Greetings from Luang Prabang in Laos.

Since January and as we have been travelling,  I have been having fun writing screenplays, a book and some poems.  I am learning a lot and I am definitely getting better.  I love it.  I’ve learnt some new words ‘n’ that ‘n’ all like vermiculate and penumbra.  And kerfs.  Gonna use ’em.  I am thrilled that the poem, ‘Pillars’ below has been selected from a competition (which had entrants from all over the world) to be printed in a real book made out of paper and everything.  I have a proper poem boner.

Pillars

Credit to Karen at the wheel of the bus.
First familiar face.
Society steward.
The merry spirit of our morn commute;
inspiring smiles beyond the route.

Gratitude for Gregor: escalator engineer.
Vertically vital
for the flow of folk.
The unsung hero of our rise to work
lifting financier, retailer, admin clerk.

A bow to Brendan, our train trolley dolly.
Eternally chirpy.
Light on the line.
The welcome treat passing through the aisle
with a wink, a joke, no change and a smile.

Praise for Patricia, mental health nurse.
Compassionate. Key.
Curing. Assuring.
Doing for others what others cannot
Selflessly bettering the nation’s lot.

A tribute for Tony, assembly plant technician.
Cup ‘o’ tea. Competent.
Dependable. Driven.
Producing, as efficiently as he is able,
Bringing investment to the country’s table.

The drivers
The lifters
The healers
The makers

The strivers
The shifters
The wheelers
The bakers

Appreciation for us, the extra-ordinary.
The pillars. The Props.
The buck as it stops.

If you liked it, or even if you didn’t, the other poems I entered are here.