My poems written over 65years.
Click on underlined subsection headings to see full poems
THE POEMS BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS.
Escape to Lanzarote An unforgettable winter holiday
Africa 1982 Memories of another land
New year in Holland 1972-3 A plumbing disaster
They call it Christmas now but... Potted history of Christmas
Shoulder rides Four generations thereof!
Sticky Mickey The sorrow of parting
Baddy daddy A disappointing parent!
Hot Ribena What a gal!
Maiden fair Lullaby with innuendo Scrumping squirrels Thieves in my garden!
I saw the grim reaper An unexpected visitor!
The paediatric neurologist’s lullaby. Baby you have potential but me?
Spring at last Ode to Spring, in its tail is a sting
When I’m dead How to live on after death
The deep dark hole (icon episode). Poor old man
The banana well You meet some odd people!
Paddy McGrew Perhaps not as bad as you think?
Are all cucumbers green Does green mean stupid?
The spectre of Louth Shopper list that endsin tragedy
The rhubarb plant and the wall. Disagreement has a shocking end
One rainy day From the cosmic to the mundane
I’ll come whenever you want me All about being “helpful”
The view from the fence An agnostic’s creed
Science started as - a tool of the philosopher!
My guide Getting there, slowly
The fudgers The truth about politics?
Mr Putin and the jewelled skull A communist icon?
NHS Mayhem Something worth saving, for sure!
The last supper A tragedy set in the Belgian Congo
Pamela the pianist A musical fantasy
Poor fool! Reflections on my adolescence
Nothing to tell Disillusionment and a girl
Mental mirror Disagreement about meaning of love
Liver bird Maybe the next one?
Rainbow girl Maybe I’ve found her?
Sunshine Maybe I’ll marry her
Is it me that you see? Defusing my doubts
Controlling the angst Family angst – many years later
Come back Based on Archers Rob and Helen
Tower of titanium The captive princess on an alien world
Lost in the jungle Worse still with hostile alien plants
The alien came A stranded space alien – help!
Jewel in the sky An alien queen who can be dangerous
Hidden by autumn leaves Strange discovery cures dementia
The good ship Glasnost Attempted murder?
Alien taxi driver An alien with a conscience?
Autotomy Story of a lizard, a cat & science
Patterns From the cosmos to the cell and the brain
Negative entropy Is entropy the undefeatable enemy?
Just enamel Yes, it outlasts everything
Case for supremacy of brown Nature’s favorite color
The arrogant song. Inner thoughts of a frustrated researcher
The marble statue An unimaginative colleague
Commuters with computers An elderly researcher goes to London
Louis’ rant At odds with Darwin over human evolution
Mary Anning. Famous 19th Ct working class fossil hunter
I'm your GP. Thoughts of a very new GP
Night call Traumatic awakening!
Marble Statue Portrait of an average GP
Maple leaf dance Genius of Scott Joplin!
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REMEMBER Click on underlined subsections to see full poems
Confessions of an amateur poet
I started writing poems in my teens and wrote just the occasional verses when I was a busy doctor. However, now that I am retired my poets licence has been renewed and they keep popping into my head. When I was sixteen, I was rather bored by the Zoology textbook I was reading for my A level syllabus until I came across a reference to “autotomy”. This happens when an animal under attack surrenders a body part to escape a predator. I escaped boredom and rekindled my scientific curiosity with the help of that stumbling first effort, a poem about autotomy. I showed it to my father, with pride, who said, “That’s not a poem. It’s a jingle”, When he saw my face fall at this judgement he quickly added, “but it’s a very good jingle.” I wrote several poems and song lyrics during my student days in Liverpool. Subsequently, many of my poetry efforts, here presented, were originally penned as the lyrics of songs, especially in my days as a medical student in Liverpool 1961-1967. I even performed my song “Nothing to tell” at a folk festival alongside the banjo-playing girlfriend who had just chucked me. I had less time for writing as a busy GP but now that I’m retired, I have rekindled my interest and have become fascinated with the rhyming format: ababcc. A lady friend called Mickey who knows much more about poetry than me says this is an example of Sestina variant stanzas. I sometimes write the CC couplet shorter and use it as a recurring refrain as in the poem “Angst” where every verse ends with the good advice:
Count ten before you say a word
And then you won’t look too absurd
At my age, I’m really not too bothered about copyright but if anyone wants to use any of my lyrics for a song to perform in public, I’d really like to know. So, please contact me at my email address: johnaanichold1943@gmaqil.com

This is me in my study working on a poem - on my computer. I know that many poets find they must write at least the first draft in longhand which I did for many years. But the advantages of working on a computer are many, including, of course, the ease of editing and of transfer (printing or sending it off to a friend). For me, the biggest advantage is the use of computer aids such as Word's spellcheck (my spelling never was good) and Thesaurus. When you know there's a better word but you just can't quite remember it, Thesaurus to the rescue.
Just occasionally I go for an online rhyming app that gives you rhyming words when you're well and truly stuck. Is that cheating? not if the end result is good but to be honest scrolling through a whole list of odd words that rhyme more often than not helps me to think of an alternative not listed, perhaps an elegant half rhyme. I like elegant half rhymes.
​
John A A Nichols

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