This weeks theme sisters..this was an itch I had to scratch and WoL is the only place I can scratch it....

A Gap in a Curtain

She stood looking through a gap a few inches wide,
the fear on her face she could not hide.

My stomach lurched at this meekness of spirit,

filling every inch of me with a sadness aching and raw
for I knew that my parents could have done no more.

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Our Pets

Look at the girls tails a wagging
Greeting us at the door
Jumping up from the floor.

Eyes bright and alert.
Paw marks on a clean shirt.
Wanting to be close to you,
Closer than even our own skin;
If they could they would climb right in.

They ask for nothing except food
and affection.
In return they give us protection.

To them we are their world.
A p...

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A lighthearted reflection

When Did My Mother Arrive?

Looking in the mirror through bleary eyes,
I asked myself, when did my mother arrive?

I hear her voice calling my children 'love'.
Blimey, when did my mother arrive?

A reflection in a window, an expression on my face.
Crikey, when did my mother arrive?

My mother arrived with her smile, my smile.
My mother...

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I Have Had A Life

A new life stirs within me. A small foot making me aware of his existence.
I wait for his fathers return from work,
a favourite meal cooked and ready.
Eyes on the time. I wonder where is he?
When I have cooked a special tea.

A strange feeling weighing heavy;
a knock at the door,
Keep it steady.
A greeting with arms outstretched.
Something was wrong I had g...

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The Huntress

The huntress stalks as she walks,
her instincts sharp and honed.
She no longer wants to be alone.

The huntress does not do menial work.
No stacking shelves,
or washing dishes for someone else.
She doesn't want to work nine to five just to exist and stay alive.

Instead of spending hours in front of a mirror 
she could be designing some haute couture.
Not for our h...

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This weeks rhymers theme.. First

First One Last

First in line outside your gate.
Never one to be late.
I am no longer whole,
just one more tormented soul.

Head in hands on bended knees,
do you listen to my pleas?
This situation I have rehearsed,
I just need to be first.

I saw the smile behind your eyes,
to me it was a huge surprise.
I was waiting at the gate...

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Winter 

Winter nights draw in
A fire burning brightly
Cold air locked outside

© 2018 Taylor Crowshaw

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My tongue in cheek contribution to this weeks rhymers theme..Fire

My Aching Back

For those of you of a certain age,
as you sit and read this page.
If you have ever suffered from a bad back,
you may well remember 'Fiery Jack'.

The adverts often did reprise,
that if used regularly it would give ease.
As hot as coals 'Fiery Jack'
hurry up and help my back.

Y...

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The Dance

The dark dances as it tangles with the light.
A slow waltz performed at every dusk and dawn.
Shadows rising and falling,
swaying in perfect rhythm to a silent tune.

A single chair in a glass prison;
spoon clinking the side of the cup, as its contents are slowly stirred.
So slowly; each swirl revealing visions of days gone by.
Frail in body but not mind,
you watch t...

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My contribution to this weeks rhymers theme..Jack.

Jack

Jack; so many uses for this name,
come on let's play a little game.

'Jack of all trades master of none.'
There you go that is one.

Here are two names..Jack or Joe.
Names used sometimes for those we do not know.

Jack the lad,
we all know he's a cad.

Then there is a Jackass,
sometimes stupid ...

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Always Yesterday

I saw you yesterday,
only for the briefest moment;
when you thought nobody was watching.
Your smile slipped and your shoulders drooped;
it was only the briefest moment,
when you thought nobody was watching.

I saw you yesterday.
You flinched when we embraced;
you thought I would not notice,
when you quickly pulled away.

The last time I saw you,
 we ...

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Rhymers theme this week. Leaving home.

The Gnome from Home

I just could not wait,
my future to anticipate.
Freedom;  what a thought.
To wear that new dress I had bought.

My mother always used to say,
"This is how long I let them stay..
until they grow wings just like the rest,
then I kick them unceremoniously out of the nest."

We were always rareing to go,
to...

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Times of Trouble

In this time of remembrance.
Remembering the wars the battles the skirmishes;
the full horror only imagined.

From warm and comfortable chairs we gaze upon and wonder at the inhumanity.
We tut and huff and protest;
and then we put the kettle on, drink our tea put on a movie and forget.

Unable to cope with the reality, the horror, the injustice.
We canno...

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This Lonely Journey

I held you to my breast;
nurtured you, fiercely loved you my child.
Now you walk this line of fear,
You are on this lonely journey, and I weep.

