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Invitus et al

Invitus das da spang

Invitus boot ma link

Corga mi slank innerdank

Pobe na fang ma yade

Dr flik.

 

Oh oh mozzie brittel

Flag bon fang da boot

Na clagger

Na yark

Na mudder ban ittle.

 

Wranfler fi bornet:. VC Pkinki

 

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2000 miles

The Pretenders

 

photo and verse Tommy Carroll

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t h i n k i n g s i d e w a y s

Did you ever walk

on side-ways

to see a different

point of view?

or sit and rest awhile

in bye-ways

and think on things

and think them through?

 

Yes I have sat and rested

sat and also

thought things through

I have often walked

on side-ways

that gives me my

side-ways point of view.

 

words and image. Tommy Carroll

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p o r t r a i t

 

I scour the canvas

and open tins

and unscrew tops

and play Brahms.

 

Dip and watch the colours argue.

Coalesce.

 

And then the thrill

at a stroke.

Maybe a blemish?

 

Vodka helps recall

the very image

of her mouth,

 

And I persue its loss

and perchance

her likeness emerges.

 

I agree with my sadness

in writing and painting

I als...

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The Pieces

 

He:   I thought I touched you but softly

She:  Then I'm as bits falling

He:   You've left me counting the pieces

She:  Then pick me up

He:    But what then?

She:  Stop counting start mending.

 

words and foto T Carroll

re edit

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loves passport check

 

Now I shall unpack

From the attic of my mind

Pull it out into the light

From the place it's

been consigned;

 

Past their care less checkpoints

ignore the watching queue

shrug my shoulders and my wants

check the time

and walk on through.

 

Words and images Tommy Carroll

 

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r e f u g e

 

 

We came upon the

slowing traffic

of the fleeing war-torn

and stooped to stare

- below the legs

of the rooftop passengers -

at the dancing distance

of a baked metalled road.

Our eyes were wet and stung.

 

Our approaching gaze silent.

We released our pent breath.

The border had done

what most borders do-

shrugged us through.

 

We walked past ...

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The Woman at My Table

The woman at my table

by Tommy Carroll

 

 

She possesses watched eyes

and is unaware of the conspiracy

that stirrs in my head.

She is uninformed by

her Secret Service

as to my machinations

and my plots to steal

with quiet looks

and compelling reason

the why and wherefore

of her each

and every day.

 

Words and foto T carroll

 

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Dragging the luggage

 

I smoke and watch her pack.

The taxi waits.

Then like a premonition

I have a mirrored memory

of her departure

- the scent of her washed skin-

recalling the ins and outs

of our arguments...

She's smiling as she leaves

the echo of our space.

She's laughing as we fail

to finish yet

another argument...

I pick through the remains

of the accusations

that...

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Advice to the Elderly on Bonfire Night


Warning!

to

ALL firestarters:

 

Old ladies with

knitting disorders

AND grumpy cataracted men

with pacemakers

have vowed to

''Pour dribbles of WATER

upon the fuse of each

AND any firework

that they come accross".

Informents have

told police

to look out for

suspicious groups

OF slowly moving

strangers

Smelling of urine!

 

Words and ima...

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She had a way with her

Recollections:

Alexandra  shifted her weight

in time to the point

that she was making.

She sometime stood erect-

she was always

making a point.

 

Even with a potato peeler

there was an air

of menace-

she would mix it 

in with the mash.

 

Her threats had the promise

of unwanted mail.

Of brown envelopes.

The sort that fall when

any-news-is-not-go...

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Ki pressed again

 

She touched

and upon the touching

smiled a wanton look

and

dressing your skin

she pressed against  your

skin in a gentle grip

her shaping my thoughts

and pressing tales

of soft request

She

tasted the very liquor

of her response;

of that same wet skin

while adorning its

naked candour.

