Roses and noses. Comical poem 799 by Angela Lansbury.

 

Garden roses. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

How tall the standard roses grow

The heat wave hit us without warning

I've never seen flowers so tall

Nourishing rain! Or global warming?

They're best picked in the early morn

'though each bloom lasts only a week 

First, with care, cut, kill, each thorn, then

Feel petals soft as baby's cheek

A heady scent, all different

Reach roses, colourful and fun

They paint the garden, glow and flow

New pink grows, seeks life-giving sun.

Standard Roses Towering Above A Car. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

-ends-

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Books by Angela Lansbury including poems and instructions on writing poetry are on Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk and Lulu.com

Sun and moon like me and you. Comical poem 745 by Angela Lansbury.

 Some days we are like the great sun

Up early, creative, life's fun

Some days like the moon, routine groove

Yet love to hate to love we move

Like the sun, one arrives and drives

Makes sure the plants stay alive

The other like the moon reflects

And does what the other directs.

The sun goes down, moon turns around

 Neither makes any useful sound

Sun sets, disappears, like a busy wife

Back, large and bright, brings noisy life

Moonlight dark as a tree hollow

The sun goes hiding, dark at night

Yet morning's bright light tomorrow

Sunny photos, noon time shadow

No, no, no, don't say no, nor never

Like the sun and moon we'll stay together

We'll create our own good weather

Living, leaving joy forever.

-ends-

My Thousand Lives comical poem 626 by Angela Lansbury

Pill and water glass. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 I am a person who has lived a thousand lives

I've learned a thousand new facts

Ignored a thousand old lies

I'm like a thousand white clouds floating past blue skies

I am not the person who I saw yesterday

In mirrors and in photographs

That stranger's fading far away

I'm someone else, changing today

I've seen warm sunshine and felt cool, refreshing rain

I've felt exquisite pleasure and excruciating pain

Some things keep repeating, others never seen again

But always something new, so I don't complain

Not healthy and strong like when I was young

Yet not so ill as others, the worst case in a distant place

Not allergic to everyone, My time has not yet come

There's still some fun, so much more to be done

I've paid a lot of bills but they keep sending me more bills

I've taken lots of pills and if I must I'll take more pills

And as circumstances change I must rewrite my will

I've not yet had enough, 'though I've had my fill

I've grown taller, but got smaller

I've grown fat and I've grown thin

I've flown half way round the world

Today I've chosen to stay in

I've eaten a lot of new food

I have paid a lot of cooks

I have read a lot of books

And I've written lots of books

I was younger, now I'm older

I was warmer, now I'm colder

I was scared but now I'm bolder

Full of passion, now just smoulder

I am smiling, but tomorrow

I may be full of sorrow

You won't find the same person

If you wait until tomorrow

Every day is something new

Each week, seven days to gain

The mystery of it all

Is too hard to explain

My childhood is far behind

But the sun is in the sky

And the light's a delight so

I won't waste time wondering why

In some ways I'm better

In some ways I am worse

I will always be a small blessing

Facing life's big evolving curve and curse

I am sending you this message

Not snappily but happily to say

Please meet me and greet me

To learn how I'm unique, today.

-ends-

Copyright Angela Lansbury. 2025. July 25th.

Reddit · r/Stoicism

40+ comments · 4 years ago

"A man cannot step into the same river twice, because it is not the same river, and he is not same man." -Heraclitus. Quote.

Please share links to your favourite poems.

Bird Songs, Cats And Dreams comical poem 593 by Angela Lasnbury

Why do I hear a bird chirping

When outtside, and in, it's still dark

That bird transforms our small garden

Into a great safari park

I ought to buy binoculars

And cameras with night vision

Until it's caught on camera

Big cat reports cause derision

I dream I'll run a business

Printing tickets, selling honey

Drive visitors on a lawnmower

Making a lots of easy money

At four a.m. I hear bird song

I relax, happiness abounds

I ought to sleep, sleep rights all wrongs

I promise shortly I'll lie down

My happiness would be complete

If I could eat and not grow fat

Hear bird song all day, all around

And never see black lurking cats

But joyful bird song's so cheerful

It proudly spreads its joy around

I wish earlier I'd not seen

A feather lying on the ground

Feather in garden. Photo by Angela Lansbury.  Copyright. 

