Elephant Small
Vol 1
Stanski
Copyright©2013 Stanski
Crawling Distance
In Decline
The Night Jasmine
The Fourth Millennium
Hotel 27
A Fetish For Frustration
Cover photo © Stanski
Elephant Small
Vol 1
Contents
1. Fantastic Journey
2. Love Song
3. A Pack Of Cigs, A Pack Of Lies, And A Barrel Of Fun
4. Mirror, Mirror
5. Dream
6. The Fat Side Of The Ocean
7. Because Of Mum
8. Finding Our Voices
9. Not Cricket
10. Manchester (La la la)
11. Rough Riff Demo From Vapo… Where?
12. There’s Only One
13. S O L D O U T – Due To Diminished Responsibility
14. North/South Divide II
15 Seven Ages Of Man
16. Karma Coma
17. LSD
18. Fair Weather Friends
19. More Speed, Less Haste
20. The Bottom Line
21. No Future
22. Denial
23. Triolet – Time
24. You’ll Live Forever In My Heart And Mind
25. A Life Of Convenience
26. Wheels
27. Forgiven, Forgotten
28. Idealists
29. Operation
30. Acceptance: First Draft
31. Diamond Day
32. From Father To Son
33. Cultivating Confidence In Shrinking Violets
34. More To Life
35. Subjective Subjunctive
36. TheTime Of Our Life
37. It’s Up To You
38. Foreign Currency?
39. Gratitude
40. Declaration Of Dependence
About The Author
1. Fantastic Journey
The terminal; workstation
The writer’s frustration
Awaiting thought's arrival
En route to survival
Deprived of sleep
Deadlines to keep
He's one of the toilers
The midnight oilers
Twitching and dribbling
Waking and scribbling
Fragmented dreams
Condense, become themes
Forming the seams
The robust beams
That support continuity
Inspire ingenuity
Ensuring lucidity
Correcting stupidity
Perfecting the presentation
For the reader's imagination
To board transportation
Journey to a destination
Unlike any other:
The world of the lover;
Deceivers outwitted;
Crimes committed;
Nations at war;
An open door
To welcome the Aliens;
Clean-bowl the Australians;
Find ancient pottery;
Win the national lottery;
Whatever your fantasy
Just take a glance and see
Or read between the lines
Enter the field of mines
That when exploded
You'll find are loaded
With all the devices
The virtues, the vices
That expand the mind
Allow you to find
The knowledge you seek
On your quest for the unique
2. Love Song
Is our love just about romance and sex?
Or is there something else that goes with it?
Heartbreak, disappointment, for a start
Hardship, difficulty, things that don’t fit
Frustration is another obstacle
Fashion trends, a characteristic
Other people’s inappropriateness
And opinions are never realistic
Hazards, such as taking things too far
Too fast, will lead to emptiness and doubt
‘Wham bam, thank-you ma’am’, that’s not for me
I’d rather pass it by and go without
But when I only loved you from afar
Afraid my love was futile, unrequited
It must be you who were blind, and not just love
Reciprocated love got me excited
I wouldn’t take the time to self-assess.
The questions that are always on my mind
Wouldn’t see the light of day, if I cared less
3. A Pack of Cigs, A Pack of Lies,
And A Barrel Of Fun
Was it the same, when you were young?
You had to be the correct age
To do the things you wanted to do
Didn’t it just fill you with rage?
Like going to the match, you’d think
You just turn up, support your team
But even simple things in life
Are not as easy as they seem
Queuing up to get in the ground
The click of the turnstiles beckon
You only want to see the game
Not as simple as you reckon
At seventeen, with baby face
I only want to pay half fare
So I queue up with the juniors
It was cheating, but who’s to care?
A pack of cigs in my pocket
Inside the gate, police are perched
I thought I knew what I should say
When it was my turn to be searched
“What’s all this then? How old are you?”
The copper asked me, to my face
“I’m just sixteen,” I lied to him
“I’ve a dilemma, in that case
Do you want to lose the ciggies?
Or go next door and pay full price?”
He had me, bang to rights, of course
“I’m only fourteen” I rolled the dice
He tossed the packet on a pile
It must have been a metre high
Hundreds of other ‘kids’ caught out
Not the only one then, was I?
Going home, we all took the bus
An inspector got on to check
All the passengers had tickets
I was sitting on the top deck
Armed with a double agenda
He took my ticket in his hand
And asked me, “Son, how old are you?”
“Fifteen,” I lied; he took a stand
He said “So when’s your birthday, son?”
I told him “May the fifteenth, sir”
At least I’d given him the right date
But he wanted to know “What year?”
By now, everyone was staring
But I just looked him in the eye
And with a grin, told him the truth
“It’s every year, until I die”
The sad inspector didn’t smile
He just continued with his job
And said; no hint of irony
“Show me the proof, or shut your gob”
When we were young, we only wished
We could be older, more clever
But the fun we had pretending
Will live in our minds forever
Now we’re older, wiser, closer
To drawing our old age pension
We wish we weren’t ‘a certain age’
That number we never mention
4. Mirror, Mirror
There is a well-known saying
You must have heard it
“If you really wa
nt to know
Look in the mirror”
But mirrors are confusing
Left is on the right
Is it all the wrong way round?
Are we to assume
Opposites do not attract?
And does ‘yes’ mean ‘no’?
Is something wrong really right?
Is bad really good?
They never make me look slim
Athletic, handsome
So they seem to have that right
Much to my distress
But something I need to know
Not just me, I’m sure
If images are back to front
Does the same apply
To everything? What about
The lies they don’t tell?
