THE QUEEN HAS ONE, SO DO I!

JOE'S SPEECH

Looking back,

there were decisions I should not have made,

there were decisions I should have made,

things I should not have said,

things I should have said,

people I should have forgotten,

people I should have remembered,

situations I should have avoided,

situations I should have arranged,

jobs I should have abandoned,

jobs I should have done.

But in the end, what difference does it make?

We will all burn out, as sure as the sun will.

In time we will succumb and disappear,

for we are what we are in life for good or ill.

Looking forward,

there will be decisions I will not make,

there will be decisions I will make,

things I will not say,

things I will say,

people I will forget,

people I will remember,

situations I will avoid,

situations I will arrange,

jobs I will abandon,

jobs I will do.

And at the end of this year, what will be different?

Will I write the same words, think the same thoughts?

Write a summary poem exactly like this.....will not.....will.....?

Be someone else or be the same man?

We are what we are in life for good or ill.

Life, the rough, the smooth,

the pleasure, the pain,

bring on 2018,

for off we go again..............

A link to another post on this blog highlighting some of the pleasures enjoyed by my eyes and ears https://droppedthemoon.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/2017-blog-links-to-reviews-of-n-irish.html

Beyond family including the wonderful Joseph Campbell Higgins, just over one-year-old, I am indebted to two very important people in my writing efforts – Damian Smyth at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Gail Walker, Editor of the Belfast Telegraph. A few other people have shown an interest in my writing and supported it, and I thank them enormously.

My unsung hero of the year - a checkout operator called Maureen in my local Sainsbury's. She is quietly-spoken, friendly and helpful with impeccable manners ....... and she doesn't call me 'sweetheart' (the irritating service word of the moment, alongside 'enjoy').

The most depressing sights and sounds of 2017 all feature the Trump fella.

The best day of the year was when my son David married Stevi-Ann, amongst a great crowd of guests on 26 August in London.

The joyous moments included a regular run of photographs (supplied by my sister "Granny" Geraldine, rightly gooey over her first grandchild) of the aforementioned Joseph Campbell Higgins who turned one-year-old. His smiles lift the spirits.

Happy 2018 folks. You – nay, we deserve more joy.