The middle class are ruled by hate;

They bully and manipulate.

They deal in lies and twist the truth,

Corrupt the innocence of youth

And cheat on friends to keep what’s theirs:

A place above the creaking stairs.

Ambition will keep them ahead

In bank and castle and in bed,

But it is cunning, raw and low,

Which helps their favoured winds to blow

To worlds of ...

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An old olive oil press rusting 
at the bottom of a sandy garden
in his occupied territory.
A man lying prostrate,
face down, on the sandy soil.

Not dead but murmuring
about a weight, a burden, something.
I could not hear clearly,
what with all the muffled explosions
and such.

This man, this man, he screamed out
 ‘NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL, FATHER!’.
But there was no other man ...

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Night is quiet

Filled with peace

Brings back memories

Of our love and ease

Little stars Shining

In dark black sky

Reminds me of

Our rings of hope

The moon 

A face handsomely 

Of my lover

Bright and lovely

Twin souls

Over the grass green

Counting happiness 

With gentle breeze

Your words of love

Pampering and warm hugs

Coy and...

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Ascending

Following a time of quiet

Sweet music was heard

Filling the air

So that once heavy hearts

Were lifted again

Ready to rise up, leaving

The old world behind

Turning away from the past

Sailing through the air

Meeting the moon and the stars

To then become part of a new world

For completion

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Our first trip to Dalyan
made for a nice surprise 
The magical river setting 
a treat for our eyes

On the winding waterway
day boats lined up one by one
Captains promoting their tours
promising hours of fun 

Backdrop of ancient rock tombs
carved into the sheer cliff face
A grand and imposing sight
in this remarkable place 

We took the river taxi 
to a protected strip of land
A ...

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First moment I ‘knew’ was when I worked on a building site
When one of the builders bent over, my imagination caught alight 
To see his behind poking out of my undies, for this aged 16 gay teen 
was beautiful and so I got clever at seeing, without being seen 

I then perfected the art of the squint during a McDonalds stint 
Escaping the gloom in the male changing room
Late ’94 was the first...

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Stories tell me stories
Lay them on top of me

Pile them high as I sleep
They become memories

Pounded into me 
Oh the bloody ink

I see a life ahead of me 
A life behind outlined

In words and thoughts
That are maybe mine

They follow a line 
Weaved together
 
With the hard work
Of discerning meaning

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in my cupboards

skeletons hang

still mouths strangers to the songs they sang

I take them out

bone-dry and hoar

wan skulls shorn of the locks they wore

pelvic sculptures

sharp as a blade

silent shrines to hectic love they made

bereft of flesh

that lit my fire

no lithe joints but threads of thin wire

hot tears drop on

memories clean,

pick...

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Birthday Party

The day began to find a place for lunch which was difficult

most roads were closed due to a cycling tournament

We got out of this mess and ended up in the streets where the rich lived.

My wife was enthralled by the beautiful gardens in the district

I nodded but was not impressed, preferring real nature.

Finally, we stopped at a small inn, that was ever so pos...

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Goodbye, dear friend

As adults we adventured in to the sea

Clumsy

Intimidated

Determined

And having so much fun

No one else was bothered

To learn such a difficult skill

To take the long drive from our town

Just to be in the water for—a day

But you did

And so

Our journey together moved forward

We started in the shallows

And with ti...

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It's going well,

Been running miles and miles 

On this treadmill 

Never getting anywhere 

But I'm sure I'm making progress, 

I'm sure I am.

It's going well, 

I've been drowning 

Out the noise, people ask me questions 

Pertinent questions 

Sometimes, when I hear them,

I will even respond 

Four minutes later. 

It's going well, 

I have no issues wit...

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we siblings

mourned our parents as 

many before us had done,

we became strong

the new elders of our tribe,

without warning we three

have become two

and we are bereft

forced to mourn once more,

we reminisce from a dark place

failing to see the candle’s light

the wound gapes open and

will be slow to heel,

so the familial tontine is re-written

...

