I wake  
earlier than usual,  
padding gingerly across  
the dusty, sunlit 
pine floor
toward the kettle  
and the promise  
of the morning fixer.

I wait,  
gazing through the steam  
at the hazy dawn.  
Some are already awake,  
their shiny black caps dipping
in and out  
of the glimmering waves.  
  
One already stepping 
onto the shore—  
the evolution of the species;  
it ...

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We take giant steps
When we let ourselves go:
Step into love
Step into eternity.
Nano steps will hardly do
Outside where full blown life
Blows me away from restrictions,
Predictions. Derelictions. Do not smile at those trapped
By circumstance, by failed romance.
Instead take a walk while spring flowers hibernate.
Too many of us stay inside, hide ourselves away,
We do not live the lo...

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His sensual ruggedness, closer

Her rouged cheeks, surrender

head softly caressed, cradled by

masculine fingers, though slender

Hold that puckered pose

Crimson lips tender

Anticipating gentleness

She’s a love defender

Hand-picked blooms

Threaded through reddened locks

Petals stroke barefooted soles 

Verbena, Primrose, and Phlox.

Robed in gilded weave

Poli...

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Overwhelmed, underwhelmed,
Who knows?

Drifting, searching, overreaching
Overreacting.

Deleting, defeating, and fleeing.

Gray and gloomy with a chance of heatwave

Disturbed dreams, and a possibility of having a thought.

Hot and cold, hanging my head in pity, putting on my mask to approach the day, with something sarcastic and witty

In my back pocket, like my weapon arsenal, my o...

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From the window of my little roomette

I watch the landscape scrolling past

It is as varied as the people aboard

Each a different story, a different mindset

Scenery has been staged, all riders in the cast

The unwritten script requiring a certain accord

The anatomy of this production is never static

Characters continue to enter and leave the stage

Dynamics altered from c...

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Cold pensioners applauding
A pay rise for His Majesty
Smoke outdoor cigarettes
Where their local used to be

They share their coughs with cows
Busy trampling the corpses
Of a million culled badgers
Who never were their causes

The Britpop feelgood factor’s
Now a website bound to crash
Get your tits out rock ‘n’ roll
Is waiting for your cash

Where is the joy, they ask
Of booting ou...

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To have loved how we loved

 Eyes locked, skin tender

To have loved how we loved 

Hands clasped, lips traced 

To have loved how we loved 

Sea of brown, sea of blue 

To have loved how we loved 

Bodies ignited, spirits calm

To have loved how we loved 

Unsung harmony, fragile peace 

To have loved how we loved 

Hidden darkness, returning comfort...

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The smell of leather

murky, dank, weather

Aroma’s in the breeze

rotting leaves

Pine trees in the wood

Slimy mud

Lavender blue

Odeur douce

Smells from the chippy

Fat and dripping

Chips and gravy

Going crazy?

Chinese takeaway

Smells take your breath away

Tikka masala

What a palaver!

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PEBBLE PATHS

I navigate the airport exit

in standard hiking gear,

progress to humble streets

that bear her daily print

no matter how often

she dreams of escape.

The narrow staircase tunnels

upwards like a mineshaft

through rough damp stone

to our tiny flat where

a chugging fridge of imports

tries to last the month

and after lockdown restriction

pleasure wa...

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I took one in the back,

And fell down on the ground.

I sought a friendly face,

And saw one that I knew,

Approaching me at pace:

A pal from student days,

Now on the other side.

‘I’m not to blame,’ he says,

And shoots, in the same place.

‘It’s business, it’s not you.’

His words seemed quite profound,

(I don't think I replied)

Yet they took me aback,

As I lay th...

