Vial
With just enough light in the sky to take out
the newspapers of yesterday
and arrange them, padding in
the galvanised bin;
smoke twists
in a neighbour's garden -
I cup hand and call,
remark upon the vagaries of the weather
and the recent tree
felled on Cobb Hill.
In response I get a half-turn
and shoulder shrug, grunt
of some approximate affirmative,
and...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 11:04 pm
Also by David Blake:
Deliberations On Canvas |Tinsel
The unclean are omitted,
a different view cast aside,
there is no place in England
if you are from the other side
judgemental press, hide behind a lie
fabulorised stories, tut tuts and sighs
they say "how dare you be disabled,
unemployed or high
when a decent working man cannot afford to fly".
Look to your store with a shiny clean floor welcoming people in, filth...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 11:00 pm
Also by PatricioLG:
Have a shave |SHE TOOK THE BLAME OF ME
She took the blame of me
and made it her own
twisted all our words into knots
that they might strangle hope and trust
with that serpent mind, outside of inside
that dragged around all the beauty
in a cloth sack
pulling us back, and I
fought it but she bit my tongue out
strangled me with it
so that all the sadness would float away
to an island of dreams,
and I ma...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 8:57 pm
Also by ray pool:
PUNCH AND JUDY MAN | BLOWSY SUMMER | SWEET FUCK ALL | THE CHASE | HOSPITAL WAITING AREA | FEAR OF FLYING | ANSWERS ON THE WIND | THE RIVER FLEET | I HEAR THE RAIN | THE DARK KNIGHT AND THE WIDOW | Mr BRAITHWAITE and Mr. KHAN | TO A FRIEND | MIDNIGHT IN MAYFAIR | FOSSILIZATION | HOW LOW CAN YOU GET? | SNAIL INTELLIGENCE | ENDANGERED SPECIES | THERE ARE NO RIGHTS OR WRONGS | SUPERMARKET CHECKUP | O C D | A TRIBUTE FROM SIR TERRY WOGAN |Shining
I’m throwing out light
Wherever I go
Making everyone’s day
So warm and bright
I’m gleaming, I’m shining.
Touching everyone with my glow
Wherever I go
Illuminating, providing insight
So everyone will know
I’m radiant, I’m shining
Light exploding all around
Wherever I go
Mirror-ball shards of light
Each dark corner is found
I’m re...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 7:47 pm
Also by Andy Smyth:
Second congregation | Time to go? | A blank sky | Pride | Holiday time | Tears (obviously an 'off' day) | More silly stuff.... | Dark and Light | Priorities | Words | Flying | Daft | Fun and Sad | Counties and stuff | Daughters | A nod to Peter Grimes | A mugging | Feeling Melancholy (whoever she is) |And What Of The Children
And what of the children as yet unborn?
Who speaks out for them and will take their part?
As the world watches the hellbound handcart
Spiralling downwards with future stillborn.
When our great great grandfathers walked the land,
It should have been simple to chart a course
Keeping hold of hopes to husband resource,
But now supply is outstripped by demand.
So what ...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 6:43 am
Also by Trevor Alexander:
Kids! | Ode To The Passing Of A Friend | The Legend Of Finn MacCool | To Be Alone | Growth | On Line Dating | Choices | The Hunter | Me | Fancy | I Thought I Knew You | Old House |Battle of our chests
There is a war rallied between our hearts:
some people say love,
other people play love.
But when life becomes a game,
when words can only be spoken by characters,
when breath can only be projected by theatre
then I lose myself...so you lose me....and I risk losing you....
And the curtains fall shut -
Shows over.
And the dice stops rolling -
We lost the bet.
...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 1:33 am
Also by Alexandra K. Parapadakis:
When the World is Not Enough | Loving the girl from the moon |Cold Hearted Persuasion
A severed artery blissfully glowing with crimson stare
Emptied of all but memories, scarred by dreams embalmed with fear
Held the wind in my hand but have I?
