checkmate
i wait for you to be better
softer, like i know you can be
kindness slips through the cracks
but right when i see,
you stuff it back in like it was a dream
you wait for me to be worse
slip up, even the playing field you cursed
but i never sharpen my words
even when it’s deserved
in a few months, or years
when the last straw breaks my heart
i’ll break the sound barr...
Friday 18th July 2025 11:07 pm
Ode to Blackie Beach
ODE TO BLACKIE BEACH
By the Urban Poet
A place where nature shines
through dark waters
Where memories glisten
as we intently listen
to the birds and our memories
of good times past
A childhood passing on so fast
But although they all seem out of reach
Thoughts come alive at Blackie Beach
At Blackie beach was where we played
and skimmed our stones
not fa...
Friday 18th July 2025 7:53 pm
Also by Rick Varden:
I Wish I Was There | If These Things | Here Kitty |LONDON FLASHBACK
LONDON FLASHBACK
London is a craven haven for corrupting taste.
Police motorbikes were being chased by the waste.
I spent a year down there after my degree -
even slept rough – but didn’t feel that free.
The riots were lootings: Christmas on earth
didn’t follow on in the town of my birth.
I busked for next to nothing, saw old friends
but abandoned ship – my each adv...
Friday 18th July 2025 7:41 pm
Also by JOHN F B TUCKER:
THE STERILISED HOTEL | THE READING | DOWN | THAT BLACK NATURAL E | I KNEW THAT SHE LOVED ME | IN THE BLUE ROOM |Like Father-like Son?
What did you do in the genocidal ' war ' today Dad?
oh I just shot a few starving people who had walked miles in the hot sun
for a bag of flour
will I grow up to be like you Dad?
if Lucifer and I have anything to do with it
you DEFINITELY will!
Friday 18th July 2025 7:30 pm
Also by LEON STOLGARD:
Tarnishment | My tasty belief in the Ceylon hillside plantation leaf | Le Chat noir | Down on my uppers | Developed and delivered miracle ( Otis ) |The Angelus Prayer (The Holy Family Church ,Gaza 17 Jul 25)
No Bells sound,
just silence between the drones.
The air is still,
in cotton shroud, two waxen faces leer.
Saint's from painted walls,
stare with sightless eyes, mirrors not tears.
The living weep,
to contemplate the incarnation of The Christ...
here in Broken flesh,
as if laid out beneath some grotesque Calvary...
from the hanging s...
Friday 18th July 2025 4:21 pm
Also by David RL Moore:
What of Courage? | Waiting | Everything but the truth | The nutritional value of a bullet |Game of Thrones
Corruption and deformity
must haunt the major dynasty:
a scheming witch, licentious imp,
a severed hand, sadistic prince;
suggestions of incest, perhaps,
and Charles Dance wearing gravitas.
Let there be dragons far beyond
commanded by a fiery blonde,
whose husband looks like Genghis Khan -
though she might be a lesbian.
That head he’s skewered on his knife
onc...
Friday 18th July 2025 4:01 pm
Also by Ray:
Watching Glastonbury On The TV |Tick a Box
and straightaway
it set me thinking
aged sixteen in ‘67,
the Vietnam war
sterling going to shit
and protest going from
strength to strength
the Cold War and
Ban the Bomb,
I’d met the girl who
would be my wife
my summer of love
so in all honesty
If I’d had the vote
would I have really
given a fuck?
probably not!
© Graham R Sherwood 07/25
Friday 18th July 2025 3:31 pm
Also by Graham Sherwood:
Old Verbs Rule OK |Do you like humans?
Do you even like humans
I’m on team plant
do I have to
explain
the benefits
I’ve been dosed
by their oxygen
I want to do is grow
as high as I can
then decompose
and come back
as
a shiny rock
Friday 18th July 2025 3:09 pm
The boy, the washwoman, the star
For years, the boy walked past the washwoman who lived by the village church and washed her rags in the street for all to see
Catching his glance, one day she said, ‘Dear boy, in time you will fall in love with the sound of a merman’s lullaby. The night star above the ancient oak will guide you to him’
Years past. Humming a merman’s lullaby, the boy, now nearing middle age, walked past...
Friday 18th July 2025 2:57 pm
Also by Lee Campbell:
safe in your hands | my name is not stephen |Don't Cry For Me Liverpool
Don’t cry for me Liverpool, I have to go away.
My ‘call up’ papers, arrived in the post today.
The Army will train me to be a fighting man.
I will serve my Country and do the best I can.
Don’t cry for me Liverpool, plenty more like me.
Going off to war, to fight over land, air and sea.
