A LITTLE LEAK

 

A little leak of which we dare not speak.

A cough, a giggle, releases at first very little.

As time goes by, it becomes more than a trickle.

It is an embarrassment when you are caught short.

Out away from home and familiar facilities.

So you cut out excursions unless you know the area and convenient loos to pop into.

In time, still trying to hide, you start incontinence padding.

At first, it works; then it hurts, if hygiene slips and bugs come a-calling.

Time to share this embarrassment with your doctor.

It can hit any age, or gender, with multiple causes.

He will explain you are certainly not on your own; no need to hide.

Check the statistics; they will reveal this hidden, silent scourge, your disorder.

Using his skills, a plan will be made to tackle your condition.

Urine samples, medication; occasionally, a surgical consultation might be sought.

To restore you back to order, a normal, functioning human being.

Able to wander anywhere you wish without agonising about embarrassing little leaks.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash

SHOE HUNTING

SHOE HUNTING

I cannot imagine I am the only woman whose feet extend to size 10.5 narrow or beyond.
What on earth happens to them? Just scrolling through the adverts is frustrating, infuriating, demoralising. 8.A and a few at 9.A. One or two at 10. Then you hit a dead end.

Trying to find the size you need, which is carefully hidden in most internet shoe advertising, without scrolling all the way through. The shoes you fancy are dangled before your eyes as you search and search: are they the right size?

Only to have hopes dashed as they stop at 8, two and a half sizes too early.
A thrill starts when advertised in half sizes, ’til they inexplicably stop at 9.5.
Oh, what do women do when they are tall and have long feet?

How I long for summer when I can flip-flop about in almost bare feet. Best of all not to have to ask someone to put on my shoes for me. The half size, too, becomes an irrelevance as your foot is not constricted by a heel. At times, you can pace around in flip-flops in men’s sizes, providing they are narrow enough.
How I long to wear the shoes so elegantly displayed in adverts; there are quite a few.
Only the size is the last thing to view, if it can be found on the internet advertising; infuriating.   
  
Yet again, they stop at 8, 9, 10. That elusive half size, 10.5, if found, they announce they have run out of stock.
What happens to women who, I know, are exhaustingly searching for size 11 or 12? What about the half sizes needed? Forget it?
Not everyone is able to meet the horrendous cost the longer sizes demand.
Even flip-flops or sandals with a bit of bling, when found, come with a painful financial sting.
The search goes on, and on, wearing one pair out trying to find another.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by imthan from Pixabay

​HEAT WAVE

When the cold of winter is reluctant to retire, we long for summer sun! 

Not a heat wave!

Tender skins soon flare in painful redness, blisters rising.

Without protection of shade or cream, animals’ paws fry on sizzling roads and pavements.

Water becomes essential to carry with you and frequently sip.

Watch out for the old and the young wilting and fainting, needing support.

Wild animals and birds seek water, too, to drink and keep feathers clean to fly free.

Seek shade when possible, keep activities restricted, and cope sensibly with this burst of sun.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo by Luis Graterol on Unsplash

I AWOKE THIS MORNING

                                           

I awoke this morning, ready to go.

What to do? Where to go? I don’t yet know.

The sun is peeping through the window, encouraging me out.

I linger a little longer, puzzling out a rota.

There are things demanding attention I really ought to do.

Yet the sunshine is enticing me outdoors

For fresh air, and interesting conversations.

Oh, what to do? Where to go? I still don’t know.

I soon will thought, as sunshine has been such a rarity.

I think the outdoors is going to win.

Chores can be left till after dark, before bed.

There—decision now made, guilt free. I can go out.

 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo by Denise Leisner on Unsplash

COMICAL MOMENTS 2

Taking an opened plastic bag of rice from the cupboard. I removed the carefully attached rubber band. Poured what I needed for our meal into the saucepan, then could not find the oh-so-useful rubber band. After searching for a while, I found an alternative clip.

On completing a few other tasks, I washed my hands, only to find the rubber band wound around the base of my fingers.

2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image: pixabay.com

TYPICAL ENGLISH SCENE

The crack of willow, a gentle breeze.

The brilliant sun, showing up grass, short and green.

Players exercising for a match on this beautiful day.

Family and friends gathered together to cheer both sides on.

Time to start: spread out, chaps; keep your eyes sharp.

Leave no gaps.

The ball hurtling at speed towards the wicket.

A crack of the bat sends it spinning out of harm’s way.

A gentle clapping and murmurs of “Well done, Trevor”.

As sandwiches are munched and wine and cold drinks are consumed.

On a typical English summer’s day.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Picture 2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

COMICAL MOMENTS 1

I let Lily, our cat, out the back door tonight and, as usual, waited for her return, busying myself with a bit of writing.