Have I held the wind in my hands?
Gave a kiss to a corpse
A cold embrace defines you
Beguiled by the ocean scent
Buried in the sand are my hopes for an indigo sky
As for the remains of a broken soul
Somewhere beneat...
Monday 30th May 2016 7:24 pm
Also by kimafia Jones:
Hourglass Appraisal | Love Note #3 | Naked | New Beginnings |beat
“It isn't enough for your heart to break
because everybody's heart is broken now.” - Allen Ginsberg
we are all brittle and spotless and so infinite
standing under the same endless spark blue sky
staring through the generations of madness
to find a reason for this seeming insignificance
and god is not the reason but man is the reason
man and his eternal need to cause suffe...
Monday 30th May 2016 6:43 pm
Also by Stuart Buck:
a cinquain for a troubled mind | pg-13 | naked | sour | things i would say to you if i wasnt busy lying | katteken | full fat shit times | serotonin | summer haiku | gallery | untitled | flat | sad news | sometimes the only way to react to this life is to find hope in stupid things. | sad/beautiful | i am hopeless and you are hopeless and together we have hope | diner | arborio |Haiku: Blossom
patchy pink pavements
flowers dropped from chestnut trees
crimson avenue
Monday 30th May 2016 2:23 pm
Also by Lynn Dye:
Demoralisation | Joys of nature | you always wanted more | spring awakening | Referendum Blues | botanical gardens | rainwater wings | Eschscholzia | haiku: raindrop blooms | Questions of verity | Pesky packaging |School Days - Best Days Of Our Lives?
Herringbone
The pallor of the parquet floor
Brings recollections of
School, its classrooms, its corridors
Somehow the pattern pulls
Me into a journey through
Time; conjuring images
Of art and assemblies,
Of laughter and lateness,
Of parents and pupils and plans:
For a future unknown;
For escaping the lessons
And the chill of those changing rooms.
A mishmash of memories,
But...
Monday 30th May 2016 1:18 pm
Also by Paul A M Palmer:
A Poem For Spring - Ms. Shannon Frog | The Office Waits ... | Mare's Tail |THE PRICE TAG
The Price Tag
There's an S and a line through it. The S to me is savor.
now the thing with that is when life gives you lemons,
that "s" gets two lines the s is greed and usually bad intention.
or help it to grow and when it grows that s becomes an S,
and thats how the money symbol is despise.
Lives have been taken countries have been dispanded.
Those lines just seem bigger. The moment I em...
Monday 30th May 2016 7:10 am
Don't
Do you
Mind
If I
Don't?
Forgive
Me
If
I won't
Do I
Care
If you
Don't?
I care
I don't
Mind
Others
Don't
Sunday 29th May 2016 10:32 pm
Barefoot in the City
Cocktails tangy fruity and plenty of punch
swaggering from bar to bar getting drunk
swaying into a Sunny Days tanning saloon
cubicle three a bronzed model to be
feeling sexy and sweaty heat is on
dizzy and tipsy but feeling absolutely devine
skimpy white towel slightly slippling sliding away
wonky legs trying their best to walk
legless but carefree shiny golden goddess brow...
Sunday 29th May 2016 9:22 pm
Half heart.
"Stories.They were just stories and lies.She was just like any other girl.Memories.His laughter ,his comforting smile,the warmth.Everything.How could everything be a lie?How could he just leave her,the one who thought him to be her world?"
Deep breaths, a beating heart.
A sorrowful face,a shrill sound.
Cold winds and a memory,
There she was standing on the cold hard ground.
Ima...
Sunday 29th May 2016 5:36 pm
Also by Solasta:
The lost girl. |LEARNING TO DANCE
LEARNING TO DANCE.
When I was young I learned to dance.
Early on I took the chance to swerve,
To have the nerve to move my hips,
Have the balls to move my lips and shout.
