To be a child again...

This is for your own works!!!
User avatar
Karren B
Posts: 2771
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 7:11 pm
Location: At the Cottage in the Village by the River near the Castle.

To be a child again...

Post by Karren B »

To be a child again...

What happened to those lazy days
of playing games and daisy chains.
Long hot summers, Christmas snow,
I often wonder where'd they go.

Slides and swings, and climbing trees,
grubby hands and dirty knees.
Shiny wellies, sparkly bangles,
Sherbet lemons, Bon Bons, Spangles.

Just three channels on TV
And magazine advice for free.
Captain Scarlet, Andy Pandy,
Bunty, Jackie, Beano, Dandy.

Story books and favourite toys,
hoola hooping, chasing boys.
Cherishing a small toy bunny,
Finding whoopee cushions funny.

Famous five and Secret Seven
read by torch light; simply heaven.
Midnight feasts and cherryade,
secrets shared and friendships made.

Seaside chalets, campsite fun,
talent shows that must be won.
Rounders played on crowded sand,
swimsuits wet and bodies tanned.

Not a worry not a care
no need to say it isn't fair.
No need to plan, just having fun.
Life was a blast when I was young.

Adults tell you 'Just you wait,
when you grow up life will be great'.
They sell you dreams; say you can fly...
Buyers beware, it's all a lie.

xx
'Take the breath of a new dawn
And make it a part of you.
It will give you strength'
solongleonard
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:51 am
Location: Just ice round the shoulder

Re: To be a child again...

Post by solongleonard »

Hi Karren, nice to see you and well done. Strangely, it was in your final stanza that your timing went missing. You can recast that easily

Instead of

"Adults tell you 'Just you wait,
when you grow up life will be great'.
They sell you dreams; say you can fly...
Buyers beware, it's all a lie"


consider a few quick randomers, the only real me one is 4, the others are passing examples

1. Adults tell us to wait
hold back, and anticipate
dreamy life where we will fly
you can trust, they never lie

2. Adults tell us, "just you wait"
grow up, put on weight,
creamy life, too big to fly
buyers be wary, lies too lairy

3. Adults tell us "just you wait"
sorted our feelings, sorted our fate
permission to dream, permission to fly
caveat emptor burn and die

4. Old geezers shout
lived so long, learned little or nowt
offer used dreams or fly-by-night oaths
Caveat Emptors' New Clothes
Diane

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Diane »

Hey Karren, that's my exact childhood, too. Nice work!

I sense an Ian Dury beat (and I like the Pink Floyd reference).
User avatar
Karren B
Posts: 2771
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 7:11 pm
Location: At the Cottage in the Village by the River near the Castle.

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Karren B »

solongleonard wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 4:50 pm Hi Karren, nice to see you and well done. Strangely, it was in your final stanza that your timing went missing. You can recast that easily

Instead of

"Adults tell you 'Just you wait,
when you grow up life will be great'.
They sell you dreams; say you can fly...
Buyers beware, it's all a lie"


consider a few quick randomers, the only real me one is 4, the others are passing examples

1. Adults tell us to wait
hold back, and anticipate
dreamy life where we will fly
you can trust, they never lie

2. Adults tell us, "just you wait"
grow up, put on weight,
creamy life, too big to fly
buyers be wary, lies too lairy

3. Adults tell us "just you wait"
sorted our feelings, sorted our fate
permission to dream, permission to fly
caveat emptor burn and die

4. Old geezers shout
lived so long, learned little or nowt
offer used dreams or fly-by-night oaths
Caveat Emptors' New Clothes
Thanks for the critique Solong; always welcome. I tried a few different endings but most of them didn't work so I settled for the one that sort of says it as it is...

Oh yes, number 4 is definitely the One... Old Geezer? lets just say time tested or even vintage...
'offer used dreams or fly-by-night oaths' is a great line, there's quite a poem in there somewhere. Went a bit northern with the word nowt, I could almost see you pushing your bike up the hill with your Hovis in the basket!

