The Ice was broken
The Ice was broken
A glance of recognition ignited us
as strangers in an uncomfortable silence
Aware of where we were, and almost alone
as empty tables surrounded us
Sounds from the kitchen in the background
with a waiter who hovered in boredom
We glanced once more, only furtively
as we took in each other's presence
I became increasingly concious of his pr...
Saturday 31st December 2022 12:15 pm
The Writer writes on
The Writer writes on
My body has two arms
and they have hands
These hands have fingers
which can hold my pen
Thoughts and ideas from my mind
travel along my arm
to my hand and fingers
They reach my pen
from where my mind
is a source of creation
As I write the ink from my pen
flows like blood from the nib
and onto the page
There is an intimacy here
...Thursday 29th December 2022 10:14 pm
The Poet
The Poet
Poets are those who speak their minds
Astute they find those willing to hear
Poets search their souls and investigate
They transmit their findings into a message
One which caresses the ready ear
Words which strike cords in the heart
They require conviction and integrity
Fearlessly to expose wrong doing
To champion causes thought to be lost
Poets are obse...
Tuesday 13th December 2022 9:18 pm
Wisdom
Wisdom
We live in a world of uncertainties and confusion
tossed about hither and thither
Often not knowing which way to turn
doing what is right and avoiding wrong
Wisdom offers solutions to life's problems
sound advice is readily available
But from where do we find wisdom?
has it a source in the milieu of today's world?
More than ever do we need wisdom
yet seldo...
Saturday 10th December 2022 11:58 am
All will be well
All will be well
I came to in the early hours of the night
the darkness of my room was full of shadows and silhouettes
Silence permeated each long hour
as I lay there with a mind fraught with a myriad of thoughts
Then came that rain, the acid drops of anxiety
and with it a sense of panic
Money worries, contentious relations
and other trivia out of all proportion
My ...
Friday 9th December 2022 9:23 am
Austerity Returns
Austerity Returns
I have lived through years of austerity
in the long and distant past
Those post war days of rationing and frugality
when clothes were mended and food was scarce
Days, weeks, months and years of being without
bereft of the solace of television or mobile phones
Gardens designed to sport flowers were turned
into vegetable patches
People walked for mil...
Friday 2nd December 2022 10:01 pm
I need to see clearly now
I need to see clearly now
We are caught and entagled in a synthetic web
the recipients of fake news, the victims of deceit
Confused and bewlidered we stagger about
mentally dull and spiritually exhausted
We flounder and stumble from pillar to post
lost in a world, a web that entices and seduces us
My eyes are dimmed, my heart flags
yet resistence is only a step aw...
Monday 21st November 2022 10:46 pm
In the twinkling of an eye
In the twinkling of an eye
There one minute and gone the next
aged 19 years in uniform in Belgium
The movement was toward Dunkirk
as he stood in the midst of fleeing people
A bomb completely obliterated him
leaving no trace whatsoever
No body to be laid to rest only dust
blown away in the twinkling of an eye
He was dearly loved and sorely missed
a name engraved o...
Friday 18th November 2022 9:10 pm
The Edge of Emptiness
The Edge of Emptiness
It was always at night that I could hear the silence
Enveloped in an inky blackness under a canopy of a trillion stars
We sat around a fire of already scorched wood
An oud played and someone nearby sang mournfully
Often with exhileration there was a unison of hand clapping
A goat which had baked all day in its eartly oven
Was exhumed and with a salad...
Wednesday 16th November 2022 6:27 pm
Quiet Desperation
Quiet Desperation
Most live out their lives in quiet desperation
the perpetual victims of human frustration
We clamour for joy and fulfilment
always seeking for some kind of contentment
We chase rainbows and the unobtainable
only to be left with what is on our table
We hanker for love and eternal bliss
but the most we have is a mere kiss
The grass is alway...
Wednesday 16th November 2022 11:10 am
The River of Babylon
The River of Babylon
I dip my feet in tranquil waters
as I sit on the banks of the River of Babylon
Yet on the horizon I see a stormy sea
where dark heavy laden clouds resound
with the sound of thunder
In the far distance and out of sight
the incessant rumble of gun fire brings fear
My heart is troubled by images of suffering
of those whose homes are reduced to rubb...
Saturday 12th November 2022 8:52 am
This War
This War
This war is endlessly pursued
each day reveals horrors endured
It is not what this is for
but from whom it came to the fore
We all know his name
which speaks of his infamy
Soldiers on both sides die every day
civilians join this melancholy fray
People are being deceived
as they join those who are bereaved
War crimes reveal the horror
and result in ...
Friday 11th November 2022 12:24 pm
Stifled Voices
Stifled Voices
A thousand clouds cry out
from those who dwell beneath
their muffled moans fade
as they live in perpetual shade
Above the clouds oblivious
they shower rain below
on those who sigh and weep
and then fall readily asleep
The elite with harps atuned
entertain an audience unseen
to those who desire not a tune
as they face their personal ...