I walk it too.
Locking the fear in a box, inside.
Deep inside.
I feel it pushing, bursting to be released,
it is stronger than me.
I paint on a smile; but my voice betrays me.
It breaks; and I cough to hide it,
...

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 The Last Apple on the Tree.                                

I hang alone,

passed by and forgotten.

The wind mocks me as it whispers softly by.

My friends lay scattered before me amongst the autumn leaves;

The sun, once so kind, exposes my long ago unblemished skin,

now mottled and brown.

Rain pummels me; and yet still I hang.

The days pass slowly; darkly.

I have ne...

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Memories

Woolen mittens cover chilblained hands,
tears before bed Mother understands.
An ill-fitting black gabardine mac.
Walnuts in a bowl by the fire to crack.

Frosted window panes greet the morning light,
as the dawn of the day replaces the night.
A winter wonderland for small fingernails to scrape.
Whilst a shivering Mother has the breakfast to make.

Covers pulled...

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Preamble: This weeks Rhymers theme..protest. My tongue in cheek contribution.

I Protest

I cannot seem to get much rest,
but how can I possibly protest?

It is hard to get much sleep.
I feel so tired I could weep.

All I want is to rest..
they can all go protest.

"Mother have you seen my phone?"
Their complaints an incessant drone.

I think I will ju...

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The Death of Love

Is our love quantifiable,
can it be counted like the grains of sand which run with ease through our fingers.
Can it be quaffed like a fine wine.
Are we defined by each others love.

Do we dissect each moment examining it carefully turning it this way and that;
was there enough passion,
enough intimate meals,
enough words;
never enough words.

You neve...

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How

How do you describe a moment;
in a life filled with moments
How do you describe one kiss;
in a lifetime full of kisses.
How do you describe that one moment
that walks with you every single second of every single day,
alternating between a friend and adversary.
Reminding you of the unattainable once attained.
Is it worth the time.. the memories..the pain and the longing.
Is it wor...

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Preamble..Saturday Rhymers theme: Dancing

Do You Want to Dance (a cautionary tale)

They met each other late one October night.
He asked her would she take a chance,
perhaps with him she would like to dance.
He held her closely in his arms,
she just could not resist his charms.

Alas that was the first and last time.
Had they danced together it would have been fine.
Now...

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 The King Of Inishturk

I heard tell of a donkey,
The King of Inishturk
at 27 years old he no longer works.
He roams the island, wild and proud and free,
this good old boy is as happy as can be.

The last remaining donkey on the Isle of Inishturk.

Adopted by those all around,
The King's forever home is bound.
Clifftop he surveys the shore.
Mountainside the land.
This ...

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In our dark moments
The brightest beacon does shine
Hope illuminates 

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Preamble...this weeks rhymers theme weddings..

We

I feel your energy our natural synergy
The fire lit in the depth of the essence of what is me
You are the heart the core nothing came close before
I opened and invited you through the door
There could never be more
Cannot be extinguished easily
You conquered me
Lost in the wonder feeling the thunder
Searching for myself
Lookin...

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Innocence Sold

Hands in empty pockets nothing more than a child.
Weighed down, tired, hungry, afraid,
she wondered was this something she could do.
She had nothing of value to sell.

Other than her innocence.

Hands in empty pockets she knew she could,
the irony was not lost on this woman child.
Innocence sold for a ticket home,
back to the place from which she had run.
...

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The Boy Who Was a Funiosity

The boy they called a funiosity
whose downfall was his curiosity.
He jumped into a box full of shoes
and got shipped off to Peru.

When they found him they said he could have been cleaner,
before they sent him down to Lima.
He thought it was all terriffic,
and hopped onto a ship to cross the Pacific.

He was quite peculiar, in his own amusing...

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Preamble..Rhymers Club theme for the week winning or losing.

I Am a Winner

Winning is the theme that I am addressing,
I am under pressure and am not messing.
I wonder will I succeed,
in my efforts to complete this deed.

Hang on I think I have had a vision..
Was that the beginnings of a rhyme?
Maybe after all I will have time,
as long as it is not a mess,
I think we'll cal...

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Lies

The dying embers of the fire 
gave their faces a luminescence.
Their need visible, one to the other.

Lies bubbled forth spewing out,
unable to be contained as if their very corruption caused a reflexive response.
The speaker of the lies throwing each one, as far away as possible from ​​the responsibility of having told that lie, as if the lie and the teller, can be separat...

