We’re All In the Same Boat

We’re All In the Same Boat!

More Modest Modern Poetry

by Gregory Edwards

© 2016 Published by Hidden City Publishing at Shakespir

We’re All In the Same Boat!

By Gregory Edwards

‘Shakespir Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purcha se it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Shakespir.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

…In the Same Boat, yes

– Part 1 Here we go!

– Part 2 Movement

– Part 3 Flexibility

– Part 4 At the End of the Day

About Gregory Edwards

…In the Same Boat, yes

The pretty little blue ball that we all live on might be oblivious to us as it floats around its orbit but we must continue in our attempts to live together on it.

Keep positive, keep smiling and never lose heart.

Gregory Edwards, 2016

A noir, E blanc, I rouge, U vert, O bleu : voyelles,

Je dirai quelque jour vos naissances latentes.

O, suprême Clairon plein des strideurs étranges,

Silences traversés des Mondes et des Anges ;

- O l’Oméga, rayon violet de Ses Yeux !

Arthur Rimbaud, from ‘Voyelles’

Part 1 Here we go!

1. Special Sun

Sometimes there is

A Special Sun that

Shines in the Sky

Sometimes the Special

Sun Smiles down and

Lights up our Lives

So Shine On

Special Sun

2. Waldo Wonders

Whimsical Waldo the

Wonder Cat Wondered

If Willy the Weasel was

Wooly Minded about

Where the Fracking

Went

3. Horrible Grudge

Horrible Herbert hid

Under a Hideous Hat

As He Hated Seeing

Horace at the

Hacienda

Horace however

Had a much Higher

Hidden Agenda that

He always hid from

Horrible Herbert

He held a horrible

Grudge against

Hortense Hildebrand

And hoped to hook

Herbert on her

4. No Fear

A Fish out of Water

Needn’t fear from

Flies, Frogs or

Fishermen

For Flying fish

Seldom become

Frying fish and

Onto the dish

5. Scratching

You Scratch my Neck

And I’ll Scratch Yours

More Cooperation

And we’ll End All Wars

Just a little Give and Take

And Peace will Surely

Come

6. Molten Inuit

Climbing out of His

Igloo Little Tuktiuktuk

Already Knew

That his Entire World

Was Totally Askew

The Igloo was Melting

In January So

What was He to Do?

