgot to switch it on.
And though he had his radio on to listen to all the news
He struggled to tell what was being said, he rarely heard their views.

And so from time to time he sat and enjoyed his garden flowers
He didn’t need to hear them grow, he’d watch them sway for hours.
He’d take his paper and his specs and go down to his shed
And often not read anything as he’d fall asleep instead.

There are times when he forgets though and he sleeps in there all day
When his son or daughter find him, it’s getting more that way.
And he sometimes can’t remember what he’s supposed to do
It’s when his mind goes like this that his thoughts feel stuck in glue.

His son told him the other day he was looking for a place
Where others could look after him, but he’d still have his own space.
He’ll never want to leave this house, his memories are all here
His dear wife still lives in its heart, he won’t go, is that clear!!

But now the odds are against him as he struggles every day
He sometimes doesn’t dress quite right and he cannot properly shave.
And he’ll sometimes sit and weep the tears of a man who feels marooned
He’ll sit and wonder when he’ll die for it cannot come too soon.

©Joe Wilson – Thoughts of Old Age 2014

The Pointlessness of This Kind of Death

On By jovisgoesIn Poetry, Point of View, political, Regret, War2 Comments

actual sign_edited

He stood there with his banner in protest,
wanting no more of his people to die.
But the militiaman guarding the building
fired his gun and he took his last sigh.

Why do people stand there in protest
with others who are of the same mind?
And why did the man fire his weapon
and kill a citizen with whom his name rhymed?

The politics go round and gets nowhere
while poor people have to queue just for bread.
And as long as the ones with the guns hold the cards
in that place DEMOCRACY is dead!

The militiaman was beaten to death by a mob
as the media filmed it, we’re depressed.
The man, he lay broken in the rubble and mess
nothing changed in the continuing unrest.

 

©Joe Wilson – The Pointlessness of This Kind of Death 2014

A Magical Moment…and then it’s gone!

On By jovisgoesIn Loss, Poetry, Point of View, political, Poverty, Regret, Terror, War1 Comment

The World Crisis 2012 3

Within that magical moment
The world is at one and at ease
Everyone is loving their neighbour
And we have control of disease.

But it doesn’t last, it cannot last
It will all go back as before
To the dying from hunger and violence
To man’s unending desire for war.

One man plants a crop for food
But another man reaps the gain
The one making life from the profit
While another’s reward is just pain.

If a man is black, or yellow, who cares!
His blood like yours is red
The bullets or knives that pierce your skins
Would make you both as dead.

A man gets beaten in the street
His crime was being gay
Who gave those others the right to judge
Will prejudice never go away?

The ones with strength to dominate
Should nonetheless take heed
When they themselves are wanting help
Who’ll stay to fill that need.

I hear the ever-growing rains
They flood the town and field
Where hardship’s felt so gravely
Where man is forced to yield.

Perhaps we brought it on ourselves
We feel the need for so much
But there are so many with nothing
Who’d benefit from a gentle touch.

Back to that magical moment
It’s the one just before I awake
Where the next moment comes and it’s over
And it can’t be put right with a shake.

 

©Joe Wilson – A Magical Moment…and then it’s gone! 2014