She doesn't look, she sees
The black hole. Heading for her.
Scared of unfounded stories
Circulating in her head -
A brain-tumoured-tainted, untrained structure -
Cells multiply, you see, wildly
Deep sea squalls fling
Seas against concrete. Defences breached
By unaccounted time. Rhymes come & go
In this muddled mind of mine, multiples the arrhythmia
Of this, my broken heart, apart from th...

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Money does not mean everything

It does not give you the breath to sing

It can be a challenge to earn

Making the heart wither and burn

Love cannot be replaced by money

As it does not make life very sunny

But nowadays it is about the status

Similar to firemen wearing breathing apparatus

Money cannot buy happiness

Maybe just a little touch of tenderness

I canno...

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There're many questions doing round

Doctor death approaching

So doctor she did not count

Stranger men shouldn't be approached

So they were turned down one by one

Few of his friends made indecent contact 

They still offer her to make a mark

Queries on the never ending list

Who should be and who shouldn't be

Told to bloom where one's planted

The right gardener will pick...

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10/31/2020

I know that you're not going to be there for me

I can calm my mind with those words, you're not going to be there for me

With the words that use to send my stomach into waves and hard knots, the drunken realization sinking in now...

That you are not going to be there for me

Again I'm waking up with all reliance on myself and my bones aching for only my acknowledgment of t...

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Cubby Broccoli was there to meet him

Roger Moore and Honor too

Sean reminded Goldfinger

what he expected him to do.

"I expected you to die and here you are"

was the laser sharp reply. 

Then they let the cameras roll

just for old time's sake,

the script came up on an autocue

but their minds were needle sharp

and the filmtrack played a celestial song

to a golden...

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Just once I want
to wait at a bus stop
I don´t know
for a bus that will take me
to places I don´t know
where I will do things
I don´t know
in front of faces
I don´t know
for reasons
I don´t know

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Time thou march on relentlessly.

And influence everthing under the sun.

Seasons change upon thy command.

Nature seems normal.

Human life is anything but normal.

The future is bleak.

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Walking down the pavement of life,

I turned and slipped on destiny's knife

Thinking how i left the game,

I was blessed by the nature's brame

The light i was longing for,

Actually belonged to a different star

When i saw that gleaming moon,

Then i realized the irrelevance of noon

A touch of shyness in that fire,

Makes it all worthy to inspire

A ...

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As I delve into the devils frontier.

I see that witching hour must be near.

The hunters moon, on Haloween did appear.

Alerting me danger is near.

But, to my plan I must adhere.

Its J.D. the ghosts and gobblins will fear. 

When I take the Devil by his balls, 

And shove his fork up his rear.

With the Devil slain, and over his career.

I will take his throne, and his angels ...

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There is so much more to this.

The music does not make song

but the foetal space

amongst famous walls

filled with such au fait grief

and there a beast floats

to see the fear fleeting

on their new found face

in some unfailing destiny,

there she silently screams,

a flame away

God so violently benign

in his passive spirit-

He forges her-

to breath truly ...

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There once was a Welshman from Ebbw Vale,

Who  wanted to have a good ride on a whale.

They returned from the ride with the Welshman inside,

And a smile on the face of the Whale.

Written by Morfil

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even in the cruelest pain

she kept her sense of style

until they put in the catheter

she kept her dresses organized

while he was dying on a battlefield

he was thinking about that night

when his dreams came true

under a different moonlight

hostages with terrorists

come to an understanding about holidays

children with parents

compromise on ho...

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Full moon tonight

will light the sky

it's Halloween

and passers-by

used to come knocking

on our door

due to Covid though

fun is no more

No gangs of goblins

in the night

no monsters who

give us a fright

no buckets filled

as were before

Covid changed all that

forever more

Who killed this night

this hallowed time

who called an ...

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Part-time embalming is joyful

Not enough to get you down

Leaves time to appreciate life

Freed from that bloody gown

Embalming can bring surprises

Cadavers turn up you once knew

This happened to young Dahlia

Its a sadistic geezer she'd blew

Chopped up in some car crash

His wife wanted a restful look

Freed from the visible causes

Her nerves would not brook

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The Setting Sun

Ujjal Mandal, India

The setting sun says me:
"Tomorrow I'll rise again ;
I am going to have such a sleep
That lets me always keep awaking ". 
O, let's dip in the true West
To rise up in the motherly East. 

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I had promised myself

No running after the elf

However, twist of circumstances

We may have our share of differences

The heart pumped the emotions

And the mind couldn’t refute…

Even though we stood separated by distances.

There was a tussle between me and me

Me – the myself within, and the face outside – me.

We had arguments since the promise looked mock

By our pr...

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Vitriolic but justified, even necessary
words had been hurled as stones
intended to do the same damage

they were not stones but boomerangs
the sharp edge coming now
to claim their painful bullseye

one student of aeronautics, scarred
had a boomerang painted
hung on the wall too good to use

through a storm of hissing skies
the maimed stagger on as ever
but our student at last i...

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I go by the name of Henry and I have a torrid tale to tell

The date was Saturday October 31st in the year 2020

A day I will never forget a night of pure living hell

A pretty young thing called Camilla caught my roving eye

We had dallied and danced for a couple of weeks

About time I invited her over to wine and dine oh my

The scene was set and I cooked up a delicious storm

She ...

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Brainwashed by white noise

Brainwashed marketing ploys

Brainwashed by the masses

Brainwashed in the classes

Brainwashed out of thinking

Brainwashed into sinking

Brainwashed blocks the soul

Brainwashed no longer whole

Brainwashed by the day

Brainwashed work for pay

Brainwashed pay the bill

Brainwashed makes us ill

Brainwashed see them walking

Brainwashed eatin...

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Ghostly remains

serial killer

evil spirit

rotting coffin

violently shaking

another victim

forcibly taken

joins devil

for company

inside multiplying

Halloween grave.

