SAFE FROM HARM

Fleeing the scene of the smoking crime

my shadow legs were failing falling

decided to run forever but fell

the cops were swift on my slow back

& slow to follow my swift soul

which grinning escaped through some hole

& down a road safe from

Ignorance perfectly un-noticed and perfect

The cell was hard like white bone

& naked like someth...

Read and leave comments (0)

Social intercourse

Social media

Apps to luv ya

Apps to feed ya

Checking info

Gathering data

Texting friends

C U L8r

Read and leave comments (0)

Hear the Furies! (Dante's Inferno, Canto IX)

Upon our way we heard the frightful sound

of women crying out, delirious

with anger. These were Furies, now unbound

from husbands, gathered with mysterious

Medusa, who had serpents in her hair

and powers magical. “You'll turn to stone,”

a wretched victim called to me, “don't dare

to look at them!” The Furies will dethrone

Read and leave comments (0)

I walked toward home,
yet with every step I took,
the distance between home and me grew.

I had only recently understood
the meaning of the word fitoor,
so let me begin again

For me, fitoor and home were the same.

I searched for my fitoor
in the hope of finding them
the gaze, the laughter,
my comfort, my reassurance.

I walked toward it,
ran toward it,
even crawled.

But with ...

Read and leave comments (0)

I will take you to that garden

your favourite, you say, with the

endless herbaceous border high on

an old stone terrace, planted curiously

to only two colours, the garden

is finer than the house you say,

so, we stroll to the ornamental

carp pond, that once fed the monks

here and count the waterlilies,

you say early evening is best, quieter,

the coach trips having...

Read and leave comments (0)

Comrade, do please pass me the paint pot,

red will do, yes, a pint will be fine,

imperial measures are better,

Rule Britannia and fuck the Iranians!

They say that blood’s thicker than water,

but is it thicker than oil?

I reckon paint’s thicker than blood,

but blood’s much cheaper these days,

come on guys, let’s paint the tow...

Read and leave comments (0)

Andrew Tate would hate you

for locking your body away.  

He believes that women should be 

raped and made prey, scream and not

heard, constantly available

to worship him on pedestals.

His pillars thick as tissue paper;

pyramids of tin.

What would Tate make of medieval mystic sisters

who write a revolutionary Jesus

is our Mother, God the Holy Daughter?

Read and leave comments (1)

Nicky brought French bread, pate

and bars of chocolate. I carried my six-pack

of Stella and The Myth Of Sisyphus,

in case the conversation fell flat,

but which came in handy to swat

the seemingly Biblical swarm

of flies, on our food, our flesh

and my brand new fedora.

That’s very fitting, she said, almost

artistic, swatting those poor flies

with The Myth Of Sisy...

Read and leave comments (0)

They used to steal glass insulators
Alongside the railroads
Turned them into knives

Red knives
White knives
Blue knives

I follow their example
Stealing Georgetown blue flint
From outside the electric

Sick of red lies
White lies
Blue lies

Told to believe everything 
but our own
eyes

To ignore
your tax dollars 
extinguishing innocent life

Bombs falling in the darkness o...

Read and leave comments (0)

Plight of the Iguanas

These reptiles that thrive in the heat
Fall frigid and plop at our feet.
From branches they’re dropping,
And from rooftops they’re flopping,
But at least we’ll have something to eat!

Read and leave comments (0)

Slaughter in the holy land
I find it so hard to understand 
How do you even contemplate
The sheer barbaric attitude and hate
Whether you are gentile or jew
Muslim or christian to name a few
Whatever became of peace and love
Dear god in the heavens above

The human species is insane
Even an animal has some refrain
Where did it go caring and compassion
Good samaritans are out of fashion
...

Read and leave comments (0)

She has long been evicted from sanity

a lost mind wanderer constantly being subjected

to electroconvulsive practices

continually bombed with dubious experimental medications

no longer must her screamings, rantings and raving

be allowed to disfigure the statistics

she will be made to zombie walk

through days she doesn't even know exist

then at least the clinically minded Pon...

