The Fifty-Ninth Minute

     Don’t jump oh Lord,

Do not ponder expectations of living here,

Give yourself some room to manoeuvre

And sway instead the rhythm of life

As blues take an arbitrary hold,

For we are old and tired,

And sick of living lies.

     All our collective tears,

All our raging hysterics flowing

Salt, water, emotion,

Are not apparen...

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So...it's out with the Old

And in with the New,

But please remember

Whatever you do -

Let the Old serve its purpose

And be a reminder

To make sure the New

Finds us better and kinder!

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Voices Off

Dry today and a powder blue sky

Liquid rays paint rubber plant shadows on the back wall

I ignore the “to do” list and read to John Coltrane

“You should be outside on day like this” voices my mother

“Got his nose stuck in a book again” mutters my father.

I could be sweeping up fallen leaves

Brushing the muddy path

Raking the moss

A fire perhaps to glorify a win...

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FIRST STEP

All we can do makes no difference
All that we see makes it worse
All that we feel is more pain
All that we say is useless
All that we are is dust
All that we want is
Impossible unless
We take the
First step.

INSIDE OUT

I know that I loved you,
And more than a little,
But now you are gone.

I feel...

Too heartless to beat,
Too lonely to need,
Too empty to c...

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After the sun has decided to sleep,

You have spread your kingdom so feary,

With this a terror has made a peep,

That has made my life so teary.

Mother has pictured you as a ghost,

And warned me not to scream,to escape,

So in sleep,I tried hard to get lost,

But in fear of you,sleep did escape.

Over bed I was left helpless,

Searching a weapon to kill you,

And d...

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photo credit: Kari Musil 

Like whiskey aged

Mellowed

Slowed down

Old school

Remembered for it’s bite

Some flavors are acquired taste

Between dark history

And magic fairies 

Is a legacy of ghosts

Who will not be stilled

By death or passage into

Other dimensions

Weeds are designated

By those with shallo...

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I paint myself inspired, intense,

dismayed but remain just a fat old man

who can’t get laid

such a contrary slut
bathing myself in the corporate filth
served in styrofoam cups
 

the master of diversion

ooh look
the circus is in town

maybe now is my chance
to pull up and over and run away
with a tired old sawdust queen
sold as seen

amidst this arrid contemplation
...

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Hung Out To Dry

If God the father sent Christ to die
For the sins of you and I,
Wear a crown of thorns, bleed and cry
Oh dad you've hung me out to dry,
Forsaken me, nailed me high (heave and sigh) -
Then I don't understand the truth,
Of this cosmic act of child abuse.

Where one cannot do otherwise, blame
Cannot be assigned. Judas & the Jews
Constrained, fitted up, put in the frame,
...

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Her PERFUME was like a vapour trail.                                                                                

She flew in THAT sky.                                                                                                               

She CLIMBED higher and higher.                                                                                       

They CHA...

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Probably my last blog of 2013 so all the very best for the New Year everyone;

Time is in the moment 
The moment is in the deed
The deed is in the action
The action is in the need

Time is in the moment
The moment of the choice
The choice is in the substance
The substance gives us a voice.

Time is in the moment
The moment of the voice
The voice is in the message
The lips ...

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i know not who dwells in my brain,

maybe its you, maybe its him.

maybe its the morphine,

in my blood stream.

or maybe its just my lucid dream.

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Yo hear me now; yo lissen hear

It’s time to wrap dis time o year

So all yo sisters an yong bloodz

Spread de word ararnd yo hudz

So trolleys up an baggies darn

An turn dat Burby cap ararn

An wrap

Ye wrap

An all dem Aldiz an best dealz

Gimme what yo got fo realz

Scent fo sis, dem socks fo bro

An Advoca fo ma fo sho. Yo!

Check out yo knowin which is which

D...

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Trying to understand
my place in this complicated world,
my soul was sorely troubled -
And He whispered to me softly.

Trying to comprehend
my divine purpose within His Family,
my desires were unfocused -
And He whispered to me gently.

By giving myself completely to Him,
I found absolute abundance
that's sustained by Salvation's foundation -
And He whispered to me quietly...

"Well...

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Chasing patterns around the ceiling

candle flickering

in the half-light

Chasing patterns around the mind

with myself dickering

hunting for the right

Chasing patterns around you

so little bickering

you’re a delight

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Merry Christmas, my dear friends!
At this holy feast let's hold out hands!

Let’s think and dream of the best!
You are all my dearest and blessed.

Without you I can’t imagine my life,
And with you I can stand any strife.

Long awaited Christmas has come!
For me and you it’s a true momentum.

The holy star, my friends, has lightened,
The whole world for us has brightened.

The star’...