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You're a big girl 

With every decision you make

You don't waver in front of people 

With the choices you've made 

You stand your ground 

With a smile or one turned upside down 

And you're outspoken when bystanders look away

Sugar, spice and everything nice 

Is not all what you're made of 

Your sweet and sourness gives you power 

That keeps you from going the wrong way

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If feeling are false is my life a lie 

Cause clarity comes after insanity 

There's truth hidden in the madness 

A warmth to be found in the Irish winter 

And just like the summer loves comes after the rain 

Life's a funny old game 

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Just because you can play it doesn’t mean you should

I’m talking about After the Goldrush or Before the Flood

or anything by The Eagles, Paul Simon and Stormzy

Keep these artists separate from your ukulele

Just because you know the words don’t mean you can sing

Paul Rogers is Bad Company, leave Fields of Gold to Sting

Give Roy Orbison numbers a miss

Don’t kid yourself you...

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Not to be or R2P,

So what's the Dilemma?

when doing right

makes economies tremor.

When "Never Again"

is reasoned away,

no matter to those

who don't have a say.

The panga and bomb

the fist and the gun,

reign over a song

too often heard sung.

The pen and the suit

the fine things of State,

the willing recruit

to The Profits of Hate.

...

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My neighbor, an irascible man, a few houses down,

often yells at the ice cream truck when it comes around.

He objects to the noise (or maybe it's the tune).

I take offense to his assault on my thoughts;

my youthful anticipation of cold sugary treats

on hot summer days.

I know one thing for sure, the next time the truck

comes around with its music and joy,

I wil...

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Glimpses Of Beauty 

Tingling sound of your voice
makes my body tremble 
and steals my attention for a moment
as my heart skips a beat 
and filled with an ambivalent 
feeling of love and slight fear 
in disbelief of the moment
Melting and seeing glimpses of you 
smiling as we melt together 
in that moment, 
where nothing else matters
as our hearts intertwine 
and caught up in th...

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4 kilos more

I hate to say it, really 

My thoughts are potent ! - i am fizzing ! ---

And then chewing is a chore

and then I'm 

six again 

and my mom is telling me to eat more 

to grow up big and strong

I hate being my own mother  

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I beg you to watch the dawn,

To watch the dawn kissing the moon,

To see if the night has already gone,

And a bright day appears soon.

Just watch, how his eyes are sad,

How mother's heart pains,

How the child sleeps in bed,

How the leaf on a tree remains.

I beg you to watch the man,

Who is tired and walks blindly.

You do what you can for him,

And he wi...

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i want to be forgotten.

i want the last time

someone utters my name

to be on the first day

of spring.

i want the world to

get acquainted with

a life without my love

and then

i want it to cry

because

it really was

better with me in it

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I watch the sweep of birds on the wing

a centrifuge of consent for the long road ahead.

They have no need of words, persuasion

but adopt the common movements that support them. 

In a similar way the political dreamers

plot their courses their restless brains

informing choices, rolling out promises

on clouds of expectation that close up

behind them on infinite jour...

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His shadow's not his

My shadow's not mine

Because I don't exist

But my shadow is his

So I'll work overtime

Painting dark grey lines

Flesh skeletons

All encompassing

Cause we're both beings

But how do I know that's real

When I don't know how to feel

Sitting on the ground

Paintbrush in my mouth

My flesh is withering

My speech is sickening 

But I...

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There’s this movie I watched as a child. It's deeply sad and the themes are heavy, but an eight year old with a bag of liquorice wouldn’t be the wiser. After that day in the theater it became my favorite movie. I still watch it from time to time and even as the tears begin to fall something about it makes me feel whole. I think that's because I resonate so deeply with the two main charac...

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I can't help but wonder, was it worth it?

Was your transient moment of pleasure worth making me feel like shit?

It seems to be a never-ending cycle of me losing my mind over you,

Your words display such innocence while your actions prove they're not true.

Defending, deflecting, giving every reason instead of the selfish thoughts in your head,

Unintentionally cementing my newfou...

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She didn’t really have flesh

No eyes

No heart

No bones

It was hard to believe

That she even existed

Sometimes it was easier

To imagine that her children

Fell from the sky

She never spoke

But her voice would get into your head

And she would say things

Like

I love you

Goodbye

You could search 

your own face

Maybe you could find her th...

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Get your lies in first my friend,

get your lies in first,

and if lies can't be found

know that half-truths will do.

So get your lies in first,

time to whip up the sheep

who eat up the lies,

the dim-witted fools.