Never been away before or left my comfort zone.
I will really miss my kids and my ...
Friday 18th July 2025 12:38 pm
Also by Mike Bartram:
Diogo Jota RIP 1996 2025 |a sigh, verbally-breathed
There was a time
when you used to confide in me
shared the innermost stirring of your heart;
when you used to feel safe in me,
entrusted what others couldn't hear out loud.
There was a time
when we were close enough,
nourished a friendship pure and free;
when nothing outside bothered,
heard the fellowship of the soul.
There was a ti...
Friday 18th July 2025 11:47 am
Also by Red Brick Keshner:
letter from a quieter version of me | an orchard’s lament | sunbeam records | celestial school of verse | under the yew | part savage, part human | feasting you | a dance between skies | ear to Endymion | June 14, 2010: journal entry |The cats and dogs at bay
Dogs are howling in my face
Cats cry out their sad refrain
And the cosy warm fire chants are broken
Sold on down the street by every prevailing
Wind of fashion and far off passion
As she grows and crows that it is so unfair
And that I don’t know what it’s like
Except I do and I am tired of trying
To hold on to the silence in my head
Instead of wanting to throw it awa...
Friday 18th July 2025 9:46 am
Go green NOW and stay alive !!
"Eat your greens, "grandma used to say,
They make a clean sweep,a gentle broom that makes your day.
Sit in comfort and regularly on your toilet seat ,
No strain or constipation,thanks to your green treat.
Eating greens is my future staying alive plan,
In toxic times cutting out sugar,I pray I can .
Green veg has been shown to brush cancer away.
To increase greenery in you...
Thursday 17th July 2025 8:38 pm
Also by hugh:
Sugar !!! | An act of kindness leads to a divine reward | Death and our fate on The Day of Judgement |I guess I'll just type with my fingers (then).
Miserable humans, miserable people.
They can't really stand when you're just like your own.
"Should have been this," "should have been that"—
Always complaining but never alone.
I can't force them into therapy.
I can't really make them not.
They're part of les misérables—
But not the play,
Just the life they've got!
Miserable humans, miserably people.
They don't even try to make thin...
Thursday 17th July 2025 7:03 pm
Also by Auracle:
miss-stick match | Like a paper crane (you flew away) | The Crisis That Necked Me | Through land, sea and air (Ter land, ter zee en in de lucht) | Not being a Catholic. | A good coping mechanism, next time we'll do the medicines | A good coping mechanism, next time we'll do the medicines | The Survival of the Last Broken Word |"Everybody Is Brave To Dance" (Just written!)
Everybody Is Brave To Dance
Everybody is brave to dance
In the Vampire's Castle in daylight
Until it noticed on the windows
How light had been painted a picture
The music chops time as senses
Everybody is brave to dance
Street tactics beneath volcano
Until the lava reveals wore clothing
And there at the desk even booking
Didn't see traffic cabi...
Thursday 17th July 2025 1:17 pm
Also by Aaron Murdoch:
"James Bond Went Wrong" (Ken Loach directed Bond film I wrote for) | Knowledge and Death In The Calculator State |The Rain
You may often hear stories about the sun greeting the day,
but what about the sky weeping, washing the light away?
You look around, and somehow,
darkness is all you know.
Even the path beneath your feet feels like betrayal,
slippery enough to make you fall.
And the air feels more piercing,
cold enough to cut through your skin.
But what if the rain is actually saying,
"It is safe f...
Thursday 17th July 2025 9:57 am
Also by Yanma Hidayah:
Human | Today, I’ll Be Fine | “I Don’t Believe in My Wings” |If I am
If I am alone
then I know you are alone with me.
Then why does it feel so empty
And why is my day greeted with silence
And why am I never the one picking up the phone
And I can’t help but think
that your day is over
without me in it.
Thursday 17th July 2025 3:53 am
She Turns Her Body Into A Question
Our moon slips red—eclipse’s voyeur shadow cups her breast.
She lies still, a fawn, beneath my tear-brimmed eyes.
Her breath—dream’s morning dew?—a whispered request?
Light turns slowly, touch between her parted thighs.
She moans a whispered song—arching, “come to me.”
Wednesday 16th July 2025 11:44 pm
Also by Gaia's Soothing Haven:
Where The Birches Meet | Her Blossom Falls | Orgasm Of Dawn | The Day Love Flies |Twisting Daze
Daylight.
4am.
Skylight.
Sweat.
Brittle birdsong.
Troublesome sunlight.
Early morning
Talking loudly.
Over thinking,
Over dreaming,
Weary contemplation,
My twisting daze.