Why do we love the fox and cat?

 Here's a fact you can rely on

Nervous, kind folk will fear for deer

Whilst stoics shrug, cheer the lion.

'Don't interfere, let nature be,'

My ruthless husband said to me

It's easier to nod, agree

And wear leather, feathers, drink milk

I wonder what that bird is singing?

Mourning morning rain, fearing black cats

'Let most live, love, fly away

When one's lost, don't think, speak of that!'

Each day some die, others are born

My job's to bring the world great joy

Enjoy each minute that you have

Each precious bird, cat, girl and boy

So, when you can, enjoy your rest

With confidence face every test

Each day given shares some heaven

In each cloud, sun, day, see the best

Enjoy the rain, enjoy the sun

Think of the smile, think of the fun

Then when your happy day is done

Be glad of all the good you've won.

-ends-.

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Angela Lansbury's books of poems, collections of quotations and other books, are on Lulu.com, Amazon.com and amazon.co.uk

First Rose comical poem 567 by Angela Lansbury

 

Pink rose in May 2025. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Guess what joy in my garden grows

In May, yet a first summer rose

When others buds will wait til June

One rose thinks that May's not too soon

This big rose, framed in green, bright pink

It's seen the sun, and had a drink

It's bold, attracts me like a wink

It makes me stop and look and think

Nearby I see small, lower weeds

Struggling up boldly, from wild seeds

Proclaim the gard'ner's lack of deeds

Dandelion soup, when in dire needs

My eye returns to that sole rose

Which grows where almost no-one goes

The back garden, where a fox shows

Slugs stop me wearing open toes 

April's cut roses wilt in vases

Whilst outside a real rose is born

A rose whose sent attracts my nose

But look, don't touch, for it has thorns

Today there could be sun or rain

Proudly proclaim, 'Summer, again!'

I'll smile all day, the whole world knows

What I saw first, that first, pink rose.

-ends- 

Please share links to your favourite poems. Poetry books by Angela Lansbury are on Amazon and Lulu.com

What Other People Write About comical poem 543 by Angela Lansbury

What other people write about

On days when they cannot go out

Most children write of simple things

Bikes, scooters, not safe swimming rings

Of playing games and silly names

Of buses, cars and trains and planes

About goldfish, big cats, small dogs

Not giggly things like jumping frogs

Teenagers write about first love

A kiss and the blind moon above

Later they write about love lost

Of drugs and fast cars, not the cost

Whilst lying in their single bed

They dream of one they wish they'd wed.

Parents write of their baby's smiles

Not dripping taps nor laying tiles.

Old people, some like to complain

Although there's lots they should explain

Their youth which won't come back again

Claim their life's full of sun - or rain

Now, poets, what do poets write?

Of how they sat up half the night

And tried to put the world to right

Telling what other people write.

-ends-

Photo of Angela Lansbury with large pencil.

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Sun Cycles comical poem 530 by Angela Lansbury

Halong Bay, on a sunny day, Vietnam.

Every morning I see the dawn's light

Some times hesitant, others boldly bright 

And I know life's cycle's rolling again

From flu to joy and back to pain

From mist to sun and back to rain

From glad to glum, silence to hum

From footpath to river, from stream to lane

From numb to singing, from singing to dumb

And lastly we turn from day to night

Jumping the hurdles, doing our best

Life's a relay race, as we pass each test

Sure that tomorrow will bring us daylight

We know that one day we won't go on

We've done lots of right and hid lots of wrong

Some times we were silent, others sang a song

Without us the world will still go on, and on..

Each day, somewhere, a nobody dies

But each day a cute baby opens its eyes

The sun doesn't stare, like a shrug, it's there

The sun doesn't care if you washed your hair

Our life's a pearl necklace, if we want to share it

Recording each day, so others can wear it

And after we've gone, children carry on

Like a circular train, trundling on.

-ends-

-ends-

 

Icy Bicycles comic poem 502 by Angela Lansbury

 

Restaurant with bicycle outside in London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

A bicycle is lots of fun

When it's summer in the sun

But when your world's had snow and ice

A bicycle is not so nice

We bought our kid a scooter

With a helmet, lights and hooter

She's too young for a bicycle

And too old for a tricycle

Even in the warmed-up kitchen 

I'm feeling very cold

Maybe I got too little sleep

Don't say it's 'cos you're growing old

Now children are excited when they look out

For the first time they see snow!

