Valentine

14/02/2021 - Poem a Day Compilation



I don’t want dozens of roses

If you’re only buying them

Because it’s Valentine’s Day



Pick a dandelion on the way home

Because the colour reminded you

Of that new top I wore last weekend



I don’t want to go to a fancy restaurant

If you’re only taking me

Because it’s Valentine’s Day



Take me to the beach

For fish and chips wrapped in paper

With ice cream for dessert



I don’t want expensive jewellery

If you’re only giving it

Because it’s Valentine’s Day



Make me a daisy chain

While we sit listening to music

In the middle of the park



I don’t want a cuddly toy

If you’re only reason is

Because it’s Valentine’s Day



I’d much prefer your warm embrace

Every other day of the year

And twice on Sundays



I don’t want commercial displays of affection

That fill a CEO’s pockets

Because it’s Valentine’s Day



I want an every-day valentine

Who shows the world their love for me

In ways too rich to put a price on

Halloween

31/10/2020 –  Poem a Day Compilation



I like the idea of Halloween

As a cultural tradition

But I despise the commercialisation

That comes with it today.



Give me a homemade ghost

Made out of an old bed sheet,

Or a mummy wrapped not in rags

But in reams of toilet paper.



Give me autumn festivals

With bobbing for apples

And scarecrows overseeing

Pumpkin carving competitions.



Give me big haunted houses

Where children giggle and scream,

And ghost tours though graveyards

For those who would dare.



Give me witches with birch brooms,

Black cats on every corner,

And spider webs hanging

From chimneys and doorframes.



Give me people coming together

To ward off evil spirits

By imbibing in such liquors

After the sun has gone down.



Give me stories of ghouls

Told at sleep deprived parties

Where children are up

Long after their bedtime.



Give me Halloween without commerce

With the only blood sucking

Done by cute little vampires

With the fakest of teeth.