tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47429824107031593402024-03-13T00:25:11.033+00:00First, Principlesattempts at poetry by Hamish Drummond. Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-36875641338191962122017-05-31T19:06:00.001+01:002017-05-31T19:06:37.513+01:00Social media<p dir="ltr">It isn't life<br>
it is one dimension of life <br>
onto which we project <br>
another two <br>
of our own construction </p>
<p dir="ltr">Fleshing in the gaps <br>
when what we need in our real life <br>
is to realise that a like <br>
is not the same thing<br>
as a physical hug</p>
<p dir="ltr">Concepts of truth <br>
and emotion blur<br>
tribes form and fight <br>
over words misread,<br>
misunderstood </p>
<p dir="ltr">And always <br>
as <u>in</u> any conflict <br>
someone gets rich<br>
And innocents suffer. <br>
</p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-38356124378348186242017-02-04T11:22:00.001+00:002017-02-04T11:22:13.561+00:00Smarten up, comrades! <p dir="ltr">There's a world to be won<br>
If we find the right form <br>
Of words to Unite us as one<br>
If we can just set it down <br>
With paper and pen<br>
That'll be our utopia begun</p>
<p dir="ltr">If we state our cause clearly <br>
With BBC tongue<br>
And the best Windsor knot in our tie<br>
Then they'll see us as equals <br>
And partners we'll be<br>
We'll no longer in poverty die</p>
<p dir="ltr">For they'll happily share out<br>
The spoils from their hoard<br>
If we just dress up smart and talk nice<br>
They'll realise we're right<br>
If we professionalise <br>
We won't even have to ask twice</p>
<p dir="ltr">Don't you throw bricks through Windows! <br>
You're stuck in a past<br>
When the bosses were different from now<br>
Just polish your shoes<br>
And iron your shirt<br>
It will all work out different somehow</p>
<p dir="ltr">And if they ignore us<br>
We'll just smarten up more<br>
For that's obviously what we've had wrong<br>
Internationale offends them? <br>
We'd best change the words<br>
And sing a consensual song</p>
<p dir="ltr">We'll join their committees<br>
And sign the reports <br>
Saying something must change but no rush<br>
And you at the back crying<br>
Please just bear with us<br>
Our partners work better with hush</p>
<p dir="ltr">We'll accept their honours <br>
To change things from the Lords<br>
Change is gradual, but don't you feel down<br>
For I definitely think<br>
They now listen far more<br>
To me in my plush ermine <u>gown</u></p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-72181818489718931142017-02-02T22:57:00.001+00:002017-02-02T22:57:58.316+00:00Dundee TUC<p dir="ltr"><i>My rather dubious contribution to the celebrations of the 150th anniversary year of Dundee Trades Council. The tune when sung is the same one Matt </i><i>McGinn</i><i> co-opted for "Big Sammy", but I can't for the life of me think what the original song to the tune is. Anybody know? </i></p>
<p dir="ltr">Until the Law crumbles<br>
together we'll stand<br>
fir fair treatment at work and at hame<br>
fir the folk ae oor city<br>
an a' roond the world<br>
we loudly,  wi' pride state oor claim. </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>We stand </i><i>wi</i><i>' </i><i>oor</i><i> comrades</i><br>
<i>Dundee </i><i>TUC</i><br>
<i>We know that together we'll win</i><br>
<i>For as brothers and sisters </i><br>
<i>They can't break </i><i>oor</i><i> will</i><br>
<i>The trades council will never give </i><u><i>in</i></u></p>
<p dir="ltr">Though long years they hae passed<br>
There's nae stour on us<br>
As we march wi oor banner held high<br>
Fir a slight against one<br>
Is a slight against a', <br>
united wi one voice we cry</p>
<p dir="ltr">Those that came before us<br>
we proodly reca' - <br>
Their spirit lives on in oor fight. <br>
Dundee's brave Brigaders, <br>
Union weemin and men - <br>
Their struggles were hard,  but were right. </p>
<p dir="ltr">A radical history <br>
Still relevant noo<br>
Fir today workers must fight back yet<br>
Tae protect oor rights<br>
Against them wid tak a', <br>
At Trades Council, oor goals they are set</p>
<p dir="ltr">So behind oor shared banner <br>
we march doon the hill<br>
roond the city we mak our voice heard<br>
Fir workers and weans<br>
fir auld folks an a'<br>
For an equal, and just, better world</p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-20542677760555062232017-01-24T04:43:00.001+00:002017-01-24T04:43:47.622+00:00Cringes<p dir="ltr">2 am and wide awake<br>
That's when the cringes come<br>
Sneaking out from back of brain<br>
They swarm, they buzz, they hum</p>
<p dir="ltr">I then remember and regret<br>
Such tiny little things<br>
None but me recall them now<br>
But darkness gives them wings</p>
<p dir="ltr">A song sung loud with words misheard<br>
In front of special girl<br>
Though twenty-five years have now past<br>
I cringe now as thoughts twirl</p>
<p dir="ltr">Or when I stood 'fore crowded room<br>
And Freud swapped "left"  for "right" <br>
Bad when talking politics<br>
My thoughts remind tonight</p>
<p dir="ltr">That sitcom moment when lass told<br>
Of friend for whom she lusted<br>
I thought it me,  I had it wrong <br>
My thoughts cannot be trusted</p>
<p dir="ltr">My cringing thoughts and memories <br>
They don't leave room for cheer<br>
And focus often on disgrace<br>
On id set free by beer</p>
<p dir="ltr">They twist and turn and stab at self<br>
No dark stone left unturned<br>
Any notion of self worth<br>
By inquisition burned</p>
<p dir="ltr">By light of day I'd laugh at them<br>
Or at least contextualise <br>
See them for what they really are<br>