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All my momma's dogs died fat and ugly

She loved to spoil them

She loved to spoil me too

There's a certain damage done

When you're momma's only son

And every sins forgiven

Before it is begun.

So now I  simply live inside my fiction

If I'm writing about thieves, I steal candy bars

If I'm writing about a foreigner I change my diction

If I'm writing about love

I just s...

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I can't take much more lock down or bubble.
So much destruction, can you see the rubble.
Mounting debts come with every locked door.
We've had enough, people can't take anymore.
Into the wilderness of isolation, people will rot.
Nibbling away at our sanity, till they rob the lot.
Watching our freedom trickle down the drain.
Mental illness to follow as a result of the strain.
The most vulne...

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The earth is in complete control

Despite the mischief that humans may cause

The laws of nature would never relinquish

Man's ability to amend said laws

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(Happy Halloween everyone!)

She rides upon a crimson horse

Its eyes as black as tar

Pray not to hear her whispered name

For she'll come to where you are

Her skin: as white as fresh-laid snow 

And twice as cold to touch

Her hair: as black as night itself

Hold your breath now, hush!

For if you hear the galloping hooves

Coming to your door

Run with all ...

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This must be a nightmare
But I’m not asleep
All kinds of feelings
Are starting to creep
But as the demons
Torment my soul
The devil he laughs
The werewolves they howl
I’m running, I’m hiding
Deep down into the woods
In the shadows they lurk
My heart pumping blood
Sweating and gasping
I’m struggling to breathe
Head all in a panic
I don't want to believe
Scratching and scrapping
Dee...

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As autumn's rusty fingers begin
to push their way through tired trees
So, the early dimming light
and spectral chill conspire
to gently sweep me back in time

It's Oxford in the autumn
nineteen; with eyes opening
A new life unfolding
cycling through the leaves
and sighing under bridges

Oxford in the autumn
that brick so old around me
broad streets, illogical lanes
busses and puddle...

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A frost chilled dim moonlight night

Putrid air, no stars in sight

Just sheer black sky’s we have

and eerie sounds that shout out “MAD”

It’s moonlight Halloween

It started out as a Christian festival

Priests and Rector’s in their vestibules

The congregation on All Hallows’ Eve

Candles lit for the graves of the dead

No meat eaten, soul cakes instead

Then came ...

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The woods still hold their magic;
mischievously they call
Our addiction is quite tragic
it often drives us up the wall

Thrice a week we head towards
a clearing in the trees
Light a woodless fire
and enjoy the eerie breeze

We're not sure why we do it
but we don our pointy hats
and on our way, I hate to say
kidnap the neighbours' cats

Sometimes we get a black one
but a siamese wil...

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You are far but you are here.
I can hear you breath in the in-between.
I am here,
ever waiting to be touched.
My entire being is but a timepiece,
counting down,
until you return,
lovingly,
you and I,
Earth and Sky.

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Looking from the other side of the mirror,

Seeing through dirty glasses,

There is something not real about this moment

Like looking at a reflection of a reflection of a reflection….

Something just undefinable,

A gap between my here,

And their here.

My now,

And their now.

So fine as to be invisible but so wide

That one is unaware of the other.

I’m existing in their ...

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Green

Green with envy

The color that haunts me

The color that burns so brightly it might be inside me

Inside of my head

Better left unsaid

Just put it to bed

The anger fills a deep void till I become red

Red

Like the color of your face when there was distaste

Wasting my time afraid to fight

Your love was just like the light

The light of traffic so green and red

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Love happens when you least expect it.

When you have your eyes closed and are looking in the opposite direction.

Love happens even when you shun it. 

Even when you curse it from the pits of hell love happens. 

Love happens and it knows why it came and how long it plans to stay.

When it happens it takes you by storm 

Love happens and with no words

Love happens and when it does

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I remember getting lost in the lyrics when I was a young girl. I would stop and start my record or cassette a hundred times while I wrote down every word so I could sing along to the song. 

Lyrics was my escape when I had no place to go.

I learned lyrics, meter, and rhyme, from the best poetry teachers of my time... 

Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, James Taylor,  Bob Seger, Barb...

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JOB REQUIRING DAMN SMART TECHNOLOGY

Cut down barrier

That bought attentive

Down to shoe ground

That connection put off

Faustian compromise ran down

Working hours digitally mapped

For payment justification

And only a half decade's

Pay As You Go equipment

Quick thinking plans discussed

Financial sacrifice

Emotional gesture

Desire to recompense

So C...

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NB. Six x New haikus from my Underground series of haikus

31

Harmonica led

He plays guitar with it once

Then a second time.

32

Breaking down again

You are not sure whether to

Wait or drive to work.

33

Shivering in the cold

You can see her there wishing

She had her gloves.

34

Drawing on your past

The past becomes the future

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A sentence and a cell,
the American dream of hell,
melted Liberty bell,
getting sick of the smell,
can you tell how long it's been?
do you trust this cage you're in?
do you trust this rage within?
initial impact then spin,
centrifugal friend,
soul bouncing inside cold, dead, skin

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He used to send onlookers wild

When doing his impressions;

Was known to smash a gross of plates

During his late night sessions.

He did not like the audience;

He hated every second.

He used to cry himself to sleep

As fame and money beckoned.

His routines dated far too fast;

His jokes fell over the edge.

Washed up and tight, he would be found

Underneat...

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the voice comes to me 
as a phantom in a dream. 

as i write 
the voice channels 
from him to me. 

laughter vanishes 
to staring at the sea, 
to the house 
that no longer carries 
his childhood dreams. 

vacanies searching for occupation 
from passing through stations 
to platforms holding onto memories, 
all of it comes to me. 

in my internal screenplay, 
is he the playwright...