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...along the shoreline water's edge ...I skim across its foaming roar, ...I see her standing on the ledge... of rock and waiting wanting more...

foto and words Tommy Carroll

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Circe’s Antidote

you crawl from the damp earth
where we buried you last year
your gnarled fingers scraping
away from the soil
reaching for the skies
who tip their tears upon your
outstretched pleading aspirations
dying ice crystals melt around
your roots chilling your heart
turning your petals to snow
you dance a lazy swaying waltz
urged on by an insistent breeze
blanching the green...

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(the word was)

dot

mote

speck

infinity

infinitesimally

blastocysted

mitosised

ovaried

en-tubed

embryo`d

fostered

termed

fleshed

born

(and dwelt among us)

A happy, peaceful, (and merry)

Christmas to all my fellow poets

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It starts as nothing more than air.

The curl of frozen breath or a

hint of smoke collapsed on the wind

icing latent tress laid bare.

Carried through winter's dark womb

of hard silver frosts. Muted snow

a million silent lights, sharp

in the stiffening cold, a harp-

song of hope. Until suddenly

it's obvious. Obvious like

the moon, full on a cloudless night,

through t...

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It was Christmas Eve in the Abbey

And we sat on pilgrim pew

Tomb- hedged by The Oppressed

 Or History’s Victors blessed.

The candles were all flickering

On martyrs at their rest

And the politics of certainty

Cast shadows at my feet.

The heavy door gusted open

Like musket- hammered wood,

 I retraced intent to keep the warmth

But turned at frosted breath.

The...

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best wishes folks

A Gift x

Waiting in the queue

As far back as the eyes can see

I wait

And wait

To get you something

For all the things you’ve done for me

Priceless, you gave it free

Held my hand when sadness swept over  me

A smile at the end of a long day.

I’m paying you back in a small way

Waiting in the queue,

Tired after a long day.

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THE BOMB THAT DIDN'T EXPLODE

It’s still remembered today

The bomb that didn’t explode

That crashed through the church ceiling

During the Second World War

Sparing some three hundred lives

A replica may be seen

Here in the vestry corner

At St Mary’s in Mosta

With photos of the soldiers

Called to make the real bomb safe

And despite votive candles

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There was a star that I once prayed to like me it was stuck out in space
Till one day it fell and I followed suit when I woke I remember your face
Suddenly the darkness was replaced by the spark of us and the way your lips taste
Everyday an urgency to be next to you no more time is waste
A new definition of hurt I've come to know to want someone this way 
I'll never hold back when intwined in...

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The Quiet Compere Tour is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Manchester – The Three Minute Theatre - Friday 31st January 2014

York – The Cityscreen Basement Bar - Friday 28th February 2014

Birmingham – MAC Hexagon - Friday 21st March 2014

Kendal – Brewery Arts Centre - Saturday 26th April 2014

Liverpool – Blackburne House Café - Frid...

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Only seen a photograph

Will she be fat
Will she be thin.
Will she smell of Garlic
Are her toes crooked.
Are her teeth straight
Does she squint.
I want all of this
Perhaps not the Garlic.

She will be sweet
She will be loving.
Her nature pure
Adventurous, impulsive.
Exploring me
Taking, giving.
Touching feeling
Loving and sure.

Will he be fat
Will he be thin.
Just between th...

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Blurred years roll in and out of mind.
Old stones thrown to ripple stilled lakes
show, how supple experience can be.
Pleats in the cloth were absurdities. 
Revealed, in retrospect, as feet
firming the sand of our foundation.

Now we stand on stone, solid
as Stockport’s viaduct on hay.
The river flows below us, as we watch
guttering lanterns float away,
and trains cross to othe...

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There is a love that goes unimagined

Running deep within the spirit,

One that doesn’t show every thought

Nor the fleeting gestures that it might merit.

Yet it is so true and strong unimagined

Weaving strands of diamond thread,

One that isn’t always on display

But yet is saluted in the very stars instead.

It will be there in worlds unimagined

Outshining all thin...

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Lulled and startled-

Bleeding by the babbling brook of the caged telly

Lulled and startled-

Snapped bones jar at the swish of the double doors

That shroud the curses of fun loving nurses

Skin as raw and cold as corn beef

Some teath broken

From biting the apple

This man has been picked on

Battered

And buggered

All his life

You know

He’s been squashe...

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#Love #sending

#weektrending

#Madiba #Tata

#singing #proud

#leader

#fighter

#castingoff

#apartheid #curse

#poverty #misery

#freedom #verse

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There was a black cat on a grave

He did not want to misbehave

He was abandoned there

And it was just not fair

But then he attended the Zombie Rave

This Limerick was inspired
by "Limerick Friday"/Facebook

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I remember looking up,
holding your big hand;
the moon large and bright

just like it is tonight --

we walked hand in hand
as we talked of dreams
and visiting far away lands.

