Just in case
The death knell sounds sonorously.
The mourners dressed decorously
have come to say their last farewell.
Invited by the tolling bell.
Some come to pay their last respects.
Nobody mentions his defects.
An unspoken conspiracy.
A custom universally.
observed by all the human race.
A funeral is not the place
to criticise the newly dead.
Perhaps because we live in dread.
That vengeful ghosts will take offence.
We choose to lie in self defence.
19/09/2009
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Related quotes
Acknowledgement
The death knell sounds and echoes round
the confines of the burial ground
The tolling bell seems to foretell.
Life will become a lonely hell.
My love is gone, she’s travelled on,
her race is run and she has won.
No longer bound by gravity
she’s earned her wings and she is free.
By sadness I am overcome.
I am struck dumb, completely numb.
I cannot cry although I try.
The wellspring of my tears run dry
The mourners murmur quietly
but no one comes to comfort me.
This does not come as a surprise.
They do not seem to realise
The love I bore for her was true.
We were a partnership we two,
which lasted over thirty years.
I wonder why nobody dares
To offer me their sympathy
a little sensitivity.
But they still show they disapprove.
They do not understand that love.
Between two women is as real
as the emotions which they feel.
But then her mother chooses to
do what the others dare not do.
She comes to me and takes my hand
and says my dear I understand
You loved just her as much as I
it is appropriate to cry.
The courage which she chose to show
allowed my pent up tears to flow
When she acknowledged publicly
what her daughter had been to me.
22-May-08
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So far, So good
Although I’m far from innocent
I have done things I now repent.
In self defence I must protest
I am no worse than all the rest
Whose sins have yet to come to light.
They still profess their innocence
Their sins well hidden out of sight
and yet feel free to take offence.
At peccadilloes I confess.
Which seems to me hypocrisy
as if somehow their sins are less
than those I confess openly.
Because they’re sure nobody knows.
Its human nature I suppose.
09/07/2009
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Farewell Ritual.
The rifles bark their last salute.
To say farewell to a comrade.
The tears of mourners follow suit.
The last post sounds: A serenade
or better yet a lullaby
To lull a valiant soul to sleep.
A tribute to his memory.
The price of freedom is not cheap.
Another human sacrifice
offered to the God of War.
He earned his place in paradise
to rest in peace for evermore.
A sight we see too frequently
In military cemeteries.
Friday,27 August 2010
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Gramercy
Why should I live in agony?
my life a total misery.
Because you find you can’t agree.
to help me die with dignity.
Who gave you the right to choose?
whether to allow or to refuse.
To end a life of little use
I think it is gross abuse.
of your assumed authority.
To decide what is best for me,
you will not listen to my plea.
I choose death voluntarily.
I am no use to anyone.
I’m well aware my race is run
and I am anxious to be gone.
The choice is mine and mine alone.
And therefore should be left to me
But in your wisdom you decide.
I must live on in agony
You won’t assist my suicide.
01/05/2009
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Harmony restored for M lady Ernestine
The vicar, such a nice old gent.
Sees both sides of the argument.
But there is little he can do.
He will not choose between the two.
Maintains a strict neutrality
and prays for guidance reverently
The Sabbath should pass peacefully,
quite free from all hostility.
But Oh Dear Me it isn’t so
the organist will have to go.
So we regain tranquillity
and hear the choir properly.
The organist will take offence.
But we must act in self defence.
The vicar acts reluctantly
and grants the choirmaster’s plea.
The organist just has to go.
He played far too fortissimo.
05/11/2009
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Misperception?
Misperception.
The silence of the night; profound.
Is broken by a dismal sound.
The tolling of a single bell.
The sad, sad sound of the death knell.
Another soul has broken free
From this sad world of misery.
Now journeying towards the light
Rejoicing in the power of flight.
But we who have been left behind
to seek what solace we can find.
Weep bitter tears which may relieve
The pain of loss but I believe.
We should not weep but celebrate.
The dear departed’s change of state.
Thursday,22 December 2011
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I choose to protest openly.
I choose to protest openly.
I’m cynical, satirical.
Politically incorrect.
Though you agree in principal.
I sometimes think that you suspect.
I’m sometimes economical
With the truths I try to expose.
You think it may be probable.
My acid comments are a pose.
You hold your tongue in self defence.
Although you do not disagree.
You hesitate to give offence.
To the prevailing powers that be.
