“The Bitter Cup” reflects the themes of enduring hardship and finding strength in the face of suffering, inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Surrounded by Good Powers...” The sonnet explores the idea of accepting life’s trials with quiet courage, symbolised by the "bitter cup," and trusting that even through pain, we move towards light and renewal. It echoes Bonhoeffer’s own spirit of res...

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Do you feel the music?

Does it capture in your soul

the feelings that got lost in there

as you’ve played out your role?

 

Have you ever sat and listened,

let it take you far away?

Well, I’ve done it time and again

and I can clearly say -

 

that nothing else compares.

It’s like a portal out of time,

where you can let things go and heal,

submerged in the sublim...

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Did I lie awake at night,

or did I dream in color?

Such wonderous things

I saw and heard,

that took me to the other

 

side of the stream

from whence things flow.

A magic filled the air.

So mystified, I was at home

completely unaware.

 

For time stood still,

bathed in the light

and love that make all things,

a message fell

like drops of rain,

and ...

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Sandstorm churning in my mind tonight,

driven by the wind of change.

And I know… it’s not that easy.

Drove a million miles and it is all the same,

spinning through the circles of my mind.

And it’s cold… it’s not that easy.

 

But there’s a feeling unlike any other thing I know -

on the deserts of New Mexico,

I see forever but it’s not… not as far as I can see.

Yeah, th...

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I sometimes sit awake at night

unsure what I should do,

swimming through my thoughts

yeah, all the worries of the day.

I guess I like the solitude,

although I’m feeling blue

there in the quiet moonlight

softly, God opens the way.

 

In dim of night he reassures,

a peace rests in the air.

The things I want to worry of,

they simply melt away,

replaced by vis...

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My heart is not the same.

It is worn and torn,

But every now and then

I feel it beat...

And I know

That You're still there.

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You're my inspiration on ecstasy, always creating a psychedelic path for my thoughts to float on.

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Il y a des moments dans la vie

Qu'on ne risque pas d'oublier

Des moments incroyables

Qu'on aimerait recréer

 

Comme le moment précis

Quand je t'ai vu pour la première fois

Une simple rencontre

Que m'a rempli de joie

 

Je marchais dans la rue

Quand on s'est croisés

Et dans ce moment précis 

Le temps s'est arrêté

 

Le bruit autour de nous

S'est soudain...

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I one time dreamed a dream wherein I walked within an open field,

where every step a memory was, and every breath was poignant filled.

 

I saw each day I ever lived, they all bled slowly into one.

Each opportunity to give now stood a moment left undone.

 

I saw each thing I ever owned and tried so hard to justify,

but every effort woeful fell and I was left to wonder why.

...

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This is the reason I do what I do.

A rhyme, a song in shades of blue.

Connections made to a million ties.

The longing stare of a million eyes.

 

Peering out from the darkness, soul by soul.

Bound by the sound of every note.

Bound by the beat of the rhythmic drum.

Bound by the voice of the chosen one.

 

Chosen to carry the weight of them all.

Chosen to suffer, chos...

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Granite grandeur draped in snow,

soft whisper falls, clear water flows.

 

No hand extends to measure time,

no cares ascend, no worries find.

 

For purpose fades into the still,

a tranquil peace here in the chill

 

What part of time and space am I?

So small beneath the endless sky,

 

a spec of dust, a grain of sand…

yet cradled in the Master’s hand.

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When the grip of our being obstinate clutches On the edge of a looming spiral. When escorting a change thrust A cluster of barbarous knives against us. We deal with this to accomplish A sense of pride in us, For what we usually ponder about, For what we usually act about, The Burning Dawn admires us.

 

When the solemn mind captivates one In showing what extremes it achieved, Just a look at ...

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a machine is greater than a machine
the greater the inspiration,the greater the admiration
the greater the machine,the greater the inspiration
the greater the body,the greater the machine
the greater the body,the greater the soul
greatness is richer than greatness
greatness is richer than the mind,body,and soul

rich is richer than greatness
rich is richer than inspiration
light is riche...