I tell friends in the tropics

'Cold as snow,' but they don't know

People ask me, 'How cold is it?'

They ask me what I mean

I think you'll understand

If I say, 'Too cold for ice cream?' 

I'll switch on my electric blanket

I'm not cycling out, alone, at all

Even if we two took a tandem

We'd be two, four, eight, icicles on bicycles.

-ends-

Two icicles on bicycles - two of us cycling, on a tandem or on two bikes

Four, two sets of four cold legs, or my two arms and two legs

Eight is two people with two cold legs and two cold arms.

The Cost Of Lost - And Found comic poem 413 by Angela Lansbury

Magnifying glass. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Why does a worker turn up late

Assisted by a toothless mate

The one with a hole in his sock

Yet solves the problems of the block?

The window's stuck, you see this catch

Oh, no - I left it on the latch

Now he and I can both explain

We do not need his help again

Just when you reach the doctor's door

Your pain is troubling you no more

How often troubles go away

No matter what the helpers say

Kind amaterurs are everywhere

But even when they simply stare

The help is floating in the air

It lands on you when help is there

'This is the port I thought I bought

From the estate of the late Mr Bates'

''Can you help me look for my book?

You must have moved it!' It's lost. He's cross.

'This cork is tough,' and I'm feeling rough

I'm running for the train but I'm late again

We've lost the keys and can't be pleased

I've lost the slide, looked far and wide

My mind is turning round and round

I sing it and search in Sound Hound

She's not on the list, how can she be missed?

This is the game, mis-spelled the name

Copied from an email, where it is short

Felt fraught, so glad that error's caught

The email's gone, what could go wrong?

I can't remember the name of the song

It's going to be one of those days

I sent Chinese condolences - for a birthday

The thing he'd lost was black, not white

We found it hiding in plain sight

I respond at once when he gives a shout

We were perplexed by the bottle topper

Try heat, or seal, to release the stopper

Now can you help me get the stuck cork out?

***

After former friend had too much to drink

I heard and  I saw the way she swore

I think I heard  this had happend before

Instead say 'sugar', or 'funny', make more

I need to keep mind in good health

You can often solve a problem yourself

This is the problem, we explain, again

The answers appear like sun after rain.

All day we're feeling sad and perplexed

We've solveed one problem - then up pops the next.

A verse's extra syllable - again

Simple, lengthen all lines from eight to ten.

-ends-

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Memories Good And Bad comic poem 354 by Angela Lansbury

 Cashew Heights in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

After I have left Singapore

I'll have a host of memories

Throw out the old, make room for more

Remember good, bad, how it is

I'll speak only of what was good

Will I remember sunny days?

Or fool myself that it was cool

In air con, stuck indoors by haze

Ignore the cockroach on the floor

Nothing worse than a cockroach, dead

Ignore peeled plaster, mouldy shoes

It moves! I take back what I said

While I pack up, I feel so sad

But we have found a remedy

Think of the bad things and be glad

I'll fool the world whilst fooling me

Then later I'll speak of it well

Whilst not regretting what has gone

Have many happy tales to tell

Feign equally glad where I've gone.

-ends-

Talk To Whom? Listen To Me!

 

Angela Lansbury <annalondon8@gmail.com>	00:53 (10 hours ago)
to me

A thousand people read my blog

And treat it like the word of God

The source of health, the source of wealth

'til they convert to something else

I make them vow that they'll come back 

Before I send them on their way

Yes, I've true words which must be heard

I'm never short of things to say

You can write your hopes on the train 

And pray to all gods on the plane

Your hope that you will land again

Pray to clouds for more or less rain

If your room, money, wife or life

Is muddled, mangled, in a mess

Why should the universe send help

It shrugs and won't care more, or less

You can talk to the sun, send mail

Write to Santa, sing to the sky 

Run down the street, stop passers-by 

And ask them why the end is nigh

Do no exaggerate your fate

Nor underestimate life's wait

Powerful praise can raise dim days

So do not curse the universe

In the tropics, see no seasons

Proves nothing's done, for good reasons

Then when I'm dead just talk to me

I promise I won't disagree

Every parent's a great teacher

Passing lies like a good preacher

All wise books, websites and pages

Knock down sages of past ages

Don't ask why? Why not? Do not ask

But every day, do each small task

Small troubles? Darling, you'll be fine

Big ones? Not me - call 999 

I shout to God, 'Don't let me die!'

