BITESIZE POEMS by John Pemberton

ARGUMENTATION

2011-08-08T17:43:00.002+01:00

When two who argue can't banish their plight,
Say both can be wrong and both can be right.

PESTS

2011-01-30T15:34:00.002Z

So many people turn out to be pests,
We wonder if we're as bad as the rest.

TRIVIA

2011-01-20T19:31:00.000Z

Small things amuse the younger mind;
With growing age importance reigns.
Small wonder that the sage disdains
The trifles that consume mankind.

FAIR BET

2011-01-12T19:20:00.000Z

Horses don’t know folk bet on who’s best.
Learning this truth, and duly incensed,
They’d finish the race in line abreast!

BLABBING

2010-12-28T16:59:00.001Z

Foreknowledge denies
A pleasant surprise.

BIRDS

2010-12-27T17:26:00.003Z

To visit the Bird Poems collection click here.

CONTEXTUAL PROTEST

2010-12-21T13:32:00.005Z

Taking quotations way out of context
May generate a measure of protest.

THE SCROUNGER'S MANTRA

2010-12-21T13:31:00.002Z

The mantra for scroungers endorses their plan:
Wherever you are, cadge as much as you can.

RELIABILITY

2010-12-21T13:23:00.003Z

A persion’s pious reliability
Will likely hike their desirability.

COMEDIANS

2010-12-21T13:21:00.003Z

Comedians convert
Our frowns into mirth.

FACIAL INTRUSION

2010-12-21T13:17:00.002Z

The jerk who invented shaving men’s faces
Deserves a place in the book of disgraces.

THRIFT

2010-12-21T13:12:00.002Z

Thrift’s a pink flower that grows on cliff tops
And gives a big hint to folk on the rocks.

WEATHER DEBATE

2010-12-21T13:10:00.001Z

Once released from the grip of night time’s tether,
The English debate the state of the weather.

HASTY LADY CYCLIST

2010-12-21T13:08:00.001Z

She sat on a saddle as wide as a chair,
But flew down the hills on a wing and a prayer.

TRAILER BABY

2010-12-21T13:06:00.001Z

Towing a trailer with baby inside
Isn’t a chore, more a matter of pride.

OVERCAST

2010-12-21T13:05:00.001Z

Apply the bike’s brake that stops the front wheel
And receive a scar that’s hard to conceal.

PASSENGER PLEASURE

2010-12-21T13:04:00.002Z

A bicycle’s passenger earns the pleasure
Of keeping in trim, whatever the weather.

FANTASY

2010-12-21T12:59:00.001Z

He reckons to be both older and wiser;
The records agree he’s a fantasizer.

THE DONE THING

2010-12-21T12:57:00.001Z

The done thing’s an act we happily sanction;
The dumb thing provokes a hapless reaction.

ADVANCING LANGUAGE

2010-12-21T12:53:00.001Z

‘Omigod’ shows how language advances,
Combining words to suit our own fancies.

CRICKET TO COME

2010-12-21T12:49:00.001Z

Conceive what tomorrow’s umpire befalls:
Intelligent wickets and talking balls.

CANINE IMPATIENCE

2010-12-21T12:45:00.003Z

A pooch on its leash sits in restless impatience,
Its preference patently peregrinatious.

HELPFUL MISTAKES

2010-12-21T12:41:00.002Z

Making mistakes can frequently prove
The simplest way to help you improve.

BICYCLES REIGN

2010-12-21T12:36:00.002Z

For enjoyment and health the cyclist maintains
The motor car tries, but the bicycle reigns.

PRODIGALITY

2010-12-21T12:34:00.002Z

The prodigal vagrant, on pleasures intent,
Returned both with wealth and his health overspent.

APOLLO'S WORTH

2010-12-21T12:31:00.001Z

Among other features displaying its worth,
Apollo 8 showed us the frailty of Earth.

BORING TRAWLING

2010-12-21T12:28:00.001Z

Much of telly is patently boring,
Mostly stemming from archival trawling.

JETSKIS

2010-12-20T19:34:00.001Z

Respectively noisy and looking real silly,
Jetskis compare to a toad on a lily.

TELLY ADS

2010-12-20T19:30:00.001Z

They speak their adverts in silly flat voices,
Ensuring viewers don’t take any notice.

PUBBING

2010-12-20T19:17:00.002Z

Where Friday night pubbing can lead to a brawl,
You need to be keeping away from it all.

BITCHING

2010-12-20T19:15:00.002Z

No matter how all the bitching began,
It certainly ain’t no place for a man.

MUDDY WATER

2010-12-20T19:13:00.002Z

When everything’s shipshape and neatly in order,
Some nitwit will leap in and muddy the water.

PLEASANTEST VICE

2010-12-20T19:11:00.001Z

Among the temptations that daily entice,
The hardest to shun is one’s pleasantest vice.

SEASIDE DELIGHTS

2010-12-20T18:26:00.002Z

Beside all the pleasures the seaside claims
Are screaming seagulls and low aeroplanes.

