The Plastic Brain

BLUE MONDAY

THE PLASTIC BRAIN

I hear about the plastic brain....

How it can change time and again;

How it's not fixed, as we thought, forever,

But can be taught to be more clever!

It can be repaired by exercises!

Life is certainly full of surprises.

Which brings me to the brains of teens,

Which are certainly very strange machines.

It seems they study and Facebook too;

Both at the same time! Well! Could you?

I wonder if the the actual matter

(Grey, I mean) is getting fatter

To accommodate the extra cells

Needed for these 'doubling' spells.

When I was young and forced to study

(A long time ago...I'm a fuddy-duddy)

I needed quiet and perfect peace;

Radio music had to cease

In order for me to concentrate,

Remembering every history date,

Theorem and piece of information

Needed for my education.

Silence may have helped a bit

But I can't remember much of it!

Maybe today's youth will succeed!

Maybe Facebook is what kids need!

When they are old will they recall 

The strange duality of it all?

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CAPE TOWN

I never lived in Cape Town; I lived some miles away,

But it was our nearest city and we could visit in a day.

My husband worked in Cape Town, travelling in by car,

And we could see its mountains, so it didn't seem too far.

Just a drive across the Cape Flats would bring us to the city

(Though the shanty towns we passed would always make us gasp with pity.)

We lived in a small place with our daughter and our son.

They were only tiny; I made friends and life was fun.

But an outing into Cape Town always gave an extra thrill;

I always loved the city and I know I always will.

I have traveled through this wide world to very many places,

But Cape Town is a winner with its vibrant mix of races.

The mountains are extraordinary, towering to the sky;

They almost seem impossible because they reach so high.

The parks are full of massive blooms, the beaches gleam and shine;

The outskirts boast the vineyards with their sweetly flowing wine.

We would have stayed for ever, but politics intruded;

We felt the country must be doomed with half its folk excluded.

We didn't want our babies to reach adulthood in strife,

So we left the Cape to find ourselves a much more settled life.

But images of Cape Town still linger in my mind.

View these shots and you will see the place we left behind.

A road frequently traveled.

The view from across the Bay.

Table Mountain towers above.

Cape Town at night.

A trip up Table Mountain.

A beach-side suburb.

In the city.

Beautiful Cape Dutch architecture.

The other side of the coin!

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