Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

I know that, strictly speaking, the Magi, are still on camel back following a star but I also know everyone is bored with the story by epiphany so here is my final Christmas related poetry blog. Courage, doubt, fear and wonder, in the story of the Magi. What had they been part of? Like us, they wondered whether ‘this was a future they wanted to know’…

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With a week to go befiore Christmas, I thought I'd ignore the noise and controversy and focus instead on music and hope

Mary Sang

Mary sang, a fine contralto, deep and pure.
Joseph played bass, metronomic, steady, 
the beat nailed to the floor.
He thought the boy should play guitar
and made him one from fine cedar;
strings of camel gut, fret board inlaid
with finest golden sa...

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This year has been different and certainly strange,
So for this Covid Christmas we must all make a change.
With our loved ones we may not be able to share,
But remember them still and know that they do care.

Although Covid-19 makes us all be apart,
Try to be strong and remain stout of heart.
Though at this festive time numbers may be reduced,
Know a wonderful Christmas may still be produc...

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I have the rarest flower
Growing in my inner self.
I first had to protect it,
But now it’s taken root.

Small shoots of green,
Surviving where was barren.
Little tiny leaves,
Pattern uncommon.

I have the rarest flower
Living, thriving inside.
Makes me certain, what else happens,
That I can survive
Just like it.

As I wait for it to flower,
With its petals unfurled,
I wonder what...

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Thank you to talented local musician Stuart Bell for turning it into a lovely Christmas ditty! 

(a re-post, but it seems more appropriate now! ⛄)

Like comets we slid through the crisp, white grass

In our wake billowed a powder-puff mass

It floated and swirled and twinkled with light

Like low-hanging stars broke free of the night

And in snow-laden fields angels were...

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Image courtesy of Marilylle Soveran and Flickr; Creative Commons.

Hard to believe that it's December and we're coming to the end of a year that has presented many challenges. In the Christian tradition, candles are lit for Advent, representing hope, love, joy, peace, and the light of the world. This year we're waiting for vaccines, an end to lockdowns and tiers and I've tried to ...

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I wished I could talk to the stars
As I walked alone in the moonlit night,
The light of the passing by cars,
Enhanced the beauty of the sight.

I sat down on the grass by the street
To add a few pages to my old sketchbook.
But you suddenly came to meet,
Perfectly letting me off the hook.

Now I walked with you
To live the best day of my life.
Everything began anew
The moment you asked...

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Now that I am faced with this trial of the moment, let me pause.
Reflect on previous trials.  
The race forward is not about the hurdles already jumped,
It is about the confidence and skill at jumping acquired.

Now that I am faced with this impossibly high wall, let me think.
Remember previous walls.  
The difficulty of scaling any height or distance can be shrunk;
It is ever as simple as...

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Life may not be perfect
But sadness isn’t worth it,
And no matter how bad it gets,
Or whatever the world may expect
I’m not done hoping yet.

I could weep, I could cry
But what would that buy?
Another moment of misery?
Or instead I could smile
And then at least I’d be lifted.

And life may not be great
But happiness shouldn’t wait
So no matter what
I’ll enjoy what I’ve got
I’m not ...

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The life is meaningless. 

Lost during the cold war.

The weather is cold. 

The road is long. 

The life is short. 

Can i really reach my destiny? 

The mountains were shaking.

Is it the devil or the angel ?

Were my eyes blinded with the obsession of Victory ?

Was it really the End.

Why ? And who ? Were the questions.

Was i falling in a endless pit?

The crows were c...

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In the shadow of sleeping Kings, 

soldiers, and poets, 

comes another battlefield day,

man against man, invisible wars,

hell’s fury unleashed among trees. 

Yet, upon the rocky shore,

angels dance and sing,

reminding us there is something more

than misery.

Beauty glints among broken things. 

Hope is on the horizon. 

So on these solemn days, 

let us find something...

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[ ] You're a friend through thick & thin with a heart full of gold & diamonds within.

[ ] A true friend whose honor I would always defend. 

[ ] A true friendship I hope will never end.

