In an exotic isle he lies
A holiday conundrum, dead
Face down beside a nagging doubt
Beneath heaven’s blue skies overhead
The case confined to just four friends
An isolated situation
But none of them could be the murderer
An alibi by others given
Around in circles twisted knots
Until, eureka! Clarity comes
A strange coincidence occurs
Connections made, the puzzle done
They gathered in a tense circle
To hear the verdict boldly laid
Before them by the canny sluth
Who by deduction owns this stage
He walks them through it step by step
By paradise’s swaying palms
Revealing method, means and motive
Our Caribbean Sherlock Holmes
A family guilty pleasure, the murderer mystery set on St. Marie might be formulaic, but we love it.
(13.02.22)
© Ben Quant 2022
TV
Poem 88 – Box Set Binge
Remember when you had to wait
A week to catch the next part of
Your favourite show upon the box?
Now things have changed, diversified
There’s streaming, on demand, catch-up
And channels multiply, what choice!
The trouble is like a black hole
It pulls you in with the promise
That cliff hangers need not hang on
But now it’s late I ought to stop
As the alarm is primed to ring
But first, perhaps, another one!
We’d only meant to watch a single episode of Drop the Dead Donkey tonight, but somehow a while series had passed us by…
(12.02.22)
© Ben Quant 2022
Poem 72 – Collateral Damage
To me this feels familiar and strange
Conflicting feelings jostle dissonant
It’s a relief to finally be back
Albeit we’re masked and social distant
Somehow, however, we’re now out of phase
Alternative dimensions are our homes
Like Schrödinger’s famous experiment
We’re both together and it seems alone
We watch each other from the corners of
Our eyes avoiding contact if we can
A living photograph doubly exposed
Collateral damage from Covid’s bans
Last night we went to see an episode of a sitcom being filmed (Andy Hamilton’s ‘Kate and Koji’). We watched a number pre-lockdown and it was lovely to be back, but noticeably the interaction in the queue and set was lacking, as if everyone else wasn’t really there.
(14.01.22)
© Ben Quant 2022
Poem 63 – The Master Chefs
We traded favourite flavours
And swapped celebrity chefs
Compared inherited recipes
Until we had full sets
One trusted only Berry
Another Delia Smith
Some bish-bash-boshed with Jamie
But I like Nadiya best
A quick doodle today after over heating a conversation at foodbank about cookery.
(31.12.21)
© Ben Quant 2021
Ode for the Day 