Is it me? Is it real?
The feelings that I feel…
never seem to match 
the world around me.

What if I’m lost in time,
wrapped up in some sublime 
cosmic poet’s next attempt 
at melancholy?

I don’t ever feel at home,
most times would rather be alone. 
I’m broken, yeah I know
cuz I don’t change things. 

Maybe I’m just out of place,
running long in the wrong race,
or maybe I’m no go...

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Whilst my lot had pillaged and scarred,  

Her lot held fortunes, the gilded guard.  

Could love like ours ever find its place,  

When worlds collide in a tender embrace?  

 

The thief and the rose, a tale retold,  

Beauty and the beast, both brave and bold.  

Cinderella and her midnight thief,  

Bound by a love that defied belief.  

 

A pauper's hand in a princess's c...

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Just look at how far you have come…

Let’s celebrate with a large tot of rum…

The obstacles you have faced along the way…

Whether you are in the UK, USA or Bombay…

You have really pushed yourself for the best…

Which is why it is time for you to breathe and rest…

Hear my words reaching your beautiful soul…

This is what will help you to reach your end goal…

Never give up, no m...

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My friend remembers

holding babies in an orphanage

across the border

when she was there as a teen

with a charitable group

whose name she has long forgotten.

Her volunteer role was simply to hold and rock the babies,

the sweet little souls.

My friend, like me, is elderly now,

but she still drives all over town

on those fast freeways

that I dare not enter

(when I'...

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faith, trust, and fairie dust

 

The moon was sad as only the moon can be
men in tears sought to flee the nightmare of their lives
dreaming that with fingers we can pluck
the calmness of flowers, the depths of moments,
the completeness of a live birth.

Now only white sobs slide into our eyes
the smile of a mother, a lover,
on the fortunate day of our first kiss.
the past is a ma...

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Nature or nurture?

where she was concerned

there was never any doubt

about either,

but ranks will close

as and when needs must.

Light by name, and light by nature,

A smile to light up every room,

she had always been that way,

instinctively loving and caring,

ever gratefully aware

of the precarity of

her own origins,

but the patriarchy looks

after its ...

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Tremors that he gives me confirm that 
the heart is a muscle
as mythical, as magical, as mysterious  
as a stitcher, tailor, clairvoyant, wordsmith
made manifest as a minotaur 
who cares for his brothers
A sage who is fuelled by compassion
Not seduced by illusions of fairweather friends

Even though we often 
stay up late swapping each others poems,
talking about a shared love of physic...

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‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ Wise words from Samuel Beckett, a hero of mine who also wrote ‘All poetry is prayer’ – a thought I have taken to heart, and a subject for another time.

 

We love in a culture which sets great store by success and yet the greatest learning comes from mistakes, from failure, even from pain. We can then improve, do better...

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The first thing we had to clear was the one

he prized the most: the cluttered pinewood bar

he’d salvaged from a neighbour moving on

at the end of the nineteen seventies.

 

Embalmed in a gloopy coat of varnish

that set to a brittle sheen, it lacked retro chic,

scuffed down to the wood along its edges,

its surface crazed with memories.

 

In the days when family came ...

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specks of mankind

the waste left behind

all the pretty things

temporary witherings

 

womankind too

shares the same futility

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Tomorrow 

The first day of the rest of our lives

There's no time holier then now

Stillness of mind

In unison 

Our spoken word 

Image held in mind

Through the field of earth

Our kinetic energy travels

Your thoughts matter

What you give matters

Taking the time to find you, matters 

Love for one and other matters

 

 

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dropping down the hill

from Bozeat rise, the

temperature fell clear

two degrees as the hail

stones began lightly 

peppering the bonnet 

of the car,

we knew it was coming 

noticing it hanging

around behind a black 

cloud up ahead like a 

robber in a cheap film,

a tiresome diversion

took us past a green 

burial site and we spent

the rest of the journey

...

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The world is more stressed,worried and in pain,

Perilous times of stress and trouble seem to reign.

Positive things can boost your emotional wealth,

Immensly contributing towards your physical health.

