He wasn’t a regular specimen of a boy, he was a rarity and I could feel the sun and stars and everything in between when he looked at me. 

He was nothing but a stranger

Yet somehow his face felt familiar 

There was a song in his eyes 

But I fail to recall the words 

For he's stolen every thought that has ever bothered to exist from my head

It was quite evident that adventure wasn...

Read and leave comments (0)

Where Les Dawson Were Taught

     Sometimes, pain is not to be mentioned,

even when young, when children – there is a

special notice inside that says…….

…… ‘don’t act dumb but don’t let on!’

     Humility, is something that gravitates to

wealth within human kind, and none know

more-so than those of northern quarters -

   (if not quartered themselves for abundance ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Once upon a time
Back in the day
The sun shone brightly 
And everything was okay
Once upon a time

I look up to the sky
And I often wonder why
The heavens are just out of touch
I miss holding you so much
But I just have to go on
When all hope is gone

Another day I greet with pain
Knowing that I won't see you again
Not in this lifetime anyway
Maybe on the other side I pray
I hold ...

Read and leave comments (1)

There were a few words left unspoken,

The lawn with uneven grass 

And a window with cracked glass

Was fixed to spotless perfection,

Moody lights for the night

Were given undisturbed connection,

Crotchets were rewritten,

Wardrobe was diversified,

And a long-lost-friend 

Was dialed again,

A break in chain

To lay down the butterfly effect 

Hinting a probable mayhem...

Read and leave comments (2)

I pulled up a seat at the bar we used to frequent,
ordered a couple of beers and wanted to know
how my friend had been.

“Kind of rough of late”, he offered. “Missing some friends
I didn’t know how to tell I was going away.”

“I get that.”, I said. “A lot of people don’t know how to say goodbye.”

Pulling us both away from the shadows around me,
we reminisced and shared a few laughs for ...

Read and leave comments (0)

A heart once green as summer leaves

Trembling with the expectation of love

Blushing red with emotions decreed

Is it the true love that dreams are made of

But love’s colors fade in Autum’s indifference

Leaving behind a colorless landscape of hope

Love now stands broken with no recompence

Stripped of beauty and warmth, left to cope

Winter’s bleak, colorless days will slo...

Read and leave comments (1)

Jim read a book,"You can be the man of the house."

He was determined to be in control of his spouse.

Raising his finger to her face,"from now on I am the boss.

Tonight you will make me an expensive  meal , no matter the loss.

When I have finished. your going to run me a bath,

Then you wll massage my back and relax me Kath.

After that guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair...

Read and leave comments (2)

When close to the ground…you could always tell.
You were suddenly greeted by that Hot Dog smell!
On every corner, there was a mobile Hot Dog stand.
A seller at the ready, with a bread roll in his hand!

Walking to The Kop, it was my teen pre match treat.
Back then, food hygiene standards took a back seat!
In fact, I don’t think they even had a ‘seat’ at all.
Not when you judge the state of...

Read and leave comments (5)

Few voices, soft whispers,  

carrying me back to childhood days,  

where it felt like each exam was a mountain,  

a test of who I could be,  

where late nights turned into silent battles  

against tired eyes and wandering thoughts,  

or novels stretched before me,  

as I gazed out the window,  

the world a backdrop to my dreams,  

the hum of life a constant song.

Read and leave comments (5)

Who got the power?

Every minute and hour

It is the beautiful you

Come sit and have a brew

Let me tell you this as we sip

Give my hand a good grip

You shine like a bright star

That will for sure go very far

You blossom like pretty flowers

Just stand up high like tall towers

Wherever you are in your journey

The situation may be sunny or stormy

But remember, you ar...

Read and leave comments (0)

gulp!

ahurr ahurr ahurr

“I swallowed a cricketer”

he shouted with a cough

but, we asked, in a joking scoff

“do you not mean a cricket?”

then to our amazement

and in the very next minute

he regurgitated a bat!

which promptly flew back to its cave

and that, it seems, was that

Read and leave comments (1)

In the stillness of the morning,
the world awakens softly.
Light spills over the horizon,
casting shadows that dance
among the whispers of leaves.

A bird sings...
its song unfolding like petals,
with each note a breath of possibility,
a promise of an unexplored day,
where the air is thick with dreams.

Footsteps on a winding path,
and each step a choice:
the ground beneath the feet,...

