What if these once shivering timbers could talk

Tell tales about those who once walked between them.

The scenes they’d not so much seen 

As absorbed with the salt of the spray

And the tears, shed in the triangular trade 

in which so many souls were bought

And sold, young and old alike, back in the days

When the darker fruit of the tree of humanity

Were just another commodit...

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At five o’clock the Tories dribble poison in my ears

trying hard to hide their perma-smirks they giggle at our fears.

Trumpeting as triumphs, all the targets they’ve not met.

They twist the truth like wicker man and hope we’ll all forget

that they failed to act in time to protect our brave frontline

And they watched the death toll climb, while they told us we were fine

But w...

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My absent comrade

A fickle and inconstant friend,

of whom I rarely see enough.

It’s within you my dreams reside

but without you, I feel rough.

You’re absent when I need you most,

then sneak up on me, unexpected.

Can’t you see, you’re broken and disjointed

when I need you to be connected?

But if we weren’t to meet again

I doubt that I could I cope.

I ...

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Why I went back 

A posthumous poem in the voice of Walter Tull – 28.04.1888 to 25.03.1918

Until you’ve been under fire

hunkered down in some funk hole

you’ll never know terror, the horror

or the damage to the soul

that just one barrage can do,

before you ever hear the whistle’s blast

that, sadly it’s true

for all too many,

signals this’ll be your last.

So...

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Drowning in the Drought

At times I drip with poetry

The words simply pour out of me

A flow it seems no dam could ever stop

Until, I’m drowning in the drought

A flood of tears and mere self-doubt

That withers, in the barn, my finest crop.

17.1.2020

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One Minute
Just take one minute
to listen
to remember
to understand
to reset,
to step back
to refocus
to rewind
to regret.

Just take one minute
to rest
to rebalance
to breathe
to cry,
to think
to question
to reflect
to wonder why.

Just take one minute,
then, if you can,
take one minute more;
to work out what you need,
to decide just what this minute’s for.

If you...

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Mind the gaps.

There are no happy ever afters,

just some gaps between the tears,

with houses packed unto their rafters

in which you can forget your fears

surrounded by those who love you

and perhaps by those that you love too.

I do hope your gaps are many; 

And that your tears are singularly few

for while our tears are two-a-penny

such gaps are quite pricele...

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I will gladly be your beacon,
or equally the hand you hold 
in the moments just before the dawn 
you fear will never come.

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It’s in those moments 

That make us smile whilst crying

We find poetry.

It can be found as

The sun leaves behind a sky

Made of candy floss.

It can be found at 

Dawn, beneath the thunder cloud

Which could quench or drown.

It can be found in

The caress of a loved one,

You won’t see again.

It can be found by

Those who still demand justic...

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1.0 

Just look at you go, 
Version 2.0,
an upgrade and that's no mistake.
I know we've both advanced
we’ve progressed, we're enhanced
but here's an EULA I will not break.
I'll watch the ports at your back
guard against cyber-attack
I swear by my serial key that's no fake!
Even with my mode set to stressed,
by my code, I'm impressed
to find how feature-rich a brother, you might make.

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Of the man who maintained 

That women should refrain

From applying their make-up on a moving train.

I ask where is your brain?

And how dare you complain?

And does your arrogance stem from a taste for cocaine?

You’re archaic forsooth

Sickening #metoo my back tooth 

So yeah, you’re about to get burnt by the fire in this booth.

You claim that she’s uncouth

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You’re not a writer yet, 

until your work is more than just some poems.

You’re not a writer yet, 

so don’t forget you must keeping going.

You’re not a writer yet 

because you ‘might’ by the writing bug have been bitten.

You’re not a writer yet,

if getting it right, means more than getting it written.

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Some claim they don't do politics 

Cos it's a game of dirty tricks

That powerful people try to fix

I guess that much is true.

I too can see what's going wrong

The same sad singers sing the same sad songs

Leaving no space for me and you

To feel that we belong.