I hope you are keeping well and life is being kind!
xx
'Take the breath of a new dawn
And make it a part of you.
It will give you strength'
User avatar
Karren B
Posts: 2771
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 7:11 pm
Location: At the Cottage in the Village by the River near the Castle.

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Karren B »

Diane wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 9:53 am Hey Karren, that's my exact childhood, too. Nice work!

I sense an Ian Dury beat (and I like the Pink Floyd reference).
Hi Diane
I'm glad you enjoyed it. The only problem in recalling things from childhood is it sort of gives your age away ;-) .

(No deliberate Pink Floyd reference intended)
xx
'Take the breath of a new dawn
And make it a part of you.
It will give you strength'
User avatar
Geoffrey
Posts: 3775
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:11 am

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Geoffrey »

that poem was quite nice, karren. michael's suggestion for a different ending should be treated with suspicion. you realise that should you delete your verse and replace it with his, he will immediately claim a percentage of the royalties.
Diane

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Diane »

Karren B wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 3:25 pm The only problem in recalling things from childhood is it sort of gives your age away ;-) .
Damn! We have to be philosophical at this stage, and realise that age is just for sour French cheeses. It's interesting to reflect that we were still in junior school when that album you didn't reference came out. Mike was barely out of his pram, and Geoffrey was fashioning Leonard Cohen from mashed-up Farley's Rusks.
User avatar
Karren B
Posts: 2771
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 7:11 pm
Location: At the Cottage in the Village by the River near the Castle.

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Karren B »

Geoffrey wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 8:07 pm that poem was quite nice, karren. michael's suggestion for a different ending should be treated with suspicion. you realise that should you delete your verse and replace it with his, he will immediately claim a percentage of the royalties.
Thank you G. I hope you are well...

Something I learned here a long time ago was to treat everything with suspicion, though I can't imagine I have any royalties issues to worry about. ;-)

xx
'Take the breath of a new dawn
And make it a part of you.
It will give you strength'
User avatar
Karren B
Posts: 2771
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 7:11 pm
Location: At the Cottage in the Village by the River near the Castle.

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Karren B »

Diane wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:43 am
Karren B wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 3:25 pm The only problem in recalling things from childhood is it sort of gives your age away ;-) .
Damn! We have to be philosophical at this stage, and realise that age is just for sour French cheeses. It's interesting to reflect that we were still in junior school when that album you didn't reference came out. Mike was barely out of his pram, and Geoffrey was fashioning Leonard Cohen from mashed-up Farley's Rusks.
They say you are only as old as you think you are; well I think I'm 20 yrs younger than I am but unfortunately my mind has forgotten to pass this information on to my body!
Mike was barely out of his pram, and Geoffrey was fashioning Leonard Cohen from mashed-up Farley's Rusks.
Just can't quite visualise them as children. I wonder if they were as well behaved then as they are now? :D

I loved Farley's Rusks but I'm not sure they would make a great art medium, I remember they used to get stuck in my hair a lot. They seem a lot smaller than they used to be, or maybe my hands just got a little bigger. :?
xx
'Take the breath of a new dawn
And make it a part of you.
It will give you strength'
User avatar
Geoffrey
Posts: 3775
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:11 am

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Geoffrey »

Diane wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:43 am Mike was barely out of his pram, and Geoffrey was fashioning Leonard Cohen from mashed-up Farley's Rusks.
i don't think the pram had been invented right back then when mike was born. his mother would have carried him around in a woolworths bag.
as for me, farley's rusks were never a part of my diet. from the beginning i ate three square meals a day and always acted like a grown up, which i still do.
solongleonard
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:51 am
Location: Just ice round the shoulder

Re: To be a pram again...

Post by solongleonard »

Oh yes, number 4 is definitely the One... Old Geezer? lets just say time tested or even vintage...
'offer used dreams or fly-by-night oaths' is a great line, there's quite a poem in there somewhere. Went a bit northern with the word nowt, I could almost see you pushing your bike up the hill with your Hovis in the basket!

