The timpani crash of thunder
The gentle side drum beat of autumn rain
While violin and cello echo the gusting wind
The Nightingale sweet sound of the piccolo echoes in the dusk
Early morn and the French horn mimics the pheasants call
And the well played flute could be the blackbird on the wall
But this can't be
Because man can never truly compose natures music

I gaze into the mirror, see the reflections in my soul
I see what's gone before me but not what the future holds
I can't control the future, just learn lessons from the past
Study those reflections and let the good reflections last
Each of us should study the events that went before
You might see bad reflections but never close the door
We cannot change the history of what has gone before
But we can always learn the lessons if we open wide the door
So gaze into the mirror and see the reflections in your soul
And use them to do good for all before you grow to old...


Pretty simple this week, just the one words
REFLECTION/S

What a strange title
When I went to Aden (South Yemen) in 1964
It was to fight infiltrators from North Yemen
How to spot where mines had been laid
Where ambushes could take place
Trained in ******* at long and very close range
But nobody mentioned the bugs
Camel spiders almost four inches across
Now they gave us great fun because we would catch them
Then bet big money on the outcome of a fight with
Another spider or a big scorpion
Most times the spider would win but would then die
But by then the bets had been paid
Stephen E Yokum and Jonny Angel
And thousands of American and British ex military
Know about bugs
Centipedes 9/12 inches long and stinking like you'd never believe
Get one of those crawling on your skin and pull it off the wrong way and bingo
You end up with a permanent tattoo
Because their feet dig in
We did have the good ones though
Chameleons, we would keep them in our tents
And feed them crickets and in return they would keep the flies down

We learned to live with BUGS

Tranquil Freedom

I think back to my early teens
To what I had but what we've lost
As kids we would walk about four miles to fish a special pond
In a special place
Sneak in through the gap in the iron railings
We thought we were so clever but the truth is the landowner always knew what we were up to
But he didn't mind. We weren't there to vandalize and destroy
We had the freedom to roam
That quiet tranquil place
Sunlight on the breeze driven rippled water
Bird songs
Lying on the bank, up to the armpit in water
Searching in the mud for fresh water mussels
Always looking for that special pearl
Never did find it
I look now at what our kids have got
Can't go here, can't go there
Nothing left, nothing, nothing
No more the woods and wide green swathes
No more the freedom
No more the tranquility that once was mine

You know
When I started these challenges yes it was write for me
Originaly it was young poets write for me
But it grew out of all proportion to the original concept
In reality its not about me at all
Its about YOU
It's about imagination
It's about taking YOU on a different journey
It's gone way beyond me
It's about you and how and what you write...

Bad times
And yes also some very good times
Sunday evening was always bath time in our house
BATH TIME!!!
Well yes we had a bath
With a cold tap
But
Hot water came from a wood fired boiler in the corner
Hoping
Will it be my turn to go first tonight
Because with nine kids the rest went in two by two
So
Out with the first one then in went a saucepan full of boiling water
Then in went the rest, two in two out in with the water
But we never complained and rarely fell sick
Cooking
Mum had an old black wood fired range
On rare occasions coal if there was a little extra money
But oh what mum could do on/in that range
Come home from school and the air would be redolent with the aroma of home made bread
On the hob a great pan of bubbling rabbit stew made with veg from the garden and rabbits the older kids snared
Yes, good plain wholesome food
Television
Oh boy televion
A screen about 12 by 10 in a dark brown Bakelite case
Not new of course, we couldn't afford that
The back was permanently off so that every time it went wrong
Dad could jump up, reach inside and wiggle the valves
I'll never know to this day how he never electrocuted himself
I will never forget our toilet to my dying day
Out of the back door and turn left then in
A wooden seat under which was a large cast iron pail
Usually it was torn squares of newspaper but on special occasions
REAL toilet paper
Three times a week that pail would be taken to the veg garden and the contents buried
The following year we would have fantastic veg
Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days

Well
I promise you it ain't much fun
To be stuck firmly by the ***
And all because some rotten creep
Put super glue on the toilet seat
48 long hours I've sat here
Firmly fixed by my tender rear
Poems scrawled on toilet rolls
Poems sad about glues hold
All I did was on that seat recline
Never thinking it was my time
To be a captive on the throne
That we all use from time to time
Oh woe is me what can I do
I only sat down for a pooh
And now my cheeks are getting sore
And I can't reach the bathroom door