Read and leave comments (1)

Injured mother in smoke falling debris blocks her vision

Dust clouds fill her lungs as she runs,he is hidden

Her baby is out there!

Gasping for air she's spluttering out his name

His cries are drowned out overpowered by shots screams and horror

Whilst rush and panic confuse her intuition

Scarce oxygen she's hoping and wishing

Praying for the return just recently miss...

Read and leave comments (0)

Never backstab the genuine ones —
The rare hearts that stand when storms arrive.
They carry truth in quiet ways,
And keep your trust alive!

For loyalty is fragile glass,
Once cracked, it cannot mend.
Betray the real, and you may lose,
A soul that chose to stand!

So, guard the souls who stand by you,
When others turn and run —
The world is full of passing faces,
But genuine ones are ...

Read and leave comments (1)

'Carlos, mi hermoso libro'

(Carlos, my beautiful book)

Every hello is an introduction                                                                      

Cada saludo es una introducción

Every laugh is a footnote
Cada risa es una nota al pie

Every question is a dedication                                                                    
Cada pregunta es una dedicatori...

Read and leave comments (0)

(With an enormous nod to John Prines's"Whistle and Fish")

I'd like to think I'd led a good life

Brought two kids up and I daren't beat the wife

Never carried a gun, never used a knife
But is that enough for Heaven?

Weighed on his scales neither bad nor good

Could I have done better? I'm sure that I could

But if I lived again not so sure that I would

And anyway, what's in...

Read and leave comments (8)

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

 Holding two contradictory notions together
 is heavy weather blowing in
 god-forsaken, we are, yeah?
 Who knows why the wind blows
 sahara sand to our shame,
 we are just unprepared.

 Get back stairs, get out quickly; 
 a little tired after flying
 into a ...

Read and leave comments (1)

My soul bleeds 
And from solitude it weeps upon tattered paper 
For you 
Only you 
For I belong to no one else
My tears scream
Their echoes can be heard from the faint touch of a pen 
The earth falls silent 
I've become inaudible 

Yet no one hears quite like you. 

Read and leave comments (0)

Kevin loves his 3D printer and gets a lot of satisfaction in designing and printing all sorts of things. Recently he has become very ambitious and has printed a complete school

and the pupils to go in it

and then in a mad minute

he got this crazy idea

so just for a bit of fun

he's printing a semi-automatic machine gun

Read and leave comments (1)

It’s five in his morning half way between dark and light

He sits on the bed

His guitar in the corner

His mouth dribbles and trembles trying to shake off the thoughts he lives

The words he is trying to form come out in a huddled mess

And the dawn is fighting with the clouds and the night

The smell of his breath and sweat hangs in the air

Like it’s five days old, the wet and d...

Read and leave comments (3)

Sunlight in their small hands,
rising beyond all brands.

Their courage goes on shining;
they were once growing wings.

Until a missile left their building crumbling,
burying, one by one, their dreams—
the wings that once were growing,
now scattered, fading.

Time refused to stop
as tears continued to drop.

Their parents were seeking
the scattered pieces of their morning.

The in...

Read and leave comments (7)

The sea, oh the sea’s like a magnet for me

with its aspect so constantly changing.

On clear sunny days such a pleasure to see,

but beware of those times when it’s raging.

Though storms in the deep are a wonder to watch,

if you’re out there it’s not such a pleasure,

for then you had best reef your sails in a notch

or you’ll end up like Davy Jones’ treasure.

Those p...

Read and leave comments (3)

Sunk, in these hours of agony,
compassion fades away in silence,
breaking into muted pleas

Man, in a daze,
eschews thorns without seeing the wounds
of those who suffer beside him

Justice is absent;
it lives only in the soul
of those who love selflessly

Do we fade away in this blindness
or give love without asking for anything in return?

Read and leave comments (1)

How brilliant is the light tonight

how brilliant is it

Flashes like meteors boom and bang

A festival of fireworks

Heading here and there  

How brilliant is the sky tonight

how brilliant is it

But some won’t see it

Others will  

A child points at a flashing light

And then they are in it

How deadly is the night tonight

How chillin...

