Mice
“When the cat’s away, the mice …”
they said, with a knowing wink, but
there was no play and you left me
with an emptiness I couldn’t fill.
It was our daughter’s fourth birthday.
She and I baked a cake, though to tell
the truth, I did little more than watch
and all encouragement from the side
-lines. So competent, she was, I called
her ‘Mother Two’ when she told me to
do all the things she wanted me to do.
Her cake turned out fine. She used
a whole packet of icing sugar, layered
so thick there was more icing than cake.
It was just a bit liquid too, and we could
not be bothered to wait until it cooled.
Drinking hot tea, munching a slice of
her birthday cake, I sang a line or two
of Happy Birthday and then fell silent
as I wondered what you would be doing.
Later, we fed tiny cake crumbs to the dogs
who sat there, begging, not wanting their
own food, drooling, missing you, just like us,
and all of us waiting for you to come home.
rogermoorepoet 
And all of us waiting for u to come home.nice line.amen.
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Indeed: we are still a close-knit family … and we miss each other when we are apart. Going now … I’ll be back later.
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True..
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You get inspired when Claire is away, in a hopeless kind of way. I am the very same, I need to be looked after, useless on my own.
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A great many men are like that: great big babies. Most of us are too manly to admit it. Some of us, the best, just baby up.
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I just fess up really
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That’s the Surrealist in you: when you expose those deep interior / ulterior speculations and motives, there’s not much else to hide away.
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I think I have a good awareness of my self both the overt and the latent… up to a point.
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Not me: I don’t have a clue who I am. “Know yourself”: ha!
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Well I would subscribe to the whole identity is a construct school of thought.
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At another level, did you watch France / Scotland today? I saw it (in French) on the Quebec channel. Almost as good as England / Wales yesterday.
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I only saw the Ireland game which was a poor game as I was working and very busy unfortunately
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A rout, by any other name. Nine tries. Makes a mockery of the previous week.
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Italy is very poor, not sure what they bring to the table lately.
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Room for Russia and Georgia, surely? Les huit nations? I don’t see it happening. Two pools of four with a playoff?
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I don’t see it happening but the Italian clubs are struggling and I am not sure it has caught on.
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I think you are right about that. Also no (or fewer) imports from the bigger rugby playing nations, mostly commonwealth.
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That is a point indeed
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I am not so sure that Italy is so very poor. I think the advance in the other five teams is just so much more marked: fitness, bench depth, size, professionalism, tactics … etc.
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Very sweet and brings back lots of good memories with my children…
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Thanks, Tanya. This is a Golden Oldie and one of my Happy Poems. I can’t remember now why Clare was away: judging gymnastics, I think.
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I hope you managed to see the England -Wales game today… A nervous treat!
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I left at 16-11 for another call … I was watching on Skype. Brutal. That is the sort of win / loss I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I thought Moriarty was ‘lucky’ to get away with a couple of ‘hits’ … I hesitate to call them ‘tackles’ … especially the late one on Owen Farrell … two steps, if not three, before the ‘crump’ … England under EJ are the real thing … it’s not easy to win ‘ugly’ … yet they have done it twice … I wish we wouldn’t send the Lions to NZ to strengthen the ABs before the World Cup …
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I was glad when Moriarty went off – the Welsh backrow were in the ascendant until he departed. When Biggar intercepted on the Welsh line on 64 mins and went the length of the pitch, I thought that was game over… This team are definitely the real deal, even without Vunipola and Robshaw… And as for the Lions, I don’t think a 6N has looked this strong (notable exception of Italy) in a long time – we should be travelling down to win. If EJ were coach, he’d be targeting 3-0!
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I am not sure if it was the departure of Moriarty or the arrival of Haskell: the two events were pretty close. I didn’t think the trio Itoje / Hughes / Clifford were a match for the Welsh trio. 8/1 in turnovers, think it was. England kept going in with the ball and Wales kept coming out with it: strip city! France / Scotland today should be good. I’ll get it in French from TVCinq out of Quebec.
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I wasn’t impressed with Clifford, thought Hughes was very one-note (run straight, bash two yards), and Itoje lost some impact moving to the back row. I’m not convinced about Haskell’s impact on this one – after one big hit he was noticeably holding his shoulder, and went shy for the next five mins at least.
I am looking forward to today’s game. Am hoping for a Scottish upset… Crazy times! Wonder how the French commentary would handle that 🙂
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Today’s game should be a double marker: how far the French have developed under Noves and are the Scots the real thing? By extension, we should see the parallels with the English game last week. Winning ugly: England are beginning to make a habit of it. Hughes was very upright in contact, lost possession because of it. You’re right about Haskell: a one hit man.
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