Image courtesy of Marilylle Soveran and Flickr; Creative Commons.

Hard to believe that it's December and we're coming to the end of a year that has presented many challenges. In the Christian tradition, candles are lit for Advent, representing hope, love, joy, peace, and the light of the world. This year we're waiting for vaccines, an end to lockdowns and tiers and I've tried to ...

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During the lockdown, I didn't do much writing and wasn't inspired like some to write about Covid or the lockdown in general, as I figured there would be enough people doing this already.  The poem below is a new and first draft.  It is meant to be messed up like the whole crisis and covers things I have heard said from a whole host of people and media.  Comments please and anything I could add to ...

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Your polo shirt is slightly askew.

Eyeliner you try and hide.

My daughter baby’s prime;

we have fought for this.

You now sit in classrooms,

open windows, warmth drained.

Queue, face mask clad, in corridors

dreaming of seeing faces 

The boy you pass notes to

you are no longer free to kiss

or find the ecstasy in another.

Your childhood is on hold.

W...

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March - June 2020 :

During the early months of the UK lockdown, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - I've been organising and running an online community writing project through various Facebook community boards, but in two different communities: Fakenham, in north Norfolk, where I live & work, and the Isles of Scilly, which I've known and loved for over twenty-five years. The two poems produ...

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Few heavy clouds are covering the sky 

Above the lonely white house with brown door 

Where at the window an old lady sits 

And stares outside with gloomy sorry eyes. 

Next to the house a couple stands and looks 

Towards the house with their little child. 

It is the lady’s son, his wife along 

With their daughter that are visiting. 

The family is staying in the str...

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What shall we do when this time has passed?
And from lockdown we'll be free at last.
We'll leave our homes and go outside
To roam all the towns or countryside.

We'll join our families and all our friends,
And this time there'll surely be no ends.
And our freedom we'll appreciate,
And each day will feel great.

We'll eat and drink in our favourite pubs,
And meet all member of our clubs,
...

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A writer yearns to tell their story, any story

that will stand the test of time

full of hardships conquered

and inspires generations with hope.

The story shall feel whimsical,

not so much with fairies dancing 

but that there is a happy ending.

The story shall have brevity,

not so much as a long weathered tale

but one that details just enough.

The story shall...

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Like fish out of water they cluster, gasping for

Herd immunity,

Scrap aluminium

Shadowing hot tarmac.

High on kerosene we were

Flying blind to Armageddon

Until a bird-strike did for the engines

Clipping our wings

Wake up and

Reclaim your baggage,

Be humble

(Latest score: Coronavirus 6-Humanity 0)

Ground your brain, breathe deeply and

Learn to get by with...

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Down the corridor, comes a scream
Was it physical pain
or the horror of finally learning
the way this game is turning
They took your clothes
gave you a gown
there was nothing to do but lay right down
Now, the machine breathes
for you
hung by a thread and leaving soon

Faint flashes behind tired eyelids
recalled moments from a busy life;
the night before your wedding
barefoot kisses b...

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Here I find myself thinking about what I have always said: human beings are fragile and things can and will change in a blink of an eye.

As if things were not complicated enough in our beaten-up world; the terrible and endless civil war in Syria, the provocative bravado of North Korea, the continuous fights and rants of Trump with allies and adversaries, Putin's permanent interference in everyt...

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746 (six fell in love more than four times)

673   (twenty had no regrets)

714   (five could still feel their first kiss)

643   (twenty-seven looked at photos of their loved one each morning)

547    (seven had contagious laughter)

517   (hundred regretted that their beauty had faded)

468   (thirty-five had worked in the same job all their lives)

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Advertised everywhere

No chance for it to be ignored

The blaring signals and sirens

Please don't use the excuse that you're bored

The excuses and reasons don't work

Not anymore

We've endured the lies but now

You even deceived the law

You did not leave out of choice

You were removed

Lying to yourself and to others

You seem confused

The rules apply ...

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Let me admit, to you, my fear
of those ghostly hands
twisting the knife
in the belly of our lives

These house-bound blues
echo louder some days
these house-bound blues
and their hypnotically sad song

My memories reach out for you
you’ve changed your number
my happy memories are reaching out
yet we may never speak again

And though estranged
often, I still wonder
of your gently c...

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Humanity's gone into hibernation

Our focus has shifted to survival

Coronavirus has a bright side

We've changed since its arrival

Mortal danger pushed us together

New-found solidarity is a boon

Survivors will emerge stronger

Dont self-pity or despair too soon

Love can prevail over evil

But humility must come into its own

The era of complacency is over

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SAFE?

When has any human been safe?

Lions, Tigers, and Bears… OH MY!

Mosquitos, Ticks, Killer Bees…

Cancer, Bacteria, Viruses…

But the greatest of these

Has always been humans

This is the High Holiday Time

For most of our belief systems

A remembrance of great - Unsafe times

When the masses were protected

And individuals’ sacrificed

We lived to see another d...

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I start the day with little to no inspiration

Much like everyone else in the world

I also start this poem

With the repetitive voice of exasperation

The sirens are blazing late tonight

As souls are being set on fire

But because of some peoples' perseverence

Loved ones' bodies are also being set alight

Recreational parks are not essential

Travelling out of the wa...

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I accept that they may feel lonely

The constant reminder from the media that they are isolated

Alone in their puddle of thoughts

Suddenly drowning in their echoes of silence

Against all odds I am managing just fine

A stream of thoughts flowing all day

Nothing to block my mind from floating away

Not today, anyway

My thoughts are not all positive

I am unbalanced ...

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This mortal life

Seems thinner now

As we move away from

The old and sick relatives

Keep a safe distance

See everyone as a potential disease

This moral life

Seems thinner now

And in a darkened room, all alone

She sits tapping her fingers ,

Hoping the bell will ring

Or someone will call

Her mortal life

Thinner now

Passing away

All...

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HEAL PARK

The skeletal frame of a Rollercoaster

Onto which fitted wheels, seating

Garish moulded plastic coloured

Inert silence no power from running current

Except for birds in the sky theme park

Abandoned except for giant tent building

The envelope opened up hand around throat

Sent to every house in town

And from source iron doors

Air conditioning to breathe ou...

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our streets

are empty now:

spring sun tempts us - "lower

your guard, fall into this loving

embrace"

                             a cinquain

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In the stillness, 

My tongue tastes each sip 

of my coffee

In the stillness,

My teeth grind every bite

of my food

In the stillness, 

My eyes linger over each word 

I read

In the stillness, 

My fingers 

languorously write every letter

In the stillness,

My hands slowly 

color each petal

In the stillness,

My heart speaks

And 

I hear my thoughts

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The news told of a distant menace headed our way, 
that might overwhelm our world, 
like the Spanish flu a century ago 
or the plagues of the Middle Ages. 
They said it was implacable, sure to wreak havoc soon. 

It was like a monstrous hurricane far in the distance, 
threatening everything in its path. 
It was a virus called Corona, a crown of thorns.

They say that, like a zombie, it i...

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