Lincolnshire’s Kitchen

In honour of Lincolnshire Day (1 October 2017)

Haslet, sausage, gingerbread
Poacher cheese and more
Plum bread, stuffed chine, all washed down with
Pints of Bateman’s beer for sure

Lincoln red beef, Lincoln blue
Not forgetting Cote Hill cheese
With samphire grown out near the Wash
Down from Grimsby fish smokeries

Pipers crisps, Dennett’s ice cream
Asparagus in fields
With tates and Lincolshire carrot pud
So much this county yields

Less not forget the humble fruit
That fell from apple tree
Prompting Newton to thus define
The force of gravity

 

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A Potted History – Magna Carta

Once upon a time ago
The country was a mess
With King abusing all his powers
And getting in a stress
He’d lost the grip of land in France
Upsetting one and all
Not caring what was going on
Nor seeing the downfall

And Rome effectively had said
Go burn in hell you brat
Whilst back at home the Barons had
Thrown down the gauntlet flat
For they’d got into fisticuffs
With John – the then crowned King
Who thought that all else would pay for
The mess he’d made of things

He’d raised the taxes sky high
Made up his own new rules
That said I’m Lord, I’m King and I
Won’t suffer any fools
Yet in the process failed to hold
Onto old London Town
As Barons now all angered said
“We’re gonna take you down”

So into the frame a Lincoln lad
Archbishop of Canterbury
Stepped up and with scroll in his mitts
Suggested John agree
To sign off a brand new charter
That put him, the King, below
The law; made him accountable
For how he acted so

And to that end they made him sign
A document that sealed
A more just, fair and honest realm
Where John’s powers were repealed
And though he had a sulk and thought
“That flipping cannot be”
At Runnymead he signed the script
That brought ’bout liberty

And so that is the story
Of how the old King John
Was bad as bad eggs fester
But strangely his swan song
Is now linked to our freedom
That gives each one their worth
Whilst holding Magna Carta as
The most prized scroll on Earth!

Lincolnshire

Red is for wisdom
Gold is for wealth
Blue is for vision
And Green is for health

Mapping out the Lincolnshire flag in the fields SW of the county

Tweetquake (Haiku)

An earthquake rumbles
Birds take to the air and fly
In cyber form too

Did you feel the little earthquake in Lincolnshire last night? We didn’t but we felt the reaction on Twitter as the phone started shaking from all the quake related tweets!!!

Lincoln Minster

Vestibule of Lincoln’s crown
Set high upon the hill
Still reaching out cross the shire
In awe and wonder still

Set out against the clear blue sky
The Minster’s mission proud
To welcome, greet with open heart
To beckon all aloud

And through the years it’s stood transfixed
In garb of mighty stone
A church, icon, community
Alive and not alone

Lincoln Cathedral from the west, showing all three main towers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Plane Waltz

I saw a plane dance in the sky
‘Gainst fields of corn and air so blue
With clouds she frolicked, turned and dived
Aerobatics so true

She swooped and glid and swirled and swung
Up in the sky so clear she flew
A waltz between man and his plane
A spectacle construe

With grace she seemed to stall then plunge
A pathway in the air she hew
Controlling airspace with such poise
Such skilful perfect view

Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team during an Air Show in Krems, Austria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tweet Meet

At a certain time each month
A flock descends to meet
Birds of a certain feather
Who frequently do tweet

Putting social into media
To share a thing or two
The nest – a place convenient
The mix some old; some new

To network and to natter
And all with due respect
To introduce to others
The face of LincsConnect

#LincsConnect is a hashtag on twitter that links Lincolnshire businesses, charities and individuals in a collaboration to raise the profile of each member using the hashtag through retweets and mutually spreading the word.

Once a month they meet up to put the social back into social media. If you’re in Lincolnshire join us by tagging your tweets #LincsConnect and if you’re not why not do something similar in your area.

Yellowbelly

Now see that yellowbelly imp
A-running through the fields
A throwing tates ‘bout here and there
With cabbage leaf for shield

And knobby greens to munch on
With cheeky glint in eye
This little imp all mischievous
To catch those passing by

For then he’ll go and poach you
Attach right to your heart
And draw you into Lincolnshire
From whence you’ll n’er depart

For yellowbelly fever will
Just catch you and keep hold
With love for land of open skies
The fens’ and dales’ pure gold

*Yellowbelly is the colloquial term for a person from Lincolnshire (UK).  The origin of the name is disputed but to find out a bit more click here

Lincolnshire flag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Newton’s Waltz

I took a lift to the top floor
And there a ballroom spread
A beautiful, outstanding room
With windows laced in lead

And in the air ethereal sounds
Of Waltz from days gone by
The violins in harmony
Playing under starlit sky

And there upon the dance floor
In gowns from ancient day
The ladies with their gentlemen
Dancing the night away

Then in the midst I spotted him
The son of Grantham town
From statue had alighted
With gravity come down

Dispersing all the colours
In a spectrum of delight
With grace and understanding
To glide with step so light

And by the name of Isaac
He waltzed til crow did call
The ghost of Newton dancing
In the ballroom of Guildhall

Time and Motion (Photo credit: Dave Pearson)

Cerulean

Cerulean
Enlightened soul
I am released
Soaring across the sky
Airborne

This is the beginning of our “Lincolnshire Skies” project using photographs of the wonderful skies that we have across Lincolnshire and connecting with the feelings that they induce – we’ll categorise each poem in this series “Lincolnshire Skies” for easy access from the side menu.  This was written using the Elfje poetry form introduced to me my fellow blogger, Richard at http://richardankerswrites.wordpress.com.  If you would like to read more check out Richard’s blog or visit Libby’s blog at http://simplyelfje.wordpress.com