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Bodies are burning their oil lamps brightly

from the windows overlooking the church  

their silhouettes shape-shift on the bedroom walls

as they move from room to room,

neither stand still long enough for you 

to grasp who or what they are,

televisions flicker in accord

as if planned in some way, it’s strangely romantic

as if part of a passion play – and I am the only one h...

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there is a splinter in the pad of my thumb.
I don’t know how or when it happened, 
but do know where.

our house has no floors thanks to the hurricanes. 
the bottom is concrete;
it collects dust faster than we can sweep.
the top is subfloor;
we have to wear shoes inside to prevent splinters.

my little sister forgot.
one got stuck in her foot before school.
she was only getting out of ...

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Sunset Over Lupset (August 1968)

Lupset sunsets smelled of bonfires,

undercut with new mown grass,

wild mint by the kitchen window,

treasures in the strawberry patch.

Father sat with pint of shandy,

The mower cooling in the shade,

the rake stowed by the garden shed,

the kids with sparkling lemonade.

Sunset over Lupset

August nineteen sixty eight

Sunset ov...

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Inhaled, indelible  

40-a-day road-trips,  

in a 3-door lagoon-blue 

Mark II Hillman Imp. 

Backseat passive passengers 

tapped and shuffle packed.  

Oblivious to the slow burn, 

no open windows, not even a crack. 

Upfront, ritual smokes, 

their bond of small pleasure. 

Love over Embassy Gold 

compact and ash-covered. 

Dad’s heart said give up. 

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Cuttings

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush,

The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush.

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush,

On a cold and frosty morning morning.

They took a sprig from Hatfeild Hall

And planted it in Wakefield Gaol

A Mulberry bush grew on the spot

Its humble origins forgot

And there female prisoners exercised at night

Beneath the pale Yorkshire...

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In a Spinney dark and cool

three pallets made a hide,

the pain endured at home & school

could never reach inside.

A buckled form bent and broke

grey face toward damp earth,

betrayed a tongue that rarely spoke

bitten hard since birth.

Of love there was no knowing

just thoughts of what might be,

within a hatred growing

as if a raging sea.

Becal...

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we were close when i was little

you called me your sugar plum fairy

sat by my bed when my dreams were too scary

I didn't know then that our relationship was so brittle

you have mixed feelings about your own mother

maybe that's why you act the way you do

you rip me apart and then try to patch me up with glue

we both know you wouldn't ever do that to my brother

you ...

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If only I could go back in time

To rectify all my mistakes.

All that I shouldn’t have said,

Yet still felt the need to say.

Why did I even feel that need?

I, too, was just a child, right?

Be the example,

Show them they are wrong.

Show them we are no beasts.

Show them we can be equal.

Act mature,

Be mature.

Show them they are wrong.

So many rules and rest...

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I’ve always been told to

Color inside the lines.

Ever since I was little, it was always

Fit into the box.

                                                Don’t rock the boat.

                                                                                                Stay in your little corner and

Don’t come out.

They said, “keep your colo...

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there once was a boy

good-hearted and innocent

worried not about the 

flecks of mud

clinging to his toes

thinking not of the

stinging scrapes

kissing his knees

worried not

save for the dwindling daylight

bringing end

if only temporary

to his fun

there was once a man

chased by the sun

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In the midst of changing the world, I lost my soul while creating my life. Now when I look back to the time when I was still a kid so full of innocence, kindness, and full of happiness. Now life is like a rat race where all we can think about is just getting more and more involved in work to earn more for a better lifestyle. But have you ever thought of the time when you were a kid and when th...

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I was reading a blog a while ago where the author quoted a line from a poem which was 'make me a child again, just for tonight'. The poem was Rock Me to Sleep by Elizabeth Aykers Allen and I was so taken by that line I had to pinch it and add my own spin.

Show me the past again

Turn on a light

Make me a child again

Just for tonight

Show me the home where I grew up

Show ...

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“Shapes are everywhere, grandad.  EVERYWHERE! 

There’s a triangle, here’s a square!”

William pointed through the moving car’s window.

He said all this with an air of complete surprise.

But I felt challenged to open my eyes,

To perceive this world with the mind of a child.