Read and leave comments (1)

Desire is the root of all suffering.

In shadows, deep my wishes lie,
Desire speaks, a tempting sigh.
From ancient tales to modern woes,
It stirs my heart, but pain it sows.

Each yearning wish that dares to rise,
Comes with a cost, a heavy sigh.
In gardens light, I seek the sweet,
Yet I find myself at sorrow’s feet.

The Greeks warned of hubris’ fall,
Desires’ echo, a haunting call.
...

Read and leave comments (1)

Millionaire of Time

I know the richest man in the world 
without a penny to his name 
he knows the worth of everything 
he knows what’s important 

he’s a millionaire of time 
holding stresses in one hand 
other remains open 
to whatever sets in it 

millionaire of time 
moving the clock at will 
with truth and beauty 
you can make the world stand still 

you’d swear you were sto...

Read and leave comments (0)

leeward of a lean-to hill
iambic cadence thrill
amber flecked lemonade
morsels don pleated frill
bring on tend’rest brocade
while at windward dale
wizened cheeks go pale

Read and leave comments (0)

dimensional
cellular division
the genomic sequence

time is a light matrix
encoded in
0’s & 1’s
goes on forever …
and, in that order
10, 9.

A singularity
and absolute zero

the big freeze or heat death

he said no one can help us
when, asking the universe
for answers

what, times any number
… is nothing other than zero

Read and leave comments (0)

Read and leave comments (0)

There's an England I remember

That I seem to see somewhere

As my May becomes September

I dream that I am there

The old England that made me

Is forever in my heart;

This new England has betrayed me

Of it I want no part!

....................................................................

Read and leave comments (5)

This autumn is so sweet,

it gives me so many presents,

this autumn is my best award,

this autumn is my golden lord.

I am lost in this warm September,

my love looks like an ember,

but only with a tender touch

it turns into a fire and burns much.

Maybe it’s my last flight,

so, I will hold it very tight.

I will not wait for the spring,

I would love in th...

Read and leave comments (3)

Twittering twattery

Katey-Click-Baitery

Pissed up on winery

Our Hatey Katery,

Twittering blithely,

is Hatey-Katery,

Twattering, spluttering,

Katey-hate-mongering,

Twattering splattering,

Odiously shittering,

Hatefully mongering,

Twattering blithely,

Is that chap gaytery?

Asks Hatey Katery

He must be gay-ery!

Says Hatey Katery,

Yes he seems gay-ery,

Read and leave comments (4)

The rollers roll and the breakers break

as the storm sweeps unforeseen,

and the waters boil and the clouds roil

but the moon looks down serene.

All the ships that creep across the deep

and even the submarine

take closer haul through savage squall

but the moon looks down serene.

Though winds may blow and waves may grow

as the tempest supervenes,

sailors hold ...

Read and leave comments (2)

Contentment can be hard to catch.
So box it in and close the latch.
Let your contentment not escape,
Whatever be it's form or shape.

Our contentment is so very special,
For with our problems it will wrestle.
And since it helps our spirits rise,
Let it not dwindle nor demise.

Keep it safe from all destruction.
Let no troubles make an interruption.
So whatever be your situation,
For c...

Read and leave comments (1)

Oceans, believe me, will never run dry,

Whilst flooded tears fall from my saddened eyes.

I'm unloved, now you are gone.

Neither can I comprehend, nor explain,

The reason for storms or the driving rain.

Or figure, why you are gone.

Or why the frosted field, now whitened cold,

Is abandoned as my heart, frightened, old.

Lonely, lost, now you are gone.

The Art...

Read and leave comments (0)

What is more fascinating than the close study of the created being? 

In her own way she laughs and then scoffs

and scolds in tormenting fun to the point where she searches your own eyes and coyly tries to look for answers about you in response to your teasing nature.

Even though it's early days there is a soul searching feeling of her fascinating ways that will not leave me.

I am ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Wachefeld

Let’s start at the beginning

In a land of ice and snow

Where a brave band of armoured warriors

Set sail with sword and bow

To forge a new life far way

And settle in a land

Where the gods had promised riches

For each and every man

We sailed the mighty North Sea

And  by the grace of Odin’s beard

Landed safe in England

Where our kinsmen were ri...

