CHRISTIAN AID
The children of Romania
Need our help again once more.
We've packed our shoe boxes
To the top just like a treasure store.
There's things for every little girl
and also for the boys.
Teenagers are not missed out,
We don't just send them toys.
It may not seem a lot to us,
But their eyes are opened wide
When they open up the boxes
And see what is inside.
So God bless these little children,
Give them love and care.
And let them know that somehow
Help is always there.
Betty Watt,
Durham
FLASHING LIGHTS
Flashing yellow light
dancing in the dark.
Streams of red lights follow,
Snaking along and turning
Like conga dancers.
Flashing yellow light,
one final turn
And it is home.
Released, the red lights joyfully
increase their pace.
A frenzied, mad race to the finish.
White lights,
diamonds in the dark.
Dazzling, brilliant, blinding.
Red lights caught in their fire;
An agony of twisting and turning
To drop out of the race.
Blue lights flashing,
emerging from the dark,
telling their urgency
Cover the tangled red and white lights
with their care.
For some the race is ended.
But the others?
Will they learn?
Anne Forbester, Acomb, York. Written on a journey home in the dark after a road accident
SEASON'S SONG
Spring flowers sprout,
Lambs jump about.
And summer green leaves have grown.
Autumn leaves fall off the trees.
Winter just a branch back into a seed.
Alice Emily Eynan, aged six,
Darlington
AFTER
Global warming; the fashionable threat.
We're all cautioned - our prospects are rotten.
Yet - the Earth will revive,
Burgeon; once again thrive.
When humanity's long been forgotten.
Ken Orton, Ferryhill Station
FOGGY-BELL (A true story set in verse)
Mr Jack Forrester owned a racehorse.
He named him Foggy-Bell.
His horse won the 1969 Lincoln because
the horse was fit, strong and well.
This Sadberge farmer gave mine host
Two pound at the Old Buck Inn
To back Foggy-Bell and he came in first
At odds of 20-1, what a good win.
A celebration night at the Old Buck Inn;
Drinks on the house was the cry!
It would be a pity, nay, even a sin
Not to toast a winner when dry.
So here's to Foggy-Bell, I hope he wins more.
And here's to the sport of kings,
Good health and good luck to a winner's door.
Then we will see what his next race brings.
Foggy-Bell won his next race
But the odds were shortened to 4-1.
He ran at a rare old pace
For the second time he ran and won.
Alfred Smirk, Darlington
SOMEBODY'S MOTHER - A GERIATRIC
"It comes to us all", that's what they say.
Old age will take its toll.
She's had a good innings, she's worked all her days
But now she'd rather be dead.
And she should know because she said it herself.
88 years old and crippled in pain.
She's not demented, deranged nor mad,
Just paying the price for life.
But she'd rather be dead, she told me so,
Than lay in her senility.
Her pride, her beauty, her shining eyes - gone now,
Poor lass, it's so sad.
No night, no day, no expectations.
No love, no lust, no sparkle.
She's somebody's mother and they love her so,
So please, God, have mercy and let her go.
Lesley Hislop, Aycliffe Village
AUTUMN RADIANCE
As Autumn begins,
the air crisp and clear,
leaves drop from trees
a carpet below
begin their flight
down they fall.
Each creature
beginning to stir
up and down
they scurry
preparing to store.
Autumn,
God's wonders pour
colours gold, browns,
bronze interweave
wonders to retrieve.
Life all shapes and forms
through the haze
beginning to dawn.
Maureen Thornton,
Saltburn
GRATEFUL TO BE THERE
I'm glad I was a 50s kid.
Children's favourites, Uncle Mac
hearing "Teddy Bears' Picnic" still brings it back.
No TV, just books and radio, and records to play
My introduction to Elvis - still The King - in my book anyway!
Mams spent summer evenings sat on doorsteps.
Kids dug forts with corrugated roofs - swung from ropes - "pile on" - was the shout,
raiding the tip for treasure,
playing house or 'tiggy'
'til we were tired out!
Best friends then - still the best.
Shared secrets and jokes so silly they made me laugh till I ached!
Saturday morning pictures, Sunday School,
sticky-out underskirts - and the rest.
New sandals at Easter, eggs rolled in the park.
Bonfire Night! Toffee lollies made in bun tins,
fireworks. The after dark.
Looking out of the window at glowing ashes.
Christmas arrived in December,
the smell of mixed spice,
nuts and fruit for the occasion,
ppecial, like the chicken - a little luxury!
Presents were surprises, with no confrontation
About what you didn't get!
So, I've never worried about my age,
reaching 60 won't throw me into despair,
I was a 50s kid -
And grateful to be there.
Mrs Carole Locker,
Whitby
BITTER/SWEET
Inside I feel like dying all the time
As hope and dreams taste of bitter lime.
All I strive to do distorts and breaks
Like driftwood falling into a beautiful, yet deathly, lake.
Drowning in my own nightmare;
Sinking to the bottom with no hope of oxygenating air.
Is life becoming its own tortured vision?
Or is reality tricking its own sinister division?
Nothing appears to be plain black or white;
Instead shades of grey in a blurred light.
Is there no end to the bitter end of failure?
As I struggle for a slither of some saviour.
Dreams of reward a tiny morsel treat,
To taste such dreams would be bitter sweet.
Rob Moran,Consett
THE FT INDEX
In March of 1994
The FAIRTRADE Mark was born.
Organic chocolate was marketed
To help support the forlorn.
Tea and coffee came afterwards,
Later that same year.
Trade justice was the driving force.
The fat cats had much to fear!
Now 12 years on and growing still
Thanks to your and my support,
The Third World farmers and workers receive
Benefits, as they ought.
Improved sanitation now,
And water piped from a well.
A realistic wage packet
And housing that's no longer hell.
There are 1,500 items now
To pick from when you shop.
So look out for the label, in your
basket, FAIRTRADE drop.
That's what makes such a difference
To other people's lives.
Pay a fair price for commodities
You children, dads and wives!
Some prices have remained the same
For the last 40 years!
But fertilizers and pesticides
Are costing more, one fears.
Please buy your cotton and fruit and tea
And herbs and honey and juice.
Look out for the FAIRTRADE label for
That is the one to choose!
Ciaran Jasper, aged 11, Sedgefield
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