Poem 1002 – Vengeance Postponed (The Ballad of the Wake cont.)

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Now at these words Warenne gave groan,
And stamped his thwarted feet,
And going puce began to moan,
With growing anger in his bones,
His longed for vengeance now postponed,
In light of this defeat.

‘If your master were in my hands,
I promise he’d taste death,
But know I’ll chase him through this land,
Until my final breath!

His curse was met with laughter by
Our Hereward who reached out,
And took his bow and drew its string,
An arrow true and sharp gave wing,
The Earl upon his breast did sting,
Causing his men great doubt.

Although it glided from his chest
Without a mortal wound,
His men, alarmed, ran up to him,
Most frantic at the clanging din,
And how the impact did fling him,
Down to the wretched ground.

Will Warenne ever get his man? Not for now at least…
(13.09.36)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Alireza Sahebi on Unsplash

Poem 1001 – The Cormorant

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Sleak and smug,
you dipped beneath
the green water
and disappeared.

A simple movement
of effortless grace
that leaves only
the slightest ripple.

I tarry waiting,
wondering where
you will appear.
You never do.

Walking along the Lee today we spotted a cormorant swimming in front of us, but not for long.
(13.09.36)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Sneha Cecil on Unsplash

Poem 1,000 – Poem 1,000

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Unless I have miscounted,
(As I have before),
Today I reach one thousand
Poems, no less no more.
Occasionally profound,
And sometimes simply silly,
Some good whilst others flounder,
Some rhyme whilst others refuse to.

I really ought to write one of the profound or thoughtful ones tonight, but this is what came out tonight instead…
(11.09.36)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Cooper Hofmann on Unsplash

Poem 999 – Just Before

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The calm before the storm.
I’m taking a deep breath,
Gathering my thoughts,
And feeding on my nerves,
Preparing to take the plunge,
The chance to turn has gone,
It’s time to build momentum
And take a running JUMP!

I made it to my assembly early this morning, and had a few minutes to scribble these few lines.
(10.09.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Richard King on Unsplash

Poem 998 – The Family Tree

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An oak, or ash or pine, the basic mold,
An individual fingerprint of grain.
We see the bark, the bare exterior,
Stark trunk and fluttering leaves providing tone.

But deep beneath this personal skin there lies
A cavernous world of echoing influence,
Tracing beyond the individual tree,
It stretches out to weave through time and place.

These reaching roots slip out across the water,
Beyond tectonic plate and culture’s haste,
Like eels drawn home to their elusive Sargasso,
We all swim back and are bound to distant Adam.

Working tonight with Who Do You Think You Are in the background spawned these verses.
(09.09.26)

© Ben Quant 2026

Poem 997 – We Refuse (The Ballad of the Wake cont.)

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Upon receiving these blunt words
The Earl revealed himself,
And catching sight of Hereward,
Urgently told his men that they should,
Leap in and swim as fast as they could,
And with wild gestures compelled.

‘Avenge my brother’s death,’ he cried,
‘Relieve my boiling heart!’
‘No chance!’ their fast retort was fired,
‘His plan gives us that part’

‘He seeks to lure us across the water,
Into his waiting hands,
And there our doom, our death, our slaughter,
Awaits; this is his plan.’

Warenne’s men refuse to follow the Earl’s orders.
(08.09.26)

© Ben Quant 2026

Poem 995 – I’m Moving…

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It all began with a lack of clarity.
You see, I hastily wrote without thinking it out,
No doubt I’ll be working out the implications
For days, no years to come. What have I done!

It started when I clicked copy then paste,
No time to waste, but in my haste I didn’t
Think to read it with the eyes of others.
Oh bother, there is no button labelled ‘Undo’.

You see, someone had scrawled ‘I’m leaving you,
It’s true, I’m off to Kent and so I’ll say,
Goodbye before I go. Please pray for me.’
I fear that quickly one and one made three.

Soon floods of farewell cards began to drop
A crop of well-wishers knocking at the door
With gifts and tears (perhaps some others cheered…)
I can’t deny that I was deeply touched.

And then a leaving party was announced,
And now I fear I can’t back out and soon
The room will be filled with piles of boxes as
Someone has kindly gone and booked a van!

You may be wondering who was it that wrote
That note? I must be blunt it wasn’t me,
But frustratingly no one’s yet come clean and undone
what I’ve done with my transcription blunder!

A true story ( well, but really but could have been…)
(06.09.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Poem 994 – Tonight’s Curry

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I only put two teaspoons in,
A touch, a taste, no more,
And yet it blew our eye balls out,
They rolled along the floor.

The steam began to freely stream,
Out of our reddening ears,
Our hair stood up, alert and straight,
Our cheeks flowed with our tears.

A silent scream began to grow,
In brewing, roaring strength,
And from our mouths fierce anger poured,
A flaming dragon’s breath.

The mounting pressure grew and grew,
Alarms began to sound,
The panic overwhelming, shrill,
Causing our heads to pound

Until at last in desperation,
We ran to find the sink,
And wrapped our mouths around the taps,
And started to urgently drink!

I may have over estimated the amount of curry sauce required…
(05.09.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by LOLA AZIZADA on Unsplash