Read and leave comments (4)

(More on - free to subscribe - https://graynicholls.substack.com/)

Our past haunts the present reverberating backwards and forwards our lives, a missing piece of a puzzle that continues to ache even in its absence like a ghost standing just out of eyesight in a rearview mirror of consciousness like an aeroplane stuck between two dimensions, a prisoner of time, a spectral companion that whispers...

Read and leave comments (0)

Dear Mom... 

Every morning, the warm scent of rice from the cooker stirs me awake, 

The rhythmic echo of your footsteps, back and forth,

Followed by the sound of boiling water pouring over coffee in a cup,

Truly, it becomes a harmony I always long for, 

And, a melody I always wish to hear,

It is etched clearly in my mind.

Dear Mom... 

Your voice through the phone...

Read and leave comments (5)

Would you tell anyone

If you used an impact drill

To drill the cork in a bottle of wine?

It could ruin a perfect rhyme

Would you tell anyone

You made an autumn space

Suitable for each season

With both rhyme nor reason

Would you tell anyone

You're happy to be noone

Even if it means someone

who knows language always rhymes

Read and leave comments (0)

We don’t have much time; sooner or later

This planet of ours will hit the buffers.

By then weak excuses or fake facts won’t work,

Nor saying: ‘well, it’s always been like this.’

Hot air is no defence against the heat;

The war, unfought, starts to flex its muscles.

It seemed so different the last time round,

As smiling faces sauntered on the bridge,

Seeking the usual gl...

Read and leave comments (8)

Your feelings for me were beyond what you lead on

Did us talking regularly 

Soften your heart unexpectedly?

Unknown to me but very known to you 

It came to the point where “love you” became “I love you” 

Slight change to our goodnights 

Nothing to overthink 

We’re friends right? 

You got “busier”

Our talks lessened 

I still see you partying though 

I’m confused 

Read and leave comments (0)

so, lets catch up.

its been a minute i must say.

but today, i had to give
myself time to write.

ive been in a fog of stress.
which isnt everyone?

there is always someone worse off,
having a worse day.

you know, full honesty.
that saying doesnt work for me.

is it selfish to want to think
about your struggles, your sacrifices, 
and your chal...

Read and leave comments (1)

skip sit-down breakfast  

take a rushed lunch on the run  

then late tea for one  

repeat ad-nauseum 

Read and leave comments (2)

Discover the same other

whilst under the cover

Creeping seeping peeping

covert operations

my teenage fascinations

awkward altercations

with non queer populations

Sensations that taught me

if ever they caught me

side cautiously er

deliberately blur words that infer derogatory slur

I got very clever,

very clever at seeing without being seen

...

Read and leave comments (0)

Men, entrenched like ancient trees

whose branches mock their roots,

their trunks engorged with gnarled disease...

embittering their fruits.

The axe gleams brightly in The Sun

beyond the shaded edge,

where with one swing its work begun

it fells their broken pledge.

To cut and clear the rot away

of stock that's grown too long,

where green shoots feel the ...

Read and leave comments (6)

Dearest lovable warrior 

Blessed boy Oscar 

Big and strong with a heart even bigger 

Champagne ripples he shines 

Huge presence his family pine 

Raised from a pup 

He helped raise the children 

Forever so loved 

mother she held him 

Loyal fur angel God taken back 

Forever watch over your chloe and jack

Read and leave comments (1)

The days I focus on manifesting the weather are usually the days I trip over the treasure not knowing any better. 

Quite literally Falling over gems but keep on walking, intensely struggling as I continue listening to myself talking. 

Interestingly it's never to question my destiny, instead remained silent to appreciate what lay ahead, in times of great calamity only reveals the be...

Read and leave comments (2)

As the grace of age settles into all the parts of me

I begin to see life differently

Now, with the album almost full

Looking back is easy

My fingers trace the outlines of memories

While my mind fills the gaps that once lived in between

I watch the young girl in the frame

 -A frozen fragment of history-

Gazing out at me

Her eyes have changed

But her heart is ...

Read and leave comments (4)

spirits are a wise crank
spirits are a wise crack of a crank
a wise crack is a wise crank
a wise crack is a wise soul
a crack soul,a crack spirit,a wise crack
a crack spirit is a crack soul
a spirit is a spirit of a crack soul

a shadow is a shadow of a shadowy
a shadow is a shadowy of a wise crack
a shadowy is a shadowy of science
a shadow science is a shadowy of a shadowy
science is ...