But if that leaves us in a rage

Which makes us choose not to engage

We leave for them an empty stage

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From the land of the wall wishing brave, 

where braves are no longer welcome,

or this, our island of explorers 

who now wish these sea shores were 

fringed with endless rows of closed doors,

have migrated many mantras of woe

fired forth from the business of diplomatic show.

And so, below the same stars 

beneath which some mothers starve 

- but not ours -

some wil...

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I might make you laugh, but I might also make you cry,
I might give you answers or make you question why.
I can look so serious or sound really quite absurd
I am divine unseen pen pictures designed to be heard.
I will make comparisons to shine a light inside your heart
I’ll begin our stories with with an epilogue or end them near their start.
My language can be quite colourful, yes I have be...

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Intolerants not welcome - The battle of Lewisham 13.08.1977

An anti muggers march, called by mugs who wanted to spread hate

August thirteenth in ’seventy seven, history demands we mark the date

when South East London screamed out for black and white to unite and fight,

ensuring wronguns on right would never again be so bold or bright.

The backward Front was in for one...

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What’s around the bend? A question that drives

much exploration, inspiring such fear

both irrational and reasonable

but also all our hope for the passing

of the storms we fear will capsize our lives.

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Sometimes this fellow follows,
sometimes he leads my way.
At times my closest companion
can still seem quite far away.

I don't doubt he's a dapper dresser,
he's oft spotted sporting a hat,
'though his figure frequently fluctuates
from tall and wiry, down to small and fat.

He is easily seen by moonlight
'though his profile is lower at noon,
and I've known him to get completely lo...

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Theresa told us, that there simply was no magic money tree

Until she conjured up a billion to buy the D.U.P.

For every vote - one hundred million? Sounds like bribery to me.

How it affects our strong and stable union - We'll have to wait to see.

Lizzie Regina - finds her coffers swelled by nearly another ten percent

While her high rise dwelling subjects get just an air bed for ...

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I have a fear of fire.

I have a fear of height.

I have a fear of being trapped alone

On my life's very last night.

I have a fear of towers.

I fear the way they sway.

The way the wind's wicked whispers

whistle past with far too much to say.

I fear some in high places.

I fear they do not care.

I fear they lack compassion

I can smell it in the air.

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In 'our land', 
which retains its leafiness, 
despite how unseasonably 
a fine few are fallen.

Just beneath fury's fierce flame;
our city's many bridges
a metaphor for so much more
defiantly stand still.

I pray today, it's not just me
who hears them screaming silently
'To join together is our fate
we will not hate, we will not hate.'

4.06.17

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We've heard sectarian and racist hate
seen a governing body in a sad old state
fans forced to flee flying fists in fear
but football's problem is not just beer.

We've Neo-Nazis, ultras and yobs
most whom must hold decent jobs.
Some come just for the fight I hear
so football's problem can't be just beer.

We over-pay schoolboy prima-donnas
to create cheap imitation Maradonas
for a si...

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We need to weave the silvery strands 
of poetry that line life's thunder clouds 
into a canopy to cover all humanity. 
For I fear the storm that I see coming 
and that we may not have seen 
the worst of it quite yet.

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Look, I like having legal rights; to be a citizen not just a subject,
but I’m not without doubts about this great European project.
No, I don’t fear drowning in seas of asylum seekers some’d prefer out of my backyard
but the far right’s rise darkens my night skies and I find some truths really are quite hard.
Yes, the status quo is twisted so some not so nice people do too well off it,
b...

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Young and wrinkly

You are not getting old

But numerically you've advanced

No, you're not getting old

You're just chronologically enhanced.

You are not growing up

But of this much I am sure

To avoid growing up

We must become more immature.

We must dance until our joints creak

And sing until we can't speak,

Laugh until our lungs ache

And love until ...

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It started at 100 with a Kiss

and then, at the dial’s heart, another,

with a hissier signal that was easier to miss.

Suddenly those in London who loved a black voice

started to get spoilt by the concept that was Choice!

