Jim Hits The Deck!

Posted on June 19, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

Clearing up after the car boot sale the other day I came across a discarded item from a stall. There, abandoned and unloved, lay Jim Reeves. How are the mighty fallen, from Top of the Pops to abandoned at Boot Sale…

A Jim Reeves sleeve hits the deck,
an aged lady says “By Heck!”
but Jim just lies upon the grass,
out of favour his time did pass.
I realise I may be wrong,
can’t remember a Jim Reeves song.
The housewives’ choice from years ago,
now thrown away that’s how it go.
Unfortunately there’s no way back,
As he slips inside the refuse sack.

© Baldock Bard 2015
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The Baldock Boot Sale
Every Saturday until the end of October
With more FREE parking and billions of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

Remembrance Bells

Posted on May 11, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

On Saturday at 11am we rang the two 15^th Century bells in our little village church to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of VE Day, the end of the Second World War. As I pulled on the rope with young Gabriel (in charge of ‘Dong’), I wondered what those who had sacrificed their lives would think of ours today. This made me pull harder…

I rang Ding,
Gabriel rang Dong,
The countryside echoed,
Ding Dong Ding Dong!

I wondered as we gripped,
the sallies with both hands,
Whether bells would ring,
In far-off foreign lands.

Then I thought,
Of deeds that had been done,
So Ding and Dong,
Could evermore be rung!

A Killer Strikes!

Posted on May 9, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

We are down from ten to two chickens and it’s our own fault. If we kept them locked up in a shed they’d have been safe, however we like to see them roaming around the farm as nature intended. The two remaining hens, Mrs Brown and Mrs Black (Mrs White’s head was found detached from her body along with the others including the ‘Tiptoe Twins’). They now stick together and wander around wondering where their friends have gone and if there are tastier scraps to be found there, while I prepare a surprise for the fox…

On our farm about a week ago,
A fox came calling and away did go,
Killed our chickens removed their heads,
Whilst they were sleeping in their beds.
Feathers scattered all around,
My favourite hens dead on the ground.
If that fox had wanted food,
I wouldn’t hate him or be rude.
If I’m late to the boot sale then you’ll know,
I’m no longer woken by the cockerel’s crow!

Lost – One Hour!

Posted on March 30, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

I hope your Monday morning is better than mine! Since the clocks sprung forward I have no idea where I am! Rather like the days after decimalization (way back in the Seventies), I’m finding myself converting to ‘old time!’ With luck the day will improve…

It’s Monday morning,
I’m all of a tizz,
My poor body clock,
Has no idea where it is!
Yesterday morning,
I mislaid an hour,
Ever since then,
I’ve been on half power!

I’ve searched the whole house,
I’ve even asked Ron,
But nobody knows,
Where that hour’s gone!
At my time of life,
Can’t afford loss of time,
So if you find an hour,
Please return it, it’s mine!

© Baldock Bard 2015
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The Baldock Boot Sale
Returns Saturday April 11^th 2015
With more FREE parking and billions of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

The Road Closure

Posted on March 27, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

Driving back from the town yesterday Mrs Bard and I came were shocked to come across a road closure on the road leading to the farm. What lay over the small hill? Would we get home? Would the frozen peas defrost?
Today we are going to a little country church to say goodbye to a friend. What has been most shocking about Anthony’s death is that suddenly a number of facts of life have been exposed to me when I thought I’d tidied them neatly away in a cupboard.
Firstly, although I didn’t see him often, Anthony was one of those legions of people who sit in ‘the wings’ of one’s life stage and make up the chorus, they play a vital and comforting part in all our lives.
Secondly he was a true gentleman, totally honest and slightly shy, however this always set you up when he exposed his sense of humour which was never at another’s cost but just plain old-fashioned funny! He always took great care over words he used.
Thirdly, as a sheep farmer would say ‘they are now picking from my pen’ and despite not being able to ever tell what has caused the road closure just over the hill, there is never any warning and we’re all driving on the same road.

Rest in peace, Anthony, you were a real gentle-man and it was my pleasure knowing you. What a great example you set. Goodbye old friend.

© Baldock Bard 2015
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The Fragility of Life

Posted on March 25, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

This morning, due to wind direction, planes are begining their final descent to London Luton Airport directly over the farm. They look close enough to touch. However when each one passes overhead thoughts are drawn to a mountainside in the French Alps.

I look to the sky above the farm,
Another plane passes, no alarm.
I think of pieces strewn around,
Where the Airbus hit the ground.

We see pictures of many grieving young,
16 classmates no more fun.
Photos of passengers no more to be seen,
On a mountainside a mourning scene.

We watchers from afar are lucky to say:
‘For us tomorrow’s just another day.’

© Baldock Bard 2015
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The Bunch of Daffs!

Posted on March 17, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

There is something very reassuring about daffodils. They are rather like that one friend who always smiles and is cheerful despite whatever is going on in his/her life. They bounce into your life and always say nice things about you, bring the right bottle of wine and dance as if nobody’s watching! No wonder a certain poet was so enthusiastic…

I wandered lonely as a cloud…
That floats on high over Basildon!
Where all at once I saw a crowd,
They’d lost 7-1 to Billericay Town!
In the second half, on their knees,
No-one looking very pleased.
On the way home the manager said:
“I’ll buy some Daffs, then go to bed!”

