Friends
The following poem is dedicated to some of my friends. Each verse is about a different one of them.
Lively, spritely,
Strength filled king,
A happy chappy,
Now where’s his things?
Grumbly humble,
Gives everything a go,
Whatever happens,
She goes with the flow.
Pitcher perfect,
Ready with a quip,
Goes up, goes down,
Regardless of a slip.
A bundle of muscles,
She never stops going,
Sugar rushes,
Keep her energy flowing.
Solves every puzzle,
He’s the tip of the top,
Sharing and caring,
He’ll never stop.
The next Michael Jackson,
He will be,
He’s kind to everyone,
His dancing you have to see.
Lively and full of questions,
And always ready to learn,
He tries new things every day,
Your respect he will soon earn.
Funny and bright,
A soccer player,
He’s energetic and fun,
And a great joke sayer.
The leader of leaders,
He towers above all,
With his British accent,
He gets up after a fall.
A basketball princess,
She smiles and tries,
She’s got grit through and through,
Even when she cries.
Taking It In
Sometimes, we go through our day,
without stopping to smell the roses.
Sometimes, we go through our day,
in such a hurry, all we know about is the present.
Sometimes, we have such a bad day,
we don't realize what we have.
Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence is all about
Smelling the roses.
Appreciating the past.
Realizing what we have.
And Her Tears Were Daggers
And she taught me how
she used her tears as daggers
as diamond-studded stilettos
trickling down her cheeks
through my ribs
to the heart
She showed me how
to weaponized those crying
eyes and magnify her pain so
mine would be trivialized
whenever I was bold enough
to open my mouth and
speak of it
She found the target that was
my guilt and gleefully pulled
the trigger so the bleeding
hole grew bigger if her words
so much as disagreed with
mine
She ran forward to thrust her
nails into the wounds and
made them wider so they would
accept grit and grime
And every time she wished my
silence she could smash her fists
against infected lesions and I’d
tense my aching jaw
But ah, my prodded heart grew
callouses and the tears lost their
power to make my gut twist
and writhe in loathing of
myself
And the ‘I’m sorry’s’ are pre
recorded to be played back when
necessary and while they leave
her satisfied I am hollow as I let
them fly past lips and unclenched
teeth
From all the things she has shown
me I have grown to learn instead
to keep my own eyes dry.
The Monsters
I thought I saw a monster
underneath my my bed
His hair was tall
and his eyes were red
I thought I saw I monster
underneath my chair
His belly was purple
and he had blue hair
I thought I saw a monster
in my room last night
His feet were orange
and he had white ears
I thought I saw a monster
and he saw me too
but don't tell my father
he'll be scared, you see?
Gaming
I was born into this world in 1952, in deepest, grimmest Liverpool. Television was a rarity, soot covered houses lined grey, cobbled streets, and it was common to find houses shared by two families. It was a far cry from the Liverpool of today, but despite the grime it was a happy, safe place to live.
I did not grow up with television, and the only toys I had was a tin spinning top and a knocked together go-cart which gave me much fun as it rattled and skidded as it went.
It was to be many years before Pong was released to a world that was ignorant of this new form of entertainment, and we devoured it, utterly amazed at being able to play a game on our televisions. It was a simple thing, but it paved the way for the gaming systems that we now covet.
I was hooked by it, engrossed with wonder at how it all worked, and I fell in love with those sliding paddles and bleeping sound effect. It was succeeded by other games that were sold by the millions; the magnificent Asteroids; Space Invaders and countless variants which stoked our appetites and gave added impetus to an as yet infant industry. It wasn't too long before Arcades opened their doors to fanatical fans on the high streets and we poured in to this brave new world with our pockets jangling with change, eager to display our prowess and take on all comers for those coveted high scores.
Over the years I have played on many systems and have many favourite titles that bring a tear to this old man's eye, but for this challenge I must pluck the finest, the games which above all else epitomised what for me, were the pinnacle of my gaming years. So then, here they are in order of importance;-
1. Frontier Elite 2. (PC). Bug filled space exploration and trading game that had a complete star system within it for you to discover. Immense, difficult and magnificent. 5 Star.
2. Super Mario World (Nintendo SNES). The first of the great platform games. Huge, intricate and eternally replay-able. 5 Star.
3. The Legend Of Zelda, Ocarina Of Time (NIntendo N64). Beautiful role playing game that rewards perseverance with great satisfaction, tinged with emotion. 5 Star.
4. The Elder Scrolls Oblivion (Microsoft XBox). Fantasy Role Playing Game that combined hack and slash swordplay with Magic and unrivalled character development. A huge world that was open to the player from the start. This almost hit the number 1 spot due to its incredibly deep character development options and replay ability. 5 Star.
5. Pokemon (All Editions) Nintendo Gameboy Colour and upwards. Role Playing and exploration on a grand scale coupled with fantasy animal collecting and battling. I am happy to report that of all the games I have played, this is the only game I still dive into for some fun. At first appearance it appears to be a child's game, but dig beneath its charming exterior and you'll find a game that deserves to be in every gamers hit list. 5 Stars.
These are my top five titles. Every one is a gem, if you like computer games that is.
