My back is sending me a message

it says I'm getting old

That's why I don’t like the winter

My back doesn’t like the cold.

It’s not as if I’m in agony

And the pain is under control.

But my back could do with a massage;

Not reminders that I’m getting old.

I need to send back a message

I need to be rather bold

There’s no bloody need to remind me

-I know I’m ...

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Give me your space

Your empty space

The one you have discarded

Abandoned and abused

Wrung out, painted black

Locked, drapes shut.

The space you once filled with me

My name, my voice, my song

Our promises, hopes, plans.

As you retrace your steps

Turning back, turning your back

On me, forgetting that

We were once we

Us.

I need that space

I need to fill th...

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I stand and admire the lines,

not always so straight.

The concrete veins through the places of old

we once walked,

through to the quagmire paths

where you first found my arm after stumbling.

The burrows, dark and secret, where lips pressed

against the soft feel of ripe naked fruit.

Canals, rivers, brooks, streams we have strolled along,

flowing the only way the valleys a...

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Let Not The Ink Run Dry

     I share because I care

And dare to say words

That some find ill at ease,

     But one thing

I’ve found within

The realms of poetry,

We’re all as daring as each,

We all open our minds our

Hearts our soul and speak,

     And yes,

I see we’re all hankering

For change,

     I see many

Who care just as much

As me, and i...

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The leaves fall

Tumbling to the ground

Each branch of the tree

Getting bare and brittle

Some leaves fall straight down

Some leaves get carried by the wind

I sit and watch

Each leaf on an adventure

Some broken

Some cracked

Some gone from view

Each one leaving a memory

On the big tree

That is now nude

And pure

My heart was once pure

And covered in a ge...

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Had a prompt from our writing group last time of "

If you dance to the music, you’ll find yourself…" so I thought I'd give it a go, although I've not mentioned the prompt anywhere in the piece!

If you dance to the music, you’ll find yourself…

I can’t dance.

Anyone that takes a glance

Will see me prance and realise

That I can’t dance.

My Macarena is more macaroni

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We sailed our ships across the sea,

looking for a new place to be.

We were not satisfied with what we had,

We knew there was more in the world.

The seas were mighty, with waves as tall as the sky,

men fell over board and drowned,

I felt as if Thor was mad at us.

Still, we fought through the waves,

To a new land we called Vinland.

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I don't need a title I don't need some papers to show my skills or proof of purpose I know they now require this but I'm a women of truth and bliss I don't need to shout I don't want to be seen I just want to help those who have lost everything I'll show them how to regain strength and teach them what's good for others is a priceless test and giving to the helpless and lost souls to guide the ...

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And the joke

Really 

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(The poem no one is going to ask me to write

celebrating the next royal visit of her majesty

to my home city of Liverpool).

We`re citizens, Ma`am, of our particular city,

Our own beloved mass of masonry,

And though the stranger may not think it pretty,

We are glad to be

We live up here beside our windy river

(The sea drives in and scours us twice a ...

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-the ramblings of another young girl-

written: 9/27/14

 I watched as you curled up into your own little cocoon.

I watched as you emerged with new colors and two beautiful wings..

  that carried you away from me.

and I am stuck here, 

forced to stay put on this lonesome ground

as I watch you, and your brilliant colors,

fly high into the sky..

  and away from the memory of...

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When tyrants and their bile emerge

The rest of us must face the scourge

And neutralise the bitter gall

That threatens to engulf us all

When a body is ill-treated

Prompt action sees disease defeated

We have to help ourselves at times

To confront Mother Nature's crimes

The same with tyrants' base infections:

Attack them hard from all directions

Until disease departs fro...

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~~Brian
 
You’re a literary lion!
Yet you’re invariably sighing
as you prowl round the page
lines escape from the cage
and the herd run off trumpeting.

Or was that I heard a siren?
You’ve been out clubbing with Lord Byron,
I’m digging your deeds done abroad
with a pen and a sword,
at least that’s what I thought –
now I’m strangely discomfited.

There’s been a local revolution:
you...

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In the time it takes to turn a corner
In the going of that moment
The rain
In the time it takes to close your eyes
In the waking dread of darkness
Spiral deepest down and down
Wherein long cold fingers claw
Wherein the night grows ever darker
In the time it takes to turn a corner
In the going of that moment
The rain
In the time it takes to root and tangle
Blood red fruits await the win...

