I right now in this moment in time

Shal manifest light in your life and mine

Iv decided that now is when I should start

To express my desires held close to my heart

So read this carefully if you will

Whilst in silence and physically still

I was given  a gift of magic so pure

Its time to start to use it more

With eternal light from my soul

I demolish darkness to make me w...

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Photo by Edurne Chopeitia on Unsplash

In my cottage in the hills
I am immune to the world’s ills,
or so I like to think.
On evenings of freezing fog,
I throw another log on the fire
watch closely as the flames reach higher,
take another sip of whiskey
stroke the back of my young dog,
Who feels the spirits in the breeze,
pick my book up from the stone cold floor.
Reading ...

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Shadow our  cat

communicates with us

he realizes that we cannot

speak cat so he watches

our human behavior

and uses it to communicate

with my wife and me

if his food bowl

is empty he does not meow

he just goes and stands

by his bowl and stares at us

if he is ready for bed

he goes to the bottom

of the stairway and stares at us

until we join h...

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NB. Three more haikus about the Underground

25

Northern train at stop

Pauses like it is watching

You walk your two dogs.

26

Getting hotter and

Hotter, it feels like the train

Is overheating too.

27

Pausing for breath

The guard wakes up the girl

For her ticket home.

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Oh how we twist,

In the roiling firmament, this unrelenting mist,

Where no shape drawn is permanent, where nothing can persist,

Oh how we twist,

Oh how we turn,

A flicker flame of turbulence, watch it all burn,

In bitter flames of recompense, when will we learn?

Oh how we turn,

Oh how we coil,

Serpentine around the wrist, slicker than oil,

The tightening grip you...

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No need to argue that point.

Years ago I dismissed it and

I know my rationale precludes 

any thoughts of revisiting it.

As an educated person any

contrary viewpoint deserves

an answer, so I’ve developed 

several I use without thinking.

Honestly,  my logic is defensive.

I protect my legacy like you.

I don’t want to and won’t 

accept a flaw I’ve lived with.

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I've just had a visit from pest control

You know - those people who take the role

Of addressing nocturnal visits by mice

(And maybe other things not seen as "nice").

It seems another tenant made a complaint

About an absence of rodent restraint.

I live in a house two centuries old

And frankly would be surprised to be told

That it was free from timorous wee beasties

That s...

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A man burst into the doctor's surgery and flung open the door.

Jumped on the doctor's back and counted."One!Two!Three!Four!"

"What do you think you are doing?"shouted Dr Pugh.

"Well doc,everyone did say I could count on you."

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About her stood

charred pillars

With the tourists

brushing past

while carrying

sodden momentos

dousing bonfires

from her past.

Her burning invisibility

and thier backwards

glancing toss

remains a wishfored

present

but glowed in its

unseen loss.

Words and image: Tommy Carroll

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Where am I

I am Here

although some would say

I am not all Here

but if I am not Here

where would I be?

the answer of course is

over There

I wish I was more Here

but sometimes my mind wanders

and I end up over There

the grass always seems greener

over There

There is similar to Here

only farther

yet there is nothing wrong with

being somewhere in be...

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My love life is a dusty relic of the Stone Age

The risks of COVID are too much to handle

My new blow-up doll's not quite the same

But dames are just not worth the candle

I miss the gossip working from home, and

I'm growing obese eating non-stop cookies,

I'm depressed from thinking about my fate,

Facing queer street from on-line bookies

The allotment affords me a b...

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I will defend your right
to say things that I don’t like
and though I may disagree
it doesn’t mean that I detest you
I’ll try my best to understand
how you reached that point of view

However uneasy listening
don’t bite your tongue
Let us see and hear you
come and speak freely
You may offend me
but then I’ll know we’re not in tune

Perhaps we’ll both learn something
if but how to be...

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i invite you in my life to feel something again

to turn my numbness into happiness;

you are my happiness 

you make me my happiest

no one loves me as much as you do.

day in and day out i consume your love and affection.

soaking up every last bit. the feeling of feeling something for someone again excites my soul.

feeling anything is so hard these days.

but then i a...