Give oxygen to your lies.

Spread the word, anon, 'X',

and that heady mixture

will fan the flames of unrest.

Good lies take time to refute...

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Don't look down
They say
Starve yourself
Of the unknown

For nobody knows
What's below

I shield my eyes from the cliff
Proclaiming my distrust of the ledge

I sway as the wind
Whispers
Horrifying nothings in my ear

I dare not peak
Lest the bottom I seek

Tensing, I coerce the rock
To become one
With my feet

If earth hears my plea
Safety is guaranteed

I find
To my dism...

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In your eyes, I trace the line of joy you bring to me.
To your bliss, I cling—
Not just a fleeting thing,
But a bond that time can't free.

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Push me against the wall

Whether you are short or tall

Show me what you are made of

Let’s play and shower some love

Over each other, whatever the gender

Whether you are a tutor or bartender

Make it a memory that can never be erased

Ensuring that this night does not go to waste

Grind my body, kiss my delicate lips

Make me moan, hold me by the hips

Tempt me to fall and ...

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All those voices yet in my mind,

From the years I had left behind.

            Casting echoes in that room -

            Pulsing through the dusty gloom.

The floating dust catching the light,

Shivered with unknown disquiet!

            The echoes gathered to surround.

            They animated the space around.

People I loved, now lost with time,

Speaking thru' the years...

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the feldwebel became a general
the campdoctor, a professor
and we the jews - it’s banal
we stayed jewish - no error

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I'm laying on the operating table

The lights almost blinding me

As I wait for the anaesthetic to kick in

Waiting for the bliss of sleep

I realise... 

There was no anaesthetic

I begin to panic but my body stays still

As if I'm chained up to the table

As if my brain is denying control

I feel each cut the surgeon makes

I feel a warm liquid dripping down my...

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There’s something quite rotten in Britain,

Rights Human are now being rewritten,

A journos wrong question,

Brings fascist attention,

He’s arrested and, with prison smitten.

So much then, for pride and remembrance,

Behold now, their hopes in sad embers;

The lobby has paid,

Our forbears betrayed,

Hate thrives now, and it fears no hindrance.

Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh 28th Augu...

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Beneath the weight, I seek Your grace,
Reaching for a sign in this quiet place.
Exhausted from the trials I face,
All I ask is a moment of Your embrace.

Keep my hope from fading away,
Through the shadows, guide my way.
Hear my plea in the dark of night,
Restore my will, renew my light.

Open doors that seem closed tight,
Uplift my heart, make things right.
Give me strength to carry on...

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Shall freedom of speech live...

Or shall freedom of speech die?

Here are many millions of English folk who will know the reason why.

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Next time we’re sixteen

Five miles apart, on the phone all night,

Whispering as we turn off the lights,

When we hate to say goodbye

I’ll know it’s right

And next time we’re seventeen,

Lying on the dock on a moonlit night,

Rocked by the lake under stars so bright,

When your fingers touch mine

I’ll know it’s right

But it had to be now, it couldn’t be then

I...

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We went down to the lake

to skip stones

with the boy, turning into a man soon,

but still little enough

and joyful enough

to want to learn how to skip stones

from two old people. 

We were surprised he had never skipped stones before

and delighted to show him how to do it:

Look for flat, light stones,

use a strong, low level, horizontal throw,

and voilà--

multiple...

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Beat the clock

Rush to the dock

Smash the shuttle

Give the rebuttle

Stand firm

Give the new terms

Crush the enemy

No more friends for me

Or pace yourself

Think of your health

Be kind and calm

Be free of alarm

Yoga it up

Fill up your cup

with love and sadness

Then stir it all up

And find your gladness 

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In Austria grave decisions must be made

that pave the way to stave off threats of terror,

where the innocent may pay. The chancellor

now asks a costly payment of society, to waive

away ones right to privacy.

The general public is caught between

a rock and a hard place, struggling to save

their rights yet still be brave against

those who seek to do harm. “To what extent

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(A poem I wrote for the kids and their grandad)

If Grandad should come round to our house sometime

For lunch or for dinner or tea

He’ll tell us he’s not a big eater these days

“Don’t serve up too much for me”.

