#4 Checkmate

(Josie Sayz: This is my fourth anthology poem, which became the anthology title. Like my third poem ‘Chess Piece’, ‘Checkmate’ is something incredibly important to me.)

Everyone’s invited,
The table is all laid.
We’re gonna have a party –
Bet you wish that you’d stayed.
Got my best clothes on, Hatter’s got his hat –
Wouldn’t be one if he’d forgotten that.
Dormouse got in the teapot – oh my!
And our thirty layer cake is piled up high.
If I just go for a wonder in this land…
Marching to the beat of my very own band.
Sit at the top of the treetops and swing.
I’ll let the whole kingdom sing.
You know this is gonna be my thing.
And you’ll never, ever, ever be King.
Now everyone is waiting
And it’s time to take my turn.
There’s no use in chasing rabbits,
Always a lesson left to learn.
But days are hard when I’m feeling blue
My memories come flooding back to you.
But they tell me every day will turn out okay
So longs as your favourite sport is croquette.
If I just go for a wonder in this land…
Marching to the beat of my very own band.
Sit at the top of the treetops and swing.
I’ll let the whole kingdom sing.
You know this is gonna be my thing.
And you’ll never, ever, ever be King.
I’m always climbing up the ladders,
Because you know I can’t be late.
And you, you never bother trying,
Always sliding down the snake.
My world, it keeps on turning
As the castle comes into view.
And every day is a new journey,
Now I’m better off without you.
If I just go for a wonder in this land…
Marching to the beat of my very own band.
Sit at the top of the treetops and swing.
I’ll let the whole kingdom sing.
You know this is gonna be my thing.
And you’ll never, ever, ever be King.
You’ll never, ever, ever be King.
No, you’ll never, ever, ever be Ki-ing.
Oh, no-oh,
You’ll never, ever, ever be King.
Sit at the top of the treetops and swing.
I’ll make the whole kingdom sing.
With them friendship is better,
They’ll stick by me forever
And you’re never, ever coming back.
Sit at the top of the treetops and swing.
At the top of my lungs I’ll sing:
You know, you’ll never, ever, ever,
You’ll never, ever, ever be King.
Checkmate!

- Josie -

#3 Chess Piece

(Josie Sayz: This I my third poem from my ‘Checkmate’ anthology. This is the most personal poem that I have ever written. I have never spoken before of the things that occurred or the emotions that I felt surrounding the events of this poem. It’s the end of the chapter, the final moment, the point to move on and never look back.)

Once upon a time,
Not too long ago…
Trapped inside this castle
With nowhere else to go.
When anyone came near,
I’d run away and hide.
Never really wanted
Another by my side.
I’ve never let anyone near before,
Never knew life needed something more.
I read you like a fairy tale
And let you through the door,
But you played me like a chess piece –
Something I can’t ignore.
You kept my heartbeat racing
And left me wanting more;
But you were only playing
Leaving me insecure.
When you knocked down all the walls,
Planets kept on turning;
But now you left me in the dark,
My heart keeps on burning.
Now all your words are lost.
Your point-of-view is dated.
And now that you are gone
Everything is left tainted.
I’ve never let anyone near before,
Wish you’d never shown me something more.
I read you like a fairy tale
And let you through the door,
But you played me like a chess piece –
Something I can’t ignore.
You kept my heartbeat racing
And left me wanting more;
But you were only playing
Leaving me insecure.
We could have ruled the kingdom, you and I.
Here’s to thinking that love could never die.
You’d be the King and take me as your Queen.
But that life’s now over, because you are so mean.
I’ve never let anyone near before,
Now I know I never needed something more.
I read you like a fairy tale
And let you through the door,
But you played me like a chess piece –
Something I can’t ignore.
You kept my heartbeat racing
And left me wanting more;
But you were only playing
Leaving me insecure.

- Josie -

#2 You and Me

(Josie Sayz: This is the second poem to my ‘Checkmate’ anthology.)

I watch you sit
Across the room,

Wondering if

You'll look up soon.
And when you did,
My cheeks turned red
And I ended up
Looking down instead.
And you'll never know
How I feel,
But that doesn't make
How I feel less real.
The sun comes up,
The clouds depart.
I'd like to wish
This is how we start.
Come on over
I just want you to see,
Close your eyes,
Imagine you and me.
When you smile

Alone with me,
It makes me feel
That we can be.
Your touch gives me
Butterflies.
A feeling that
I just can't hide.
But I can't let you know
Just how I feel.
I don't want to lose
A friendship so real.
The sun comes up,
The clouds depart.
I'd like to think
This is how we start.
Come on over
I just want you to see,
Close your eyes,
Picture you and me.
This isn't a love song,
It isn't a plea.
I'm not trying to get
You alone with me.
I'm not after a favour
Or to sit on your knee.
I only want you
To notice me.
I'll never tell you
How I feel.
All I know
Is that it is real.
The sun comes up,
The clouds depart.
I'd kind of wish
This is how we start.
Come on over
I just want you to see,
Close your eyes,
This is you and me.

- Josie -

#1 How's Josie?

(Josie Sayz: This is the first of an anthology of 12 poems that I’m coming up with called 'Checkmate'. It’s pretty silly. It’s just something that I randomly came up with.)