 

Words and foto T Carroll

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Ki

 

 

Touch 

and upon the touching

let a wanton look 

dress your skin, press its wants

- as in a gentle grip- 

shape my thoughts and

press tales of soft request,

taste the very giving  response

of that same skin, while

adorning its naked candour.

 

Words and foto T Carroll

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The Wild Woods

Some time ago I invented a cocktail:

But -

1) you don't Know the spirit used

2) you don't Know the mixer

3) you don't know the container it comes in

4) you don't know the price

5) you have to drink it outside in the car park

I've named it

"The Brexit"

 

Words and foto. Tommy Carroll

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from over my shoulder

 

I stood and stared-

a long time seeking a

welcoming gaze

that returned my greeting.

 

The World stared back

then went its way,

perhaps to lunch, perhaps

to play.

 

My friend the Mirror-

a listener of sorts,

in silence watched

and kept its thoughts.

 

I turned to challange the

darkness of those thoughts

that hid the reflection

of the life I...

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We've each got different partners now...

We've each got different partners now
and we're having a real nice time
we both agreed to separate
Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme

We both were once so in love
now we just stay in touch
we cherish the time we once had
as we don't see each other much.

I once saw her on the bus
contacted her on the phone
we've sent each other a couple of  texts
from work and from home.
              ...

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Cocktail

 

I've just invented

a new cocktail:

But

1) You don't get to know the ingredients

2) You don't get to know the type of container it comes in.

3) The price is not displayed;

4) You get the bill as you leave:

I've named it

- The Brexit -

 

Words and foto  Tommy Carroll

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Clausal inference

"A work of art

is never finished

but merely abandoned."*

Well this one is.

(excepting the copious re writes

of the checking of sources

and

clausal inference;

anyway-

I now think it done.)

As is.

 

Words and foto  Tommy Carroll

* Paul Valery

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In charge of poetry readings (aloud)

 Also if chosen I would insist on the following that:                                             

 

1) Speakers have a full head of hair.

2) Speakers are under 30 years of age.

3) Speakers are are NOT allowed to put a finger in their ear.

4) Speakers are only allowed to give a recital when there are 50+ people in the room.

5) No group fotos are allowed.

6) No shirts outside t...

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Black man's burden

We clap some Blacks, 

them entertaining Blacks, 

 on stage, in film and racing tracks 

tho' we mow the shacks 

and dish out smacks 

to those working blacks.    

 

We clap some Blacks

  and forget those whacks 

and the blistered backs 

of hands that buy 

the music tracks 

and then we clap them 

Blacks them stand-up Blacks   

  but not them bent over blacks 

...

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Puss in milk

"Ignore the unfounded 

rumours of pus- 

in your milk "

which can be quite scary

said the white coated chap

with the clipboard and cap 

and the man who's in charge 

of the dairy. 

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

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Faraged

Faraged

by Tommy Carroll

"Conniving madness

 brimming rage

ever in the wings

now centre stage

strutting with a stick

with which to stir

a pot of bile

and fetid fear."

 

Words and photo  Tommy Carroll 

re-edit

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Daughter in 2020 (Dementia onset)

2008

Like my (gently) rubbing

of your wet face.

Like my brushing of your dry teeth:

I seem to prove an annoying

but improving

ex-foliating daily chore. 

 

2018

You stand aghast as I

rail down the 'phone

(on your behalf)

for those absent cheques.

 

You look askance as I query the bill

for the meal that you've just paid for;

(Or the life that I've arra...

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Schematic phrases

 

Poetry has many inspections

each line like thought re-touched.

We frown at fingered collections

of nouns and other stuff.

There are troublesome inflections

and bleeding wrung-out verbs

the wandering explications

of rhymes the metre serves.

There are stand alone conjunctions

in hope that it amazes,

where

in solitude it functions

in contrived schematic phrase...

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Tempest brewed

Don't you know
it's just a rage
a tempest brewed
from grape not sage-
in all the world
there's not a stage
not tread by feet already.

And so I bow
and bid me out
you cared for nought
nor gave a shout
as all that is
will come about
with out you being ready.

re-edit
words and foto T Carroll...