 

As a city broken into without a wall,

Is the man who cannot control his anger at all.

Listen carefully to both sides of a matter,

Solve the issue through a two sided natter.

...

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I am your boarding pass, 

A gateway to endless horizons. 

In my codes and numbers, 

Your journey awaits—charted and clear.

 

I am the key, 

Sliding you past barriers to boundless discovery. 

Through me, knowledge becomes motion, 

And the infinite unravels before you.

 

Grip me tight, for I lead the way. 

I am your personalised ticket to ride: 

A tool, a g...

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Bed-blocking King Duncan’s lifeless form

Kisses his lips sweaty T-shirts

Like a dandy rabbit this man once more.

 

What chance have we under the Dunelm Duvet

 

Goyt and Tame together plan the hit

on Lady of the North with a poker and coal scuttle

To remove the thorn from the flesh

of the knuckled finger-splitting hand

 

In a white blank room the die hard

poets r...

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Before this dismal outcome came to be

the future seemed to beckon from afar:

a place bereft of scarcity and war;

a polished jewel of bright uncertainty.

In old-time bookshops (now but memories)

the science fiction covers let us dream

of silver cities, interstellar scenes

and giant spacecraft hung in distant skies.

But none of these is ours. What came to pass

stands far ...

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Is it, for you, okay?

If I write out loud type, or say

that our systems are sometimes flawed

and I'm self-protective this way.

 

So I hope you're okay with the censure;

And if not, I still hope you're okay.

 

I got hopes of hope

and still heaps of 'nope'

and a boundary that borders 'okay'. 

 

 

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Congratulations! You’ve downloaded me, The app that decides who you’re meant to be. No need to wonder, no need to stress— I’ll handle your choices. No need to guess. Decision fatigue? A thing of the past. I’ll pick your job, your lunch, and your last. Messages sent with the perfect tone, Replies pre-planned—no need to groan. And love? Relax, I’ve got your back. I’ll match, confirm, ...

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No one knows who wasn't there,

at Casement Park.

No one knows who wasn't there,

on Churchill Avenue.

No one knows who wasn't there,

at Milltown Cemetery.

 

We were young and malleable

We were hammers and sharpened tools,

we were disposable yet valuable

we the puppets of murderous fools.

 

We heard the pavement split

We heard the double tap,

we knew t...

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This city of rooftops
this tangle of streets
Houses perched 
upon hillsides
This fragmented view
a colour sample chart
of various greys
Choose any shade…

A ghoulish wind rattles 
shivering window panes
as remnants of noisy leaves 
shuffle down crooked lanes
Frozen snow 
blocking passageways
I wiggle my toes
to keep the blood flowing

Between five rivers
a hill I rise, or will s...

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Oh, supreme maestro of chaos well devised
Thou who dost turn falsehoods into legacy prized
Thy hair, the clouds of a kitsch tempest wild
Thy suit, a shield 'gainst truths that are reviled

"Make America great again!" thou dost proclaim
Whilst selling dreams wrought with horror and shame
Thy walls are verses in blind poetry penned
That part and divide, yet intrigue to no end

Thou, who sp...

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too many years

the man inside has struggled

to crack the mask

 

that fragile face

that forms the words

taken to task

when unburdened from

their unassuming place

 

now, times are hard

and many labors are

begging to be sold

 

now, the inward man is stolid

he will not bend

 

the crouching tigers remain hidden

and many fortunes stay untold

 

...

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Am I starting to not care anymore?

Children taken as spoils of war

Still breaks my heart...a little.

Enough to pray...a little.

Storms come and storms go

To make my soul weary,

So my life is no longer light and breezy.

Prayers go up...but they're not easy

To maintain.

So my heart begins to complain.

Then I'm reminded,

That when life's battles are no longer fought

...

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Thunder headed brooding knoll

heathered black and heavy green,

ravined by waters cutting edge

flushing silver silted streams.

 

Pebble bright mosaic gullies

delta into waiting hollows,

water, smoothing grey silk slime,

flooding meadows, forming pools.

 

Bog grass floats a yellow raft

birches filter curlews cry,

fallow slots, precision printed,

sharp...

