Before a flower falls to the ground,

it is admired, inhaled, and passed from hand to hand.

It spends its whole life being a gift.

That's what we humans are.

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Anyone can write a poem, a novel,

A self-help book, a column in the local rag;

Anyone can fly their filthy little flag.

 

Anyone can paint, create,

Lick the pattern off the plate,

Grass up their longest-standing mate.

 

Anyone can compose – concertos,

Operas, a bit of rock and roll,

Or put the ball in their own goal.

 

Anyone can shrug their shoulders,

Piss t...

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It’s the weighted chest pain

That’s hardest to explain 

The interwoven, the lingering

It spins a web across every day

It’s the fog you learn to see through

Because you can’t get away 

Never the needle in your eye

The thorn in your side

It’s the routine of soft pain 

The clingy sting for life 

It’s the dull ache

Freedom, but on a leash

Your mother's kiss with tee...

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They come with little in their hands, from burned-out homes and broken lands. Their hopes are packed in bags of thread, their pasts erased, their futures bled. The children walk through desert air, their fathers drown in deep despair. No one who leaves a home intact will ever choose a life like that. But those who watch them at the gate are tired too, and bear their weight. They se...

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No silver thread, no voice to name the way— Just walls and warnings passed from tongue to tongue. His first breath rose from two-thirds drawn from hell, A fire dimmed by lessons never asked. They caged him in with rules and screaming brats, While puppets smiled through teeth of plastic gloss. The parents barked like kings who'd lost their crowns; He bore their bile and learned to taste ...

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Some years ago, I realised

I am the driver of my life

And so I chose light

 

It was a difficult decision

More difficult than it sounds

It’s hard to know what it is to see

When there’s no darkness around

It’s easy to equate pain with feeling

To attach pain to being 

And so I never ran from the dark

I marched towards it

Let it smoke my heart

Instead, it was alw...

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A man of gold, yet poor in soul, Whose heart hath naught to grasp the whole. No love for art, no ear for song, Whose mind recoils from right and wrong. A golden tie, a stiff applause, He sat, bemused, without a cause. The songs of sorrow brushed his coat, He missed the point, he cleared his throat. Beside him, smiles for magazine, Not much was said, not much was seen. The ro...

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Beware, ye lords who preach of holy shame, Who cage the heart with doctrines carved in stone. Love answers not to dogma, law, or name— Its realm is soul, not scripture, nor your throne. No rite can ban what pulses in the skin, No creed can curse the heat that makes us whole. What blasphemy is love, if love is sin? What god would strike the mercy from a soul? Two hearts ignite beyond ...

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This sonnet addresses the irony of calling someone "coloured," highlighting the contrast between black skin, which remains constant, and white skin, which changes with emotional or physical states. This poem reflects on how the colour of one's skin can shift depending on circumstances, challenging the societal labels that define people by their appearance.

When I was born, my skin was dark as...

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Lost among the nameless crowd, A quiet ghost, no cries allowed. Drifting shadows, passing by, No hello, no wondering why. A life unbound, yet bound so tight, A flickering flame in endless night. The world it speaks, but not to me, A dialect I’ll never see. I tried to stand where others meet, But tripped upon my own two feet. Their laughter rang, a foreign sound, A melody I’ve neve...

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Five years ago flew by

Now, already remote

The rolling of the years

They’re already afloat

Your past self

Already a ghost

 

When you stand still

You begin to grieve your previous skins

Wonder why you had to forget and kill

Old personalities just to multiply new

So, you cling on to specific moments

Promise not to forget, you never will

 

But it is not uniqu...

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Moon eyed she goes 

She is one of the stars

Lonesome she is 

In the presence of Mars

 

Soon her reflection renews

She is a planetary part apart 

Memories become brand-new 

She is solo in this system 

 

And as the lights dim 

He becomes hers 

She sucks us in 

Until everything’s hers 

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violent is violence of a secret
violent is violence of a secret identity
a secret identity is a secret violence
dust is dust of identity
identity is a dust of identity
dust to mass,mass to dust
dust to mass,mass to violence

dust to mass,mass to identity
violence is a mass of violence
violence is a mass of identity
a secret disgust is a secret identity
the government is a violent disgu...

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Something speaks from beyond 

Something writhes alive

In each of us

Something pulls and breathes

Beyond our touch 

They call it instinct

But it is magically distinct 

And can lead, lead, lead 

To something in your core

They call it power of the brain 

But it’s so much more 

It cannot be explained away 

It cannot be spoken out of existence 

They call it the mi...

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I’m sorry to disappoint you

That I can be too sweet and so weak

And yet I can be cold and cruel too

That I can completely snap to my core

And morph into a creature of different sorts

I’m sorry that I’m not white or black

Or immaculate

Or of any matter 

For that fact

I’m not anything 

At all

Not wholly whole

You see,

Incompleteness 

Has been my superpower 

...

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You pulled me into your orbit

when I needed your help

and so, I made you my centre 

to centre myself

 

That was my first mistake

 

I looked inside you

for places where I could hide

I hoped to run from reality

into the delusions of your mind

I was happy to believe you were one of a kind

chuffed upon chuffed that you were mine

and I felt adored

grateful to m...

