covid-19 (Remove filter)
Breathless
Is it asthma, is it covid?
For a whole year we lived to hide
Yet some of us are still stuck inside
Afraid to step into the light
I watched the drama on tv
In three parts on sly T V
A tale of fiction for all see
As if none of us were there to see
Millions dead, betrayed and forgotten
As if our minds have all gone rotten
Spoiled by the debris of our own lonelines...
Wednesday 13th March 2024 1:02 pm
We and the Adamant COVID
Our lives like a sinusoidal graph
Happiness short-lived than half,
We are all anxious
Of the future ahead
Taking the lives of millions,
It still yearns for more,
And has shaken the world
To the core
As if not enough though,
It keeps mutating in a row,
Coming up with more pals(black fungus, parosmia, strokes)
It has made people a toast
For they ha...
Sunday 3rd December 2023 8:23 am
A Good Innings
It was fun while it lasted
Now it’s time to leave the crease
Take the plaudits, raise your bat
Let the innings cease
No need to hang around for tea
Just take your bag and shuffle off
And please, don’t go near the cakes
With that painful, hacking cough
Looks like rain, did you check the covers?
And coil up the boundary rope
Without proper preparation
I’m ...
Friday 1st December 2023 8:11 am
MMXX
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...
Thursday 21st October 2021 10:53 am
The second peak
October 2020
Once we’d bagged the first we should’ve quit
but we are so elated
to make it safely down by noon
we press on like a perfect pair of twits,
sights set on a much-alike, elevated
cairn across the valley, reckoning soon
we’ll add another summit to our list.
We scale a gate which warns us to KEEP OUT!
and brave a barbed wire fence
before the grad...
Wednesday 20th October 2021 12:22 pm
Poetry Prompt: 'Forever is composed of nows'
Just the right amount of squeeze
at my hip
of a lemon
on the pasta we craft for each other
of the sponge he knows I don’t like to touch when wet.
A tongue, a croissant, a bottom smack,
exactly when we wanted one
A well-timed tease, balletically treading that tightrope line
from this now, to the next, to the next to the next please
Moments studded above our ...
Saturday 9th January 2021 3:36 pm
new year
Another New Year’s Morning.
Smoked and smooth-whisky aged brain with a stab in the right temple.
Start as you mean to go on.
The primary glee of proverbial blank slates fresh starts new year new me (new you, hopefully)
Rubbing my hands together and over the smooth cream pages of 2021
Ready to splatter in powder paint blue red yellow black pink pink pink..
A Ne...
Friday 8th January 2021 11:22 pm
No FACTS for me - Liberation from Science
Hello Face book,
Hello Twitter,
No more facts for me.
No more peer review,
No more research papers,
I’ve given up the science scene.
Free to determine my own reality,
Free to believe in what I choose,
Free to say no to the Covid vaccination for me.
Some say me selfish?
Some say me short sighted?
That the Vax is the only way out!
Information does not ki...
Friday 8th January 2021 12:06 pm
It was the best of years It was the worst of years (2020)
Liverpool won the cup…
In an empty stadium
And stadiums of souls around the world
Ascended into heaven
It was the best of years
It was the worst of years
Vaccines were produced at break neck speed
And lies disseminated to stop people taking what they need
Heath workers went the extra mile
Risking life and limb
Applauded by million with a loud din
...
Wednesday 30th December 2020 9:28 am
Seasons Greetings 2020
It isn't snowing but the world is put on ice
Shivering and sliding and slipping by in life
Better get our skates on,
Better wrap up nice and warm,
Got to learn ourselves a new way to survive.
Thinking of the problems that are past and yet to come
Got that crushing tingling feeling, feeling numb
Better switch our brains on
Better struggle through this storm
Got to keep on going strong an...
Thursday 24th December 2020 1:41 am
Our Covid Christmas
This year has been different and certainly strange,
So for this Covid Christmas we must all make a change.
With our loved ones we may not be able to share,
But remember them still and know that they do care.
Although Covid-19 makes us all be apart,
Try to be strong and remain stout of heart.
Though at this festive time numbers may be reduced,
Know a wonderful Christmas may still be produc...
Wednesday 16th December 2020 6:30 pm
We Get It!
We Get It!
We get it
It’s dangerous
Lethal, I think they said
We hide indoors
Obey the laws
It’s better than being dead
We get it
But it won’t harm
Getting a hug or two
It’s Christmas after all
And deserved
After what we’ve all been through
We get it
The vaccine’s near
So we’ll all end up being alright
A kiss
Under the mistletoe
...