Yes, shapes ARE everywhere, it cannot be denied.

I was impressed by his delineation

(He only turned fou...

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GRANDPA IS MY BESTIE

Is emblazoned across this shirt

Which you used to own.

It looks so tiny in my hands!

A visual manifestation

Of how incredibly tall you have grown

In such a very short time!

It makes me sad, yet happy,

To see it lying there.

A token of the special bond

We shared.

And share still.

Time has moved on, Will,

Your shirts are double that si...

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My heart is hurting.

It can’t contain the pain.

It seeps like beads of sweat out of my body

And falls like drops of rain.

The rain soaks my shoes,

then bleeds through to the skin.

The cold of winter settles;

it settles once again.

I cannot save my mother,

Though she and I both hoped that I could.

But I’m afraid that a daughter’s love

Can’t always do the t...

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Grandad’s garden is huge.

It has lots of places to hide.

Behind the tree, within the shed,

Behind that ginormous bush!

Eyes closed; I have counted to ten,

A trick I have learned from TV.

“Grandad! Where ARE you?”

A faintly distant reply comes

From somewhere in the garden,

“You have to find me, William.”

A pause. A rustle in the bushes.

“It’s the whole point of the ...

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‘Seven times’ ~ A poem for my younger siblings 

I have fallen in love seven times.

Seven pairs of eyes that blinked open

and looked back into mine.

My heart expanded into spaces

I did not know I had,

as your entire hand curled

around my single finger pad.

I no longer had but one shadow,

I smiled down to see now two.

Over the years,

your bodies changed and grew,

...

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Poor old grandad!

He’s not the man he used to be.

He’s out of puff when he goes up hills.

He has to stop to take his pills.

He has arthritis in his knee.

He forgets to wear his glasses

When he reads a story to me.

Poor old grandad!

He has to sit down in a chair.

When I jump on his shoulders,

To hug him, and bug him,

I’ve noticed some gaps in his hair!

...

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How could it be a cow blue as the sky

if it had wings I’m sure it would fly

and what of its milk they said chocolate was

served only on full moon simply because  

the taste so delicate went straight to the head 

with special powers even turning grass red

but of blue cows and moons 

both can’t be found soon

takes a special kind of eye  

in the right type of sky  

so th...

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No matter how hard I try

there's always nights of

which can never be said

is slept without having

raised from a most

comfortable bed

searching for something

to help me sleep

when mother said

“it’s all in your head!”

so I tried just that

even went to

the library and read and read

cus a good book will do that

help me relax

so there every day

I’d find ...

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Curry Crisps

In 1981 and 82 at Littlemoor School I was in Junior 4

With the rest of the little wankers who were my classmates

I used to buy curry flavoured crisps for 10p at break time

I got them every day and even now miss them  

They were the best crisps I ever tasted so yummy!

In a curry coloured packet oh what’s to come!

They were the highlight of my time in that school

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Why do key holes have no keys

Why do fairies have no tales

Can I dial the numbers please

Which is best, boys or girls

What’s a mystery?

If I had another Mum

Would I be another child

If I had another Dad

Where would my old daddy be

What’s a mystery?

Where do grown ups put the child

That they say that they used to be

Where did my Mummy find my Dad

In ...

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Thank you to talented local musician Stuart Bell for turning it into a lovely Christmas ditty! 

(a re-post, but it seems more appropriate now! ⛄)

Like comets we slid through the crisp, white grass

In our wake billowed a powder-puff mass

It floated and swirled and twinkled with light

Like low-hanging stars broke free of the night

And in snow-laden fields angels were...

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A babe in a pram,

Wheeled down Lord street,

At the speed of a tram.

Mouth engrossed with jelly and swine,

Melting fine

Michelback’s prime.

My mum grew up on these pies,

I too.

As an infant into the 80’s,

pate mini pork treats,

from Grimes butchers.

I suppose it is what you grew up with,

Your tastes, your clutches.

Jelly, pastry, succulent meat,

which ...

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A poem for my big sister about our grandparents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time there were two sisters

One dark

One fair...

You

And me

And we shared

Sweets

Dreams

A bed

A room

A home

A family

An abuse

A neglect

A secret

A history

And yet here we are

So very different.