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Imagine being totally untethered

After feeling chain linked 

I feel split

That part removed 

That half is trying to renew

But it hurts 

To grow scab over wound 

Missing you is mourning you 

Leaving you is still losing you

And I’m just as lost

As I made you 

If it could be 

I would make it be 

Should I be chain linked again 

I would make it good 

Should ...

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The haunting of a broken tap: drip, drop

The thirst after the sun: drink, gulp

She never said a lot, gargling girl

Sliding in and out of my body

Helping me breathe, walk, talk

That was why I swam

It was water

Brought me alive floating out to No Man’s

Diving down to skim the sand

It was water

Wanted it, always had it, but could never catch it.

It was water

Insipi...

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We go through life trying to fulfill

By feeling full

It’s easy to live in comfort and abundance

But maybe you drown,

Don’t live

And you just exist

Strip away luxury…

Could you be with just yourself,

And basic needs?

With only your thoughts for company?

Because we go through life trying to fulfill

By feeling full

We consume with our mouths

Pack, squeeze, cram...

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Liminal

I live in the spaces

Between leaving and arriving,

Jumping and landing,

Fearing and surviving.

(Clutching my duffel bag on the bus

To dreaded childhood swimming lessons.)

Half asleep, half awake.

Tests all done, results await.

Sweet honeyed pause before

The axe falls, the hospital calls.

Racing mind, facing blind panic, the reels that wind.

 

Life in...

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HOME

So close yet so far

Six hours in the car

 

Memories

Pasties

Miles and Miles

 

One day, we will be reunited

Until then, 

unrequited.

 

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The boys in the street mend their cars.
A miniature garage, it seems.
I feel like crying, I feel so alone,
No-one to mourn me when I am gone.
No-one to miss me, no-one to care.
I pound at the walls, but no-one is there.
And if they are there, then no-one hears.
And if they hear, then no-one cares.
No-one to care, no-one to cry,
If I live, If I die.

The boys in the street are at it agai...

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The desert is living in May,
Sipping joyously priceless water.
You are modest and shy in the day,
But at night you're Cairo's daughter.
Thread of camels against the sun -
Their saffron shadows melt...
You ask the same question, to stay or to run,
Every night as you put on your belt.
Your cymbals are black from the sweat,
The veil doesn't cover your face.
You're worshiping every sunset
A...

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At first, they did not ask,

Because they thought

I could not speak.

I had birthday parties

Just like you, but

Something was missing.

I continued to chant

That I was not an orphan,

But it was no use.

Again, they did not ask,

Because they felt guilty

And it was too late.

I kept switching trains.

I felt half-blind,

Sometimes half-deaf.

I learned to smile

...

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The first time

Is a pin prick

To unstitch

Your skin

To feel yourself

Begin

You search your being

You are it:

Coursing through yourself

The second time

You search inside

A stranger

Behind the corner shop

You find where he begins

Adrenaline!

But come back,

Stinking of rot

Void of thought

To feel what?

What are you searching for?

To begin ag...

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That phrase,
That phrase you love to say
It has become overdone, cliché
No, it’s not a phase
Wait,
Years, not days
And see
I will not change
Not this way or that way
Though I may grow,
I may expand in waves,
I will not change
To fit your phrase
I will only expand,
Expand in waves
Is that okay?
That I will stay?
That I won’t change?
That I can only expand,
Expand in waves?
Is th...

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If a butterfly decided
that it wanted to be a caterpillar
that it regretted its metamorphosis
that it would trade its powdery winged symmetry
for a few more hours or days of blind gluttony
arboreal mastication
that it did not want to flutter gracefully
admired desired
but to slowly gelatinously contract 
precariously 
along rough barked branch
to be more slug than swallow
more mundane ...

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the long-legged shadow woman
strode 
then suddenly stopped
and waited
to be dissolved in darkness
where she could peel away 
her black stockings 
to reveal and revel
in her naked invisibility
and dance without limitations
of time or dimension
dream beyond the flat surfaces
which so often held her form
forcing conformity
to their inclination
desire the depth of rounded space
orbits ...

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Each mover, save one Renaissance man
Of fellow feeling, complained of the books
And the bookshelves to display them.
Why would anyone move these thousands
Of miles and from house to house when
They are so obviously rarely used?

But the bookshelves, fully loaded, serve a purpose:

For starters, they tell anyone curious enough to look
Where and how my intellectual development has unfolded...

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You ain’t one of us!

You don’t speak our language; you don’t accept our rites,

You love going to school, you’re never in fights,

You’re a fanny, a minge, a shame to the blood,

You don’t act or do what a gypsy lad should.

 

You ain’t one of us!

You love the gorja; you call them your friends,

The bairns of bobbies, where does your loyalty lie in the end?

You want to leave ...

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What with all the omnishambles of Brexit, I got to thinking about what our national identity really is.  When you think about it, we have some pretty bizarre national symbols, but ultimately what does it mean to be British / English, etc?  See what you think of this...

 

Rule Britannia?

