tribute (Remove filter)
Down In The Hole (song version)
Down In The Hole
My father said it was this life or the dole –
so sacrifice ambition, heart and soul
if our family was to earn a crust
then I would have to work until I was bust
Years of hardship finally took its toll
I had danced to the tune of Old King Coal
and I was laid off, let into the light
a blessing to escape eternal night
I was sixteen, they thre...
Friday 1st November 2024 10:15 am
The Best Poet's Name
William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman have alliterative names
For Norman Nicholson and Stevie Smith you may say the same
Sassoon with his Siegfried and Porter with his Peter
Were destined to have mastery of rhythm, form and meter
Marvell at the metaphysical, let Pope raise you higher
But the best poet’s name is Benjamin Zephaniah
Some poets’ names onomatopoeically enth...
Wednesday 27th March 2024 6:23 pm
A Row Of Beans
The arch poet tends to his row of beans
as once he broadcast words across the land.
He sighs for these stems of rogue angle
for as he outgrows limelight well deserved
his arguments pale, but not love, for love
the arch poet tends to his row of beans.
For love the arch poet made the verses
to challenge the spirit of any age
who in adversity is found unfair.
He created a space for p...
Monday 19th September 2022 1:09 pm
Tribute To Queen Of England
A dark shadow has fallen across the nation.
The moon itself cried off its illumination.
The London bridge has fallen
England's sky appeared sullen
Flowers have refused to produce Nectar.
Sour honey has visited the land.
Her royal majesty has closed her eyes to life.
Queen Elizabeth II has gone to eternal sleep.
A queen and a head of a state.
Courage and loyalty were her traits.
A...
Monday 12th September 2022 2:46 am
Almost M. J. Lemon
Oh rise MJ
So they can say
Bukowski's looking down from heaven
Giving the nod to pen of Lemon
Monday 14th November 2016 12:54 am
Closing Time (For Leonard Cohen)
Tonight as I lay
Myself to troubled sleep
I shall shed such tears
Not of profound sorrow
But of exalted joy
For the oneness of your poetry
For the wisdom of your words
Written and spoken from your heart
For your sights unseen
For your songs unheard
For your tastes untraveled
Tonight as I lay
Myself to troubled sleep
I shall dream such dreams
Where Jesus takes me down to The River
...
Monday 14th November 2016 12:37 am
RIP Mr Murphy
A Tribute to Paul Murphy
who died today - my friend & inspiration
Farewell my friend
For now you're gone
To sing your words
With angles strong
With top hats raised
We say so long
You Ranter, Raver
And Poet of song
Go give God a good rant!
RIP you nutter xxx
Friday 29th January 2016 7:36 pm
Art Attack
Art Attack.
Kalashnikovs spit deadly hate
Upon the streets of grey Paris.
An art attack, the deadly fate.
Je prie pour eux - Je suis Charlie.
A sketch of these disturbing times,
twelve martyrs die for liberty.
The clanging of Notre Dames chimes.
Je prie pour eux - Je suis Charlie.
Bullets of hate will not erase
the sable brush strokes of the free,
dripping red on these bloody days...
Saturday 10th January 2015 1:44 pm
Last Orders
Last Orders
I come on Thursday, sit on wooden chair
where poets congregate in strange half light,
sharing their thoughts with those who gather there -
the words are spoken, soaring, shining bright,
warming us as we leave to face the night.
The bear pit darkens, but forever hosts
the rhyming, raging, ranting, Tudor ghosts.
Thursday 20th November 2014 7:19 pm
Death Of A Poet / Anthem For Doomed Youth
Death Of A Poet
The grey November sky has lost its light,
just one more boy has fallen to his death,
another lad who won’t survive the fight
or pass beyond this final exhaled breath.
Though many soldiers leave this war unheard,
their stories lost forever, never told,
this one will paint us pictures with his words
that will not lose their power or grow old.
A week beyond that fatal can...
Monday 4th August 2014 7:05 pm
For Granddad
My Granddad passed away just before Christmas, this is for him.
Time whispers
Fleeting, it escapes us
You were a part of our world
A smile cemented
in childhood memories
You were a card playing companion
Intrigued by technology
And the new world it opened
I remember your CD player
You were proud as punch
As it was mounted on the wall
And opened with a wave
I remember Christmas ...
Friday 10th January 2014 11:08 pm
Thirty Plus Years In An Open Necked Shirt (audio version)
Re-post from earlier last year - now with audio and music backing
Thirty Plus Years In An Open Necked Shirt.
Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke
a walking bag of bones
staggers out onto the stage
like Woody from the Stones
rapid fire delivery
sprays all with Salford tones
jitters, jives, ducks and dives
wrestling with the microphone
Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke
in much need of a comb
sh...
Saturday 4th January 2014 11:29 pm
It's the Music that Matters!! - A Poem For Sophie Lancaster - Never Forget X
It’s the Music That Matters!
The Metalhead strums his air guitar
The Indian man sings while playing his sitar
It’s not the colour of his skin
- It’s the music that matters!
Panpipes in the mountains
Music in the fountains
It doesn’t matter where it is
- It’s the music that matters!
Synthesisers and Electropop
Strut your stuff and bop till you drop
Da...
Saturday 28th April 2012 9:33 am
My Mother's Gentle Hands
My Mother used to comb my long hair.
When she hit a tangle I would cry
out in pain.
She would place her gentle hands
upon my head and whisper, "I'm sorry
darling but you must endure the
pain so that your hair will be shiny
and beautiful."
When my life hits a tangle I long fo...
Tuesday 21st June 2011 6:09 pm
As it is Johns 70th today, here is my tribute poem
Saturday 9th October 2010 2:01 pm
The Gift
The Gift
“You have his hands” they say.
Blunt, broad, and strong;
the rounded nails and heavy palms, his grip.
Some memory, stored within each line,
each fingertip, each scar, from half a life away.
Old-leather hard with work and age;
weather-carved and worn with every s...
Sunday 15th March 2009 11:34 am
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