We shared so much

And yet so very little

You were

A coconut ...

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The Mound

It started way back when I was a child

One cold November night in sixty-four

Old furniture and windfall from the trees

Piled high into a mound of combustibles

Each year new kindling was added to ashes

That had smudged the verdant back garden lawn

Layer upon layer added to the blackened hill

That was gradually growing towards the sky

One year I lo...

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Down the endless garden 
to a hand-built shed of wonders
and little me, sitting with my grandad
listening to all the voices
pushing through the static

What magic in those wires!
The narrow band, the wide
The squelch and the gain
The whistle and the whine
sounds I’ll never forget

The spectrum of a planet 
chattering
Such wisdom in rough fingers
so deft upon the dial
gently they’d ...

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Marketplace

This space is like a ghost town

Trestle tables row on row

Echoing with the hustle bustle

Vendors cries of long ago

I held my mother’s hand

And listened to them shout

‘apples sixpence a pound

Come on get your money out!’

Comics stored in cardboard boxes

Toys stacked high on stands

Gleaming in the Friday sun

Just out of reach of sticky h...

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Needles & Thread

I remember her sat at an old Singer sewing machine

Turning the handle in the half-light of autumn

Making dresses and skirts for herself

So that precious pennies could be invested in children

She made me a Lone Ranger mask

From remnants of black cloth

She had left from one of her creations

I wore it with pride and a whoop and a holler

When ...

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There's a big iron bell on the roof of the barn
that is used to call men from wherever they are:
from the fields, from mending the fences
from tending the cows in distant pastures.

There's a boy who likes adventure,
to find interesting places and things.
He likes to explore different places alone,
to go wherever he will near home.

Call him home from the forest, farm bell.
Call him bac...

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Magyk

I had a book all full of spells

Where childhood magic

Weaved its way

Between the yellowed pages

Where dragon’s breath

Set woodland glades alight

And lost children danced

With the frightened and the fey

The teeth of angry wolves

Chewed at the edges

Whilst chattering little demons

Clawed along your spine

Strange apples fell from wizene...

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My Mother’s Kitchen

I’m in my mother’s kitchen

It’s a Monday afternoon

The oven’s heated up the air

The buns will be out soon

Everywhere there’s an aroma

Of cinnamon and spice

An apple pie sits on the table

I’m waiting for a slice

A black-leaded coal fire

Does it’s best to dominate

The heat and the smells

That the baking permeates

An old fridge hums...

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Glam Rock Man

A stack heeled stomp in platform boots

Trowelled make-up and glitter suits

Feather cut hair and tinted roots

It’s Glam Rock, man,
it’s Glam Rock

Teenage Rampage, Ballroom Blitz,

Radio One plays all The Hits

Driving your dad out of his wits

It’s Glam Rock, man,
it’s Glam Rock

Jackie, Smash, Disco Forty Five

What a great time to be alive

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I remember playing in a hayloft 
with older boys, daring to jump like they did.  
I tunneled alone through hay and darkness, 
to find light at the other end. 

As my memory goes back to those carefree times, 
I wonder if I tried to impress older boys 
as if they were my father.
Was I trying to outdo my brothers?
Was there a sexual element 
in body sensations in free fall in hay?  
Was b...

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Overnight Stay

“Time for bed” they said,

In a front room warmed by coal fire licks

Where the red and orange and white flames

Danced patterns on the walls of falling dusk

They push, cajole, entice you to the stairs

And do not notice terror tears welling in your eyes

Fourteen steps up the narrow stairwell

Tracing fingers on a pale wallpaper wall

Festooned with or...

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I walk with my little son
He would follow me to the edges of the galaxy
Just to tell me his story of his love for reality.

He waits for my return
Then tells me he misses me
With a smile, a cuddle and kiss that reminds me he’s here in this world.

He gives me tasks to do
While playing in the evening
Then I read him a story
Way past bedtime.

We walk in the morning
While he points out...

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The salty sea spray sprinkles my skin,

like summer showers

That begin 

Then end 

Suddenly 

I stand in front of a crust forming at the edge of the beach

Splintered, softened wood 

Seaweed

Stones

Shiny when wet

Their colours

Like common jewels

Topaz, ruby, emerald, turquoise, coral pink, terracotta

All there for the picking

All at my feet

This Novemb...

