We learned more from a 3-minute record, baby, Than we ever learned in school. Bruce Springsteen

No surrender to the glib complacent,
The shielders, and the worried-well,
Those for whom life is 'simply hell.'
Those who measure out their life
In coffee spoons, when everything
Is too late or too soon. Let's call out
Those who conduct their life on zoom,
Who assume a mask will protect t...

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Bullshit you miss me 
Why does it always have to be this way
I never told you it would be easy 
You hate me but I love the way you lie

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My anklets fill the air with resounding laughs 

As I scuttle between tall blades of grass.

I feel free 

Like I'm the breeze.

A yearning dream

Lounges among the clouds.

Her hand caresses my cheek,

I feel safe and sound.

Did I tell you that I feel free?

Free from the restraint of a rhyme scheme;

Free from structure;

Free from obsessions

Like a speck of dust on a t...

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Pebbles painted every colour

precious works of art

masterpieces by local children

a new craze they did start

Along the River Lune pathway

their tally grows day by day

the latest tourist attraction

a bright and cheerful display

Messages of praise and thanks

during the virus lockdown

for NHS staff and key workers

made by children of our town

Pl...

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You don’t want to fail

I don’t wanna let you down 

But there always a time which makes us doubt 

Fighting each other without making sense 

Why can’t we find A melody between us 

I hope to find a middle ground between us 

Where we can be proud of ourselves 

Hoping on the bed made by our faiths

Where we can be at peace 

However we suffer we can be at ease

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This

lockdown

malarkey

is wearing thin.

It’s got even worse

now we have to wear masks

whenever we go shopping.

And pubs are out of the question;

after a few drinks people get lax

and social distancing gets forgotten.

I think I’d rather just stay here at home,

do my shopping on the internet

and order in some takeaways.

Then maybe sometime next year

we’ll fi...

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Curfew

Leave the light on – lock the door

This ritual plays out each Friday

A barrier to the debauched reveller

Who slips behind the clock returning home

A curfew for the beer vampire

Who will only find a soothing bed

If father specifically invites him in

After knocking twice and shouting through the letterbox

This ancient tribal face off

Between uprigh...

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A writer, a poet, a dog and a pony,

a piano player in an whore house and an activist for sloth.

The author is multi-talented and is also self-delusional.

His works include "It, and other pronouns"  and the autobiographical Tails of Iguanas".

The author is a Fellow at the world-renowned University of Hard Knocks

and can be seen and heard on local street corners after dark.

Hi...

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Some like a hearty breakfast, others just a roll

You need fuel in your furnace to face life's rigours

Yet some agonise over their self-image

Wayward minds obsessing about their figures

I'm not surprised you keep fainting

I've told you till I'm blue in the face

Cottage cheese and a slice of Ryvita

Leaves you reeling all over the place

You staggered and all but fain...

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My Internet Lamp Purchase

I just bought this lamp on the internet

The firm sounded good (great website)

The reviews they were good (plenty of them)

So thought I gotta have one, too right

I gave them my online bank details

(Hundred bucks) which did seem a bit rich

But the site got good writeups, seemed reputable

So I thought looks OK, be no hitch

You'r...

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THE PATHOLOGICAL LIAR

Inside your soul is icy
A cold heart made of stone
Your lies are why I left you
The fault is yours to own

You planned to ruin my future
Your bored and feeling lost
That poisoned tongue runs freely
Your actions sure to cost

All because your jealous
You know that bit is true
I was the one you lied to
But now I'm over you

I'm smiling now I'm happy
The flame...

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Joe was ambitious always wanted to do well,

But always ended up in  a dead end job nothing to tell.

He yearned for a superior position about which he could boast,

But times were tough and it was ifficult to get such a post.

But luck was on his side,

A job he could boast about arrived.

"I'm a security guard at a cemetry,

And I have five hundred people under me !!"

...

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Advance into Nothingness

From metal crates metal cylinders are dropped to kill or maim

Inside metal tubes we fly off on holiday to evade reallity 

From metal pipes come gas and water

We drive metal cars to contaminate our world

With an addiction for stainless steel we adorn our homes 

to shine in our self made worlds off dullness 

Old stone wells gave us water, clean...