But night is cruel. It lies. </p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-89600220969986279682017-01-24T03:45:00.001+00:002017-01-24T03:45:24.940+00:00Courtesies<p dir="ltr">"Thanks very much <br>
and <br>
apologies <br>
for the inconvenience <br>
Regards, <br>
Hamish" </p>
<p dir="ltr">An email full of courtesies. <br>
substantially devoid of content<br>
other than my name<br>
do you call it a signature if typed? <br>
Is self content? <br></p>
<p dir="ltr">I read it back over before sending. <br>
proof reading <br>
an email <br>
saying thanks</p>
<p dir="ltr">(I mean,  come on!) </p>
<p dir="ltr">I wonder <br>
how my life came to this</p>
<p dir="ltr">courteous, vacuous, <br>
bland,  attentive<br>
mediocrity. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I was going to change the world. </p>
<p dir="ltr">(and then,  reflection) </p>
<p dir="ltr">"I love you with every boner in my body<br>
Hamish"</p>
<p dir="ltr">With all of the wit <br>
and sophisticated understatement<br>
that you might expect from <br>
an idiot child <br>
seventeen year old virgin  <br>
with undiagnosed ADHD, <br>
I used to sign off uni emails with that. </p>
<p dir="ltr">All of them. </p>
<p dir="ltr">All. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Quite how *that* was <br>
going  to change the world <br>
eludes me now,  but I think <br>
it was something <br>
to do with challenging norms. </p>
<p dir="ltr">... Yeah... 'bout that... </p>
<p dir="ltr">Probably more just being a bit awful,<br>
Seventeen year old Hamish.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The world was going to change me on that one. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Probably for the best that it did. </p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-45725218034092761022016-06-22T05:35:00.001+01:002016-06-22T05:35:58.563+01:00Can your history be about me? <p dir="ltr">By the Broch, outside Keiss, there stands a memorial. <br>
Without words it recalls work past about past, <br>
Tells the tale of one gentleman amateur's fascinating fascination. </p>
<p dir="ltr">a story more explicitly told up the road in an old school, <br>
In a series of snippets of pleading letters. <br>
One side of a conversation divorced from response. </p>
<p dir="ltr">He had his people dig, and others build, each time, <br>
a memorial to amateur archaeological endeavour, his endeavour, <br>
writing large the human frailty that seeks permanence in face of death. </p>
<p dir="ltr">He seems to have actually done a fairly sensitive job for his time and training, <br>
But I can't help but wish I had the money to throw up a permanent memorial every time I think I've done something worthwhile... </p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-81259760336485336782016-06-22T05:24:00.001+01:002016-06-22T05:24:22.521+01:00A Scottish way of putting it. <p dir="ltr">The manny, in front of a room full of folk, <br>
Told us that "the sun didn't not shine" <br>
And it struck me Scottish in a way. </p>
<p dir="ltr">His point was made,  it came across With a great<br>
clarity that betrayed more than what<br>
He was maybe trying to tell us. </p>
<p dir="ltr">It didn't not shine, like he had expected, <br>
Like we are raised to expect that things<br>
Gang aft aglay whenever we hope. </p>
<p dir="ltr">But it didn't not shine, and baldy heads burnt, <br>
And maybe it won't not shine on us<br>
So remember your factor 40, <br>
and remember to hope. </p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-33204657618294800362016-05-25T21:54:00.001+01:002016-05-25T21:54:20.266+01:00Brighton stream of consciousness <p dir="ltr">A burrito eating barman <br>
On a quiet Brighton street<br>
Idly people watches<br>
Tapping time with <u>restless</u> feet<br>
Shop lights sparkle in the dusk<br>
As hipsters pass him by<br>
A single star far overhead<br>
Looks down from darkening sky<br>
The poet pauses,  drafts a line<br>
Then heads on to his bed<br>
While Brighton buzzes on and on<br>
The writer rests his <u>head</u></p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-43369619203630442082016-05-03T00:32:00.001+01:002016-05-03T00:32:51.870+01:00A girl and her bell<p dir="ltr">There's a story to tell<br>
of a girl and her bell<br>
that she shook with <br>
a very loud clang<br>
of how the girl fell<br>
down a dark dingy well<br>
and was saved when<br>
her bell loudly rang</p>
<p dir="ltr">While out walking one day<br>
she just happened to stray<br>
into woods of which <br>
grown ups had warned her<br>
in a clearing she found<br>
a dark hole in the ground<br>
and fell down <br>
when a frog landed on her</p>
<p dir="ltr">But her bell was to hand<br>
the loudest in the land<br>
and a woodsman was <br>
passing and listening<br>
he ran to her aid<br>
and a rescue was made<br>
he got a reward made of gold<br>
that was glistening </p>
<p dir="ltr">But the lass was no fool<br>
she could see it's not cool<br>
not to listen to <br>
warnings of danger<br>
she still carries that bell<br>
but now warns of the well<br>
to us all be we<br>
family or stranger. <br>
</p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-36220068762521224602016-03-01T16:12:00.001+00:002016-03-01T16:12:32.134+00:00The baby's plea<p dir="ltr">Please,  be gentle,  never nip<br>
loosen up your big strong grip <br>
baby's glad to say hello,  <br>
but asks you please to always know <br>
that though my hair is nice to stroke <br>
that soft spot is not there to poke<br>
And though I need our mum's attention <br>
there is something I should mention <br>
she loves you too, as much as me <br>
I love you too, that love will grow<br>