5. Dream
Recollections of a place
Open country; open range
Given to me by God’s grace
Sleep induced reminders; how strange
Memory’s pleasant neighbourhood
Open doors and open hearts
The safety of my childhood
The point at which nostalgia starts
Beautiful environment
Open minds and open fires
Security, enchantment
A fusion of dreams and desires
Tranquillity all around
Open eyes and open arms
Comfortable, soothing sound
Reverie dismisses all qualms
Living luxury landscape
Open fields and open skies
Such a relaxing escape
A way of life that never dies
Everything; thought provoking
Open reason; open rhyme
Feel-good factor evoking
The adventure of a night-time
6. The Fat Side Of The Ocean
They tell me that the ocean
In fact, it’s cold and deep as well
But everyone knows that
But what about the ocean
That Mermaids sing about?
It’s unlike any other one
Of that, I have no doubt
I don’t mean the Atlantic
Pacific, or the rest
This ocean that I know about
Is neither East nor West
This ocean has a FAT side
And not just ‘near and far’
But which side do you mean, my son?
Can we get there by car?
The FAT side of this ocean
Accessible by boat
Is ninety million miles away
Space travellers take note!
The sun is slightly further
If you go the other way
It takes no time to reach this place
But you can’t go there by day
I went there, once, at bedtime
And swam from shore to shore
The strangest fish I’d ever seen
Directed me, and more
A Mermaid swam before them
And led them with her song
She had a soft and gentle voice
That carried through the throng
She sang of the ocean’s FAT side
Explaining to the Earth
That ocean’s only get this FAT
In order to give birth
The FAT side of the ocean
Came into view at dawn
With one last heave, one final push
A brand new DAY was born
7. Because of Mum
I was small,
Having a ball;
Learning things
That growing brings
To all kids,
Making their bids
In their lives;
The over five’s.
Thanks to Mum
I could become
A hero;
Someone to know.
I remember
One September
In the park,
Making my mark.
Not at first,
I was the worst;
Small and scared,
Just not prepared.
Six years old,
It felt so cold.
Mum close by
Lit up the sky.
Mother said
“Don’t be afraid
Don’t be scared.”
She always cared.
Reaching out
I had to shout
“Give me hope!”
I couldn’t cope.
It was just
A case of trust,
Confidence;
Need of patience
Instead I
Began to cry.
Mum was near,
Dispelling fear.
Typical;
Theatrical;
That was me;
A big baby.
“Try again
There’ll be no pain,
Only joy;
You’re a big boy.”
Melody;
A symphony
In my ears,
Despite my tears.
With a smile,
After a while
Courage came.
She called my name.
“Get through it;
You can do it.
Just be brave;
It’s what you crave.”
Always right,
Just like at night,
In my bed;
My dreams were fed.
“Now you know;
I told you so.
Now you’ll like
Riding your bike.”
Filled with pride,
I used to ride
Every day,
And in my way
I thanked her;
Gave her laughter.
Not a word,
But she still heard.
She’d cured me;
Made me happy.
Saddle sore,
I cried no more.
8. Finding Our Voices
Public speaking was not my strength
My vocals refused to carry
I coaxed my chords until, at length
Pitch and Tone agreed to marry
At the top of my voice, I felt
I sounded like somebody else
But I shouted out loud to see
If people would listen to me
I couldn’t believe the effect
As the words issued from my lips
Despite all the rises and dips
Though I had nothing fresh to say
A new dimension to my range
The reaction was rather strange
Had they felt intimidated,
Provided the correct response,
Because they felt obliged to act?
Or was it imagination?
Quietly, I dwelt on the fact;
It’s all in the presentation
So
Why do you take sincerity so negatively?
Is it just insecurity?
Or
do you do what you do for your desired reaction?
If that’s the case, here it is;
nice!
Inspired by encouragement, go ahead, give us more.
Try to make it ‘nice’, like last time,
please.
Now we have your attention, try to understand us.
It’s the things you do that inspire,
so
we find we have to state the thoughts they provoke in us,
but you seem to want only praise.
Why?
Praise and platitude, as close as brother and sister;
pay a visit to their cousin;
truth.
If we’re making this concept hard for you to swallow,
chew it over, then swallow your
pride.
Don’t you know, every thought, every word, every action
you perform, displays a wisdom
rare?
You
r actions, especially, speak louder than mere words.
Please allow the words we use, their
voice.
9. Not Cricket
It knows no boundaries
The scoreboard’s straight forward
Concentrated action
Beginning to end
It’s like a religion
All over the country
Services celebrated
Every weekend
It’s never over
But it’s often wide
It’s played on a pitch
Eleven a side
Fours are quite common
Sixes are rare
Singles more often
Sometimes a pair
It’s not called ‘Not Cricket’
It has its own name
More grave than life or death
It’s a funny old game
You guessed it, it’s Football
Not 'soccer' or 'ball'
It’s man-made, in England
Supported by all
10. Manchester (La La La)
The only team in Manchester
Played in the FA Cup
One year, when I was just a lad
And bothered turning up
The third round draw took us away
To dodgy London Town
Playing against Watford
Not exactly the jewel in the crown
The local boys from ‘MCD’
Were CITY, through and through
They hired a dodgy mini-bus
From Dodgy Dave, a blue
It took us hours to make the trip
Through deep, mid-winter snow
Johnny ‘Nesh’, complained all the way
Did he really want to go?
The Beech Road Boys were there in force
At least a dozen strong
“You must have come in a taxi!”
They taunted, with their song
It was in the days of standing
The terraces were full
Of CITY boys, who made more noise
The ‘home’ fans sounded dull
The ‘home’ fans were confined to seats
As CITY took the ground
Three sides went up as CITY scored
One never made a sound
And when the final whistle blew
One goal had stolen the show
And those ten thousand CITY fans
Returned home in the snow
11. Rough Riff Demo From Vapo…Where?
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