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Holding a fingertip softly
on a battered pencil
this is your last memory of him
counting what stock they had left
before helping them to pack up 
knowing they would return without him

smiling faintly 
as the book stall said 
he was welcome to any book there
and Jenny at the cafe 
who wouldn’t let him go
without promising to come back,

standing there lost in thoughts
until they wer...

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When I look at you all, I don’t see

I don’t see the barriers others may see

Others may see what they want to see

What they want to see, I don’t

I see people for who they are

For who they are, I see them

I see them as the same you see

You see, everyone is equal

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There is a silly old fool, he writes poems.
His themes are various, his output, vast.
Half of his effort is junk- he is
an artist after all- but even the good word 
is diligently ignored. All of it
sinks to a dark seabed
nibbled there by species unknown.
The silence really is deafening.
If anyone finds the power of speech
the only question will be
"What is this shit?"
The silly old...

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Promise me the security of our relationship

Shall nothing wedge between our harmonic souls

Dancing, such as the flames of a grand fire

As most fires start out robust

Forging sparks and uncontrollable wisps of true bliss

Forget not to keep placing more kindle

As it will die out

While also cleaning out the ash

As it is now apart of the past

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Blank look

Dead eyes

Not impressed nor surprised

Flamboyant flare reveals a double rainbow

Spotted gazelle prances on a dewy field 

Zero fucks is what they give it, still

Dear Poet

Not everybody likes poetry

It’s a matter of their wiring

You’re okay

This truth is best to have been found 

Earth still spins us round and round 

© Candi...

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Poem 97 of 230:  COLLECTING THE CARDS

Some folks are plant diehards,
    Others keep foreign coins;
Twitchers collect sightings,
    And golfers their scorecards.

My hobby’s the latter,
    And, in many places,
I’ve managed just one round...
    Scores?  Another matter!

(C) David Franks 2003 - https://walkaboutsverse.blogspot.com

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She could not see the flowers

as an act of kindness,

as a thank you for sharing

some of her time with me

The expensive bouquet

was still there on the counter

Monday morning when she left

The roses, azaleas, and carnations,

even the inanimate vase,

seemed saddened and troubled

at having been seen as an apology

for a crime where no charges

had yet...

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This phrase was the tipping point in every story sent into "Readers' Letters" of the soft porn mags of the 70's that I splashed out on.  The Marge Proops of sex advice was Fiona Richmond.  But I was on holiday at the time I wrote this and without "research resources" and remembered her name wrongly as Fiona Millicent.

Dear Fiona Millicent, I write about an incident

Which happened on a g...

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Run & survive

Saturday,23rd Oct 2021

O, Gentleman

you are human

first and last as a man or woman

make it lively with an action

struggle not

people may laugh

run on rough terrain

despite being fragile human

result awaits

and waits for your venture

make sure

you have a bright future

nothing prevents

but presents

with enormous opportunities

jump in w...

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Waiting avidly for unwary prey

Terrifyingly huge, dark and shiny with squat body,

thin sprinter's legs enabling rapid pounces

grabbing his chosen victims.

(he likes them plumpish.)      

Met face to face provoked a shriek,

though he, luckily, was voiceless.

Such an apparition petrifying,

but probably the fright was mutual,

causing him to retreat into his sinister lair

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My tears bleed into the sea, pleading for foam to take my breath
Sand shifting between knees, I'm so tired, I must simply rest
Remembering the days of new islands, new seas
Watching them appear off port bow, new mountains, new trees
Lee shores and bioluminescent dreams, flicking smoking butts into dark foam unseen
Staring into undulating emptiness off the starboard aft beam

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eyelids and earlids

beauty from color

shapes

scenery

glimmer from a lake

all lost with eyelids closed

birds songs in the forest,

symphony of city car horns

beeping to a crescendo

cooing of a morning dove

breathing of a lover

all lost with ear lids shut

is one better

to lose than the other

one would have to ask Helen Kel...