He likes a red wine before his repas

It serves as aperitif

And anyway these days he can’t chew so well

Not with his NHS teeth.

In time we’ll sit dow...

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BEAUTY       G.L.Aspinall

There is beauty in everything I just heard a robin sing                           outside in the garden by the willow tree.                                              Singing his song for you declaring his love is true.

You and I are one as two together play in harmony                                   through clouds obscured we hear and see they fl...

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The books that fascinated me once,  

now lie like relics,  

pages turned to dust,  

their spines cracked and weary—  

no more keys to my soul,  

just ink smeared like forgotten dreams, 

words fading like memories,  

the stories now whisper in a foreign tongue.

Places that once sparked my curiosity,  

now wear a shroud of indifference,  

their landscapes dull in t...

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poets lie too much

they lie to themselves

sometimes to avoid

being stuck on the shelves

not the shelves of the library

or the ones in the sea

not the ones in the hall of fame

the ones in romantic comedy

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North and South decided to meet 

After decades long, bitter conflict,

Diversity in culture captured the streets,

Although a few condescending ones 

Had irrational reasons to contradict. 

All was fun and the sun shun bright 

Above the ones who had once 

Put up an ugly fight. 

The city was sparkling in the daytime,

And even more so in the nights,

There was pro...

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The subject of many literary and cultural endeavours, for example Alfred Lord Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelite artists to name but a few the legend or "quaint history" of the elusive "King Arthur" rivals that same fabulist concoction known as "Robin Hood" or "William Shakespeare"-all of which are endorsed by leading institutions as irrevocably TRUE! But what real evidence is available to substantia...

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I'm angry with you

You messaged things up.

You said the wrong things

You did the wrong things

But,you smooth talk

Your way out

By saying you want to

Know how

I truly feel.

You accept what I have 

To say

But,you don't think

You' ve done anything wrong.

It's hard to resist

Your honest/ trickery.

You focus on my feelings

You pretend to care 

You're a...

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When will it go away?

The pain in my chest

Pain in my stomach

Pain. 

It’s repetitive and never stops

It creeps up on me like bugs

Stings like a wasp

Bites like a mosquito

And leaves, taking a small part of me

Some say it’s a part of life 

Maybe I don’t want that

If this is life 

Maybe I don’t want any p...

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Silver grey swirls soak us, blind us,

with false hopes of brightness barely

breaking through. The tantalising

threat of sun seduces, then forsakes,

as the mist’s morning fingers extend

tendrils, strangle the glimmer of day.

Ethereal voices murmur through the hush

in muted exchange too faint to decipher,

muffled by the stifled swoosh of wavelets

whispering across an ...

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Wrestling with illusions, 

With fiendish and apocryphal delusions, 

Foraging for the prophesied freedom,

Disparaging every funhouse mirror;

Unschooled, yet intimating knowledge

Of cornerstones and sacred particularities, 

And, with synapses on high alert, 

Awaiting contingencies to coalesce, 

Some elemental certainty to effervesce,

Illumining, perhaps, sturdier next step...

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at times I find myself
with insight
into my third eye
the inward perception
of crystalline tears
holding onto emotions
looking for one thing

The truth

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What makes a man break down into tears,

Could it be that he's facing all of his fears,

Trying to find reasons at the bottom of his beers,

He knows he's got 6 but using only 2 of his gears. 

Somewhere somehow he got into a bit of a muddle,

Wet through from metaphorically sleeping in puddles,

It may all have been as simple as warm kiss and cuddle,

Now he's floating away in his v...

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They were refugees from the Costa,

escaping searing daytime heat

and wakeful night sweats

for Northumberland’s short summer.

Beaches that hardly seem crowded

even when the tide is in.

Shrieks of sandcastle excitement

amid the northern wind.

Thirsty hydrangeas soaking up the rain,

flagging hostas reprieved. Weather

as it used to be, while the south swelters. ...

