Ode to the Speak-Easy Toastmasters club

I want to tell you this story,
So, you can tell it too.
A story for the ages
As I know it to be true.

                ***

Welcome to our meeting!
Write your details down -
Take a seat and tell us
Why you came around.  

Somebody suggested
That I dropped on by.
Now I've thought about it
I want to tell you why.

      I’m seeking my voice.
      I’m preparing a speech.
      It seemed the thing to do!

                ***

The meeting starts,
The roles are set,
Speeches are all shared.

We laugh a lot,
And applaud,
Commend and Recommend!

Assembling for each meeting,
We meet throughout the years.
The batons passed,
From peer to peer
And to those who are around.

Leaders take charge,
Upon Toastmasters’ paths,
To tops of Mountain peaks
From the valleys, far below.

                ***

Looking to the future,
And reflecting back.
A constant cycle turning -
Over forty years past.

“Speak-Easy” suggested,
By Herb in seventy-six.
A name ever reflecting,
Our club's nature and tone.

Always Mixed & friendly,
Supportive of us all,
On our many journeys
Towards reaching our goals.

                ***

The plans were formed,
From John's home:
Present they were there!

Young Herb and Hugh,
Russel and May
All seemed to have a view -
That women and men
Must have a place,
A home to express those views.

      Sharing their stories -
      Past and new
      And into the future too.

From where we began,
From seventy-seven on,
From these meetings came.

This idea that grew
Throughout the years, to come,
And into the future too!

This idea was born,
For this here club -
TO PASS THE BATON ON…

                ***

      ...The beginning...

                ***

   Penned and shared by Allison Brown,
        11 April 2017

                ***

Start again...

Lift me up
Break me out
Of my routine
Make this day different
Find a way to see
Something, anything
With new eyes

Then, start again...

Posted first on Twitter.

A Taste of Gin - song lyrics

By Monica and Geoff Barkman and Allison Brown

Listen to the song - A Taste of Gin, performed by Monica Barkman

Access the Music Score 

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Read the lyrics - A Taste of Gin

I lost him in the garden, many years ago
I wonder if they'll dig him up
where the the motorway has to go

He was a sweet old man, with a taste for gin
And he couldn't leave the ladies alone
So I had to do him in.

He was the love of my life
Oh I miss him so

But he couldn't leave the ladies alone
And so he had to go
And so he had to go

Is he the reason, my roses bloom so red
Or did I lay him down,
under the vegetable bed

Do I imagine it or do my carrots taste like gin?
Or maybe he is why,
my apples taste of sin.

He was the love of my life
Oh I miss him so
But he couldn't leave the ladies alone
And so he had to go
And so he had to go

When the road goes through, I don't know what I'll do
I just hope my secret gets locked away,
under that motorway
under that motorway

He was the love of my life
Oh I miss him so
But he couldn't leave the ladies alone
And so he had to go
And so he had to go
And so he had to go


Lyrics by Monica and Geoff Barkman and Allison Brown.  

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.