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Season 5 has gone for a reason Where losers cry for freedom And winners jump in fear The eye is so deceiving For it is set to receive the friendly foes BB Naija Is a deceiving eye in Nigeria! Where people are set to receive BB Biafra Inside Africa. Laycon has set to lay beside a corn Where Dorothy has set to consume the whole area. BBN is the deceiving eye Which has deceived so many pe...

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Slightly hungover

scruffy brown

leather jacket

chats up

somewhat amused

smartly dressed

pin stripe

bespoke suit

mobile numbers

contacts exchanged

text sent

False Eyelashes x

date confirmed

Shiny Shoes x

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The mornings we spent laughing
with eggs and bacon
and cups of sweet tea
because we didn’t really
like coffee yet
and with flour on our faces
because we were making pancakes
and you decided to start a fight

These are some
of the warmest places
in my heart

It´s so sad
I can´t remember
what kind of tea you liked

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knees buckle beneath the heaviness

of your creamy taste between my lips.

Inside I'm like a waterfall: gushing, dripping, a soiled mess

I tremble, drunk on your desires

and, the vivid scenes you whisper to me-

- makes me only want you more.

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i believed every word thats when the tables turned

i fell for the pretence of feeling me at first

part of me always knew this was heading for the worse

cause i know im not the only girl youre lying

to the only girl you crying to

i was stupid to feel special

but fresh out of heartbreak how was i to know who you genuine too

you got such good timing shouldve noticed the mind game...

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They could try again in a few years,

Yet she left the box untouched

And sewed her skin with salt

-Even though she was cleaned 

By the torrent of tears.

The tissue dissolves in his touch,

It leaves residue as it brushes his lips,

It breaks away on his finger tips;

He absorbs it,

a more sinnued heart

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Drip

Drip

Plop

Drop

Spitting

Splatting

Sploshing

Splashing

Hydro power

Drizzly shower

Tropical, magical

Storm clouds soaring

It’s raining it’s pouring

It's raining cats and dogs

Great for ducks and frogs

Streaming down my pane

The never ending rain

Splish, splash

Drip drop

Drip

Puddles

puddles everywhere

from which your dog can...

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The other day I caught myself staring at your image
Embedded in the cliff-side pool.
Surrounded by flowers and foliage,
Miles away from you.

Your skin porcelain,
Flaws hidden,
Eyes clement,
You didn't even seem human.

And maybe you weren't.
You were perhaps just an abstract concept,
An evanescent concoction of pigments,
Who swam away, leaving behind no remnants.

When I thought ab...

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Jack Dempsey’s NY 1980

Oh god. Oh Dear.

A hangover in New York New York.

Small recollections through

hazes of alcohol pulsed pain.

Shaking fingers fumbling 

for coffee and cigarette.

In a dark wood cased  cabin

from sweat stinking bunk.

A million other people

who jerked through the same dance.

Night before around the world.

I stepped in time with you.

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Monster

He stands alone, enormous greystone arms across his navel,

Colossal beast of Swift's Brobdingnag, condescending

To righteous Lilliput, flung like a hand of gravel

Around his feet; tiny houses housing tiny people who cradle

The distant organ that plays the first bars of The Lark Ascending.

A rough-hewn monster drips moss from his back, slicked black slate

Displays ...

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Death, You'll Die!

You'are mortal,
Bound to die a day.
You are far from artist,
With his work he keeps you at bay.

The artist drinks life to the brim,
You just can't touch his fame.
As you kill body,
But just can't touch his name.

You harm the soul of near and dear,
But the harm's ephemeral,
Soul overcomes the harm
Which causes for you an alarm!
To disappear.

Stabbing in...

