24th August 2023 • The HERALD • Page 69 v THE NEXT HERALD IS OUT ON 14TH SEPTEMBER v Poets Corner PART TIME SCHOOL RUN DRIVERS REQUIRED We are currently looking for new drivers to fill rewarding, part time roles in our busy, family run business. We specialise in transporting disabled and vulnerable children and young adults with a range of special needs to school’s across Hampshire. All applicants must be physically fit, 100% reliable and punctual with a pleasant attitude towards others. A New Forest District Council Private Hire License would be an advantage, however, we can help you obtain this. In return we offer good rates of pay and a reliable and well maintained company vehicle. Our working days are Monday-Friday and approximately 17-20 hours per week during term times. These positions may suit retired or semi-retired persons but all applicants are welcome. To enquire in the first instance, please email: schooltransportsouthampton@gmail.com HERALD RECRUI TMENT ELIZABETH ROYAL by Jim Dolbear© Eyes filled with tears throughout the land Later we would bow our heads and remember. Into the night a vigil was kept Zero hour was to come too soon. As we watched the pomp of the occasion Bells tolled and trumpets played a fanfare. Eventually to be laid to rest one so dear Time now stood still as piper played a lament Heaven was now waiting for another angel Ready to meet the love of her life. Our thoughts will linger of our queen, Yes we will not forget the mother of our nation. And we now give thanks for one so kind Leaving us with so many fond memories. DREAMS by Dorothy Lockyer © It’s summer, but the rain runs down the window pane Molecules of water joining to make a chain. e armchair is comfy, I will put up my feet Take up my book and read, giving myself a treat. A quietness settles around me as I read Dri ing, as if slowly sipping a glass of mead. I’m cycling along, by a beautiful canal ere is a heron, some ducks and various fowl I am whizzing along feeling the gentle breeze How strange, I feel no pain in my arthritic knees! My saddle feels odd, like the seat of a chair I’ve cycled miles yet have energy to spare! Freewheeling downwards to a brook, I must now leap Landing with a jolt, which rouses me from my sleep! Ninety-Nine Not Out! by David K Wilson© Thinking back when I was nine Summer breaks weather fine Washing drying on the line Unhurried simple days Nineteen years I ruled the world Just like any boy and girl War and hatred then unfurled Many good friends died Family man at twenty-nine Nappies drying on the line Lovely wife life is fine Home again from war Thirty-nine working hard Children in the old backyard Sheepdog Shepp left on guard Happy golden days Lost my love at forty-nine Believed her illness was benign Tried my best but can’t define Why she had to go First grandchild at fifty-nine Tiny just like one of mine I walk a lot if the weathers fine Still miss her every day Sixty-nine all alone Family calls me on the phone Visits sometimes popping home When pressure will allow Ten years on I’m seventy-nine Slowing down but feeling fine In my mind still twenty-nine Just a boy at heart Eighty-nine arrived one day Lucky you most people say I thank The Lord though far away From all life’s ups and downs Ninety-nine not out today I’ll very soon be on my way 100 years draws close each day Dreaming of years gone by! Wondering by Richard Labram© Everyone’s Excited by Margaret Bell© We lay in a quiet dream, as the waves, scrolled across the silver sand then e ervesced away. e dissolving crests danced in the dying light as our ocean paradise lit its beachside torches. Ghosts of jasmine hovered in the trees: courting our senses; haunting the balmy night. In the last hues of the sun a small planet glowed - pastel red, in the clear air, capped with whitest snow. We wondered if there was a beach, on that sphere once blue, with a couple just like us, wondering if we wondered, too. Everyone’s excited and can’t wait to get going, But packing all essentials, the strain is showing! Will we need this or will we need that, Will we need scarves, coats and hats! I know that’s silly I hear you say, It’s summer now with warm sunny days! You can never be sure I think you’ll agree, If going abroad it will be a hot 30 degrees! But staying here around our own isle, e weather forecast doesn’t make you smile, First it’s sunny maybe light showers later, Our sun sometimes can be such a traitor…. e schools are out, kids are looking for fun, is would be so if they could summon the sun, Whatever they are dealt, they will play their games, Grown ups too will do the same… For those abroad soaking up the sun, You probably did right to cut and run! Bottle that sun and bring it back here, I’d be willing to buy it no matter how dear! But the Brits are resilient and no matter what, Rain or shine they won’t lose the plot, But hopefully soon before the summer ends… Days at the beach on loungers we’ll spend! Truth to power, truth by the hour, honesty is the best policy sometimes the truth bites and stings, honesty is the best way with all that brings. Don’t tell me a lie, I will nd out the truth, lies are cowards, the truth is the Hero to where it’s at, just where I’m out. Truth by Martin Grist © Let Me Be Isobel Smith, Feb 94 © Let me be gracious enough to forgive; Let me be happy with life that I live. Let me have humour and pass it around, Let me be thankful for friends I have found. Let me be able to give, not just take; Let me be subtle, yet not be a fake. Let me be tempted to spend my last buck; Let me be solvent, if purely by luck. Let me be likely to offer you cheer; Let me be not such a pain in the rear! Let me be sad, but let me survive; Let me be grateful that I am alive. Give me the strength not to do things by half; Give me the honour to make people laugh. Send your poems into The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe, Southampton SO45 6AH The copyright of all poems that are published in The Herald belong to the author and should NOT be reproduced without their permission
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