4. Old geezers shout
lived so long, learned little or nowt
offer used dreams or fly-by-night oaths
Caveat Emptors' New Clothes


you be right, 4 is the one. But the better half is the second half. Please understand that far -away folk like Geoffrey, who never even studied Latin at school, nor Law at Uni (oh, bugger, just remembered I never went there )would have benefitted greatly from your explanation of "Caveat Emptor" segueing rather brilliantly into the Hans Christian Andersen title, but you really fucked up by neglecting that opportunity. Oh well, sod Geoffrey I say. Perhaps it wasn't his lack of comprehension at all, but typical inter-Scandi jealousy?

And for a Diane to appear makes me nostalgic for the one we used to "have", hundreds of years ago. She was one of my favourite women posters, along with you, Karen, and Geoffrey, and Princess Philip, but she has now died, leaving the Queen to rule alone. Luckily, I trust all his decisions. He is one of the finest Queens we have ever had. .
User avatar
Karren B
Posts: 2771
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 7:11 pm
Location: At the Cottage in the Village by the River near the Castle.

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Karren B »

Solong wrote
you be right, 4 is the one. But the better half is the second half. Please understand that far -away folk like Geoffrey, who never even studied Latin at school, nor Law at Uni (oh, bugger, just remembered I never went there )would have benefitted greatly from your explanation of "Caveat Emptor" segueing rather brilliantly into the Hans Christian Andersen title, but you really fucked up by neglecting that opportunity. Oh well, sod Geoffrey I say. Perhaps it wasn't his lack of comprehension at all, but typical inter-Scandi jealousy?
I would have commented on 'Caveat Emptors' new clothes', but that tailor was a bit of a con man and I think think the case is Sub judice. Maybe I'll leave the Latin and the explanations to you. My Latin starts and ends with Carpe Vinum.
far -away folk like Geoffrey
Does this mean Geoffrey lives in the far away tree in the enchanted wood with the other far away folk Moonface, Silky, Saucepan Man and er Mr Watzisname. He must know Jo, Bessie, Fanny and Dick too? Getting really nostalgic now...
He is one of the finest Queens we have ever had. .
I think I met him once in Old Compton Street
xx
'Take the breath of a new dawn
And make it a part of you.
It will give you strength'
solongleonard
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:51 am
Location: Just ice round the shoulder

Re: To be a child again...

Post by solongleonard »

Geoffrey wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 10:25 pm
Diane wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:43 am Mike was barely out of his pram, and Geoffrey was fashioning Leonard Cohen from mashed-up Farley's Rusks.
i don't think the pram had been invented right back then when mike was born. his mother would have carried him around in a woolworths bag.
as for me, farley's rusks were never a part of my diet. from the beginning i ate three square meals a day and always acted like a grown up, which i still do.
it is the anniversary of my mum's death. she was a delightful, indeed wonderful person. she was so protective of me, the baby of 3 children, that when she got cancer, less than a year after Dad died, she told Kathy, my wife, and told her not to tell me. she worried that I wouldn't be able to take it!

today, my brother and sister who live in Israel sent me some photographs of mum. these included a glorious one of her in her wedding dress! I will try to add it later

Mike
User avatar
Geoffrey
Posts: 3775
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:11 am

Re: To be a child again...

Post by Geoffrey »

i have been asked to publish the following photograph :-)
mum wedding!.jpg
solongleonard
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2017 1:51 am
Location: Just ice round the shoulder

Re: To be a child again...

Post by solongleonard »

Geoffrey wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 8:25 pm i have been asked to publish the following photograph :-)
mum wedding!.jpg

Thank you so much, Geoffrey.

I wasn't able to post it myself.

This week, it is 23 years since Mum died, so spare a thought for Bena.
Post Reply

Return to “Writing, Music and Art by the Forum members”