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Damascus moment

Here on the snooker table

I'm a ping pong ball

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They treat our tears with

Contempt

Hand in hand with

Greedy frustration

They roar like lions and

Block all roads to

Equality

They trespass on us

Night and day

Creating for their

Conscience a

Mocking symbol to

Love’s power

Masked creators

Who conjure their lives

On torn pieces of paper

Our kings and queens

Can never be conquered

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Ujjal Mandal,  India

Keep dreaming till the dark night 

Fades in the morning light. 

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There's beauty in heartbreak
Though you don't see how something so excruciating can be overcome. 
A heart severed by love's misfortune, the knife still clenched tightly in her hand. 
Such a guilty culprit escapes the clutches of grief. 
You turn away
Under the pouring rain your tears are still obvious. 
I watch you break before my eyes
Your world shattering among the turmoil
Feel the pain 
...

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Herring-packed collisions gravitate together

In her own Wonderland she avoids the looking glass,

Red rain washes the stain away

Tonight we re-zoomed our relationship

Renewed our unspoken vows

The gods of Zoom count their coins in the jungle

Pollocks ! she cried, I'm at the wrong disco!

Marching onwards in this town of mine

The anger of the forgotten people

And those...

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If made to have
An axe to grind
Rubbing with nails
A social scar
Left behind,
Ethnic groups
Itching to go for
One another’s throat
Hard may not be
To find.

With the aim to gain
Cheap popularity
By using impish trick
Employing scare tactic
To hack social fabric
Phony politicians
Exhume the hatchet
Among ethnic groups
To blow
Previous petty clashes
Out of proportion
From ...

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It was a cold and crisp evening, 

9:30pm and the full moon shone down

brightly on my path, 

Guiding me, 

As my feet crunched through

fallen scattered leaves. 

A sharp chill filled the air

And the smell of wood burning brought me 

back to the good aul days. 

If I had just awoken from a coma I 

would have known for certain that it 

was Autumn. 

Amber lea...

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Under her skin
She dreams of violence
Punching her boss
Drowning her co-workers

The most tragic headlines 
Pale in comparison
With her balsamic
Idylls

Where to put all this
As it burrows deeper into 
Her waking thoughts 
Past her jokey edges

She thinks somehow
Her mind’s preparing her
For the earth’s future 
Or the next election

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Through that small window of time I see

the Rendezvous Cafe a napkin and me. 

Perfect Italian cup to my right

the smell of coffee pure delight. 

Quintessential Mayfair heat

in the early sixties' historical street. 

On the napkin doodles and words

as if a moment could care -

but the rounded coffee spurred me on

establishing me there. 

Still I write and that w...

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It’s been a bumper year

for plants bought from

or donated by neighbours

we met at the Thursday night

clap for health workers.

Re-potting, tying, staking,

feeding; rewarded by

a glut of all shapes and sizes

basking in shafts of sunlight

thrown down our sideway.

The enrichment of salads,

casseroles, stews. But is it

ever worth all that effort,

when yo...

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eight limbs lower so small and afraid,

a two limbed child chases your dance,

dragging their feet and fate to you,

but your step to a web is slow,

to small to catch the beat of their murder,

might they show mercy and turn it down?

for you to dance in silence.

[2020]

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I confess that the transphobia kerfuffle with JK Rowling largely passed me by, so I’ll admit to being a bit shaky on the facts of the story.  As I understand it, JKR lampooned the fabricated terminology and imagery of menstruation rather than calling a spade a “woman” and for this she was accused of transphobia.

Let me say from the off that I have no issue with anyone getting a new willy or fan...

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She walks masked, meandering,

unacknowledged through her neighbourhood

Wishing earnestly that she somehow could

share her true self

 remove the make-up painted veneer

she hangs nightly on a shelf

how emancipated she would feel

no longer enslaved within her mind

because of this facade

strangers think her, the vapid kind

no thoughts of value

within her head, you'd fi...