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It’s a direct drive of fifty litres

From me to you.

Six hundred miles north

Until I’m resting my eyes on your face:

That soothing easy care

From the dial and touch

Of your features

 

The mixed fabric of your voice

Trickling through my cells.

 

I am freestanding

But will bloom

When you enter the room.

 

Until then,

I’m in this intensive

...

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Inspiration is within in ourself

Which we know: is the energy to move on

During when we feel uninspired

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One sure way to kill any of our dreams

Spend our life just staring at screens

What we focus on makes our realities

Attention squarely centred upon banalities

Getting more likes with diligent persistence

As we take selfies for our unreal existence

Social media about as real as a fairy story

Selling a pretend life in all its faux glory

“I wish I had spent more time on my phon...

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How far does it extend this piece of the planet we buy?

Is it to the earth’s core or as far as we can see in the sky?

Guardians of this earth, here to give and share.

How can we own the land, the sky or the air?

Revering nature by giving more back than we take.

Really any other way of living, could only be called fake.

 

www.deanfraserofficial.com

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Long hours spent toiling the land, his family had done for generations.

Living in tune with the seasons, never thinking of other occupations.

Farmers his father and grandfather before him had been, what else to be?

Of his sons he was proud, he said “one day you will take over from me”.

 

Come work in our factories, leave your village, leave your land.

Come work in our factories, ...

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The big wheel is apparently not a wheel, but an eye.

Boxes of people suspended in air and time, up in the sky.

The panorama stretches out before them, a city laid bare.

A few million souls living, they look like ants down there.

Which way to serve them best?

North…South…East or perhaps West?

 

Culture awaits in this. metropolis, but is anything real?

Find a place to go, chi...

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He has lived longer than you or I

Standing tall amongst his forest of friends

What makes this tree so special?

Why are so many compelled to visit this exact tree?

Leave offerings in his branches

Bury gifts between his roots…

Wisdom Tree gives freely of his counsel

Wisdom Tree communicates clearly

For those with ears open enough to hear

Humanity drawn to ask favours from ...

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I had seen him on tv in bygone times

Finding his art entrancing in my childhood

He seemed a little mad and I liked that

Wanting to understand

My mother became my oracle of knowledge

She also worked herself as an artist

Teaching me together with discussions aplenty

I came to know him a little

 

Fast forward into the noughties

Persistence of Memory seen small as life at...

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wake up
go to the computer
stare
open the blinds
stare
go to the bathroom
stare
grunt
wipe
back to the computer
look at the news?
no, a buzz-kill
stomach growls
*toot
boil water for tea
wash face
brush teeth
shave off stubble
put on underarm deoderant
steep teabag
put in two slices of toast
sit again
try thinking
don't want to think
try to think again
stare
sip tea
thawi...

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To walk in the cleansing summer rain

Nirvana for humans and parched ground

Pine trees, roses, the damp earth

And a thousand other scents

All at once brought alive

Teasing senses with their beauty

Thoroughly soaking wet and caring not

Simple joys of being alive…

 

www.deanfrasercentral.com

 

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Remote idyllic islands without a single car

Anywhere you would wish to go, is not so far

Narrow causeway walked to get on the place

Bird watching, life taken at a much slower pace

Those venturing here in nature’s celebration

Time spent here like one condensed vacation

Only a few hours to be enjoyed, yet never a bore

Visitors see this a small price, for the island they adore

...

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I first came across them when a teen

Exquisite drawings for to set the scene

Fell walking made large through illustration

Bringing to life every beauteous location

Lakelands crying out to be walked like never before

Each book read leaving me feeling I need to see more

Descriptions of crag, scree, and the valleys green

Following in his footstep to view each scene

To the Lake...

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We stayed in Bowness

Well it seemed the right thing to do

To my 9-year-old self it made perfect sense

And probably would now

Exploring the lakes

Windermere our starting point

I had been given a choice of holiday that year

Blackpool or The Lakes my options

We stayed in Bowness

 

The peace before mobile phones

Up early and down to lakeshore

Wandering and wondering

...

