Inspiration

Challenging yourself to be your best

That stands you out from all the rest

Sometimes you have to walk alone

Eventually to sit on the important throne

 

The way you walk with your head held high

Desperately reaching for cloudless sky

Achievements in life not exam based

Keeping calm when negativity faced

 

Doing what’s’ right when it’s easy to do wrong

Facing your fears like facing King Kong

Never looking for the easy was out

Leading others with an authoritative shout  

 

Taking life calmly by the hand

Fighting for justice across the land

Keeping things simple never a complication

To others you will always be an inspiration

Second Chance

Do you believe in a second chance?

Will you give me just one more glance?

To have the courage to ask you out again

After the first time the rejection, the pain

 

I see you around with your imposing brown eyes

I crack a few jokes and exaggerate a few lies

To make you laugh is something I adore

Please at last open the relationship door

 

In the back of my mind I know what the answer will be

Sometimes in life you’ve just got to ask and see

We both have busy lives but that’s just an excuse

My head can’t take much more of this emotional abuse

 

How do I approach this difficult subject?

Am I going to be just another reject?

What’s the secret to unlocking your true love?

Do I have to get permission from the big man above?

 

A date, a dance that may lead to something more

A promise that the relationship won’t be a chore

I’ve got some doubt if we will have that dance

But hopefully you’ll give me that second chance

Proud to be a teacher

Today I felt togetherness, valued and proud

To stand with fellow teachers in a non aggressive crowd

Fighting to save more cuts for this over worked profession

Through these tough times the government call a recession

 

Side by side, flags in hand, we all felt the same

To get rid of that man with the never forgotten name

He treats the profession with disrespect and contempt

For he will be the man we will never exempt

 

The place packed and the noise deafening in St George’s Hall

Like a crowd at a football match but without the obvious ball

The speakers spoke clear with confidence and passion

Surely the secretary of state for education will soon be out of fashion

 

Apparently, people say, our profession is so easy to do

But graduate numbers down and no one forming a queue

We don’t just work from nine until three, with a one hour break

More like skip lunch, works until eight, now that’s not fake

 

Floating out of the room the hopes were tremendously high

Unions staying strong together unanimously asking why

Taking away PPA, raising the working age, fighting for our pay

We had our time, we had our place, and we definitely had our say!

Are Teachers Really To Blame?

So it’s that time again when teachers strike

What for now, tell them on your bike

They get great holidays and their pays not bad

All for just looking after your girl and lad

 

But wait and think about what they actually do

You try teaching kids in a concrete zoo

From nursery to sixth form it’s all basically the same

Every teacher forgets someone’s fashionable name

 

They are not just educating your precious child

They are making sure all the documentation is properly filed

Working doesn’t stop when the child has gone home

Staying behind to make resources for a topic on Ancient Rome

 

Not just a teacher but a carer, advisor and nurse

If you paid by the hour it would lighten your purse

Teachers sometimes suffer abuse from the crowd

Standing there abused, retaliation not allowed

 

The government very clever and put on a great spin

Turning people against teachers, they just can’t win

I ask you would you back down and take the cuts

No consultation, no discussion, no ifs or buts

 

Teachers get the blame for most things in society

ASBO, riots, and the latest one obesity

When does it become the parents fault?

Uneducated parents, let’s open the vault

 

I know many will disagree with what I write

That’s ok we don’t need to start a verbal fight

I ask you to spend sometime in a school class

You’ll end up trying to get out by breaking the glass

 

Teachers aren’t perfect in fact some are rather insane

Trying to create lessons that are exciting and not mundane

Please don’t take the government’s side letting teachers take all the blame

You’ll never forget a good teacher; you’ll never forget their name

Drugs don't work!

Short term high for long term lows

Why do it? God only knows

A quick fix is never the answer

Going solo without your back-up dancer

 

For a while you feel crazy and unstoppable

Not a care in the world, positively unstable

You see the world from a different view

Hurting people, more than a few

 

Then the sadness cascades from above

Feelings of hatred certainly not love

Saying nasty things you don’t really mean

The language spoke is definitely unclean

 

A cry for help as the drug wears away

A promise to quit the very next day

But the road to recovery is long and winding

The road rocky, it won’t be easy gliding

 

Whether it’s tobacco, marijuana or cocaine

All have an effect that may drive you insane

Not wanting to admit this addictive disorder

Death is threatening your thin life border

The Next Chapter

As the sun sets on at the end of the day

A chapter of your life ends

What will a new dawn bring you say

The making of new friends

 

As one door shuts with an almighty bang

It all seems so dire

The alarm bells have already been rang

Feeling you’re stuck in the mire

 