He called the Climate

Change hotline and

Demanded an explanation

But was mistakenly put

Through to a melting Oil

Company that was

Trying to make itself

Look just a little more

Green

7. Watching Something

Hovering So High and

Floating in the Sky

She Saw the Drone

Approaching from the

Corner of her Eye

And she wondered what it

Wanted as it went

Buzzing by

8. Talk to Yourself

They used to Say

That He was Totally Mad

The way he Talked to

Himself But then One

Day He got some Little

Headphones and now

He Walks Around All

Day long Talking to

Himself and It’s OK

It’s OK It’s OK

9. Weight of the World 1

Sarah Sagged like a

Limp empty Sack

As she Slowly Sat

Down to Ease her

Aching Back and to

Take the weight off

Of Her Poor Old Feet

She Cried So Hard

That her Tears Fell like

Little Molten Jewels

Exploding on Contact

Like the Devastating

Pain in her Heart

One Day She will

Smile Again

10. Deep in Sandland

Olbert the Oolicacan

Eyed the Idle Old Ostrich

That had its Head

Deep in the Sand

Seeking for

A Cabinet Minister

Who Always Listened

To What Everyone

Said

Once, while walking near

St Malo, he Saw

Several Buildings

Très, très haut

O what a superb

Place was That

11. A Splendid Zoo

It was Early on

Easter Friday when

Elbar the Earl of

Elbow needed to Get

From Ealing Oddway

To Ups and Downs

He needed to see

The menagerie that he

Had built in pastoral

Ups’n’Downs, which

Sat splendidly at the

End of the royal

Railway line

He had Ptarmigan

And Pheasants and

Platypussies with

Walruses, Wildebeasts

And Wattled Rooses

He had a Gnu, Elephants

Too and an Axolotl and

Polar bears, teddy bears

And a Wolverine

That loved tangerines

12. Potted or Potty

Three Pretty Little Pot

Plants Decided to

Become People so

Their Roots grew Toes

And their Faces a Nose

Soon they Will Need a

Green set of Clothes

Part 2 Movement

13. The Sleepy One

Somnolent Cynthia

Slept so Much that

She had to Seek

Specialist Help but

All they could Do was

Give Her More Pills

And Put Her back up

On the Shelf

There she snored on

For centuries and

Became so thin that

Her existence became

Two-dimensional

And she dreamed of

The ancient flattened

Planet Earth

A discworld where wise

Old men floated on

Even older wooden

Boats that had sails

Like baby diapers

And oars like

Orangutan arms

Sailing to the seven

Continents which all

Floated in the Green Pea

Soup sea that spread

Across the flat old

Earth

14. Foul Attitude

A Wise Old Owl really

Shouldn’t Scowl

Or Make Fowl gestures

But this One’s had enuf

Of all that Marketing

Stuff and Wants to Stuff

It Back Where it Came

From

15. Tongue-tied

Twin Twaclocytes try

To Talk about Old Times

But End Up terrifically

Tongue-tied and Fail

To Trigger any Memories

At All

16. Guffaws and Gales

A Chortlefish doesn’t

Laugh lightly but

Gives off great

Guffaws and Gales

Of Chuckles and

General Bellylaughs

17. Picky

Patricia Petunia met

Pippin Powell in Pittsburg

PA at a posh Professional

Development Seminar

For Particularly Picky

And Perfect People

Well that was what

it Purported to be

But Patricia pointed out

To Pippin that if

You were really Perfect

You shouldn’t really

Be Picky then

18. Terrifying Story

The Terrible Two

Headed Thunderbird

Could Twist its Neck

Around and Torque

Through 360° of

Tyrannical Vision

As it Terrified

The Tourists on the

Terribly Tropical

Island

19. Elastic Assistance

Billy the Busy Bee

Really wanted to Be a

Butterfly you See and

Searched endlessly for

A Plastic Surgeon who

Could Really be the one

To Make his Butter Fly

And give him

Colourful

Life

20. Easily Annoyed

Abigail Axelrod was

Annoyed at Arnold

Ames arrogant

Attitude and Always

Asked Arnold to Act

His Age and Amend

His Ways

Absolutely everything

Annoyed Abigail and

Even the Air she

Breathed wasn’t

Clean enough

At any time she

Might fulminate

About the Price

of Petrol or

Politician’s promises

And after Excoriating

These eternal easy

Targets She would

Set her sights on

More Choice game

Like Arnold

Ames

21. Yap Dog

Yvgeny asked Yvette

A very Interesting

Question which

Inquired of her little

Itty Bitty Teeny

Weeny Chihuahua

Named Ivan

Ivan was a terrible

Little dog who

Yapped constantly

Because he was

Riddled with fleas

In spite of this

Yvette truly

Loved him dearly

And fussed over him

Day and night

22. Disaster

A Moulded Metal Modern

Sculpture met a monsterous

Fate late one night

When a Group of Men

Manhandled it off of

Its mount and put

It in a van and Took it

To be Melted Down

23. Silence

There was a Remarkably

Long Silence before the

Cheesy Musical Tune

Signalled its Doom

And Suddenly a Densely

Textured Soap Opera

Began to Waft

Across the Carriage

Splashing All with its

Rise and Fall

Its Uninteresting

Characters and All

That we Victims

Didn’t Want to Know

24. The Master

The Master of the

Monastery was the

Mighty Marmaduke

Matthews who knew

More about Management

Than many

And marshalled

The monks in a

Masterful manner

Part 3 Flexibility

25. Remember

Birdfinger Bellringer

Real stinger Head hunter

Blood runner Bone eater

Neat heater Fleet beater

Sleet fighter Street nighter

Hop hipster Big nipper

26. Flaming Head

The Man with the

Flaming Hair who

Is Sitting over there

Just Arm Wrestled

A Grizzly Bear

In his Lair

So There!

27. Platter Lesson

The DJ was a very

Corpulent Peterbird

Named Percival Potter

And he Perceived that

Peerless preparation

Of the Platter was

His Key to Success

28. Lottery Chic

Luckless Luke latched

Onto his Latest

Lottery ticket and

Licked his Lips

Little realizing that

Loads of Lolly would

Leave him Feeling Low

29. Falling Drops

The Man with Television

Eyes rarely Cries

But always Dies

In a Hail of Sighs

He has seen

Every single Thing

And Still they bring

Those falling drops

Maybe he’ll go

Out one day

And see how the

Children play

30. Dress Distress

A Wild Wind Whipped at

Wilomena’s Wonderful

Wedding Dress and

Caused such Distress

That She Wailed and

Howled and Shouted

Down the Wind

31. Acquainted

Alfie the Elf King asked

Alusynia the Elf Queen

If it would Always Be so

After All that they

Had been Through

Albeit Acquainted With

The Afterlife

32. Absolutely Awesome

An Actual Artist’s

Automobile is Always

A Work of Art and

Always Absolutely

Awesome but at times

It Ardently Argues

Against Going

Anywhere

33. Another Megalopolis

A Lugubrious Layer

Of Viscous Fog lay

Around the Lower

Level of Megalopolis

Lapping up its Lucid

Contours Like Water

Leaching into Sugar

34. Such Fine Food

After Eating all of the

Artichokes Arbisnot

The Atheist Said to

Biddlesborough that

Although such Food

Made him Slow he

Would go on eating

It Endlessly

35. How to Come Across Well

Superior Sonia Swam

Each length of

The pool as if it was a

Journey to Infinity

And made it look

So easy

36. Manufactured Meat

Mr and Mrs Marzipan

Made most of their

Money by Mass

Manufacturing Meat

Pies from Dubious

Animal Parts and

Using a Salty sauce

That made it Hard

To tell Whether it

Was cat, chicken or

Opossum

Part 4 At the End of the Day

37. Windy

The Onrushing

Wicked air Makes

Wonderful Waves

By the Beautiful Beach

And each Blast

Of Wind Sends Sand

And Spray Across

The Bay

Betty and Briony

Have been here

All day and Don’t

Ever want to go

Away

38. For Your Insecurity

An Old Haunted Tree

With Roots Deep as

They can be is

Always Watching

You and Me

You See

We’ve Always

Had CCTV

Haven’t we?