Read and leave comments (0)

In my youth when the whims of women got me down, 
I would seek the company of ex-sergeant Eamonn McSwilly.

He’d fought at Rorke’s Drift against the Zulus,
and would often do one of their war dances,
while drinking a pint of stout,
then sob into his glass, recalling the horror of
that misguided military campaign.

I would listen in awe, but it was myself,
a wet-behind-be-the ears young m...

Read and leave comments (2)

My teeth feel fuzzy

I think that's a good thing

My head feels funny

I think that's bad

I’ve got six more hours

And three more days

That's plenty of time

Let's waste it away

My score’s an angel number

Eleven point one percent

And the lighting here is pretty

It makes me feel warm instead

I can't do big things

So everything is small

My body’s feeling ick...

Read and leave comments (0)

you were so content
keeping me at arms length
so I ended up
in someone else's
with a trail of teeth
behind me

Read and leave comments (0)

I left everything, and made you my everything. Just for you to stab me in the back. Down on my lowest you left. I thought you had my best interest, instead you squeezed my heart to death. And instead of giving it back you left my heart on the shelf. Haven’t let me seen taeden, you got him thinking I left him by himself.  Left me for dead, I was sleeping in the car by myself. Cold and lonely, I did...

Read and leave comments (0)

I scanned the stanzas of some bard,
which, as they landed, hit home - hard.
How could a dead man know such truth,
who'd died dishonoured, stripped of youth?

Down generations flew his words,
their talons sharp, like fearsome birds
sent through the centuries to tell
us all about his manmade hell.

The less we learned, the more was lost;
so today, we've passed on the cost
incurred by lon...

Read and leave comments (4)

More poetic flash fiction based on the browsing of best selling book titles in under 30 words. Perhaps next time you're looking at a list you'll spot them all!

Tomorrow and Tomorrow 

And Tomorrow 

The Last Goodbye

Was the longest 

Then she was gone 

No one saw a thing 

Except for the couple 

At No 9

Read and leave comments (5)

Let me put this out there straight away.  Freddie Tyas was called “Spaz”.  I can’t help that.  He was.

I’m talking here about my schooldays in the 60’s.  If you’ve seen any of those TV programmes like “It Was Alright in the 80’s” you’ll understand that it was alright in the 80’s.  Twenty years earlier in the 60’s it was even more “alright”.  We were closer to World War 1 than the 60’s are to us...

Read and leave comments (2)

I guess I am mechanical

I am here at your leisure

Should I cause a problem

You can cast me into the garbage

I guess I am mechanical

In a way, that I will keep coming back

Like an old watch, or something that will eventually wear out ,like a phone

And die off, and none would be the wiser

Not one tear shed, and I guess I like it that way

I guess I am mechanical because

...

Read and leave comments (1)

down here among the ruined and the rising

I am alien
and the children cannot understand
tears at the comic absurdity of hope

nor the sight of skin thin like paper
covering old peoples' hands folded in prayer

they cannot comprehend
the ferocity of newborn cries

nor the fearful stillness of expectation and Waiting

down here among the glowering bell towers

the silence is apoplec...

Read and leave comments (0)

A cloth so beautiful, he said
I’ll weave for you, Sir Kier
That to the simple or unfit
Invisible ‘t will appear

These splendid clothes, I just must have
What do they cost, pray tell
To you it’s free, the Baron said
‘N’ I’ll dress your wife as well

He set up looms and set to work
Weaving night and day
And yet the golden thread they brought
He simply put away

Kier sent a spad to vi...

Read and leave comments (3)

Everyone has a fire in their soul

A bright passion that makes them whole

An urge to follow like a fool

A desperate need to fulfill no matter how cruel

A bright spark in their eyes

A light that never dies

A wonderful dream that never lies

A reason to get up and rise

A star in their hearts to answer their wishes

A burning desire inside their chests

A cheery pe...

Read and leave comments (1)

What Drives Loyalty

I’ve learned that loyalty

Can be a beautiful quality

When harnessed in the right way

But it can also keep us in situations and relationships

That make our values sway

As a little girl and a teenager

I desperately wanted to be Lily’s best friend

In fact, I wished I could be her 

My hypnotised devotion had no end

Until one day I realis...