Wednesday 25th November 2020 2:33 pm
Retraining Bert
Retraining Bert
Chefing is not what it used to be
His boss called him in and explained.
'We're now on tier 3 says the edict,
and boozers like this have to close.'
'No boss, we're exempt,
like the 'Spoons have been told.
We sell grub and that's kosher
just the ale house is doomed.'
'It won't work like that lad,
the punters are scared.
And I can't serv...
Sunday 8th November 2020 6:47 pm
Spirits
Spirits
The first
Showed me how it had been
The laughter and the tears
Sliced turkey
Rich juices flowing
Lights and tinsel
Greens and reds and silvers
The smell of pine
Needles on the carpet
Arguments and recriminations
Old wounds opened
New wounds pierced
This was how it was
The second
Showed me how it is
Lonely day holy night
The only ...
Sunday 1st November 2020 12:52 pm
cycles
Where am i?
I ask my mindless brain as I disassociate
I disassociate to the point that everyday feels the same
Everything i do blends into one giant blob of nothingness
Nothing matters. Does it?
It doesn’t. Nothing has ever mattered.
That's why we alter our state of reality.
We alter it to feel something out of all the nothingness.
We take the shot. We take the h...
Monday 26th October 2020 6:13 am
World's ever myopic president
It is right
It is right
'Only those
That stand under a tree
Know how ants bite!'
"Unless I saw things
Firsthand
Flaunting, I
Used not
Facts to understand!
In this regard
I often said off hand
'Concerning Covid-19
You could be off
Your guard
I do not agree
With a bizarre
Lockdown decree.'
Me if you ask
Why put not you
A face mask?
I will laugh
Behind your back.
While ...
Friday 2nd October 2020 10:17 pm
On the Limitations Of Hand Gel
My love life is a dusty relic of the Stone Age
The risks of COVID are too much to handle
My new blow-up doll's not quite the same
But dames are just not worth the candle
I miss the gossip working from home, and
I'm growing obese eating non-stop cookies,
I'm depressed from thinking about my fate,
Facing queer street from on-line bookies
The allotment affords me a b...
Wednesday 30th September 2020 11:06 am
The Pandemic
The world has gone from worse to worst
With people dying left and right
We know the cause but what's the cost
A dying race from an embrace
We hope that cure will come for sure
And see that worst will come to pass
Tuesday 22nd September 2020 2:57 am
We've Never Had Water Here Anyway
As originally published with Clay Literary's Raven: https://www.clayliterary.com/post/design-a-stunning-blog
‘Neath the blistering heat, California poppies cast
themselves to the hillside sun as wayward children
start to lose their breath, as you now fight for yours,
running to chase the summer blues away.
The young and old all begin to fail; heatwaves
take the lun...
Thursday 20th August 2020 7:50 pm
Covid Mary
Covid Mary
This world is made of razorblades and bile
Where every step is dangerous to tread
Bloody footprints stretch out mile after mile
Leading to the bone mansions of the dead
They chew on rotting meat and bitter wine
And breath the fetid air of charnel house
The graveyards filled with beggars is a sign
Of every corrupt moral they espouse
In darkened rooms they ...
Tuesday 4th August 2020 2:21 pm
Anxious Ground
this bizarre plea for that dystopia
dug here with slumber
which might sleep for friendship.
maybe creep and demise passing,
a prayer and an assembly,
me and God in his chamber,
a euphoric chalice
that grasps a spade to dig
but who am I to find such bliss in the anxious ground?
I take a spade and dig
but who am I to find such bliss in the anxious ground?
...
Friday 24th July 2020 6:52 pm
The Lockdown Spring Renga Project
March - June 2020 :
During the early months of the UK lockdown, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - I've been organising and running an online community writing project through various Facebook community boards, but in two different communities: Fakenham, in north Norfolk, where I live & work, and the Isles of Scilly, which I've known and loved for over twenty-five years. The two poems produ...
Thursday 9th July 2020 12:11 pm
Old Vic
Old Vic
Once these doors close
The lights are dimmed
They may never open again
The soft ghosts of actors
Fading in our memory
Leaving only distant echoes
The bright gaudy costumes
The greasepaint and powders
All left where they last fell
The empty seats collect dust
The stage becomes a mausoleum
Of tragedy and comedy
Pennies draining ...
