Turned off the M4
Promptly the rain starts to fall
No surprises there!
Visiting our daughter.
(24.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Sebastiano Piazzi on Unsplash
Author: BenDQ
Poem 770 – Rest Awhile
The winding week is done, its work is over
The veiling night draws near, now dim the light
Its time to take account of all its triumphs
And put its problems prayerfully aside
Once ready, rest awhile and rediscover
That peaceful place that every person needs
Recall your core, your heart, your cornerstone
And gladly let the God of grace within
It’s Friday night!
(23.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash
Poem 769 – Round Table Quandaries
The knights are gathered
With swords unsheathed
A castle divided
Round table split
Plans have been hatched
The end comes soon
Destruction draws near
Its seeds have been sown
The Traitor and the Faithful
Are sat in their seats
Mordred and Arthur
But which is which…
Watching the penultimate episode of Traitors with no idea how it’s going to open out…
(22.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash
Poem 768 – European Nights
The team sheet’s on the radio,
It’s time to start, the whistle blows,
As one the crowd stand up to roar,
The ball is kicked and off they go!
Like eager dogs fly from the doors,
Their fleeting feet pounding the floor,
To chase the mark, a spinning ball,
And swift to shoot, a goal to score.
It’s time for heroes to stand tall,
And answer adultion’s call,
In shooting straight the winning shot,
And with their nimble feet enthrall.
A goal tonight, the perfect plot.
The winner’s prize? Take home the lot.
So go on boys, give it all you’ve got!
So go on boys, give it all you’ve got!
I had no idea what to write tonight, so took another look at different poetry forms, and opted to try an interlocking rubaiyat. Liverpool were playing in Europe at the same time, so the two inevitably came together.
(21.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Daniel Norin on Unsplash
Poem 767 – Gold Leaf
A delicate beauty,
This life is prone and fragile.
Like sheets of golden leaf it’s
Capable of invoking awe
Before crumbling under
The weight of our passing breath.
Caring for my parents has reminded me of the preciousness and fragility of life.
(20.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
Poem 766 – Once Upon a Time
One day long ago, (Afrikaans)
Or so the story starts,
When tigers used to smoke, (Korean)
And serpents lies impart, (Gen. 3)
There was and there was not, (Arabic)
A river of mighty torrents,
Beyond seven mountains,
And beyond seven forests, (Polish)
In that corner of the world,
Where everybody had a nose, (Catalan)
In a Galaxy far away,
A long, long time ago, (Star Wars)
Where the water was being strewn
And the sand was being poured, (Slovak)
A knight once won his spurs (song by Jan Struther)
And stories were adored.
Watching a round on Countdown last night, my attention was caught by phrases other countries use for ‘once upon a time’.
(19.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Andreas Weilguny on Unsplash
Poem 765 – Hope
Hope, the belief that things can change,
that just as night turns into day
these troubled paths can be rearranged.
Hope, the belief in a better way
than we experienced yesterday.
Hope, the belief that despite the past,
there’s more to life than fickle chance.
I wasn’t sure what to write tonight and so picked out a form I hadn’t tried before, a Chaucerian Stanza, which uses an ABABBCC rhyming pattern.
(18.01.26)
Poem 764 – The Three Companions
Three gentlemen stood perched along the bank:
the heron, egret and the cormorant.
The first, an aged fellow, grey and boney,
so motionless he seemed already dead.
His beard hung limp along a saggy throat,
contrasting with those penetrating eyes,
alert and constantly alive to us.
Beside, a smaller man not grey but white,
the translucent white that only comes with time,
serene and wise. Two unexpected river-
bedfellows. But is this stillness just
their cover? Up above their carer pearched,
high upon an ivy clad lookout.
Wry grin upon his long, compassionate beak,
he watched wondering what mischief lay ahead.
Walking along the New River today, we spotted the unexpected sight of a great heron, little egret and cormorant next to each other. Surprising and somewhat comical.
(17.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Jessica Moss on Unsplash
Poem 763 – The Traitors Shields
To steal, or not to steal, that is the question:
Whether ’tis better to grasp immunity
And run the risk of being banished, or
To face the blows of traitors’ bows and arrows?
Which fearful fate is worse: to walk or sleep;
The paranoia of the table or
The letter on the chair that passive slays?
Whichever choice is made, the chance is real:
‘Cos other’s hands the dagger doth employ,
Considering options that perchance destroy.
Loving The Traitors again this year, what gripping TV.
(16.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Albert Stoynov on Unsplash
Poem 762 – Stuck!
Having passed the rock
A hard place fills my vision
Not sure what to do…
Juggling with tricky decisions
(15.01.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Jonathan Simcoe on Unsplash