I remember looking down
at my shoes, hands on my lap
as I was told to apply myself --

just hunker down;

I alone had to make my path
no talk of dreams or wishes
until the work before me was done.

I...

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The 2nd January.

Our next event is not until the 16th of January (3rd week in January).

Happy Christmas everyone!

Best of

Chris

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            Unwanted

Live in my house

But do not leave a footprint

Upon my life.

No cup nor plate

To mark your passing.

No hair on brush

No careless towel

 In blameless bathroom.

No toasted crumb

No waste nor wrap

On flawless floor

No ill placed bag

Nor muddied boot

In hallowed hall.

I will ignore the path

I see you take.

You m...

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Worried about family conflicts this Clashmas, especially those of a political nature? My new book of poems will bring instant harmony! Order from http://www.attilathestockbroker.com/ in the next couple of days for delivery by Crassmas!

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I goes by the name of frosty don’t you know

A cool snowman who is the star of the show

Hey happy seasonal people I got nowhere to go

I am stuck to the spot watching the festive glow

Just saw a reindeer fly across the night sky

Santa rocking by on a sleigh said yo ho ho ho hi

Three dudes going by the name of the wise men

Asked me the way to the town of Bethlehem

I looked up ...

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Although we stare until our eyes go fuzzy
nothing stirs,  no whisker,  not a nostril.
The pond has want of life but we live hopeful:
the fringing sedge is dense,  the water scuzzy
and these impediments can well excuse the
absence of movement.  At least we have a photo,
a snap displaying capybara profiles,
unmistakable if somewhat muzzy.

A quarter hour ago the pair revealed
their forms i...

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Here it is - recorded by the lovely Joy France at the Tudor crimbo party last Thursday! For some reason, it won't work from the blog entry but it will on the Comments box! Meh. See below :)

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I will never let you know

They same time heals pain

Breaking up then seemed sane

But the happy memories last

The pain is shrouded in the past

I did not think

That when I hear your name my heart would sink

And now I feel a fool

As I try and play it cool

When I see you my resolve begins to flake

I try to hide it for my own sake

Yet I am haunted by the ...

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I remember the day my heart spoke to me, it cried out in a voice of pain.

Begging me, pleading with me, eventually persuading me, to take charge and make change to my life.

In a beat of that heart, my mind was changed.

I had crumbled at the realisation to what suffering I had caused myself and others around me.

I cried with hurt and remorse, with a serious aching, a sadness in my soul.

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I would like to stay on site to follow someone who uses a pen name, but I feel there is much more to life than poetry,internet sites,books ect.

I love my life despite all the ups and down.

I have had a fascinating life full of richness and packed with laughter but those experiences don't make good poems.

I managed to get mum to go in a wheelchair we spent 3 hrs in town and tesco and laugh...

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http://campus.poetryschool.com

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(with apologies to Michael Jackson)

They told him Christmas time is getting so near

Don't want to go shopping you'd better look right here

The goods are there and the instructions are clear

So click it, just click it

You better order stuff whenever you can

The Trafford Centre is one big traffic jam

Just sit back, wait for the delivery van

So click it - cos you nee...

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THE MIND F***ER

I sit there. My hands are shaking and my brain is in so many sections....

like a shattered mirror whose pieces never fit quite right anymore...

I never wanted to go into the A&E but he and she said I should else something bad occurs.

I go... bitter and twisted about the experience, but I go.

I sit waiting in the reception. I'm scared and I'm worried about those peopl...

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Senses softened in the dark afternoon
This year is charring in the fire grate
So I pour out into the haunted fields
Looking for loneliness, for lines, for clues
To get a handle on all that’s happened
To make predictions on where I am headed

All around my body, the world’s covered by a sheet
Life’s decorator is preparing to paint the new year
This land spills on for snowy miles
My past r...

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Badger, badger, you can breathe

End of cull, a brief reprieve

Targets missed, faces red

Too few badgers pronounced dead

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I feel incomplete deep inside my broken soul,

for what is a solution without its problem?

What is a beating heart with no one to beat for?

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I always felt it would be a game,

between you and I,

cat and mouse I thought,

me the cat ,

playing the chase,

never leaving your side,

not too far wrong was i.

Yet it turned out to be chess we play,

naturally you chose black,

leaving me with white,

you being from the dark side

and I from the light.

I moved first,

you next with black knight,

game ...

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When I came to South Africa

I packed little information

And what I saw and what I learned

Gave little cause for celebration

What I saw on arrival

Gave me cause for some surprise

The manmade heap rising in leaps

Echoed the miner’s cries

The people here, it seems to me

Are eager to transform

But given expectations

Change ...

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