The dreaded sell-by date (128)

 

                                    THE DREADED SELL-BY DATE

 

People nowadays seem

Completely paranoid

About hygiene and cleanliness

And struggle to avoid …

 

Germs in any shape or size

But what does aggravate

Is the slavish following

Of the sell-by date.

 

Our parents didn’t “google”

Or go on line, they just relied

On their senses and experience

For food that could be tried.

 

Now people check all food

For the sell by date

And if it’s only out by a day

The dustbin is its fate.

 

A supermarket can throw away

Tons of edible food a year.

No one can touch it –

It’s for landfill I fear.

 

If so many resources were not wasted,

Perhaps we would not need

Expensive and inefficient windmills

And light bulbs by which we cannot read.

 

 

September 2011

THE CLASS OF 1956

 
When I told a young acquaintance

That a school friend was coming to stay

She looked at me – and my wrinkles -

In a very puzzled way.

 

You mean you still know people

Who went to school with you?

“Yes, indeed” said I

And not just one or two.”

 

Our whole class has kept in touch

Thanks to modern communications

Even though we are now spread

Over many different nations.

 

We stayed together – never moved schools

From our first year to our last,

With friendships that transcend

Race, religion and caste.

 

How many classes have kept in touch

For sixty years# after leaving school -

Without Twitter or Facebook -

Are we the exception to the rule?

 

 

August 2013

 

#  I know it is really 57 years, but that wouldn’t scan –

 and I am sure this verse will still be relevant in 2016

 

To the Class of 1956 –

Cathedral and John Connon School.

Bombay.

DO WE WANT TO LIVE TO 100?(B.126)

 

We should all stop smoking

So the experts say,

It will shorten life – and

Wreck your health in every way.

 

Alcohol isn’t too bad

If taken in small amounts –

A glass or two of wine a week

It’s the quantity that counts.

 

Obesity is deadly it will

Ruin and shorten your life -

And try and stay relaxed

Free from stress and strife.

 

Eat plenty of fruit and veg. –

At least 5 portions a day

Plus 2 litres of water

And you should be well away.

 

Cut down on animal fats

Or your cholesterol will be high

And you will be on statins

Until the day you die.

 

Exercise is vital

For muscles, lungs and heart

To live a long and healthy life

It is an important part.

 

You follow instructions

Do everything the experts say

And you end up ancient

With one or the other big A.#

 

What is the point - you’re immobile,

Helpless and in pain.

Is it too late to take up

Booze and fags again?

 

# Alzheimer’s or Arthritis

13.6.2013

 

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