By staying silent you assent.
To tyranny by government.
Sunday,15 January 2012
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The Funeral Bell
The funeral bell is ringing a reminder of our mortality
Farewelling a deceased soul one day 'twill ring for me
Ringing in the stillness of this cool Autumn day
Across the rural city in the morning damp and gray.
The funeral bell is pealing for one a last farewell
And few sounds sadder than the slow peals of the loud funeral bell
Above the streets and houses it echoes to the sky
For one bound for her or his last resting place the cemetery nearby.
The peewees in the town park distinctive in their call
And the magpie on a wattle pipe on this cool morning in the Fall
And for one who will not breathe again the eulogy is read
And the funeral bell is tolling in memory of the dead.
The funeral bell is ringing for one a last goodbye
And on the clock of our mortality the hours just seem to fly
Respect to the departed is all that we can pay
And for each and everyone of us a final night and day.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Naani for Subarraman N.V.
War will persist
as long as men exist.
Men have the will and skill to kill.
They always had and always will.
Peace apparently
an impossibility.
Men expect hostility
Universally.
Why should this be?
It seems to me
we were meant to live peacefully.
In perfect amity.
6-May-08
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I hear and Reflect
A bell tolls sonorously
one single chime. Then silence reigns
It wakes me from my reverie.
Conscious again of aches and pains.
I had lost temporarily
in contemplation of the past
That single knell reminding me
Of the long years which quickly passed.
Before the years caught up with me
For old age does not come alone
It brings along infirmity.
Which hitherto you have not known.
When you are young you do not know
What future lies ahead of you
but as you live and learn and grow
You will become as others do.
Much more aware than what you were
of how your body will re- act.
To the stress and strain you bear.
That you must think before you act.
Gone is the energy of youth
You used to waste without a thought
You slowly come to learn the truth
That rude health can’t be sold or bought.
As long as I can hear that chime
which has disturbed my reverie
I can be certain that this time
The death knell does not ring for me.
Each day an opportunity
To do things I can still do
although slow and steadily.
My body still allows me to.
Although I pay in aches and pains
I do not think the price too high.
My interest in life remains.
I am too busy far, to die.
I know I will eventually
but do not let it worry me
It is the only certainty
the bell will toll one day for me.
23-Nov-08
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A Jaundiced view?
We fail because we never learn
the lessons that the past can teach.
The sound advice we choose to spurn
will place success beyond our reach
The question is what is success?
To have the latest gadgetry
Apparently the answers yes.
although they are not necessary.
Technology moves on apace.
Things soon become obsolete.
The greatest failing of our race
We are determined to compete.
Instead of working side by side
to benefit everyone.
The powers that be will still decide.
That they’ll be better on their own.
To show the rest they are the best.
Which fosters greed and selfishness.
What does it matter if the rest
are left to live in wretchedness..
Me first, me first the constant cry.
I do not care a toss for you
You cannot win if you don’t try
to stay ahead the way I do.
I will succeed at any price
and you will pay for my success.
I know that I will not think twice.
My only aim is to impress.
I choose to live in luxury
I see no reason I should not
Although you live in poverty
I will not share what I have got.
It’s human nature at its worst.
I see no signs that it will change.
Our creed has always been me first.
I do not find it to be strange.
But then I am a realist
I view the world cynically.
and not as an idealist
would like to see it be.
03/09/2009
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100% Fatal
I suffer from a malady.
which is slowly killing me.
There’s no known cause nor any cure.
Its something which I must endure.
A disease universally
accepted reluctantly
As affecting every race
A truth that everyone must face.
We’re born to live a while than die.
Its only when the end draws nigh.
That we review the life we’ve led,
what we could have done instead.
If we had known what we now know.
When we were young so long ago.
Would we have done things differently?
We cannot say with certainty.
Our lives are ruled by circumstance.
We roll the dice and take our chance.
Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose
complaining is of little use.
We can’t opt out refuse to play
the game continues anyway.
Why are we born only to die.
There has to be a reason why.
A part of some great master plan
too complex for the mind of man
to grasp in it’s entirety.
Embracing all impartially.
Wednesday,18 November 2009
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samhain for M lady Marianna Jo
The veils grow thin on all souls eve
and vengeful ghosts are free to leave.
The kingdom of eternal night
to seek revenge and vent their spite.
On erst while relatives and friends,
Who have not tried to make amends.