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Sat Here Thinking

I sit by the fire,
to write my only desire.
I can hear a roar,
an old time movie score.
Words rush around my head,
the page waiting to be fed.
A stillness held me fast,
now releasing me at last.
A myriad of ideas,
appear then quickly disappear.
If to one I could hold,
a poem would unfold.
I could feed the page at last
releasing it..from its fast.

© 20...

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I have been asked to write a poem pertaining to soap..my contribution..a bit of fun.

Drama

Sitting cosy in the evening in my armchair,
I can never help it, but at the TV I do stare.
I feel I am addicted to my favourite soap,
that if I do not get my fix how will I ever cope.

My favourite character has just been killed off,
I think he's buried in the garden underneath a trou...

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Don't Be Jealous Of My House

Look at me I am a snail,
I leave behind a slimey trail.

My shell is just like a house,
I hide inside from birds, and the odd mouse.

My friend the slug is just like me,
she likes to drink a cup of tea,
except she has nowhere to hide.
No house to retreat inside.

Don't be jealous of my house.
Quickly hide here comes a mouse.

©...

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The Old Vanity Case

She stood and watched the tram dissapear,
a young child whose body was now rigid with fear.

Every week she went off to ballet on the tram,
with a half a crown, which she got from her mam.

They had practiced today for their latest show.
What she would do now she did not know,
as she watched the tram departing easy and slow.

For on a seat alone on that tra...

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Moon Shadows

I saw through eyes shining with unshed tears,
a shadowy figure still..waiting,
My heart heavy with sorrow for what could have been.
Dreams of yesterday held within a mind of today.
Lost in a maze of confusion and doubts, silently screaming.

I am a  land vast, empty, void, a barren wasteland.
Shadows lurk waiting for the weak to fall..
I cannot fall, for if I fall...

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A Kindness

So easily delivered the soft touch of a hand,
a smile so much less effort than a frown.
Soft words,
not the harsh barrage of criticism
delivered because you can.

Thinking your sharp wit amusing,
a knife which cuts deeper with each thrust.
What do we do other than acquiesce.
Ahh but one should never be kind or gentle.
This world is not for the gentle or kind, it is for...

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My Feet Have Gone Missing

The last time I looked down,
I'm sure I saw them on the ground.
When I was sitting in my chair,
I'm quite sure that they were there.

I couldn't see my brand new shoes,
I couldn't see my slippers,
and even though they were big, I couldn't see my flippers.

In the end what I found,
when I was looking to the ground,
if I slightly adjusted my bel...

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A Moment in my Mind

A million moments captured
precious dewdrops of time.
Our child's first breath our parents last
A first kiss
A smile.
Preserved In our minds eye until that moment when we die,
but we were captured in another's eye and so we continue until they die.

© 2018 Taylor Crowshaw

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A Quiet Man

She sat among strangers, discarded pamphlets strewn everywhere.
A face smiling up at her from a photo on a chair.
Handsome and young, she could not leave him abandoned.
Picking them up she clutched them to her chest,
quickly walking away to join up with the rest.

As his friend of many years had sat waiting a few days before,
his love, his wife would not answer his ...

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I Want

Do you remember playing by the gate
those precious moments that would not wait,
the plays that we would put on
sad to say those days have gone.

Do you remember how we would talk for hours
huddled under a tree during the showers.
Do you remember playing in our den.

I want to be that child again.

Do you remember our first kiss
or the moments that we misse...

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Beyond the Trees

Beyond the trees in a deep dark hole,
lives a fox and his friend the mole.
The mole did not know that his friend ate mole meat,
for he could see no further than his feet.

The mole brought the fox a gift of worms,
which managed to keep them on good terms.
Although the fox's glance would have told a different tale,
had Mr Mole been able to surveil.

A winte...

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Cooking up a Storm

The pot is warm, brimming with love.
The moon is high shining brightly above.
Our love is a delicious meal,
to be savoured and eaten with zeal.

The ingredients too many to list,
a touch of lust to give the odd twist.
Each course adding to the fun,
now that the night has just begun.

Our table is laid out for a feast,
four courses at the very least.
...

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The Fledgling

I hear your persistant call,
as you sit upon that crumbling wall.
Softly feathered tiny bird
It's time to go have you not heard.

The nest is but a memory,
as you follow your parents from tree to tree.
'Hey mum hey dad come on feed me,
I'm hungry now I need my tea.'

A juicy bug crawls on the ground,
you approach it carefully without a sound.
Gobbling hi...

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There is Beauty

They made a handsome couple,
both modest and unaware.
I would go further there was beauty there.