Read and leave comments (4)

I sat alone

In my small room.

Sitting, lying, sitting....

Switching on, switching off

Radio and television.

I randomly choose 

A book to read.

The pages are blank.

The temperature is

Cold outside.Winter

Is on its way.

Read and leave comments (0)

Some nights my dreams play like movies
I am cast in many roles
At any moment the dream can repeat 
A glitch?
Or just a change of camera?
A new perspective to explore
The show must go on 
But who am I entertaining?

Read and leave comments (1)

Love is an action, not just words

I tend to hear people say they “love me” 

 But they hardly ever call

They say they “love me” 

But they never want to meet up 

They say they “love me” 

But aren’t there for me

I see the action of avoidance

Not love.

I see them make effort for someone else

But not for me.

Is this a glitch?

Why am...

Read and leave comments (0)

An owl takes wing,

Shudders at what it sees, 

Rests on the shoulder

Of Minerva, begs her

To bless with wise counsel

The world-weary, 

The battle-worn, 

All who have lost

Sight of terra firma, 

As well as firmament...

Read and leave comments (2)

Woke up, then crashed for three days in a row,
It had to be done for my well-being,
There goes my energy, out the window.

Of all the things, I ask, why must this be?
Once energizing, but now it’s draining:
Woke up, then crashed for three days in a row.

Went to bed hoping that the rain would stop.
Comes tomorrow, still welcomed by pouring;
There goes my energy, out the window.

Oh, th...

Read and leave comments (0)

The old bell jangles as I come through the door 

A familiar step down to a dark wooden floor

A petrichor from pages hangs in the air

Its musty aroma telling tales of their wear

On shelves, are bindings crafted by hands

Lost & forgotten to times shifting sands 

And others, whose fingers caressed those old pages:

A DNA echo still lingers through ages

In a corner sits Mis...

Read and leave comments (5)

Mom, can I sleep a little more?

My eyes are heavy and my feet ache

And I feel a pulsing in my chest that is getting worse

But I don't know if it's the coffee or the insatiable hunger to be loved

Mama, I'm lost.

I work myself until I cannot carry my own voice

I work until the only thing I see are blurred lines of undefined past, present, and future

Mommy, I'm tired.

Can you ...

Read and leave comments (0)

I planted joy and sorrow both,
In places where my heart once spoke.
And under their shade, in years ahead,
Some will smile, while others tread.

Happiness or sadness, they’ll feel the trace,
Of emotions I left in that quiet space.
For what we plant, though unseen by the eye,
Grows roots in the hearts of those who pass by.

Read and leave comments (3)

Locking up my body
Speeding up my mind
Frozen in the bed you made
While the head you infected
Continues to rewind
And replay
The tape
Seeing through someone else's eyes
My body, my mind

Read and leave comments (0)

Why oh why

Are my eyes so dry?

With the weeping days I live

And the sorrows that make me cry

There is no time left to find

A heart that allows me to breath

Granting an experience to feel kind

A lesser worry to conquer my mind

With every eye that blinks

And stares and withers

With every muscle that shrinks

And thoughts that gives you shivers

Today ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Steam rises from vents and grates

The back-alley dumpsters are scattered

Whilst the smell of once fresh meat

And hot grease pervades the night

A guy in white uniform and lazy trousers

Sits on a crate making his smoke last

And looking into nowhere

Oblivious to the world

Oblivious to what is happening

A block away from the intersection

Oblivious to the freezing dri...

Read and leave comments (4)

This mellow season wrought of change

Turns a fragile moment on its potter’s wheel

Pale sunshine clasping the ripple of leaves

The gallop of muscular cumulous

Migratory flights of wintering exiles

Summoned by generations of calling

Polished light and liminal shadows

Rise perfect from eloquent spinning

Finish the form with satisfied fingers

Sweep spu...

Read and leave comments (2)

Dear absent friend
Are you still there?
Do you still lurk in the places we used to?
Or have you moved on to pastures new?

Dear absent friend
Do I ever cross your mind?
Even on days with no rain from the skies 
It rains from my eyes

Dear absent friend
I long to hear your voice
For your asks I could not fulfill 
But I miss you still 

Dear absent friend
I hope that you are happy
H...