If only you don't squeeze me so... <br><br></p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-13037744180698563702016-02-23T09:35:00.001+00:002017-02-24T00:00:36.101+00:00Three stones<p dir="ltr">CONTEXTUAL NOTE</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>Written February 2016 following the unveiling of two new stones in the cemetery in </i><i>Tarancón</i><i>.</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>Flanking the memorial to Scottish members of the International Brigades who died at </i><i>Jarama</i><i> and in the military hospitals of </i><i>Tarancón</i><i>, the two new plaques finally recognise those local people killed under Franco's dictatorship, including one who, from exile in France, was sent to </i><i>Malthausen</i><i> Concentration Camp and murdered there. </i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>I </i><i>am hugely grateful to Mike </i><i>Arnott</i><i> for his editorial suggestions with regards a first draft. </i></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif;">2017 update: The Spanish translation that follows is the work once more of Máximo Molina Gutiérrez of the Association for the Recovery of the Historical Memory in Tarancón. </p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif;">The continuing relevance of their work is sadly demonstrated all too clearly by the fact that, just a few weeks before the February 2017 ceremony of remembrance, vandals attacked the memorial stones, defacing the tiles in a failed attempt to deny once again the sins of the past. </p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: sans-serif;">The ceremony went ahead, better attended than ever before, with more publicity and even greater pride. </p><div><br></div>
<p dir="ltr">THREE STONES</p>
<p dir="ltr">None shall pass not knowing them, <br>
their names immortal as their deeds<br>
None shall forget their fight for good, <br>
their children orphaned, wounds that yet bleed. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In death together, finally, <br>
though years have passed and moss has grown,<br>
remembered now their names are read,<br>
immortalised on tile and stone</p>
<p dir="ltr">For better world they fought, and died<br>
In Tarancón they found their rest<br>
On battlefield, or 'gainst prison wall<br>
fascist bullet piercing breast. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Their cause was freedom, fought for still<br>
their stories we tell yet<br>
In Tarancón we read their names<br>
their lives we won't forget. </p>
<p dir="ltr">We won't give up till all is just, <br>
their legacy fulfilled, <br>
Fascism gone and all mouths fed<br>
to repay blood they spilled. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Together now, we stand as one<br>
remembering our slain <br>
their cause not dead, their fight still fought<br>
but three stones ease the pain. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Those three stones stand, in Tarancón, <br>
Showing names recalled with pride, <br>
we'll read them each and every year<br>
and no more shall we hide.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">TRES PIEDRAS</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Nadie pasará sin conocerlos</p><p dir="ltr">Sus nombres inmortales como sus hechos</p><p dir="ltr">Nadie olvidará su lucha por el bien,</p><p dir="ltr">Sus hijos huérfanos, heridas que aún sangran.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Juntos en la muerte, por fin,</p><p dir="ltr">Aunque han pasado años y ha crecido el musgo,</p><p dir="ltr">Recordados ahora, se leen sus nombres,</p><p dir="ltr">Inmortalizados en azulejo y piedra.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Por un mundo mejor lucharon y murieron</p><p dir="ltr">En Tarancón encontraron su descanso</p><p dir="ltr">En la batalla o contra las tapias de una prisión</p><p dir="ltr">Balas fascistas atravesándoles el pecho.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Su causa era la libertad, por ella lucharon</p><p dir="ltr">Aún contamos sus historias</p><p dir="ltr">En Tarancón leemos sus nombres</p><p dir="ltr">No olvidaremos sus vidas. </p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">No cejaremos hasta que todo sea justo, </p><p dir="ltr">Su legado mantenido, </p><p dir="ltr">Sin fascismo y con nadie sin poder comer</p><p dir="ltr">para recompensar su sangre derramada.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Juntos ahora, estamos en pie como uno solo</p><p dir="ltr">recordando a nuestros muertos </p><p dir="ltr">su causa no está muerta, su lucha aún por ser luchada</p><p dir="ltr">pero tres piedras alivian el dolor.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Esas tres piedras se alzan, en Tarancón, </p><p dir="ltr">mostrando nombres recordados con orgullo, </p><p dir="ltr">los leeremos todos cada año </p><p dir="ltr">y ya no tendremos que escondernos más.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYFoUy_I3ov6ccDzXWRXMUFWTU9Ue3HlLv0dAkjamNu6f3x03ZrA86pLUluTOHiWzK-aJQDxZxfA6hVaf0GPtz5ykW_Yg93BTILz36ROWU8JjOSL3iJZjeu-HcGXA24crXRS_z7QZDIw/s1600/IMG_20160219_120238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYFoUy_I3ov6ccDzXWRXMUFWTU9Ue3HlLv0dAkjamNu6f3x03ZrA86pLUluTOHiWzK-aJQDxZxfA6hVaf0GPtz5ykW_Yg93BTILz36ROWU8JjOSL3iJZjeu-HcGXA24crXRS_z7QZDIw/s640/IMG_20160219_120238.jpg"> </a> </div>Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-89502275937365103772016-01-13T22:03:00.000+00:002016-01-18T22:03:06.002+00:00My cousin SarahWhen I was wee, I was so jealous<br />
of friends with cousins<br />
Cousins were special, secret people<br />
who lived far away<br />
with whom my friends had adventures<br />