I became aware she had not returned, asking to be let in. So I opened the door and called her. It was windy, so I called several times. Still no cat. 

“Where are you, Lily?” I called, only to hear a cry behind me in the room. She must have sneaked past when I struggled with the door in the wind. The look she gave me said it all.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

​CHERRY BLOSSOM TREE

Cherry blossom buds protectively closed against winter’s killing touch.

Bursting free as the sun, with its dainty dances, flits warmly across the branches.

Bees pollinating as they fly urgently from tree to tree.

Hurrying to complete their task before the threat of late frost;

Destroys the blossoms from which bright delicious cherries might grow.

Staining lips and fingers as the pickers take the fruit,

Rescued from the blight and damage of snow,

To make a fabulous cherry pie.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay

​WEALTH

Wealth has reached hideous proportions, in the hands of so very few.

Not earned, just grasped, with fear, bomb blasts, and data stolen, manipulated, and hard to trace.

The law bought, tainted, rewritten on behalf of the super rich, in multiple places.

To hide their misdemeanours and increase their corrupt wealth amassed over generations and by new, bright, dodgy minds.

A few millions are given with fanfares, presented as gifts to keep the populations quiet.

As slowly they are strangling freedoms long fought for and cherished by ordinary people.

Our homes have always been our castles, places of safety; even they are threatened in the data-taking and manipulation miles from our shores.

There are good people amongst the wealthy, of course,

who share encouragement and finance to develop and support new science and medicine, soil enrichment, and water and sea replenishment, and openly pay their taxes.

We just need many more of those, perhaps more mini than mega wealthy.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image: pixabay.com

​A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT YOU FANCY DOES YOU GOOD

A little bit of what you fancy does you good,

Is it a dance or a song?

Or is it music to soothe you all day long?

Do you have a sweet tooth for sweets you have to try?

Or drinks with colourful names,

Topped with tropical fruit to make you sigh?

Or more music to start you dancing under the sun or moonlight sky?

Or is it an outfit to make you stand out in a crowd?

As you cast your eye appraisingly about,

For someone to surrender your heart too.

A little bit of whatever you fancy does you good.

It sure does!

Copyright © by WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

​BAG SEARCH

When searching my handbag

To find something small I had slipped in

Opening zips and poppers,

Probing in small concealed slots.

Groping to the bottom,

Trying to prevent things from tumbling out.

I fumbled and fumed,

At my public display

Of disorganization.

While trying to be so cool.

A moment of clarity,

As my brain slid into gear.

I’d left it on the bedside table,

It certainly was not HERE!

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image: pixabay.com

​A SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL ENDING

A vase upon the window ledge

Has held a gift of tulips colourfully displayed.

Each day, on opening my eyes, a touch of pleasure surged.

Seeing each flower upright, straight and tall.

As petals opened, showing their perfection.

For days I enjoyed their presence.

Then a slow drying and aging of the petals’ tips

Warned of their decline.

Yet still they retained a certain beauty in their changed shape.

Not one petal has the bunch yet let slip.

With my camera I captured the vision that has held me captivated.

On opening the curtains tomorrow, the petals might be detached on the shelf.

A gift that has given me pleasure while living.

I hope you, too, from this tale, enjoy the flowers I was given.

© 2025 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

​EASTER EXCITEMENT

A promise made so long ago in a land of palms and sand.

Passed down from generation to generation into far distant lands.

The message is not always the same amongst different people.

Yet, at the core of this special time, all religions teach kindness,

love and peace, and to share what you have to eat, in God’s name.

Children delight in eggs, coloured real or chocolate, made and filled, awaiting the dawn of this special celebration.

My heartfelt wish is for peace and love to reign supreme and spread around the world at this Easter time.

A happy Easter to everyone from the WobblingPen Team.

© 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image: pixabay.com

JUST THINKING CAT THOUGHTS

Hello, cat lovers. I have been thinking; it helps to do that from time to time. Easter seems to be a good time to choose.

The garden seems to be livening up, bulbs bursting into flower, leaves on trees straining to burst open to provide hiding places for nesting birds. I don’t chase birds anymore, just do lots of watching.

It is a bit early to curl up in a cosy spot outdoors as rain keeps passing over, making everything wet, wet, wet. I hate being wet: Wobbly throws a towel over me, giving me a wriggling, rapid, all-over rub. I then have the task of licking my fur back into line, when I could be resting. She does not understand that I can dry myself on the bottoms of couches and bedding, and roll all over the carpet to make sure I am really dry. Much more fun!

Another Easter: we have shared quite a few now together, growing older and, I believe, wiser, as I think back to when I chose her and moved in. Dad took longer to accept I had come to stay, not just to be a casual visitor.

