Miscellaneous - Cheerful Things

  by Spencer Robertshaw

published: 5 / 11 / 2010

intro

In his regular 'Evidently Spencertown' poetry column Spencer Robertshaw is back after a month's absence with the only partially ironically titled 'Cheerful Things'

The strings that hold Superman up as he flies The sound a teddy bear makes when it cries A 60 stone baby surrounded by pies A murderous look in a butcher's eyes The squeak of wheels from one who once walked The fished out body of a grass that talked The fly blown corpse of a deer once stalked The winning ticket being burnt in a flame An Alzheimer’s specialist forgetting his name The life we lead described as a game An Honest John who has no shame Heads of charity eating out every night Countless pictures of Africa’s plight A starving child dying of fright An obese teenager on Angel Delight A nuclear family dying from radiation Gordon Brown addressing the nation Prices dance at the petrol station Quantitative easing a short lived libation When it wears off there’s no variation Junkies shooting the poppies' creation, in public toilets with no sanitation The dealers that tore up their great expectations Darwin's model, the start of the race now becoming more commonplace A child without a dream A beck without a stream The cat that didn’t get the cream Mankind’s soul drowns swimming upstream A monkey with a machine gun A vampire in the sun The queen chewing gum The pope showing his bum An optimist looking glum DIY colonic irrigation Underwear that causes irritation An alcoholic given libation The BNP bestowed a citation Faded medals in a pawn shop A bike without pedals at a bus stop A one legged man who can't hop A rapist in the dock saying "it’s a fair cop" Quality control on weapons of mass destruction - the sheer delight as they step up production Thoughts of winning war on a politician's seduction A few million dead - hey, it’s only a reduction The everyday smile that can take you another mile The journey we make and forgiveness for mistakes The strength to stand up and to know what is wrong Why ruin a life that we don’t have for long ? The strength too stand up and to know what is wrong Why ruin a life that we don’t have for long?