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Walking along the trail, the trees teach me

about having no particular place to be.

A peaceful disposition to have, I thought.

 

“We’re not going anywhere.”, they seemed to say.

“But we have many things to do

today in a grateful forest.”

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my many enemies 
all hide inside of me 
the externals got nothing 
on my doubts and self-loathing 

I could be a cliff diver 
under my low self-esteem 
battling windmills 
like pigeons in gale force winds 

I fight I exercise and I read 
sometimes all for nothing 
just when things look 
the most bleak 

you give me a call 
and suddenly 
I’m standing 
seven feet tall in heels

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I've never much believed in magic,

Yet my white rabbit came back.

He's here; I hold him close,

Look deep into his eyes.

 And what I see...

 A prisoner, a citizen,

 An old man, a father—my father.

 

A quiet understanding,

Where all my questions cease.

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Our town has a new addition 
maybe his name could be Sam
Standing sturdy, tall, proud and strong
he is the Kirkby Lonsdale Ram

A symbol of strength, hope, kindness 
and the power of unity
Gifted by a generous local man
to the community 

Taking centre stage on his stone plinth
he looks straight at you, unfazed
This steel sculpture is quite arresting
with his front hooves slightly rai...

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While standing on my hands,

Or balanced on my head,

I’m looking at the world from upside down.

 

I’m cartwheeling at play,

In my inverted way;

A raving king addicted to his crown.

 

I’m hanging from the ceiling –

A strangely bracing feeling –

Suspended in the void just like a bat.

 

Revolving through one-eighty –

My bottom end quite weighty –

My view of Ea...

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A poet, who wrote from the heart.

In my life, he’s played a huge part.

Oozing passion, from every pore.

Gave his all, then gave some more.

Songs he wrote, stirred the soul.

Hope and pride, his vision and goal.

He wrote of love, mourned at loss.

Helped us over many a sea to cross.

He weaved images of distant hills.

His fateful lyrics, gives me the chills.

He t...

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Ever still am I

Where freedom swells, breaks and lies

Lost in a room of my own making

My frantic mind unabaiting

The key holder to a door with no lock

This time it is I who is out of luck

 

Thoughts sway and dwell upon the question

Staring at the whitewash in my mission

Could hell really be so pale?

The body and mind eager-eyed in a chess match

Sweating as the need...

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A Thousand Times and More. 

I’ve forgiven you a thousand times
Myself a thousand more
These scars do not belong to me
They’ve been cast along the shore

I’ve heard it’s already written
They say true love is destined
We were born with our lover’s name
Carved into our skin

The moon will always
Cast it’s light
On lovers meant to be
But there’s a blind spot in the moonlight

And it’...

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The moments we once shared together,
Showed me you are someone I must cherish forever.

But when cold fills your night,
I may not always be able to give you a warm embrace.

And when you stumble in a fight,
I may not be able to offer you a hand to help you rise.

When fate demands us to walk different paths,
I may not be able to be by your side.

Yet still, I will always plead to God,
...

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If gods were as humans imagine,
Would God-hood be just another family profession?

A father teaching his child
about worlds with autumns and springs.
The mother sharing her wisdom—
about how to breathe life into everything.

The eldest steps up, eager to create,
A world complex and grand - to impress his father,
With life as simple and kind – just like his mother.

But the child knows ...

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Does it smell nice?
A letter from the king
Of scented ink, that kind of thing
Mellifluous craft and flowery word
Meticulously well-observed

Or does it smell of dusty palaces and old men
Tainted by the mouldering stench of then
Sparse script spiked with iron gall
As if the king should have to write at all

How tightly clenched, the royal jaw
How white-knuckled, the royal paw
Nib mashe...

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The asters will insist

On blooming, even

If the bridges

In the rear-view

Are flaming still;

 

On the road

Between despondency

And acquiescence,

Might there lurk

The needed epiphany?

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There is a game that I play
That is kind of underground
It goes by the name of pickleball 
Shush don't you make a sound

Whenever I mention the word
Folks they Google they haven't heard
Then they open wide their eyes
They want to play surprise suprise

I'm gonna dink untiI I die
Laugh until I cry
Play all day long
Don't put a foot wrong
Reach for the stars
Just watch me fly
I'm gon...

