Bees (English Poems) Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Glentanar School
Spare the Rod and spoil the child
As the twig is bent, so the tree's inclined
A child untamed's a child gone wild
Clean body and a healthy mind

Those were the edicts of the past
Who thought their Christian ways would last

Forgive then, seventy times and seven
For all the Blessed Souls in Heaven
Are both forgivers and forgiven
And all the Souls on Earth that live
Are both forgivers and forgiven

In the street of by and bye
You arrive at the House of Never
Procrastination's the thief of time
Go forward like the passing river

Let your business not drive thee
True and honest, constant be


Groaning Pie
Groaning pie, groaning pie
What else would you chew on when brought to lie
In childbed, when you are near breaking in half
Groaning pie? Don't make me laugh!
Bring on the pethidine, as you flail
The epidural, not cakes and ale
Not Groaning pie, but gas and air
Enough to fly off with the lion's share


January 2020
In a far wood a pigeon is cooing in herthroat
Spear tips of buds pierce the frosty air

The crest of a hill's a black cockscomb of trees
A single bramble bush still thinks its summer
Six green leaves wag firm against the wind
Her nearby brothers hang, diseased and palsied

The lemon sun falls on lime green trunks
Ferns frozen copper feathershang dejected
Shrivelled wings of gorse seeds rattle empty

The Dee, wearing black crushed velvet
Slides to the sea, watched by a flame bright robin

Knobs of fir cones cobble the woodland paths
Pines upholdthe pewter bottomed clouds
The creak of trees is the world in its axis turning


Left at Travel lodges in Scotland
What kind of things might a traveller forget?
Pheasants, a large Nessie birthday cake
A lucky penny, a Hornby train set

A diamond ring of some chic coquette?
A case of red wine your thirst to slake
The Vertu phone of some baronet?

Louis Vuitton briefcase, left by a vet?
A tartan print sari, left by mistake
A Joyce Young wedding dress, fine's you'd get

Cartier rings, some bride would regret
Necklace of £50 notes, not fake
Mcwilliam's bagpipes, a perfect set

Golf Clubs, recipes, house maquette
Bottles of highland air. Don't shake!
A heather bouquet, each fine florette

A new range rover…not some baguette
A mother-in-law for Heaven's sake!
Business papers from Jane or Jake

When you visit a hotel, before you jet
Off, only bin empties or a gazette!



The Keeper of the Clock
My father kept on time each family clock;
I loved to hear the parlour ticker chime
My life was measured out, tick tock, tick tock

I am the child of very punctual stock
Hard on the dot of seven was my bedtime
My life was measured out, tick tock, tick tock

My bedside clock was shrill's a farmyard cock:
With sleepy eyes, out from my bed I'd climb
My life was measured out, tick tock, tick tock

Hours, minutes, seconds, each a building block
My father wound them, every one he'd prime
My life was measured out, tick tock, tick tock

His death was sudden, a world shattering shock,
The heart ripped from the house, a mortal crime
My life still measured out, tick tock, tick tock

Within a week, I'd overwound each lock
The clocks stopped dead, obeyed no will of mine
Quite soon I'll hear the scytheman's chillyknock
My life near measured out, tick tock, tick tock


A young lady who came from Monquitter
A young lady who came from Monquitter
Took a job as a pig's babysitter
When it keeched on the floor, as she walked out the door
She said Pigs are best stuffed in a fritter


A very fat girl from Loch Ness
A very fat girl from Loch Ness
Was astonished to be in the press
When she swam near the shore
She heard journalists roar
‘My God, Nessie's wearing a dress! '