We hope more of you are looking forward to a happy Easter, just as we are.

Spread kindness as much as you can, and watch smiles in thankfulness spread too. 

Happy Easter to everyone.

© 2024 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by LECLA from Pixabay

​ENGROSSED AUDIENCE

A midwife was called to deliver another midwife’s case. She anxiously battled her way through miserable weather to a travellers’ site. She was welcomed and escorted to one of the caravans.

On entering, she was hit by a blast of warm air as the door opened and closed for her. 

As her eyes accustomed themselves to the bright light, she saw a woman lying on a bed, surrounded by many small faces of children of various ages looking up at her.

She knew she could not send them out into the bitter night. So, she assembled them as best she could, to have enough room to deliver their next sibling. Her training and experience kicked in, and she set about her task to deliver a baby and mother safely.

All went well with her engrossed audience, until the baby was born. Naturally, they wanted to know if they had another brother or sister. When they saw her cut the umbilical cord, they wanted to know what it was. She explained it was how their mum fed the baby when it was in her tummy, just as she did for them before they were born. The children giggled and laughed and made yuck noises. 

Another question was: why had it not opened its eyes? Was it alright? She explained it was very normal and it would open them up when it was ready.

Glancing around at the assembled family, the smiling faces, sharing the gift of life, gave her an amazing feeling and a wonderful memory to take away with her.

A Shared Tale from Anne Watts and Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen.

© 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Picture: pexels.com

​PERFECT VISION

When the sun is bright and sky blue,

With the sea sighing gently,  breaking on the sand.

Seagulls soaring  on thermals high.

Calling to one another with their plaintive cry’s.

The unmissable warning to sailors returning to port land is near.

As the gulls seek a share of the fisherman’s catch.

Before sweeping the beach for stolen, snacks as holiday  makers play and relax.

All taking advantage of a perfect day.

© 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

​SLIPPING INTO TEENS

Slipping into teens; still don’t know what it means.

Just know that some rules have changed.

I am not kept on quite such a tight rein.

New rules are in place so I do not lose face.

Ways to stand my ground, not be bowled over by a bad crowd.

Encouraged to take a weekend or holiday job to help pay for things ahead.

I am starting to see how tight things can be, as they now share anxieties they once

 kept from me.

Taking responsibility for aiming as high as possible at school without constant

 prodding to

 achieve the best I can as.

To prevent anxiety of what lies ahead from overwhelming me.

No time now to be the class fool; important to be so much more caring.

My feelings are all up and down, difficult to control at times, as hormones start to change moods and thinking is scary at times.

The urge for the need to find someone safe who understands and with whom I can share

 worries that haunt me sometimes.

Music is the balm that brings me joy, sending me dancing, singing, imagination reeling.

In time, life will settle down and perhaps I will find someone to love and share this life of mine.

Together there might be much more ahead to share and certainly worth achieving.

For now, headphones on for music to gently send me to peaceful, restful sleeping.

© 2025 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo by Aedrian Salazar on Unsplash

IT'S NO FUN BEING A CHILD TODAY

 When indoors, we are told we should be out.

“Are you on that computer again? I have told you it is for homework only.

“It is not for those mind-ruining computer games, costing us a fortune.”

When we go out, we are quizzed, “Where have you been? I told you not to leave the street and to be back by six. Who were you with? Your meal is ruined.”

It ain’t no fun being a child today.
School bombards us with homework my parents don’t know how to do; even they do not have the answers. It’s miserable.
Computer games are fun at first but become a bore.
When we realise we need the vital human interaction, rough and tumble, friends to have forever more,
We have to grope our way through good and bad bullies on the way.

It ain’t no fun being a child today.
Holidays have changed. There is less and less for us to spend, as times are hard.
If the parents bend to the cries of, “Oh Mum, Dad, please can we go to a show just once? Our friends have”,
The pain is felt on the return home, when the bills come in and we all have to think thin and do without other things.

It ain’t no fun being a child today.
Bad news at school: someone died; a drug overdose.
The danger is always there; touts hanging around the school gates,
Peer pressure trying to make others join the deadly mind and life-destroying path.
Not for me. I have other plans.

It ain’t no fun being a child today.
I have a plan to change it: work hard at school, keep my family and good friends close,
Help others in my street, seek to volunteer, when Mum and Dad say I can.
Jobs are few and far between at holiday times, and volunteering gives work for idle hands and minds. Skills and friendships acquired last for a lifetime.

Things are changing, slowly it is true, but there are now more things arranged to do.
As a family, we have more to say about what we each do day by day.
Budgets are planned so we understand how they have to stretch to meet our needs.
We never used to understand, with heads buried in the sand.
Things are changing. Hope they are for you, too.

