mikesmithrhythmandrhyme
Mike Smith .... Performing
Rhythm & Rhyme -
With Time for a Song
Turning over the daily soil of experience ....... in performance
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An early April Saturday morning.
Just a hint of something in the air ...
Just a sense that it will not be long ...
Just a feel of warmth upon the skin ...
Just a breath of Summer's silent song ...
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Monday, 1st April, 2024
When you can’t find ‘the words’ ...
Evening Light
Seven fifteen in the evening
Not a cloud in the sky
He sits and looks through the window
Quietly wondering why …
Why does he feel so excited?
Almost 'born again'?
One extra hour of evening light -
And he is the happiest of men!
But the more he searches for words
The less he finds he can write
And so he just sits there in silence
Bathed in his evening delight!
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🎶
A memory from the 1950s!
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And so, whilst rhyming in the rain
Down Parsons Lane, today
‘Just Walking In The Rain’ returns -
That song by Johnny Ray
Holding no significance
It’s just a trick of the brain
Prompting this old heartbreak song
Whilst walking in the rain
🎶
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A Wish ...
Sometimes a wish is all we have ...
And so for Palestine
I wish them fresh spring daisies
And perpetual summer time ...
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Wednesday, 12th March, 2024
Based on an anecdote about ‘Grandad’s glasses’, told to us in our shop, this morning.
Her Grandad's old glasses still lay there
There on the bench where he died
A few days ago, whilst making a shelf...
She stood in the door-way and sighed
It seems he'd collapsed without warning
There by his bench in the shed
Overwhelmed by the fact of his absence
She smiled at what Grandad once said
"In here there's room for everything
So everything has its place
And here is where I put my glasses -
When they need a rest from my face!"
The glasses would stay where he put them
'Having a rest', as he said
Maybe the last thing that Grandad had done
As he worked at his bench in the shed.
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Early this morning.
That's the thing with violets
No sign of them ... and then
Out of the blue - a surprise of blue!
The violets are back again
Modest, shrinking violets
Almost embarrassed to grow
Determined, nevertheless, to appear
At the Annual Violet Show!
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Wednesday, 5th January, 2022
Walking by Howden Minster, this morning.
The flood of the sun
On the old of the stone
The lift and the life of the bright
The stand still and gaze
On the ancient of days
The shock and the wonder of light
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Thursday, 30th December, 2021
Even a pretty standard morning sunrise begs a response ...
Is it worth a pic? he thought
This early morning sky?
From click to pic in moments
And then the question 'Why?'
Once, he would have wondered ...
Stood alone to gaze
Marvelling at this beauty
The mystery of days
Once, he would have trembled ...
Fire burning bright
Heavenly salvation
Vanquishing the night
Once, he would have quaked ...
To see the setting sun
To fear the loss of light
To know the day was done
Once upon a time ...
Long ... long ago ...
And still he's moved to take a pic ...
Why? He doesn't know ...
Language is not adequate
How else to respond?
Take the pic ...
Then contemplate ...
The Wonder of Beyond ...
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Wednesday, 29th December, 2021
Early morning music whilst walking down Parsons Lane ...
Sing on little blackbird
Sing us your song
Sing us wherever you are
Sing us your future
Sing us forever
You musical superstar
Sing on little blackbird
With rippling thrill
Sing us your story again
Sing of existence
Of nesting and rebirth
Somewhere ...
In this tree ...
In this rain ...
... this morning.
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Wednesday, 27th October, 2021
What's poetry all about? Henceforth, my answer is 'I don't know' ... But there are particular features, of course.
I might start using that old word 'poesy - the art and practice of writing poetry'. That dodges the question very satisfactorily!
It’s the tug and the pull of a moment
The lingering whisp of a thought
The float of a memory
The shape of a wish
The catch and the hold of a dream
It’s the show and the tell of a story
The laugh of an everyday joke
The ache of a truth
The shift of a view-point
The lilt of the sing of a song
It’s the turn and the craft of the language
The right and the wrong of the word
The flow of the rhythm
The thrill of precision
The know when it’s time for a rhyme
It’s the craft and create of a journey
The mystery trip of the mind
The losing of logic
The never quite knowing
The wonder of what you might find …
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Wednesday, 20th October, 2021
As someone who is 'driven' to write, and feels 'at home' there, I like talk/conversation as much as the next person, but ...
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You know when talk won't work?
Makes partial sense at best?
When language doesn't flow?
When thoughts stay unexpressed?
Well that's when silence pays
Silence sets things right
Whispers through the noise of talk -
"Stop ... think ... write ..."
Sometimes takes an age to start -
And stop ... and start again
Until you find that perfect flow ...
It happens - now and then!
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For some people it is art ... for some it's music ... dance ... a whole range of media through which thought can find its expressive voice.
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Thursday, 16th September, 2021
It isn't simply 'bird-song'
Stops me in my tracks
It’s a blackbird ‘making music’
In this tree
Rich and throaty gorgeousness
Deep, dark, bubbling beauty...
Stand awhile …
And let this music be ...
Soak up every moment ...
Feel the transformation ...
Knowing that within this tree …
Somewhere ...