There never was a moment of doubt
I would be the one to blame.
I would have a claim to fame.
I would be the one who’s always brash.
I would be just Northern trash, with attitude.
The one who’s r...
Sunday 29th May 2016 2:11 pm
" Unspoken "
I can vividly picture you out,
Distinctly could see your shimmering face in the crowd,
Those big round eyes always had its magic shine,
How can I forget that immaculate smile.. superfine!
You were playful, always in delight,
Even the wrong days just seemed perfectly right,
And overhearing you speak everytime filled in
my mood with glee,
For a moment I felt shaken a bit, but it held m...
Sunday 29th May 2016 10:21 am
Also by Prabhat Chhetri:
Relentless | Rising to decimate |I Walk The Streets
I walk the streets, danger I see.
Hope tonight God looks after me.
Desperate, nowhere else to turn.
I walk the streets, a living to earn.
Mouths to feed and a habit too.
A broken past, left black and blue.
I get looks of hate, dirt and sneer.
These streets I walk, I walk in fear.
With envy I see other girls pass by.
To be just like them so hard I try.
A car pulls up under the dim lig...
Sunday 29th May 2016 9:01 am
The People and The Trees
Why do the trees get to be old,
and still be beautiful?
Why do we hunch with age,
while they tower with longetivity?
Why does our flesh fall apart,
while theirs remains unfaltering?
Why do we cycle through generations,
while they simply watch?
Why do the people get to change,
and still be beautiful?
Why must we stay in one place,
while they go as they please?
...Sunday 29th May 2016 6:29 am
Also by Chandler Phipps:
Coite Bodher | Wailing Capital |unbroken
to return to that place, I say not, but only
to find what was once lost
to fix the broken part of me..broken
to make what never was
to pull down the shade screens formed
to blind the penitent to newly ordered crimes
and forever fix this rift between the fixers and I.
Sunday 29th May 2016 1:55 am
Also by nunya:
rainmaker | roi | sheering the sheep | mystic pets | desaparecido | bait and switch | tgft | shudder | wrinkled notes | prod and projection | attention deficit | nightfall | bombardment |Each life and Mary
Each life
Is our life
My life
Not your
Life
Your life
Is your life
Not my life
A commitment
We can peer
We can steer
We can
Career
Be near
Over fear
Or drear
Shed a tear
A sharing
We can love
We can hate
We can holy
Debate
Deep contemplate
Lost fate
Can’t create
Deaths sad state
Ive never seen so much nothing
...Saturday 28th May 2016 4:53 pm
Also by mentalelf. Philk.:
Undo the knot and paint me a portrait. | And So. | Amsterdam damage. | Homage | To the drum. | Days. | Stranger things | Keemo Kids | Struggling through. | Homage to Joe | Only Words. | My Granddad. | Tears tears and love. | My mate Nick. | bbc is Tory TV. | Warsaw 1944 Ghetto |Within
If you crawled inside my head, you'd find a room filled with words, upon the walls: pretty lies. Upon the glass pane Windows: gorgeous views. Upon the ceiling: all the darkness within. Upon the floor: cute sayings. And where lay the bed, upon the sheets, words of you, describing beauty lost between the heart and soul, and upon the pillow scents of you to remind me of your prescence, but even ...
Friday 27th May 2016 11:12 am
Also by Eric Jensen:
Chasing empty lives |3 am
Stopping enroute to pee
I catch the moon’s great white face
shining at the window like a prison
light above the courtyard.
Whoever it was looking for
must be long gone,
there is nothing now
except for a few delusions;
like your shadow in the dark
and the ghost of the cat
that recently died
brushing his way quietly
between my legs.
Thursday 26th May 2016 10:41 pm
Also by Tom Harding:
For Sydney |The Way the World Ends
This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Do not fear the light of the dying star for it will yield no pain.
It is mortal, it is ended.
Fading out like the dimming of the candle, then extinguished, forever.
