Three men on a blog: First (past the?) post

First (past the?) post

I haven't been able to think of anything to write here as yet, so in the meantime I have dug up something from a while ago. Here are some rhymes I wrote back in January, originally posted on my personal blog. Anyone familiar with the Greek Anthology will recognise what inspired the first two rhymes. The third of these rhymes stems from my ever-present desire for a brisk, honest, dawn-till-dusk sort of lifestyle, a lifestyle I never seem to achieve, partly because the novelty soon turns into a burden.

Anyway, here are the rhymes:

Horseradish and roasted beef
make a succulent main course.
Yet I've never had, much to my grief,
beefradish and roasted horse.

---

2

Mango chutney and cranberry sauce
go well with almost anything.
Yet mixed together the taste is coarse;
the tongue recoiled in suffering.

---

3

"Early to bed and early to rise"
The morning alarm came as no great surprise;
Its regular beeps allaying my fears,
its unchanging tones, music to my ears.

For many a month I'd awoke at this hour;
leaping from bed, standing tall as a tower.
It invoked neither dread nor forlorn
starting my schedule way before dawn.

The shackles of bed had been lain to the side.
The time on the clock face filled me with pride.
From the streets not a whisper, not even a creep,
as the rest of the world was still fast asleep.

"Poor fools" thought I, for free of haste
they do not realise the time they waste!
These twilight hours so crisp and pure,
they are a pleasure to endure.

But one night I had trouble dozing off
for I had in my chest the most challenging cough.
The more I held in the worse it became,
but I managed to get to sleep all the same.

But I awoke again halfway through night;
my throat was wheezy, my lungs were tight.
I lay there in impotent despair:
I was neither here nor there.

For the next few hours, I am unsure,
whether I managed to dream or snore.
All that I know is that I was in bed,
with a dizzy fatigue running through my head.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" went the manic alarm!
I raised my finger and lifted my arm.
"Off!" I gasped. It would not stop.
My weary eyes began to drop.

For a moment the noises stopped.
I sighed, then smiled, and off I dropped
back to sleep, that dull sensation,
the alarm having halted its vibration.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" there it goes once more!
The numbers now read five past four.
"No, let me rest!", I screamed inside.
I turned away, as if to hide.

In desperation I closed by eyes
to find some sort of compromise.
Yet all I heard were the fanatical cries:
"Early to bed and early to rise!"

---

On a separate note (and to make the blog post title slightly more pertinent), Thirsk and Malton, a parliamentary constituency in North Yorkshire, are holding their 'general election' today, the original poll having been delayed three weeks there due to the death of the UKIP candidate. For those wondering, the rules state that such elections are delayed only if a party candidate dies, as the party has the right to find a replacement. If an independent candidate dies, however, there is no such delay.

I'm going to predict the result.

2005 Figures
CON: 52%
LAB: 23%
LIB: 19%
OTH: 6%

My (possibly) naive prediction is as follows
CON: 56%
LIB: 19%
LAB: 18%
OTH: 7%
(note Lib and Lab swapping around)

With a sharply reduced turnout (as tends to happen in postponed elections) I suspect total vote figures around these marks:

CON: 19,500
LIB: 7,000
LAB: 6,500
OTH: 2,500

Of course, I may be completely wrong.

First (past the?) post

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