tragedy (Remove filter)
The Luck of the Draw
You may have the misfortune to
Live upstairs from or right next door
To somebody they want to kill.
It’s not your choice; you have no voice
In whose blood they would like to spill.
And, being close, it could be you,
Who sees the bomb fall through their floor.
No one's fault. The luck of the draw.
Sunday 6th October 2024 9:39 pm
The Last Supper
They munch at scraps of bread
And gulp their meagre drink;
They borrow someone’s phone
To make one final call,
Then scrape up what he asks
To squeeze into the boat
And shiver as the sea
Sets out its fearsome stall.
Wednesday 2nd October 2024 5:19 pm
Dancing Darlings
Dancing sweet hearts wake one day
Summer break sing and play
Dancing darlings summers morn
Monday Mersey mums they mourn
Silent street dressed in flowers
Prayers on prayers crucial the hours
Dancing beauties nature's Purest
Harmonised with angels to heavenly chorus
Beyond heartache Unforgettable day
Endless love to God we pray
Tuesday 30th July 2024 1:07 pm
Silhouettes
Death transcends the toll of time.
Stands beneath a smoke-filled sky.
Spirits rise up from the past,
row by row from first to last.
Like silhouettes of lifeless trees
against the sun, no foot can flee.
Then sink they into desert sand…
as hate consumes the life of man.
Saturday 16th March 2024 10:46 am
Captain My Captain
The wind seems to blow when the cold settles in.
Darkness will fall after shadows begin.
The end truly came long before you were through,
now everyone is going to miss you.
Captain, my captain now gone to the sky.
Words can’t describe all the reasons we cry.
The circle’s complete now, there’s no reason why.
Captain, my captain… goodbye.
…Tribute Robin Williams
Saturday 16th March 2024 10:45 am
His Finest Day
A school tragedy (A poem within a poem)
The first day of the autumn term
We knew that something was amiss.
We saw the solemn-looking staff;
We felt the pain of grief subsist.
It seemed that in the holidays
A boy called Whipps had disappeared.
Since almost thirty days had passed,
The worst of outcomes was now feared.
He was a shy and quiet boy,
To w...
Thursday 4th January 2024 7:51 am
Heaven Is Raining Down On Me (It Burns, Gods, It Burns)
Cradled in the arms of my mother,
I sway softly to the beat of the sea.
Enjoying the peaceful scenery.
As I lay flat on my back,
wood groaning under the weight of me,
With my eyes directed
to that heavenly scene above me.
Smile lines dancing on my plump cheeks.
When suddenly the song of the sea
turns into a nausea inducing melody.
The gentle hands that used to ...
Tuesday 2nd January 2024 12:23 pm
Broken Record's Repetition
For me,
Please,
Stop cutting.
I said.
A broken record.
Only now,
As she lays in the grave,
Six feet under.
I wonder
if things would have changed,
If I just once asked her to
Stop cutting,
Please,
For you.
Would it have made a difference, though?
The reason to cut or not remains
the same, either way.
Nothing can change that here
She...
Thursday 19th October 2023 10:16 pm
Inner Child
I was sinking to the ocean floor,
We were with two
Me and a child, surrounded by blue.
Connected with a thread,
I was swimming us both to the surface,
Then somehow,
The thread broke
And I watched as the child choked,
Sinking to the bottom
I was pushed above.
Wednesday 27th September 2023 7:51 pm
Love Is A Violence
And if you must pierce my heart
With a dagger so sharp,
Caress with it my cheek
After you've retrieved it.
Paint my face soft,
With the violence of your love.
It is for you who my heart beats for,
Thus it is by your hands that it should stop.
May the wind blow you
My final breath to.
Thursday 31st August 2023 12:48 pm
Hiraeth
I do not think
There is such
a thing as
A place,
A person,
A scent,
A sound
A touch,
A taste,
that I could link
To what the faceless
masses call home.
I do not think,
There is a version of me that exists,
Where home is something I have,
And not something I miss.
The past,
The present,
The future,
All in which
I do not fit.
...Monday 14th August 2023 10:20 pm
Icarus The Fish
I am naught but a fish
swimming aimlessly through the sea.
Miles and miles of that breathtaking blue.
It deprives me of my breath
and leaves me trapped,
in what seems to be an endless net.
I long for the warmth of the sun on my fins,
the feeling of sand grains on my skin.
Day after day,
I shyly creep closer to you.
Your beauty lures me in,
makes me your discip...
Sunday 16th July 2023 8:16 am
A Living Corpse
At age three
I dreamed.
Of lands full of sweets.
Of an endless coloured street,
stretched as far as I could see.
I dreamed of my toys,
that entertained me with their noise.