[ ] I pray to the universe you will always ascend.

[ ] A helping hand for you I will always lend.

[ ] Divided we fall & together we win.

[ ] I was truly blessed by the universe with a w...

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[ ] Even through the deep pain, shame, regret & great sorrow.

[ ] Keep well living there is always a tomorrow.

[ ] Fight! Go towards the light, not the dark road.

[ ] We know the burden is heavy on you & has a strong hold.

[ ] And it's not and easy thing to defeat or let go.

[ ] Beware of your health it's taking on a great toll.

[ ] I can feel the negative vibratio...

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I’ve written you 1000 letters

I’ve waited for you 365 days 

I’ve prayed to God a million prayers

But I realized now  it is all insane 

I realize now it was all in vain

I get scared to think of no longer loving you 

I get so scared that I pray for another way 

I pray that God makes me see that everything’s ok 

Love isn’t forever 

Love doesn’t always stay

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Here's a poem I wrote to celebrate the launch of Rise! Spoken Word at The Bureau (filmed before lockdown but only just released)

Rise

May you rise like the phoenix from the ashes.

Reignite your precious embers.

Break from your constraints to dance on air.

Rise like the swelling tide, the harvest moon.

Rise like you will dare.

Rise like you're awakened from a hun...

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I struggle without hands

Have no mouth, to speak of

And my eyes avert.

I itch and blotch, 

And the radiance of the sky

Illuminates my sheer loneliness.

Darkness can't come soon enough

'Though I fear my blanket will

one day

become the soil of my grave.

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I

and I alone

upon my bed of cobbled stone

Ponder

   As my flesh weeps into gravel sheets

I ponder what it must be like

to be whole again

   To feel I had a soul again

This dessicated shell

crumbles like mountain scree

down, down to the hungry, black sea

lapping and licking at the feet of my bed

dragging out, with the tide, 

such meagre light from my hea...

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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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(wrote back in March, which now seems an age ago)

The reluctant tears of morning dew 

hang from foliage of vivid green.

A global pandemic is mentioned. 

Ears barely prick 

Minds drift like snow: 

Mmm what's for tea?

The dew becomes gas and floats 

Ribbons of wispy white melt into the blue high above.

Lockdown

Feet burn upon newly laid decking under an early summer sun...

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Here shines

The dream that binds

The hopes

Given to you

That hears a voice

And runs to find

That shadows

Need love

Too

Here sighs

The heart that tries

To look

For something new

Run to and fro

And back again

To find it all

In you

Here waits

The tender kiss

Within

Veiled spirits cry

A whisper

Of a certain truth

That love ...

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Lost in a sea of thoughts salty with fears
Her arrid eyes void of tears
Adrift, aimless she sailed for years

A tattered raft of determination her only support
On the horizon utopia beckoning
An obliging port

A siren's song, haunting, promising sanctuary
Pulling her in with its ethereal melody

Taunting her hope's
Teasing her dreams
Promising the actuality of possibilities
Throu...

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After the pandemic, 
I hope we remove our masks, 
find more reasons to smile, 
forgive faster, 
have more patience, 
keep the faith, 
help each other however we can. 

Gather more, 
hug more, 
kiss more, 
remember what we're here for, 
live, laugh, love.

I hope you find strength 
to move your mountains, 
courage to carry on, 
seize every opportunity 
to live the After now. 

h...

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This is the way the world ends,

This is the way the world ends,

This is the way the world ends,

Not with a bang, but a #hashtag.

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Ujjal Mandal, India

Keep dreaming like the river, 

Someday

This will lead you to the sea

With bare shores. 

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How are you?

A question worth a thousand answers 

A thousand possibilities summed into one

Fine

Somewhere in between the good and the bad 

Between the lines 

Of the lies 

Fine -

Just fine.