Read and leave comments (2)

who flies the flag at half mast

for those cast aside as disposable trash?

pawn people in riot gear

quivering in bomb shelters

with their helmet heads

between the knees,

mumbling salvation pleas

from trembling lips.

oligarch puppets 

and island class play-things,

thrown into the deep-end 

on the front line

in the queue for slaughter.

flesh and bone c...

Read and leave comments (1)

Unflinching and infinite
skies remain speechless
witness embracing all 
judging none

Birds fly
   to the feeder
      that's enough 
         school for the day

Microcosms of the one song
compete in beauty
praise and thanks due
to an unconscious harmony

Flying into your heart
   beauty dispels distance
      thus A is B
         you are there

            *  *  *

In ...

Read and leave comments (1)

Read and leave comments (1)

Soft shifting plume of gauzy gossamer white

Between  vigilant supervising cypress sentinels

Swirling sideways with the courteous breeze

Patterned by still partly russet boughs

flirting with the teasing sunlight

Now you have me, now you don't

Wafting above sparkling frosted fields

And through the newly plundered olives

Recently relieved of their precious burden

Not l...

Read and leave comments (1)

A village in decline,

Where young do not come back;

The old folks keep on ageing:

This is a one-way track,

Which is not new, of course;

It was forever thus:

Tear-stained sons and daughters

Would board the early bus.

But this time gaps appear,

Whose like we never saw;

The thin supply dissolves

In casualties of war,

For boys arrive home wrapped

A...

Read and leave comments (8)

A thin metallic modification of the wind,

its chatterling lost to the sky.

Unnoticed if heard,

if seen, not seen—

insignificant to the many,

but a key to the few who know.

Read and leave comments (0)

Don't be ashamed of who you are, 
From where you've come or by how far.
Don't be afraid to be yourself,
Or to hide your problems on the shelf.

Don't care about what others think. 
How much you climb. How much you sink.
And don't forget to tell your story. 
But don't cover yourself with too much glory.

Don't lead a life full of deceptions,
Or be too proud to make corrections.
Don't be...

Read and leave comments (1)

I'm lying in the wilder grass

my back upon warm ground,

daydreaming as the moments pass

not lost, though neither found...

I'm in-between the many worlds

untethered from their pull,

where all beneath the Sun unfurls,

each precious moment full...

an azure sky of timeless depth

holds all my thoughts at bay,

that not one worldly interject

might draw my ...

Read and leave comments (5)

Lifted out of myself

                                 and looking down

see everything as it numbs, spreads, fractals

i used to not live in these spirals anymore yet fortitude is not a given and falling down is not a lack of fortitude.         now i live here where it never rains to cleanse me the way i need, unknown, as the world is coated with the sleazy oils of greasy cash, slimy s...

Read and leave comments (0)

Another poem from my 'Sketching In Ireland' mss.

Furnishings

listening to shower
water rhythms
then silence as you
shave sans mirror

wafts of Gillette
down the stairs
zing straight to
my wanton womb

I mouth blues
chopping garlic
you appear saying

‘For some reason,
I am suddenly
starving!’

Frances Macaulay Forde © 2007

LISTEN: https://soundcloud.com/francesmf/furnishi...

Read and leave comments (0)

I tend to only see clearly

When I look back

I question is there a life I can live freely

Without having to watch my back

I simply tried to love everyone dearly

While they turned their back.

The flashes of the past

My urges to live fast

The way I left myself last

I believed I was always an outcast

My innocence became cracked

All the questions I wish I got ...

Read and leave comments (1)

Doubts looming

Voices booming

“This is senior year”

Romantic rejection

Fading connection

“This is senior year”

Decisions sending

Admissions pending

“This is senior year”

Too many choices

Too little rejoices

This is senior year.

Read and leave comments (1)

Read and leave comments (0)

Let your thoughts pass

Like clouds in the sky

Let the day

Turn into night

Sometimes it rains 

And you won't know why 

Sometimes it feels like

Your barely getting by 

But storms always pass eventually

And you will see the sun rise 

Life won't always be sunshine and rainbows

But sometimes there's beauty 

In not knowing how the day goes

...