without me<br />
<br />
I didn't have any cousins. I had a rubbish, smelly brother<br />
who was two years younger than me<br />
but could beat me in fights by absorbing pain<br />
and windmilling his arms while walking at me, a strategy<br />
surprisingly not adopted by more MMA fighters today<br />
given how unbeatable it is<br />
<br />
Then, on holiday in Aberdeen,<br />
my uncle announced his intention to marry a woman<br />
a woman with a daughter.<br />
And in that magical act of matrimony, I had a cousin, Sarah<br />
<br />
She was younger than us, but while my punches<br />
could not stop my brother being smelly and rubbish<br />
her trying to kiss him made him run away!<br />
<br />
This amazing ability of hers, demonstrated the day of the wedding,<br />
and so often after,<br />
made her the most wonderful girl in the world<br />
Finally, I had an ally in battle.<br />
<br />
She spoke with a naive directness that dropped jaws<br />
"When you die, Granny, I'm going to get you a lovely headstone like that one"<br />
a throwaway as they walked past a stonemason<br />
<br />
A photo of her on her horse graced our Granny's shelf with love<br />
And every time, my rubbish brother<br />
would turn it upside down<br />
an act of ornamental terrorism<br />
in protest at her<br />
finding his achilles heel<br />
<br />
I remember the call telling me she was pregnant<br />
the excitement of new life in her<br />
I remember the call telling me she had a gorgeous wee boy<br />
Just the other day I looked at photos of us with him as babe in arms<br />
meant to send them on<br />
He's grown so much, but is still her wee boy<br />
So much of her in him<br />
<br />
We spoke on and off in recent years,<br />
but always at Christmas<br />
would come together<br />
would hug each other hard and promise more contact<br />
promise that I would finally meet her fiance<br />
<br />
This Christmas past, we spoke of<br />
her and her family finally braving Dundee<br />
I stole an illicit fly puff on her fag, having quit,<br />
and we promised that this would be the year.<br />
<br />
I'll miss her when the Summer comes, I miss her now<br />
Ken had stopped running away from her kisses<br />
but I could see the remembered fear in his eyes<br />
she was my ally, my cousin<br />
and we had adventures.<br />
<br />
<br />Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-45896427461707175902015-12-25T05:38:00.001+00:002015-12-25T05:44:07.172+00:00A fictional response to the events described in "Last Christmas" by Wham<p dir="ltr">Last Christmas,  he quite fancied me<br>
Without prior warning, he got down on one knee. <br>
This year,  there won't be no tears<br>
I'm staying away from George Michael</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last Christmas,  he quite fancied me<br>
Without prior warning, he got down on one knee. <br>
This year,  there won't be no tears<br>
I'm staying away from George Michael</p>
<p dir="ltr">In front of my friends<br>
By the town Christmas tree<br>
He had to go and ruin it<br>
Saying "Marry me" </p>
<p dir="ltr">I didn't want his heart then<br>
And I don't want it now<br>
<u>I</u> just wanted a quick fumble<br>
He misread me somehow</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last Christmas,  he quite fancied me<br>
Without prior warning, he got down on one knee. <br>
This year,  there won't be no tears<br>
I'm staying away from George Michael</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last Christmas,  he quite fancied me<br>
Without prior warning, he got down on one knee. <br>
This year,  there won't be no tears<br>
I'm staying away from George Michael</p>
<p dir="ltr">A wintry scene <br>
with the snow blowing in<br>
A subtle white frosting <br>
on his stubbly chin</p>
<p dir="ltr">His very tight shorts <br>
in the cold - just not right<br>
But at least it was so cold<br>
They weren't too tight</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last Christmas,  he quite fancied me<br>
Without prior warning, he got down on one knee. <br>
This year,  there won't be no tears<br>
I'm staying away from George Michael</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last Christmas,  he quite fancied me<br>
Without prior warning, he got down on one knee. <br>
This year,  there won't be no tears<br>
I'm staying away from George Michael</p>
<p dir="ltr">A wintry scene <br>
with the snow blowing in<br>
A subtle white frosting <br>
on his stubbly chin</p>
<p dir="ltr">I'm staying away from </p>
<p dir="ltr">I'm staying away from</p>
<p dir="ltr">George Michael</p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-43947617925895485232015-10-15T17:49:00.001+01:002015-10-15T17:49:01.431+01:00Swears we have shouted at Bob Burnquists whilst playing the 1999 classic Tony hawks pro skater<p dir="ltr">This one is <u>rude</u></p>
<p dir="ltr">Munchbucket pussytwat<br>
Shitbastard - shouted that. <br>
Gitty git and just plain dick<br>
Fucking <u>bumquist</u> bum poo prick<br>
Twatty car and shit for face <br>
Bloody tram - a shit disgrace <br>
Playing Tony hawks we swear<br>
More than polite folks could bear<br>
Blistered thumbs are our reward<br>