Daylight.
4am.
Skylight.
Sleep.
Wednesday 16th July 2025 10:27 pm
Also by Tim Daly:
Night Air |THE GREEN MILE
Here is the story – a book and film too
Incredible but some stories are true
An ebony giant John Coffey the name
He said “Like the drink but it's not spelled the same”
Convicted of murder – a kangaroo trial
John Coffey must soon walk the shortest Green Mile
With noose and with guns they came from the town
Cradling two bodies was how he was found
Two little children rav...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 10:03 pm
Also by John Coopey:
ALFIE | "AS SURE AS GOD'S IN GLOUCESTER..." | BUCKET LIST | HELLO DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND |Brand New Heart ❤️
On a flaming June afternoon
We met and I did swoon
The planets they all aligned
Romance we were to find
Peace and harmony flowed
The seeds of love were sowed
We were singing a happy song
But tragedy it soon came along
I wanna brand new heart
Take me back to the very start
Let me be born once again
To live my life free from pain
I wanna brand new heart
I wanna brand new heart
I l...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 8:46 pm
Also by Tom Doolan:
Killer Smile | Everyday Is Pain | Here Today Gone Tomorrow | World On Fire | Wishes Come True |Homage to Nietzsche
"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star." Frederick Nietzsche
Now, only the vestiges remain:
conduct a forensic examination,
then scatter the remains,
feel the fragility of the body,
in the furtherance of the truth,
note the devil’s-in-the-detail,
condemned at the root.
A roof for his daughter,
over a p...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 8:45 pm
Also by John E Marks:
CHILDREN | Forethought | FOSSIL: Bridges of Silence |dejavu dejavu (03/07/2025)
time brines
and wrinkles deepen
during times like these, I'd rather be pressed
like a tulip shoot
between the pages
of a diary,
and left to dry,
preserved
hidden from the scorn of spotlight
as it spins over the face of fascists
well-known and
smiling,
glisten-toothed and hungry
eager to make nations forget
the smell
the soot
of a fur...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 6:18 pm
Also by Zach Dafoe:
a corpse among crows (07/15/2025) |Let's Avoid All
Discussion is overrated.
Julia ran to Sebastian to fight for her; did she fight wholeheartedly for her love or give up nobly
in the face of stunning competition?
Did she hide; disguise, anguish in silence
unknown to those around her who knew her so well,
Was her loyalty rewarded mightily?
Love is lo...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 4:11 pm
Also by MKMK:
Do You Hear a Dance |Smiles (For the People of Ukraine)
You almost bleed your smiles these days,
Like acting out a tiny death;
Though your pinched faces still resist,
You have to measure every breath.
I notice, each time that you cry,
Your tears no longer flow, they spill.
Do those inflicting this foul mess
Consider what they really kill?
I see you trying to join in fun,
Whenever someone makes a joke,
But laughte...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 3:14 pm
Also by Stephen Gospage:
The Public Mood | According to the poet |The rule
Two foreign bodies
moving in an irregular orbit
with collisions and distances
carved paths neither common nor separate
in a strange, unique world
they loved, they hurt, they separated and
lived a parallel, nostalgic life
Wednesday 16th July 2025 2:16 pm
Handala, Speed with our Love on the Wing!
I first had the idea for this song / poem on hearing the news about the good ship Madleen, setting out for Gaza.
Thunberg and her crewmates were not “deported” from Israel. The Madleen was illegally detained, her crew illegally abducted / kidnapped to Israel, and then released, after the Madleen’s cargo of aid had been stolen.
The so-called “personalities” - several failed “comedia...
Wednesday 16th July 2025 11:25 am
Also by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh:
I am Palestine Action | Haiku for 2025 [No. 25. My Jihad] | Haiku for 2025 [ No. 24. Palestine Action] |Loss and Found
In my dream I see the wind
blowing away the sand.
Loss, like the sand and wind
working together, fills my thoughts.
But the waves always
bring the sands back, in time.
So, I still look for you,
out amid the breakers.
Wednesday 16th July 2025 5:15 am
Also by Mike McPeek:
An Excellent View | Driving in L.A. |Waves
Unwieldy canopy stopping flow
Come speedy panoply hopping crow
Dream of giant seedlings grow
Team of high antenna meekly glow
But cancer giving waves you sow
Subtle dancer living saves too low
Tuesday 15th July 2025 9:06 pm
Dashing Doris and Timid Timothy
I used to wear a bra to cover my emerging ‘moobs’, the result
of a beer-filled diet, then stroll through the gay town of Brighton,
curious to what lay within its environs,
sometimes donning a skirt and panties, enthusiastically greeted by camp males,
who saw in me a kindred spirit.