Read and leave comments (1)

I used to be a fast runner.

Now look at me, the slowest guy in Hampshire, otherwise known as Hants.
I’m so slow, I meet myself coming back.

A few years ago I made a disparaging remark, at the Saturday morning run round the park.

You see, I regarded myself as a ‘proper’ athlete, so was scornful of this ‘fun-running’ phenomenon,
which to me was an excuse for avoiding ‘manly’ competition.

Read and leave comments (0)

Can you love someone you never knew?

Does that make any real sense to you?

I hardly knew my Dad, but love him still.

And I know in my heart that I always will.

A few very old pictures are all that I’ve got.

None with my dad, which saddens me a lot.

Today is Dad’s birthday, I stand by his stone.

I shed a tear before I make my way home.

I read the inscription, about a ‘gentle...

Read and leave comments (2)

Pocket Armageddon 

don’t have to add it up 

don’t need a photo or a map 

you know it’s wrong 

and that’s really that  

how it sits with you

drinks your coffee; eats your bread 

entertaining you all day long 

taking you to bed 

spending the bread 

giving in to the moment 

you like being fed 

while others take the torment 

a d...

Read and leave comments (0)

“I’m having one of those nights,” she says.

“What’s keeping you awake?”

“A billion things. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Are you worrying about the dogs again?”

“No, I was thinking about how cute they are.
Do you think they're concerned about us?”

“I don’t think they spend much time worrying about things.
They’re probably thinking about lying in the sun tomorrow.”

“I wish w...

Read and leave comments (2)

Where have all the good shops gone
those well established brands
High Street stores are disappearing
throughout this illustrious land

They sold such good value fashions
you could rely on their well made stuff
always within your budget
being with it was never tough

Every night I count my cash
and dream of what I need

I need a bargain
I’m holding out for a bargain until the New Year...

Read and leave comments (3)

When you've learned the right combination 

You know your safe

Read and leave comments (0)

I move a fingertip, I breathe, I blink,

And I communicate a thought to you.

Where others speak and listen , we but think,

And all my dearest longings thus are brought to you.

There is within me something separate,

Sits back to wonder, only dumb at this.

Never dreaming of such mindless beauty.

Barely tapped by thought,

The fathomless wells of love.

Time, wa...

Read and leave comments (1)

The devil is a Catholic man,

Who lies about who he's with

And who's clothes are on the floor. 

He's a Catholic man,

Who goes to church,

Confession,

Always has money for the offering,

But not for flowers. 

He sits in the pew,

Next to every girl,

Except me. 

He got a divorce,

Has sex outside of marriage,

Doesn't forgive,

Talks hatefully to his lover,

His ...

Read and leave comments (1)

Love thy neighbour unless thy neighbour is an alien

But not the kind that hovers in a UFO, since that may command genuine fascination.

The kind that admires the same sky as you, eats like you, wears a skin like you,

The "human" kind, just with a different abode, tongue, and hue.

It is the feeling of othering others in an otherwise flat human hierarchy

That gives you a claim to ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Hot off my pen...

THE PRINCE AND THE PIMP (AND OCCASSIONAL PRESIDENT)

No Twainian tale of moral fortune,
No pauper making good,
No doppelganger changing sides,
No happy ending in the Royal ‘hood’!

Welcome to a Twainian tale
Of a man once known as ‘Prince’
And a teacher now known as pimp!
Doppelgangers in thoughts and deeds, 
If not in looks and breed, 
With a President on the hook...

Read and leave comments (1)

Read and leave comments (0)

i wish i could tell you when 

a sister of your perfume hits my nose

and i close,

my eyes and drift away

into more memories still

I wish i could tell you how

I cry when I hear your voice

talking to other boys

How I miss the noise,

that blessed my ear

when no one else could hear 

I wish I could tell you that

I still hear the giggle,

you loosed wh...

Read and leave comments (0)