I dreamed of everything and more.
I dreamed.
At age ten,
I heard.
About wondrous lands that decorated the earth.
Of all the plants and birds,
our Mother gave birth to.
I heard abo...
Tuesday 27th June 2023 6:53 pm
The Devil's Face (Resembles Me?)
The devil has always been,
A faceless entity
To me.
Until now at least.
Now it has become clear.
I can see.
The devil
In front of me.
They are no singular person.
Instead a pair.
Familiar sight.
Lungs devoid of air.
The devils gaze at me.
Recognizable set eyes.
No surprise.
Why is this reality?
First sight of a child.
Encounter...
Tuesday 13th June 2023 8:24 am
My Last Act
I pick up the shards of glass
that are scattered on the ground.
I marvel at them in wonderment,
how beautiful it once was.
Still, it'll serve a good cause.
Such a pity,
won't you applaud?
This is the end of the show,
Don't you hear the crows?
Toss your roses
Or will you wait till my eyes are closed?
Pour the alcohol,
Let the bubbles float to the surface.
Dr...
Sunday 28th May 2023 5:01 pm
Words Hidden Beneath Ink
A delicate touch on my skin.
How long has it been
since someone softly caressed me?
A touch so unknown,
yet Comfort finds their home.
As you trace the ink on my skin,
your eyes rake down my body,
drinking all of me in,
as if you have not drunk a drop of water
for as long as you’ve been.
Your fingers on me,
feel like the first sunbeams that grace a leaf,
after a...
Tuesday 23rd May 2023 12:02 pm
Leaving Bangkok
Had he been riding the moped,
Of which there was now little left?
From behind my taxi window,
Cocooned in sweetly freshened air,
I imagined the pain and death
And the relatives, all bereft.
Peering out, I could see him, sprawled,
Bloody, like meat. ‘Airport soon, sir’
Announced the driver. Soon I'm gone
From this unyielding, lethal place,
Flying home through thin-aire...
Thursday 27th April 2023 8:01 am
Empty Chairs
Just a second is all it would take for you to leave this table.
It never gets better, seeing the amount of empty chairs grow.
Still, I remain seated at the table, glued to my chair.
Unable to do anything but watch with pain in my heart,
as yet another one leaves me alone here.
But what can I do?
Even an iceberg desperately yearns for warmth,
climbing to the sun, knowing it wi...
Monday 24th April 2023 12:02 pm
Waiting For My Nobody
Tired souls sigh together,
lovers have given up on getting better,
but I will continue to stay with the withered tree until the end of times.
We have exchanged the word 'forever'
and thus I will patiently wait untill we are back together.
I will wait for you, my Nobody,
until my body cannot anymore.
Until my body decays
and my bones slip into Mother's embrace.
Even then...
Monday 27th March 2023 6:38 am
Mercy
People often say that God is merciful.
Then why is it that every night, every day, every waking hour of mine,
I keep reciting the same prayer?
‘Have mercy, my Lord, and put this subject of yours out of their misery’.
If God is so merciful, then why is it that I still find myself breathing?
Exhaling every breath, hoping this one will be my last.
Why is it that I find myself all t...
Tuesday 21st March 2023 10:10 am
I Love Myself (Unfortunately)
I love myself.
Not in the way one would think.
I truly am in love with myself.
For there is no one in this whole wide world
That could understand me,
See me,
Hear me,
Apart from me.
Therefore it is only myself that I can love
And it is only myself that can love I,
Whose song differs from the other whales.
I love myself.
Not out of free will,
But out of...
Sunday 5th March 2023 10:31 am
Home Interior
‘’See you tomorrow’’,
that was what you said.
Back then, I could not identify it as a lie.
I only realized when I got to your house the next day,
your hanging frame decorating the place.
Thursday 9th February 2023 2:51 pm
Ashes
How warm,
how bright
is the light that dances on my body.
What has remained of it anyway.
How fascinating is the fire that is now catching on my breasts,
my back,
my neck.
It climbs up my body like kudzu.
Greedy as it is, it longs for more,
Even though it has already swallowed up my legs.
It is consuming all of me,
both the good and the bad.
A heap of ash i...
Friday 27th January 2023 1:03 pm
Awaiting Freedom
I seek myself
Fighting demons in my head
I fight a battle daily in my head
These voices in me try to bring me down
Saying I'm not good enough
My chest aches
As though a stone presses on me
My lungs gasp with stifling air
Feeling short of breath
I suffocate with my head barely above water
As much I may try to avoid it
It always finds me in the quiet
Robbing me of...
Monday 24th January 2022 8:18 am
last signs of life
Last signs of life:
Silence filled up the whole room and the only sound I could hear was her last breath.