By Faith Olajuyigbe, author of Words of Faith

For poetry and more visit: https://www.wordsoffaith.co.uk

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Who am I

why do I

when will I

where can I

Answers elude

My identity un-formed and crude

Mother pretends

The show never ends

Until the curtain is drawn 

All the doors are closed and simulations suspend

I don't know who I am

Give anything to be sure

Stand firm in my convictions 

On both sides of the door

No duplicity here

All masks removed

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When crowds disappear and the sun never sets

When shadows fall further behind you

When Christmas lights shine like my heart in my chest 

Bathed in the splendour, I will find you

As each day breaks and when night shines black

And the stars dance brightly before you

As each touch shivers, the souls of the lost

In the eyes of an angel, I will see you

From the depths ...

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Emotional turmoil 

Tranquility sporadic

The future unknown yet frightful

A familiar face in the crowd  

So warm, inviting and sweet...

Everything makes sense again

Hope is reignited 

Fear, is once again

For the time being

Obsolete...

( " PSYCOBABBLING" )

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You need hope to see a future

Without that there's only despair

That's the lesson you taught me

When you told me you didn't care

There was no tomorrow in your eyes

Only dead ashes from yesterday

There was no tomorrow in your eyes

My future's upped and flown away

Our journey's come to to dead end

I'm backed up against a concrete wall

Even now I'm hoping again...

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August

She wished it to be a month of hope,

Not that of despair, or distress

Her days blurred in nothingness

Like a bird fallen in a trench, flapping its wings

Move, run, walk, read, write, stop!

Her body powerless, prisoned by her mind

Reduced to a mute spectator,

For her mind has a mind of its own

She dallies her day away

Eager for her sleep

No dreams, ...

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In the corner of my room there is a window,
The frame is rotted, the glass is dirty,
But it is there,

In the morning, it catches the first light and brightens the bare walls,
By noon, it has become a portrait,
A beautiful decoration, seeming a bit out of place,
When the sun starts to set, the portrait changes,
Ominous, as long shadows stretch off into the horizon,
At night, it is empty...

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She has a beauty that shines from within 

A light that never grows dim

Her candle goes not out by night

And the radiance inside her, ever bright

When the wind blows,

Her flame - it holds

She thrives, she sparks

She glows, she grows.

An original poem by Faith Olajuyigbe from Words of Faith

For more visit: https://www.wordsoffaith.co.uk

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I’ve weathered storms that I thought would drown me 

I’ve learnt to soar in winds I thought would consume me 

They say 

Out of the ashes must rise a new Phoenix 

The flame…

Being refined by fire

Through it, I’ll rise higher

The flames provide the fuel 

As I soar to my strength

Refined by fire

Gold purified 

A faith that stands.

By Faith Olaju...

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Ujjal Mandal, India

Life seems heavy when you bear it
Like the wingless bird. Life seems light
When you bear it like the wingful bird.

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Hope cannot save what’s forgotten with age

As the moonlight clandestinely shines.

Pieces of souls, washed up on the shores 

Laughing gleefully at the passing of time

Abandoned dreams sink beneath the sand

On which fateful footsteps once tread

Years rage on, crashing silently on rocks

Where despair and weakness once led.

Reflections of love rise up from the deep

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Hunger hides in the schools

Hunger hides in the uneducated

Hunger hides in a child's mind

Why should this be a political fight

We are not asking for a feast, just a little something to eat.

Sadness hides in the home

Sadness hides in the room

Sadness hides in the man on the streets

Don't want to run in your circle anymore.

Want to take that straight line le...

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Change

Life began,
as autumn fell, 
And the leaves turned to ice on the pavement. 
Shadows shortened,
The earth went stale
And cold darkness filled every moment

As summer arrived
And the earth turned bleak
Despair peppered the path laid before me
Water pelted the earth
And the leaves turned weak,
Littered corpses of love strewn beneath me

Lost and alone, 
With a grimacing soul
...

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I fell

For the feelings, the flowers, the fantasies. 

I fell

For you, for us, for all that we were.

Innocently thinking that was all love could be.

I confused the falling for the force.

But,

Falling was all about me.

And,

Loving is all about you.

Baby, I'm no longer falling

But to you I promise, 

I'll always be loving.

By Faith Olajuy...

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Profound sadness 

clouds my view 

at a quarter til two. 