39. First to Buy It

Bertie the Bucky Bug

Bustled across the

Broad Boulevard to

Be the First to Buy

The new Buzzing

Bell Barometer

With the best

Broadbumwidth

40. Weight of the World 2

The World Weary

Wanderer Finally Did

Lay his Exhausted

Frame upon a Pile

Of Rubbish Bags

And Sighed with the

Weight of his Woes

41. Flavour

Donny the Diabolical

Drug Dealer didn’t

Hesitate to Adulterate

His Deadly Dope

With Dog Hair and

Dioxide with a little

Asbestos just for

Flavour

42. Hovering Highs

Sydney was a Skeletal

Drone who Scanned

The skies with his

Two Blank Eyes and

Spied on all Who might

Defy the Authority

43. Auteur

Ignatz the Extroverted

Iguana was Interested

In directing an

Independent film and

Establishing himself

As an Astute and

Amazing Auteur

44. Looking Up

A Little Leviathan

Lying on the Bottom

Of the Lake Let his

Mind Wander and

Lackadaisically

Looked up at the Fish

That lived Nearby

45. All the Way to the Bottom

In their Extraordinary

Submarine Ebenezer

And Edimilton together

Explored the Enormous

Expanse of the Ever

Enigmatic Sargasso Sea

They went all the

Way to the bottom

Of the Sea to

See what they

Could See

Imagine their complete

Surprise to find

A world with

Fishwomen and Fishmen

And Fishchildren

And Fishteenagers

The Needed no Cars

Nor any Sordid Bars

But Enjoyed life

Promenading in

The fine Seaweed

46. Diamonds and Emeralds

Let Me See the

Jewels that Gleam

Turquoise and Topaz

Lapis Lazuli and Beryl

Diamonds Rubies Emeralds

And Garnets and Amethyst

Let Their Cheery Glow

Lift My Heart

47. Demise

All Things

As Addlepated as Ally

Was She always asked

Her Guide and Best

Friend All things and

How to Exit from

Dilemmas Painlessly

48. Wonder Why

A Sweet Dreamy

Sunset Smiles all

The While as His

Colours Light up

The Darkening Sky

And a Particle Stream

Stops to Wonder Why

It Exists

About

In addition to poetry, Gregory Edwards’ writing and photography has mainly been concerned with the theme of the urban environment, and what ornament and decoration can contribute to human spaces. Three years of such investigation resulted in his first published work: ‘Hidden Cities: Art and Design in Architectural Details of Vancouver and Victoria’. Published in 1991 by Canadian publisher Talonbooks, this extensively illustrated book won a City of Vancouver Heritage Award in 1992, and was shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award for that same year.

He began writing about mosaics in 1994 with a project supported by the Canada Council called ‘Dancing Streets.’ This study looked at the extraordinary mosaic pavements found all over Rio de Janeiro, some of them in the touristic areas, and others in places where no tourists ever go.

After completing ‘Dancing Streets’ he moved to London where he has lived, worked for over twenty years. During this time he has exhibited his photographs of Art Deco architecture on numerous occasions, and given talks about London’s Art Deco architecture. From 2006-2012 he had a website called ‘London Deco’.

In September 2014 he published the first volume of a series of ebooks: ‘London Deco: Offices’. This was the first publication dedicated to exclusively examine the city’s considerable number of Art Deco office buildings, most of them in central London. It has over three hundred photographs in it and includes sections devoted to buildings that no longer exist, and on contemporary ones which reference Art Deco.

This was followed by ‘London Deco: Residences – Part 1 Suburbia’ and some time later with ‘London Deco: Residences – Part 2 Central London’. These two ebooks effectively divided the tremendous number of Art Deco apartments – ‘blocks of flats’ to Londoners – into outer and inner segments which in turn each revolved West – North – East – South. With these two volumes a broad survey is presented, showing the many forms of Art Deco flats constructed in the Greater London area, mainly in the 1930s, but sometimes later. Like ‘London Deco: Offices’ these feature hundreds of photographs. These ebooks can be located by searching for ‘gregory edwards london deco’.

An introduction to the series called ‘London Deco: Introduction’ is available from Shakespir as a free download. As yet the three main volumes have not yet been ported over to Shakespir format.

The other activities which preoccupy Gregory Edwards are of course art and poetry, which, amongst other things have resulted in: ‘Stay Up Late’, published by Shakespir, which is a collection of science-fiction and fantasy inspired poems. Gregory is currently working on a completely new series of illustrated collections of poems. The first was called: ‘Rotten Rhymes’ which received a good response from the public, and has now been followed with ‘We’re All In the Same Boat’.

Please also check out:

---

---