I don't expect a quick reply

Just because I'm in a tizzy

Doesn't mean karma's not busy

Then when I'm dotty, deaf and blind

What can I hope to leave behind?

Framed photos all around the home

A message on a mobile phone

If I want immortality

My best hope's pretty poetry

To leave last words, witty, pearly

One must write one's last words early

Please, when I'm dead send me huge hugs

Warm wishes wrapped in Chinese rugs

Smile at the poster in my hearse:

Goodbye dear Queen of nonsense verse.

By now you have guessed my intent

To make sure you leave here content

Now's the time to state my mission

End works with a happy vision

If there were heaven, I'd be sat

With orchids on a golden throne

Eating bagels and smoked salmon

Smiling like a Cheshire cat.

-ends-

About the author

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books, including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

ReplyForward

Gotta Get A Hat

 If you want to get attention

You have to get a stunning hat

Like Ascot hats with a big brim

To make chattering classes chat

If you're a super sporty type

Wear your favourite baseball cap

Not to opera, on the bus

So cool! There's nothing wrong with that

I'm not a sporty type, but fat

And so I wore a swimming cap

And posed beside a diving board

And asked a stranger, "Take a snap!"

If a lawyer goes slightly bald

Or silver grey, somewhat thinning

He's lost his comb, left wigs at home

A big hat's a bold beginning

I was partying New Year's Eve

Alas, I dropped my Covid mask

So I grabbed a spare Santa hat

And hoped no-one would know or ask

In olden days top hats looked tops

Paper hats from crackers were free

Streakers used hats for picnic pee

Teens in toy hats acted as cops

A hat brim shields you from the sun

You must admit big hats are fun

When a dicey courtship's begun

Wear your best hat - the race is won

So now we've had this little chat

Goodbye - may I borrow your hat?

-ends-

I changed the end from fetch my hat, which adds a note of finality, to the humorous end. 

Useful Websites & Resources

https://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Mai

https://www.wiki-calendar.com/

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs

Books include Wedding Speeches and Toasts (Ward Lock/Cassell)

Quick Quotations (Lulu.com) 

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

https://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.com/

https://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.com/2020/12/how-to-write-christmas-card-poem.html

For one hour online individual tutorials or group workshops contact

annalondon8@gmail.com

Yesterday's Rain Again Pain - Wiped By The Blessing Of Amnesia

Angela with silver-lined umbrella. Photo by Trevor Sharot, edited and cropped by Angela.

The blue sky said no umbrella
I strolled off in strong sunshine
All day long it's bright, no change
Except the gradual drip of time

The day's blue sky a fading dream
When I reached the edge of town
The path looked like a river
The rain was pouring, pounding down

Then when I left the station
I faced a dreadful shock
The clouds had emptied bucketloads
To drench each road and rock and block

The morning's sunshine haunts me
A dream I can't forget.
My sandals slosh through water
I hop from dry through swirling wet

The water's wet and dirty black
The only way's uphill and on
There's no point turning back
Just think, next year, this will be gone

What blessings come from water?
This monsoon could go on for days
It must make the flowers and trees grow
I hope the mist dispels the haze

My clothes cling wet, my hair hangs wet
I look like a half-drowned rat
I'm half way home, but not there yet
Rain cares not if you're thin or fat

I should have left home earlier

I should have packed spare socks

I should have done a hundred things

Not biked uphill past riverside rocks

My umbrella is far too small

The cloud is far too big

I should have worn a sombrero

Wellingtons and a wig

A journey of ten minutes
An obstacle race, takes half an hour
Strangers make friends, we share this war
They advise me, 'Have a hot shower!'

                

 ***

Next day by the pool, in sun again
Where the elderly can't remember
That yesterday it poured with rain
Their mind's in life's dead December.

