Category: Odysseus

Children, Odysseus, Poetry

Weekend Fun

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Wobbles

Bike and scooter
In the boot
Me and the boy
Off for a scoot
He’s a bit wobbly
But getting the hang
Of his shiny red bike
Until he has a prang
The distraction of pals
Takes its toll
Adverse camber
Yields a painful fall
It means a sore elbow
For my little friend
Tears and a hug
Pull him together again
He gets back on
Then pedals slowly
An ice cream pit stop
And he’s weaving home boldly.

Snap, Crackle & Pop

Scarcely awake
And a request to bake
Inspiration strikes
Rice Krispy cakes
Sweet and simple
Lots of sprinkles
Helpful daughter
A satisfied customer.

Life, Odysseus, Poetry

Ouch

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Massed commuters
iPods on
Wave of ignorance
Marching along
Poor old cyclist
Trying to get through
Smacks into one of them
Minor to-do
Felt for both of them
Embarrassed and hurt
But the ignorant pedestrian
Should feel worst.

Not on my bike today, I observed a nasty bump as commuters spectacularly ignored a truck and a bicycle as they surged across a road. Groupthink, ‘me first’ and headphones to blame. Reasonable accommodation fell – along with the cyclist – by the wayside.

Life, Odysseus, Poetry, Work

Canary Wharf

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Artificial light
Glittering goods
City folk
And ordinary bods
Expensive calories
And consumer excess
People walk at you
Through hunks of metal
Steel and glass
Artificial climate
Escalator rides
Look out the window
Drizzle outside
Holes in the ground
Building on every acre
A miracle of mammon
Flattening nature.

Every time I go to Canary Wharf I feel a strong sense of alienation. I had a meeting there today. I worked in Docklands when it was a building site, in the 1990s as Canary Wharf went up. On the face of it what’s not to like? Efficient high quality office and retail space on reclaimed land.

I can’t put my finger on it, but something feels wrong. It’s like a glossy ad or the guff you read in an in-flight magazine. Lifestyle, grooming, money, power and status and posh nosh. It lacks the class of New York or the crush of Hong Kong. A soulless place.