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The Shout

     It has been long in the heart but -

never really noticed in the eye,

  it has been a life long courtship that persists

    it stays silent, quiet, unsaid and unrecognizable,

      like a child you employ to do house cleaning on estates;-

        ‘every misunderstood wound has one, and all

          are misunderstood wounds in Manchester -

             sh...

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the blank page waits   

for the quenching stink of ink  

a scribble of unflinching words  

something to mull and make it think 

the filled page grits  

when the savage pen comes down 

to flay through failing words  

lose many and put others under doubt 

the final page knows    

these few are survivor words 

strong enough to tell the story    

clever enoug...

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DAD BOD

Link to poetry film online 

https://filmfreeway.com/DADBOD2024

I spy, my eye

Summer day in July

Lee go lido

Know just where me eye go

Hairy chest bloke

over female breaststroke

Cute lad, sad sod

and oh my god his dad bod!

I spy, man boobs

Blimey, look at his moobs

Dad Bod swagger   

Hardly Moves Like Jagger

Quick flash, bum crack

makes ...

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Unfortunately there has been a winter fuel raid,

The winter fuel payments to us pensioners will not be paid.

I'm angry,flabergasted and far from alone,

With increases in energy bills on the horizon more reason to moan.

Our country's  splendid army of pensioners are subject to a wicked attack,

Hoping we would accept it and not fight back.

Pensioners are looked upon as sacrifi...

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Sometimes it's easier to be an asshole

No matter how high your pole of enlightenment goes

There's just a piece that wants to put everything in its place 

And we want to believe we are the puzzle master 

The world moves swiftly under our feet 

Suppression holds stagnation that holds comfort with fears of letting go.

We hold the power over self

 We must be diligent over intrudin...

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I could play 'How Soon Is Now' by The Smiths

to honor Earth&Humanity, but I won't

because I'm not charmed

that this dystopia

This Dystopia

is glorified in cinema.

Why glorify suffering, your children are buffering

and streaming the next terrorism, genocide, war.

IS ISIS really worth fighting for?

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In the place where women belong

Scrubbing, dusting, pinafore on

Hard working husband down at the pub

She better make him some hearty grub!

For, he'll return all worn out

Money lost on the horses no doubt!

Cheer him up with a nice beef dinner

Even though he would like to be thinner!

But it's such a hard job working, then drinking 

By the time he gets home, his stomach is ...

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I start this, not knowing where it might go,
as only patient time can surely know.
It all starts upstairs, in wanting to show
in words, as best i can, the ghostly flow
of steam rising up from outside, below
me, vented from next door's open window
(and how its spectral, evanescent glow
makes the morning's light shine, eerily so,
on the glowering backdrop of the clouds, low
and looming over...

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Sonnet That’s Not Funny!

It is a truth which I have long acknowledged, that a man, or indeed a woman, in possession of a fascistic turn of mind must be in want of a sense of humour. Various creative events, involving Led by Donkeys appear to have vindicated my position. 

Shall I compare thee to a lettuce, Liz?

Word salad, wilted ’s served when you’re on tour;

That Iceberg’s ...

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The smoothness of this train
as it slips the platform’s leash
The window scene begins to blur
viewed through tear-stained eyes
A myriad of questions swirl
they smudge my addled heart
Creeping high above all else
it’s that merciless, that jagged ‘what if’

What if this 
is the last great beauty
I will ever know

Eyes hungrily study details in the cover image
letting the pages fold the...

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I reach for my own hand,

But I cannot seem

To grasp it.

I search for my face in the mirror,

And find a stranger

Looking back at me.

I wonder if I'll always be chasing

Someone

That is just out of reach.

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After Work

Events happened they did their activities

From basketball to hiking to soccer

Via drinking to eating to fucking

It was the same as any other job

Time to destress from the stressful job

Even if pushing their bodies to the limit

Hike a five hundred metre peak after shift

Or drink a dozen beers with vodka chasers

Takes the stress of the job away

What is your a...

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As I wake up flat on my back

in an unfamiliar bed,

surrounded by hazy faces

and teary eyes,

and wobbly smiles,

I find that I cannot

for the life of me

remember who and why

they are here for this old guy.