Read and leave comments (0)

“Run away”

That's what they say

“It's how you get the pain to go away”

So I ran until my mind went black

I ran until my lungs burned

And my legs quaked 

I fell into a ball

I crumbled to the ground

I Screamed and Cried

I tried to let it all out

In reality you can never escape 

If all your crying for your Mother to change

“Your being manipulative”

“Your being l...

Read and leave comments (0)

The rain gently tapped against the window as Dorothy sat with a steaming cup of tea cradled in her hands. The aroma of the tea filled the room, beckoning memories of days long past. Sipping her tea, she gazed out at the drizzling rain, a soft breeze carrying the earthy scent of wet soil into the room.

Lost in reverie, Dorothy's mind drifted back to her carefree childhood, a time when the m...

Read and leave comments (2)

Upon trying to measure

The universe, the infinity itself 

The sheer impossibilities that will 

Inevitably present themselves.

Love is, as immeasurable

As the cosmos itself.

The heart is open 

And the mind is free 

Just remember to breathe 

It's all a bit of fun.

A play on life and love 

Experience it all 

And laugh 

Laugh into eternity 

Vibrate with the sp...

Read and leave comments (0)

Many fans of "William Shakespeare" often miss out the vital details of Shakespeare's life and career. 

James Halliwell Phillips writes in his two-volume analysis “Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare” published in 1887 in order to determine the “Correct Dating of Shakespeare’s Plays”:

“The would be biographer of Shakespeare is baffled in every quarter by the want of graphical documents, and l...

Read and leave comments (0)

Rough rusted railroad steel in my palm

Dogs are following me in the woods 

It's a long way to the river yet

Running out of battery

Dark tracks rattling hard

Read and leave comments (0)

September 13th, 2024

4:59 - 5:03 pm / 8:41 - 9:58 pm

i feel everything

i'm consumed by my thoughts

words in my mind

lyrics say what i cannot

broken are the voices

sounds float in the air

the noise is loud

at the ceiling i stare

my ears fill with melodies

my heart is set free

my eyes drown in tears

i can no longer see

a blanket of darkne...

Read and leave comments (0)

no letter, no word, no sentence
institutional criminality
human rights ?
far away
repress it, forget it
not here, no
not here

Read and leave comments (0)

It grew in the wilds, a sentinel growing tall,

A mighty yogi in presence, embracing it all!

Branches reaching out, to the skies in a plea,

Seeking for the strength - to live it's destiny!

Its ancient bark, a wrinkled, weathered hide,

Tells a tale of the time's, swiftly flowing tide.

Inexorably which has grabbed, life in a churn,

On and onwards to - the lands of no return!

Read and leave comments (3)

You A Masterpiece 

On My Kurt Cobain Swagger 

Can I Ask You Please 

Will You Be My Courtney Love?

Read and leave comments (2)

If I'm being honest, I have no clue as to what's going on. All I know for sure is that Im tired of trying to fit in. After years of attempting to comply my mind is exhausted. 

Maybe this started during an experiment where I put myself in "new" situations to gain a different point of view. Mix that in with feeling insecure and I found myself lost between characters an emotional rollercoaster. 

Read and leave comments (0)

Love, care and compassion is what you need to show.

Two halves of life, older than sleep's womb

The imaginery giraffe in his dishevelled hat

trumpeted his inherited memory of a unicorn.

Messaging each other pecking away at our personal history

Barking dogs burrow into white chalk cliffs as the muted dead

turn under Stockport bus station

A Porcelain Moment as t...

Read and leave comments (1)

Cutting out across the music

that last scene cut into the black

with the music carrying on

for a few seconds more

before then cutting out suddenly

and starting off again

with a breath of air

carrying across the forest

as the light replaces the darkness

framing the sky

unto a red-rimmed sunset,

totemic in silence

turning the end into a new beginning

...

Read and leave comments (0)

With your bloodshot eyes.

Every sunset, you cried.

We trusted the lies. 

We loved less at times, both upset inside.

The cassette would rhyme.

Play jazz sets to hide.

The bloodshot in mine.

Saw love’s knots and binds.

Untangle the vines.

A tough spot to climb.

Read and leave comments (0)

Put me to bed. 

Lay my head gently on the pillow of moss

Growing under the old oak tree. 

Cover me with branches and leaves,

close my eyes gently - as I am just sleeping. 

Allow me to rest until my body 

fuses into the forest floor, 

my skull and bones all that’s left

beside your distant memory

of who I used to be. 