Sunday 16th October 2022 9:39 pm
The Vault of Dreams
The Vault of Dreams
Subliminal moments flutter past
Shadowy faces forgotten or lost
Emerge to live anew in our darkest view
This we unnaturally self imbue
Passive observers we partly engage
In a place with others on a stage
Time has no domain in this dimension
We are subject to another retention
The natural elements seem remote
As we sail about without a stroke
...Monday 5th September 2022 7:40 pm
Sounds for the Soul
Sounds for the Soul
Music carries on its wings the nostalgia of memories and
through clouds propels us forward
Haunting concertos relive past conflicts and struggles
The mind responds and conjures up images to suit the melody
A piano easily awakens both mind and soul
The violin evokes tearful times of deep sadness
Drums rumble their warning of impending doom or triumph
...Sunday 4th September 2022 9:47 pm
Seminal
Seminal
A fertile mind of original thought made manifest
in colours and shapes from which nature cannot escape
In those creative crevices seeds are born
whose fruit soars above the expectations of all
These artists own ideas held in minds
which are hallowed caves where beauty lies
Chaos lives here too for little can obstruct
what has been given life
Dreams of both d...
Saturday 3rd September 2022 9:59 pm
A New Horizon must Dawn
A New Horizon must Dawn
I no longer live in the world I grew up in
The old guidelines and differences are blurred
Certainties have been replaced with chaos
I feel cut adrift from my reality and am permanently confused
A steadfast sense of security has given way to apprehension and fear
I no longer wish to engage only to retreat
Before my eyes history tragically repeats it...
Friday 2nd September 2022 6:08 pm
Evil Rulers
Evil Rulers
How easily the criminally insane seize power
How they inveigle their nefarious way through the
corridors of the corrupt
How they take the richest pickings and deprive
the poor and weak
How they pocket the wealth of the tax payer and
...
Tuesday 30th August 2022 7:38 pm
A Cruise Ship
A Cruise Ship
It arrives in the harbour as a monstrosity
resembling a floating block of flats.
It disgorges a human cargo
of over fed geriatrics whose manners and attitude
cause me to disown my own
Arrogance is unleashed and atrocious examples
of ill mannered behaviour
are exemplified
This is a witness to who and what we have become
Time draws nigh on this appall...
Friday 26th August 2022 6:51 pm
I dare not speak
I dare not speak
I am catapulted into another time and place
A shanty town in Latin America where I spend my remaining time
I am old now, robust yet frail with years that drain me
I live in a street of chabolistas, amongst the poor
I subsist on renumerated pensions
and drink my time away
I smoke a pipe and feel the sway
An Indian neighbour proffers me her teenage daugh...
Tuesday 23rd August 2022 2:19 am
Re incarnate
Re incarnate
I am often hauled from a past which is familiar but remote
It has a Germanic flavour of reminiscence
I carry a past which is not my own
A language I have not learned but speak
I am plunged into a time and place where I find a warmth
Yet wonder at its familarity
I sing the songs and hum the tunes
I am in another age and time
I am fully there, but is it ...
Saturday 20th August 2022 10:10 pm
Days of Innocence
Days of Innocence
Childhood was mostly uncomplicated
I was as naive as my friends
We played simple games
A toy box under the stairs
Nature rambles at school
Learning to ride my two wheeler bicycle
Feeding my goldfish won at a fair
Playing on swings and roundabouts in the park
Adventurous excursions into the countryside
Swimming lessons paid for by Dad
Helping ...
Tuesday 16th August 2022 9:51 am
Night into Day
Night into Day
During the summer months I turn night into day
I sleep little but come alive in the darkness of the night
A time of quietness and stillness
When the soul is able to breathe
and the mind is released from daily bondage
I hunger for such a time as my soul is replenished and restored
I am enveloped in another world
when others slumber I am truly awake
Fre...
Sunday 14th August 2022 1:36 pm
Permanently Locked Down
Permanently Locked Down
I worked hard all my life
and never took a wife
I paid all my taxes on time
and was seldom ever heard to whine
I served my country in the Army
which I now consider to have been barmy
I was never in trouble with the law
if anything I was something of a bore
My retirement came to free me
but the purse strings now strangle me
I live by han...
Saturday 13th August 2022 9:07 pm
It flashed before me.......
It flashed before me.....
My life flashed before me as I let go of its final moments
There appeared a screen with a celluloid recording of all that had gone before
Visions of cameos darted before my eyes
in a chaotic mixture woven through the annals of my earthly clamour
A time to remember in a myriad sequence of events
A flurry of illustrated times held in sepia, black and ...