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I value you 

A soul protected
guard you like a delicate rose petal
words do not describe your existence
you give me reason
every decision I make
is with your best interests
you are my life
you are deep my son
you are vulnerable
you may not know it
nor may others not
but it's in your name
Sebastian
My clear cut high carat diamond
unbreakable like a diamond
April Spring Diamond
Be...

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Starting Blocks

I was born in nineteen forty four

When black and white films were the norm

And the black and white bloody world war

Was in the last bloody phase of its storm.

But what does a babe know of such things?

A mother's breast is all that it cares.

Her steady gaze to bask in,

Her voice to soothe its tears.

As child I saw the bomb torn sites,

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You neglected me, 

didn’t protect me, 

abandoned me,

chose an abusive man 

over your children... 

I forgive you. 

I give you the

unconditional affection

never afforded me,

because I love you 

despite everything 

and I don’t want 

the past having 

power over me.

https://youtu.be/KtNYA4pAGjI

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On her mother’s stone step, she sits and dreams

The same step she cleaned and crossed so often

Her dress, crisp and clean in the sunshine gleams

This backstreet beauty, rare rose in blossom

What whims flicker through her wandering mind

Perchance what prospect does life hold in store

Will her journey be gentle not unkind?

Shall her story be one of less not more?

In...

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They never changed that room.
Dolls, teddy bears, trains,
And transformers all hold space,
Lock time in perpetual stasis.
When death comes life stops.

Family said they should pack
Things away. It’s too hard
To be reminded day after day
Of a future lost in the past,
But a room can be a memorial.

It’s a museum of childhood,
Until a child of a later
Generation discovers it with
Glee....

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There were borders everywhere

Borders of water, of steel, of brick, of money and of mind

Borders that were meant for defining, for declaring lines you and others could not cross

Over the sandstone brick wall, across the railway line lived the park people

Snotty, scabby looking folk – they feared to tread on our turf; most did

They had the club and the park, we invaded them at w...

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When you’re born in the shadow of a mountain

You know the warmth of the darkest of shade

You know nothing will ever rise above that mountain

In whose image and shadow you were made

When cast in the shadow of a mountain

Your caste can feel defined before birth

Your path may seem predestined and written

As your feet struggle to impress in the earth

But there’s a com...

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heatwave

it were cracking’t pavements

the sky were chelsea blue

you were sucking cider

from an ice lolly

cos they said it made yer drunk

and we pretended it did

when yer scored a goal

on’t hay coloured pitch

yer mates were hot ‘n sweaty

and their celebrations

trickled down yer back

and salted yer lips

there were standpipes

at end’er sherwood...

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One of my favorite games 
to play as a child 
was seeing shapes 
in the clouds: 

Dogs, cats, 
elephants, giraffes, 
airplanes, unicorns... 

It was one of the 
few pleasures 
of my childhood. 

As I grew up, 
I began to see 
scarier things:
 
Dragons, demons, 
torn hearts,
flaming arrows... 

Now in the archway 
of my golden years, 
I see beauty that 
brings me to tears:

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Ive seen the smiling beautiful faces of precious youth

Taking fear and horror by its loathsome breath

Who washed themselves clean of its stain

With nothing more then countless courage

And disdainful acts of random kindness.

Ive seen the happy gentle porcelain faces of our very best

The ordinary made extraordinary by the casually vile

Who stared into the face of blackened ...

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Lie to Me

When the halyard raps the empty staff

and the hurricane screams its rage,

and the water-mountains heave and crash

in their spume-flecked valleys chained,

and I look upon this wild expanse

shouting fury for my pleas,

and ask in dread “Do we stand a chance?”

Please, oh please take pity ….

…. lie to me.

When darkness infiltrates my being,

seeps silent t...

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Sister Magdalena

alabaster skin

cold to the touch

pinched

            bloodless

            lips

eyes

the colour of duck eggs

piercing

            your

            soul

wisps

of taut hair

creeping

            from

            her scalp

cross on chain

hanging from

scrawny

            bird

            throat

rosa...

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