Circumstances
Some people wilfully tread on spiders,
But I don’t.
Some squash ladybirds for fun:
That’s not my style.
Some laugh as they crush an ant:
I can’t do that.
You can see where this is going:
Some people are just different.
They are born that way;
Or do they become like that?
They can’t all be sadists;
Sometimes it’s just circumstances.
So, could I become t...
Monday 13th March 2023 4:50 pm
Anonymity
It’s only anonymity
Which makes us go to war;
When soldiers meet up face to face
They wonder what it’s for.
They talk of friends and relatives,
About whom they all care;
Discuss the beauty of the world,
Which they delight to share.
They do not bow to nation states
Or military types,
Whose mission is to keep them down
By tapping on their stripes.
T...
Sunday 5th March 2023 9:08 am
Reluctant Soldier
The sky looked weary
Pale and colourless
As were we
I laid down my rifle
and thought of what I'd told her
I'd left it in the hollow of her mind
In the place where dreams ascend
So, when the day came
they could carry
all that grief & sorrow away
and feed it to the clouds
for when they felt like crying
And on that day
Laden with the burden of
a thousand...
Friday 10th February 2023 4:35 pm
Torturer
You get the feeling he would cross the road
To not to have to give you time of day,
Though in his flowered garden, taut, he dotes
On children, bouncing them upon his knee,
And will cherish every stricken insect
Like a father cradling his newly born.
In working hours, required stiffness
Does not prevent him cracking the odd joke.
He says it’s nothing personal (it is);
It ...
Thursday 9th February 2023 9:17 am
The Words
in the end everything seemed
to be superfluous,
our whims, our worries,
our everyday words
whirling in between
the four corners of any statutory affairs
in the end everything was
so predictable like the unfolding
of any well rehearsed drama
that our words became silent
like the tired desert
after the longest day of the year
in the end everything pushed
...Tuesday 7th February 2023 4:47 am
Total War
It’s bizarre that Eurovision,
That riot of drivel and camp,
Became a combatant in war:
Builders bopped to the Ukraine song.
Politicians of every sort
Are decked out in blue and yellow.
Hollywood types, shocked in their awe,
Enlist and worship at the shrine.
Lottery winners in hard hats
View body bags through telescopes.
Pray silence for the giant screen.
The workin...
Monday 6th February 2023 9:04 am
The Finer Things
Wars are the usual bag of tricks:
Fought by the same class of suckers,
Straight out of factory or school,
Uncomplaining and scared to death.
Heads crammed with patriotic guff,
They squirm in trenches at the front
And finish dead or short of limbs.
Those who survive, when they return
To a country fit for heroes,
Are told, in no uncertain terms,
To shut up and to know t...
Tuesday 31st January 2023 8:50 am
This Is Today
It is not a fable or a fairy tale,
even a child could understand my plea
that is why I speak loudly and vehemently
I am outraged to see
how those who wield power,
supported by uniforms and boots
see us as nincompoops,
weaving narratives of a distorted history
as if nothing had been there
Their very accommodated stories
build paper monuments to their heroes o...
Thursday 12th January 2023 3:56 pm
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