Larkin 25 - 'Oe Noe Joe' By Liz Healey

I'm coming up four And you know what's more For invention I've got a flair. But I just know I'll get an 'oe noe joe' And told to sit on the bottom stair. I sprayed Dad's veg With soap powder and Pledge, I dug up a few to share With my best friend Flo But got an 'oe noe joe' And had to sit on the bottom stair. I washed the cat He didn't like that, Though I liked his spikey hair. Mam called 'LET GO' And of course 'oe noe joe' Go and sit on the bottom stair. The hoover's out, The pipe makes a spout And water goes everywhere Through the cat flap it flows Fills my wellies as it goes But I'm sitting on the bottom stair. I was Batman all day So at bath time I'd play At flying through the air. I nearly broke my toe All I got was 'oe noe joe' Go and sit on the bottom stair! Spiderman and me Dress the same you see, To undress just wouldn't be fair. So into bed I go Before an 'oe noe joe' Puts me back on the bottom stair. It's great to be me What I plan, what I see. Iv'e a secret I want to share' You know when I go To that 'oe noe joe' Iv'e a friend on that bottom stair.

Copyright Liz Healey 2010

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Tit for Tat By Terry Ireland

Obama kicked ass good with the boss of BP. Now he's had the practice perhaps we'll all see ass kicked at Union Carbide about the Bhopal disaster, still polluting the land twenty six long years after. Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - The Dole Shop By Bronwyn Ellis
	Come down to the dole shop, With queue's of lifeless men, Lining up like soldiers, armed with logbooks and a pen. Come bask in their depression, The air is hushed and bleak, Each person striving to survive on fifty pound a week. The addicts claw their paychecks, Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Dancer in the Sky By Helen Burke

Today, I saw a dancer in the sky - And she was me. Well, obviously she wasn't. I use the term loosely, but something about The way she kicked ass, head-butted clouds The way her eyes billowed out with rain Then hoped for sun, Was reminiscent of this other self. This painted bird. Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Heed The Warning By Patricia Gray

They told us on the telly to use protection As that is the best way to avoid infection But I didn't realise while I was having fun The amount of damage which could be done Till I went to the doctors on that day and he looked so serious, filled me with dismay I'm sorry to tell you, you've got an infection Read more...

Poetry Larkin 25 - Calm Before the Storm By Malcolm Wilson Bucknall

All around a stillness settles, To cloak the solitude of night. Sombre skies hang gaunt and heavy, A calm befalls the fading light. Then sounds of thunder swell in volume, Lightning scars a crimson sky. Tortured winds increase their fury, Read more...

Poetry - What Happens Next? By Steve Johnson

Everyone's here. Everyone. Black and white, yellow and red, from leaders to the homeless. Some people watch on the television, some people listen carefully to the radio, As the tense reporters speak to the world. In the desert, the red carpet lies. The stage is lit, and the microphone is prepared. Read more...

Poetry Coming to a Street Near You By Mike Watts

He's got tattooed arms Thick as logs And struts around with Two big dogs Rottweilers All teeth and gob (To compensate his Tiny nob?) He goes to work Read more...

Poetry Larkin 25 - The Sound that the Librarian Heard By Amber Goodwin

It wasn't until the librarian was quiet, Seated comfortably in a chair and Waiting, that he heard it That particular sound. It encircled the empty hall, Seeping into the chair, the air, Moving through the house, its wall A sound that could not be snared. Read more...

Poetry Larkin 25 - Burns Night Hangover By Pamela Scobie

Rabbie came hame frae Burns Night In two thousand and three, Pissed up and looking for a fight, So he picks on me. Put me in casualty. I've never liked poetry. Rabbie came hame frae Burns Night Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Air Messiah By Ashley Fisher

Welcome aboard to Air Messiah's Flight 666 to Jehovah's Pearly Gate Airport. Prophecies are good and we pray for a smooth ascension. To ensure a pleasant passing over for yourselves and other passengers please observe the following rules: Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Larkin About on the Streets of Hull By Ray Warrington

After you passed that shining gull-marked mud By the widening river where a large town stood, Did you stop for a pee in Waterworks Street? Did you ever bool a barrow down Trundle Street? Were you ever cowardly in Craven Street, Or ride your bike in Carr Lane, Or drive a horse and cart in Chariot Street? Were you hip in City Square? Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - I Came Back to You in September By Ray Moody

I came back to you in September you were quiet then still like you used to be when men were men and I was just a child When the smell of the fish docks mingled well with the stench of the slaughter from the cattle market Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Lennon By Rivelino

The cold earth released Lennon Jesus removed his bullets and compared their wounds, measured cadences of earthly and heavenly sounds. John busked on heaven's streets, Jesus wandered earthly grounds. Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Coulda Woulda Shoulda By Brian Cotton

This life of ours there is only one A blink of the eye and then its gone They said I coulda been a contender for the prize A great big house and fancy car, excellent prospects could go far. Trophy wife hanging off my arm, fancy restaurants drinking pink champagne, Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Life (Inspired by Money) By Bronwyn Ellis
	Seldom is it, that life visits me: 'Why do you let me lie here wastefully?' I am far from what you could have produced, I am far from just a bad excuse. So I look at others, what they do with theirs, They bumble along with personal affairs, Making a mess of the time they are given, Read more...

Poetry - Larkin 25 - Immediate Incapacitation By Robert Swan
	'Immediate Incapacitation'? What the hell can that be? Other than more 'News Media Terminology'? A special new benefit? That doesn't sound right. Lets re-open the case-notes just for tonight. Read more...

Poetry Larkin 25 - Paris Versus Hull By Catherine Scott

I visited Paris recently There was lots to do and lots to see Like the Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower Where I queued up for over an hour Just for the opportunity to scare myself witless And pay over the odds - it was just ridiculous Then there's the museums including The Louvre Fighting my way through was quite a manoeuvre Read more...

Poetry Larkin 25 - As I Come Down By Pamela Scobie

As I come down from Sewerby, Higher than spire or tower or tree Before me hangs the sea, Sparkling like laundry on a line Fresh-washed in sunshine. And all the daffodils stare back at me With meercat curiosity, A mad old biddy skipping by. Read more...

Poetry Larkin 25 - Poetry or Prose By John Fewings

There's a very fine distinction Between poetry and prose: It's such a fine dividing line And no-one really knows. You once could tell the difference 'Cos poetry would rhyme But poets just don't bother now; They haven't got the time. Read more...