No light shall ever again grace these barren lands
As dust forever billows across its scarred surface
And drinks its voluptuous seas.
Like a standing ovation,
...
Thursday 26th May 2016 8:44 pm
Wrap
Forget most gangsta rappers
It's getting out of hand
When they say they know Killers
They're probably talking 'bout the band
Thursday 26th May 2016 6:28 pm
THE ENGLISH SEE
The English see what the English are
And - whilst rarely known to brag -
Know they're more by far than a jaundiced star
Stitched up on a made-up rag.
......................................................................
Thursday 26th May 2016 5:29 pm
Also by M.C. Newberry:
FRACKING HELL | THE TRUE COST | LIMERICK 2016 | WHO ARE THE LUCKY PEOPLE? | LOCKED-IN SYNDROME | ASSUMING THE POSITION | HUMAN FRIGHTS | GOODBYE TO ALL THAT? |What?
Hearts are true
Voices are new
People and places
Shoes and laces
Yes or no
Rain or snow
Sun but moon
Walked but flewn
Rubys are red
People are pink
Thursday 26th May 2016 4:09 pm
Do Something.
Why does nobody do anything?
Why does nobody do anything?
Live for the weekend
Watch TV
Live for the weekend
Watch TV
Out on the town for the weekend
Watch TV Watch TV
Why does nobody do anything?
Why does nobody do anything?
Escape into your escapism
Get lost in your escapism
Trust in your escapism
Get trapped into escapism
Escape from your escapism
Escape from your self m...
Thursday 26th May 2016 12:44 pm
Also by Matt:
Spontaneous human combustion | Drawing from an empty barrel | Letting go... | We're off to Never never land - Paracetamol, cucumber sandwiches and the Lost rent boy |The 5ive
The truth is the feeling of the absence of feeling is the loudest.
To become so accustomed to it that once it's gone the customs are blind and without direction.
Memory's flow throughout the mind when the scent of it strikes the nose like past against the present.
Without thinking of it you feel the brush of air slide from the base of the neck to the crest of the ear.
...
Thursday 26th May 2016 8:46 am
CORKSCREWS
It’s occurred to me recently how enormously impressive is the range in design of corkscrews.
I managed for years with a conventional one; one-pieced with a T-bar, as I still have on my penknife.
But now I may choose between those with a collar and side-arms, those which lever on the bottle’s neck or even those which inject gas to pop the cork out. There’s the Raymond Blanc, the rechargeable...
Wednesday 25th May 2016 11:00 pm
Also by John Coopey:
SIX OLD GITS | CHARITY ABSEIL | I'M ABSEILING | LES'S MINK | OXFORD BLUE | SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO? |Visiting Hours
rain again tonight.
light scatters
on the pavement
like glass
i remember
the broad
curve of the river
keeping time
with the windows
of the train
i watched you
watch the water pass,
one palm curled
around the shadow
of your wrist
i was waiting then, too
Wednesday 25th May 2016 7:19 pm
A vintage story
Well, it’s been a sorted mess
At times in the limelight;
In dark at the backstage
Bound to happen I guess
In a relationship so vintage
Quest started by following
Stars on a cloudless night
Someone made a dreary device
Traced rains on one fine evening
Then observed next day’s bright
Finicky and Frantic, wasn’t he?
Sleepless night owl so deadly
I be...
Wednesday 25th May 2016 6:26 pm
Walk! Man i'm still crawling by Zakiya Johnson
Walk up the stairs,
You fall down one case nobody seems to care
keep crawling
spikes
clouds
pools of blood
Ow Ow Ow
Hurts like walking on knives
Can get back up through all the hard times
Try! Try! Try! Try! Try!
Black night
I can’t see I need to
turn on the light
open yourself to a better life
start and finish your resolution
find a solution
pow! po...