 

Our national dish is curry, true,

Our Saint is George who dragons slew,

From Yorkshire field...

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When I wonder what's wrong
When I think whats going on
A Voice said 'this is what you did
Not much love exists to feed.
Tides will not change the future
Might just believe it, forever
Believed that the eyes I see
Truth in them will set me free.
Taking a huge dose of the drug
Never know what's beneath the rug
Chemical changes inside me
They will not let me be.
Let me be the free bird fl...

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What do have to offer. yourself

internal wisdom beneath the facia of my concious

the untenable barrier that holds the flesh together, but connot be devoured only boiled down

and essence consumed

waste

waste not use it for what it is

extract its power

use the sinew to construct a rope

strength beyond

only useful in parity with what is beneath what is beneath useless witho...

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Jellicle
Jellicle
Jellicle Cats with their three names

The Common
The Unqiue
The Label

The I in which no one but "I" would know. A self inscribed name tag collar wrapped 'round in my keyboard cutthroat self inflicted mental recognition.

 

Maybe
The Gay One?
The Stupid One?
Fatass?
Selfish.

 

Pollicle
Pollicle
Pollicle Dogs, with their bark BARK BARKING up and down t...

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I am from the sun, the moon and all that lies between.

I am from the dark, the light and that which isn't seen.

I am from whence the wind blows and home is ever out of reach.

 

I am from the all lives I've touched and the lessons within.

I am love, I am fear, I am truth, I am sin.

I am where I belong, though I yearn to fit in.

 

I am mocked, I am scorned and all the persecu...

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Life artefacts: the attributes of our world which

make us us.  Which forge our understanding of what

and who we are.  These artefacts hold power for

us.  They resonate, they thrum with our reason to

be.  If removed, struck away: we become bereft

of direction and belonging: we lose inner

essence-purpose.  Lost in the world’s melange, perhaps

we’ll never again feel that deep mea...

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Phases.  Transitory time patches

Grouped or characterised by a theme.

 

A shade, a colour, a tangible

And identifiable sameness.

 

Consistent, representative.

Phase of fashion. 

Action. 

Musical want. 

 

Reflecting an idea.

Ethos. 

Perhaps belonging. 

Tribal.  Feral.

 

Perhaps marking self out as distinct. 

Separating self from the others.

 

...

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I breathe in, filling up my lungs with the cold, cold winter air. Hair the colour of ruby floating in the wind, the tears dripping down my face until they too float away. A piece of concrete crumbles away and falls, until I can no longer see it, swallowed up by the shadows, which  have come a bit too close for comfort now. Threatening to swallow me too.

Instead I angle my face to the sun. So un...

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We were like ‘yin and yang’,

‘Spick and Span’

- Hot pot, big pan -

slick and tanned!

The could we can -

sweet, sweet like marzipan!

The kind of love that makes you FAT,

that attracts the sniff sniffing rats.

- Rap! Trap! Rat! The blind bats! -

But I walked and you ran,

I was kicked like tin-can

then you thought you were tin-man,

cause you forgot your heart ...

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Who am I?

Who are you?

Who are we?

We…

Us…

Me…

I.

I don't know who I am.

I don't know who you are.

I don't know who we are.

Are…

Were…

Am.

Am I me?

Am I you?

Am I we, us, them?

Them too.

Too many thoughts whirling in my mind.

Mind’s infected.

Infections of madness consuming me.

Me…

Us…

We…

I.

I thought I knew who I was.

I t...

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I have a large knife in my hand
and I’m not afraid
to skin this mother
to sliver away at the
stiff upper lip of a
toughened epidermis
banish wrinkles, dents and prickly bits
and behold it
cleansed, stripped, unveiled
If you ask me again
I will plainly chop
the thing in two
while I wonder what I could be

This repast, the fourth of the day
mentally diarised between
broken blinds and...

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A noun all alone in the white open space is at risk,

if it doesn't know its own definition or purpose.

Without knowing its identity, this noun may search for a verb.

Once it finds this verb, it may begin to become active.

After it is active, it may come to dwell upon passive.

Should this be the case, it may call itself just a subordinate clause.

Still without the sense of cause, ...

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Painting by Jennifer Davis 

Trapped Inside

Every river longs

To swell memory to ancestor size

And reclaim land that belonged to her 

Old Woman River

Running naked in the sun

Carrying waste and toxins

Along with grief for dead things to a sea

Transporting esoteric knowledge

No one had a taste for

Unlike clockwork she forgets nothing

Though she sometimes wishes sh...

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Question 17 on the census form “is left intentionally blank.”

Pull the other one: there was a question there once.

 

Do you surreptitiously pick your nose

when you think no one is looking?

Do you have trouble sleeping /

get up in the night at all hours,

worrying about things left undone,

or things you did, and shouldn’t have?

 

Are you happy in your job/ ...

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And I would breathe life

into those lips that once kissed,

colour to the face that smiled,

bathe those sightless eyes with tears,

hydrate the ravaged corners of your mind

 

And if the drip of all my anguish left you still,

empty shell of all you were, no more

I would care for you in death

just as I cared for you before,

gently thread your hair with tender...

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