Christmas for Beginners - Carole Matthews Page 0,131

my mouth and down the back of my coat. Matt and Lucas roll on the ground, grappling together, and rubbing snow into each other’s face. Their joyous guffaws fill the night air.

I don’t know what the coming year might bring for me, for Lucas and for all of us at Hope Farm, but I’m sure that along the way there’ll be a lot of love and even more laughter. I just need to open my heart, throw wide my arms and embrace whatever comes next.

Talented poet, Paul Eccentric, one half of the comedy performance act, The Antipoet, created these poems for Lucas in my previous novel about Hope Farm, Happiness for Beginners, and I thought it would be nice if you could enjoy them again.

For further information on his work, pop along and have a look at www.pauleccentric.co.uk.

Without You

It still goes on without you;

life still goes on for me,

it’ll never be the same, though;

not how it’s meant to be.

They tell me it gets easier

with every passing day,

but how could I accept that cancer stole my mum away?

It still goes on without you;

life still goes on for us,

but it’s a lacklustre alternative,

and ever will be thus,

without you here to guide me;

I won’t know what to do,

without you here beside me:

on hand to help me through.

Life still goes on without you;

it still goes on for those,

who kill and maim and terrorise,

because that’s just how it goes!

Life goes on without you,

and I’ll do the best I can;

I just wish you could have stayed around ’til I was an old man.

Secrets ‘n’ Lies

Who are you?

C’mon an’ show me who ya are!

Is anything f’real,

Mr TV star?

Action!

Reaction!

Time t’pour out

y’heart,

but how’m I t’know

what’s y’life and what’s ya art?

Cards on the table:

time t’bare your soul,

but when you lie for a living,

ain’t life just another role?

How will I know

if what y’telling me is true?

An’ if nothing is f ’real,

then, does it matter what I do?

Who are you?

I shouldn’t really have t’arx,

but I really need to know

if there’s a man behind the mask.

Action!

No action;

words are all you got,

scripted ’n’ lifted from a cheap soap plot.

Well-versed, rehearsed;

in the character immersed,

two faces; two families,

but which a’them comes first?

They all think they know ya;

they see you as their friends,

but none a’them will be there when the story ends,

so –

Who are you?

That’s what I need t’know;

when they turn off the camras

and they wrap up the show.

Action!

Interaction:

that’s what I’m looking for,

I shouldn’t have to queue at the stage door.

We all got a secret that we’re burnin’ t’yell,

we’re defined by the lies that we’re willin’ t’tell.

Secrets ’n’ lies;

I’s no big deal;

all I’m arxin’s that y’keep it

a little bit real.

All I’m arxin’s that y’keep it

a little bit real.

All I’m arxin’s that y’arx y’self:

how I might feel . . .

Save the Farm

It’s nothing short of criminal:

It’s a travesty; a scam.

We’re another victim of that HS2 to Birmingham.

Because, despite the work we’ve done here,

For those with special needs,

The rich man’s railway still comes first,

Yes, progress supersedes!

And that leaves us with a problem,

As our work here’s far from done,

Our appeal needs to go viral

Reach the hearts of everyone.

All we need is twenty acres,

At a rent that’s not too steep;

A place to keep our goats and pigs

And Tony, the angry sheep.

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

With the alpacas we’ll stand tall!

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

Hear us all at Hope Farm call!

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

Stand up for what you know is right,

So the work we do can con-tin-ue

Come join us in this fight.

’Cos the work we do here’s vital,

It’s a lifeline we provide;

For those for whom conventional education

Hasn’t been an easy ride.

You see alpacas aren’t judgemental,

And goats don’t take the mick,

And pigs and sheep don’t badger you

For being dyslexic.

They help to normalise anxieties,

Build the confidence to achieve;

They encourage us kids to integrate

And in ourselves believe.

They’ve been called iconoclastic;

Revolutionary; unique,

We’ve got all we need to make this work,

It’s just the ground space that we seek.

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

With the alpacas we’ll stand tall

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

Hear us all at Hope Farm call!

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

Stand up for what you know is right,

So the work we do can con-tin-ue

Come join us in this fight.

There are people who depend on us;

We won’t go down without a fight,

But we’re an independent entity

And our finances are tight.

There’s animal feed and vet bills,

Day-to-days, and at some stage,

Molly would like to draw herself at least a living wage.

So if you’re rich and fancy helping us,

Or you’ve got some land to spare,

Or if you know anyone else who has,

Who could be convinced to care,

Then get in touch; we’d love to hear, or share my video,

On all your social media and with everyone you know!

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

With the alpacas we’ll stand tall

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

Hear us all at Hope Farm call!

Save The Farm! Save The Farm!

Stand up for what you know is right,

So the work we do can con-tin-ue

Come join us in this fight.

Acknowledgements

To Donna and Paul Eccentric for all the help with this book and for perfect poems, friendship, tortoise traumas and really excellent afternoon tea.

@PaulEccentric

www.PaulEccentric.co.uk

To all the team – human and otherwise – at Animal Antiks for continued help with my research.

@animal_antiks

www.animalantiks.co.uk

And to Caenhill Countryside Centre for extra inspiration. We watch their morning ‘rush hour’ on Twitter to start every day with a smile. Do check them out.

@caenhillcc

www.facebook.com/CaenhillCC

The poet who Lucas is so keen on is Harry Baker – very clever and entertaining – and I admire him just as much. His website is simply HarryBaker.co (that’s not a mistake!) and is worth a look. You can also see some of his fabulous performances on YouTube.

@harrybakerpoet

www.facebook.com/harrybakerpoetry