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True North

We often sublimate ourselves

to conform and meet the

expectations of others

We aim to please but seldom ourselves

always others

Life can be spent in such a charade

which brings damage and no joy

We must enter into our inner selves

to face reality and come to

accept the truth of our identity

to do so with courage

The real me and the real you

No...

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When we walked in the sun, it shone for us;
Radiant, radiating warmth and love, I held you close.

Had I the chance, I would never have let go.

I don’t know what was brighter, that day:
your smile, or the sun’s rays colouring the world a sweet, rose hue.

Had I the chance, I would never have let go.

Radiant, radiating warmth and love, I held you ...

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এমনিই ঘুরতে ফিরতে ছিলাম

কি একটা ঘটনা 

কি একটা যে পেরেশানি হলো

আগের সকল চিনচিনে না পাওয়া— এগুলি কোন ব্যাপারই না 

এক তুড়ির নিমেষে তারা তুচ্ছ একটা ঘটনা হয়ে গ্যালো

তুচ্ছ একটা যেনতেন ঘটনা—

আগের সকল বেদনা, বেদনার কারিতাস— 

এখন একটা রুমালের মতন ভলিউমে এরা পকেটে পড়ে আছে

একটা আদুরে বিড়ালের মতন লাফ দিয়ে নতুন প্রেম এলো কোলে

শীতের সকালের মিষ্টি রোদ মাখা তার গায়ে

একটা আদ...

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Americans are reluctant to remember (or keen to forget) that whole towns were loyal to the British Crown during the War of Independence.  The most notable of these was New York.   (But don't mention it to your cabbie there)

They fled from the murrain that fell on East Ham

By Plymouth and Boston they brought us

And on to this place they called New Amsterdam

To sire we grandsons and...

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this never ending baggage i collect 

the memories i hoard  

these stones in my suitcase

are heavy hands clinging to my ankles 

begging me to remain in what was 

distracting me from what is  

and making it impossible

to get a glimpse of what will be.

this never ending baggage 

packing to leave before i’ve settled 

my eyes adjusting only in time

to register an outlin...

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Damnation Trail

Through forests dark and shadowed vale

He follows the damnation trail

Along the river’s twisted course

Through bracken thick and clutching gorse

The ancient path cut through the land

He walks with devil’s hand in hand

And where his steps flatten the crops

No more will grow the wheat and hops

For he has footsteps cast in death

He steals the fa...

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She's not my first love, but she is my first attachment. I can't help the fact that I constantly fall in love with the idea of people, but this time is different. I'm not in love with the idea, I'm in love with her. Genuinely, honestly, completely in love with her. 

The whole situation is foreign to me. She says she loves me and I whole-heartedly believe her. I've never taken anyone serious whe...

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"Crossroads"

Heart pacing here and there

Like a pregnant deer in labour

But fear throws its bands on her 

So truth is born a stillborn

How do I begin to bare this hopes

Woven around my mind like tensed spider webs

For their is no freedom in being free

It only strengthen the chains that desires to bind us.

Freedom call is desirous

Letting caged word...

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Will you raise your voice for the oppressed

Will you demand Governmental redress

Will you speak on things that truly matter

Will you allow this illusion to truly shatter

Will you plant the seeds in the ears of youth

So they can discover the yield of truth

Will you speak up Will you scream

Will you have faith Will you dream

Will you turn up your volume for the silenced

Wi...

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A poem for my big sister about our grandparents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time there were two sisters

One dark

One fair...

You

And me

And we shared

Sweets

Dreams

A bed

A room

A home

A family

An abuse

A neglect

A secret

A history

And yet here we are

So very different.

We shared so much

And yet so very little

You were

A coconut ...

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“I shut my eyes and the world drops dead;

I lift my lids and all is born again” 

Sylvia Plath 

HB 

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How do I climb the next step?
When all hope is gone, when all strength is gone,
With barely even a wisp of will left to go on,
How do I climb the next step?
Why should I even try?
It seems like there’s answers for every question except one, “Why,”
And that’s the only one I really need but I ask and, no reply,
So why should I even try?
And what if I don’t want to climb?
What if this step, ...

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Purest  gold leaves

Heart-shaped and such 

Fragile flesh on dark skeleton

Prettily fluttering down

With each gentle gust

Gilding green grass

Left glowing in the sunlight

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Sewing the hours of life

The humming needle ticks the hours

As soft rolls of multi-coloured fabric

Flow across floorboards

Like rainbows caressing the grain

The stitches make maps, tracks to follow

Seams to explore, zips to open and shut

And open again just to hear the sound

The foot lands with certainty then lifts to disembark

To make darts of warp and we...

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I’m looking through my Father’s eyes

as a cloud white curtain lifts.

Coal-fired smoke curls upward,

the street stands silent witness.

‘Salt of the earth’ pillars of stone identical to each,

light ghostly chorus as if to say,

'there’ll be no changes here today'.

A dismal dawn squints down on those

who long to abandon ship.

While others to their fate resign,

...

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In these dull days of ennui - seeking a task or two

I found myself wondering - and before I knew

It came to me clearly that this much is true

We all have a job of work to do.

We each plough our own furrow, me and you,

And sow seed  and deed our whole life through

Depending on our talents and what we pursue,

Doing our best in life's hullabaloo.

But whatever we're b...

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Grown Angered

     The saddles at Buffalo Bills remain empty,
For ‘the new commercials’ were not ready,
Not keen enough for knife, for gun,

     This wasn’t a warranted event
For A World in Hate to contemplate,
Nor any reference to ‘rough justice’
Can be badged and excused as,
     ‘We all know there is no such thing as rough justice!’

     Those that can, dance, while other’...

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The last few years

Were void of cheers

All my success

Was average, or less

But the joy of pain

Like a needle in vein

Kept me on board

A cheap sell out fraud

Cold comfort exchanged

For a night of disdain

To awake the next day

A heavy price to pay

As I brush my hair

With my fingers

and bear

The lashes of life

Cut deep like a knife

I’ll get up again

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A Crystal Ball

“Listen Martha! The paper's come, something's happened: 'The Germans glare

At the Andrew, but admit they cannot frighten or defeat it', dear.

