Seed-sower

That gardener marked my mind as few men did:
Those well-worn shabby clothes he’d aye dress in,
Hobnailed ex-miner’s boots upon his feet,
And yet something about him always neat:
A buttonhole, or cravat with a pin.
He kept old coins and screws, sorted by jar,
Explaining to this child what treasures are
In conversation mixed with silence long.
I never heard him tell me I was wrong,
But wise and funny tales that he would spin
Guided me right… a talent shared by few!
This garden speaks of him while I still live.
What tells? Cornflowers: his sharp eyes of blue;
But most, against the shed, his sleeping sieve.

Seed-sower

Dry and Wet

Dry, the scrape of sand upon my hull:
My owner in the boatyard’s smoothing me!
Laboriously he’s rubbing and improving me,
And hopes to sail soon – though can barely scull.
  
Obviously, wants to make his mark –
He sands down coats of old paint then adds new:
He wants me gleaming! Fabulous, it’s true,
But I fear sea-wise he’s still in the dark!
  
Not the sort of owner I’d prefer;
I’d like dues shown to me and sea, respectively!
He’s glib, and apt to pilot me defectively -
He ought first to take lessons, I aver!

* * * * * *
Dash it all! He’s proved rash: much too dull
To navigation’s niceties . . .  to sailor’s arts!
He didn’t note these shallows (marked on charts) -
 . . . Wet, the scrape of sand upon my hull.

Dry and Wet

(An * acrostic * tribute to
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW,
author of epic Song of Hiawatha.)

Hiawatha from his wigwam
Eagerly at dawn departed,
Narrows of the river thwarted -
Rather skilfully he paddled.
Yet not prideful in his manner
Was he, neither falsely humble:
As a wise man knows his measure
Due, so too did Hiawatha.
Seeing that his craft of birchwood -
Wrought with all the art of ancients
Of the supple bark of birch-trees,
Rendered waterproof with tallow,
Tendons serving for its stitching -
Had a draught not at all shallow;
Lay, one might say, rather deeply
On the water Gitche-Gumee;
Nay, was by each moment sinking,
Getting lower by the minute -
Filling moccasins now coldly,
Even covering his ankles -
Loathly Hiawatha beached it,
Loudly voiced his great displeasure:
‘Oh, they should have used more tallow
Waterproofing - and not skimped it!’


* (Initial letter of each line has significance when read downwards!) *

Acrostic Hiawatha

To See the Sea (1)

Van Leeuwenhoek used droplets or a lens
To witness tiny forms that swarm and breed -
A vision of another world indeed!
- Elucidating why we ought to cleanse.

Crick and Watson - Franklin, Wilkins, too -
Took matters further (smaller) in due time,
Elaborating what makes me and you,
Ourselves: a double helix, soused in brine.

We’re two-thirds water; so’s Earth, from afar!
We’re solutions saline, you and me.
It’s salutary, knowing what we are:
Just look beneath the skin, to see the Sea!

To See the Sea (1)

Fine Rain
 
Fine rain! It should be penalised!
For falling, when we don’t
Desire it, rain should pay a price!
It should do - but it won’t.

Fine rain! - When it at last appears
But is long overdue!
Parched crops, plus hosepipe-bans, some years,
We’ve suffered. Ain’t it true?

Fine rain! - Which, falling, opts to freeze,
And burdens us as snow!
Or sleet... or hail! (…Slush, by degrees.)
Rain owes! It won’t pay, though.

Fine, rain! Go on your lawless path,
With lack; wrong type; excess!
Whether it’s foul to rant in wrath,
This feels fair to express!

Fine Rain

* The COVID Corvid * .. (If Edgar Allan Poe had been writing today..)

Once, within a lock-down dreary - which I squandered, bloated, beery,
Over many a freaky horror DVD I’d watched before -
While I belched there, nearly napping, suddenly I heard a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my locked-down door.
“’Some banned visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my locked-down door-
Only this and nothing more.”

When I answered - back I started! In a haughty Raven darted,
Scolding lack of household maintenance: 'Neglected, many a chore!'
Bade me hold my peace, and furnish sandpaper and paint and varnish;
And – with black looks, undertaking polishing – found lost Lenor. 

And that Raven, never fainting, still is painting, still is painting
On the peeled and faded framing round about my well-worn door;
And his eyes have all the flicking of perfectionist finicking;
Still his busy brush goes dripping drips on dust-sheet on the floor,
And my indolence he's shaming by his diligence, and blaming,
Saying: 'Needs a little more!'


* a corvid is any member of the family Corvidae, which includes
    the crows, magpies, and jays, and the raven, rook, and jackdaw. *
* Lenor is a proprietary brand of household cleaning product. *

The COVID Corvid

Ewan MacColl composed 'Shoals of Herring'; Astrid Nijgh made a modified Dutch version as 'De scholen haring'. I turned her lyrics back into English using Google Translate (why not?) - it worked, with just a few hiccups! - then sang them and applied 'Voice Changer' phone app's 'Karaoke Effect' to the recording (1 Varied E《D Karaoke).

All just for some earnest fun.. Not earnings. 
:)

I believe this to be fair use. No copyright infringement is intended.
Acknowledgements to original artists and copyright holders.

Facts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shoals_of_Herring
Astrid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zThBS3SMRaM
Ewan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ov81aogaxg

Herring Schools

Ewan MacColl composed 'Shoals of Herring'; Astrid Nijgh made a modified Dutch version as 'De scholen haring'. I don't speak Dutch, but thought I'd attempt her lyrics as seen (why not? Enjoy ;D

Dutch speaking listeners' comments especially welcome!
Astrid's lyrics modified from Ewan's are here:

All just for some earnest fun.. Not earnings.
:)

I believe this to be fair use. No copyright infringement is intended.
Acknowledgements to original artists and copyright holders.

Facts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shoals_of_Herring
Astrid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zThBS3SMRaM
Ewan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ov81aogaxg

De Scholen Haring

Just for fun!

Mash-up of 
Ferry 'Cross the Mersey - Gerry and the Pacemakers
and
(Let Me be Your) Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley

I sang then used phone app 'Voice Changer' for 'Karaoke' effect.

I believe this to be fair use. No copyright infringement is intended.
Acknowledgements to original artists and copyright holders.

Teddy Cross The Mersey

Practicing with my voice and experimenting with sound effects!
Phone app "Voice Changer"; 
effects applied: Karaoke, Cave, Mid, in that order.

"The House of the Rising Sun" - after The Animals.
I believe this to be fair use. No copyright infringement is intended.
Acknowledgements to original artists and copyright holders.

armadillozenith