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Hi everyone!
LOADS of gigs coming up including a tour all over England and Germany with my band Barnstormer celebrating our 20th anniversary...
Hope to see you somewhere :)
Cheers Attila

SEPTEMBER
 
 26 BRADFORD 1 in 12 Protag Fest - at a celebration of the life of my old mate http://www.1in12.com/
27  LEEDS  Seacroft Village Hall for proper socialist Labour PPC Richard Burgon http://www....

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A scratch on the back that send chills down your back

A smile that lit the darkside of the moon

No cares in the world

She whirled, twirled her hands till noon

   Falling into the sand

    Keeping the angel

        Alive

BAck now aches with pain and regret

Moon is shaded with darkness and now seeking vengeance

More worried filled the world 

Now standing still

 ...

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Draw closer to God
and He will draw nigh unto thee,
provided you’re willing to…
demonstrate actual honesty.

For He can always see
intentions written upon one’s heart.
Stop playing games and come clean;
otherwise, His Spirit may soon depart.

Jehovah transcends the boundaries of time;
So to Him, there is nothing new under the sun.
Start by freely accepting Salvation’s gift,
which was ...

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I thought I knew someone

standing accross the road,

she was waiting for a gap in traffic...

Then, there was another time,

alighting from a cab

and carrying fancy bags...

There she was again

-I think-

seated opposite me

on that train from Liverpool,

but that was just a reflection...

There was one time at a party 

when she smiled

my way, I thought, but it was

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It takes time and focus to make your way

around this star-studded necropolis.

Without a convenient plan or a guide

– pedantic, wry, and always affable –

you'll wander in vain its endless pathways.

Unable to spot the names you’ve heard of,

you will feel deceived and none the wiser.

Lured by bones, or the dubious remains

of two mythic lovers, what do we seek

before a ...

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It was pissing down when I left home today

Clouds the darkest shade of grey

The blackest of the black

The rain at full force of attack

None of the comforting

Soft pitter pat

But a diving crescendo

Bursting on the earth

Bouncing off brollies

Bouncing off cars

Wiper blades moving quickly

Swishing back and forth

Arriving at my place of work

The day has been...

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Other people’s borrowed books
are lodgers on my crowded shelves.
Their broken spines, when spotted, speak
of characters beyond themselves;
of people I no longer see.

Time and distance intervene
but each is proof of some intent
to render joy or furnish truth.
I think about the books I’ve lent
and wonder what they say of me.

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You have my whole heart
Will till the day that I die
And forever more

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'Git tae fuck!"

The auld drunk said

As he swigged back the Tennent's

So I went

Back on my way

As the sun began to set

Now I think

Of the auld drunk

From time to time in passing

I care not if I grow old

Still less to be a drunkard

But to be too bitter

Or too afraid

Should I have one

To tell my tale

To the bent and weary faces

Of those w...

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The dirty dark blue overcoat

Had long since seen a better day

A hard life, over sixty years

Has him set in his own way

Guardian of suburban parkland

Where all the Children play

The eyesight of a shithouse rat

From the days when he wore khaki

Remembers Dunkirk and it’s beach

Queuing up still makes him narky

The Kids know not to mess with him

Because He’s the Lo...

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Nine Diamonds

We are the keepers of the green
The blue, the gold, the sienna blood
We are the makers of royal love
Upon crystal clouds of daydreams

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Only the walls know

What the goings on are,

Inside this glorious madhouse.

They see, and remember,

Remember by holding in the evidence,

In their structure, in their bones, in the paint smeared upon them.

They can recall the way your tears were like pearls.

And the dark that bloomed on your pale neck

Where I kissed and you moaned.

They know the shy way your tentative fing...

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Stood tall and strong and proud they had

been with him though each year

become akin to family,

through plough and drill and shear

sheltered and protected him

held off weather's assails

comforted him at times of rest

guided his hard travails

As friends, they kept their counsel closed

whilst provoking contemplation

they stripped him as they too laid bare

exposing all...

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The long cold walk from the car to the stone, the grass soaking wet because the sun hasn’t shown. 

The flowers have all died because we’ve been forgotten, this once cold flesh has decayed and is rotten.

I’m surrounded by ones who are all the same, but they have countless stories, countless reasons, countless names. 

Some like to disguise the pain with celebration, hiding behind a mask or ...