Burnquists ears burn - sorry Bob! </p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-73659665627426255192015-09-30T23:51:00.001+01:002015-09-30T23:51:16.680+01:00Elephants Like Burgers<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This one was written a long time ago. And reflects my own eating preferences of the time a lot more accurately than those of elephants. It was nearly illustrated by someone that is good at such things . But then it wasn't. I still like it.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">An elephant called Martin</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">went walking through the woods</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">looking for a corner shop</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">where he could buy some food</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For elephants they don't like grass</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">or leaves, or nuts, or hay</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No - Elephants like hot dogs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">served with chips on a tray!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Elephants like burgers</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">served in twos and threes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">much better than vegetables</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">or things that grow on trees</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Martin found his corner shop</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">and bought a pastry slice</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">full of creamy ham and chicken</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">he thought it tasted nice</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He followed it with lollipops</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">and lots and lots of sweets</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">mixed in with some ice cream</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">for elephants love treats!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">An elephant called Martin</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">walked back through the wood</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">but Martin walked back slowly</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">as he was stuffed with food...</span></div>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-66468987498605374842015-09-28T19:51:00.001+01:002016-01-13T21:33:25.549+00:00Magic briefly recaptured<div dir="ltr">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-a0eb8217-3ce8-10da-12d0-e32e2236f0c8" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Magic, briefly recaptured</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like the lights on my Granny's Christmas tree, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A thousand years old, maybe, like my dad, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in bright, gaudy colours, unlike him, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So many colours, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All different, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All sparkling, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All looking so wonderful that I want to cram them in my mouth</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For that is how I experience all the most amazing things </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where all the things that spark my brain happen, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I find myself, with phone accidentally, illicitly on, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gliding down, engines off, to Edinburgh, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the glorious glowing technicolour lights </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">filling some space at the back of my brain</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with magic.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am in my pyjamas, insisting on seeing the tree in the dark, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with no ambient,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bland,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bulb light </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to detract from it.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recall how, wishing to seem mature, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I agreed with my mother that white lights were somehow more pure,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">how I didn't feel I could tell her</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted a tree that looked like a thousand of the most beautifully synthetic fruit flavour sweets had been struck by lightning.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grown ups don't want to experience their Christmas tree by putting it in their mouth.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is why they are boring, wrong</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They don't want to stand there</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in their pyjamas,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">holding onto a hand that dangles above their head, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seriously questioning in that head whether something so magically beautiful, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">so perfectly designed, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">could not taste delicious.