BOOK READERS ARE QUIDS IN
In April a challenge I set Which might sound the daftest thing yet
As I walked around I offered a pound
To all the book readers I met!
Of course it is real books I mean
I’m not talking tablet or screen
I hoard them with passion But they’re now out of fashion
And nowadays rarely are seen!
This crazy task I undertook And proper books can’t be mistook
And just to be clear
You’ve got the idea
They’re known as a physical book!
Was this a daft task to take on?
And might it just cost me a bomb?
And was I correct
To only expect
A handful of readers - or none?
In cafes I stopped for a brew
I passed through the bus station too
And you might have thought
These readers I sought Just had to be somewhere on view
Now, school kids it’s fairly well known
Must have several books that they own
But sat with a book
Is not the right look They’ve gotta be glued to a phone!
So after a month looking round
And a quid to all readers I found
You’re guessing no doubt How much I shelled out Believe it or not - just two
pound!
Ian Aitchison Stonehill Road Rooley Moor
WHERE WOULD WE BE?
A POEM for election time:
Where would we be
If all electoral candidates Came from the working class?
No party donors No Oxbridge or public
school candidates, Just hearing
Just telling, the need
While one in 150 children Go into care
Down south
While one in 42 children Go into care
Up north
There’s no work up North And charities and health Down South and Up North
Say ‘We are Broke’
So, we join a waiting list of working
Another form filled in Another piece of paper done
When will all parties receive equal state cash?
When will there be equal time in school
For political lessons From each party?
Wilfred Owen knew “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori” Andy Strowman