The Marwood and Withnail chin-chin
“Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day”
Impoverished actors ‘signed on’ for their pay
Waiting, waiting, waiting for a gig
Rarely able to eat like a pig
Squalid flat in London’s 1969 Camden
To the country, these dirty dishes to abandon
Uncle Monty the benefactor, so flowery
Journey to Cumbria on roads so showery
A world of mud, rain, poachers and a Bull very randy
Made palatable by the odd Chateau Margaux 1953
Two majestic long scenes with the drug dealer Dan-ny
His 12-skin Camberwell carrot a line oh so canny
A cult and landmark film in so many ways
Now in my locker for future sofa days
The Hollywood Divorce
Sat in two chairs side by side
With the wife and mother, once my bride
Counsellor shocked at the friendly discourse
“The Hollywood couple for amicable divorce!”
No squabbles, dispute, sarcasm or silence
A marriage not afflicted by affair nor violence
Two IVF darlings at home unaware
Another day’s pain when this sad news we share
That Mummy and Daddy are planning farewell
The fairytale union slipped through gates of hell
Energies morphed as priorities changed
A loveless bed made us estranged
Once the lovers embracing on the heath
Now tolerating each other through gritted teeth
Time to move on before things go astray
A reasonable annulment we CAN only pray
The Road to Poetry
A chance meeting in a cellar bar
On a Sunday in Gravesend without my car
Here to enjoy emerging local songwriting talent
Musicians on a low timber scaffold stage, very gallant
Several of their own songs tackled
With style and passion confidently unshackled
Then at the bar with gin to savour
Chewing the cud with an erstwhile stranger
My bar Bro is an aspiring bard
Back here next week as he is on the card
For an evening of self-penned poetry spoken aloud
A platform to express himself to an intimate crowd
I'Il have some of that, my new friend
I might even have my own tales to be penned!