A devious old codger called Jack,
Spent every hour that he could at the track,
He’d lay bet after bet,
On what odds he could get,
As long as he’d something to back!

This pic shows a grand physiognomy,
That creates this tower with power and economy,
Counterbalance and poise,
Is what each person employs,
And it’s done jointly and with equal autonomy.

A jolly old dear from Southsea,
Was a great fan of all kinds of tea,
Darjeeling, Oolong,
She felt no brand was wrong,
Because she was a true devotee!

I once had a brainy wee Westie,
Who was simply just one of the bestie,
He read loads of books,
Despite questioning looks,
And I felt that I was truly blessed, yea!

There existed a girl called Cherie,
Who purchased a flat screen TV,
She acquired some serious specs,
To access the special effects,
Because this marvel also came in 3D.

There was a cheerful old tramp in the Bronx,
Who thought all other vagrants were twonks*,
Finding them stupid and smelly,
And friendly? Not on your nelly,
He’d rather give his head a couple of bonks!

*Derogitary term, roughly equivalent to idiot. More insulting than berk, but less insulting that gimp.
Thought to originate in the Victorian Era meaning a lower-class foreigner

There was a young girl from Tralee,
Who decided to live up a tree,
A structure of splendour,
Was on her agenda,
And it was, I think you will agree!

I love the idea of this wonderful beast,
It must be quite rare, at the very least !
A donkey’s body but stripey socks,
It’s somehow quite unorthodox,
Till I meet one, I shan’t be at peace!

A Zedonk – a donkey/zebra cross

Anne wrote Agnes Gray and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,
Jane Eyre’s her most famous novel, but Charlotte wrote four,
Patrick Branwell, their brother, who died of a delirium,
Was addicted to alcohol and laudanum,
And Emily’s Wuthering Heights is, perhaps, the best known of all.

One of the most astonishing facts about these four rightly famous writers is that they were all dead before the age of 40. The two eldest in the family, Maria and Elizabeth died at 11 and 10 respectively. Charlotte (1816-1855) died at 37. Patrick Branwell, known as Branwell, (1817-1848) died at 31 from tuberculosis. Emily Jane (1818-1848) died at 30 and Anne 1820-1849) at 29.

The view from my window is a bank of trees,
And kids on skateboards that skin their knees,
Of mums with shopping or on the school run,
Someone’s daughter, someone’s son,
The world slowly develops by subtle degrees…