Little Fingers, Little Feet

Little fingers, little feet
Beautiful baby, so tiny, so sweet

How I wished that you could stay
How sad I was when you went away

For reasons I may never know
You couldn’t stay, you had to go

You took with you my love, my tears
You challenged me to face my fears

You captured my heart without even trying
Now without you my heart is crying

You touched my life for the briefest of time
Enough for me to call you mine

Whatever the reason why you couldn’t stay
I’ll love you as long as night follows day

You’ll live in my heart in a special place
And I’ll think of you often with a smiling face

For you were an angel who came briefly to Earth
But too delicate, too fragile, to stay beyond birth

Perhaps this world was too harsh, who knows
But I am still glad it was me you chose

Because even though I’m full of grief
You’ve changed my life beyond belief

I’ve never known such love, such pain –
And life will never be the same

For we have a bond that no-one can sever
And I will love you for ever and ever
© Carol Pool

Shark Fin Soup

Shark fin soup? Oh, what a treat,
That’s what diners are told
But if they knew the truth of it
Their blood would all run cold

First the shark is baited
And a hook speared through its lips
Helpless now, it can’t escape
And gets hit with clubs and whips

Hauled up on the boat now
Gasping for its breath
Unaware of the fate that awaits -
A fate that’s worse than death

Held down on the deck now
Trapped by a net of mesh
As knives with sharpened edges
Carve deep into its flesh

No anaesthetic for this poor shark
Nothing to numb the pain
Just blinding, searing agony
And all for monetary gain

Its fins sliced off while still alive
Just to make a bowl of soup
And its tail for added flavour ~
“Would you like another scoop?”

“It’s a delicacy, you know, Sir,
Served only to the best
You really should have a taste, Sir
And add lemon for some zest,”

The shark no longer needed
Was tossed back in the sea
Without its fins and tail
So could never again swim free

There is an outcry if a shark
should kill a human being
But millions of sharks are killed each year
And have no chance of fleeing

All for a bowl of soup, my friends
That’s said to be a treat
Served up to some diners
Who think themselves elite

But the truly elite among us
Are those with love and care
Who treat with kind compassion
Life’s creatures everywhere

© Carol Pool
www.thepoemlady.blogspot.com
www.thepoemlady.co.uk

A Plea From The Badgers

I’m just a voiceless badger -
Will someone speak for me?
Will someone tell the people
Killing me won’t stop TB?

It’s hard enough staying alive
Crossing your concrete rivers
With speeding, screaming monsters
That quite give me the shivers

Those horrible big metal things,
Cause a lot of badgers’ deaths
We crawl to the nearest ditches
With our last agonising breaths

Our families try to find us
When we fail to return home
That’s when our babies die hungry
‘cos they’re left to fend alone

Then there are those wicked men
Who really have no hearts
They love to hunt us with their dogs
And cheer as we’re ripped apart

Others kill us for our hair
They say it makes a good brush
For shaving or for makeup
They say it’s really plush

Is there really nothing else
That they could use instead?
Then they wouldn’t snare or gas us
Or shoot us in the head

Now you want to kill us all
‘cos you say we’re to blame
You say that it’s our fault
Your cows are sick and lame

Maybe when we’re dead and gone
You’ll realise your mistake
But then for us it’ll be too late
So wake up, for goodness sake

Wake up to what you’re doing
Think about the cost
Not just in terms of money
But of things that could be lost

You’re wiping out Earth’s resources
Because of all your greed
Tell me, what is the reason
Why you take more than you need?

It seems to me you’ve lost your way
And you’ve forgotten what to do
To nurture the land and plants and things
So it provides for ALL of you

Good farmers know to work the land
And rest it between crops
To give it proper nutrients
For better products in your shops

Good farmers don’t use poisons
That kill the birds and bees
Infect the entire food chain
Causing trails of disease

Good farmers use quality food
To keep their animals well
And keep them in good conditions
That aren’t a living hell

Remember that old saying
As you sow, then so you reap?
Well, now’s your chance to make a change
And stop treating life as cheap

Start living kindly on the land
And treating all with care
People, animals and the like
And remember too, to share

Be the change you want to see
Give your children a better Earth
Stop polluting the planet
Or we’ll all be sick from birth

I speak for creatures everywhere
Not just badgers, wildlife and birds
But animals in farms and zoos
Whose voices can’t be heard

If you could understand us
This is what we’d to say,
Remember we have feelings too
So please treat us well each day
© Carol Pool October 2007

THE RHYTHM OF LIFE
by Carol Pool

You speak
of the beat of the drum
and liken it to the beat of the heart,
but you do not hear
the beat of the heart of the Earth
for you are no longer in harmony with it.

How can you feel
the heartbeat of the Earth
when you walk only on areas
you have suffocated with concrete?