No one spoke a word, we were silent and we just stared at each other.
After every second passed, I felt more attracted to her,
it wasn’t love, it was something stronger than love.
I fell in love with her not because of the soft personality
not because of her prec...
Sunday 28th February 2021 5:20 pm
How Far I've Come
I had to conquer my fear of the unknown as I stepped through the open the door to start on my new journey.
With a promise to fulfill
My heart shall never falter
Because I found my purpose
With each new day|
With a heart of gold
With every step I take
With every discovery I make
I have seen how much more it takes
I have seen how far I have come
I have seen how much I have grown
I h...
Thursday 15th October 2020 10:37 am
THE MASK
I can’t see
But I can dream
It’s like wearing a blindfold
On my brown eyes
I can’t watch, but I can feel
All these weird wild vibes
All these angelic faces around me
But those diabolic souls surround me
Are they real or are they fake?
It’s like watching a blue snowflake
Falling for smiles and grace
All night murdering for a race
I can’t wait
Ti...
Saturday 1st August 2020 12:02 pm
TIME
Time is not a demon
He is many things but not
a murder
Neither is he money
nor power
He is wise enough
to be wise enough.
Time is not celebration either
Time is infinity, is immortal
He is wise enough to be wise enough
Sunday 19th July 2020 5:00 pm
The Truth Is Sadness
Decorated lives
shuffling onwards
towards inevitable darkness
we cloak ourselves
in the hood of love
cover the cage
deny the sky above
the truth is sadness
Tiny movements
helpless gestures
elliptical orbits
around the heart of happiness
an argument
with a river
convinced of our control
tilting the rudder
towards hope
the truth is sadness
Fold the patterned sheet
around your ...
Monday 16th December 2019 12:09 pm
Jimmy Is A Ghost
Jimmy Is A Ghost
Jimmy is a ghost
Of the man he used to be
He sits in the rain
Drinking second hand tea
And he hopes that his kids
Will never have to see
His hands outstretched
In an ignored plea
Yeah Jimmy is a ghost
Jimmy is a ghost
Off of Oxford Street
He has nothing left to barter
He has nothing left to eat
Just threadbare dreams
And train...
Friday 26th April 2019 3:26 pm
The Last Rose
On a snowy day,
In a dimly lit street,
An ailing girl, utterly dismayed
Perches under the canopy of an enormous tree.
Looking heavenward,
Her eyes well up a little.
Perhaps she’s waiting for a special someone,
But all that comes to her are snowflakes, frosty and brittle.
She tears the icy veneer of the earth
With her gloved fingers.
And buries a white rose b...
Wednesday 24th April 2019 6:39 pm
Grotesque decadence
A small piece I wrote while sitting by the river today, I actually hand wrote about 5 of these and left them at all the surrounding buildings haha !
The river dances, An iridescent reflect the sun shines as it mirrors and presents
A cinematic silhouette
Birds glide, dive into the depths, lizards leapt down the oyster coated steps.
Dip there feet and feast on what the fishermen left, Rotten...
Wednesday 28th June 2017 9:17 am
Dark Tower
Dark Tower
Like something from a gothic horror
This is not the way it’s meant to be
Pain and hurt crumbling from unsafe structures
And falling on the governments neglect
Because they’re poor
Because they’re vulnerable
Because they’re ‘not like us’
Souls lost to the flames
That crawled over short cuts
Or worse – over incompetence
Licked around the money ma...
Thursday 22nd June 2017 4:27 pm
Give me peace.
Snow White.
Nose slimes, chem drips down my throat slice.
Sniffling spit the blow fly.
Cascades of emesis, Sinus bled red . Sniffing flakes of flesh an flem.
Razor stained, Tickling my neck again,
As I Dance with death.
The phantom stands demands my breath.
Wrestling the mirrors reflect.
Stare still into the pillars of wreck.
Spirits turn spirit-less,
Liquor fill, Spill and drench.
...
Monday 19th June 2017 9:24 am
Is the moon blue?
Is the moon blue?
It turns its pale face to us;
Who knows whom its thoughts turn to.
It cannot cry, but only sigh in dust,
With no light of its own. Gasps thinly,
Too insubstantial for decay or rust.
Does it have unspoken sorrow of its own?
So it can only appear at night
And sometimes disappear, all alone,
And find solace in the dark unknown.
The sun burns away its ra...
Thursday 17th March 2016 5:28 pm
Eden Of Hell
Someone listen to the shallow weeps
Someone care for this melancholy strain
Rising sun and a beautiful dawn
are never even there in my sweetest dreams.