Saturday 4th July 2020 1:59 pm
Kiss me not mom and dad
Mom and dad
Me if you adore
Kiss me not
Till COVID-19
Is no more! ///
As part of the sensitization work on physical distancing I heard a kid on ETV saying so.
Friday 19th June 2020 11:57 am
New Normal
New Normal
We hang around like statues
At McDonalds and Ikea
We wait in line for haircuts
Or to grab a pint of beer
We stand apart together
Following the six foot rule
We can gather for a shopping trip
But not to go to school
We spy upon our neighbours
And complain at barbeques
We daren’t go too far from the house
Because of lack of loos
We wear a m...
Wednesday 10th June 2020 12:41 pm
Elegy For Days Lost
Elegy For Days Lost
Another day has come and passed
Left pain and sadness in its wake
The seconds, minutes, hours amassed
The sun will give the moon will take
The distant friends the loved ones lost
Amid the times of dread disease
Each family will count the cost
And curse the name of days like these
And yet the sky was clearest blue
I wrote a poem, sang a so...
Sunday 24th May 2020 1:34 pm
Going Viral (with Teflon Dom)
Like Saul on the road to Damascus
when Jehovah stopped for a word and held forth
Mary Wakefield met Lord God Almighty
on the A1. In March. Heading north.
In a car with something quite deadly
(who was apparently feeling unwell)
his road paved with the worst of intentions
off to Durham, or – hopefully – hell,
coughing and sweating and whining
like some self-centred, sociopath scrote
Domini...
Sunday 24th May 2020 9:36 am
The Ghosts Of Covid-19
GHOSTS OF COVID 19.
We see you and reach out amidst this sea of unknown faces
We watch through tears, in silence and remember familiar places
Where once the streets held smiles from many families black and white
Where music flowed through windows, well into the night
Where street lamps held the kisses of all lovers neath the moon
This chance I never got to feel being taken far too soon
Our ...
Tuesday 19th May 2020 5:19 am
FIVE O'CLOCK
At five o’clock the Tories dribble poison in my ears
trying hard to hide their perma-smirks they giggle at our fears.
Trumpeting as triumphs, all the targets they’ve not met.
They twist the truth like wicker man and hope we’ll all forget
that they failed to act in time to protect our brave frontline
And they watched the death toll climb, while they told us we were fine
Saturday 9th May 2020 2:27 pm
Freedom At Last
Freedom At Last
Flames raged in the cornfields around it,
Bobbing there in stagnant waters
Tethered to a solid mooring post
With a thick, coarse rope.
Each spark from the furnace
A risk to its rotting timbers
As it took hold and smouldered
And smoked and spread
Oars crossed and laid on its floor
And the spattered markings of crows
Bleaching spots of ...
Monday 4th May 2020 2:24 pm
Old and Out In the Cold
Annie was eighty and lived in a care home
Someone had wanted her out of the way
Unsung staff were her guardian angels
Love of the job more important than low pay
The home was a sanctuary for Annie
For her age she was mobile and fit
Her life was peaceful and quite secure
Until the day the covid-19 pandemic hit
Matron and her assiduous staff
Worried about Annie a...
Tuesday 28th April 2020 3:48 pm
The Silent Commodoties Born Poor
The Silent Commodities Born Poor
The treasure chest is full,
And many a full treasure chest are there
Secretly concealed in caves, in safes,
In Nuclear Bunkers,
In the avarice mind of our Gaoler.
Now the cull,
Now the greed is there for a good
While – there be no need for
The silent commodities born poor,
A wealth of their intellect...
Friday 20th March 2020 9:32 am
Event Horizon
Event Horizon
Yesterday
I looked out of my window
The man taking his dog for a walk
The mother and child hand in hand
School children hopping and skipping along
Neighbours chatting over a fence
The postman delivering parcels
A cat slinking under the hedge
The wind whipping leaves
The rain falling
Yesterday
Today
I looked out of my window
The dog ...
Tuesday 17th March 2020 7:43 pm
This Is Our War
Still living
fallout met
by masses,
without guns
no bullets
just mute
disease,
creeps fast
striding shrill
in media
mantra, fear-
I could sense
in spun words
on print page
sold for pence
ignorance
pushed quick,
cutting harsh
and bleeding,
blood pounding
though veins of
arms, afraid,
survival
met impulse
like long fight,
fal...
Tuesday 17th March 2020 2:30 pm
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