Paul Judges - words hand-crafted in Yorkshire

BRIDGES OF CUMBRIA

the bridges of Cumbria are falling down
there’s no way to get from village to town
they’ve had a visit from Gordon Brown
but bridges of Cumbria are falling down

folk have never known such rain
flooding every road and lane
wondering, can it happen again ?
the terrifying wall of wind and rain

they can’t get to the nearest shop
and fear the sound of a raindrop
and feel the death of the hero cop
who always spoke in the local shop

he was on a bridge at the wrong time
a family man, in his prime
who’d usually be fighting crime;
so much rain in the shortest time

the bridges of Cumbria are falling down
there’s no way to get from village to town
they’ve had a visit from Gordon Brown
but bridges of Cumbria are falling down

Between

I suddenly found myself
in the space between doing
and really liked
the freedom feeling

it was like being
alone in the mountains
I’d just climbed hard
- all senses reeling

I took off my clothes
and went naked
into the chilly
source of stream

I knew it was
the kind of reality
so often found
in a dream

REMEMBRANCE

I don’t want to live
in a military nation
how can we find peace
with bloody war ?

are our leaders
simply thick ?
they always open
the explosive door

every night the News
is filled with another
young lad’s death,
more ‘foreigners’ die

I know they’re not
from Newcastle
Liverpool or Leeds,
I’m still asking why ?

Iraq was invaded
with heroic lies
Afghanistan, where
the Russians failed

never mind
how many
of the ‘enemy’
were jailed

when the Twin
Towers fell
the world
shed a tear

then you chose
to be like them,
all this killing
and fear

THE WITCH AT NUMBER 11

There’s a witch at number 11
and she won’t be going to heaven

she pretends to be awfully nice
and above any kind of vice

but there’s a darkness in her heart
it’s been there right from the start

the way to stop her is laughter
by making the hag look dafter

than a fat woman on a broom
spreading lies and hideous doom

(See earlier entries for details of my lovely books !)

THE WILDEST SHOUT

I’d rarely seen
this hermit sky
so dark

gale-swept
rain was
almost black

still I smiled
and spoke
warmly

but they
didn’t answer
back

as though
I was
the problem

and not
their shallow
mind

the rain
beat against
the window

the rhythm
seemed
unkind

it felt
just like
a story

when
the sun
came out

and
children
ran outside

with
the wildest
shout

My published books are listed below - widely available on the Web and for order through bookshops. More information via links to each one here:

> In All These Years I Never Met Anyone Real (2008)

> Muffin Heaven (2008) as Joe Hebden

> Universal Office Diary (2007) as Joe Hebden

> Nobble Hospital of the Aegean (2005)

> A little book of stereotype and prejudice (2005)

> Wold (2004)

NATIONAL POETRY DAY, 8 OCTOBER 2009

Britain is a poetry nation
for one spectacular day

when all heroes and heroines
find their wordy way

citizens skip breakfast
and grab a dusty tin

filled with little-used words
that just escaped the bin

once we put them together
on the door of the rusty fridge

before we got a rescue dog
with a back like a rocky ridge

he tried to shift each piece
with the help of a giant paw

but the small magnetic words
often fell to the floor

or stuck in slobbery chops
like exotic doggy chews

some we managed to save
others we’d simply lose

a hero is not a soldier
or climber of some peak

or world champion driver
or pop star of the week

it can be any person
retrieving scattered words

joining them together
making magical birds

that fly from the page
and sing in the trees

or manufacture honey
like industrious bees

Paul Judges (Born 8 October 1962)

Note: The theme of this year’s Poetry Day is heroes and heroines

See earlier blog entries for details of my books

Unwinding

I tucked-in the blanket
of cloud

only the nervous sheep
were loud

our chalk stream
gently ran

along a course
not made by man

the moon was
waxing full

the stars were
bright, not dull

you held me
from behind

and felt our
world unwind

GLORIOUS IMPERFECTIONS

it’s hard to come to terms
with the loss of summer light
and the chill, dewy mornings
trickling out of night

then I see your friendly face
warmer than the autumn sun
with glorious imperfections
and a cheeky sense of fun

please, will you come to call ?
when the night won’t let go
and this persistent darkness
crawls painfully, slow

8th Birthday

first mum called from Tokyo
on a work trip, involving no work

then grandma phoned from Zurich
where the weather was glorious

mum was having trouble
with cutlery, or the lack of

grandma was playing
lots of Rummikub games

and forgetting how to speak
the Queen's English

you can't have the new bike
until mum gets back

from the land of politeness
and concealed despair

EVEN

we saw the dolphins
rise and fall, in the deep
blue Ionian

savouring the sea
but also, impelled
to fly

we thought
their ecstasy, would suffuse
all our lives

while August
became September,
then waves unhinged

even in paradise
winter is coming
like a smothering blanket

but you will also arrive
more fragrant than all
promised spring blossom

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My published books are listed below - widely available on the Web and for order through bookshops. More information via links to each one here:

> In All These Years I Never Met Anyone Real (2008)

> Muffin Heaven (2008) as Joe Hebden

> Universal Office Diary (2007) as Joe Hebden

> Nobble Hospital of the Aegean (2005)

> A little book of stereotype and prejudice (2005)

> Wold (2004)