SCANDALOUS ACTIONS

2010-12-20T18:24:00.001Z

Scandalous actions dismay the spectator;
Untroubled remains their perpetrator

COMPLAINING

2010-12-20T18:22:00.001Z

There’s no point in complaining
Just because it starts raining.

ELECTRIC TAIL

2010-12-20T18:19:00.001Z

Old fluffy-tail, seeking the acorns’ location,
Recharges the garden’s electrification.

A CHOICE OF WEATHER

2010-12-20T18:07:00.002Z

Sunshine at Christmas and snowflakes in June
Suggest that the weather can choose its own tune.

CRAMPON TIME

2010-12-20T18:06:00.002Z

When ice occurs after earlier rain,
A vertical stance is hard to maintain.

BAD DABS

2010-12-20T18:04:00.001Z

No artist can alter their watercolours:
Additional dabs won’t blend with the others.

MONSTER GOLFER

2010-12-20T18:02:00.001Z

The golfer’s a monster on constant patrols
Who hits little balls into innocent holes.

TREASURE ALBUM

2010-12-20T17:54:00.003Z

The mind is an album with pictures replete,
Each image a treasure one couldn’t repeat.

NEIGHBOURLY KINDNESS

2010-12-20T17:49:00.002Z

Bless the kind neighbours whose place is adjacent;
About your well-being, they don’t rest complacent.

GOVERNING BRITAIN

2010-12-20T17:35:00.001Z

Governing multicultural Britain
Means retreating from ancient tradition.

LEAD AND FEATHER

2010-12-20T17:32:00.001Z

A morcel of lead and a like-weighing feather
Released side-by-side would make landfall together.

TELEBRITY

2010-08-23T17:35:00.001+01:00

Embraced by celebrity’s wider reach,
Telebrities populate TV’s niche.

GRATIFICATION

2010-08-16T15:33:00.001+01:00

Don’t hasten to shorten anticipation:
Delay increases your gratification.

CALCULATORS

2010-05-24T13:53:00.001+01:00

Hand calculators ought to be banned
Till mental maths is well in command.

SHOWERS FOR HOURS

2010-05-22T18:59:00.001+01:00

Using his-and-hers showers
Entertains them for hours.

JESTING

2010-05-22T18:56:00.001+01:00

Since the days of the lute, the jester still thrives
On the happy pursuit of brightening our lives.

TENETS

2010-05-22T18:52:00.001+01:00

Unprincipled people tend to ignore
The principal tenets of common law.

PIVOTAL MOMENT

2010-05-22T18:49:00.001+01:00

A pivotal moment can open our eyes
To envisage a scene where our future lies.

VACUUM CLEANER

2010-05-22T18:43:00.001+01:00

Devoid of all matter, a vacuum’s arena,
Above any other, will turn out the cleaner.

PEDANTRY

2010-05-22T18:37:00.001+01:00

Immersed in concerns to the utmost degree,
The pedant relieves us of stress we don’t need.

PICTURE POSTCARDS

2010-05-22T18:33:00.001+01:00

Picture postcards we send, and those we receive,
Forever show skies we can hardly believe.

WAYS AHEAD

2010-05-22T18:30:00.001+01:00

‘Incremental’ advances with regular strides,
‘Incidental’ on risky hitchhiking relies.

STRANDS

2010-05-22T18:25:00.001+01:00

What is it makes people recolour their hair?
It ranges from folly through fame to despair.

OVER AND UNDER

2010-05-22T13:56:00.001+01:00

Overestimation’s an error we make,
And underperformance the causal mistake.

PRESSURE OF PROGRESS

2010-05-22T13:40:00.003+01:00

The pleasure of knitting is slipping away;
The pressure of progress is hard to gainsay.

PLOTLESS AND WITLESS

2010-05-22T13:35:00.001+01:00

Her latest novel was so uninspiring
Even the characters started expiring.

SUNSEEKER

2010-05-22T13:28:00.001+01:00

She flopped on the sand where the sea didn’t reach,
Like a flipperless seal hauled up on a beach.

DIPHTHONG

2010-05-22T13:18:00.002+01:00

Whenever two vowels merge into one,
The life of a diphthong has just begun.

REAL ESTATE

2010-05-22T13:14:00.001+01:00

That real estate dwelling, the surface of Earth,
Was offered as waters surrounded by turf.

FLAWS

2010-05-22T13:00:00.002+01:00

Theories and diamonds are prone to be flawed,
And flaws are conditions that can’t be ignored.

INDISCRETION

2010-05-14T19:04:00.001+01:00

A modicum of indiscretion
Lends a lady extra attraction.

HABITS

2010-05-14T17:35:00.001+01:00

Habits are something you don’t have to buy,
You simply acquire them as time slips by.

HEAD OVER HEART

2010-05-14T17:29:00.003+01:00

The young executive, dressed for the part,
Trusts to his head to temper his heart.