Pulling and heaving her way up through life,
a wonderful mother and caring wife.
Working hard living life to the full.
I can honestly say it was never dull.

Life can be ugly the things we do ugly too.
I saw in them a beauty the ugliness could not erase.
A ...

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Nanna is a Yodeller

My nanna she could yodel it was her special turn.
When she went out for a drink to yodel she would yearn.

She never travelled very far,
only to where she could reach by car.

The Alps was far out of her reach,
her yodelling for to teach
Instead she went up to the school,
to teach them yodelling as a tool.

The local sheep just stood and stared...

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The Feather

Hiding just behind my eyes,
those tears I work hard to disguise.
I want to scream cry howl shout,
"Please don't take me out,
let me stay, this is my forever home,
my forever place my heart place."

I know we have to go.. I know,
so I just cannot let it show.
Its ripping the life out of this tired body.
Leaving all, leaving my heart.
Where will I be, what will I ...

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Her Heart

They stood

picking
like a dog at a bone
tearing it to shreds ripping it apart.

She stood 

watching 
It had been her home
her heart.

© 2018 Taylor Crowshaw

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One Night

Awake in my bed,
animals tucked up and warm in their shed.
The rain beating a persistent drum, soft splatters on the glass.
We wait patiently for the storm to pass.

The gate begins to loudly rattle,
as the elements go into battle.
Lightening illuminates the sky,
the crash of a bolt from on high.
A branch torn cruelly from it's tree.
Lashing rain making it impossib...

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Man is the Beast

You pass me every day sat far back in my cage.
Soft liquid eyes weary tired resolute.
There was a time long ago, I was called cute.
You see me but you don't see me at all.
Your feet drag heavily as you try not to fall,
bucket clattering the bars as you pass.
It's nearly my time.
Perhaps if I close my eyes turn to the wall you will pass me by forget I exist.
Because...

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I'm An Orphan Now ( Age 46 )

I used to rise from my bed,
I’d hit mum with a slipper on her head.

Just to make sure she wasn’t dead

Such was the fear I had as a child.

I used to dream she’d been replaced, by an alien from outer space.
That she wore a mask, which she would take off, if I was brave enough to ask.

Such was the fear I had as a child.

I dreamt s...

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Too Short for Shorts

Knee length, calf length, short shorts.
The question is how to deport,
in your pair of shorts.

Blue, green, yellow, every colour under the sun.
I wonder how will they fit my bum.

Twigs for legs sticking out, I'm hardly likely to
get a whistle or shout.
A chicken has better knees than me.
I think I need a cup of tea.

Gazing into the full le...

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The Book

A book is somewhere I can hide,
it gives relief from the pain inside.

Another world existing only in our minds,
reality of another kind.

You can go there but not travel at all.
An escape from within your walls.

The dark shadows of the dawn,
when hope seems lost and dreams forlorn.

A book lays beside my bed.
I will travel there in my head.

Fi...

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An Acorn's Story

Long ago my mother tree, grew an acorn, that was me.
I fell onto the dusty ground where I just rolled round and round.

A hungry squirrel had her eye on me,
a juicy little morsel for her tea.
She approached with the intention of wolfing me down.
Until a bigger squirrel came along, eyebrows raised with a deadly frown.

In the hubub and kerfuffle, I rolled right under...

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A bit of light relief.

Nan's Lippy

Nanna she was young at heart,
It's hard to know where to start.
She always was a lively girl,
loved to dance and to whirl.

When she started having trouble with her sight,
she just could not get her lipstick right.
It was everywhere else on her face,
other than her lips where there was no trace.

Eventually one of her eyes they had ...

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Hope Ain't Gonna Float

Sadness drapes your shoulders like a well worn coat
Feet dragging heavily no hope to float.

An empty house once full of laughter and light.
Welcomed you home as you returned each night.

Now darkness greets you as you reach that door.
No more light no warmth any more.
The aroma of cooking once such a normality
Lacking in your life is now your real...

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You Held Me With Your Tears

You played to all my fears
You held me with your tears
I'm trying to hold on
Even tho all love has gone

You bound me in your chains
Your love drove me insane
I tried to leave again 

You held me with your tears

A moment in my life
I held you as my wife
It wasn't meant to be
I'm trying to break free

I caught your reflected smile
Still crying all th...

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A Hot Evening in August

Dew drops sit atop the grass.
Waiting for the clouds to pass.
Evaporating Into to the air.
As I recline in my chair.