Wednesday 10th August 2022 5:24 pm
Starved of Love
Starved of Love
My inner being was that of a nomad in a vast desert
My landscape as undulating sand and arid, stifling throughout the day
I longed for an oasis but did not know where to find one
The desert nights are cold, dark and uninviting
I discovered a cavern, a darkened enclosure
the interior was indiscernible
I felt my way forward into a sultry space, I was no...
Tuesday 9th August 2022 11:47 pm
The Rocky Road to Ruin
The Rocky Road to Ruin
I see a world consumed with greed
caught in a web of deceit and guile
Violence flows as a pyro plastic mass
as men seek unlimited,and unrestrained gratification
People trample carelessly on each other
they grapple and cajole for power and dominance
Wealth is the new immoral goal
its pursuance a new religious cult
There is a craving f...
Monday 8th August 2022 4:21 pm
The Clock tells the same Time
The Clock tells the same Time
A haunting melody spoke of a time long ago
A time of great suffering now barely remembered
A violin alone was able to take people back into a darkness
To a time of persecution and torment
As cattle trucks transported people to their deaths
War crimes, when is war not a crime?
Humanity debased itself in a blanket of hatred and perversion
Th...
Wednesday 3rd August 2022 9:41 pm
A Second Chance
A Second Chance
I did not listen to His voice
I allowed it to be smothered by other voices
I listened to my own voice
and to my own detriment
I had joined the foolish
and participated in their futile games
I followed their callings and conformed
as those led to a prepared slaughter
I jeopardised my soul and life
In old age I repent of this daily
time wasted, t...
Friday 29th July 2022 10:31 am
Post War Bliss
Post War Bliss
We had gained a great vistory over an evil foe
and those who came home from war were glad to let go
They laid down their arms and put on civil clothing
and went in search of peace and an absence of loathing
Those warriors had defeated a fascist power
to now go in search of a good lawn mower
Those days of welcomed peace were almost beyond belief
as the na...
Wednesday 13th July 2022 9:40 pm
Out of the Shadows
Out of the Shadows
I have withdrawn myself to a new place
far removed from the perfidy of the rat race
I no longer pay any attention to the news
and by far prefer my own muse
The lying and cheating of the political class
can now go an kiss my hairy ass
I have started anew in a realm inhabited by a few
where intellectuals, poets and artists have a vision which is new
...Monday 11th July 2022 8:46 pm
Smoking Kills
Smoking Kills
As the blue smoke reaches the ceiling and spreads across the room
non smokers reel in horror and contemplate their doom
Cigarettes cannot achieve this as they are so mundane
but cigars and pipes are certainly not the same
Savour the flavour of hand picked mature leaves
as non smokers breathe in the fumes and heave
My joy is an appropriate drink and conducive...
Thursday 7th July 2022 10:27 pm
True Friendship
True Friendship
Blood is thicker than water so they say
Does this diminish friendship along the way?
In friendship there grows a bond of trust
that when apart remains a must
Families grew with us from day one
yet a friendship takes time to come
Friends are many but the special are few
and every day they are renewed like the dew
Kith and kin are a given fact
but a...
Tuesday 5th July 2022 7:11 pm
Endless Conflict
Endless Conflict
They are at it again
as we gaze upon the slain
War has once more visited us
and infiltrates itself amongst us
A new dictator emerges
an insidious power surges
Men argue and grapple for power
and take up arms in the tower
Generals say this way follow me
and so the troops do and so will we
Fear and ignorance sieze control
and in man's heart d...
Monday 4th July 2022 3:51 pm
Self Discovery
Self Discovery
Welcome to the real me
for I have made a discovery
From beneath the veneer of conformity
I have realised my true identity
The old self of endless falsehood
has been transformed into a new personhood
I have come to accept my own ecstasy
where I acknowledge my predilictions and some fantasy
A new person has emerged for all to see
and there are some w...
Tuesday 28th June 2022 9:13 am
Palm Trees
Palm Trees
They bend as if in a willing act of obeisance to the ocean
Their fronds fluctuate and quiver in the simmering breeze
The scenery is adorned and given a name by their luxurious presence
Each has its own identity and bouyant beauty
They live and thrive in a tropical idyll
A secret voice is whispered in the rustling of their palms
It speaks of peace and harmony wi...
Saturday 18th June 2022 9:59 pm
Artists, Writers & Poets speak out
Artists, Writers & Poets speak out
In the heart of Mother Russia
there beats the drum of fervent dissent
Intellectuals, artists, writers and poets
speak out against a tyrannical regime
These men and women are held in high esteem
but find themselves persecuted indeed
Free expression through the arts is aggresively supressed
because the authorities think they know best
...Thursday 9th June 2022 9:25 am
Renewed Hope
Renewed Hope
My heart aches as tears freely fall
What is this conflict for?
Why should such a tragedy befall us?