Although actually heterosexual – when inviting a female for afternoon tea,
I was so boring; she would often l...
Monday 14th July 2025 1:37 pm
Remembering You.
Silently, I walk, wringing anxious hands,
Crossing acres of once familiar land.
Fast-flowing memories of what was then,
That'll forever stay as my former when.
Mainly unminded though unforgotten,
Desires driven that were once begotten.
An age where optimism is attained,
Where possible, feared dreams are not contained.
My future holds with little certainty,
...Monday 14th July 2025 8:17 am
Also by JD Russell:
Death of Fanny Adams | Tales from a Woman's Refuge | Write Love? |To Heaven Or To Hell …
To heaven – shouted the crowd.
Their voices were not too loud.
An angel looked a bit aside
As if he had something to hide.
We'll take care of him without any turn,
I think he has something to learn.
He'll have to sing another song
As this one seems to be too long.
The crowd has begun to shout,
Some of them began to doubt.
An angel took care of God,
H...
Monday 14th July 2025 7:03 am
Also by Larisa Rzhepishevska:
I Know Those Who Hate The War |play by replay
You think I don’t still feel it?
The echo never left.
It’s in the light that spills
across the floor like we used to—
chaotic, accidental, warm.
Yes, I heard every word
you didn’t mean and the silence
that swallowed what we couldn’t say.
Time doesn’t rewind, but it replays.
Not in full—just flashes.
Your laugh— like a match
right before the burn.
I wish we’d argued soft...
Monday 14th July 2025 2:05 am
Also by Wimpole Street Devils:
part savage, part human | upon a shot that lit the roof alight; June 29, 1613 |Meh!
The morning brings a nothing kind of day,
can’t see the sun, and wind is just a breeze.
Up overhead, the clouds float high, mid-grey,
that says the threat of rain is but a tease.
No stirring of the blood with summer storms
set loose to blow the dreariness away;
a day that strikes the normalest of norms
to dull even the drabbest sort of day.
Why can’t there be a ga...
Monday 14th July 2025 1:09 am
Also by Trevor Alexander:
Forever Love | Anyone For Tennis |Remembering my brother homeless but the richest person I know
You were loved. It warms my heart to hear how people remember you. You had nothing but every person that ever crossed paths with you speak of your generosity. Your immense compassion burst from you never hesitating to share the little you had scraped together. I am proud to call you my brother. So beautifully remembered you may not have had anything worldly but you were rich beyond words. I'm humb...
Sunday 13th July 2025 11:16 pm
They Live Unashamed
They move through life with quiet might,
No need to dim their inner light,
No borrowed guilt, no hidden face,
They have carved their path, they hold their place!
The world once tried to draw the line,
To box their truth, to redefine,
But they broke through, refused to stay,
Where silence asks the soul to pay!
Each flaw they wear with honest pride,
No need to run, no need to hide,
The...
Sunday 13th July 2025 9:43 pm
Also by Aisha Suleman:
The Quiet Path |Post 20s
I strived for light brighter than my torch, keenly
Overlooked cues of collectively sourced beams
I learned, scouted for candle stores, shared maps
I passed cold shoulders to who refused me a hand
Now, I figured, those I cried help from needed it too
Adulting reveals, some greetings have requests attached
I have been losing fights in my own 3am dreams
A sedulous being...
Saturday 12th July 2025 11:18 pm
ARRIVAL OF CONCRETE
ARRIVAL OF CONCRETE
The old woman pottered
in a coal-dark house
with an inscrutable history
from before our time;
she'd shout at kids
who messed in the meadow.
Buttercups and poppies
scattered colour
across that wild expanse
where dock leaves
apparently cured nettle stings
and the travellers said
the field contained
cures for most ailments.
T...
Saturday 12th July 2025 4:06 pm
My Poems
I believe all my poems to be refined,
And to have an impact upon our mind.
And although they're deep and thoroughly planned,
Each one is quite easy to understand.
They may be about people or about things,
And aimed towards beggars right up to kings.
And they show us how to appreciate life,
And hold happiness whilst dealing with strife.
They may be about thoughts or our emotions.
And t...
Saturday 12th July 2025 12:35 pm
Also by Stuart Vanner:
Stopping the Cuts |Breaking
Her sky was burning crashing down around her
there was fire in the sky it burned so brightly she could
not see that her whole entire world was gone she lost her
breath laying on the ground tears began to fall down her face
washing some of the darkness away those tears fell and fell
until the fire was out and she found her breath with her last bit of strength
she stood up l...
