Many referrals:
Rain drops in an autumn storm,
Statistic deluge,
Lake of administration.
Mustn’t lose humanity.
A long busy day at foodbank. It would be so easy to lose sight of individual guests amongst the lists and spreadsheets.
(13.10.26)
Poem 1031 – More Than This?
Doing my returns
Checking out my interest
Discerning my worth
An email from my accountant, it must be tax returns time…
(12.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Poem 1030 – Dada Explains Himself (The Ballad of the Wake cont.)
‘Pray, Dada, tell us why you came,
With sword across the Fen?
What have we done to earn your blame,
Why come with armoured men?’
‘It is not you,’ the knight replied,
‘I see you not with ire,
The King promised the first to find
Their way across the mire,
And boldly land a blow upon
The rebels without care,
Could name a prize, some gift among
The treasures lying there.
And so I sought to prove myself
And demonstrate my courage,
By striving to achieve this wealth,
And never be discouraged.’
Dada explains his motivation for striving to Ely.
(11.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Image by Poliphilo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Poem 1029 – Dada (The Ballad of the Wake cont.)
One knight there was who made the Isle
Leading the Norman charge,
An eminent soldier of some fame,
Taking him prisoner they asked his name,
He responded boldly showing no shame,
My captors, I am Dada.
Before Chesney there was Dada…
(10.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash
Poem 1028 – Daggers Out!
Look out
It’s daggers out
Rumours milled
Faithful killed
Clues analysed
Suspicions rise
Watch your back
On the wrack
No evidence
Credence’s lent
To crazy themes
Bonkers schemes
Faithful strive
To stay alive
Dispel doubt
Traitors out!
A silly one tonight. It’s been a heavy day today, which makes Celebrity Traitors the perfect release!
(09.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Melanie Hughes on Unsplash
Poem 1027 – Memory
Not fixed, memory is a malleable thing,
It swells and slips, elusive glides and flows,
Like clouds that drift upon the wind.
The views, once clear, become obscured by mists
that landward flow from shifting tide to hide
the fading touch of a departed’s kiss.
But who’s to say that what we sense is false,
that mutating recollections are a lie
and that our limited minds are at fault?
Perhaps what matters is what’s left behind,
the present impact, generous or unkind?
Reflecting on my memories ahead of a funeral tomorrow, and how our recollections of people fluctuate and change, I’m left wondering if that really matters. Where do we find meaning and truth if all we ever know is filtered by interpretation?
(08.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Ian Wetherill on Unsplash
Poem 1026 – The Eulogist’s Quandary
How can one convey
A life in fifteen minutes
And not the life it takes
For it to be unfurled
Preparing a funeral this evening
(07.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Andrew Lvov on Unsplash
Poem 1025 – Harvest Hills
Man-made mountain range
Tectonic plates surge upwards
Gratitude ridges
Another busy day with the foodbank, not just arranging parcels, but receiving so much food from our generous Borough. I don’t think I can lift another crate today, I’m totally exhausted but so grateful.
(06.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Poem 1024 – Just Three Lines?
A hasty haiku’s
Poetic simplicity
Conceals spaciousness
No time today for anything more than a haiku. A simple form but not to be dismissed!
(06.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Poem 1023 – Lost
Autumn is nowhere to be found.
It was here last year, but looking for
it now it seems to have been misplaced.
I wonder, have you seen it?
Where are the gold and red of gently
transitioning leaves upon the breeze?
The lingering chill that leaves us reaching
for our warmer clothes?
The nights are drawing in it’s true,
but the only brown is that of sun-
burnt vegetation and bare ground,
the earth’s become quite tanned.
I worry that we’ll wake one day
to find we’ve skipped a beat and all
is crispy white – or will we find
that Winter’s missing too…
An ‘autumn’ walk in Lee Valley today but it seemed nothing of the sort.
(03.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Srini Somanchi on Unsplash