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Southport in August

Flower Show attracting nature lovers

I am seeking different experiences

Spontaneous decision made

Heading along the promenade

Breathing sea air

Mixed with traffic pollution

Forward into the unknown

Formby my destination

Nobody else around on this footpath

Eveyone too busy viewing horticulture

Yet here we had another kind of nature

Wildflowers...

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We are creatures of habit us humans

Staying safe there in our comfort zones

 

Naturally, there will be exceptions

To this unwritten rule

Going off the roadmap most of us follow

Gung-ho types charging forth into life

Into any new situation full of bravado

Fearlessly shaking the tree of wisdom

Extracting every last gram of excitement

From this adventure we all signed up...

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Chakra cleansed heart

Negativity now depart

In beauty walking

Inner voice talking

Interconnected soul

At once whole

Ways of living

Caring easily giving

Gentle words spoken

Three eyes open

Easily to fathom

Harmony energy atom

Through each action

In every reaction

Peacefully deeply blessed

Love made manifest

 

www.deanfrasercentral.com

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Imagine creating this hand-held device

available for all to enjoy.

Pacifying vast swathes of the population.

The people would voluntarily spend most of their time investing their attention on this device to the detriment of observing the reality of genuine life going on around them.

Regardless of this being direct interaction with fellow humans.

Changes in their rights as citizens.

...

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Standing next to the library a gallery of art

Nourishing the soul, culture they impart

Paintings, sound, all arts it embraces

Taking us to many far away places

 

Streets a mix of Victorian architectural hints

Mixing harmoniously with all the glitz and chintz

What should be a total clash somehow blends in its uniqueness

Becoming quite sublime to the senses in its completenes...

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Irresistible the two-hundred-year-old mills

I would love to collect them in all honesty

Like Clough William-Ellis made Portmeirion

I would have my own industrial history village

Silk, cotton and any other mill is welcome

I would rescue neglected gems of architecture

The derelict, unloved, soon to be demolished

I would restore them to their former glory

This was our ancestor...

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Blue plaque sits upon wall

Arthur Stanley Jefferson it proclaims

Born 16th June 1890

Telling of where his journey started

A walking manifestation of talent

Known to the world as Stan Laurel

Comedy legend

Here his story began

His family soon moving away

As he would later relocate to another continent

A partnership with Ollie only half the story

Movie director, scree...

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The greenest valley spread far and wide

Slowly settlement starts on either side

Bronze age people, eventually two villages grew

Looking from a distance at one another, what next to do?

Great plans are conceived, as elders confer to discuss

To be better able to trade, a track we’ll make between us

The Dodman by description, early surveyor of the land

Making sure the track was s...

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The story is the same

It’s always the same

The need takes me, and I must act

Overwhelming need to escape

Escape from wall to wall people

Desiring a different experience

Hear my heartbeat

Truly breathe clean air

Solitude where are you?

 

Compulsion to be truly alone

Wanting ways to seek

Seek and we will find

One cold December day finds me in Grizedale Forest

...

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 “Why I’m not feeling the energy, man?”

Hmmm this has to be a mystery

How does mysterious Avebury

Somehow mysteriously elude me…

Oh how I endeavoured to do the right thing

Even camped but a stones throw from the village

Walk the avenue of standing stones

Ensure I’m within the right energy

Continue around the circle of standing stones

Seemingly it doesn’t matter

Clock ...

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A circle made of thirty-eight volcanic stones

Like monumental cards that have been thrown

By some giant dealing out his giant deck

The Cumbrian landscape to bedeck

 

To sit within the circle, reaching to the past

Those Neolithic builders, a legacy to last

Castlerigg as the sun rises in the sky

The reason it was built, still to wonder why?

 

Warm sun drying the stones ...

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Connection to nature

Living by the seasons

Four thousand years

Finding rhyme and reason

Revering the old ways

Stones of the circle

Down through eons

Journey internal

Dare to care

Feel them today

Druids calling us

Energy stays

 

www.deanfrasercentral.com

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A canoe launches into shallowest water

All but a stream

High in the mountains

Forward motion begins

Avoiding rocks

Patiently progress is made

Slowly yet surely

Widening and then

In an instant transformed

A cacophony of noise fills his ears

Rapids!

