February 26th, 2008

9:26am Tuesday 26th February 2008

MOTHER'S DAY

Babies are sent from heaven above

To fill you life with hope and love

To mothers over the country

With blessings from above.

The minute that you hold your babe

And smell that baby smell.

You pray that they will thrive

And that all will be well

And as they get older

And have lives of their own

They'll let you know on Mother's Day

That you the best they've every known.

Betty Watt, Durham

MY DOG OSCAR

My dog's not yet one,

But he's still very big.

He might look more colourful,

If he'd just wear a wig.

My dog's name is Oscar,

He is very weird.

With his shiny teeth,

He tries to be feared.

My dog is black and white,

And his ears really stink,

He has a red collar,

But his belly is pink.

My dog sometimes growls,

My dog sometimes bites.

My dog likes a swim,

But he's still black and white.

My dog is still young,

My dog's still a puppy.

The way he likes to swim

Reminds me of a guppy.

Lewis E Marchant, aged 11, Darlington

THIS WORLD OF SHAME

I envy the rich who inherit vast sums

Handed down to them from the family tree

From their parents, their fathers and mums

Wouldn't it be nice if some was given to the poor that be

The gold and silver trinkets adorning all rooms

Those evil sports agents do not play fair

The greed and obsession for illegal money

The cash received for transfers they don't declare

To the weak and poor this is anything but funny

They ensure their trouser pockets will never be bare

The multi-million pounds, the tycoons' wealth

And the rich talented sportsmen with so much to spend

Could greatly help the starving children's health

Their pockets fully laden, their legs too weak they bend

Give generously to those crying eyes, orphaned to comprehend Please consider, be brave and unzip your swollen purse

You could save some delinquent child from dying

Do it now before this world tragedy becomes ultimately worse

And so prevent the parents so much sorrow and crying

I beg of you, act now and so eliminate this unwanted curse

John Joseph Quinn, Bishop Middleham

COBWEBS

Did you ever play an instrument,

then give up after a while?

Was practice an intrusion

on the things that made you smile?

Has the dust begun to settle on your

instrument's black case?

If you took it out to play it,

would your friends run off apace?

Well, I think I have the answer

to your problem, my dear friend.

A solution that will, hopefully,

your low confidence mend.

You need to find a group of people

who were once like you

And pick up where you left off,

with a not-so motley crew!

I know you're feeling anxious and

would like to start again

And now's the time to do it,

now you have the time and when

You find that group of people,

who were similarly shy,

Like them, just bite the bullet

and give it one more try.

There's a group that meets in Harelaw

and another at Newbiggin,

A third across at Tebay

that will get your legs a-jiggin'.

A fourth one meets in Middlesbrough,

inside the Town Hall Crypt

And the newest is at Earswick, York,

according to my script.

They come under the strange title of

The Cobweb Orchestra.

You should go and join them,

for they'd welcome any extra.

They've players young and middle-aged

and knocking on a bit

But what unites these lovely folk is music,

food and wit.

They have professional players

and amateurs alike.

One thing's for sure, you won't be told to go

home, "On your bike!"

I guarantee you'd be made welcome,

probably get a hug

And within 20 minutes,

you'd have the Cobweb bug.

They're a lovely set of people,

fond of Mozart, Bach and Liszt,

Beethoven and Mahler

and some others that

I've missed.

They gather fairly frequently

with their instrument and stand,

Together with a shared tea,

which is always very grand.

Go along and join them, just go in and say, "Oh, hello!"

Take your oboe or bassoon with you, your trombone or your cello.

Once you've played the first few bars,

you'll wonder, "Why did I worry?"

And go back the next time accelerando' (in a hurry!)

David Jasper,

Sedgefield.

LOOK INSIDE

It all lies inside your heart

All goes around inside

your mind

You can make life

whatever you want

It can be whatever you find.

You can make it your darkest hour

Or make it your brightest light

You can let it crush you whole being

Or keep positive thoughts in your sight.

All the things that befall you

Are lessons in life to be learnt

And if we take time to allow it

Our lives can take on a good turn.

When there is no fight left in you

When you're down and out in the ground

That's when life lifts you up

And, if you allow it, turns you right around.

Mrs MA Mason, Newton Aycliffe

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