With apologies and commiserations to fans, players and staff at Basildon Town FC, better luck next time. Apologies also to W. Wordsworth and all his supporters. Anyone who has been affected by the contents this programme can contact our helpline, details will follow after the credits.

© Baldock Bard 2015
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The Baldock Boot Sale
Returns Saturday April 11^th 2015
With more FREE parking and billions of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

Wasted Young Lives – Again

Posted on March 10, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

Six months before my son was killed in a traffic accident I wrote this verse. It lay forgotten in a file until this morning. This weekend saw yet more young lives lost. According to the press one of the drivers had only passed his test a few days before he died. News like this transports our family back to Februray 12th 2003. When will the carnage and wasted young lives stop?

Blue flashing lights announce the show.

“Roll Up, Roll Up for the greatest free show in town.”
“Slow Down, Slow Down so you can look around”
“The more you slow, the more you’ll know.”
“That’s right Sir, just enjoy the show!”

Fluorescent coats surround a crumpled car.
There is no need to hurry now as time ran out with the road.
The rookie fireman turns retching onto the grass unprepared for what he sees.
A policeman wipes away a single tear, he’s seen it often before.

The traffic slows in mock respect, to pry on private scenes.
“Don’t look now children!” says the father as he slows the car to get a better view.
Others look upon the scene with scorn, it could never happen to them, while with protesting tyres they narrowly avoid hitting the car in front.
Traffic builds up in the other direction, they have further to look.

Photographs are taken, not of weddings or births, christenings or celebrations, but of twisted agony.
“Smile Please” has no place here.
Paperwork will turn tragic waste into a statistic.
Young bodies lie side by side under a blanket: their passion, heartbeats and racing pulses idle.

The show is over.

Policemen knock on distant doors with dread.
A mother wails “No, No, No” while her husband lays a gentle hand on her shoulder and thanks the officer for a thankless task.
A father curses the day he lent his son the deposit for a first car.
A sister lies weeping in her room, time a-plenty to regret last words never spoken.

The only remaining stains at the scene are skid marks that point to a broken fence and damaged tree, no bandage for this injury.
Flowers appear, a shrine to youthful inexperience, a mark of family grief for others to glance at while speeding on their way muttering:
“That could never happen to me”.

© Baldock Bard 2015
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The Little Blue Coat!

Posted on February 12, 2015 by The Baldock Bard.

This morning I had my two-year-old granddaughter rushing around, screeching and winding the dogs up, all before 7.30! It was delightful, particularly on this very sad day for our family. Lately there has also been a little blue coat hanging on the back of the kitchen chair again. It is wonderful to see it being used.
It was once worn by my twenty-two-year-old son, David, who was killed in a car accident while at university twelve years ago today.
Julia Gillard, the former Australian Premier, summed up such loss in her speech at the tenth anniversary for those killed in the Bali bombings. She said: “… wounds and scars abound, healed and unhealed. But nothing can replace that empty seat at your family table, the graduations and christenings you will never know. And the fault line that will always divide your lives into two halves: ‘before’ and ‘after’…”

So today I remember the little boy in the blue coat and the young man he became, as the niece he never knew, runs around the farm he loved, wearing his old blue coat.

As his father, I’m still so proud of him.

There are two things I’d like you to do today:
First of all I’d like you to give any teenager or young person that you know a simple piece of advice that may just end up saving their lives: If they are in a car and not happy with the way it is being driven or they suspect the driver may have been drinking or is stoned, say: “I think I’m going to be sick”. This may mean a long walk home, but it’s better than not reaching home at all.
Secondly I want you to ring, text, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, MSN (or better still the old-fashioned face to face), your child (or anyone who is very precious to you) and say two words: “Love You”. These are the last two words I ever said to my son. How I wish I could utter them again, so I’m asking you to do it. Not for me, not for David, but for you.

Simon (aka Baldock Bard)

© Baldock Bard 2015
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Eric’s Mum

Posted on December 19, 2014 by The Baldock Bard.

Farming can be a lonely occupation. Some farmers will see less than a handful of people in the course of a week. I consider myself most fortunate, for the last 23 years from Easter to October, I have seen folk-a-plenty at my weekly Saturday car boot sales.

This week I lost one of my favourite customers, known to me simply as ‘Eric’s Mum’. When my son David was killed in a car accident 11 years ago, she said nothing, but simply held my hand. She knew that sometimes the simple act of holding hands can comfort when there is nothing to be said. She was kindness personified, had a gentle sense of humour and a smile that could light up even the dullest morning. When I saw her for the last time a week ago, I realised that I could add remarkable bravery to the list. Despite being so very poorly, she smiled that wonderful smile and chatted as if it on a day out rather than visiting her sickbed.

Wherever you are today and whatever you have planned, please set aside a moment to give a thought to Eric’s Mum and perhaps take the opportunity to smile at a stranger or do a random act of kindness in her memory.

Goodbye Eric’s Mum, thank you and God bless.

© Baldock Bard 2014
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Baldock Bard

Verse and Worse from the Baldock Versemonger

Category Archives: Loss

Jim Hits The Deck!

Remembrance Bells

A Killer Strikes!

Lost – One Hour!

The Road Closure

The Fragility of Life

The Bunch of Daffs!

Wasted Young Lives – Again

The Little Blue Coat!

Eric’s Mum