Vines hang heavy with their fruit.
Waiting to be robbed of their loot.
Languorously I observe the passing of the day.
An avenue of trees in full leaf as they sway.

Sipping leisuely from a frosted glass.
Wishing this moment would never pass.
R...

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Breathless

The depleted quality of the air
Not enough oxygen for two to share
A scorching heat intense in its ferocity
Leaves me questioning my impetuosity.

A Valencian sun beats down on me.
No shade to find no bowing tree.
Trickling sweat on my brow
Release me from this tortuous heat NOW

I imagined myself wafting in a perfumed haze.
That my beauty would amaze.
Drinking wine and e...

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Ripped Away

You came to see me for a day
departing too soon ripped away.
The wall I had built over time tumbled and fell.
I had to stay when you crossed the sea 
you have others.. dad only has me.

Siblings raised along with me,
loved but lost across the sea.

A mother so loved but so far away,
appears now and then just to be ripped away.
An emptiness replaces emotion.
Loneliness re...

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The Fox Visited Me Last Night

Soft brown eyes that scour the night.
A flash of white tail as you take flight.

Stealthily you come to me.

Nose in the air as unfamiliar scents waft by
A full moon guiding you from on high..
Ears alert to every sound.
Soft paws pad through the undergrowth. 
Making their way to more solid ground.

Always ready to retreat and disappear into the night.

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Mortality

Last night a shadow came to me.
Linked arms and took me on a journey.
It took me to places I didn't want to go.
It whispered things I didn't want to know.

A soft pillow brushing my arm.
Its smothering presence had me alarmed.
Shadow why do you want me?
Are there secrets you want me to see?

We walk side by side.
There is nowhere I can hide.
I shake my arm.
Try to brush...

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Wordsmith

Hi folks,
I've had enough angst for this week. No insult intended so please don't be offended.
Let's have a bit if fun.I thought I might try to formulate a poem but first I want my say so let's get going. Words are no good if they lack emotion. You may as well go drop them in the ocean. Forced and hollow is how they appear It is an experiment, just to be clear. We all have those day...

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Strength

You have strength if you dig deep down inside.
Do not be afraid, do not hide.

Look into the palm of your hand.
Your future is there at your command.

Only you have the choice.
Do not let them take your voice.

Crush the want crush the fear.
Your salvation is so very near.

Open the door and walk through.
You know what you have to do.

Leave the past far behind.
Live a ...

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We sat and pontificated.

While for some food we waited.

A hand briefly offered up.

Quickly withdrawn to hold a cup.

© 2018 Taylor Crowshaw

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What's all this about rhyming

I'm new to this amazing  site so I want to put things right.
What's all this I hear about rhyming? 
I didn't come on here to promote my book or the bravery it took. I did it to write some history instead of it being a mystery. Of course we all love to have our work appreciated no one wants to be berated we all want to be A rated. 
I am no ordinary granny. No ord...

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Solitude

There sits a silent room in the middle of a house.
Where you can hear the stirrings of a visiting mouse.

A room in which to contemplate.
With logs burning in the grate.
Devoid of all technology.
A solitary room for me.

A leather sofa sitting proud.
Favourite poems read out loud.
Books line all four walls.
Where the darkness casts shadows as evening falls.

Enfolding me...

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Shhh!!!!! We Don’t Talk About That

Now you have to remember these are in the days of old when the worst you had was a 
cold.
Before mental health existed.
No such thing as being ill....in the mind....it was a bitter pill.

Shhhhh!!!! We don't talk about that

Twelve, seven, and six we were, when first mum threw her hands up in despair.
No more  stories in their bed or staying up 
past ...

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Under The Stairs

See through spider are you there.
Hiding underneath the stairs.
Your offspring tiny but just like you.
Hundreds of them all see through.

When my children see you they start to shiver.
As your web begins to quiver.
Legs like silk fine and long.
Under the stairs is where you belong.

Your hiding place will be quite safe.
Do not be foolish and venture out.
Lest my chi...

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The Reservoir

When we lived on Radcliffe Road in those
days of old.
Before there was any Copse Road.

There once was a reservoir.
We could see it from afar.
No access in those days on a bike.
You crossed the trams and then the dyke.

Dad would go fishing there.
Running his fingers through his thick black hair.
Staring into the murky deep.
For those fishes he would seek.

Sat upon ...

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Mask

The show I put on is just for show.
The glow I wear is just a glow.
A shine so fragile it may break.
The frosted mirror.
 Opaque.

© 2018 Taylor Crowshaw

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