SIMON GLADDISH ON ROYAL MAIL

Mail Junkie

Many are the ladies
Who’ve had me smitten.
Many are the letters
I have written.

Many are the sighs
That I have heaved.
Few are the replies
That I’ve received.

These days the only people
Who ever write to me
Are bureaucrats at the electricity
And water company.

I get a bit of junk mail
(Usually second post).
I’ve a competition with the guy next door
To see who gets the most.

I still listen for the postman
With his firm familiar tread.
It’s no exaggeration
To say it gets me out of bed.

I seize hold of the envelopes
In brown or white or buff.
I don’t care about the contents -
I just never get enough!

(Copyright Simon R. Gladdish 2013)

Comments

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

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In terms of great films about, and of, love, we have Vertigo, In The Mood for Love , and Casablanca , Doctor Zhivago , An Officer and a Gentleman , at the apex; as well as odder, more troubling versions, such as Sophie's Choice and Silence of the Lambs . I think my favourite remains Bram Stoker's Dracula , with the great immortal line "I have crossed oceans of time to find you...".

THE SWIFT REPORT 2023

I am writing this post without much enthusiasm, but with a sense of duty. This blog will be 20 years old soon, and though I rarely post here anymore, I owe it some attention. Of course in 2023, "Swift" now means one thing only, Taylor Swift, the billionaire musician. Gone are the days when I was asked if I was related to Jonathan Swift. The pre-eminent cultural Swift is now alive and TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR. There is no point in belabouring the obvious with delay: 2023 was a low-point in the low annals of human history - war, invasion, murder, in too many nations. Hate, division, the collapse of what truth is, exacerbated by advances in AI that may or may not prove apocalyptic, while global warming still seems to threaten the near-future safety of humanity. It's been deeply depressing. The world lost some wonderful poets, actors, musicians, and writers this year, as it often does. Two people I knew and admired greatly, Ian Ferrier and Kevin Higgins, poets and organise...

E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

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