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First person singular

I, myself Tommy that's me

...and my daughter ones-self

Tommy is thinking:

why do posters refer to themselves

in the third person?

I have tried to,

so has he himself.

He has no objection,

But I, myself have an objection to them-there preposterous constructions absolutely!

When speaking in the third person

he finds one asking him:

why?

Can two people co...

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Must Read

The hatred of poetry

by Wolfgar

Friday 26th July 2019 7:26 pm

 

 

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Alexandra

 

Prolouge:

No need for air, for light,

just tilt your head backwards

and allow the past

to roll down your face.

Hold on to that.

 

Recollections:

Alexandra  shifted her weight

in time to the point

that she was making.

She sometime stood erect-

she was always

making a point.

 

Even with a potato peeler

there was an air

of menace-

she would m...

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Persephone's tangled legs

 

Persephone lay tangled

In my bed-clothes.

I watched trapezoids

of summer light

make motes

alive in her warmth.

 

I leant against the wall

and counted her breaths:

 

Pale and shallow her rising.

Her hair webbed.

and

gripped to her belly

my gown

since last she bathed.

 

I lowered my case

and loved her more.

 

re-edit

 

Words and ...

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Semi Tone

Place the valve
of  your lip's 
and your smile's 
breath against 
my cheek and
breathe a note
to inform me
of its lasting
arrangement
and gentle
proposition.

While sighing
from within
you play now
the music's 
pressed tone.

 

 

words and music  T Carroll

re-edit

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As if to care

Was I now the only

one on the beach?

 

She had stood behind me                                                                                       

and I had waited

for a spoken conclusion.

 

But without words  

the  sound that

the soft tread of her

departure made

on the sand had

told me of her decision.

 

Sunsets care nothing for    

lengthening  sha...

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Only time

 

Can time shoulder

the weighted ticks

and tocks

of sadness?

 

as an unspoken sigh 

arrows its loss

in measured

wants and pulls,

 

I let the fingered

point of these

counted and now

lost moments

scribe my sorry shrug.

 

words and photos by Tommy Carroll

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Christianity

Christianity and other myths

by Tommy Carroll

 

She said: ''You forget about

the fall back position

of Christianity: 

'Limbo' 

According to the Catholic church 

all 'souls' that had no faith

but were without sin- 

ended up there.

I envisage  

countless babies 

crawling around for eternity, 

crying for their mums!''

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wor...

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Parsley Sage, Rosmary and Time

 

by Tommy Carroll

Thursday 17th December 2015 5:42 pm

We've each got different partners now
we're having a real nice time
we both agreed to separate
Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Time

We both were once so in love
now we just stay in touch
we cherish the time we once had
as we don't see each other much.

I once saw her pass on the bus
once commiserated on the phone
we've sen...

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A reprisal awaits...

by Tommy Carroll

Sunday 11th December 2011 1:40 pm (first posted Wednesday 12th October 2011 12:19 am)

 

She sat at the far end of her high ceilinged room. I sat on her prefered chair.

We stared at each other.

Hundreds of books were piled upon a just mopped black wooden floor.

What was that with the light? ahh yes, clean windows- she had gone and gotten herself a window clean...

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Touching

 

Touch

and upon touching,

let a wanton look

dress your skin,

pressing its wants-

as in a gentle grip-

shaping my tongue,

to press tales

of soft request,

and taste the very giving

response of that same skin,

adorned and- to touch

its naked candour.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

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Did you brush it from your hair?

Did you brush it from your hair?

by Tommy Carroll

 

 

Did you brush it from your hair?

or maybe from your teeth?...

your clothes?

Perhaps it was washed away from out of your blankets?...

or tights?...

or down the bath water?...

or flushed behind a closed toilet?

Maybe you strode away from it

or slept it out-dreamt it away-

lit-smoked- and coughed it up.

...