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I told you
In 1982
Deacdes ago now 
But you'd have none of it
When I said I knew what Eartha meant
When she growled
Hissed
Purred
"I Love men
I love men
I love men"

Didn't you think it was strange
That I enthused so much over Dynasty?
And Joan Collins
In all her finery
Strutting around like the cat 
Who'd clearly got the cream
Stiletto heels leaving a bloody trail
Of the r...

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Envy

In my own community, the very streets run hot with envy

They look at me, peers and enemies alike

Looking like they always want to fight, out of spite

I sometimes wonder what they see when they look at me with envy

Is it my sexiness that offends, does my Blackness cause you dismay?

Are you mad because I choose to smile anyway

Does my skin tone upset you?

Because it high...

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You’ve had your vote

You’ve had your say

You spoke up for

The Forth and Tay

Would you reject

The status quo?

Independence?

But you said “No”

I’m sad to say

For our UK

The whole debate

Won’t go away

The nationalists

Will just want more

We’ve opened up

A running sore

Things can only get bitter

Can only bitter

From now on

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Daphnis and Chloé

at dawn
she
chrysalis-shaped
broke the glass case
and went to bleed
on the sheepskin

he
turned over
his wife's photograph
drank his coffee hot
looked nervously
at the reel of seconds

the day was young
light creeping
between thin letters
buds burst open
at the crossing
the traffic jammed
horns
honked like mad
with the twisting of bodies
and the virgin c...

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It's a place that illuminates the freest forms of me

A few pumps on my pedals, turns of my handles, and I'm already there

Tall palms twirled in lights line the way to my imagination

Tiny bells ding against the glass door as I glide inside

Freshly roasted beans percolate through anticipation to perfection

Burlap coffee sacks hang as window shades

Handiwork of local artists accents...

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kraken

leviathan
rusty bones
supporting hide
of rotting wood
the pungent smell
of seaweed

digesting
long dead things
its aged frame
crawls ashore
clicking like
fighting crabs

groaning
exertions
sand sloughing
from its skin

primordial
grey skies
clinging mist
clothing it
in gloom

a thousand
scrabbling legs
gripping claws
taking root
heaving carcass
to the shore

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The Whole Desolate Day, an anthology on addiction, is currently seeking submissions.

Please find full guidelines at:  http://littlelarkpress.wordpress.com/about/

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I am an ocean - swilling calmly; wrecking ships and shore.

I am a hurricane - outer parts and eye and more.

I am an avalanche - speak softly to me I'll be still;

But bellow loudly, stomp about on me I'll spill.

I am the weather - sunny, clear but fit to burst

When a thousand droplets are absorbed in thirst;

I filter out all dross downland, upland and over hills

This brood...

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When the day comes,

full of red nimbus skies

and black pronounced

against the bodies of - they will say it was

not outside of any plan.

Like, too, my foolish way

of thinking it is here, holding hands;

some real and loving thing,

they will say that everything

united is - universe after universe.

I could have most if it:

the blue and white eye delights,

...

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As the nineteenth autumn has come upon me,
It’s a whole new world I see.
Treacherous creatures, so often, hush and hide,
And it seemeth to me, a change in tide.

The poetry of soothing sensation has gone,
The glimmering golden glow of the sun is now none.
Some say,’ The Head is battling with the Heart’.
Well ! All Logic has been torn apart.

As I gaze into the vast emptiness
The dawning...

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Kept convincing myself

 end would turn out fine

Fazed but withstanding

implore for a visible sign

Trudge turned Incessant

with reserves at very last

Stretched to the optimum

leaving me plainly aghast

Events turned divergent

 expectations got belied

Means while just perfect

 but to end never applied

Resolve nearly exhausted

on p...

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A really good sandwich,

Has two pieces of bread,

(we all know the club is compensating)

Is void of mayonnaise,

But has in its stead,

(Mayonnaise is for the self-deprecating)

A nice bit of mustard,

And a sharp slice of Ched…dar.

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Chasing bottles of Gin

Instead of You

You Think of you 

So thinking of Gin

Blinded 

Blind drunk

Only with Gin

Maybe the wine started it

But finished by Gin

Agreeing with the senseless

Being defenceless

Maybe the wine started it

But ended

with the Gin

Solve the world in a rant

barely sufficient...scant

The wine started this

now need a ppp... wee

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There are those who check the obituary

In the local paper, be it the Hull Daily Mail

Or the Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Before they decide to get up on a morning

(In T S Eliot’s day, it was the Boston Evening Transcript.)

