The Sorrow of Socks -- Wendy Cope

[1945–current, English]

Some socks are loners –
They can’t live in pairs.
On washdays they’ve shown us
They want to be loners.
They puzzle their owners,
They hide in dark lairs.
Some socks are loners –
They won’t live in pairs.

Source: Hawthorn, P (ed.), 2004, Poems for Young Children, Usborne Publishing Ltd.

At 3am -- Wendy Cope

[1945–current, English]

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, trapped
in an enormous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you’re sleeping
and beside you there’s a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won’t wake.

Source: Cope, W 2009, Two Cures for Love, Faber and Faber.

Bloody Men -- Wendy Cope

[1945–current, English]

Bloody men are like bloody buses --
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.
You look at them flashing their indicators,
Offering you a ride.
You’re trying to read the destinations,
You haven’t much time to decide.
If you make a mistake, there is no turning back.
Jump off, and you’ll stand there and gaze
While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by
And the minutes, the hours, the days.

Source: Cope, W 2009, Two Cures for Love, Faber and Faber.