A figure clad in black, too,

stands right there at the door.

I don't know why they won't come in

or why they're being ignored.

Perhaps, I think,

they...

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Delusion. 

When delusion wears of

and finally 

you see

what u didn’t want to

for so long 

that this person

isn’t the person 

saving you 

loving you 

the only person 

able to do that 

is you 

babe.

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Into the translucent silence,
above the heartbeat of the stars
and the flight of the seagulls,
I will return with the gentle sky 

Like the breeze that ruffles the forest
or the moon that peeks through the night, 
and no matter how autumn dies there will always be a spring,
in the same way I will return

On the thought that crosses time
and lives on from its balconies,
like the pollen ...

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I remember us in the tall
  of balconied condominiums over there.
I remember the seemingly rainbowy effect 
drawing us towards new clothes & music for sale
in exquisite gigantesque shopping malls, the
trust we will be hearing a hello, and have a nice
day tune from shop assistants at every shop door, 
where billboards above advertised albums by Beyonce, 
fragrances, and films, us becoming f...

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Merseyside poets and musicians headed to the historic Bidston Observatory on Thursday to perform a tribute to space and the planets.

Their new online anthology entitled: A Universe Of Poetry, was inspired by the building and its long history. Editors Barry Woods and Michelle Wright, who are local to the area, wanted to create a community project that embraced one of the Wirral's most importan...

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"I wouldn’t, but it’s close at hand,
A silent urge, a fleeting stand.
I wouldn’t, but I feel the draw,
A choice unmade, a tempting flaw."

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An empty chair where you once sat
A candle that burned with fire
A lonely bed where entwined we lay
Enriched with love and desire
Around this residence I roam 
A house that's not a home

Gone but not forgotten 
You are always on my mind
Gone but not forgotten
They say that love is blind
Gone but not forgotten 
You were one of a kind

Your pictures adorn the walls 
And your presence ...

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It's Graduation Day in 'Kids In Bloom'

It'll be time to leave the Nursery soon'

The days of Nursery to leave behind.

A few tears today, I think you will find.

Alba looking beautiful dressed in blue.

Cute curls dripping beneath her cap too.

Alba holds her Certificate award tight.

Her smile beaming with a child's delight.

A new chapter awaits, a new page to turn

...

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So, here we are again,

In fevered, restless dreams,

Burying my mother, again.

How many times must I lie,

Laying the poor old girl to rest.

Anyway, it was all for the best.

And she was ninety-five, you know.

She didn’t have long, or far, to go.

So, here we are again,

In the cemetery of dreams,

Laying my poor old mum to rest.

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

And we...

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When I read your words,

When I hear your voice,

When your emotions run across the page

Your soul exposes itself

But in fact

I know only pieces, 

Small portraits in time,

And I want to know more.

Details won’t change

The impact you’ve had on me

But they’d refine the picture,

The person I’ve come to know.

Call me crazy but when we finally sit at a cafe,

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social justice is a class act
talking is a social class act
a crime is a class act
talking a crime is talking a social crime
talking a crime is talking a social justice
justice is a social justice
justice is a social crime

justice is a class act
a social justice is a social class act
the talk of a crime is the talk of a petty crime
a petty crime is a petty class act
crime is a petty c...

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Bloodletting pages & letters.

Siphoning passion.

Blurring reality.

An emboldened hero.

A tale as loose as vines.

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I have pierced the skin of the earth with the spear
and it bleeds beneath my feet

I have honed it on history and fables like fire
and I know the bone-coloured summer moon will not soon heal the wound of my desire

My Darling-–the tattoo upon my heart, my memory and silence–-remember me upon the dew in twilight and know that we are there…

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Ambiguity turns my wounds

into a stone punch.

And my chest is too old

to keep the painful sounds

within the beats

of my heart.

Ambiguity erodes my faith.

But in small acts of kindness

I somehow find a light of hope.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed

with deep sadness

embedded deep down in my fate.

I still believe despite all the sadness

I believe that ambiguity w...