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Here I stand, a broken man
Trying to cope the best I can
Guys are not supposed to cry
We’re macho with our heads held high
But alone I feel a shivering wreck
With mixed up thoughts and mass regrets
Regrets that I just can’t be me
Regrets of the false man you see
Each tiny thought I try to dissect
But each tiny thought then becomes a threat
A threat that I might be exposed
Exposed to tho...

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It's funny.

Its amusing, how life can be.

Just when you thought you've been broken enough.

You're unbreakable.

Its far from the reality.

 

As a man, I have been tested.

With my past, memories relentless.

Traumatic moments, and experiences that remain.

You would think I would be numb, to the infliction of pain.

 

But it shows indeed I still have a heart.

That i c...

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I’m sad Mr Fate is June 2017

I’m sad, Mr Fate is

No longer my mate

The back of my head

Sees red mist 

And a wall

With a picture 

Screaming in its

Asylum

Grey fat 

Splat

Drips and slides

Wars late

Homicide

Hallucination

Suicide.

Impulse is fun

But to be

Avoided. 

9mm is all it needed,

Short stretch of

Pressure.

War trophy from h...

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I laminate and post a few of these poems around the in-laws garden at appropriate points for this event. 

Geranium Bed

I have a hobby bordering mania

Taking cuttings of gerania;

“Not so!” your criticism comes

It’s plural is geraniums”.

Bird Feeders

These little rhymes made up of words

Just pale beside the songs of birds;

We keep these feeders fully stocked

...

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A new look for the social media giants 

Censorship is now their yearning

What we called that years ago

Was an old-fashioned book burning 

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Life

is a supreme journey.

Nobody knows of its countless surprises

till one inevitable day

Death

arrives.

The station where the

Soul

departs at its journeys end

to find a new breathing space.

Why be afraid of such places

when nobody knows what happens

there.

AA 5 August 1974

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NB. (A few of you know I am running a really informal little writing workshop tonight at the moment which meets up every two weeks. As a fun exercise tonight to finish off the night we wrote a kind of consequences poem where we took it in turns to write a line each and then as it went really well, we then did a second line. I won't say who did what, but thanks to Amanda, Reggie, Antonia, Mike and ...

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I’m behind the wheel again

and the brakes have gone out.

I have no control of this life I’m living.

With the wheel in my hand

I can but hope for the best

as I’m pumping the pedal 

hoping for a miracle. 

Get out of the way!

Can’t you see what’s happening?

Panic stricken and wild eyed

I search for a way out,

for any place of safety,

but there are no vacancies. 

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Hey you!
Yeah you with the MAGA hat
You’re like the filth of a rat
You’ve got the brain of a gnat

You pledge allegiance to a swine—
—that’s 45
You fall in line

I think you’ve been misled
by that inbred chucklehead

So let’s go overdrive
Swap that hat for a hive

I think you need some stings
I think you need to hurt

All the states that were swings are going to leave you in the ...

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I May Be Wrong

I may be wrong but I’ll say it anyway

surely that is the point.

Jung’s theory of circumambulation says

“Give it a go”

Follow that glimmering thing

that interests you

down the path of development.

Heed the call to adventure

let new parts of you manifest.

Be the fool as precursor to

the Jedi master.

It’s an error ridden process

to ...

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irritating tears-

         a hardening 

before a sense of

         belonging

breaking down waves of

         rebellion

a window

to the heart & soul of: 

trying, sorting,

feeling, fighting,

        howling

unchartered spaces

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You tell me I am beautiful
But I'd rather be smart than beautiful
Because in your world
Beauty is a curse and smartness a gift
Beauty makes your life hell
My mother tells me to be careful
Just because you tell me I am beautiful
But I'd rather be free than be pretty
To have the freedom to walk on the street
Without leering eyes and catcalls and whistles
My mother tells me to be careful
W...