Djs previously at the mercy of the DTI

were now legal broadcasters to you and I.

It was such a unique and exciting time for us as group,

...

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The Empowerer

First his father gave him Rolihlahla,

The ‘pulling branch of a tree’

Or the ‘trouble maker’.

He certainly troubled some.

When he became a man

They gave him Dalibunga,

‘Convenor of dialogue’.

But he did more than speak.

To many he is Khulu or Tata

The great one,

Father or grandfather of a nation.

A living symbol of tran...

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Twenty years ago, 
he is waiting for a bus,
'Cos twenty years ago 
he is simply one of us.
But just twenty years ago, 
he comes under attack,
Just 'cos twenty years ago, 
this teenager is black.

Twenty years ago, 
he runs for his life,
'Cos twenty years ago, 
racists stick him with a knife.
Twenty years ago, 
this firework is far too fleeting,
And so twenty ...

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I know I’ve got a lot of stuff and no, I don’t need much more.

I know advertising’s full of guff and persuasion is what it’s for.

I know others needs are greater, but too often I forget

As I’m a self-berating splurger, oft wracked with deep regret.

No matter if you’re measuring in common, pounds or pence,

Too often it would seem that we have more money than sense.

I kno...

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As life's wheel rotates 
Sometimes it seems that all is lost,
Or that the newest, will be the greatest turn.
But, since we have to learn to fly
Before we ever crash and burn
See each move or generation ahead instead,
As simply the latest in an everlastingly long line of revolutions.

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(to the tune of 'coming round the mountain')

The Greek people they have had it up to here,

With those ‘haves’ that say these times must be austere.

Forbes’ list shows the same old picture

The poor pay up - the rich get richer

Publishing financial crimes without a fear.

Has the Parisian Republic gone berserk?

I mean, growth through spending... ...

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Today Bella died

And yes, both of us cried

‘Though we know so much is sadder than that.

Still she was a good friend,

Dignified ‘til the end

And now, we‘re gonna miss that cat.

She’d warmed both our feet

Would be waiting to greet

And before you could lay down your hat,

You’d hear that great purr

Feel the rub of her fur,

Oh how we’re gonna m...

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Make a stand

You can make a stand against wrong-doing or stand for what is right,

You can make a stand as a pacifist as to stand is not to fight.

You can make a stand with a fist aloft or stand with a lowered gaze,

You can make a stand that’s popular or stand without seeking praise.

You can make a stand by marching or stand up by sitting down,

You can make a stand if yo...

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I am hosting and have some great features, Anthony Anaxagorou and HKB FiNN.

Get a chance to discuss the work with the poets, intimately!

Open mic available

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=245456218837616

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If this is a day

On a page or stage

That asks you to say...

Something.

With rhyme or not

Keeping time or

Stopping to make your meaning clearer

Bringing the distant nearer

Unpacking the treasured memories

Buried oh so slightly to the left in your chest

Explaining why someone pushes all your buttons

And how each and every button feels to be depressed

And doing all...

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If I were to tell my story, which story would I tell,

Of a brightly painted glory, or a shadow haunted hell

Sharing in the same location, period and cast,

Differing in where the tales begin and in the words delivered last.

There'd need be no deliberate inconsistency in terms or actual plot and

Yet some facts, just out of focus, will seemingly be forgotten.

Like in two sh...

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"Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth".
Samuel Johnson

"prose - words in their best order; poetry - the best words in their best order."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words."
Edgar Allan Poe

A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and th...

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Today I didn’t change the world at least not very much

I did not win the lottery nor save some other’s life

But on my way I tried to help the few that I did touch

By finding hope in poetry when hopelessness was rife.

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Do you have to dress smart to make wise?

Can you better teach art wearing ties?

Aren’t there so many places

More suited to airs and graces

Than one which education supplies?

Can we make divergent thinking the norm

Whilst we’re all being forced to conform

To what seems to me an antiquated fashion

Amputated of utility and passion?

A retrograde ste...

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