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Tired beyond words at the end of another day
ruminating on a glass half empty, 
counting memories in faulted silence,
over exhausted waiting for dreams 
between memories of different lifetimes
of different jobs and roles 
before being starved of work
and having to fight for a new role
over and over and over
before finally finding something
after nothing but struggles, 
waiting for the s...

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You promised I would hear from you

But your word is sour

I’m afraid to check my phone

After all this waiting

I’m just a mess

And with each passing hour

I am unable to decide

If it’s becoming more likely or less 

That you’ve replied

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Inches

this itch 
you can’t reach 
you try to scratch 
you fall on your back 

at least 
it’s the sort of pain 
you can try to treat 
with tiny pills and your hands 

will the art make amends 
I can’t forget all the stings 
you bring new things 
into my plans 

I pick them up 
too late 
now the table 
has been set 

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Race war frozen in memory

black dogs cast out angles that make me scream inside

This gift of feeling love ends with a thousand

empty days made of silk

In their lives of long distress

The solace of choice, securely made

near the coastal shelf of abstract loneliness

Dancing to Shakespeare and his funky

verses about metaphysical loneness.

The calming mellowness of...

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If we could rewind the clock
Would you be different 
So that I could know how it feels
To feel the love of a Father

Maybe I could run into your arms
Instead of away from your fists 
You could be my hero 
Instead of the nightmare that persists

Left with questions I cannot answer 
What version of me were you after 

You never liked my face
So neither did I 
I look in the mirror
And...

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We’ve known each other all our lives.

You’ve been there for me day and night,

every minute, every hour,

without me even trying.

I have taken you for granted, all the time,

and I am sorry.

I only know I need you when you’re running short,

shallow, caught or less.

I’ve seen you lend yourself

to other chests, to fading days,

dying lights. Heard you roar,

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I'd love to hold happiness 
And then I'd wish for it to stay,
But just like water in my hands,
It always dwindles away.

I'd love to pick happiness 
Like many a beautiful flower.
Then I would put them in a vase,
If I could only have the power.

I'd love to bottle happiness 
And maybe save it for later.
Though my hopes are so big and many
That they could easily fill a crater.

I'd lo...

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In this twisted life of ours

we stumble and we fall

Can't see where we're going

yet we still seem to crawl

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I fear for the soil

The mother and

Child in tow

The gentle hello

To my foreign wife

I fear that when

She leaves the house

She might not come back

The bus stop is danger

The supermarket

The train

Walking down the streets

I called my own

But now they are “Theirs”

And we must be quiet and hide

Until my country comes back

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She had that nervous lined smile

The kind that said this is my first date

With this guy who is more experienced than me

Or maybe she was just looking

For a way to say goodbye

A sting in the tail for a man whose confidence

Coud so easily be bruised

But she told herself he would quickly recover

As he joked about the menu

And a time he had

When somebody else had said

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The deep hunger I have for you
Is not yours to carry
It scares me at times
My desperate wound 
Hasn’t quite healed
But I’ve forgiven myself
For crying at your feet
And swallowing the coals
Of defeat 
From your fire
But this is also not you
It’s all in my head
I wish I could fix
The parts that wish I could be fixed
Or different
Strange in the most perfect ways
And served up for cons...

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A city sliding serpentine,

the swans upon the Severn stream

towards us sinuous, then curve

away as we draw close. She strokes

the river from our boat, swallows

dive then bank and soar the jeopardy

to punctuate the canopy.

All is floaty, on the bridges

cars and buses undulate,

shimmer in the summer haze.

Fingers circling tiny eddies,

she whispers to me in it...

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I've been writing regukarly on substak for a few months now and finding it a good way to access a wider audience. Most of ther blogs involve poetry, often haiku or haibun. The latest is https://tonyearnshaw.substack.com/p/camels-and-bicycles 

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My boyfriend loves me. I know this because he told me so. 

Feelings of inadequacy and that im not worth his aknowledgment.

Constant confirmation into my daily life by him.

 I feel anger, invalidation and Suffocated esteem.

He doesn't believe anything i claim to need.

Tells me I'm a liar and loves me so greatly, he can't put any trust in me.

I understand why, neither can I tr...

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