SCOTCH VILLAINY

I love the crack of whisky breaking ice

And the whisper of this water of life,

Staining glass with burnished gold once, twice, thrice.

It moves me to a place so cool and nice

Where calm replaces misfortune and strife;

I love the crack of whisky breaking ice.

I know some wowsers see it as a vice

But they know nought of this substitute wife,

Staining glass with burnished gold once, twice, thrice.

I am addicted to the malt and spice

And peat that chants of pipes and drums and fife;

I love the crack of whisky breaking ice.

There are times when I would pay any price

For this elixir of the afterlife,

Staining glass with burnished gold once, twice, thrice.

But I’m not fussy, nor am I precise;

I’ll drink cheap and common and rough and rife.

I love the crack of whisky breaking ice,

Staining glass with burnished gold once, twice, thrice.

MONSOON

It's hottest just before the rain comes down

From the mountains of clouds stacked grey and black,

A gift from heaven’s skies to this parched town.

Forecasts are framed by faux experts who frown,

Describing nothing but the past come back,

It’s hottest just before the rain comes down.

Thunder sounds alarums like a loud clown,

And drops explode on the roof of our shack,

A gift from heaven’s skies to this parched town.

The sun vanishes fearing it might drown

And the shade sheds respite from heat’s hard rack,

It’s hottest just before the rain comes down.

Rivers swell and swerve and swirl khaki brown

Like camouflaged armies on the attack,

A gift from heaven’s skies to this parched town.

Like verses by a poet of renown

Nature’s cycle wheels on a rhythmic track;

It’s hottest just before the rain comes down,

A gift from heaven’s skies to this parched town.