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Conflation

Conflation (a work in progress)

by Tommy Carroll

 

 

A Paradox is a conflation of stigmata:

The absurdity of mathematics

and ones inability

to describe (in language)

what we experience.

 

This confusion is the point

at which motion obeys all laws.

A paradox owes more

to poetry than science.

 

A paradox is a conflation

of contradictory assertions.

...

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B rok e n Ma son r y

B rok e n  Ma son r y

 

Not for me another love

like choking fear

It will not budge

I dare not blink

for it now seems

by choosing drink

I dwell in dreams

I grind to bits

my words and teeth

when searching through

my history:

to lift above

what lay beneath

all that broken masonry.

...

wO rd s and fo to  T o mm y Ca rrol l

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Wittgenstein says he:

 

'Languge merely pictures facts'

then changes his mind and retracts;

'It's more complex than I at first thought,

my Tractatus has all come to nought

for there's more to them cats on them mats'.

 

Words and foto  Thomas H Carroll

re-edit

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A freedom to express

or

'tis context 

 

 

In The Friends of Voltaire, Evelyn Hall wrote the phrase: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

 

Say whatever you want - but

prepare to be the subject

of reprisal.

 

There is NO such thing

as complete freedom,

not in life; art nor in postings.

So- as we are all subject

to discretion or com...

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The end of interest

 

I'm simple this way

this way leaning

 

Watching your want

this way fading.

 

You're always his way

his way gleaning.

 

I'm holding this loss

this way leaving.

 

 

When you leave

the conversation

before you've left

the company-

 

when I've left

your busy thoughts

after I've left

your sympathy-

 

with your touch

and cooling...

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testing... 1 2 3

 

test run for

blog entry comment disablement procedure.

.....hello......testing

THIS IS NOT A POEM- PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT

......testing......hello.....

(am I really doing this?...I should be poking sticks at the weather...)

......testing comment disablement procedure......

please enable the 'tick' should you

require comments to be posted......

(god I thought I had ti...

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The Complainer

The complainant's

complaint

is a constant refrain

Woe is me yes me -points-

they're all to blame!

I'm squeezed in the middle

by those with no name

pity me not them

they're all to blame!

why don't they just send 'em

all off to jail?

give to me not to them

coz they want the same,

give to me not to them

coz they're all to blame

them paki's and blacks

t...

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I'm sorry

The value of forgiveness
is not forgotten.
nor does it wash away all hurt
from the memory within.

It is released from the vice
of resentment
but still it echoes with
the resonence of regret.

words and foto Tommy Carroll

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Plausible Deniability

Reading  the statement
that you have just made,
in which there’s
nothing but nought,
you’re “unaware of  the details
the committee outlined,
and have yet to read its report.”

Moving-on, looking forward,
the time has now come,
for challenges
of a personal sort,
my time will surely
be put to test-
and a career
put to its sword

There is time for
a memoir and
columns to write,
ti...

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Editorial

 

The penned letter

upon the page 

is made from strokes and swirls

not rage 

 

forget the colour of the ink

but its impression upon the reader 

let into reason those thoughts  do sink 

not the Editorial of its Leader.    

 

Words and Image:  Tommy Carroll

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Plausible deniability

Plausible deniability

Reading  the statement
that you have just made,
in which there’s
nothing but nought,
you’re “unaware of  the details
the committee outlined,
and have yet to read its report.”

Moving-on, looking forward,
the time has now come,
for challenges
of a personal sort,
my time will surely
be put to test-
and a career
put to its sword

There is time for
a memoir a...

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Wipers In D minor

 

Jazz piano
Slow
in D minor

A note that's allowed
like the pain
that's caused
and delivered

the shadowed sound
from the speakers
is the sigh
that pulls me back
to that place
that she once held

but I wont respond
just keep 
the kerb 2 foot away-

no turning
back around
to hear her needs

my wants
are the rear-view
mirror
that cause the
eye's to blink
wet memories...

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Words (no foto) Write Out Loud

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