Insults offered before they died
long brooded on and magnified.
Although you may not be aware
you were the cause if their despair.
To them it makes no difference
because they chose to take offence.
At something which you did or said.
For this night only they can tread
amongst the living once again
They are intent on casing pain.
Some call it superstition.
Not me I keep an open mind
It is an old tradition
although it is not well defined,
Though when the veils are torn aside
to let the vengeful spirits through
I much prefer to stay inside,
It seems the wisest thing to do
I am afraid that’s why I hide
behind stout walls which can protect
and keep the wrathful ghosts outside
That way I show them some respect.
10-Oct-08
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I Can Hear The Funeral Bell
I can hear the funeral bell tolling in the church across the way
Calling in the family and friends of the deceased one for to pray
For the soul of the departed though what happens to the soul
When life's last breath we have taken would seem beyond our control,
Tolling slow and tolling loudly carrying in the freshening breeze
Out there in the sunlit Parkland birds are whistling on the trees
Life on Earth goes on as usual though to life people come and go
Though of a life after death it would seem none can say that they truly know,
Listening to the bell toll slowly makes me once again recall
My own very fragile mortality there's a last day for us all,
Life is brief the years go quickly time does not wait for you or I
And they say the longer we live the sooner we are going to die
And though the funeral bell is tolling in the house of prayer nearby
Swallows chirp above the Parkland in the bright and sunny sky.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Pure Rationalisation for Friend Thad
A fly has been annoying me.
Persistently and constantly.
My conscience bids me not to kill.
But damn it all I think I will.
That fly will bother me no more.
I killed with a single blow.
I had endured it patiently.
At least an hour maybe more
It pestered me insistently
I had to even up the score
That fly will bother me no more.
I slew that fly intentionally.
It left me with no other course.
Perhaps in time I’ll feel remorse.
Though at the moment I feel pleased
That wretched fly is now deceased.
That fly will bother me no more
though I’m afraid my conscience will.
Sometimes we sin because we choose
although we know we should refuse
and listen to our inner voice.
That bloody fly gave me no choice.
That fly will bother me no more
I killed it quite deliberately.
I know I sinned and must atone
The fly would not leave me alone.
The fly not I caused the offence.
I think my argument makes sense.
The fly will bother me no more
Its death was more than justified.
21/07/2009
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Denial for M'Lady Ann Beard
Why do we choose to rationalise
odd happenings we can’t explain.
The evidence of our own eyes
we all deny time and again.
I think it highly probable because
we do not understand.
Believing it impossible
we just dismiss it out of hand.
We do not really want to know
so we discount the evidence.
Which shows or merely tends to show
some humans have an extra sense.
So we pretend in self defence
that ESP is sheer nonsense..
27-Feb-09
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Life Review. fot J.T, Ellison
When you grow old as you must do
and you look backward to review.
The way that life has treated you
Where you have been, what you’ve achieved.
The blessings given and received.
a great deal more than you believed.
I think you find you are impressed
You know you’ve always done your best
and you have earned the right to rest.
No longer part of the rat race
You live your life at your own pace.
Perhaps you can accept with grace
When you conclude your life review.
You’ve done what you were meant to do.
05/09/2009
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Conforming
I cannot unilaterally,
decide to do what pleases me.
How very easy life would be
if that was satisfactory.
Although it makes me furious.
I must confer, debate discuss
until it is unanimous.
I find it rather curious.
It seems your free will is not free.
Although you think it ought to be.
In order to live peacefully
as part of our society.
We have to voluntarily
place limits on our liberty.
05/11/2009
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It might come back into fashion for all long suffering husbands
Why do we hoard things we don’t use?
Why is that we always choose
to take the easy way.
Turn a blind eye.
We will decide another day
what to keep, what to throw away
Although there’s no reason why
we should refuse
We’re well aware what we should try
to clear some space before we buy.
That gorgeous pair of shoes
We should say nay.
We know quite well we should refuse
but bargains we can always use.
Thursday,19 November 2009
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It might come back into fashion
Why do we hoard things we don’t use?
Why is that we always choose
to take the easy way.
Turn a blind eye.
We will decide another day
what to keep, what to throw away
Although there’s no reason why
we should refuse
We’re well aware what we should try
to clear some space before we buy.
That gorgeous pair of shoes
We should say nay.
We know quite well we should refuse
but bargains we can always use.
Thursday,19 November 2009
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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