Poetic Reasons To Be Cheerful

We cheer, we sing, we ding-a-ling,

We dance and zing, when we bling,

We cheer when Billy scores a goal,

Or when we see a baby foal,

We cheer out loud on school sports day,

And finding fresh laid eggs in hay,

We cheer until our hearts content,

Whenever life feels heaven sent,

We cheer at convocation day,

Or when the sun shines an extra ray,

We cheer at things that make us happy,

But not the stuff that makes us snappy,

We cheer when lighting a birthday cake,

Much more than tripping over a rake,

We cheer when we see a rocket take off,

Not hearing a xenophobe sounding off,

We cheer at life’s simplest things,

Like a burger, fries and onion rings,

We cheer at the stars that shine so bright,

And a full moon glowing on the darkest night,

We cheer at a bird flapping its wings

With food for its chicks in a beak it brings,

We cheer when we practise daily Qigong,

Or hearing a band play our most favourite song,

We cheer when gramps brings home fish and chips

And when our bestie shakes his snake hips,

We cheer when we stumble into bed,

And finally manage to rest our head,

We cheer when we beat our previous best,

And feel some sweat upon our vest,

We cheer in the morning if the milkman winks

And at the antics of his clever cat called Jinks,

We cheer when we see a baby smile

And when we navigate over a rambler’s stile

We cheer in the morning and at night,

Especially when falling in love at first sight,

We say cheers with friends when holding drinks,

And when finishing our emails or adding emoji blinks,

We cheer and dance at our prom ball

Or when our guinea pig curls up small like a ball

We cheer at lots of different things,

Even when the postie sings,

There are so many reasons to be cheerful,

Rather than being glum, stroppy and fearful,

So, let out a Cheer! we hear you say…

Lifes got to be better,

By being that way.

Toby Clark

May the Twenty Third of the Year Twenty Twenty.

About Toby:

I am a self appointed... poet, anti fashion clothing designer, writer, gentle eco activist, human strategist, brand strategist, mentor and knitter. I love wool & sheep & nature. In terms of some well known accolades people seem interested in, I was the Welsh Fashion Designer of the Year, I won the UKFT Newcomers Award for Export, the trophy presented to me by HRH Princess Anne wearing a white glove. I won silver medal at the Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the year at a bash in Glasgow. I sold my clothes under my own label - Toby Clark to Barneys New York, Browns of South Molton Street, Liberty, Anglobal in Japan and Shinsegae in Korea. Among a few other prestigious stockists. I have designed clothing worn by a number of world famous people, mainly creative types, musicians, actors that sort of thing, but prefer not to mention them! I worked for Margaret Howell for 11 years as Head of Menswear and helped her receive three nominations from the British Fashion Council as British Menswear designer of the year. Though we didn't win the award, as it was between three people, which Lee at Alexander MQueen won twice and then Christopher Bailey of Burberry. I co-founded Blackhorse Lane Ateliers and helped to create the original manifesto and architectural plan for this denim making brand. Am now putting all my efforts into the circular economy and considering how to reinterpret already made clothing. The first baby and young toddler I ever carried in my arms was Trichi who become Patsy Ferran, who last year won the Laurence Olivier Actress of The year award. Most of all my proudest achievements are my seventeen year old son Luca who lives in Amsterdam as well as slipping a ring on Maree my kiwi fiancé’s finger in NZ. This was just four days before she had to fly back to London. We are now permanently apart due to the corona Lockdown. Though both happy and living in the present. Am currently loving doing Qigong with Mark Shayler and his class of merry men and merry ladies even though we are 11,337 miles apart. So that’s my bio really. I think life is all about being a really good listener, which is what Mum taught me to do, as well as to knit. Love you mum. x

www.tobyetc.com