By doing this,
you have disconnected yourselves
from nature
and can no longer feel
the gentle pulse of life
but instead harken only
to the rapid ticking of your clocks
and the noise of your engines.

You do not hear the cries
of the Great Spirit
calling you to silence
for only when you are silent
will you know
the wonders of your world and ours.

Everything beats
to the Rhythm of Life.
The Great Spirit speaks to you
in the vibration
of the wings of the butterflies
and the bees,
in the rustle of the leaves
on the trees,
in the song of the birds
and the call of the wild.
Each one plays
its part in the great orchestra.

Except man,
who plays a different tune
and beats his drum
and crashes his cymbals
so loud and so often
all he hears
is a cacophony of discordant noise
and not
the beautiful melody
that surrounds him.

Small wonder indeed
that man can no longer feel the heartbeat of the Earth,
and cannot hear her cries of pain
when he trashes her land,
destroys her forests
and kills her creatures

Do you not know
that what you do to the Earth you do to yourselves?
The trees clean the air,
yet you rip them out of the ground
and then wonder
why your children cannot breathe.
You smear the soil with poisons
and pollute the waters with your waste
and wonder why your food is contaminated
and your health is poor.

You are like spoilt children
who bully and beat their mother
until her spirit is battered and broken
yet still expect her to get up
and nourish and nurture you.

You expect her still to love you
and care for you
when she is bruised and bleeding
and dying of a broken heart.

The Earth is that Mother.
Take care.
Love her, respect her and revere her,
for without her you have nothing.
Nothing.

Remember the drum and the beat of the heart, for
HEART
is just another way of spelling
EARTH.
copyright Carol Pool 1999 - 2010

Tash Attack and Waxy Whiskers!

This is a tale of waxing woe
For to the salon I must go
‘Cos you will be alarmed to learn
A hairy lip caused some concern (!)

I was running rather late
As I got ready for a date
When to my horror I did see
Some thick black hairs where none should be

Shocked, I fetched my beauty tray
And waxed the dreaded ‘tash’ away
The hairs came out, neat and clean
The ‘tash’ was gone, but there unseen

Was a trace of wax, lying in wait
For when I kissed my perfect date
I answered the door, still unaware
And smiled as my date stood there

His moustache was thick and lush
(And looked rather like a bristle brush)
It really was a pride and joy
He’d had since he just was a boy

Arm in arm we walked away
But I was later to regret that day …
For all was fine until ‘goodnight’
When my lover held me tight

He kissed my lips in deep embrace
Then found himself stuck to my face!
His ‘tash’ had to be removed
With scissors ‘cos it was firmly glued

His top lip then looked out of place
A pale stripe on a suntanned face –
And I was back then to square one
With more black hairs than I’d begun!

Strangely I haven’t seen him since …
But maybe that’s ‘cos I made him wince,
So the moral of this story is
Remove the wax or you’ll stay a Ms!

© Carol Pool (aka Sherri Trifle !)
thepoemlady.co.uk and thepoemlady.blogspot.com

The Word is Spreading ...

The word is spreading
People are getting wise
They’re starting to see
What’s hidden from their eyes

The word is spreading
People are getting to know
They’re looking beyond
What the media can show

The word is spreading
And when they hear ‘the word’
People will question
What they’ve seen and heard

The word is spreading
There’s much to re-learn
We must question it all
And start to discern

The word is spreading
And it’s happening now
So don’t sit on the fence
Just stroking your brow

The word is spreading
Soon the seesaw will soar
And all the phonies
Will fall on the floor

The word is spreading
Will you spread the word
And think for yourself -
Or believe all you’ve heard?

The word is spreading
And you can be part
If you listen to your soul
And speak from your heart

The word is spreading
So spread it round please
And when more are aware
We’ll all live in ease

© Carol Pool
thepoemlady.co.uk
thepoemlady.blogspot.com

Stop pigeon-holing pupils

My thoughts on education - in verse, of course!

Stop pigeon-holing pupils
And setting them test after test
Just so officials can see
How each measures up to the rest

Stop pigeon-holing pupils
And making them all the same
Cos each one’s an individual
Playing a part in life’s game

Stop pigeon-holing pupils
And cramming them full of ‘stuff’
Stop stifling their natural talents -
It’s time to say enough!

Stop pigeon-holing pupils
Let them do what inspires -
And when left to their devices
They’ll follow their hearts’ desires

Stop pigeon-holing pupils
But encourage imagination
Then you’ll be amazed to see
What they can bring into creation

Stop pigeon-holing pupils
Just let them flourish and grow
Let them follow their own interests
And then just watch them go!

© Carol Pool Jan 2010
thepoemlady.co.uk
thepoemlady.blogspot.com