THE WAY THINGS ARE

2010-05-14T17:26:00.001+01:00

It’s easy to say ‘that’s the way things are,’
Making them better is harder by far.

TO SUE

2010-05-10T18:32:00.001+01:00

Each year I watch you blossom anew;
Daughters don’t come more precious than you.

ARTIFICIALITY

2010-05-10T18:19:00.001+01:00

Artificial this, and ersatz for that;
Next we’ll be fixing fake fur on the cat.

THE YOUNG ARCHAEOLOGIST

2010-05-10T18:16:00.001+01:00

She found her scraping exasperating:
It only spared time for carbon dating.

ACTION

2010-05-10T18:07:00.001+01:00

Follow the lead of the first of the few:
Always take action when action is due.

BRIDGES

2010-05-10T18:06:00.001+01:00

Bridges are built for linking two sides;
The finest will vaunt their stature besides.

PROCLIVITIES

2010-05-10T17:59:00.001+01:00

Those persons who share a certain proclivity
Incline to aim for its furthest extremity.

DISCUSSION

2010-05-10T17:58:00.001+01:00

Discussion is mostly more calm than debate
Unless, in the former, things start to inflate.

SHARED PRIDE

2010-05-10T17:11:00.001+01:00

Not one to admonish the pupils who tried,
He later was able to share in their pride.

ELECTORAL FROTH

2010-05-10T17:06:00.001+01:00

Drop the orations, the lies and the froth;
Stop the elections, I want to get off.

OPINIONS' ORIGINS

2010-05-10T17:01:00.001+01:00

The stuff of which our opinions are made
Is the fund of thoughts our brains have conveyed.

THE WORLD UNFURLED

2010-05-10T16:58:00.001+01:00

Like leaves on a tree when neatly unfurled,
Each of us lives in our own little world.

APPLICATIONS

2010-05-10T16:48:00.001+01:00

Making applications for this thing or that
Means you’ll need the patience of Thomas the cat.

ODD COMMENT

2010-05-10T16:42:00.001+01:00

To believe a comment you’ve just overheard
Is unrealistic and, frankly, absurd.

DECIMAL POINT

2010-05-10T16:38:00.002+01:00

When deducing the root of a big mistake,
The decimal dot has its own point to make.

MOTORMOUTH

2010-05-10T16:37:00.001+01:00

A motormouth isn’t only loquacious,
His speed of speaking is simply outrageous.

MONEY MATTERS

2010-05-10T16:21:00.001+01:00

A pecuniary setback makes most people flinch,
A reaction that lasts while they’re feeling the pinch.

PEER GROUP

2010-05-10T16:14:00.001+01:00

A regular peer group, from various trades,
Collects to view birds through their optical aids.

FLUSH

2010-05-10T16:09:00.003+01:00

A fortunate person with money to spare
Might buy a replacement and shun a repair.

OBTUSENESS

2010-05-10T16:04:00.003+01:00

Irritation rises when someone’s obtuse,
Especially when there’s no obvious excuse.

EXTRADITION

2010-04-27T19:40:00.001+01:00

Extradition takes crooks who’ve dodged doing time
And shuttles them back to the scene of the crime.

RHETORIC

2010-04-27T19:37:00.001+01:00

Rhetorical language won’t let you digress,
Its intention is choosing words that impress.

DOMINANT THEME

2010-04-27T19:35:00.001+01:00

The dominant theme in a piece of music
May lead to the need of an analgesic.

MANICURE

2010-04-27T19:29:00.001+01:00

Trimming your nails, both fingers and toes,
Satisfies more than you might suppose.

CONFUSION

2010-04-27T19:28:00.001+01:00

What can emerge from a state of confusion
Is someone who spots a simple conclusion.

HAVING IT OUT

2010-04-27T19:23:00.001+01:00

Having it out with a difficult person,
In truth you’re releasing a pent-up aversion.

ALTERNATIVES

2010-04-27T19:20:00.001+01:00

Options are bound to put pressures on you;
Often it’s best to be told what to do.

DROP-DEAD EFFECT

2010-04-27T19:16:00.001+01:00

If one’s drop-dead gorgeous and both are alive,
Which one of those mortals expects to survive?

SEGREGATION

2010-04-27T19:13:00.001+01:00

Girlfriends are one thing and wives another:
They segregate into playmate and mother.

OUT AND OUT

2010-04-27T19:09:00.001+01:00

Saying ‘out and out’ sounds like mere repetition;
What it’s come to mean is ‘beyond competition.’

LONER

2010-04-27T19:04:00.001+01:00

Discreetly informed he was out on a limb,
He reformed himself and mixed more with his kin.

SAFETY

2010-04-27T19:01:00.001+01:00

If safety comes first, then what comes second?
Keeping alert deserves to be reckoned.

SCOUTS

2010-04-27T18:57:00.002+01:00

The Chief would wager that very few scouts
Would gain the status of fully fledged louts.