Entertainment

Poem 834 – St. Paul Songs

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

Voices awaken London’s chilly streets,
A rousing swell of sound announcing life.
Their notes disperse upon the swirling wind
each one a seed of joy. They scatter through
the city stirring statues from their sleep.
Their vigil ceased they stretch and smile with us.

It was wonderful to watch our daughter’s choir, Bristol Show Choir, performing outside St. Paul’s today.
(28.03.26)

© Ben Quant 2026

Poem 833 – In Contrast

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

Apprentices flogging rubbish
Squeezing out every penny
Hype and exaggeration

Evening celebrations
Thanking foodbank leaders
For humbly serving for free

Watching TV after saying thank you to our two magnificent foodbank leaders who have given everything for fifteen years. What a contrast.
(27.03.26)

© Ben Quant 2026

Poem 802 – A Word Out Of Place

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

A word out of place is ….. awkward
It forces us to walk around it,
navigate its corners carefully
lest we should bump ourselves.

The temptation is to ….. shout,
ironic really when you think
about the reason for its angle.
But grace is difficult and costs.

Grace calls on us to be the ones
who ….. hold the tower up when things
begin to topple. This may be
against the rules we share but such is ….. love.

It’s such a shame that what should have been such a celebration of John Davidson’s work at the BAFTAS was turned into something else.
(23.02.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

Poem 772 – Cyberbarn!

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

It was only the size of a postage stamp,
a pixelated blur that came and went
with sound that didn’t match the picture,
but it was a kind of magic back then.

Transported to your Surrey garden,
six-hundred thousand strangers streamed
down phone lines crossing continents
into this tiny buffering barn.

We held our breath and squeezed into
that distant doorway, willed the image
to appear until its spluttering
sounds and colours burst to life.

In awe we cheered distorted sounds,
squinting to make you out across
the many miles that lay between us,
clapping, we hoped, in unison.

Could we be hyperlinked? Connected
through our screens? It seemed surreal.
But now HD, the wonder’s leeched
become mundane and yesterday.

I’ve been working on a painfully slow internet connection today. This reminded me of watching Roger Taylor’s record-breaking concert ‘Live at the Cyberbarn’ on dial up internet. How quickly things have changed!
(See: https://www.rogertaylor.info/facts-and-trivia/accolades/the-guinness-book-of-records/)
(25.01.26)

© Ben Quant 2026

Poem 769 – Round Table Quandaries

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

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 763 – The Traitors Shields

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

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