Ever the optimist you look for your light

That will continue to shine

With all these wrongs there is surely a right

Searching for the sign

 

With a new chapter comes a new challenge

That undoubtedly you must face

The decisions you make are balanced on a hinge

Sprint to the head of the race

 

Only you can dictate what happens next

We’ve read the story so far

So sit back and put on your reading specs

And shine like the brightest star

Dad

You are always around when I need you most

You’ve even brought me breakfast including toast

When I was a child you carried me to bed

Gentle putting me down with a pillow under my head

 

I watched you play football on a Sunday morning

You made a tackle; the ref gave you a final warning

You bought me my first boots, I was overjoyed and ecstatic

Thick football socks made them fit; I loved my Kevin Keegan Patrick

 

You worked hard in the week and we had football at a weekend

You coached my brother’s team that drove me round the bend

I wanted you to watch me every single week

That never happened your approval I did seek

 

Through my teenage years I hope I made you proud

Playing at Wembley I managed to spot you in the packed crowd

As I grew older I found my own life path

But I still managed to make us both stupidly laugh

 

You are old school with your emotions locked away

But when I lived in USA I saw a tear on leaving that day

At times we’ve fallen out and not seen eye to eye

It hurt not to talk to you I won’t begin to lie

 

I hope I’ve grown into the son you sought

For my life and career I have always fought

To respect people and do things the right way

To listen to everyone and let them have their say

  

You are always there I only have to ask

For you to help me complete a simple task

You gave me the greatest childhood I could ever have had

For that I am grateful you are my dad

 

A Child: Leave Me Alone

I’m quite happy being left alone to get on with my own thing

I don’t need to be put down a slide or thrown down a swing

I’m quite happy at home making a big Lego house

And please please stop asking if I want a pet mouse

 

I’m quiet happy watching the cars go by so fast

I don’t need to be told a story about you in the past

I’m quite happy listening to the birds singing in the tree

Don’t keep interrupting asking “What do you see?”

 

I’m quite happy making a den out of this cardboard box

I don’t need an ipad, computer or phone that unlocks

I’m quite happy sitting quietly on your comfortable knee

I don’t need a running commentary about what’s on the TV

 

I’m quite happy going home to play in the garden after school

I don’t need you to invite the street to play in the paddling pool

I’m quite happy not going to every club at night or the weekend

Please don’t force me to join in and find another friend

 

I’m quite happy when it’s just the three of us together

And yes I don’t mind going out in all kinds of weather

I’m quite happy when we go out and you’ve left your phone

And yes it’s ok to sometimes to leave me alone!

The Boxer

The endless hours of training before the fight

Fitness at a peak to make sure you’re just right

The discipline in and outside the ring

The buzz as you hear the sell out crowd sing

 

You’ve waited so long to get a shot at the belt

This match is for every punch that you’ve felt

Walking to the ring with your minders all around

Your hood over your head focused on the ground

 

The announcer introduces you the crowd give a cheer

You feel relaxed with nothing to fear

Your opponent stands tall, focused and still

Your body filled with determination and will

 

The bell rings and the fight underway

A quick one two and you opponent begins to sway

He puts up his guard and you can’t get through

You change to the stomach that will do

 

 

You’re into the sixth and you feel much stronger

Your opponent can’t last too much longer

A weighty left hook and he hits the floor

His back up team looks towards the exit door

 

Another victory on your perfect boxing card

The world champ surely should be on his guard

He knows you’re coming for his world title belt

Doubt is something he’s never felt

 

Your dream still alive to become the very best

As a child you set out on this important quest

Making sacrifices not caring what others say

So you can become world champion and have your day!

A meeting again

That time of the week when we all come together

Rain or shine what ever the weather

We are given an agenda and paper to write

We are dyslexia friendly so its buff not white

 

The boss walks in with a clipboard under an arm

Meaning business this is surely an alarm

We get started with an authoritative voice

Attempting to listen we have no choice

 

Suggestions are welcomed but quickly rejected

The meetings agenda is surely subjective

30 minutes pass and still no decisions made

Hopes of leaving early begin to rapidly fade

 

A need to stay awake is becoming so hard

Meetings like this should simple be barred

The boss makes a note on the meeting log

Everyone nodding like the Churchill dog

 

The meeting finally brought to a bored end

You turn to whisper to your nearest friend

Unsure what the meeting was really about

Next one the same you have no doubt

 

A meeting just for the sake of a meeting

Is it just to test we have enough seating?

The same conversations with the same conclusions

Decisions already made I’m under no illusions