You can lie down beside me

Reach out yo...

Read and leave comments (1)

They were standing in front of a cliff

wanting so badly to be on the other side. 

Along comes The Fancy Talking Man

he tells them...

it will be fun

and excitiing 

if they simply

Jump

and so they do

not knowing 

had they been patient

taken some time

walked a little futher

A beautiful bridge

was just a head

to take them to th...

Read and leave comments (3)

Can you dance in the middle of "what is"

rather than "what was" or "what is to come?"

Making plans can be helpful,

excavating the past can be healing,

but, truly, dancing in the now is glorious!

Step into the glory of right here, right now, this breath, this foot on this ground, this hand on this object, this smile, this frown, this laugh, this tear,

this is all-that-is,

wrapp...

Read and leave comments (3)

Caught in mundane trivalities in my environs secure
Something seems amiss, of which I am not so sure

No shackles tie me down, still can't seem to express 
Odd feeling at the nucleus, now difficult to suppress 

Endowed though sufficiently no concerns as of now
Need stoking stimulus, to find new trigger somehow

All familiar seems daunting, must try & explore anew
To bring a bit of sembl...

Read and leave comments (0)

Sonnet No 333 

When I come wobbling home from down the pub

you make my head throb with your rolling pin.

Then take the water from the babies tub

and wash away my alcoholic sin.

You shove me in the spare room where I snore

and fart just like a dray horse all night long.

As morning breaks you gently push the door

and gag at Nature’s dreadful beery pong.

The curry rice and ...

Read and leave comments (3)

Tired, neutered and flat

Drowsy, battered and crap

Scatered, ears ringing and wondering

where did my weekend go?

Gigged out

Spat out and hurt

Load-in, set up in dirt

Sound checked, rain and disturbed

Darkness, smokey and curt

Irritable, sweaty of course

Days lost to the night

Hungry, beyond "alright?"

Midnight arrives

Still loading out in drove...

Read and leave comments (0)

We clap some Blacks,
we clap them Blacks,
tho' we mow those
others shacks
and dish out smacks,
we clap them Blacks
and forget those whacks
and their blistered backs
and hands that pick the
music tracks,

and then we clap them Blacks
them stand-up Blacks
but not them bent over blacks
for earning all your stacks
of dirty cash
and maids we lash
and keep from dash

yet we stand and ...

Read and leave comments (0)

The clouds are so beautiful, when you see then sun behind them

It's that glimmer of hope and light; creeping out of the darkness.

The tears are so beautiful, when you can see the person behind them

It's the raw, real emotion and the story behind it.

The bitterness is so beautiful, when you see the sweetness behind it

The lost chance and opportunity, the broken heart and the freedom,...

Read and leave comments (0)

For a few minutes 

we were all I asked for 

you were there with me 

by the lake, having coffee 

my hands now are empty 

a couple hours ago you were walking down the stairs with me 

before i set you free 

Now you know 

I love you enough to let you go 

and not let the world know 

how much it hurt, how I broke 

I love you enough to let you go 

for you to grow old w...

Read and leave comments (0)

This lesson only grasped through time

Our view emerging in the climb 

Its vexed infancy played out the longest:

Our army without guns is the strongest  

So sing the old songs, drink deeply

And with tears drying become sleepy

To dream swift, golden spears of sun-rays

On the eve of our momentous day

Read and leave comments (0)

welcome back! Where'd you go? Revisit the 3rd level of consciousness,Open eyes in the dark,DNA manifestation,I was not in the right space,Research for self doubt, I ignore critics that shout,You have an expired version of Mikey inside your head,I got advice from Osiris,This comeback is one for the ages, At a distance I peep the Nile river over flow,I need one more chance to show,I need a cave so I...

Read and leave comments (1)

Thou steppedst into this world with a purpose,

And it's by HIS Grace for Glory,

Each moment HE hath led thee in HIS Care, 

All thro' thy twenty years HE kept thee in HIS Bosom,

Each thought in thy mind is HIS Grace,

Each word thou uttereth is by HIS Power,

Each deed of thine is HIS Will to do,

And thy breath in thee is HIS Gift to seek Eternity.

Thou hast travelled twenty m...

Read and leave comments (0)

Single the odd one out!

Baby blue, sky blue, navy blue, red.