You throw a smile in my direction,
Just to get my attention.
But when I ask if you're okay,
You just shrug and walk away.
I can't guess what's on your mind,
If you never drop a line.
Why must you be so confusing?
Because in this game of love I think I'm losing.
Try Hard. Restart.
Ever gonna play your part?
Stand back and watch me go…
He's into 'Ben 10', hang ten,
Oh no, here we go again.
While I think we're getting closer,
Life becomes a roller coaster
Here we go, wanna know,
Never mind I've gotta go.
But it always bothers me
That you never, ever ask:
“How's Josie?”
You make me feel like we have something,
But when we're alone your mind reads, “NOTHING.”
I can't wait another day,
Won't you just ask me to stay?
And you're driving me insane.
Just stop playing all these games.
Sometimes I haven't got a clue.
You stay bottled up, while I feel see-through.
Try Hard. Restart.
Ever gonna play your part?
Stand back and watch me go…
He's into 'Ben 10', hang ten,
Oh no, here we go again.
While I think we're getting closer,
Life becomes a roller coaster.
Here we go, wanna know,
Never mind I've gotta go.
But it always bothers me
How you never, ever ask:
“How's Josie?”
You never mention me at all,
Hanging with your friends at the mall.
My brother says you might be gay,
If you are, well that's okay.
Maybe we could make amends.
You know we can still be friends.
But you know it would be soothing,
To have you ask, “How're you doing?”
Try Hard. Restart.
Never gonna play your part?
Stand back and watch me go…
He's into 'Ben 10', hang ten,
Oh no, here we go again.
While I think we're getting closer,
Life becomes a roller coaster.
Here we go, wanna know,
Never mind I've gotta go.
But it always bothers me
That you never, ever ask:
“How's Josie?”

- Josie -

Security vs Privacy Intrusion

(Josie Sayz: Update: This was just me trying to do a serious news story as an April Fool's joke. No harm intended. Please stop spying on me Russia.)

Okay, so there’s this huge debate at where I work and I just had to write about it in hopes of getting some sort of response of some kind from someone.
          So, I have a part-time job at a local supermarket in the ‘Home Delivery/Grocery Collection’ department and recently there has been an increase in the amount of customers’ payments that have been declined. Perhaps people have just overspent on their credit cards? Maybe they don’t have as much money in the bank as they thought? Well those were our thoughts to begin with until a few days ago.
          The store where I work recently found out that banks and credit card companies now have more power to watch over your spending than we (and possibly many others) had actually realise. Most of you are probably aware that some banks and credit card companies have an anti-fraud policy, whereby if you use your card to purchase a rather extravagant purchase (usually anything over £1,000 in one transaction) then your card company becomes suspicious and assumes that your card is being used in fraud and refuses the payment to go through, unless you contact the bank/credit company that you are with to confirm the payment. Sometimes you may even find that if you purchase something for a company for the first time (and don’t use ‘PayPal’) that your card company either refuses your payment or requires you to confirm your security question’s password or something of the sort.
          Well now banks and card companies can go one step further; they are employing people to track your every move. Every single item purchased and every single location that you have ever used your card in is now being monitored. “This is good,” you may be thinking. “Now I have total faith in my [insert bank/credit card company here].” But there is more to it than you may realise. Way more.
          Alright, imagine you’re a 21 year old guy. You usually spend your money on rent, bills, groceries for one, nights out drinking with the guys, perhaps a lottery ticket here and there, gym membership, maybe a trip to the cinema, petrol, car insurance… but wait. It’s your little cousin’s birthday next week and she really wants that new princess DVD. You see it in the shop and make your way to the till. Okay, so you may feel a little embarrassed that you’re about to purchase a princess film, but what-the-hey, it’s for your cousin – surly the cashier will understand. But then, as you pop your card into the machine and enter your pin: your card has been declined. “How?” you scream. This is even more embarrassing than buying the princess DVD. You have the money in your account. You know you do. So why was your card declined? Simple. After being monitored so closely by your bank/credit card company, they don’t see a princess DVD as your regular purchase. Worried that your card was used in fraud, they decline it.
          Okay, let’s try another. Have you never purchased meat because you’re a vegetarian? Well next time you go to the supermarket and purchase a meat product (maybe it’s for your elderly neighbour who couldn’t make it to the shops this week) you are likely to find that your bank/credit card company won’t accept the payment – even if the purchase only costs 99p. Why? Because you don’t usually purchase meat products, so your bank/credit card company assumes that the payment is fraud.
          Maybe you’re on a tight budget and usually buy a supermarket’s-own value version of branded products, but then one day you decide to treat yourself. Instead of the plain, bitter, supermarket’s-own bar of chocolate, you’re going to buy the nice, big bar of ‘Cadbury’s Dairy Milk’. But when you get to the counter… your card is declined.
          The idea of bank and credit card companies watching over people so intricately may appear, to some, to be the security blanket that they’ve always dreamt of. Not having to worry if anything happens to their card, because their company will notices if the thief even buys a stick of chewing gum or a bar of chocolate that is different from their own regular purchases.
          Or is it a privacy intrusion? Is it really safety gone mad? Do we really need or want people sticking their noses that close into our private lives. So much so that they know where we buy our groceries and at what time, whether we purchase supermarket-value meals or more expansive branded items, whether we eat healthily or like to snack on sweets, where we purchase our clothes, whether we’re a size zero or sixteen, that you always buy a cappuccino because you find all other coffee tastes too strong, that you have an allergy to your neighbour’s cat so are forever buying tissues…
          Do we really need  bank and credit card companies spying on every single penny that we spend to really ensure that our money is safe? Do we feel comfortable in knowing that this is going on? Or is this really a huge invasion on everyone’s privacy and should it be stopped? I’ll leave it for you to decide.

- Josie -