The advantage of amnesia
Is that you forget bad days
If you suffer from dementia
You forget rain, complaints and praise

'It rained,' I say, 'it poured last night
That thunderstorm - you must have heard?
The sun, then rain?' I'll save such scenes
Preserve wet weather with wise words

I can move the memory away

My words paint over yesterday

And warm the world with what I say:

'Today's a lovely sunny day!'

Angela Lansbury

Revised Monday March 7th 2022. Copyright

Song Birds

Song 

I Am With You

by Angela Lansbury

My sun face smiles, when you’re swimming

Buoys you up, so no self-harm comes

When you run, cook, eat, start slimming

Hear my sweet voice sing, say, 'Well done!'

I grew you safe, tucked in my womb

You left, one cord, like vines, entwined with me

Even when trapped in the tight tomb

Bound, like gold chains, for eternity

Each day trot out, scan round and see

Love’s endless waves, like leaves on trees

Like clear rivers, flow swift to sea

Thoughts and words shared, cost time, stay free

You travel far, plan, divert, roam

Laugh, downy ducks go paddling by

Cheered by warm thoughts of our dear home

We blue songbirds, fly through life’s sky.

-ends-

Every Day There's Work And Play by Angela Lansbury

Every Day (there's work and play) 

by Angela Lansbury

 Every day the bright sun comes out 

Every day the robins hop about 

Every day windfalls when a lawyer reads a will 

Then the postman brings the taxman's bill 

 After breakfast we work, at eleven stop to munch 

Then we work or study then stop for lunch 

We read of the wars and troubles far away 

As the children in the schools laugh and play

 Along the street, the dogs are walking 

The garden goes quiet, the cat is stalking 

The birds see the cat so they don't stay 

When they see a cat it's best to fly away 

 We go to the doctor and he gives us a pill 

We go to the dentist and he gives us a bill 

Everywhere old people wave goodbye 

New babies born smiling get tired and cry 

 Every evening someone gets a kiss

 Somewhere some spend a day or night of bliss 

Some do right and some do wrong 

Tides go in and out, the world spins on 

 You can have a dream and make a wish 

That oceans and farms are full of fish

 That the world will always be full of men 

And the night will fall and the day start again 

 You can travel and see new smiling faces 

Stay home see old smiling faces

 Travel and see new exciting places 

Books and albums show home's old places 

 You can fly like a bird 

Or cruise on the sea 

Some things cost but others are free 

Try somebody new or stick with me 

 Every night the singers croon 

Lovers walk home by the light of the moon 

Poets re-use the same old rhymes

 Because they've stood the tests of time 

 Every day the bright sun comes out 

Evening morning the robins hop about 

Yes, the world will always be full of men 

And the night will fall, then the day's dance starts again. 

 -ends- Copyright Angela Lansbury Jan 8 2017

Holiday On The Internet

Making Memories With You

by Angela Lansbury

Wear your sarong; the only thing to pack's
Your suitcase of memories you must bring back
Tomorrow we're taking our best trip yet
A holiday around the internet

We both wake up late at the crack of dawn
From dreams of tennis on a big green lawn
White cricket balls which arch overhead, slow
My holiday, garden bouquet - let's go!

We don't need taxis if we stay at home
You're in the en suite, so I'm not alone
Watch a stranger's tail-wag dog eat a bone
You march past, smile, on a fully charged phone

When at our peak we were admired
Now in a lull, when half-retired
We feel poor, take our holiday
At home, free parking on our driveway

Drink fresh coffee from our machine
Sit cuddling, sharing our travel dream
Travel back through the photo ages
We click, trek Everest on YouTube pages

First class flights, the best trips yet
Balloon world-wide around the internet
We don't need jabs, nor to pack sun cream
Change money, buy mosquito screen

We sit close, share what's on the screen
Make lists, screen capture where we've been
Toss dice, you choose first where you want to go
To ski past chalets in deep snow

Then I can sail for somewhere sunny
Take a long cruise which costs no money
Land on a shell beach in a foreign land
Cocktails, coconuts, palms, soft sand

Swim safely in wavy, white-blue seas
Drink endless red wine and eat blue cheese
Share bubbly on our best trip yet
Dance the crowded, colourful, musical internet.

In carry cot or wheelchair, seventy or seven
Sick or in five star hotels, live every day in heaven.

-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, comic poet.