These winter mornings, I know how they feel

Waking cold, to a grey dawn smeared across my window

But I have a technological solution:

I check my Face...

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No more

will I tolerate

your gentle storm

smudging its way

across my sky

It sits 

over the sun

and hardly

seems to care

where it is.

I wait for it

to blow over,

to dissapate,

to fade-

or move on.

But still

it lingers-

like that kiss

you gave me-

full and heavy.

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I'll always think of you through much darker days, You are my friend. My Beloved star,that sparkle through the black cloud hovering over the moon to make my nights darker. Yes,you are my life...my lilly that sprung out of the rich soil on the shores of the river of my life. You bring joy to my soul,like the magnificent pebbles that rest in the shallows of the shimmering rapids. You ar...

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I lived a life
That was not mine
But now I have returned
To fear of fucking up,
Withholding all my burns.

I think of it as heaven, no time to think of me
Everyone's accepted, whoever they may be

Not just another cog, I was a friend or extra arm
I did whatever they could not
The whole summer, keeping calm

I could manage anything
A new challenge every day
Reason for exhaustion
It ...

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Gilded cages are not for me,

I want my freedom, I want to breathe,

Love a man no matter the cast of creed.

Masks and facades are not for me,

I am who I am and will always be,

No one can dictate to me my needs,

To hide my desires is not in me.

To make love to a man before wearing a ring.

Papers and contracts are not for me,

I am a woman not an object to be traded,

No p...

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(early draft, may change)

Oh, I was down in Maidstone,
I called at County Hall,
And in the council chamber there's
A handle on the wall.
They said, "Don't touch that lever!"
I asked them what they meant.
They told me, that's the handle
To raise and lower Kent.

Up, up if we pull!
Down, down if we press!
Our goals are Kent's
Controlled ascents
From here to near Sheerness.

We made...

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Tap, tap, tap

Is there anybody there

Making movement

Making love cos its not fair

Making Gospel so the sheep can bleat

Whats the problem guys

Its only war

Its only fear

Its only death

It will pass

Not too slowly

Not too fast

There.s bucks to be made

So lets all hate

Lets all plunder

Great News friends

There is someone  there

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love made in hollywood might badly fall apart

dance around the fairy lamps down in china town

begging god for mercy but she's busy just right now...

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(I've been struggling to show anyone this poem for a long time but I've been inspired to let it free. These feelings are behind me now and it turns out writing was to thank for that afterall)

How does someone stop cutting?
Do they cut into the paper instead?
Replace flesh and blood with diaries and ink,
Replace physicality with mentality,
Replace actions with words,

It isn’t enough.

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In this corridor of song,

invocations colour space

now devoid of human voice,

as spirits whisper here

of hysterical imprisonment;

of torture painted pink and blue

and baa baa black sheep have you any

                                                              Hail Mary full of grace

Supplications resonate

in hidden mouths

as mournings cry to sing of l...

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The Ballad of Jack McGee (based on the TV show "The Incredible Hulk")
by Alain English

My name is Mr Jack McGee
I'm a journalist by trade

The paper that I write for
Is very widely read

We've published many stories
Of a controversial slant

But the story that I have to tell
Is one we couldn't print

I was in Culver, years ago
Writing up a robbery

The locals had some stories
T...

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9/11

who could have known it?
terrorists taking no stock
would trade in futures

who could have known it? 
those towers were autumns bridge
tiers coming to fall

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Calling the familiar ray,

hope bore a light,

unlike any star, 

for while its brilliance

scattered and shone

over all we could see,

its longevity was called into question

so it dissipated within its doubt. 

Still the echo of its ghost

remains primal in its protection

of those who seek it, 

as beyond the chilling

despondency of doubt, 

all we are and will be re...

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Wonderful woman lost in her mirror,

worn subject of a Swiss dream

cobbled on the back

of the toilet door.

Tiny lights

observe their image

fragile; a subtle glance.

The river wild, the river loved, the river mild.

History, life, rivalry

my eyes were filled with tears

from the sight

to play by Petrarch's rules the Bard foreswore

swept away...