My soul laments and I am downcast
Misery inhabits my inner being
as the young and innocent are
sacrificed on the altar of irrelevance
Why should this be?
How can we be led into this valley pf perpetual destruction?
Do we not recall the past?
Is hist...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 3:09 pm
Deprecated
Deprecated
We have sold the old furniture
beautifully crafted with nurture
We have thrown out the baby
with the bath water completely
God has faded into our lost landscape
and nothing has replaced his divine space
Culture and heritage are now scorned
and no longer a part of our daily norm
We seldom read, write, play an instrument or paint
and not one thing has re...
Monday 30th May 2022 1:25 pm
Never Again & No More
Never Again & No More
They rush headlong into the fray of battle
or coerced and seduced into
some patriotic endeavour
Their leaders sit on the sidelines
as passive spectators, politicians at best
liars and deluded fools
together as young men are denied
their maturity and hopes
Mangled and distorted corpses
are retuned to loved ones in bags
of plastic despair
...Saturday 28th May 2022 11:34 am
Futility
Futility
The tyrannical psychopath
spews forth his bile on a world in fear
Once more from his lofty secured throne
evil plans receive their final brush strokes
Skilfully implemented he herds the innocent and young
into a uniformity of malevolence
Lies are breathed through corrupt organs
to distort and exhort valour and courage
Apathy is transformed into purpose
a...
Wednesday 11th May 2022 2:01 pm
The New Czar
The New Czar
Have we not been here before
thrown against the evils of war
Dictators are back as ever before
who act in defiance of the law
They care not for life nor limb
but act according to their whim
They lie, deceive and cheat us all
as people die beneath a smokey pall
Dictators are the serpents of evil
and care not who or what they kill
To stamp...
Saturday 26th February 2022 6:48 am
An Elegy for England
An Elegy for England
As you sink beneath the waves of time
I lament your demise with a heavy heart
Dearly loved I carry in my heart memories of you
Tears well up in my eyes as I witness your passing
as the morning dew is squeezed from your verdant pastures
The honour and dignity of your past glory
ebbs like an out going tide leaving a bare pool in the sands of time
Far...
Saturday 22nd January 2022 2:56 pm
The Enemy Within
The Enemy Within
Is freedom of speech alive and well
are we through free expression able to tell
Are we politically aware as we should be
through deception and corruption can we see
Are our dreams and ambitions represented
or are we ignored by those chosen yet disinterested
Is our tax money honestly and well used
or is our hard work and good nature daily abused
A na...
Wednesday 19th January 2022 11:58 pm
The Winter's Sun
The Winter's Sun
What a morning and with such light
as if I had torn up an old canvass
and chosen the brightest and lightest
of paints, to begin afresh and create anew
These few wintry days of radiant blue skies
with a frost underfoot and a brisk feel in the air.
The frosted grass glistens in the sun
as the trees stretch their branches in
anticipation
...
Monday 17th January 2022 10:29 am
Sirob
Sirob
Would someone please give him a comb
to smooth his hair
Or perhaps a visit to the barber's chair
to give his rumpled mess a touch of flair
Could he be schooled in the manners of
a Statesmen like dignity?
And given an injection which induces
some much needed integrity
To lead our nation we would all appreciate
people who exude at least some sartorial grace
...Sunday 16th January 2022 2:19 pm
The Deep Well of Winter
The Deep Well of Winter
An old grey blanket has been drawn over us on a darkened night
A cold chill emanates from a folorn and heavy laden landscape
Dullness as a weighty burden dwells with in us
A gloomy forecast is concealed in shorter days and longer nights
We shiver and shudder as we retreat into our nests of comfort
There is little light to cheer the frozen countenance ...
Saturday 15th January 2022 1:25 pm
Shrivelled
Shrivelled
There is a tendency as we grow old
to withdraw and hide one's soul
A peculiar need arises to be inside
almost a desire to no longer be alive
It could be a sign of some weariness
as if the soul is no longer part of us
To while away the hours with a glass
and let the mind wander in the past
This inertia is often self induced
not particularly overly influ...
Saturday 8th January 2022 8:37 pm
The Remnant
The Remnant
I belong to the remnant of a time long past
a dying breed who stood at the mast
A redundant lineage known for good manners
now old and given to stutters and stammers
We were born at a time of great austerity
about to cross the threshold into eternity
We still believe in liberty and freedom of speech
whilst reclining in deckchairs on Brighton beach
...
Friday 7th January 2022 10:52 pm
Sweet Ambition
Sweet Ambition
Our attitude to life is of real significance
as it can be the embodiment of our magnificence
Ambition is the motivation we need
in order to turn ideas into deeds
Our personality must also come into play
as does our behaviour in every way
Humility may seem contrary to ambition
nor is it an attribute of submission
It displays within us a permanent human...
Sunday 2nd January 2022 12:58 pm
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