Amber waves from the endless fields,
Twinkling rays from the golden skies
-all forbidden fruits in this Eden of hell.
With heart beating like a ballistic trumpet,
Body shivering as in midnight Thames
Slowly I walked ...
Wednesday 17th February 2016 3:44 am
SHELL SHOCK
The whistle blows to sound the charge
and over the top they bustle and barge,
covered from head to toe in mud
and soon tainted with flesh and blood.
Up the ladder with slippery rungs,
a scream of rage from terror filled lungs,
adrenalin coursing through every vein
with the fear of not coming back again.
Knee-deep mud sucking boots from feet,
tangled in barbed w...
Friday 24th July 2015 2:55 pm
The Song Of The Wandering
The Song Of The Wandering
In darkness deeper than the mine
where, once, I scraped my fingers to the bone
a silver seam of moonlight
breaks across the boiling blackness
and I let those self same fingers
idly trail in the cold Mediterranean.
I dream of the golden sunlight
left behind in the dust, distress and bullets.
That was then and this is now.
The churning sea, the angry orders
s...
Wednesday 13th May 2015 6:47 pm
every night, the same dream
the stink of diesel and of fear which
everyone’s pretending is not here
because if they do not name it, it will not be real
but in the hot bodies of the strangers pressed
around her she can feel
the tension of a panic only held at bay
like sea-sickness, with iron will, good fortune,
muttered prayers
inshallahinjesusnameinshallahinjesusname
they rise and fall, jaws clench and clench again
...
Monday 20th April 2015 7:10 pm
When All The Laughter Stops
When all the laughter stops, when it abides,
And all the tears of joy begin to dry,
When all the world looks up from aching sides,
And all the breathlessness allows a sigh.
A light, so brightly shining starts to wane,
But hidden out of sight, battles in vain.
When all the smiles are full, when they recede,
And straighten out into a furrowed frown,
When all the life in vibrancy concedes...
Tuesday 12th August 2014 10:49 pm
MH17
Golden Eagle, soaring high
Shot down in flames
From hate-filled skies
Raining people
Watch them die
What the hell is going on?
Luggage scattered
Bodies shattered
Children's toys
Bruised and battered
They shot a fucking plane down!
Innocent lives of hundreds gone
Families broken
Left to mourn
The loved ones
Who won't make it home
Division - at what cost?
A politic...
Monday 21st July 2014 8:53 pm
11
She screams
A sound that penetrates
The hearts of all around.
She breaks
Her heart explodes
She crumbles to the ground.
A child
Her childhood stolen
With the burst of a pea.
Her mother
Gone forever, gone
Her brain not meant to be.
What now?
The love stops here
A cry for help.
Don't leave
Come back to her
The child needs yo...
Friday 27th June 2014 8:52 pm
Sonnet for Drummer Lee Rigby, posted on behalf of Robin Parker from Langley Writers
Friday 14th June 2013 5:50 pm
Irregular Apocalypse
“Got 10p for a cup of tea?”
“If you show us where you can get one for that price,
I'll give you a quid”
He never did...
Irregular Apocalypse.
Lonely and irksome.
The bitter glow of jaundice
tears at society's rustic chains,
one tragedy at a time.
“The Freemasons took my children,
they took my baby.”
Now she's hopping magic buses,
...Thursday 4th April 2013 9:41 pm
Sniper
I felt nothing at first.
Just the loud crack of a distant whip, the echo
Bouncing through the crumbling streets and fetid alleyways,
Painted with the stench of unintentional sacrifices
And scorched by the Middle Eastern sun.
He can see me, this one, even now,
Staring down the lens like a wayward sailor scanning distant rocks for Sirens,
Tempting him to death.
He’s watching me cr...
Sunday 27th January 2013 11:59 am
Once I Loved You
I loved you once as deeply as any man could Will
and, if the darkest truth were known,
in my heart I love you truly still
Though the distance that lies between us
may seem so very far apart
space and time will not unbind
the aching, raging heart
So farewell my love and lover once
and, as lovers ever true,
we will live and laugh and love again
like lovers that are new
Monday 6th February 2012 11:19 pm
Recent Comments
TobaniNataiella on She Says Goodbye
55 minutes ago
R A Porter on Sashaying to Byzantium
3 hours ago
Ray Miller on Dominoes
7 hours ago
Red Brick Keshner on Beneath the Armour: Reaching for True Strength
7 hours ago
Reggie's Ghost on Dominoes
7 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Early winter's day
7 hours ago
John Coopey on IT AIN'T ME, BABE
8 hours ago
John Marks on Early winter's day
8 hours ago
TobaniNataiella on She Says Goodbye
8 hours ago
Rick Varden on Sweet Memories
8 hours ago