Wednesday 25th May 2016 3:40 pm
Also by Abstract Mystery:
I fell in love with... by Zakiya Johnson | Solo by Zakiya Johnson | Life by Zakiya Johnson |Gestures
A tap on the bum,
A hug from behind,
A kiss on the neck,
Look at me from the side.
These mean so much more
Than those three little words
“I love you”
Tuesday 24th May 2016 11:17 pm
Also by Chrissy R.:
Everything | A Marriage of Convenience | Will I Do? |Space
Falling, complete fear stricken through my heart.
Paralyzed, stuck by myself with my thoughts.
Floating, across space the journey lots.
Struggling, fighting gravity’s part.
Death, inevitable no more fight.
Astronaut, separated from his rocket.
Flying through time, in the space pocket.
Realization, now looking at the sight.
Amazing, the stars so bright and colorful...
Tuesday 24th May 2016 5:43 pm
How do I
Tell you that I want you
without being bold.
Tell you that I miss you,
without seeking control.
How do I forget that I met you
when the mind won't let go.
Pretend I don't like you
after you've awakened my soul.
I met a man
who touched my heart
and knocked down a wall,
stimulated me mentally
but the physical took control.
I'm speaking from the heart,
no bar...
Tuesday 24th May 2016 5:32 pm
Also by Dara Smith:
Broken |false accusation of myself
Shake my finger tips you have me picking for the light I kissed. Run to my love when it's sugar free now my voice mellows out I'm afraid to speak. Ask a few more question so I can figure out my plan to leave. Your right to question how I spend my days to betray love in crying waves to compete for yet another sheltered dismay.
Tuesday 24th May 2016 4:17 pm
Also by Youthfullyxx:
find my blood on the table | last year you left me broken | i am a hurricane you will be sucked in | shady lover | love is pain is love | see me through rose lens's | tender lover | playing with knives | back and forth | hes a liar | circle habits | anticipating the result | forget me | she yells her secrets | life has no instructions | caffeine for free | heavy | fake |Under the bed
Under the bed
Under fed
Under weight
Under nourished
Forgotten never seen
Out of sight
Out of their minds
Out of food
Out there in the great beyond
Undefeated
Full of courage
Some barely living on grass
Hanging on by a t h r e a d
Left behind
Left for dead
Left hidden under the bed
Drawn out
Sketched to the world’s attention
By ...
Tuesday 24th May 2016 2:48 pm
Also by Martin Elder:
cholrine days | Out driving | sleep |Last Night
Last night was more than anyone could bear.
Last night they plunged a dagger into Yorkshire,
approving plans to poison land, to fracture
the ground beneath our feet, to choke the air.
Four thousand people sent in their objections.
A hundred speakers warned what could occur.
But seven County Councillors didn't care
and kicked North Yorkshire in the wrong direction:
a course that leads ...
Tuesday 24th May 2016 1:23 pm
Also by Tim Ellis:
Following the Money |"Dismal Claque"
A dismal claque
Of catcalling delinquents
Dogs my steps
It’s a surly black dog pack
With curled down cup handle tails
Snarling and hissing at my heels.
It scuttles to the shadows
When I turn to face it
To re-gather whenever
My morale is low
One of the cohort
Spawned from the litter
A miserable
Mewling
Half dead
Toothless
Skeletal
W...
Tuesday 24th May 2016 12:34 pm
Also by Rick Gammon:
"Old Men Dancing" | "Hello, Hello, Hello, Inigo" |The Heavy Heart
The heavy heart
Born at loss
the heavy heart
passed around and tossed
longs to be
but seems to be
always at a loss
cares to easy
falls to much
and always has a cost
the heavy heart
longs to love
but never seems
to find it
handles well
rejection
but fear it does
and fear it so
hides it's feelings
backs away slow
tucks in tail
runs away
love never showed
the heavy heart
eas...