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O England, my England, where have you gone?

Where is that land I once looked upon

When I was a laughing lad living the dream

Born of a time and a people who seem

Sad spectres calling vainly but their voices are lost

In a England so different and gone now at such cost.

.......................................................................................

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"The last few years have been tough,

Many more of us have been sleeping rough.

Losing my job and my home I was pushed to the brink,

Misery tragically led me to begging,drugs and drink.

Kicked out of my house ,I had nowhere to go,

On one occasion over a tree a rope I did throw.

I was exposed to freezing temperatures ,hunger and abuse,

I felt deeply depressed and not much u...

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10/22/21

Happiness is fleeting. Joy Is solid. Let me open my brown eyes and believe in something better than lies. Don't wanna have to be looken round for a landing when I'm falling. 

Solid is safe and solid is sure, solid is sound, solid should be my ground.

On the surface I am seen but if you move my hair and touch my face you'll find me underneath begging to be found.

I'm just ...

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We tried our luck

At the labyrinth 

Of life, with that

Deluded persistence

Of pickpockets, wishing

To pilfer just 

A sliver of sky. 

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69/77

Music sounds like heaven,

Discovering the unknown

Limited access

To musical axes,

Bob to help me get right down

Once a week, whispered sounds

Introducing some new act

Embryonic monsters waiting to hatch.

Walk to to the local site

Bunch of mates high as kites

Touring hero’s,to get a glance

Van def Graaf bored my pants

Latest albums taped i...

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Through my bedroom window, this my view.
I see the grand 'Old Lady' all dressed in blue.
A row of houses, side by side, cosy and tight.
Redundant chimney stacks, deflect the light.
Then I move into the new living room of mine.
I hear creaky shutters rise... shops open at 9.
County Road below is already very busy I see.
The 'Garden Cafe' serving their morning tea.
Beneath my window, 5 small...

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Commander Cheval is a crime-solving horse,

He's better than Marlowe or Marple or Morse;

He's wise as an owl, as strong as Achilles,

And when he's off work has an eye for the fillies.

He helps out the coppers when ever he's able

And lives in a top-secret underground stable,

He'll solve any crime in a thoroughbred way

And all for the price of a bundle of hay.

When m...

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You lay in bed at night with thoughts that bring you down

You thought that you were strong, but you were wrong

You relieve the moment when you lost it and went into the dark

You lay there awake wondering if you could have done anything different

Could you have made her stay?

Could you have shown her that you lost your way?

You lay awake because you haven't forgiven yourself

Be...

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Night lingers just before

the Sun smiles

Dark hugging every scar

within my soul

Peacefully patting my innocence

on the head

Like an unsuspecting child

being hushed off to bed

Snickering as I close my eyes

knowing dreams will bring 

no peace of mind

"Don't worry dear one,"

from a crooked smile

"Peace will come with my brother."

As he twirled a lock of my ha...

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I’ve been sitting on the precipice of this

For a while

Unsure how to express my feelings

When I don’t know what I feel

You see 

I’m hysterically nonreactive 

I’m worryingly unworried 

A switch 

From nothing to everything 

Because - like Whitman -

I contain multitudes

Many great thrashing waves

Like creatures 

They slip through nets

Can’t be caught 

They...

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Relish your dark woundings,

prime your pellets

check your powders,

for soon comes the hunter's moon. 

Polish your stock,

let your barrel breathe oil,

make slick your cloths' preparations,

practise footfalls of stealth,

for soon comes the hunter's moon. 

While fen and forest

sweat and furrow,

while fur frets in the burrow

hold fast your dreams for now,

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after Philip Larkin

Never again such crowds

shouldering such exultation,

no more the sea lion choir

hauled up on the stands.

The stadia and arenas

silent like grief,

the sun quenched in remembrance 

of a million flowering hands.

And shutters on the High Street

tight against the abyss,

the weekend staff furloughed,

the checkout bleepers schtum.

The h...

