The mystery of Mary Celeste, 1872

A merchant brigantine,
Sailing all alone is seen,
Those aboard a passing vessel note she's *yawing.
So they go and take a look.
There's no first mate. There's no cook.
There is nobody at all - not reassuring.

Her cargo seems intact -
With alcohol she's packed -
There's sufficient food to see the journey through.
The ship's condition's fine.
Of a struggle there's no sign.
So what's happened to her passengers and crew?

Have they sailed off? Have they jumped?
This has all the experts stumped,
And no one has been able to explain.
It seems - a cause for worry -
They departed in a hurry.
And none of them was ever seen again.

Possessions left behind
Mean investigators find
It unlikely pirates went on board to plunder.
Had alcoholic fumes,
Pervaded "Mary's" rooms?
Empty barrels give inquirers cause to wonder.

For our vessel, what comes next?
It seems she might be hexed.
In an accident, her owner's father drowned.
Yet another life she's claimed.
The famous ghost ship's blamed.
She's sold, as bad luck follows her around.

She changed hands plenty more.
Her condition now was poor.
The last to own her did a thing he shouldn't.
Worthless cargo he insured,
(His objective's being fraud)
Then tried very hard to sink her, but she wouldn't.

In a courtroom he appeared,
And of barratry was cleared,
He is guilty but the jury won't convict.
The verdict had arisen -
He faced death instead of prison -
As the penalty was thought unduly strict.

*twisting or oscillating about the vertical axis of a moving ship (or aircraft) 
 
Ⓒ Maggie Ballinger, 2015

The verse above is an extract from Britannia's Glory - A Maritime Story, published in March 2019. For details of this - and my other book, a novel James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.

The Boston Tea Party, 1773

This was not the sort of do
With a fancy cake or two,
Or the sandwich with a neatly cut-off crust
For the nibbling dainty picker,
And it wasn't "more tea vicar?"
In the fragile cup that someone had to dust,

It was protest and near riot,
That exemplified disquiet,
In a country that felt bitter and aggrieved.
Its folk weren't represented,
And resentment thus fermented
Over taxes which, as unfair, were perceived.

The tea tax - one such levy -
Was symbolic, more than heavy,
And importers had been turned away unpaid.
Now in Boston, one consignment
Suffered major realignment:
It was thrown into the harbour to degrade,

Iconic this event,
Which told of discontent.
The British take some action to chastise.
The Intolerable Acts -
A blockade that soon impacts
On Boston's trade - all this was most unwise.

Our colonies (thirteen)
Were progressively quite keen
To have the unfair British go away.
We'd not done as they demanded,
So together they now banded,
Into what was dubbed a brand new USA.


Ⓒ Maggie Ballinger, 2014

The verse above is an extract from Britannia's Glory - A Maritime Story, published in March 2019. For details of this - and my other book, a novel James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.

Response to "Dental Implants"

My brother came back with this limerick, after reading the "Dental Implants" post.

A lady from Nether Green,
Had teeth like you've never seen,
But technology's great:
She got rid of her plate,
And now has a grin like the Queen.

Cheers bro!

For details of my other books - Britannia's Glory and James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.

Dental implants

Life was pretty torrid:
My partial plate was horrid.
Not comfy and a source of irritation.
I really couldn't bear it,
And in private didn't wear it -
Which caused a lot of wrinkle-devastation.

My mouth had half-collapsed,
And I knew, as time elapsed,
This was something that was surely bound to worsen.
I felt elderly, a crone,
In some tooth-deficient zone.
And lived my life as only half a person.

Maybe implants could assist,
And make good what I so missed?
There were measurements and X-rays now to check.
And of course there'd be a cost,
To replace what had been lost,
But the desperate must think, "Oh what the heck!"

It could work - but only just -
"Pros and cons" were then discussed,
And at last the course of treatment's underway.
I opened wide. I bit,
And for hours on end I'd sit,
Dreaming of the last appointment day.

Aching jaws would be a drag.
"Impressions" make one gag.
In particular, I don't much like injections.
But I really didn't care:
Step by step, we're getting there -
And every process has its imperfections.

Then the final stage arrived.
It seemed we'd all survived.
My new pearly whites were firmly screwed in place.
The future's looking sweet.
I don't lisp and I can eat,
With an unembarrassed smile upon my face.

I was liberated, free -
Fully back to being "me",
I had teeth! - and the effect was quite dramatic
On the summarizing note,
"Patient happy" Stuart wrote.
I told him that he should have put "ecstatic".




With many thanks to Stuart and all his team
at Eckington Dental practice:
www.eckingtondental.co.uk




A warm welcome to our new viewers from Chile. I think yours is the 100th country to visit this blog spot. Felicidades! (Decepcionante, no hay premio.)

For details of my other books - Britannia's Glory and James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.

A peaceful hotel in Lisbon

But the view was wonderful

We'd been warned that the centre was busy,
A place where the lager louts riot,
Where the traffic and trams could be noisy,
That a bit further out would be quiet.

Our hotel seemed the perfect location -
It was right by a beautiful park -
We decided to sit on the terrace.
We were tired. It was just getting dark.

A very loud noise then assailed us,
As a jet flew low over our heads.
On the flight path we were, to the airport,
A misfortune that everyone dreads.

But this wasn't all. From below us,
Guitars screeched to amplified boom.
A very bad rock band was "playing".
We retreated then into our room.

We shut doors and windows behind us,
Drew the curtains that these were adorning,
But the sounds of the concert defied them.
We vibrated till two in the morning.


Welcome to our new viewers from Slovenia, Jordan, Vietnam, Paraguay, El Salvador and the Bahamas. Your flags have been added to the "Hello World" blog (April 2013)
http://www.baabaapinksheep.co.uk/2013/04/hello-world.html

For details of my other books - Britannia's Glory and James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.

Better together - the Union Flag

The flag of St Andrew

The flag of St George

If Scotland becomes independent,
Will the Union Flag have to change?
Will we take off the cross of St Andrew?
It could end up by looking quite strange.

Our "Union Jack's"* a composite,
But its three crosses could become two,

Which are both red and white - such a pity.
How we'd miss Scotland's smart navy blue.

The flag of St Patrick   

* The Union Flag is only referred to as the Union Jack when it's flying on a ship

For details of my other books - Britannia's Glory and James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.

Boy wakes from coma speaking Chinese

Following an accident
A teenage Aussie bloke,
Spent a week in a deep coma,
Then he thankfully awoke.

The signs that he is back with them
His anxious parents please.
But they're very quickly puzzled:
He can only speak Chinese.

He'd studied it at high school,
Where he didn't learn a lot.
Now in Mandarin he's fluent,
But his English he's forgot.

It only took a day or two
For this to reappear.
On his new linguistic talent,
He has forged a new career.

An American "learned" Swedish,
In the self same situation.
And one chap mastered German,
Though he only knew Croatian.

Would that I could be unconscious,
Though a bit of time would vanish.
The trade-off would be worth it -
If I woke up talking Spanish.

For details of my other books - Britannia's Glory and James the Third - please see the blog/post of each, both dated October 2024.