Tuesday 24th May 2016 2:14 am
Between A Rock & A Hard Place
Between A Rock & A Hard Place
Trust me
said the man I didn’t trust
Stay in
every part of me
is against
what he stands for
but he has support
from the people
that I trust
Trust me
said the man I didn’t trust
Get out
every part of me
is against
what he stands for
but my heart aches
for what I believe
to be right
Don’t ...
Monday 23rd May 2016 11:30 pm
Also by Ian Whiteley:
The Bayonet In The Shed | A Pointy Reckoning | Splendid Is The Flower | Head In Hands |The Couple
They stand,
Hand-in-hand,
In their elder days,
absorbing view of sea, of sky, of sand,
of bird, of wave of weed,
Sky to the horizon,
Looking forward,
Peace, a shroud of the land,
surrounding them,
enshrining them,
At peace together in
their Elder Days.
Monday 23rd May 2016 10:09 pm
Also by Peter Ray:
The Dance of The Bells | Psycho-babble, doggy paddle |Garden
The flowers are blooming, the hot sun is shining
This precious plot of land where everything grows
Turning right, turning left, bountiful juxtapose
Of polkadot colours, spreading through the lining
The plants creep towards east, where the sunshine exists
Opening their petals to accept the power
Responsible beauty an act of empower
That fuses their forum of an endless abyss
Climbing, sc...
Monday 23rd May 2016 7:33 pm
Also by Louis Audet:
The Boulder |Summer Nights
Summer nights is what I liked the best.
Sitting around watching the sunset.
The smell of bonfires was my favorite part.
Drinking until the sun came up.
Not a worry in the world, it was just me and you.
Late night fishing and havin' a few.
Summer nights never lasted long, but I'll always remember each and every one.
-Danielle Ciulla
Monday 23rd May 2016 7:06 pm
Punk No More
True punk is testicles on the table,
True punk shocks and shames,
True punk tells no lies,
True punk shouts,
True punk exhibits,
True punk hurts,
True punk
No more
Someone stole punk’s rebellion,
Someone stole punk’s crusade,
Someone stole punk’s soul,
And then spat it in punk’s face.
The pureness of punk’s anger,
The naivety of punk’s war,
The a...
Monday 23rd May 2016 12:25 pm
993
an eerie fog out in the night
winds in slowly
wraps up tight
a spook, a shout, a fright
a deadly shrill rings through the cold
the frost sets in
and numbs old bones
that lay here
til the dawn unfolds
forge on through the attack
blind to light
and lost in black
don't trip
don't slip
don't lose your grip
sings every last to...
Monday 23rd May 2016 4:07 am
The Votive offering
''here- hold this''
he offers it to her-
she holds out
her hand-
''keep your fingers together''
he smiles-
she sighs
holding her fingers apart-
''try and grasp it''
he watches her.
Looking at him
she forgets her hand-
he picks it up
and, again smiling,
he repeats-
the votive offering-
words and foto Tommy Carroll
Monday 23rd May 2016 3:31 am
Also by Tommy Carroll:
The Gaoler's daughter | Poetess |Finding myself. (1983)
Kiss me I’m a misfit,
Fusing in a mass
Estimating human form,
Away from what the normal call ‘the norm’.
Kiss me, I’m a mismatch of ill fitting parts,
Head’s not small, more like a bowling ball.
My legs aren’t right,
Both right and left are left all wrong.
Kiss me I’m a misfit
That lurches to one side,
Giving a wide berth to curious eyes.
And my eyes...
Monday 23rd May 2016 12:17 am
The poem.
(how it came to be writ)
Once upon a time a young would-be poet turned
Union executive member attended a T.U.C. course
At Oxford`s University College (at which Shelley
had - for a minimal time - studied) and struck up a
friendship - based on their mutual love of poetry -
with the beautiful secretary of the tutor. Their after -
lecture rambles and chats became longer and more
close...
Sunday 22nd May 2016 10:29 pm
Also by Harry O`N eill:
The fortunate fault |
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