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: LivH

THUNDEROUS CHANGE

                                                                    

It started a glorious day, when like a herd of stampeding buffalo,

The storm hit, bellowing, wrecking, destroying all we knew.

For an hour or two it enforced its terror, nothing we could do.

Except to know life for now would never be the same.

All we had was hope, love and community spirit to rebuild the trampled land.

To remain strong and know our human family, can work to return our community to order and our 

homes to peace and a different tranquillity again.

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: pexels.com  

WAKE UP, WAKE UP

Wake up, wake up. Do not stay asleep too long,  

Or everything you have cherished and loved will have vanished and gone. 

The saying that anything that looks too good to be true, is exactly that: not true 

Easy options often turn out to be the most difficult and protracted to retract 

Wrap yourselves in the letter of the law which has lasted the test of time.  

In time, laws need small adjustments, not their complete obliteration.  

Stand up and be counted to keep the standards most trusted and known by all.

 

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: pexels.com 

I’M GOING TO BE HAPPY

 

I’m going to be happy.

I’m going to shake off the blues.

I’m going to try smiling.

At anyone who comes into view

And wait for someone to smile back in reply.

Hoping they will be comfortable enough to pass it on and on.

With this contagion, smiles will be on their way.

So some of you may be able to smile today.

Chasing any misery and dark moods far away.

Have a Happy Day

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: pexels.com 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

  

Happy New Year 2026 to all our readers and friends.

My biggest wish is that world differences will be settled peacefully in this New Year, 2026.

My second wish is that TRUTH, RESPECT, KINDNESS, and HOPE spread evenly amongst us, in our families, in our local and wider communities; to continue extending them to all countries struggling at the moment; to hold on firmly to irrepressible HOPE.

The above wishes are mine, as I try to tackle my feelings of pain while vast areas of our world struggle with war, and natural environmental disasters, with too high or too low temperatures, and the almost unbelievably vast populations of displaced people and their animals, desperately seeking cover or a home, food, medical care, support, in order to survive and have a future.

GOOD NEWS

There have been some wonderful advances in the treatment of some cancers and MS. Amazing work is being done with GENE and DNA therapy, SAVING YOUNG LIVES!

Driven by food poverty, people are working to find new ways to grow more much needed food for us all. 

More people are planting fruit and nut trees and bushes. Growing trees for construction purposes is so needed. 

Coral is now being produced to renew bleached and dying coral reefs. 

Mangroves are being cultivated and replanted to protect low lying parts of the world. 

These show the strength of people fighting to survive, to assist and return their protection of the land, sea, and skies. 

We all have a responsibility for the health of our world: do not leave it to governments. Local people know what they need. 

Those of us who have enough need to share what we have. Food banks are one way; just drop in what you can spare. Assist a family or a single person caring full time, by giving some of your time and help, so they can have a rest, or a good sound sleep. 

We are capable of giving support and hope to others by sharing some of our time and good news stories.

There are some exciting times ahead, needing hard work, caring, sharing and laughter.

Remember: truth is a powerful tool and, given time, lies unravel.

Wishing everyone, wherever you live, a Happy, Healthy New Year. We hope to see you here in the days to come.

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay.com 

I AM ME. YOU ARE YOU

 Sitting here together, now aged eighty-two, remembering when we first met with our mums at the explorative age of five. You offered me an orange, a gift, then quite rare from the bottom of the bungalow stair.

“Would you like to come out to play?” you asked. I was longing to say yes, but I had the most irritating spots upon my chest. 

Dad said, “Sorry, girls; not just yet,” and your face fell, mine as well. “There will be plenty of time for play and friendship when those itchy spots have faded away.”

We did not know—how could we?—that we would be sitting here, still the best of friends at the grand old age of eighty-two, with years and years of stories to tell of sad goodbyes and joyful hellos, as we followed each other around the world.

You were the quiet bookworm, well educated. I was the adventurer and very creative. 

It was a combination of talents that served us well as years slipped by. 

Marriage for a time kept us apart, until your children appeared and captured my heart. 

Now empty-nested, we sit reminiscing with tears and laughs, struggling to recall the names of people we met a long time ago.

Here we are: you are you and I am me, with limbs creaky, a few replaced, too. Contemplating the memories of the vanishing world we once loved and knew. 

Preparing for the approaching, emerging world, all brashly unfamiliar to us, it is true.

As we hug each other preparing to say farewell, thankful we lived when we did.

Time now to hand over to the young, and hope strong friendships like ours will help carry them through.

I am me and you are you, so thankful for our friendship, still not at an end.

You are and always have been a most remarkable, true and loving friend.

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pexels Licence