Are You In the Red?

RUBY TUESDAY

ARE YOU IN THE RED?

Here's a list of questions that we really need to ask,

And, hopefully, for most of us, it's quite a pleasant task.......

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Did you wake-up this-morning feeling reasonably well?

Have you escaped the anguish of a battle's raging hell?

Have you stayed out of prison? Have you got enough to eat?

Have you clothes upon your back? Have you shoes upon your feet?

Can you read this blog quite easily? Do you know how to write?

Will you have a roof above your head when you go to sleep tonight?

Have you got money in the bank? Did your parents stay together?

Will you be protected if there is rainy weather?

And can you speak your mind without a thought of who may hear?

And can you state your viewpoint in a voice that's loud and clear?

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If you say 'Yes!' to all of these don't winge at all today!

Not even if you've twinges and your hair is turning grey!

Not even if you stub your toe or smash a favourite dish!

Not even if your steak is not as tender as you'd wish!

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For many many millions would have to answer 'No!'

And those many many millions every second seem to grow!

Go through the list a second time, and add 'No' as a test,

Then ask yourself if you're among the folk who're living best!

Let's not forget that we, the ones who're cossetted and warm,

Are not in the majority; we're, sadly, not the norm.

We can't cure all the ills of life, and do we really try?

But it doesn't hurt to pause a while and simply question 'Why?'

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ODE TO A FLYING FISH

A Sonnet

Thy gaiety enchants us as we see

Thy silver body flashing through the air.

Thou seemst a creature quite devoid of care,

At home in both the sky and in the sea!

And yet thy spirit languishes I know.

A heart divided never can know peace,

Condemned forever to the depths below,

While yearnings for the ether never cease.

A flash of blue is all thou art allowed.

The sweet fresh air experienced as a puff.

A second soaring high above the crowd,

But is a second ever long enough?

Oh Flying Fish! Thou art expression of

The agony of a divided love.

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