Accompanied by the splintering sun
Glistening through the leaves
A blackbird's music thrills
The morning air
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Wednesday, 5th May, 2021
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An accidental noticing
A moment of surprise
Hedgerow flowering beauty
For unexpecting eyes
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Wednesday, 5th May, 2021
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And still he stands
Alone in the sun
Robin now perched on his hat
The game is a memory
Over and out
Echoing softly - 'How's That!!'
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Tuesday, 4th May, 2021
This is something of an experiment in trying to unpack a moment of experience, the ‘moment’ in this case being a line in the sixth verse from the end - ‘Shocked by what he sees’.
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It’s very long - more like a ‘story’ ...
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In leaving the car at the garage
I’ve an hour or so to fill ...
The Supermarket’s handy ...
Do I or don’t I? I will ...
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Road to be crossed.
Stop at the kerb.
Look for the button.
Find the said button.
Press the said button.
Red. ‘Don’t Walk’.
Waiting for green.
Clearance to walk.
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Lorries grumbling past ...
Rhythmic flowing cars ...
Now and then a bus …
Green. OK to go.
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But still the basic instinct.
Look right.
Look left.
Look right.
Nervously dependent.
Clear!
Off we go.
Looking right.
Looking left.
Cautiously uncertain.
Checking every which way.
‘Just in case’.
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Gain a place of safety.
Island in the sun.
Button duly pressed.
Stand. Watch. Wait.
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Nothing coming.
Empty road.
Cross it anyway?
Should he ...?
Dare he ...?
Risk his judgement ...?
Independence Day?
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Button gives permission.
Green.
He’s free to walk.
Still that need.
To check.
Both ways.
‘Just in case’.
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Safely on the footpath ...
Lorries grumble on ...
Rhythmic flow of cars ...
Now and then a bus …
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Wander through the car-park ...
Thoughts of yesteryear
Early teenage school-days
Lived not far from here …
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This we knew as Dairycoates
Never quite clear why
All it meant to me was -
I caught the bus nearby …
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Outside the corner shop
Forget the owner’s name
East Yorkshire bus to Hull
Every … day … the same ...
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Those days of Buddy Holly …
Of Eddie Cochran, too ...
Of colour films like ‘Distant Drums’…*
Plus Elvis … You-Know-Who!
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Anyway - the supermarket ...
Mask on. Sanitise ...
Thirty-minute visit ...
Reflect on enterprise ...
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Customer friendly.
Warehouse of plenty.
Aisles of convenience.
Needs, wants and extras.
Shelves of sufficiency.
Paradise of Plastic.
Packaged persuasion.
Product perfection.
Placement precision.
In-store.
For you.
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Check-out.
Conveyor.
Basket.
Of items.
Organise items.
Smiling and small talk.
Two-bag requirement.
Contactless card.
Wafted and waiting.
Payment ‘Approved’.
Loyalty acknowledged.
Smile, Thanks and Go.
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Pleasant experience ...
Easy enough ...
Into the car-park
Warm Spring breeze
Car-glisten sunshine
Comings and goings
Stroll down the foot-path
Back to the garage
Pick up the car -
If ready ...
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Road to cross.
Again.
Lorries grumbling past ...
Rhythmic flowing cars ...
Now and then a bus …
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Press the button.
Green. ‘Walk’!
But just in case.
You never know.
Look right.
And left.
And right.
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Safe upon the island.
Lorries grumbling past .
Rhythmic flowing cars.
Now and then a bus.
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Protocols observed.
Green Pedestrian light.
Now the final crossing.
Looking left and right.
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Secure upon the path, he stops
Shocked by what he sees
A green and whispering silence
Of bushes … grasses … trees ...
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Purposefully growing
In a rich and deep profusion ...
A city suburbs tapestry
Of wonder-full confusion …
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He stands for just a moment
Absorbs the silent scene
Nearly cries with pleasure
At this vibrant world of green
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Why such soothing solace
To his unexpecting eye?
Why the wish to stand here
And let the world roll by?
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He has no packaged answers
No simple explanation
He only knows it offers him
A kind of consolation
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Overgrown with naturalness …
Beautiful … Sublime …
The Engine Sheds at Dairycoates - **
Once upon a time.
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* I remember seeing the poster for this film on an A-Board outside the shop, whilst waiting for the bus to school. It was a Western film, starring Gary Cooper.
** This was my understanding of the name at the time. As a teenager I wasn’t too worried about name-place accuracy! It was out of sight, behind a fence and trees; I just thought of it as Dairycoates - something to do with railways, sheds and engines.
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Monday, 30th November, 2020
With 'plagues' in mind ... Words (and pics, for that matter) are fascinating, but I'm not always a good judge of sensitivities. Hey Ho!
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Today I thought of Samuel Pepys -
A rather ticklish issue -
For I had found a pimple 'pon my knee
In other words - a pustule!
Proclaim it to the world?
Or keep it private twixt old Sam and me?
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Would Samuel Pepys have used this word?
Forsooth, I trust he did
He'd write things in his diary every day
And would he post on Facebook?
I'm pretty sure he would
Ensuring they were published, come what may!
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But 'pustule'! It's a wonder word
It sounds the thing it is
'Pimple' lacks the fullness of effect
Samuel Pepys, a 'pustule' man
(With 'pimples' here and there)
This morning's 'spot' has helped me reconnect.
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The little white bit in the middle has more or less gone in the photo. Damn - it was too quick for me!!
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