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Questioning whether an opportunity to eat just one</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only one</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fairy light will come my way</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A red one - that means strawberry</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I like that, strawberries never taste as good as bright red strawberry flavour things</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fruit pastilles are nothing if not slightly squishy fairy lights </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deprived of the electric</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This boring quality of the grown ups</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It may explain the surprisingly low rate </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of Christmas tree-eating electrocution fatalities, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but the trade off doesn't strike me as a good deal.</span></div>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0Travelodge Hotel - Edinburgh Musselburgh, Moto Service Area, A1 Old Craighall, Musselburgh55.92631 -3.062009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-60273386671180269602015-08-30T23:13:00.001+01:002015-08-30T23:13:59.892+01:00The boy with the fairytale hair<p dir="ltr">In the streets of Calcutta, <br>
the girls often mutter<br>
of the boy with the fairytale hair<br>
His locks flow so freely <br>
that the girls they all really<br>
can do little but dream if they dare</p>
<p dir="ltr">And when he walks past 'em<br>
their hearts beat so fast and<br>
their breath it grows short in their chests<br>
They toy with their tresses<br>
and straighten their dresses<br>
in hopes that he will be impressed </p>
<p dir="ltr">But the boy has no eyes for<br>
the girls he'd be prize for<br>
for their love he just feels no desire<br>
The boy is a diddy<br>
he is one daft wee kiddy<br>
and his mind's set on something much higher</p>
<p dir="ltr">So the boy walks on by<br>
with his eyes to the sky<br>
missing girls who would chatter and flirt<br>
He looks way up high<br>
dreaming he'll some day fly<br>
thinking how he will get that result </p>
<p dir="ltr">For the lad he has gathered<br>
balsa wood thickly slathered <br>
with lighter than air b&q helium paint<br>
And each day he slaps more on<br>
does our intrepid moron<br>
and the fumes make his voice high and faint</p>
<p dir="ltr">And today he will try out<br>
after offering devout<br>
prayers to the one holy and high<br>
his flying machine<br>
powered solely by steam<br>
if the paint can just be got to dry</p>
<p dir="ltr">But oh dear, our poor hero! <br>
His chances are zero! <br>
For he has forgotten one thing:<br>
Our hero's physics are bitty<br>
confused about gravity<br>
of bad ideas, this lad, he is king </p>
<p dir="ltr">So before he departs<br>
as his test flight he starts <br>
which will end with a scream and a splat<br>
Pity those poor wee girls<br>
who fancied his curls<br>
and didn't realise he was such a prat. <br></p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-28817832553698426402015-07-11T14:27:00.001+01:002015-08-02T17:11:22.299+01:00Bootstraps and bicycles <div dir="ltr">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It takes practice, and effort, but can't you see? </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You need to apply, be successful like me! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You need to try harder, and work longer hours, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just like us that grew up in ivory towers</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just grease up your elbows and get stuck on in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Underactive thyroid? Just will yourself thin! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just jump on your bike and go searching for work</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
While tugging your bootstraps - you don't want to shirk </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your responsibility to work two more jobs</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On zero hours contracts, you're not lazy slobs</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The work it is out there, just take it from me</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just keep looking harder, and soon you will be</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With graft and with effort, with good honest sweat</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Seeing less of your kids, but you'll have no regrets</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You'll teach them a lesson, of what effort gets</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A minimum wage that can't cover your rent</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A pension that might pay if you don't die first</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
An old age still working, to slack is the worst</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A home that is cold - you're not active enough</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You're just going soft, need to be far more tough</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Work hard till you're eighty, if then still alive</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
