Swimming And Looking Forward

Around blue pools, skyscrapers, high
Lift homes like crows' nests to the sky
From their top terrace, looking down
See toy cars crawl though our trim town

I must save this crisp image long
After I'm no longer fit, nor strong
So even were I deaf or blind
This perfect picture fills my mind

I tell myself, in this hour of leisure
I've the power to preserve this fleeting pleasure
Whether on a scaffold or hospital bed
I'll stick this mural in my head

I'll ignore or dump thoughts of future pain
But see bridges and rainbows and blue skies again
Around cool pools, skyscrapers high
Lift me to a viewpoint in the sky.

Angela Lansbury
Poem writee on Aug 1st 2019

Romance Lost Long Ago Invading Today

You were my first love

So long ago

What if, what if

We'll never know

Recall how it began
With an angry young man
And how he danced so free
Full of wild energy

I would lurk around
My eyes on the ground
And look at you shyly
And glance at you slyly

I remember the nights
Of virgin delights
I bought your silver ring
Wond'ring what it would bring

Not a gift, at my cost
And then it was lost
But a dozen red roses
Yes, a dozen red roses

How do you see the past?
Was it too good to last?
Do you still think of me
And how things might be?

Mum who drove us asunder
Is now six foot under
And sometimes I wonder
And sometimes I wonder

I remember the day
When you walked away
With your new rucksack
And never looked back

For when I broke away
For a year and a day
I thought you might come back
On the same old track

I felt young and alive
I thought love would survive
But you would not try again
So I tried other men

I have your old photo
It brings me delight
Three decades ago
Not like now on your website

For I see you are old
For years love's been cold
You're not a teenager
But just an old stranger

Are you thinking of me?
How much would it take
To call you up now?
Would it be a mistake?

Would you just pretend
To be once more my friend?
So you could call the end
Go once more round the bend!

You're not a teenager
Just a wrinkled old stranger
And the biggest danger
That's the biggest danger

The old love keeps me fired
Because I'm feeling tired
For years love's been cold
And we're both now too old.

-ends-

Dreaming of R B S, University College, 1967.
.

I'd like to be a speaker

I'd like to be a fine speaker
Or a well paid m.c.
When I tell others how to speak
They say the same of me.

-ends-

Who Did That?

Who Created The World?
by Angela Lansbury

Who invented the purring cat?
Who invented the barking dog?
The handy horse, donkey, camel?
The grinning goat, stoat, tasty frog?

Who invented large elephants?
The rat, red squirrel, cute dormouse?
The tall giraffe, dead dinosaur -
Both much too big for my small house!

Who made the ant and mosquito?
The snake, and friendly crocodile?
Hungry lions, bears hid in snow?
Parrots whose swearwords make us smile!

I'm sure that we shall find out soon
Who designed the planets and sun
For man's sent rockets to the moon
We've worked out how most things are done

Maybe, in Space, bright folk, like us
But twice as smart, can tell us how ...
Yet watch us silently and wait
Until we're ready - that's not now.
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury March 31 2019

Please see my blog on travel.

Life's Rollercoaster

Life's Rollercoaster

by Angela Lansbury

Life is a rollercoaster
Life has its ups and downs
Most of the people you meet have smiles
But a few are bound to have frowns

Life is what you make it
Most are not both deaf and blind
You can see and hear what you want
And choose what you want to find

Some days you are really well
Other days you find you're ill
You've a choice, use your voice
You can wait, or smile, or take a pill

You can try not to get depressed
You can do everything right
You can exercise and get your rest
And wait for day to follow the night

Smile at every child, woman and man
Be remembered as a sunny soul
Always do the best that you can
Forget bad parts and see the good whole

Every day somebody dies
But thousands more march on
Be silent for a moment
Then rejoin the world's wonderful song

You are a pearl in the necklace
You can be a joy in everyone's day
You can inspire them to carry on
To feel you're near when you're far away

Every mother has fears and hopes
For every child, girl or boy
Be the bad things' antidote
And add to the world's bank of joy

See how you can help others
Then you'll forget your pain
While you are busy helping them
You'll find that you're content again

You can be the teacher
The guardian angel on the shoulder
You can be the preacher
To make the timid feel bolder

You're only here for a short while
When you reach your December
Be the one who raises a smile
Who everyone loves to remember.

The roller coaster goes up and down
Please support your friends
Be the one to help them
And laugh with them 'til the triumph end.

-ends-

Photo credit
Article on rollercoaster in wikipedia. Photo author Mttbme.

Morning Marvels: animal life - dogs, and snails and me

Pad, pad, pad plods the big fluffy dog
Wag, wag, wag waves its silent fur tail

Centimetre by centimetre
Slow and steady slides the spiral snail

Forward and back fan my flabby arms
Energetic, I paddle, float, swim

Thoughtful, stress-free 'though purposefully
Back-to-nature holidays begin. 

-ends-

Giant snail from  Wikipedia

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Poem Praising Buns

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Now, with the lid off, we can see clearer. What shall I choose, the ones with the sesame topping, or the green ones? 

Singaporeans like green. They think it suggests fresh green plants or fruit.

Looking at the picture, savouring it, is like eating twice.

Three green buns. Sounds like the nursery rhyme, Three Blind Mice. 

The Story Of Six green Buns

Six green buns

Six green buns

We're all so happy when breaktime comes

Six big buns.

The order of eating is all rehearsed

We let the visitors go first

We want them all to share the fun

Five green buns.

I'm watching the numbers carefully

To be sure there's one left for me

Four green buns.

I think I ought to hand them round

I need some food so I survive

We all need food to stay alive

Three green buns

Good, someone says, Already had

I smile because I'm very glad

If they'd all gone I would be mad

Three green buns.

Three big buns.

Three big buns.

The green one is my favourite one

I ate the green one, now it's gone

Two big buns

One of them has sesame seeds

It looks delicious, it was indeed

One big bun.

No-one saw that I took too

But I must leave one for you

Hurry, friend you must be fast

Or otherwise I'll take the last ...

With two of us - I have to share

I'll share with you to show I care

No big buns.

No big buns.

But we have shared our memory

What we ate for last weekend's tea 

Green been paste, kaya, (and) sesame

Three big buns.

I'm looking forward to next weekend

Three dollars isn't a lot to spend

In Singapore eating never ends

I dream about them every day - six green buns.

-ends-

See more photos of the buns and the filling in

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

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Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.