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I  once saw a wolf in the woods

Felt the cold glare of its emerald eyes 

I was alone and defenseless 

And scared 

Because I was just a child 

But wolf showed me mercy 

Like a noble king and not a dictator 

And left me with a warning never to return to his forest again

I once saw a wolf in a zoo

His foggy eyes week and winded on mine

I stood tall but ashamed 

Becaus...

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I went to the fortune teller, baby

I  said, I went to the fortune teller, today

I said, how can you deceive all these poor

people 

I’m calling the state bureau of 

consumer affairs

I saw the witch doctor the other day, baby

I saw the witch doctor the other day, baby

I said, I’m thinking of doing a master’s 

in ethnomusicology. 

Could I sp...

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Last night, I couldn’t sleep 

Maybe it was the demon under my bed 

Or maybe just the demon inside my head 

Maybe it was someone’s screams   

Or maybe just my lost dreams 

Last night, I couldn’t sleep 

Maybe I was not sleepy 

Or maybe just too weepy 

Maybe I was afraid of something hideous 

Or maybe just losing someone precious 

Last night, I couldn’t sleep 

Maybe j...

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Brighten the corners,

Shady Lane

You forgot it in people

A fading frontier 

At war with the mystics

We have amnesia sometimes

Dear catastrophe waitress,

Girls in peacetime want to dance

It's a dance revolution

Can't hardly wait

My pride and joy, et cetera

Paint-spattered, beaming

I am universal

I go to seek a great perhaps

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All those who work in mental health -
They have of goodness such great wealth.
Some of them can be quite outstanding,
For they are patient, kind and understanding.

Most are friendly and some are funny;
They do it to help, not for the money.
Even when the patient's rude or snappy,
The staff still aim to make them happy.

They are always calm and don't talk down.
They just want to turn t...

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that boat on the coast croons the waves

whisking a dying infant in

a baptist sea for saving,

brought faith in God to save them,

a baptist sea for saving.

I see them from sand afloat-

a buoy in the water with chance

and such a sacred body

might sinking be belief-

to then arise them another-

alive.

[2020]

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I’ll admit
I always liked the idea

of clever beings zooming around
in sleek swift spaceships
Somehow flying too slow to escape being spotted
but too quick to be discounted as alien

Even if they were really Earthlings
in classified military craft;
I can make space in my head to admire that

Worrying though that is
It’s kind of cool in its own way


But the latest breed of UFOs I h...

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Abraham, abrained, quartered blackbox

the 4 directions and their shadows
and 7 on the spine in segments of
3……………………………3
each breath a brain un t angle d
quarks in 8 brains crackling
a brain for every okayshun
a brain bubbling like a fried egg in a stained pan searching for answers
and finay near fatally answered 
by Something who believes Itself to be
hilarious cunning Etc. . . 
any ...

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On The World as a Wonderless, Godless, Hopeless Abyss

[DISCLAIMER- I've done basically no reading on this topic so this might all be obvious. Also, I'm not even religious]. 

Despite what the title might suggest, I am a happy, agnostic young adult with prospects and ambitions for the future. However, despite my naturally happy disposition, I have always felt somehow underwhelmed. I enjoy life...

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From a bed of roses

To a bed of nettles

Smooth satin sheets

Becoming metal

Tender whispers 

On plumped up pillows

Now bitter pills

And weeping willows

Love was taken

Not returned

Lust's a lesson

Never learned

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Inspiration…where to seek pure inspiration?

That innermost creative beauteous elation

Living the urban life and wondering how

Is inner connection possible here and now?

Walking these city streets looking around

It’s alive in the buildings, people and sound

Yet here is nature, she never quite goes

Find yourself a park and go smell a rose

www.deanfrasercentral.com

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It's the only

thing that i'm

looking for

that I've found

that I've once again

lost.

words and foto T Carroll

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Out of the land came beauty
and a beautiful headache
School of madness, replete with cat
Love from within me
Dancing within yourself 
Several days later 
Transient to your ways of love 
in this hidden place, 
the darkness you thought would protect you, 
but the light remains in my mine
Dance it out in post-Covid Strasbourg 
with Nietzsche and Jung
We return to the streets, 
everything...