Saturday 12th July 2025 8:29 am
Greet Each New Day
Who can say one way is better than another?
Who, then, is the arbiter of good and bad, better and worse?
Some live in bushes
Some live in mansions
Some create messes
Some clean them up
Some are gentle
Some are fierce
Some fall apart
Some build up
Who, then, is the judge and jury?
Beyond all judgments,
something else lives.
Beyond all choices,
something el...
Friday 11th July 2025 4:02 pm
Also by Hélène:
Letting Go |July 2025 Collage Poem: Dancing on the Edge
Timber merchants disturb psychiatrists
A cut above the rest on the brink
I’m tired of pills a voice not truly mine.
A SALESMAN APPROACHES HIS RETIREMENT
Jettisoned into play pouring from nylon skin
Just run away with the thoughts in my head
Traumatic frenzy incorporating fear.
Con-trails whisper piratical tales as
Mr Southern Comfort travels north
Go on l...
Friday 11th July 2025 9:33 am
The Pact
I feel the wind seep onto my cheeks, I can't understand what it is telling me
I feel it's brash abrazen currents, as they unmask my myriad of sin.
It all came too suddenly, now like an exfoliated cliff edge or the dagger of a sword,
I am sharper than ever, they believe I am here to fill their void
They avoid taking responsibility, their naivety is killing and twisted, I laugh in j...
Thursday 10th July 2025 2:43 pm
Also by Bluebell:
(untitled) | The Nymph |Restlessness
Time ticking
Late nights thinking
About the time passing
And the time that is gone
Hours and hours thinking
Remembering and wishing
For a different ending
Every minute is torture
Without you
Ever since I don't hear your voice
My life lost meaning
It lost its compass
I wonder aimlessly
Years go by
And I don't feel progress
Just a sense
That th...
Thursday 10th July 2025 5:49 am
NO GRAFFITI NEFERTITI(A TALE OF THE SMALLEST ROOM)
Christopher Robin went down with Alice
to view the loo at Blenheim Palace
a stunning work of art to behold
remarkably it was made of gold.
They came upon a disorderly scene
holes in the wall where the pipes had been
how could anyone be so callous
to steal a loo from Blenheim Palace?
Christopher thought a lock would suffice
while contemplating paradise
but Al...
Wednesday 9th July 2025 8:06 pm
Also by ray pool:
PRESSING MATTERS |A Prize Miscast: A Warning to Oslo
Oh Nobel minds, in hallowed seat,
Let not your purpose taste defeat.
The world looks on with wary eyes—
Will justice bend or truth arise?
They whisper Trump deserves the crow...
Tuesday 8th July 2025 8:32 am
Also by Rolph David:
The Boy from Taktser ལྷ་མོ་དོན་གྲུབ་ |A memoir
I wrote a note in my head,
Folded it inside my ribcage.
It said, “I can’t keep fighting
With a heart that always breaks.”
Mom never stayed,
Dad was just a silhouette.
And I swore I’d never
Repeat all that shit
But I guess I did.
We screamed in courtrooms
Over a child I never got to see grow.
I traced his name in the frost
On my rearview window.
I lost him before
I got the cha...
Monday 7th July 2025 3:36 am
Compost
Write out of the ruins
Plants don't grow out of dirt alone
Death and decay occupy the soil
That which previously flourished
Now exists for the sake of
What needs to be nourished
Don't think that the ideas must blossom
Just know that they can
It need not be pretty
The soil need not be clean
Life grows out of whatever
Write something down
Careful cultivation is not required
Just ...
Sunday 6th July 2025 5:52 am
Reflect
To change a piece of me,
Is to kill the peace within,
The silence of demons
I speak not of,
And the smiles i show off most.
The tainted obidient mask,
I and 'they' hold highly of.
The forever yes and rarely no,
The answer to unrequited efforts,
Unrequested needs left out.
Barely, do they get to say,
Whats deeply felt, just to stay servient.
To let my chains brea...
Saturday 5th July 2025 8:59 pm
Also by JustKelvinMasilela:
Untitled |Weekly WalkaboutsVerse, E.G., Poem 61 of 230: WORSLEY VILLAGE
Poem 61 of 230: WORSLEY VILLAGE
Where earliest of coal-canals meet,
And have their waters ochred
By the seepage of old-deep-mine earth;
Where mock-Tudor is a treat,
And classic boats are newly coated
At dry-docks, before rebirth;
Where miners made tough risky efforts,
Working seams for hours non-stop -
Cramped, often without the room to stand;
...Saturday 5th July 2025 8:24 pm
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