Correct!
Red does not belong here.
 

Let's do another one.

Jeans, jumpsuit, jacket, towel.

Correct!
Towel does not belong here.

Now, for the final round.

Sister, mother, brother, father, I.

Correct again!
'I' does not belong here.

Read and leave comments (0)

Where do we draw the line

In the unforgiving depths of our torture 

To the seeping wounds kept under a thick skin 

With every bottle or bag of conditioned poison 

Some bear many scars healed by the strength of heart

And they have learned how to bleed and what is worth bleeding over

Some of us are bleeding for the first time 

Know that you aren't the first and won't be the last

Read and leave comments (0)

Where has the night gone

Swallowed by sodium neon, led

We cannot see beyond

Boyhood dreams gone by the flick of million switches

Stand me in a field of dark

Hello Milky Way

Where have you been

Your beauty a slash in the heavens

Quietly rising and setting 

Measuring the days

Gazed at in wonder 

Through child eyes

Hanging in cosmos by invisible strings

A misty ...

Read and leave comments (0)

I accept

All the things around me

The harsh warmth of an Indian afternoon,

The confused colors of the evening,

Sheer darkness of night regardless of moon,

And everything between the end and beginning.

I have been trying to change my life,

But all I could change was my perspective.

I can’t seem to change the story, Though I attempt to shift the narrative.

I’ll fulfill m...

Read and leave comments (1)

sometimes I feel like my long hair
what hides and reveals 
what some version
small and soft 
lives tangled in the unkempt locks
where it takes work to get to my mother's eyes
her cheekbones
a hair's breadth between. 
it's the distance between being looked at 
and being seen. 

shorn, I feel the shame of nakedness 
rather than it's splendor 

I feel the parts of me worth hiding 
in t...

Read and leave comments (0)

Start off the day miffed,

At being late – blame the lift

Continue being peeved at all,

The door, the window, and the wall.

Am also a bit cross with them –

My footwear – noisily fraying at the helms.

The corridors look drab and tiresome,

People busy in their humdrum.

Can’t run or hide, so quietly surrender,

Head high, kind smile – the happy teacher!

Read and leave comments (3)

Hope

They say all scars heal

but I know mine never will

I have so many scars

visible and invisible

they will never go

Memories and reminders and comments

rip the scars open over and over

No, they won’t heal

but maybe the passage of time

will make them softer

like the waves of the sea when they

keep crashing on the shore

over and over

till the stones o...

Read and leave comments (0)

Five years ago flew by

Now, already remote

The rolling of the years

They’re already afloat

Your past self

Already a ghost

When you stand still

You begin to grieve your previous skins

Wonder why you had to forget and kill

Old personalities just to multiply new

So, you cling on to specific moments

Promise not to forget, you never will

But it is not uniqu...

Read and leave comments (4)

If I could be brave enough to remember the first time I went into my local library at the torrid age of 18.

If I could be brave enough to remember what the librarian said to me, as the jaws of a shark stamped those books with a thud.

At first, I held them scared to death, as they contained words and were unnecessarily heavy.

And then as if secretly, I finished a thing calle...

Read and leave comments (1)

It's funny 
You know
This obsession 
the human animal
Has with wheels
They changed its life
They made it 
Mobile
They helped it 
Move things
It couldn't possibly 
Carry
And now 
We wait
Slaves to technology
And whilst we wait
A little wheel spins
Maybe it's on
The screen
Maybe it's out 
Of the corner 
Of our eyes
Maybe it's not visible
At all
The spinning wheel
Reminding u...

Read and leave comments (2)

Would’ve lived if I never left? 

Vinyl on the shelf, the cigarette on the desk, the smell of pastels.
Midnight stars ignite your heart. 
The heat goes to the sky, and your mind is burning down.
It’s time to draw your life, the brush paints the guy in the frame.
Blues, grays, and maroon make your new muse
Will it be your last chance? 
Will you be brave to hide your lies? 
Will it be anoth...

Read and leave comments (3)

The moment  

I knew  

my mother was leaving—  

no word, no signal,  

just a slight shift  

in the staff's routine,  

moving through  

the dim quiet  

of the critical room;  

tending machines,  

securing trays,  

smoothing blankets,  

quietly closing the blinds  

on a life,  

while the world  

ghosted below  

in darkness.

Read and leave comments (2)