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I’ll TAKE THAT!

By the Urban Poet

If you want a win you’ll take a draw

‘Cos losing hits a nerve that’s raw

As good times go you’ll take the bad

An alternative to going mad

 

Now as for diets and keeping slim,

you’ll take whatever clothes your in

As long as they look reasonable enough,

to get the doubters to call your bluff 

 

You’ll take any odds on a winning ho...

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BEFORE SATAN GETS A CHANCE

TO CLIMB INTO THE PULPIT OF MY MIND

AND SPOUT HIS FIERY BRIMSTONE TEMPATIONAL SERMONS

I REMOVE THE STEPS WITH A CUTTING EDGED PRAYER

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Blessed I am to have shadows stalking my form,

For they confirm the presence of the sun. 

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The wind, blowing from a cruel westerly,

mild breeze to full-blown misery

We had the sun once: a light in the world 

we’ve lost sight of you, once the tempest blew.

 

Unable to catch our life given breath

This storm takes hope to its grave in death

We had the sun once: a light in the world 

that’s now estranged once the tide had changed, 

 

In a concerted effort of wi...

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Another Day

 

Failing to hold onto the night,

We spiral toward another day.

Ageless sun directs its might,

Throwing dawn into the fray.

 

Chaotic animation spurred

From peaceful restoration.

Abandoned nests of man and bird,

Turn cold from separation.

 

Voices raised at dawn’s command,

Alert the world to rise.

A gradual warming of the land,

Commands we s...

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The men of wrath 
Banter and rant 
Next to the famed bar,
While the man inside 
Recites his years long poetry.

Amidst the sectored chaos,
The beauty of his work 
Seeps through the ruckus 
To an open window
Seeking ailment and cure.

One by one, the broken pieces 
Of a ceramic glass 
Come back to life,
As the hours of the night
Dim the harsh voices of the strife.

A nearly wasted...

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Preying wolves combine

Two battle fronts

Human cost astronomical

Boxed into submission

Devastation asks why?

The misguided Madmen

Smokescreen of peace

Keep fighting Ukraine

Enough is enough

A cease fire

We pray for.

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A day to watch the mizzle ‘cross the bay

that masks the heathered hills in swirling grey,

and swallows the horizon in its sigh

where even hungry gulls refuse to fly,

and seek their sheltered spots to hide away.

 

Inside we wait until the gloom will pass,

watch burning turf reflecting in the glass,

and in that warm reflection reminisce,

relive those golden summers of the ...

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They all told you to — “Grow up”.

Thank you for not listening.

Thank you for making up innocent fantasies
Rather than thinking of scary “what ifs”

Thank you for enjoying the present
Rather than drowning in the past
Or getting lost in the future

Thank you for laughing at silly things
instead of worrying about being “cool”

Thank you for eating as your body wished
instead of feari...

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(I might have missed this opportunity were it not for Leonidas's reminder.  I am still a little unsure of the ending.  Do I ground it properly?  Let me have your thoughts.)

 

Raise your voices; have your say!

International Women’s Day.

Banish weakness.  Let’s be strong.

Time to right what has been wrong.

Linking arms in sisterhood,

Pledged to Justice, pledged to Good.

Stand...

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EXISTENCE                                                                          

Breathe in the air, it is free, ye poor, ye

refugees. Breathe deep and tell me

how it feels to have nothing but that

air in your mouth and lungs, so

slowly sucked in, seeped out;

barely a movement of your limbs,

shout to me, please, so I can

tell that you are not dead, not yet.

T...

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Well, today is as everyone should know International Women's Day and what better way to celebrate and commemorate this important international event than to look at Shakespeare's representation of women in his plays. For example the identity of "The Dark Lady" in his Sonnets sequence? For a number of centuries Shakespearean academics have pondered over the identity of two people who strongly influ...

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Dear friends!

        Please, read my poem in the comments.

                                    Regards,

                                   Larisa

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