With long-won skill, he traverses

Shooting onwards

Summersaulting

Yet in control

Then calm returns

First...

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It's all around if we open our eyes to see

Today I saw a gorgeous tree

Growing out of an old crumbling wall

There lies beauty 

It's everywhere around

And it costs nothing

www.deanfrasercentral.com

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Here's a poem I wrote to celebrate the launch of Rise! Spoken Word at The Bureau (filmed before lockdown but only just released)

 

Rise

 

May you rise like the phoenix from the ashes.

Reignite your precious embers.

Break from your constraints to dance on air.

Rise like the swelling tide, the harvest moon.

Rise like you will dare.

 

Rise like you're awakened from a hun...

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He remembers his great grandfather

Wisdom etched in all the lines creasing his face

He said

“we don’t own this land, we look after it for our sons and the sons of our sons”

And this is how history unfolded

Down through countless generations

His own father before him

Grandad

Right back

The farm

Cared for

Nurtured

By those with the same surname

Passed down once...

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Please help open my mind
Rationality limits potential

Quieten pointless ponderings

Let my mind be free

A thousand random thoughts vie for attention

Only the chatter of mundaneness

Never did mean anything

Time for a new paradigm

Overdue awakening within

Intuition then inner knowing

To be still from inside out

To listen to nothing

Calmness permeates

At last…

w...

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His friends thought what a pity

Abandoning his job in the city

They judged him to be quite mad

Early mid-life crisis, how sad

Next, he distributed some of his wealth

Considered it essential for good health

Trinkets of a life he had turned away from

And pretty soon he will also be long gone

A Scottish island to be his new home

Clean air, wildness, freedom to roam

He wi...

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Some people say that they cannot use the power of their mind

they say it is impossible to vision anything

Nothing to inspire them, nothing deep inside for them to seek

nothing to make their heart and soul sing

Think of a beautiful tropical island looking like paradise on Earth

palm trees gently swaying in the sea breeze

The healing warmth of the sun as it kisses lightly upon your...

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Treading the fields with his hazel twig

Showing farmers exactly where to dig

Parched crops wilting as far as eyes can see

Water hidden, over there, by the old yew tree

The water diviner struck liquid gold once again

A well sunk, the crops lifeblood soon to regain

Year after year, the farmer’s gratitude enough

Brian the village legend always did his stuff

 

Is water divin...

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Arbor Low Stone Circle a new day is dawning

Transcendent sunrise welcomes in the morning

Sunshine warming us and the dew laden ground

At one with nature we are chanting sacred sound

Resonating with the landscape, the stones, at last

Through our ancestor’s legacy reaching into the past

Vibrations of aeons locked within the circular aspect

There is wisdom here for those affordin...

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Rock Crystal of purest energy

Smoky Quartz creating good chi

Amethyst powerful healer

Apache Tear karmic revealer

Rose Quartz the love stone

Carnelian “in the zone”

Tigereye Gold attracts wealth

Malachite the aid to health

Amazonite for lucky days

Sunstone sunshine rays

Bloodstone the blood tonic

Snowflake Obsidian life harmonic

Moonstone sweet dreams

Black O...

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A vision of another time

Feeling the landscape

Reaching into the past

Mineral rich

Quarry his location

Seeking

Seeking to communicate

Follow his intuition

Off the well walked track

Reading the ground

With closed eyes, he sees

And walks with purpose

Yes, it is just as he saw

Yes!

 

Hidden under long grass

This hollowed out depression

He drops to th...

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He walks as he chants, feeling the grass beneath his feet

Smiling inwardly, he knows who he came here to meet

Sacred sounds reverberate, into air and within the ground

Soon it happens, by him they swoop, begin to fly around

Warmer weather is here, swallows confirming this

As by fractions of a centimetre our shaman they miss

Feeling his energy, chanting he continues, projecting lo...

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