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Archaic,

      Polygraph revenant ghost experiment test, Resulted in civilian hate breed monuments swearing social memory hatred ache oaths of congealing ignorance to an inherited nature of prejudice and amoral carpe unappealing manifest diem greed destiny, Whose obligations narrowly appease the wounded dead conscience vampires suckling as already swollen vultures inside the heart... Forever ...

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The knife protrudes from his chest.
His heart pierced by cold steel.
The man falls to his knees.
Takes a final breath,
and falls over.

Blood covers my sweaty hands.
Adrenaline courses through my veins.
I do not feel guilt,
nor shame.
Instead I am awash in relief.
The deed is done and I feel anew.

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A spider's chandelier with Gatsbyesque enticement

indulges the mumbling aphid's lament,

red berries decorate the fringe of a melodic carousel of swallows

whilst two more riders swirl their eyes and caw.

This was just the mornings...

On evenings we saw raves-

black v's in tye-dye skies,

a ginger stoat did the caterpillar,

frozen ozone refracts a mobile of rainbows.

O...

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You made yourself famous

And then what did you do?

You grabbed a lead hammer with both hands

Smote the thing with all your might

Saw the pillar crumble to dust, then

Shrunk from the strobe searchlight

Danced with the lowlifes

That flanked the waste ponds

Made life

Took life

Then revelled in all your failures

Trailing ragged, bleeding

Across the frozen hinterland...

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                                                                                Video version: http://bit.ly/1qsRtE8

I wear you like a coat of snow,

weighing down upon me,

falling snowflake by snowflake.

upon the warmest of days.

A sparkling robe of powder,

bespoke and wintered, tempered,

with a fringe of ice thrown flurries.

which never thaws away.

And I tell ...

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Miscommunicated, disEnchanted, disconnected, disillusioned state

You, as the epicenter of this Mushroom Kingdom

Wondrous fermentations carried out in smashed pumpkins

They were broken from the start

This is you, this is you.

Evaporating from the misty mountain tops

Is the nativity of these immaculate prophecies

Fostered in every garnish, garden, green, gorge and grove

Vesuv...

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I have fallen for the mad ones
and the sad ones
and the ones who don't know what they want

I have found that mania so consuming
confused depression for deep thinking
I've tried to heal the cracked ones
and piece the broken ones together...

Oh I have tried to climb that mountain
with broken ankles...

I have lived off the wild ones
brought calm to the angry ones
laid down with the t...

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a week ago in prime time a BBC telly report:

- increased prevalence of allergies -

- many more cases these days

- children are too clean

- we need to get back to basic good bacteria

- interacting with animals

- mucking about in earth

- more direct exposure -

premise casually brain-stored

last week in a local shop

a bottle full of small glittery pink chunks:

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Leapt about

nothing fits.

Dressed quickly

dashed out.

Friend upset

Whats up?

Falling face

cloudy frown.

Urgently needed

cheerful clown.

Suspected breakdown

teardrops due.

Seriously suicidal

life saver.

Corny joke

nervously told.

Simple smile

punch line.

Laughter bursts

depression cured.

Eyebrows raised

Asking why?

Zip undone

han...

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So many it is said
Will be paid compensation
For the countless lies
Brushed under the carpet,

Phone calls not returned
And personal callers
Brushed away

Letters dropped in confidential waste
And meetings deleted
From diaries

Warnings ignored from youth workers
And support workers
That something was really wrong

Inquires that seemed to get
Constantly delayed
Until they are al...

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We know its coming We ignore it to not worry about it We try to prepare for it Like a wall built to stop the pain from getting through But the pain still breaks us down Our feelings can't be controlled Hiding them just makes everything worst No matter how hard we fall We will stand again and rise But till that moment arrives The healing clock starts now

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I'm starting a writing class in 2 weeks time in Todmorden. Branching out into teaching and running workshops in creative writing is a new venture for me, and I'm really looking foward to this first big crack at it. If you are in Tod or the Calder Valley have a look at this, and get in touch if you fancy coming! Hopefully appearing on the Gig Guide soon.

https://www.facebook.com/events/149982415...

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I am bored with hardship of life

If it was a person I could have sturbbed with a knife

My family showcasing to me no more love

My lady saying am a hardko in love

I felt bitter andheartbroken coz of love

And I wish I had not fallen at all

Coz I would be better off now than all

That is when my phone rang

Tuww tuwwi a sign of a message it sang

The moment ...

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