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When your 'ship went down' we where there for you.

You where never 'Alone' did you know that was true?

Our love went beyond your songs, the man on stage.

Beyond the rock star fame, adorning every front page.

We read your lyrics, we felt the emotion and your pain.

We prayed that your demons would be forever slain.

A fairer world you sung about, a return of hope and pride.

...

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it´s harder to write
about happiness
than about pain
because happiness
is something
you´re trying to hold inside
while pain
is something
you´re trying to rip out

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With his binoculars, he saw them both;

They lay, side by side, in the grassy lands.

Dressed in their Sunday best;

Each grasping nervous hands.

As he watched from the tower, they made plans;

Unfolded picnic tables and then wept

At unexpected bliss

And secrets closely kept,

Or so they thought. They hugged, as if unseen,

Their aching bodies duly fused as one.

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Resistance is futile. 

You will not find rest

as long as I am near, 

whispering in your ear. 

STOP,  right now.

Write now. 

Talk about how 

love echoes 

in the valley of 

lost souls. 

Share your hopes, 

dreams, fears. 

I’m listening, 

channeling, 

ready to bathe you, 

in serenity. 

I am your muse, 

voice of truth, 

your...

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Am I equal to Albert Einstein?

Am I equal to Usain Bolt?

Do these questions (just two samples)

Give your intellect a jolt?

Am I equal to Her Majesty

Or Jeff Bezos and his cash?

Rupert Murdoch with his empire?

Sense says such claims are rash.

Being equal before the law...

With talent given opportunity

These two we shouldn't ignore 

For the reality of social unity

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O Sons! I Hope You Will Sing  About Me

Ujjal Mandal, Ganguria, India

Poetry is the song of my heart
As it is born with the pen  
In my hand.
When I am gone form 
This beautiful world, 
I hope O dear sons!
You will sing me.
Because my verse
Contains emotion for learning, 
Compassion for the victims, 
And jolly moments for pleasure.

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Primary and dull colours bore us, 

But when my twin’s rainbow windows shine on my sallow skin,

They mix together and our veins are made deeper.

He animated us;

instead of simply seeing red:

We can taste the scarlett drawn by his bite on our lips. 

It drips and sets ablaze our skin

-melting me to my twin

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Jungle Breath

she just woke up with jungle breath

lianas swaying left and right

screeching yellow monkeys

had been swinging through her night

the tigers eye and serpents glare

snuck past teeth and tongue

leaving there a fragrance

that quite resembled dung

crocs lay in waiting

in lakes of rippled spittle

and down along the waterfall

the lips d...

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May life make you truly rich,
May your blessings be divine,
May your house be blessed with love,
May your life be blessed with time,
May your mind be filled with wonder,
May your heart stay strong and true,
May your fears be cast asunder,
May your courage see you through,
May your spirit always shine,
May the gods grant you my wish,
May your blessings be divine,
May your life be tr...

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I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you

I didn’t notice I was still running from the past

had blurry vision cause my pace was fast

unable to build anything that lasts

bonding never occurred to me

I was so desperate to be free

running I did, away from the past

now I’m alone

the first will be last

afraid to let you close

cause I might get attached

like with t...

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'How fast the world spins

As I mark through dark trees

The passage of the Moon.

The same for Sun, of course,

But there is an intimacy in shadow

Not found in daylight.

Night drops a veil

Over the familiar

And all becomes uncertainty.

It opens the universe

To our enthralled sight

As the invisible becomes visible,

Thrilling us to realize

How insignific...

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FLOAT

world fades
away
twinkling lights
on the bay

become
weightless
like a lover's
caress

deep...deep
sea
far...far
underneath

the ocean
breathes
swells and
heaves

tossing
me
as a leaf
in a breeze

long
exhale
like a slumbering
whale

float
inanimate
on a watery
planet

buoy up
drift down
breaking waves
for sound

no right
or wrong
only the lonely
...

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