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Remember when you used write so much? 
Your words upon paper was like oxygen to your lungs, you couldn't get enough. 
It was all that you wanted, all that you were...
But that made you happy
It made you glow inside 
Where did that light go? 
What made it disappear? 
I saw it fade, I'm watching it now
As painful as it is 
There's nothing to feel 
Just emptiness 
Is this what it's like to...

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They say am on me way up

but way do i feel so down 

lost and confussed, 

they blame my mood on the moon 

i aint no wolve but tonight am singing meself to sleep

does life go fast or am i just slow to catch up 

been too am ocd,

i cant sit still am sure does i name on that too

bit i just want to be free 

why dont people understand me 

why is so hard to believe 

so har...

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April-bloomed skies blushing

Over obsidian complex housing

Banks of analogue souls encased

In the amber of eternal sentience

Reliving lives millennia old, walks

Around crisp September parks

In select suburbs hugging cities

Now submarine ruins immersed

Fathoms deep in future waters.

Aspens tremble after vernal rain

In spruce corporate gardens

Maintained by ti...

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Come Down from the Hill

Come down from the hill and speak to us

you will find us in a queue waiting for a bus

We see you from afar with money to spend

when we don't even have enough to lend

We voted you into power to speak for us

but the whole process seems quite useless

Once in power you enjoy expenses and wealth

often this is obtained through corruption and stealth

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I'm glad that you walked out of that house

That House of Love,

I had believed you would never forsake

Must have felt liberating, leaving me shaken 

Abandoning my warm grip to hold your own

The emotional tides that came as you left were overpowering

Left me stranded and weeping 

Could reach you anytime

Had believed in our love that would stitch us close

Closer than b...

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Circle Line rambles comfortingly

round the City's historic places

taking its time like a

pre-Beeching branch train.

Grey autumn day in east London.

From out of the darkness

and traffic of Commercial Street

we’re immersed in Van Gogh,

you lured by his sunflowers,

vases, bedroom, starry nights.  

Light illuminates art but

can dazzle, drive you mad.

Shot ...

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The home of my local football club when for years in the shadow of two Manchester giants United and City but with new owners a sense of good times are just around the corner - - -

Bottleneck crowd

hopeful enter

winter weather

forecast uncertain

supporters reminded

football encounted

county faithful

sing-along banter

sore throat

chances missed

hard-time snack

cru...

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Mi Mam’s Take On Contraception

So

I was the second of seven kids

(All planned… or so I was told)

Mi Dad was an idle sod, and never worked

All his dole money went on himsen

Mi Mam did her best

But I must admit, we were a raggy-arsed crew

Wherever we went, we went en-masse

Usually with mi Mam leading from the front

And us kids following

Picture a moth...

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North liverpool taxi ride 

It was a clear.. autumn... day outside 

But everyone was unaware

Of this special day on Merseyside

I spoke to the driver in the cab 

He asked what I thought about the stag 

The stag I asked what do you mean 

It's all over the news haven't you seen? 

There has been sightings in the North of the city 

An animal rare so sacred so pretty 

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Just seen Thomas and Friends on TV.

They're stll referring to The Fat Controller

which is a surprise in this increasingly PC world

where everyone is afraid of giving offence.

But I take no offence as others might

because I don't see him as fat

just someone who is heavy for their height

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Disappointed myself as usual 

Appointments I can't seem to attend.

Achievements I failed to achieve on my own

Important concepts were out of my reach.

Practise what you preach, I will do that but some other time.

Hypocrisy is a philosophy I need to look into,

Lately, it doesn't feel authentic.

Latent learning seems to be idealistic.

Pointing fingers while three of them poin...

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Magpie flaps to the tune of Nature’s injustice

The poet strives for another success another year

Sunday wakens, bedraggled and woebegone

Coronation Street anthem drawls its falsehoods

Upbeat parental ending yields to great grimness

Wild West Yorkshire runs with bullet blood

Words find new hope in an army of perplexing forms

Goddess pours like erotic iron on the breathless...

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