I don’t understand why 

my muse avoids me like the flu, 

when a simple poem or song will do. 

Wise words to help me understand

why true love passed me by

in this lifetime.

Why wrong choices,

that felt right at the time,

left me alone in this abyss

where my better self

silently bears witness

to my shr...

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Thunderstorms
Running through my head
Rumbles getting louder
Scared things might be said
Hide away in a closet
Because the sound is so loud
Hide from the truth
Because the truths not allowed
Thunderbolts they are striking
Flashbacks of a lad
A childhood in silence
Adolescence was sad
But storms they get stronger
They gain strength with time
The rain is now pouring
I’ve a hurricane m...

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Life is not a fairy tale,
And often has no happy ending.
It may be a long, forlorn story,
And no moral is it sending.

Life is not a fairy tale,
And it may all be quite disjointed,
And when we see a hopeful glimmer
We end up disappointed.

Life is not a fairy tale,
And we must accept that it is real,
So when come across a painful time
It is what we truly feel.

Life is not a fairy t...

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Futures gambled on heavy hearts

Permit the love that binds them

Troubled eyes, in search of parts

Left down and abandoned behind them

Loose lives, abridged by callous remarks

Contain the passion inside them 

But scorned and lost, again we start

Ascend as one. Together. Defy them!

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Shallow waters seldom hide the blackened sand below

Rocks and land, erodes in tides, defiled by ebb and flow

The calmest waters, clouded up, by a river built on lies

The purest shores, shrouded over, engulfs an isle that cries

The years weep past, the time goes by, the waters seldom turn

Every second bleeds, through wasted lives, the oceans start to burn

As memories close an...

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I planted some seeds
I watched them grow
They got stronger each day
They are flowers now
The petals are vibrant
They’ve come to life
They blow in the breeze
They reach up to the light
Independent and free
They stand so tall
Bask in the sun
From the early morn
As the night time comes
They go to sleep
Until the next new dawn
And the little birds tweet
Then they rise again
Looking pr...

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I don't want to hurt no more
I don’t want to cry
Don’t want to curse no more
Don't want to live this lie
Inside I feel I’m dying
The pain it hurts so bad
I feel I’m losing control
Every day I feel so sad
I’ve felt this way for a lifetime
Thought I’d mastered how to cope
But the pressures getting heavy
Feel I’m living with false hope
Thought talking would help to free me
But I feel I’v...

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Lost boy, find your way home
Reach out your arms
You’re no longer alone
Lost boy, please don’t be scared
There’s a safe place waiting 
You just need to get there

People may judge you
And that is OK
If they have a problem
We can keep them at bay
Thoughts and feelings are normal
Its everyday life
The future is yours
So keep that in sight

Lost boy, why are you afraid
It’s not your ...

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You think that your losing me
But I’m losing part of you
You think that your hurting me
But it’s me who’s hurting you
You think you can save me
But it’s hard for you to do
Because I cause so much agony
And it’s me doing that to you

I fear for the future
I fear that you will leave
It feels you’ve lost the sparkle
And no longer believe
I know you reassure me
And there’s things you n...

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Trying hard to save me
Fighting hard to stay
Sorting through the feelings
That never go away
I may look harder from the outside
But no-one sees the me within
Cuz if they saw for just one moment
They would see I’m crumbling
 

I need help to get me through
Another day of feeling blue
Of feeling weak, I’m not that strong
Of feeling who I am is wrong
But I’ll get through
I know it’s tr...

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As I hold my head in shame
I caused the doubt
I am to blame
If I promise not to cry
Will we get by
I always try
But feelings don't come easy
When I've kept them all inside
From the moment we start talking
When I’ve got nowhere to hide
Will we survive
 

We are stronger when we’re together
Weaker when we’re apart
I promise to be faithful
I’ll give you all my heart
With you I thrive
...

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Was it true,

sleep depends on tears?

To refill the well

that had dried up by day,

Or to wet the lids, at the least,

by dreaming sad dreams,

With that tearful hope,

had the sleep come by night?

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