To shout for help

Just Words

I can't write the words in the way that some of you can
Do
I can only write the words that in my mind come into
View
I can't writes words about devotion and never ending
Love
The inspiration for my words comes from somewhere up
Above
Yes, words about the sea and the gently rolling
Hills
These are words I know about and sometimes get to
Use
Words can be things of beauty or can be cruel and
Harsh
Some words can tell of sadness while others make you
Laugh
The words of fellow poets here cover every point of
View
Well, my words are plain and simple but I share my words
With you

Come walk with me to that tranquil place
That beautiful sunlit glade
Where we can sit and watch the aspen leaves
Dancing to the magic music carried on the breeze
There you will smell the freedom of the autumn scented air
Sit in natures solitude and peaceful thoughts to share
Once you've experienced that peaceful place
The magic will always call you back
Once more to see the aspen leaves
Dancing above the the place where once you sat

Breathing hard and sweating we left to make the raid
600 yards of no mans land we had to cross that day
We made it undetected, now victory was in sight
And we had done it in the daytime not in the dark of night
Stealthily we crossed the line, entered the enemies hold
No longer were we sweating, now we were feeling bold

We

Tore the apples from the trees, the day had turned out great
But only 3 hours later
I had such a belly ache

Yep it's going to come in this over populated world
And it won't matter if you're an old boy or girl
Robotic police will grab you quick then
Cast your body in the pit
Oh dear, oh dear but I still have got so much to give
Surely I should be allowed to live
Sorry Sir but it now to late
Cos you just reached Your Sell By Date

Tranquility

I listen to the sound of the breaking waves,
smell the salt tang in the air
I watch the graceful seagulls
ride the thermals way up there
No sound of human voices,
no strident car alarms
I sit in natures solitude,
enraptured by her charm
The sea reflects the sinking sun
in hues of red and gold
I'll never tire of such sights
though I grow grey and old
The first gleam of the evening star appears
in the ever growing dark
and the golden crescent of the moon
begins her journey through the night
No words of mine can best describe
natures perfect charm
This is peace, a perfect peace
tranquility and calm

And so my friends the challenge this week is simple, two words this time. Tranquil/tranquility and solitude in your poem

From Americas rocky mountain tops to the Himalayan snow capped peaks
These are things of nature that all of us should
Keep

Australia's barren outback, England's green and pleasant
hills
Nature free for all mankind who seek her gentle
thrills

From the Amazon's tropic forest to the Arctic's icy
plains
All are things of natural beauty if you travel at natures
pace

The azure blue seas of the Pacific isles, cruel dark seas of the southern cape
All placed there by natures hand, to be respected without
hate

Drab brown plumage of the desert vulture, bright birds of
paradise
Birds of every color, birds of every
Size

Scorpions of the desert sand and the Grey Atlantic
Seals
All put there for a reason that only nature can
reveal

Think about the lion, Africa's king of
Beasts
The soft eyed Chinese panda that our children find so
cute

Mountain tops and hidden valleys,  vast lakes and rolling
seas
All a part of nature that should not be
abused

Animals, reptiles, birds put there for me and
you
They should be studied in the wild, not trapped inside a
zoo

We can't alter history or repair the damage that we've
caused
But we can try to stop the destruction of the world that's mine and
yours

Yep puppy sitting my daughters eleven week old
red fox Labrador *****
All long legs big feet and puddles of *** on the carpet
Oh dear, Mollie dogs not happy
This pup is into everything
The contents of my pockets now strewn over the floor,
Teeth marks in my very expensive cell phone
But
I wouldn't change anything
Its been eight years since Mollie dog was a puppy
And I'd forgotten what fun they can be
Anyway how do I explain to my daughter about
The scratches on Ambers' nose?
Well she learned the hard way about what happens
When a puppy investigates one of my boys

I thought I should post this in response to my own challenge and at the same time thank all of you who responded and commented. This short piece is slightly different

The trees stand stark and bare 'gainst winters lead grey sky
The snow lays cold and deep and the earth asleep doth lie
No small birds sing, no little things move across the land
The earth in hibernation, a long sleep, as winter makes her stand
I wake once more in early dawn and warmth has come once more
A small bird sings, a green leaf springs from natures open door
Once again the land awakes and life begins anew
And the bitter cold of winter has vanished like the dew

I'm 69 years old and every day for years has been special to me
I see the news every day, more death and destruction
Young men and women of every nation and yes children too
Denied the right to grow old
Victims of the bullet, bomb, rocket, famine
On my head a scar
Between the tip of my left ear and the few brains I have left
Yes, an eighth of an inch more, no head left
Courtesy of an AK 47
Another occasion 9 days in hospital, 5 of them completely blind
Courtesy of an improvised bomb
And yet I'm still here to tell about it
While so many are not
Should I be feeling guilt?
I don't know
But I still ask myself the question after all these years
Why so many have died
And yet I survived