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(for the little girl who haunts my dreams still) 

Dear Daddy,

Not that you'd care, but

All that I wanted was to make you proud

But, I was too stupid

Too fat

Too loud

All you ever did was bring me down

I was your scar

Your permanent frown

I was your verbal punchbag

In your whiskey fuelled state

Never felt I was your child 

Just a vessel for...

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One day you may hear on the radio
an otherwise trivial song in which
the great Aretha Franklin delivers
an almost throwaway off-the-cuff line

"I know you did"

Here the words of a mother to a child
of any age bring comfort to the soul
defeated in anguished misery
who may only mumble  "I did my best"

"I know you did"

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the spirit of death
kissed you
on this ridge
your work is done
no triumph no glory
but for ever
silent
 
© by Jan Theuninck

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I’m the old man with the beard

Who lives in the sky

I am the universe

And the universe is me

I’m the man who sees everything

I’m the eye in the sky

I can see everything in ten different ways

And I gave the names to seven different days

I can see things big and I see things small

And no matter where you are

I can hear your call

There are some who reve...

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Beginnings are endings

Endings are beginnings

Forgiveness is healing

Healing is forgiveness

Grace is loving in pain

Pain is to love with grace

Love is to sacrifice 

Sacrifice is giving for love

Faith is to grow

Grow is to let go

Let go is to start

Start is to end.

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I see you flowering her 

the way you once did me. 

Playing virtual footsies,

oozing lyrical chemistry. 

Move on they say, 

look the other way. 

And so it shall be, 

my focus is on me.

Sowing wildflower seeds, 

shining in the rain, 

dancing through the pain, 

singing in a field of weeds.

https://youtu.be/nXZ6o8GHKE4

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Respect 

When little children, no angels where we!
In the mid to late sixties that would be.
So often chased up and down our street.
By the poor local Bobby pounding the beat.

Little devils maybe, daft tricks we played
But to our elders, respect we always paid.
That respect included the police for sure.
As they would often knock on my front door!

'Michael's done this, Michael's done...

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I’m all alone and in despair
A desk, a computer and an office chair
A reading lamp when life grows dim
But at least people can see that I’m in

I never dreamt it would turn out like this
All the years of learning, now it’s hit and miss
Instead of a new life and making friends
I’m stuck in the house going round the bend

My tutor looks older on the screen
His clothes seem shabby, where’s...

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Messiah Of The Fields

They left me hanging on a cross

The saviour of the summer crops

Just rag and straw so no great loss

My blood is in the wheat and hops

I faced the black and vicious hoard

Their coal cruel eyes and sharpened beaks

I am the ragged overlord

Who scares the crow yet never speaks

They pray to me to save their soils

From dark boned devils ...

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She spun and spun
And weaved a web
So intricate
So delicate
And at once impenetrable.

No one could see
The pedalling feet beneath
The turning of the many cogs
The machine whirring and wearing away inside of her.

Her past an ever present.
Her future already decided.
Fate was never to be on her side.
They'd seen to that.

They stole her innocence
Her joy
Her pride.

Bitter was ...

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Society is lost,

Consciousness is gone,

They have rejected their spirits,

It didn't take very long,

Electronically connected,

Yet physically farther than ever,

People don't want to face themselves,

It's a thought they dread to endeavor,

The clock is ticking,

Just take a deep breath,

Your losing your mortality,

The omnipresent threat of death,

Materialistic clyde...

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The vast

Forgotten reaches

Of the universe

Hold no answers

To the mysteries

That inspire curiosity.

You will not find

What it is that you seek.

The mysteries of life

Shall stay as they are.

Wondrous

How we come so far

Travel for so long

On such epic journeys

To arrive with the same wisdom

Happiness is the closest thing

To an answer

We may ever fin...

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When my tears come they will
   be defrosted snowflakes from
 a self-sequestered squad of four
   deliberate deep-sea divers
   hired to harvest each
                                     teardrop
grown from a kernel of salt 
                             with care 
from beneath an iceberg.

     This map of Alaska is a scale model 
highway of my heart.
      These tears that would b...

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