That's Kaiser Bill's doing, a warmonger all can see - Queen Vicky's in-law. Spare

Us from the madmen that play people like chess. They'll not cheer.

Yes, and look! 'The Balkans aflame once more – the Turks in flight again,

Th...

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Where am i?

I ask my mindless brain as I disassociate

I disassociate to the point that everyday feels the same

Everything i do blends into one giant blob of nothingness

Nothing matters. Does it? 

It doesn’t. Nothing has ever mattered.

That's why we alter our state of reality.

We alter it to feel something out of all the nothingness.

We take the shot. We take the h...

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Been running from my responsibility 
Everything got dark and I lost my vision of myself
The antidote was always in my fingertip
Nothing makes me sober than the past

I won't be a culture vulture of punk
I won't tell a man that he can't wear a dress
I will burn all the institutions that this culture made
I was the kid that got beat up by the punks 

Because I was too sad for them 
The go...

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Splashing Along

Splashing along 

In muddy water

Past the wall

Behind which

The off white

Ageless

Stones stare

Back at 

Wanderers

And seekers

And pilgrims

And guests

Memento Mori

Seeking words

In ancient 

Tomes of beauty

From long list

Of names

From long lost

Homes 

And forgotten

Names

Of every type

And custom

And ...

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It's only when you're here
that I'm my loneliest 
I know you'll dissapear 

and leave me to seek  
your next face and shape 

will you one day decide

to stop changing your face 

and stay for a little 
cause i really miss you 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS3ovpxEnd8

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the midpoint of the universe,

the center of everything

in the middle of nowhere

that’s you

space is infinite all around

think about it

your thoughts chase

the ever-extending boundaries

with the speed of light

but the limits are impossible to find

they are set by your mind

no need to be a scientist

to know, what can't be known

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Begging seaguls amongst the people
Stalking humans outside restaurants  and chip shops
Eagerly awaiting leftovers knowing it is theirs if something drops
We as humans are complaining as if they are a pest and in the way
They would be at sea if the fishermen didn't take their fish away

Now a seagul has a heart and  with a heart should be a soul
To you he may not be useful ..but hes here to ...

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Streams of consciousness,
Trapped in a panoply of celluloids
And abandoned plastic films,
Catch my eye.

I share them on the big screen
Where silent silver stills breathe
And glide across skylines
At midnight.

They inch closer to me.
The starry-eyed starlets seal
The gulf that lies
Between our eyes,
And fill my ears
With secrets and whispers
That I've heard before
In theatres, st...

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"Egypt will blow up
The Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam!
Ethiopia ,a symbol
of Pan Africanism,
Could forget
Its development map,
For Egypt will help
Carry on colonial legacy
In to the future,"
So  did
A verbal dosido
The ill-famed abuser.

"We dote on Egypt,
Terror sowing
In Ethiopia.
Ironically a terrorist
My self
I will strike out
Sudan from terrorist
Blacklist
If it s...

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I dreamt of the
end-of-the-world
last night as I stood
and watched
two planes collide
and I hear the sound
as from a memory.

The felt warmth
of neutrinos
scarring an image
through every skull
like a beautiful
Angiogram.

We sighed as the missiles
wrote their new world history-
though shorter than a blink.

 
foto & poem T Carroll
 
 
 

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To be 60 and have no plan

As to where my life should go 

Is a poor reflection of a man

And the paths he chose to follow

When I was young with years ahead

I thought little of the future 

And focused on the now instead

With no grand scheme to nurture

Now I feel my life has just begun

But no vocation beckons

No -one sees within my life’s span

The depth of al...

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there will be a baby crying

in the next room, but not yet

people are still standing around

my bed and I’m still on my last breaths

they won’t leave until I have gone

a brown leaf about to fall

I remember the white foam of waves

not rampaging bulls in Spanish streets

but subtle colourings of children’s books

gently paging in rippling tides by bare feet

sand on toe...

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Weep your tears

For years to come

No fear, but Sorrow stays

A loyal friend

Who knows no end 

You will see brighter days

You'll feel the pain

The rain will fall

And drain you of your light

But do not dwell

You'll not do well

Unless you stand and fight

Return to love

The skies above

And all that you have known

You'll find your way

The light will stay

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Loving you is easy because your you 

Loving you ain't hard because all I want is you 

Walking through fire was easy I get chills from you 

Crossing the ocean was light swim cause I get and extra push from you

Getting the stars and moon for you wasnt a impossible thing cause this love gives me wings 

My words they beautiful they take after you 

My rhythm is amazing it took all you...

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The dreary sludge slinked along and oozed into our intimate conscience.

The thick pernicious inferno of fear infested closer, ever closer,

Burning the life from creation and suffocating reason with anti-reason.

Pathways were overtaken; what seemed a way of escape was, infact, a trap.  

It crept its way into our yards, under our fences, and up against our doors.

The hot plumbic ...

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A noticed man on a long rusty cold bench
Hidden behind a mask as me
He on the right, I sit down on the farest left
Its late morning in the fall
Catched the same train
Walked the same paths
As I saw his face, his eyes when he felt his hackles raising
I looked directly into a grown man's unrest
A bold 18 year old behind him
- He was off-color
Suddenly he found himself climbing the stairs a...

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Why did this happen?

Why did we go a drought?

Why the hell did you hurt me?

Why the heck didn’t I say ouch?

Why didn’t you just tell me you hated the way I laugh?

Why couldn’t I tell you I hated you because you cheated in the past?

Why did you talk to me like a dumb dog?

Why didn’t I tell you that your pride was too strong?

Why didn’t you say, “ I never ...

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Our Nation's Rock Bottom

There comes a point in a person’s life where things must change.
They have hurt themselves, and others.
They have lost everything they had.
They have even lost their way.
It’s a point,
 where the failures and the terrible things of their past rise up to haunt them.
They must change or perish.

Because of what they have allowed to happen,
 they find themselves i...

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It’s Bleak up North, now

Not because of the virus

But the business and people’s jobs

That will fall now

Tears 3:

The pubs that will not open their doors again

Tears 3:

The Christmas presents that won’t be bought

Tears 3:

The homelessness that will grow bigger

But not at your door…

The virus is a killer.

But you wouldn’t give ou...

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WRITER

wanted to be
a mystery writer
weave web
like a spider

pencil a catch 22
channel Anne Rule
author crime stories
true

create brilliant
disguise
underworld 
spies

type up
a thriller
on a 
serial killer

drop hints
for discovery
clues for
recovery

quote lines
from a criminal mind
cause fear
and spellbind

a goosebump
horror
leaving you
wanting more

wri...

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A shimmering of microbes

I see that we're beyond

the plughole tearing down

into pits of dead heroes.

Newspapers eight-thick

secure the walls. Dot one

is made, dot two a frantic

beaming of rectangle

rotoscoped in wax sealed.

I've hidden hard nails

in your sock drawer

then I'll clamber out

of the underground, planting

my boot on a manifesto;

but first you mu...

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CONUNDRUM

As a twiggy little boy of 9,

I was so curious

About the bumblebees hovering

Over blood-red roses, flesh-pink roses,

Bushes filled with pale-yellow honeysuckles

That grew in my Grandmother's yard.

So curious, when I reached out to touch one,

That bumblebee stung me with its

Needlelike tail, leaving behind a mark,

Swollen red, painful,

On the caramel ...

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I have black sand at the bottom of my soul.

It is not always still. It whirls around sometimes,

Sometimes it creases and makes shapes

(If they mean something, I don’t know)

But then it settles down again.

Dark, harmless, smooth. Each grain tiny.

So what’s the weight?

Other people have rocks at their bottom,

I only have sand; I cannot complain.

Black sand and rather still...

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Your polo shirt is slightly askew.

Eyeliner you try and hide.

My daughter baby’s prime;

we have fought for this.

You now sit in classrooms,

open windows, warmth drained.

Queue, face mask clad, in corridors

dreaming of seeing faces 

The boy you pass notes to

you are no longer free to kiss

or find the ecstasy in another.

Your childhood is on hold.

W...

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The men with the bundles of sticks

Came and went and have come again

They’ve come to restore a mythic strength lost,

Through blood, for blood

They’ve come to rebuild a legendary home fallen

Our soil! Our soil! They say

They’ve come to take all

As an offering to their dead god of perfection

Who is to stop them but us?

When is to stop them but now?

Their sticks may brea...

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To form an opinion

Is to

set yourself in stone

Those who knew you

will mark your life

upon stone

Stones erected as if they were pushed up through the crust of the earth

Speak of Centuries where the assemblance of family and their dispersements

Hold their mark of transferance 

Some living souls stand in remembrance

With sopped cheeks

Carrying the love that...

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To long for the tall and rounded neck

Of the swan overwintering.

To wind it round all snug and warm,

Tucked and sheltered under wing.

To see me through to daffodils,

When the long nights up and scarper.

But first the wind will undress trees 

And its bite will get much sharper 

For now the song has dimmed to still

And the sun just won’t stay put.

The air is g...

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Below the shining ceiling spanned above

Inside the tiny loges spread around

A young girl with her mother sitting down

Is waiting the beginning of the play.

She’s wearing a new dress she bought last week

With fancy haircut that she likes so much

And rising from her seat with prying eyes

She wants to see it all, to hear it all.

Two ladies speaking loudly behind her,

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The film version of the poetry anthology 'The Quality of Mersey' had its premiere with Wirral Festival of Firsts earlier this month. The film showcases eight poems, beginning at the source and then ending at the river's mouth.

The film is available to watch here:

https://vimeo.com/465059978

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Trapped here, in this agony
every moment, is killing me
my spine contorts inside
hurling daggers into my side.
No escape from this cruel hell
my mind locked, within this shell
No longer can I hide
All of my body screams inside.

Excruciating pain flows through me
making it hard, for me to breathe.
The spasms contort my upper limbs
as my brains venemous tune, continues to sing
compelli...

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With aims to impress,
And self imposed duress
He compares himself to the rest;
A soul-set compress.

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A sleek, scintillating surface quivers,

Supple perception spills liquid flickers - 

Faster than a blush – a rough rash rushes, 

Pulsates and flushes: cascading shivers

Her nebulous body shifts fluently,

And oozes – slick as subtle deception

To palpate and manipulate matter:

You submit to her brutal scrutiny 

Suddenly unsafe, amorphous, and nude

As she is, She p...

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Leaving seems so hard

Until you actually leave

The peculiar truth is

Leaving feels ludic, orphic, majestic

Leaving the places which seemed to matter

Leaving the paper people I once met

Leaving, forgiving & moving forward

What a trouvaille I encountered

To leave the paper connection

Leaving them as they are, incomplete & rustic

Leaving them in the ocean ...

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Your existence is my gravity 

Not being loved by you would be a tragedy

When you left your absence was a cavity

Every time I’m high is when you laugh at me

Sometimes I wonder if you ever really see me

Smokin in the studio got us feeling soul touchin telepathy

Why’s this music so dark but your are eyes so light?

They make me thing of Venus on a clear night

Your eyes are...

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Hi, this is an old image poem of mine (the first thing I wrote when I got into writing poetry a few years ago) that came back to me as I woke this morning in the form of a perfect Haiku.

What is a poem?

A murmuration of words

Landing precisely

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All Great Britain has now seen
How dreadful is Covid-19.
While it is hard to make predictions,
We hate all these dismal restrictions.

Has Nottingham reason to be in fear
Now it is placed upon the second tier?
For its people what shall this mean,
As we envisage this depressing scene?

While our politicians fight their wars,
Recall us being long cooped up indoors.
So many people do not ...

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How do you know what’s old? How do you know if it’s too old? People will ask “can it feel new again?” because it’s human nature. It’s human nature to hold on to what we love, and what made us feel loved. But in the end, when you look back on it, that feeling changes. History is a process. It’s a process of knowing where you’ve been, why you’re holding on to it, and when to let it go. I used to thi...

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The saying "speak your truth"
Doesn't apply to me.

My truth is the nail in my hand
It's a crown of thorns, mocking
Everything I believe.

Maybe I won't speak unless spoken to
Like a child. 

My truth is nothing compared to
The universe You created, but 
Somehow you still care.

My truth is being swept up in
Your love for me.

Maybe I will speak my truth. 

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I am not broken

I am stronger than you can imagine

I am not giving up

I do not know the meaning of the word

I am no failure

I have come too far to give up

I am my light

Now you can watch me shine

Because life is about taking a risk

Moreover, the risk is what it is all about.

I am not alone

If you do not know what this means

Then I pity you

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First Impression 

Uriel
Uri  El
             Still 
moving like a warm voice in your white heart 

Uriel are or is
Is it not?
or is et al

I do not doubt the atrocity of the many heavens 
as does our Uriel standing at the gates of Repentance
with a flaming sword and a single Name
a hero to saints and psychics alike
and even some bloodletting angels
end up sorrier than you’ve ever ...

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And all this time,

I dream about you.

do you ever stop,

and think of me too?

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Seasons

The changing of times come

Many are aware, yet few are prepared

The transitioning from one state to another

The falling away and new birth witnessed

Of harvests and sowing

Of building up and tearing down

Of holding up and pruning some

Seasons

Inevitable in all their ways

Slightly different with every year

The colours though appearing the same, uniquely chan...

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Two pairs of magpies strut and preen

across the greened-up garden lawn

behind the house we bought a few months back.

I note once more the lack of birdlife here –

unlike the cosmopolitan crowds that would

serenade us each day from every bough,

loud enough to shake and wake all lovers of

calypso sung and hung on high,

and thos...

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Shimmering lights dance in her eyes

Shimmering lights cannot dispel

Like the fire inside my soul

A cold darkness that grasps at my soul

A velvet touch cannot disguise

Persistent beeps, and sanitised smells

Two hearts that yearn to be whole

Infesting a heart that I stole

Beneath the fabric of power and love

Unfaltering floors with a sinister gleam

Sensations fulfi...

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Scribbles for reality spill out of her baggage
We’re heading for the rocks, sirens the Lighthouse -
Flashing black and white
Trump woke at the top of Mumbles Lighthouse to hear
Alan Minter - I've been waiting for you....

Plug me in you know you want to
Carrying our dreams across oceans telling each other so
The music was broken that day, in Morecambe, 
As the pianist lay in her death bed...

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Ask me if I had enough.

2020 is or was a bluff 

for the destruction of what I thought I had

building all the way up.

if the present isn’t linear 

then why can’t i stop looking up?

if the past does not exist

why does it always creep up?

I, once a Quantanium sprayed ora

that now seems to only have collected dust.

So please, I beg you.

Ask me if I had enough.

...

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I have been here before,

and yet it is a strange repetition:

this not going out;

this hording of food and handwash.

And then there are some familiar foes.

No use insisting on social distancing,

I am already caught betwixt twin sisters:

Vigilance and Anxiety.

Spanish Flu? Or Swine Flu?

Please, God, not Ebola?

No, none of the above.

This pandemic provision,

c...

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GOODREADS :ALEXIS KARPOUZOS OFFICIAL SITE

We live in a time of cosmic bifurcation, we live in a time of unprecedented existential threats to life on Earth, including climate change, deforestation, food insecurity, and wildlife numbers in free fall, human overpopulation. the society is in turmoil. There is more and more violence. There’s more and more conflict. We are acting as if we are unconne...

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The sun leaks out of the grey cloud ceiling spilling all over my body. Golden light bathes my cells.
Blanketed by solar rays I gain a new perspective on my surroundings; colours are deeper, fruit ripe. The world beyond my front door suddenly separated only be a wooden plank. 

But as quickly as it came, the curtains above me shut with swift determination. Once again my perspective shifts. 
Col...

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I do not exist

Neither bound nor found

In memory or actions

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If I may, 
Allow me to sew up your wounds. 
Roll up your sleeves and reveal to me the outcome of emotional catastrophe. 
Self inflicted punishment won't wipe the slate clean.
You can't fix yourself by severing your woes away. 
Do not succumb to the pressures of this broken world. 
Honestly, we're all quite a mess. 
You see yourself as the product of corrupt nature, 
Something that could ne...

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I think of you way more than I probably should 

I wish so much now that I somehow could

Turn back the hands of time, start again- rewind

Pull back the impulse, erase the hunger

Let logic and level headedness put my eagerness asunder 

The state of being to which I now aspire

Is to be free of this want, all this desire

The thrill of longing,  not so thrilling anymore 

My hear...

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Neighbour's nightmare is your dream,
while yours nightmare is the neighbour's dream. 

Neighbour's misfortune you desire as a blessing, 

the neighbour desired for everything, what is yours misfortune.

How strange it is, you neglected the light, 
which was desired by others. 

Making me question for what you cribbed, 
was that actually a nightmare or the dream? 

All poems are c...

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You were like a drug

That I couldn't get enough

I craved your attention

You played with me

You were like a mirage

That I couldn't quite see

I sought understanding

You confused me

You were like a bad dream

That I was scared to experience

I gave you my heart

You gave me silence

You were like an epiphany

That I suddenly had

I was your opposite

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Possible trigger warning - depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide.

I've played in bands for most of my life, and in the last 15 years or so, I've written a few lyrics that have been based on my experiences of trying to get through difficult times. I tend to do comedy stuff with poetry and serious stuff with lyrics. I don't think of my lyrics as being poetry, but the band I'm in does have o...

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Where would we be without the humble bee?

A question it is timely to pursue,

for it would be the end for you and me;

if they became extinct, we’d die out too.

Our lives depend on what they pollinate,

so treat them well, ensure that they survive,

that we in turn continue to exist.

There should be no debate;

we need to nurture them and see they thrive,

removed from the end...

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do you ever wonder about another life 
you live it in your dreams
you keep drawing it in your mind 
could the grass be greener there
the sky always blue
could this other life  
another’s life
be made for you 

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Sceptics, conspiracies rife
Climate up to old tricks
While seaside low land gets devoured like Weetbix

Academically decorated,
Blinding those less stupider,
Simple minds lonely in heads the size of Jupiters

Signatories, protocols,
'Our government is trying',
But I heard the sea turtles asking whether yet pigs are flying

Morals unconscious,
Couldn't be flakier,
Gone with the wind l...

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This poem is deeply personal to me and is about my time I spent as a crisis worker helping people who were experiencing mental health emergencies or attempts of suicide. The subject of this poem is suicide; please know that its contents could be triggering. If you or someone you know and love are experiencing suicidal thoughts or need to reach out, please don't hesitate to talk to someone. You are...

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I used to drive a truck around town,

It's black steering wheel had a smooth rubber coating.

The wheel was wide and yet felt thin in the hands,

I was a proud owner, at times even gloating.

Like many old things I had to give it up,

but it was not wear and tear that caused me to do it.

It was the break in the lines of the road that I crossed,

took myself into an oncoming car and ...

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grains of idolatry
tooth-split and mulched 
spit down into living beds 
cemeteries of words
nere uttered in forgiveness. 

falling 
in slow motion 
like marine snow 
sustaining 
but out of resentfulness 
out of spite
falling
to emulate life: 

there is breathing, certainly 
and dreaming 
and this 
ashen sustenance 
but to call it living might be a farce 
might be a reluctance t...

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I want to be jolly

Really, I do

I want to be kind

To be benevolent and welcoming

To all of my fellow creatures

Right here right now

Amongst the cheese plant wallpaper

And salsa saxophone jazz

The rustic sanded wood tables

On wrought iron stands

The cushioned benches and distressed chairs

The sound the smell of coffee in polite little cups

That on any other day w...

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How happy would I be
When the sky would be black,
Thinking about the time,
Shaking my legs.
Jump off or burn off 
Nothing I could be sure off.
Giving you a big smile,
Now even you can't see me, faking off.

You thought you saved me,
Grabbing me before I could fell
You dare to intrude my will
Now I am trapped in this hell.

If only you could hold my hands before
Then you won't have t...

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“Did you put another log on the fire?”

As innocent as it was naive, the question
Intended no harm, no trespass
On the rigid boundaries of masculinity.

She didn’t have the image of Wittgenstein
Fending off rivals with a raised poker
In the halls of exalted moral science.

It didn’t throw her thoughts to a
Defensive Popper creating an instant,
Contemporary, and universal moral rule:

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Tea haze-phases work maelstrom to past troubles

as craic-anticipation glee-encourages

‘phone arrangements – chip supper piss-up with cards,

the whole gang’re going, all of them’ll be there.

Chip money extraction goes smoothly whilst we fight

over cider/wine/beer – grog dilemmas frazzle

anticipatorial fun-minds mid Two-Four.

Harully-chat car-participants scan the road

f...

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In the procession of human death

It is not shot cocktail

There was no stick charge

Fulfilled the desire like Zeus

A covid 19 virus

Messengers of peace like Prometheus

He looked at her with unblinking eyes

Yet nothing has stopped

Theft, rape, robbery, murder, abuse of power

Amour mind is looking for a man

Male Female`s body mind.

The mind is burning with i...

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Black boy, black caskets, black funeral, black after party, Black trap, Black throwback R&B, Black Hip-hop, black hopscotch, Black side walk, white chalk outline, Black media outlets, world star hip hop, the shade room black entertainment television, black twitter, black iphone, black emojis, black fist means power to the black people we learned that from the black panther party in 1966.

 ...

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I was too young, with a full life ahead 
An accident, a crash, and now I am dead
Jordan,.. Jordan Jenkins was my name
Now in a different realm I must remain
To my family, loved ones, and friends that I knew
I scrigned, I blinked, and loss my time with you
Cherish your time now, this life aint a game.

However sad it is, and sad it must be
Know that I have new friends now 
And I am in goo...

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Would you still love your daughter if she was like me?

Would you give her love and affection?

Even if she was yelling and screaming and being mean?

Or would you turn a blind eye and just say 

"Oh, she just wants attention!"

And ignore her cries for help.

Would you still love your daughter if she was like me? 

Would you kiss and hold her and tell her everything will be alright?

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The Black voice is electrifying.

Bringing forth worlds never imagined,

From dominions in Africa to mystical spheres unheard of.

Telling tales of majestic beings, kings, queens and the simple Black girl next door.

The Black voice. Telling Black stories.

We need Black literature because it shows

That our stories matter.

That our histories are worth sharing.

Tha...

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Today
we will wear
Poppies with pride, be it
the colour of red, white, purple
or black. Remembering the brave
who went to war, thinking of those who
never made it back ● To the many who
have served their country we owe each
and every one the greatest debt. On
Remembrance Day we wear our
poppies with pride, to show
we never will
forget

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Little Plum likes his firewater.
Desperate Dan has diabetes.
Dennis the Menace lived fast,
died young. Walter the Softy
won the Forward prize for poetry.

Hoots! Minnie the Minx is now
Scotland’s first minister.
Bash Street School’s an academy.
Plug lost both legs in Afghanistan.
Teacher leads the Labour party.

Crikey! Snooty shot himself in the foot.
Colonel Blink took over at Ukip.
...

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There’s only so much

So much that I can take

Before I buckle

Beneath this crushing weight

There’s only so much

So much that I can bear

Before my knees give way

Before my spirit breaks

I am not a perfect man

I can not fulfill your desires

I am not undefeatable

I can not withstand any more

I set my face like flint

Against this enemy

Of my soul

B...

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You have no heart.

And for a while, I didn't know it.

You lash out, 'Childbirth has made you fat.'

And then you travel to your lair. 

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The Red ‘Edded Spuggy

Come tek a look, it’s in my back yard

Maggie Slugshaw said

It looks just like a normal spuggy

Except for its ‘ed… which is red

It’s a red ‘edded spuggy, a red edded spuggy

They’ve never been spotted before

It’s the world’s first ever… red ‘edded spuggy

It’s unique…. There ain’t any more

So the twitchers flocked in from ...

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I’ve never felt closer to the birds.
Closer to my fears Closer to the curb.
falling down, picking myself back up
I’m not used to this, I was expecting the crash
Suddenly I feel the spine growing in my back
Arching my neck, lifting my chin up
Slowly but surely, I’m starting to not give a fuck.

I feel the sunshine embracing my face
Telling me I’m gorgeous, never sounding fake
Realer than ...

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Back in March, when we first were accosted with the realities of Covid-19, I decided to write a poem about a person who caught this plague. It seems appropriate now, since so many people, even the President, have tested positive, to share this poem.

The title really has a double meaning. In the old days, "the Grip" was a similar disease, otherwise know as "the Grippe" or influenza. By breaking ...

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The Pig Butcher

Pickton pulled the trigger. 

finished her off. 

Her crime was bigger,

Left in a trough.

Squeals of delight,

Grinding her down,

Hidden from sight,

Miles from town.

Ribbons of flesh,

entrails, sinew and bone 

Minced through mesh,

Can’t hear her moan.

Empty roads wet with rain,

Deserted, discarded dead.

Silence screams p...

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I often think of my desk 
amongst the other desks,
scattered post it notes 
archaic to-do lists,
stacked coffee cups
filled with chewed pens,
the potted cactus
and little hula girl 
swaying side to side
In the light of the window,
sky greying towards autumn,
and the occasional passing
pigeon wondering
where we all are.

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Hood up

Brushing past

Where they paint the houses

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​​​​​​Wintry nights, no sun shines

Where to bloom there's no place for gloom by my side

By the time, I will withered away 

But indelible marks wouldn't fade away 

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Winter fades as spring melts

Distant snow like gleaming candles

Waiting feverishly for

Golden flames of sunlight

Dancing in the summer sun

Racing clouds nod to

Gleeful birds gliding naked and mating

Straddled to wet and swooning trees

Delirious with laughter and primal need

While butterflies fly sweetly

Soft as breath on stone

Cool ice melting fingers

...

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Some days are like a blank canvas..
No color seems right..
The depth of any brushstroke  doesn't match the emotion within..
Grays merged with Blues loom high on our thoughts..
The yellows  and reds put behind in the memory stock..
What will inspire me now...that is what echoes..
Will I be inspired at all challenges our ethos..
Then this little bird comes perching on my window..
Oblivious o...

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His eyes were a bright shade of blue. 
Though they rarely were seen, 
As he often looked down on the floor. 

Avoiding eye contact, 
He found comfort in music
wherever he walked.
And if he was mocked,
He ignored every word and
would just carry on as before. 

Maths was his subject and straight A's were all he received. 
Now he is top of his game,
Former bullies  say, ' Hi' as they smi...

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Through cracks between slabs

Of the concrete path around our complex

Little pansies

Escaped from wall borders

Raise tiny faces to sunlight and warmth,

Brilliantly gold and purple.

And the footfall is checked

Through choice.

Nobody steps on a sky-seeking flower.

Grown-ups miss by an inch

What with parcels and keys

And stuff on their minds.

Kids walk in the ...

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the moon knows more than us 

its hard to love her. 

it’s hard to love the person your mother sees you to be. 

it’s fun to love you. 

pretty to love someone like the moon does. 

there are no words on my mind nor my tongue, yet i speak to you, no clearer than two minutes younger.

if we stay beneath these sheets, the day will fade

and your wondrous lips will move u...

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I’m not all sunsets and pan pipes - I’ll be drumbeats and thunder too

I’m sometimes more cataclysm than shooting star - sometimes less happy than being blue

I’m the archetype of a pessimist but also the joker that made him smile

I’m the vibrancy of a summer’s day and the stab of misguided guile

I’m the grit that fell in the Vaseline and the tongue that licked it clean

I’m the s...

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kite and boy

a paper kite

flutters in the wind

making wonderful sounds

back to the boy holding

the end of the string

kite dips and smiles

at boy and dances

little jigs as its string

is held taut

boy smiles back

a strong wind begins to blow

kite string breaks with a snap

startled boy looks up

and sees kite start to

fly in erratic patterns ...

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i used to have so many regrets

each volatile ,invading my mind with no consent

i dont know how we got here

to 3am conversations to whatsapp calls

to less celing staring and more dreamfilled snores

i used to be so conflicted constantly questioning myself , my choices

i have yet to do the same when it comes to you

im certain,doubtless,fearless and oddly enough thats what scares ...

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I stare fixated at the screen. 

In shock, and in awe. 

The disbelief of what I’m seeing deserving of more but all i can get out is “oohs” and “awes”. 

I’m wishing, this pen and this paper can act as gauze - and heal a broken system, but then i realized ... 

unless Christ comes back today;

nobody’s coming to save us. 

Tonight i realized that, to them, it’s our skin that is da...

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