put off your retirement till age eighty-five </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And show all these youngsters what a work ethic is</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Blame hardship on foreigners - they're taking the piss! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Or those who get benefits - they're just idle scum</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Watch Jeremy Kyle, while scratching their bum</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just don't blame bosses who create the wealth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And kindly share some out - no thought for their self</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Benevolent heroes, are our CEOs</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They invest really hard, so stay on your toes</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They have to cut costs, so sorry, you're sacked</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just try harder next time, and it is a fact</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That you could get rich, beyond your wildest dreams </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your wallet so stuffed, it'll burst at the seams</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If we just make it cheaper, to hire and to fire</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If we break all the unions, your pay will be higher</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We'll just cut your wages, for a few years just now</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
boost dividends this year but then we'll somehow </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Make you so much richer, in a few years hence</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But sorry, not next year, it's too big an expense</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Our poor shareholders need big dividends</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On their confidence, our country depends! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So suffer for Britain, for a few years more</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Stop saying you're broke, you dull left wing bore</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's all labour's fault, nowt to do with the banks</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
bankers need their bonuses, so we pay them, with thanks</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's nothing to do with the rich, not at all</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We must protect them, if their stocks fall</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Our system is super, just look and see</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Our system makes folk rich, like my friends and me!</div>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-65440451308633258602015-06-26T11:16:00.001+01:002015-06-26T11:16:59.375+01:00On having reached the Maule Monument above Tarfside finally, after six years<p dir="ltr">False summits tease <br>
with hopes of triumph<br>
gentle slopes from afar<br>
rearrange,<br>
gain new gradient<br>
steepen<br>
as valiant heroes <br>
stumble up. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The transcendent hills<br>
hitherto too daunting<br>
for hungover me<br>
finally conquered by <br>
my imminence </p>
<p dir="ltr">Which by the time<br>
specified <br>
felt very imminent <br>
indeed. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Dry mooths slaikit <br>
by unchilled beer<br>
our heroes savour<br>
view won, breathe<br>
victor's fresh air<br>
and wish<br>
they had brought<br>
more beer. <br>
</p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-87190534265724353492015-05-31T22:32:00.002+01:002015-05-31T22:32:46.204+01:00Fragments I've had in my head<i>Not a thing as such - the below have been stuck in my head for a while and I thought writing them down might clear it out and let me do something else...</i><br />
<br />
Detour down Buttars Loan<br />
<br />
Cherry blossom blooms doon Buttars Loan<br />
Sharp, shocking pink shows white walls up<br />
The sunshine pretends a summer not yet come<br />
And my thoughts turn, tumble, to love once more<br />
<br />
Meds<br />
<br />
A rushing brain calmed down by capsule<br />
Red in hue and high in strength<br />
can't compensate for dampened ardour<br />
or fingers frozen in dead of night<br />
<br />
<br />Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-51274317238661485652015-02-22T22:02:00.001+00:002015-03-01T10:50:37.181+00:00They like silence<div dir="ltr">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">They like silence</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">Our rulers, they like silence. </span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">It suits them, serves their purpose </span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">the silent anonymity of those our rulers slew</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">denies the existence of our fallen</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">pretends they never were. </span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">The memory of those our rulers</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">could only silence in death</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">is a memory we hold dear</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">cherish, seek to recover</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">to give us strength today</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">And now we raise our voices</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">for those who cannot speak</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">we sing our songs of struggle</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">of solidarity, of freedom and truth</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">and give their memory life</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Written in memory of those who vanished, but were not forgotten, </span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">from Tarancon and elsewhere.</span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">The following translation is the work of <span style="line-height: 21.466667175293px;">Máximo Molina Gutiérrez</span>, whose work in and around Tarancon to recover and preserve the memory of those who were killed is inspirational. </span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">LES GUSTA EL SILENCIO</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">A nuestros gobernantes, les gusta el silencio</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Les viene bien, les sirve a sus fines</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">El anonimato silencioso de aquellos que los gobernantes mataron</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">niega la existencia de nuestros caídos,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">pretende que nunca fueron.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">La memoria de aquellos, que nuestros gobernantes</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">solo pudieron silenciar con la muerte,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">es una memoria querida por nosotros</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">estimada, que buscamos recuperar</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">para que nos de fuerza hoy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Y ahora levantamos nuestras voces</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">por aquellos que no pueden hablar,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">cantamos nuestras canciones de lucha</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">de solidaridad, de libertad de verdad</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Y le damos vida a su memoria.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Escrito en memoria de aquellos que desaparecieron, pero que no han sido olvidados,</span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<i><span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">de Tarancón, y de cualquier otro lugar.</span></i></div>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-90492942415155142422015-02-13T12:16:00.001+00:002015-02-13T12:19:11.149+00:00No no, no, no, no no. (How you get old as a child of the nineties)The cultural references of our youth age us<br />
We continue in time, then they catch us out<br />
Italia '90 was a quarter of a century ago<br />
Many yesterdays have past since The Day Today<br />
Fallen heroes fill the news, found out<br />
And yet I still feel me.<br />
No Limit was released in 1993.<br />
And now I feel old.<br />
<br />Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-1901087891863092542014-11-04T21:30:00.001+00:002014-12-09T22:02:02.541+00:00Autobiography of a mediocrity in bad verse<p dir="ltr">In Gala was our hero born, <br>
A rotund Babe with baldy head<br>
Precursor of his future form<br>
A hairless crown with beard instead</p>
<p dir="ltr">In Peebles raised by maw and paw<br>
A brother soon they added<br>
Through border hills our hero roamed<br>
Though gut grew richly padded</p>
<p dir="ltr">At Priorsford he went to school<br>
His chums there were so many<br>
Kickabouts and adventures <br>
were more than ten a penny</p>
<p dir="ltr">At PHS he passed some tests<br>
Whilst learning with his buddies<br>
With Bruce and Zico, Chris and Hogge<br>
They excelled at media studies </p>
<p dir="ltr">At seventeen he left his hame<br>
And set off for Dundee<br>
Made friends and more, he somehow passed<br>
And came out with degree</p>
<p dir="ltr">Then signing on, he was told<br>
To go for interview<br>
He got the job, in shop he worked<br>
All thanks to the burroo </p>
<p dir="ltr">While at the shop he chased a lad<br>
Who had stole wee girl's pants <br>
Lad pulled a knife, our hero froze<br>
And nearly soiled his scants. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Then Revenue a job offered<br>
With salary and pension<br>
Our hero joined, joined pcs<br>
His life gained new dimension </p>
<p dir="ltr">For twelve years now, Our hero's toiled, <br>
for employer and for justice<br>
You've heard his tale, and may now wonder<br>
Quite what all the fuss wis. <br></p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-68682037876558396562014-10-29T14:26:00.001+00:002014-10-29T14:26:15.898+00:00Offensive art<p dir="ltr">Without seeing the piece, they protest<br>
just the thought of it, they detest<br>
to minds that can imagine its content<br>
unseen, it causes discontent <br>
offending their sensibilities, <br>
taxing their cognitive abilities <br>
their moral outrage unsurpassed<br>
but their logic is half assed <br>
"boycott,  blockade!" is their cry<br>
but the punters pass them by<br>
the moral high ground they have lost<br>
by not paying the admission cost<br>
by not engaging with the thing<br>
their protests have a hollow ring</p>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742982410703159340.post-47557430612016088052014-10-13T21:02:00.001+01:002014-10-19T23:57:16.031+01:00The Fair City<div dir="ltr">
In the year ae oor LORD twa thoosan an' twelve, <br />
The fair city ae Perth caught up wi it's ain hype, <br />
When the Queen took pity on them<br />
And let them catch up wi' Dundee in one regard. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Perth is now officially a city.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Teen pregnancies they're still working on. </div>
Hamish Drummondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10614414959656477559noreply@blogger.com0