It came from the East: this huge raging beast
Shrieking through crevices of rock.
It whipped up huge waves
In mountains and swirls.
Crashed into the coast and the caves.
It churned the sea bed;
Tore the beach to a shred
Gathering shingle and stones
It spit back.
It shattered the cliffs
And gnawed at the shore
Receding …….
Then breaking once more
Rhythmically pounding
The surf ever sounding
A barrage penetrating
Your core.
Poem and photo copyright to Englepip©
” Efficiency is the ratio of useful work to resources expended. In other words, the ratio of the output to the input of a given system.”
They say steam engines were
Really inefficient.
Yet they worked and so
Were icons of their time.
Their powerful engines hissed
As their gliding pistons swished
And the big wheels steadily turned
Upon the line.
Journeying far ‘cross country
Along parallel lines of track
Their smokestacks burning brightly
There and back.
Generations mourn their passing
And old engines they have rescued
Recombining, reassembling
All from the scrap.
They hammer and they chisel
Blacksmithing with a sizzle
Engineering perfect pieces
Of great size.
And when the engine’s finished
They admire her in her glory
Resurrected into power
To run once more.
Then the new steam comes a-fizzing,
From the smoke-stack wildly hissing
And along the lines it’s whizzing
Inefficient maybe yes.
But do we care?
For that old engine it is running
And faithfully it is pulling
Is it not a most amazing sight to see?
And to smell the soot and grime
Feel the rhythm of the line
Is a special thing for all,
Especially me.
Poem and photo copyright to Englepip©
Photo by Englepip of the Jazz collection at the American Museum near Bath, UK©
The skirts lifted, the chests flattened
What was happening all over?
But bands swaying, dancers swivelling
That’s the way it was going.
Rhythms changing, the steps crazy
Bodies flirting and dancing dirty
Flapper dancing was all the fashion
Back then.
Englepip's World 