AN UNUSUAL CRIME

 

Who was D.B. Cooper, it’s a name you may not know,

On his death bed he admitted a crime committed many years ago,

The crime was most unusual, being the first of its kind,

If you consider the facts an unusual story you will find.

 

A Boeing 727 was flying from Portland to Seattle in 1971,

On board were thirty six passengers and crew,

A passenger told the stewardness that a high jacking was taking place,

That she must listen carefully whilst he told her what to do.

 

He opened his case to reveal cylinders joined by wires,

That he had a bomb was very plain to see,

The stewardess was told to inform the pilot of the fact,

And that their co-operation would guarantee their safety.

 

The pilot was told to land as normal in Seattle ,

The passenger were set free as soon as the plane landed,

The crew however were not aloud to leave the plane,

It was then that a ransom was demanded.

 

The hijacker asked 200,000 dollars and a parachute,

Which the authorities decided was a small price to pay,

In return a promise was given that the plane and crew would be safe,

So the ransom was paid, and the plane took off without delay.

 

The first orders were to fly the plane to Mexico ,

But soon after take off the orders were changed,

The pilot was ordered to reduce height and speed and to open the rear door,

The hijacker jumped when everything had been arranged.

 

The police knew the area where he must have landed,

It was an area which contained a lot of marshy ground,

They thought that he might have been killed on landing,

But in spite of a widespread search he was never found.

 

His thin clothing and the atrocious weather conditions,

Made it very unlikely that he could survive,

But after months of searching without finding his body,

The police had to assume that he was still alive.

 

The numbers on the ransom money had been recorded,

It was hoped that when it was spent it would provide a clue,

But none of it was ever found in circulation,

After a few years the police decided they had other things to do.

 

In 1977 D.B Cooper married, but used a different name,

His wife had no idea of the crime he had committed,

They lived a peaceful normal happy life together,

It was only on his deathbed that his guilt was admitted.

 

 

 

His wife was surprised and told the police of his admission,

They must have been happy that the truth at last was known,

They could not understand why the money had not been spent,

So the reason for the crime is still unknown.

 Ron Martin

Footnote

 

Thirty years after the hi jacking a young boy playing in the area where the hijacker landed found a bundle of 50-dollar notes, which had been part of the ransom money.

It is possible that the rest of the money was lost in the marshy ground, which would explain why none of it was spent.

PARIS SHOOTING – Promote Yourself

it was just another day in the city of love, when suddenly the shooting went off
We lost the ones we loved a lot
Fear stuck the eyes of the people of Paris
Not shed a tear, we were frozen with fear…

• Imogen Allen

Hello, my name is Imogen,I come from the UK, I wrote this poem with my friends for a music lesson. It was originally a rap, but I thought it worked as a poem too!
My blog- http://www.xxxcrossmyheartxxx.wordpress.com

Refuse a Full Circle- Promote Yourself

Refuse a full circle
Of
Spiral going viral
Uncontrolled
Moving on
Slinking and sliding
Or sidling along
Or inferencing
Circumferences
Circumnavigating
Drawn arcs
And settled new points
To start off again
In spiralling form
Inspired
And still tired
But tested
And tried
So inspiral faith
Keep going

Cheryl Bhagwandin
cheryl62blog.wordpress.com

CITY DEATH- Promote Yourself

 

Gone-

Murdered by concrete

and polluted air,

Witness to city’s growth.

Yielding shade to sultry summers,

Forming crystalline sculptures in winter,

Morning droned with saws

A barren stump your marker

Death your reward.

Walt Trizna

https://walttriznastories.wordpress.com/

Revealed: the only known poem by an adult Winston Churchill – 1874-1965

Winston Churchill in the uniform of the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars and part of the poem entitled ‘Our Modern Watchwords’ 

 

The shadow falls along the shore

The search lights twinkle on the sea

The silence of a mighty fleet

Portends the tumult yet to be.

The tables of the evening meal

Are spread amid the great machines

And thus with pride the question runs

Among the sailors and marines

Breathes there the man who fears to die

For England, Home, & Wai-hai-wai.

The poem makes reference to cities under the rule of the British Empire including Wai-hai-wai – Weihai in China – Sokoto in Nigeria and Karochaw in Japan.

It was acquired several years ago by Roy Davids, a retired rare manuscript dealer from Great Haseley in Oxfordshire.

Mr Davids, 70, said: “This is the only poem in Churchill’s handwriting as an adult. There is one at Harrow School but that was one he wrote as a boy and it was for a competition.

“The archive at the Churchill College at Cambridge University has never heard of another poem and that is a pretty certain statement.

“I don’t think it’s a bad effort. It is quite competent. It is quite rousing stuff and is an imperial celebratory poem that references cities that stretch the British Empire.

“It is interesting that more than 50 years after the death of the most famous Englishman of the 20th century, we are still discovering new aspects of his life.”

At the time of writing the poem, Churchill was serving as an army war correspondent – a position he chose in order to see the most possible battle. He served in countries including India, Cuba, Egypt and Sudan and wrote dispatches for the Daily Telegraph and the Morning Post.

The poem was produced before Churchill served in the Second Boer War, where he took part in the relief of the Siege of Ladysmith.

Allen Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archive Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge, said: “Of course he was a great writer and orator and he used poetry in some of his famous speeches.

“He was someone who was greatly influenced by poetry and was able to memorise and recite large parts of other people’s poetry.

“But it is rare to find a piece of poetry by him as an adult. I am not aware of any others that exist.

“Having read it, it seems to me that it was part-influenced by Kipling and Tennyson and the sort of poems he would have read at school. “

A spokesman for auctioneers Bonhams said: “We don’t of course usually think of Winston Churchill as a poet but perhaps we should not be surprised to find that he wrote verse.

“He was a man of many parts who, over the course of a long life, threw himself enthusiastically into a whole range of activities beyond his main calling as a politician and statesman.

“The work certainly provides a fascinating extra insight into the life of one of the country’s greatest figures.”

The poem has been given a conservative estimate of £15,000. It will be sold at auction on April 10.

The only known poem by an adult Winston Churchill, written as a young cavalry officer and describing marines on the eve of a naval battle, has come to light.

The wartime leader was an unrivalled speechwriter, prolific author and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, but despite being a lover of poetry, he was only known to have written one poem, as a schoolboy at Harrow.

Now a 10-verse poem penned over two pages in blue crayon by Churchill while he was serving in the army has emerged for sale at auction in London.

The poem is a rousing celebration of the British Empire and of going to war to defend her, and describes anxious sailors and marines ahead of a battle. It is said to have been influenced by Kipling and Tennyson.

It is signed by Churchill and was written over two sides on the headed notepaper of his cavalry regiment, the 4th Hussars, in about 1898. He would have been 24 years old.

Two of the 10 stanza of the work, titled ‘Our Modern Watchwords’, read: