Spanning the spectrum

from Pollyanna to pessimism

within a given day:

so it's dawn with Pangloss 

and dusk with Schopenhauer 

et al.

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Never dismiss the thoughts of the elderly 

For their words and wisdom you can trust

Because even a mop that is never used

Will still continue to collect dust

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I felt like a clay pot

once from the earth

Born with spirit, soul cropped

The owners; my guardians, held me

They allowed me to be used

for my true purposes,

not as a pot but a holder of life;

Extraordinary.

Later, others wanted me to be a pot for use

To look and act like other pots 

Or my uniqueness challenged their sameness 

So I became like them, soul lost.

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They made templates to shape and slay

Me can't fit, cause I am not clay

Snags and troubles to fit in their world just to- 

Eulogize by them, along the scars on our hands 

The hardest part is to accept ourself as who I am 

Watching others controlling nd seizing our lands.

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Had a bad day
Unpaid bills on the desk
Kids demanding designer clothes
Toothaches without dental insurance
Partners who don’t want sex today,
Or most days, for that matter
Because they’re thinking
About the bills, the kids, the secret pregnancy
Taking out their frustration on who is closest
Rising heating bills during a February snap
Internet companies that overcharge
Because you d...

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Awake at dawn, with almond eyes,

The queen is seated on her throne;

Confronted, under leaden skies

With prospects of a life alone.

The taste of young and tender shoots

Was too soon soured by the storm,

And crushed by soles of marching boots

Which flaunt their predatory form.

In some far field his buried feet,

Anonymous, lie, like the rest.

The one who m...

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The evening, the cold, the rain

The lost, the pain, chained

My grief, your game, explained... 

A subtile combat

Drained... 

************

February 2021

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Last signs of life:

Silence filled up the whole room and the only sound I could hear was her last breath. 

No one spoke a word, we were silent and we just stared at each other. 

After every second passed, I felt more attracted to her,

it wasn’t love, it was something stronger than love. 

I fell in love with her not because of the soft personality

not because of her prec...

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It’s the last day of Winter
Feels a lot like mid Spring
Crocus and daffodils in bloom
Snowdrops are fading 

Warm sun on my face
Shines bright in a cloudless blue sky 
We made it though Winter
Another season passed by

Out in the garden
Sights and sounds of Spring fill the air
We celebrate with a cup of tea 
And a chocolate eclair 

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My daughter was looking through a catalogue and saw an expensive coat,

On the page she wantingly   did gloat.

"I must have that,I just love the fur."

So I cut it out and gave it to her.

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Last day of February, it feels like Spring.
Flowers are in bloom, morning birds sing.
The baby blue sky is totally cloud free.
And beautiful Stanley Park is inviting me.

An invite I gladly accept, how could I not?
On my doorstop, this lovely park I've got.
The gentlest of breezes kiss my cheek.
The trees look healthy not so winter weak.

So off I go, leaving my winter coat behind.
In S...

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Dogs love to walk

what we suppose is

They enjoy their walk

'cause of their noses

Their scent glands being

overloaded

Such sensuous whiffs

they come up like roses.

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Day Dreaming

To be held in suspension by nought

To stare blankly as the eyes freeze

Not to see what is in one's vision

To be in the projection room of a cinema

Unaware of what appears on the screen

The mind soars up into the clouds

Where dimmed thoughts accumulate

Refusing to be arranged in order

To ponder without comment or resolution

Walking through a summer's ...

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She's too good to be real
I'm an atheist 
I believe in heaven because of her
She's Every cliché wrapped up in one

Perfection is jealous her
She makes my heart go boom pop by noon
She's an independent woman she didn't need no man
She's calling me baby and I'm in love with it
Perfection is jealous her

I won't need anyone else but her
I'll be in the kitchen cooking for her
When this pa...

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She had found out the hidey-hole
of all the gold you could ever use
and all the shiney silver too.
When he begged to know and told her 
all their dreams could come true
she said "I know, I know, and you know as well as I do."
Imagine him exasperated, bewildered but unrelenting,
boldly crying "TELL ME."
And hear her reply 
" You see a cloud rolling to the horizon, 
free winds carrying it ...

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It is not that you are not happy at home,

dinner is ready on the table at the right time,

the food you like: salmon, caprese and saffron risotto,

Jaffa cakes and sfogliatelle are always there for snacks.

I make ice cream and pizza at weekends,

abundant portions, free service,

the Italian way.

But you need more space, your space,

friends not just family,

cook your ow...

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You leave me lost for words even when my thoughts aren’t pacing.

I just want you to call me mi amor, grab me, then have my heart racing. 

Though often I wonder, is it unrequited love that I am chasing? 

But I would risk it all for you —  even spend an eternity waiting.

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The blue sky kissed the evening sunset
As I saw you by the window seat.
Drinking a slightly cold coffee,
My heart nearly skipped a beat.

When I open those notebooks
There are memories that I cherished.
How sweet we were looking, laughing like idiots
Who once in love had not believed.

In the winter of that year long ago
We met again when the snowflakes were falling.
It was then when w...

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I've missed what we once had or did I 

imagine the perfection of colorful redemption,

I'm crowed by emotions, slammed to thick

walls without protection, we're not forgiven.

it's so hard to imagine the petals of today

can be the soil of tomorrow. A man with an ego

can be called an emotional hero to

people without morals. You seek

my forgiveness but you must first seek y...

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Be the lonely light that shines amongst the darkness,

Be the one who holds the candle to light the way for others,

If you fall be the shooting star that outshines all else,

Be the falling star that all wish on to make a change,

Be the strength they cannot find within themselves.

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We are at peace
when we stop wanting
We are happy
when we accept ourselves

Maybe we went wrong
when we thought we should be trying
to achieve anything else.

No doubt
there are many people hurting
And we hear about
many people getting hurt

Maybe we went wrong
when we thought life had a purpose
to struggle for.

Or is it life
can't contain true peace and happiness
Or not unles...

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The world hums on at its breakneck pace;
People fly in their lifelong race.
For them there's a future to find,
But I think they're leaving me behind.  Nick Drake

I still walk beside you: a tall, stooped, quintessentially English presence.
I listen to how those flat Fenland vowels swirl into melodies
melded with the staccato RP of Cambridge.
So many minor key explorations of sadness;
...

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Note all that that is his stranger tantrum
Leave that that black shirt not to fall
8 nothing, ain't nothing. That that.

X black sheeting verdict 12.
Rooting in hell's perfection
Doctor's light blinding Elizabeth Barret Browning

maybe down the rubber staircase fell.
Binding means each green strong pig rind
protect's a Saturn dog or semi-colon white 7.

Could terse roots of super-nova ...

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I have been silenced for so long

I do not know my own voice

All I hear

Are your words. 

Your condemnations

Your judgements

Your lies. 

I see your glance

Haughty

Better than everyone else.  

Only

You aren’t.  

You are hiding behind fear

That controls you

And all you do

Keeping me in check 

mate

In case I discover my voice

And use it 

Against ...

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Creative pen

Saturday,27th February 2021

We are love-starved people

always search for and struggle

it is not the matter for an individual

but for all human beings

what shall happen?

if you are desperately driven

you are not attentively heard

and words go into oblivion

think of other means available

make your voice laudable

let people know about yo...

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No matter what you seek to say

Your eyes always give you away.

No matter how you play your role

Your eyes are the window to your soul.

Maybe you should avoid my gaze

When you involve me in your plays

Of make-believe and innocence -

In shadow-sway of sweet pretence.

Even when you lower your lashes

I seem to see those deceitful flashes;

So now sense says that we should ...

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Photographs can find lost connections instead I put my record player on.

Certain favourite songs

rhythm takes flight

full volume on

heart starts dancing

good times spinning

rocking rolling lovers

summers keep coming

past moments click

when needle lifts

records slot time

back into place

feelings stacked ready

to relive love

when music returns

me to somet...

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I ate some strange old mushrooms

Got chased off a shark

It jumped outta my beer bottle

And began to bark

I ran through a dying mist

And into a wall

Then into the deepest sleep

I began to fall.

Into strawberry Fields

With lemon drizzle streams

And coconut shells

Full of incoherent dreams 

Oh

What a strange

Old day

Making conversations...

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she'd faded to a cipher

a silhouette on the wall,

I took shelter in dreams

in my sleep I can recall

the girl she used to be

afore time did us part,

the question I pose is;

oh where is her heart?

no love fills her veins

smile a vague smear

harder than me, she

exploits the old fear

that she will leave me

like a thief in the night

my poor spiri...

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Born of poverty, to a working class that knew no favours, forged in the fire of our troubled teens,
We wanted to taste life in all of its variety of flavours, and we had the will, if not the means,
Set on such a wild path before we’d ever even met, rough under foot with the promise of these things,
Paupers in terms of material riches, and yet, you and I brother were destined to be, “kings,”
Th...

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Shocking surprises life can bring

Without giving a chance to sing

Some good ones and some sad

Making you happy or really mad

Some people may come and go

Similar to the stream of river flow

You continue searching for them

Only if they were a priceless gem

Anything can happen at anytime

But sometimes it feels like a crime

When you don’t know what is coming

...

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drawn to the wrong things

in and out of curiosity

peering over the ledge

late to dates with death

dreaming of the wrong things

embracing my body

I want this experience

as days lose meaning

we’re pleasantly shocked

by all we see

as once again 

we learn how to feel

we’re pleasantly shocked

as we read 

someone else’s

life unraveling

...

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Splitting doors and crashing walls

Create a path to a place that few can venture to

Heavenly hosts emerge

Carrying red pillows to welcome a new life.

The mood is set

People and nymphs gather

With nature singing and praising

The day goes on

Marshmallow clouds fill the sky

Forging a bond between the eternal plains

The fields and the doors merge

Leaving the ...

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Tangled in the branches 
In awe of the view 
My goal was to meet with the sky 
Longing to be closer to where I find comfort 
How much longer will I wander alone, remaining hidden from your sight?
I've strayed so far that my footprints have faded into the soil. 
The light used to guide me 
Now it's disappeared behind dark clouds 
It seems like so long ago when I used to sit in anticipated s...

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I don't believe in Zombies he said misunderstanding what she said completely
Oh, it was a misunderstanding. You said Zumba. You're here for the Zumba class?
No, sorry, I wanted to exchange my Roomba, Is this Currys?
Change your Rhubarb?  I think you want the place next door mate.  We don't stock those here.
Rhubarb? no I said leotard isn't this the leotardis, the incredibly niche lyrca and doc...

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After I was made redundant from 20 years in the coalmining industry I embarked on a second 20 year career as a self-employed management consultant.  And what a life it was too!  Getting paid three, sometimes four, times the going rate for advising executives of the bleeding obvious; the joke being that they could have heard my thoughts down the pub at night for free!  And if it went wrong?  Well, ...

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The day started out great

Had so many things planned,

A quick trip to the beach

For much needed sun and sand.

Not a thought of you that morning 

But checked my feed on the way

And IG just had to remind me

Of a memory 3 years ago today.

A happy photo of us, all smiles

That day had been surreal and fun.

Then my brain went on overdrive

Suddenly, I was back t...

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El Sol

El sol con furor

acaba de alcanzar

su máximo esplendor.

El gitano al sol

pasa mucho calor,

grita hasta callar

sudando está.

Vuelve loco al matón

robale el corazón,

cortale la respiración

cantale con valor,

bailale alrededor,

cuando el sol con furor

alcanzó su esplendor.

Tu corazón al sol

acabo con su palpitar,

cuando el sol c...

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Lincoln Bill crowned you Queen of all around you,

insisting that he who played King for a day would

kill for a second: the honour so high and

rich with all your bounty –

no mere paper gain, it came laden with the

trappings of a full-hearted love, say it

twice, three times, whatever helps to emphasise.

Now, about that love, I knew from the start –

no need even to r...

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letter to spring / michael kwack

in a wind

there i smell a scent of spring

i've passed the winter away

in a far place alone

but it was now

only hours of emptiness

i've got to write letters

the last confession to myself

then meet the spring

in complete quietness

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To deeply love someone
That gives purpose

To unmistakably be loved by someone
Breathtaking

But to be passionately in love with each other
That's where the magic is!

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You say I am a good person,
They say I am a bad one,
Forgetting that I am just a human being,
Just being what I am now.

Change is unstoppable, just like the flow of water,
People change, so does life,
Making sad almost all the time.
They say you are the one with wisdom,
I can only see you as the one with regret.

"Life is beautiful" as you state,
So why it becomes so hard living like ...

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You, the fire, intent on burning it all
with the heat of a blue-white flame
aimed at my kindling heart

There is no comfort for me here
Where love was sought
I found wolves at the door

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Return me 
to my darkness,
my own darkness 
not yours.
Deliver me 
from your fears,
to my own fears
not yours.
Bring me 
stumbling back
to my nightmares
that held me close
like familiar friends.
(Michael Martinez 2021)

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For a long time you felt that you were weak

For a long time you felt that you weren't loved, that you didn't belong

Too emotional, too many feelings, 

How could anyone or anything ever love the broken human you'ved become

How could anyone see the beautiful you trying to emerge from the dark

For a long time you felt that you were weak

Too emotional, too many feelings, you deserved...

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It's so simple to love me; 

just being beside me,

feeling the warmth of your hands,

your kisses melting on my lips

such as my letters melt

between ink and paper 

To love me is to share the prelude of my longings, 

your feverish caresses between kisses and dew, 

to see my dreams reflected in your eyes;

to hand me a rose, 

to whisper an I love you

To love m...

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SMASH!

Every time the glass of your skull

Crashes into the fist of another memory

To crush you where you stand

Because another memory has broken you

Because another memory has entered you

Like intruders, they force their way inside

They punch their way into your attention

They invade your heart

Until you must look at them

All so that they can violate you again

They...

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Travelled for his health to the half-buried

city of ruins, halfway between

the living and the dead.

Fragments of columns,

toppled arches, broken aqueducts.

Took rooms in a second-floor apartment

at the Piazza di Spagna,

close by the sound of Bernini’s fountain.

Locks of hair exchanged

with Fanny Brawne

before he left for Italy.

Save it for me, sweet love!

O...

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Life always brings you at crossroads..
From one to another you create your milestones..
Milestones which are made of experiences,discoveries,failures,rebounds..
All moving you to the next crossroads..
At some you make friends..
At some you leave behind family
At some you find your soulmate
At some you cheat Death
At some you defy the path well trodden..
At some you just sit in the shade o...

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We now have a cause for celebration
We shall defeat Covid by vaccination.
Against this virus we all must fight.
To be immune is now our right.

There are different types of vaccine.
And it's the biggest project that we've seen.
They are distributed throughout the nation,
And for all the workers give appreciation.

When I was first there I became afraid,
But looking back I'm glad I staye...

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The sun becomes an alarm clock,

and the alarm clock becomes a trifle.

Your face reminds

on the loaf of bread.

Aphrodite,

life denies you

that every height is a success.

Your catharsis

gives you the strength of a pencil.

You left the city

to look for a hat

with a sufficiently large shadow.

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The plants need no movement

They shine where they're planted

Roots going deep and branches high

Fruits that it bears or flowers sweet scented

The animals need no graduation 

Their knowledge is inborn to their needs

Reflecting on what must be necessary

Moving from place to place in search of things

The sun and moon are running races

Placed high above everything ...

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Gone and done it now

never meant to but still

they had it coming.

I feel better for it

pushed too far Mr Nice guy

that was me

until.....

psychiatric reports, a sentence,

too dangerous on the streets. 

     Had to make the point

     otherwise they'd have got the better

     of me and I couldn't have that

     could I?

     Can't expect you to understand

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All of us are born with different spoons,

and that is why we are on our different moons,

some get luck already filled in big bag,

and some work till dusk for some fortunes,

then how can I compare you,

with that rising folks few,

when you are your own sun,

amidst the heavy moisted dew,

Believe it or not,

I am proud of you!

Here light comes early, there sun sets late,

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Gentle breeze blowing

Across undulating seas

Full sails take me home

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Once more time, the bar

Open its door to anyone

Discolored red walls

Announce, it had better times.

Opaque lights

Protect who wants to be unnoticed

The possibility to forget

Invite to drink a bitter beer.

Loud Music, symphony of voices

Chatting and laughing,

Numb the minds

Suddenly nothing matters

Just the song playing.

Another beer,

Another song...

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Eyes half shut faced the ceiling while
unkept hair smothered once firm, hardened pillows. 

"Another day of this shit," 
I heard him mutter. 
As he violently dragged on another cigarette. 

His fingers and teeth changed colour, 
along with my snow white curtain.
Him or them?
I need to decide which one to replace, I thought to myself as I opened the bedroom window. 

Fresh February air ...

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Some day you gonna say,  some day you gonna stop
Some day the world will listen,  some day they gonna stop
Its better to look in bright, so it make you shine
Mix all ingredients of guide, So that it tastes like wine
Follow your heart,  follow your dream
Follow your happiness which makes people scream.

Because 
Some day you gonna say,  some day you gonna stop
Some day the world will liste...

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The Reverend Miss P, who for years had cheerfully warded
off the attentions of the men of her parish, invited me on one of her well-organised rambles.

Later I watched as she tucked into her lasagne in The Peckish Partridge,
a pub she insisted we go to, rather than that other hostelry, The Feisty Farmer,
which has, as she pointed out, ‘Pictures of busty women admiring a sweaty blacksmith,’
t...

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Shipwrecks

Refreshing sea spray, 

Graces the shores of my stormy seas once more,

The fervent nature of new tides,

Laying shipwrecks, silently to rest,

In loves sediment,

Looking back out there,

Towards that sea of love past,

I still feel traces of other, sunken dreams,

Still know of the joy and heartaches in between,

A thousand tears cried, 

Thousands mor...

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I am Light 

I shine where I find darkness 

To shed light and find the paths 

Of lost souls who cannot find their way

My strength is infinite 

But that doesn't mean

That I don't have a weakness

I also fall off the path sometimes 

And need a little light to find my way 

But each time

I come back stronger 

And brighter than ever before 

I will use my power 

This...

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The dead garden where birds sing no more.

Alas, it pleasure gives no longer,

lost and gone forever,

now just an enclosed emptiness.

High stone walls protecting still

but only tufted grasses swaying now,

where once was such delight.

No wasps guarding glossy brambles

or squabbling thrushes feasting on the cherry.

The tiny burn now murmurs lonely

flowing through into the...

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On a vacation I need to travel

Into the unknown annals of Hell

Seeking a date with Mr. Devil

Conveying him that I’m on peril

It’s him who rescued me back then

It’s him whom I obeyed back then

He is the one who can help me quell

When I’m there in the annals of Hell.

Eyes moisten often when they see

The small shrub has grown into a tree

The stem swelled up with dee...

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We are the rascals who march to the drums of our own screeching

Music born from depletion

Lyrics of the abyss

Listen to our empty melodies and cry your heart's content

For we aren't done yet

Lounge in your putrid contempt

And watch the legion of red lesions

Grow colors of the cursed

Our music is born from depletion

Hoping to one day become full

And burst.

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No need to talk of love

Some things are better left unsaid

I didn’t tell you then

And I can hardly tell you now

Although some days I find the thought hanging on my lips

Deep inside I’ll say the words

I can see them like hot breath on a cold night

Though I can’t say them out loud

Better to wait for darker days

For eulogies perhaps,

For talking about the ...

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I feel more and more like broken glass

as each day has gone pass.

I try to stay strong

while everything goes wrong.

I don’t wanna upset them,

they think that I am as beautiful as a gem.

Why can’t I see myself as they see me?

Why must I lack so much glee?

I need my friends to make me happy,

because without them I feel so sappy.

I hate that I must admit that I’m no...

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Remote idyllic islands without a single car

Anywhere you would wish to go, is not so far

Narrow causeway walked to get on the place

Bird watching, life taken at a much slower pace

Those venturing here in nature’s celebration

Time spent here like one condensed vacation

Only a few hours to be enjoyed, yet never a bore

Visitors see this a small price, for the island they adore

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*
in this age of ADHD
we demand that seeds fast forward
and that trees grow instantly.
in our twenty first century society
so short of patience
that the question of whether
the egg or the chicken came first
is no longer of relevance
& in our state of urgency for the secret spice recipe
they hatch straight into deep fryers.

**
art stands no chance at all.

as Scorsese rightfully sai...

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This light inside me

this breath

circling knowing 

pulling me further  

This breath

is it You 

is it me

all eternal grace

The clouds of life

unravelling their flags

messages of love

of truths untold

This breath within us

holding hands

dancing in circles

a blissful trance

Oh divine romance

my Lord you eat me 

from inside out

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She is the mystery only  Earth knows

She moves in and out at her will and her pleasure

She has no brokenness, she has endured 

She seeks her worth in worthy places

And she calls the sky home

She is happiest in the daytime

Unafraid of the bright exposing sun

She has nothing to rid or conceal

She is an open book, though hard to read.

And she is comfortable alone

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The cascades rippled through my heart,

An emulsion of colours, I was lost in the art

Drowning the miseries, sorrow and grief

It was time to turn over a new leaf.

I wanted to be swept away,

Paddle the horizons and fadeaway.

Inhaling in such a natural wonder,

I swayed as high as the clouds and yonder.  

Rainbows glistened in the haze,

The falls gushed down in a c...

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inspired by The Last Night of Your Trip

on the train ride home 
your smile flashed between buildings, 
lights flickered and i couldn’t tell 
if it was the spark in your eye 
or the streetlights beaming 
onto the dark streets. 

i saw your smile and your hand
reaching for mine, 
those bedroom eyes 
that whispered “bring me 
to your hotel.” 

we weren’t made for cheap 
sex, we were ...

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To love deeply is like wearing your heart on the outside of your body
Uncaged
Uncovered
Protect it like you would a baby
Motherd
Protected not smothered
Be gentle oh fragile one's Hearts
Be careful with the heart of another
If broken I fear that this time this Heart may never recover

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The desert is living in May,
Sipping joyously priceless water.
You are modest and shy in the day,
But at night you're Cairo's daughter.
Thread of camels against the sun -
Their saffron shadows melt...
You ask the same question, to stay or to run,
Every night as you put on your belt.
Your cymbals are black from the sweat,
The veil doesn't cover your face.
You're worshiping every sunset
A...

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Hope In Any Other

Sitting outside the Welcome Break

where mental meteors abound

In armoured constellations:

Money, love, my ownliness

Lie shattered on its grimy ground.

No mask denies my consternation,

The burnt ones being still alive.

The city churns out embedded harm

At passing motorways of hopelessness;

Conveyor belts that strain and strive

To deliver start...

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[  ] The stress burns the brain with great fire.

[  ] The mind shrinks; the body tires.

[  ] The vivid image is no longer the building of & empire.

[  ] The tension crumbles the goals that were once desired.

[  ] For the stars they once looked upon to aim higher.

[  ] But the ground 6 feet deep they now desire.

[  ] For the pain hurts & there is no denial.

[  ] R...

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Over the sands of time you’ve travelled.
Across the ocean of life you’ve sailed.
Through the fog of daily worries,
Your unfailing love’s prevailed.

Your light shines from within,
Brighter than the heavenly sky.
The fire in your soul’s unquenched,
The flames one can’t deny.

Don’t measure your life in years
Nor by the number of breaths you take,
For we’re blessed by your resounding wis...

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How could I,
The double-faced
WHO’s current leader,
On par with
A chieftain
Brigade general,
Tightlipped attend
My diabolic
Party’s funeral?

Though for
My criminal
Party’s tragic end,
Bereaved,
I have to sob,
I must labor
To garner
The pity of
The credulous, elites
As well as
The mob
Round the globe.

At the same time
Dollars I have
To underwrite
In a bid remaining
...

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Cold Steel 1982 Falklands Finale.

War. Going to war. Been at war. Guns, death, killing, been killed, destruction, explosions, maimed, digging holes, living in the ground, eating bare cold rations, craving a hot cuppa, changing your socks, trench foot, fear, flying in helicopters, de-humanisation, freezing, dead, scared, bad jokes, jets and bombs, losing friends, taking life, walking miles,...

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Sat around the table in the snug

Talking about this and that

And there’s beautiful blonde on tap

Jukebox banging out some glorious tunes

A few more beers yet, I’ve got the room

More banter when we nip outside

Talking to strangers, a cig or two

It’s now all just a fantasy

Something from the long-lost past

Laughing and joking with mates at the bar

Something we thought w...

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The Hollow Wind

at 3am

winter streets

are dark

empty, silent

but for

the hollow wind

which blows, howling

carving out

a tunnel, with

its breath

to carry

the bitter

snow chilled

air

on its journey

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These toxic emotions burn through every vein.

Hurt and depression such a familiar pain.

We barely survived left with little of our sanity. 

Our beating lust hangs us with thread desperation attached to calamity. 

Doomed from the start questioning if love felt was here.

So I peer in hearts past as stains turn to rust and all faith turns to fear.

This emotional prison took me to de...

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Hello, how are you today: upper,middle,lower— class.
front, and center.
I’d like to think if a kid were to get up and say I can’t stand this, then the teacher would get behind them in an orderly fashion.
side by side, classroom C-3 parts in the middle of the day, to make their way back to their seat,
show and tells of mommy and me– are always well received.

A pinned-up faction icon that sta...

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Walking towards you

Brisk winter night

At the kettle on the corner

I see you in the light

Walking with you

Seeing the sights 

Warm summer night

I see you as my knight 

Turning away from you

Brisk winter night

At the door

I turn out the light

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He saw her in the night

Their eyes caught one another's longing hearts

Fear of the pains that love once taught him made him hesitate

Then it happened

Cupid sighted down his arrow to the man's heart and sprang his bow

The man grasp his heart and fell to his knees and then to the floor

As the punctured heart gushed out the remaining assemblance of life

He began to transverge int...

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You can choose love or money 
You can let your love of money 
Take over your mind and soul 
But then you'll never be whole 

You can have your great wealth 
Place it at the top of your list 
Way above happiness and health 
But what if you ever get sick? 

You can take your bling bling 
To all the places people go 
Photographed with all things 
But what's after the big show? 

I ch...

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Hey there Valentine
Give me a sign
Can I put my trust in you
Lay it all on the line
Reflecting past romances
They have all turned out bad
But it feels like love is in the air
And it makes me feel glad
Feeling thankful for your loving
All the things that you do
Feeling thankful for the feeling
Of just me and you
So hey there Valentine
I think it's a sign
Let’s walk together side by si...

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Christian Faith Publishing is going to publish my third book of poetry this year.

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Blue Tinfoil Hats

 May 28, 2020.  © Mark, All rights reserved

Our Enger-land Tory voters
chasing a dream,
Strawberry endowed privilege
topped with colonial cream.
Stiff lipped sarcasm,
argumentative clause,
their asinine seduction
could it give you pause?

They wear tinfoil hats
So obviously Blue,
and tip them to Etonians
its too mad to be true.
The casual conservative
with fl...

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Slight shade in the brilliant sunshine..
Slight jaded is the blooming paradise..
Slight haze in the spectacular vista..
Slight marred looks the wide celesta..
Slight offbeat the rhythm of symphony..
Slight skewed is the path of destiny..
Slight shaky are the rippling waves...
Slight clamorous are those mind alleys..
Slight lost in thoughts
Slight wistful goes the heart
Waiting for the fo...

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Tides and waves,
Hitting the shores,
Drenching the sand and the feet that stand on it.
With eyes on the blue infinitude,
And mind on clouds,
I look at the ocean.

A mirror holding the image of the sky above.
I realise how big the world is.
I am at peace, 
Knowing that I am an infinitely small particle,
And a powerless being,
In front of Him.

I am just a bit of a being,
That arises ...

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Ujjal Mandal, India

I paint the reality
With the color of dream;
Oh dear, you are my dream and
I am the painter of us!

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I am an Architecture 

Something built with 

Pure beauty

Something built with 

A mind that makes

Beautiful art 

Something built with 

A heart that never stops 

Loving

A heart that has it’s

Own language 

I am an architecture 

That has never been 

Explored 

Or 

Understood 

I am Everything 

All in one..

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Not for me another love

like choking fear

It will not budge

I dare not blink

for it now seems

by choosing drink

I dwell in dreams

I grind to bits

my words and teeth

when searching through

my history:

to lift above

what lay beneath

all that broken masonry.

...

words and foto T Carrolly

re-edit

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Here Kitty, Kitty

Go Kitty, Kitty

No not in the snow

Kitty, Kitty

Your far too old

To go out in the cold

Kitty, Kitty

So Stay in with me

Share a cup of tea

Or a saucer of milk

It will go down like silk

Curl up in a ball

In your basket

against the wall

Or on your radiator bed

Kitty, Kitty

You can sleep there instead

Dream lovely dreams

Of bowls ...

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I look at you and can but smile
and stand so smitten for a while
Your bleating sweetly does beguile;
I only have eyes for ewe

You always light up any field
You're so well-hooved and so well-heeled
Those shapely fetlocks make me yield
I only have eyes for ewe

You really do show style and sass
while ruminating on the grass
I wish I had your taste and class
I only have eyes for ewe

...

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Marie thought I was wonderful,

   Romantic and quick-witted,

Oh how I wish her mum and dad

   Had not had her committed.

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Joy and madness entwined around our souls.

Our bodies entwined around each other.

Our hearts, given to each other, shattered.

Our worlds forever changed.

I search for you or is it the illusion of you.

You haunt me - in my dreams, in the darkness, under my covers.

Passion burned while it burned us.

We burned together.

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It was a day when all was sunburning stark and bright

And we dressed quickly because it were cold

Eager to assail the outside

With scarves gloves coats and hats

To run across fields

To make our marks

To make men with twigs and carrots and coal

Buttons eyes ears mouth and nose

And we slide down untrammelled virgin hills

Untouched by the hand of man or paw of dog

Roarin...

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In the lonesome backwoods behind our vintage house

We buried our souls deep just to have ghosts around.

But phantoms, they startle, howl, scream and weep

Way past their bedtimes because the night doesn’t seep

Into their cavities where they safeguard our souls,

Still glowering in caskets of gold.

And that’s what they’ll ever be-

Fossilized memories,

Vessels of love...

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I tasted a snowflake on my walk today

It landed on my tongue as I was panting away

Out of shape I am,  I have to say

Because of the virus,  indoors I mostly stay

The weather was bleak,  the skies gray

Just a few snowflakes flying

A scarily beautiful display

I said a prayer of thanks to God

That I am so cheerful,  on such a miserable day

Then,  I delightfully dreamed of d...

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Nightmares diminish in the depths of my dreams

As the sun breaks the mournful night

The day envelopes the lonesome sky

Darkness open it’s wings and takes flight

The beauty of the dew, sparkling in the light

The warmth of the radiated heat

The splendour of life marching forth

In comparison is a futile feat

For the beauty of a beginning 

Can never compare to the ...

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I've never seen Love so close before. Until I did. Love is beautiful, she is strong too. Love carries the world almost all by herself. I always admired her from afar, i've seen her in the TV's or on the radio. Love seems like she can concure anything and everything. I've seen Love in coffee shops, or walking the dim lighted streets. Again I always admired her, I was so scared to meet her. Until I ...

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tongues tide

lapsing where the fire's inside

purchase granted in crevices born

anew; those defining, wracking moments

where we may whet our ruse:

fleshlessness disguised

as godlessness.

they called me Brindle:

baptized by brine and bristle

brushed steeline, raising thistles

where my lust for life was thought to be

the nuturance of dead. weight.

they ca...

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Chapter 1

In the village of Akpa, there lives a well known farmer called Edozie. Edozie was a very rich and popular farmer. He has more than hectares of lands where he cultivate his crops like; cassava, yam, maize, three-leaf yam, plantain, banana etc both for commercial and subsistence purposes.

Edozie who a bachelor was living big and one day, he decided to get marry.

One day, he was he...

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Empty of its audience, red, plush velvet seats;

Sorrowful, in mourning.

No more echoes of applause,

the opening of a grandeur curtain,

Just a ghostly appearance,

Breathing in the past.

Dusty stage lights,

Cobwebbed orchestra,

Costumes bleeding out their vibrany; silently decaying.

What do you call a stage

without a captivating drama?

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Aneurin Bevan, politician

Gave us his inspiring vision

Now if not for the NHS

We’d all be in a blooming mess

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Taking a step back,
A long breath in,
Then watching as my breath,
Moves away into a spiral of mist.

Things change quickly,
My mind left spinning,
But as my heart starts searching,
I take a step forward and breathe.

This time I can't ask you to explain.
This time I can't see you leave.
This time I can only accept your words.
But now I have to get my mind to slow.

My time with you ...

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You sleep beside me yet I feel completely alone

No attempt to touch my hand

To hug my clearly crying soul

To comfort me when you know that I too am struggling

You move about the house

Not a care in the world

No good morning words

No good morning kiss

I question why I continue to do this to myself

I wonder why I put up with so much

I don’t understand why I can’t just w...

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Velvet sabotaged nursey rhymes mired in melancholy
Life ends; dawn comes.

In Whaley Bridge the dam burst, screams heard, as a couple ran with hell in their wake and fire in their hair
Full-boned breakfast tastes salacious to the robots
Robin looked East while Mole burrowed up for a swift one in Stalybridge Station Bar.

Robots trying on clothes in topshop
Before hitching a ride to join Ni...

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battered by conflicting voices

uncertainties surrounding the accursed

pandemic become

confused from day to day

yesterday's confident pronouncements

are contradicted today

dread what will be announced tomorrow

but thankfully nature remains constant

and faithfully follows its cycle

the thick blanket of snow spread

across the landscape is a

welcome distracti...

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Exclusively available on https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B4HGX2TF/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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It feels like the world has stopped in its usual tracks. Evidently deepening all existing cracks.

Prior acceptance to daily life is altered. Causing vibration to all that was taught to us. 

The new is the unknown and previous certainty a distant memory. 

A memory of which we fight and clutch tight too. A faded interpreted dream, our only prayed for virtue.

I feel a inhumane pres...

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The words on a paper brings joy to many

It tickles their mind

And hugs their soul

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you left my grip

embraced another  squeezing

their hand to heavens door

leaving me waiting

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okay so this one time i saw this ghost and he was super sexy so i invited him in for tea and he drank it and he was actually me. i am the sexy ghost lmao.

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My Manchester

Free from a hipster to a hack, fake news

And alternative facts,

On streets where you get everything 

From a Tarantula to The Clap

That’s my Manc

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I don't hate you. I love you.
I hate myself.

I hate myself for putting up with the abuse.

I hate myself for wasting so many years with someone I have to continually beg to love me.

I hate myself for believing the mental abuse.

I hate myself for feeling sad everytime you cuss at me. Everytime you belittle me. Everytime you embarrass me.

Everytime you let others disrespect me.

Eve...

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Don't judge me with your bitterness.

Don't care how you dress.

To me, it doesn't matter who you kiss.

Love is a philosophy, not an activity.

Don't force your adjectives on me.

My acceptance is on the content of your character.

Selfishness is the only way you know how to care.

The way you walk through life. 

It is like walking on the edge of a knife.

Cutting awa...

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When the past pass by

And your smile becomes shy

And you wonder why

Your soul aches

And your whole body shakes

And you keep holding thight

To the hidden memories of that July

Just be still on your hope

Remember how much you try

And how much pain you carry´

Cause it's all written in the sky

And when the past pass by

You will turn around

And you'll finally feel...

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It's been so long in this boat

We've been rowing

I can imagine the feeling of my feet touching ground

Circling, edging the deepness of the water to shallow

We never know anymore if its just quicksand

How would we risk flipping the boat to stand

We know where the pieces fit

We put them all back as the boat

There have been so many stormy nights at sea

Where the best of us ...

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Let me tell you about the voices that come as a flood to my mind

Of the whispers that creep in, in the middle of the night

Spreading deceit and lies of me

Voices that come to delude me and blind me of the truth

To stir up anger and cause offence to manifest

These voices constantly uttering words

Pushing and prodding to be heard

Seeking attention their primary motive

Sent to...

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An aircraft’s undercarriage leaves the runway,
The sound of turbines fade,
As a cloudy night sky engulfs the shimmering jet.
Memories pass eyes in the cold air,
A pint of beer stands by a vacant spot at the bar.
Re-live the moments important to oneself,
Moments that make up part of a life.
Faces stare in the words of those left,
Tears laugh loudly within embryos of age.
A personal gladnes...

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“I won’t wear a mask.

I’ll do what I f’in want to do.”

But he just kept walking

Round and round

Doing more than this government ever could do

“I’ll see who I want

When I want.”

But in the years when he should be

Just letting go

He gave it all to us

A hospital he will never see

A cancer patient walking out pain free

A child’s broken limb, now ...

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Flake by flake,

the winter freeze

embraces her flower seed…

Asleep…

Beneath a blanket of snow

freshly woven…

She awaits

the arrival of spring…

In tranquil hope, she dreams…

Her heart will soon thaw…

Uncaring…

Unable to love…

The grace of her simplicity,

fhe beauty of her fragility 

will flirt freely 

with every single breeze…

With every sin...

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Motivation obsession 

Writing without yawing

Since melody or drawing

Leave only an impression 

Concluding a point

Beyond simply feeling

Or emotional kneeling

Gives reason to anoint 

Intending to Infuse logic

Each premise is injected 

To prevent the infected 

From becoming chronic

Providing a lesson

With questions answered

Knowledge tran...

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The Celtic Spring begins today, so Happy Imbolc.

__________________

Green Man

on a ceramic head

by Paula Zimmermann

I know that you must be there,

innocent divine,

although at first I cannot see;

your martyrdom, daily,

amidst brick, steel, and glass

goes almost un-noticed

and has made us blind.

We have all but buried you.

But then I find ...

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