I right now in this moment in time

Shal manifest light in your life and mine

Iv decided that now is when I should start

To express my desires held close to my heart

So read this carefully if you will

Whilst in silence and physically still

I was given  a gift of magic so pure

Its time to start to use it more

With eternal light from my soul

I demolish darkness to make me w...

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Photo by Edurne Chopeitia on Unsplash

In my cottage in the hills
I am immune to the world’s ills,
or so I like to think.
On evenings of freezing fog,
I throw another log on the fire
watch closely as the flames reach higher,
take another sip of whiskey
stroke the back of my young dog,
Who feels the spirits in the breeze,
pick my book up from the stone cold floor.
Reading ...

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Shadow our  cat

communicates with us

he realizes that we cannot

speak cat so he watches

our human behavior

and uses it to communicate

with my wife and me

if his food bowl

is empty he does not meow

he just goes and stands

by his bowl and stares at us

if he is ready for bed

he goes to the bottom

of the stairway and stares at us

until we join h...

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NB. Three more haikus about the Underground

25

Northern train at stop

Pauses like it is watching

You walk your two dogs.

26

Getting hotter and

Hotter, it feels like the train

Is overheating too.

27

Pausing for breath

The guard wakes up the girl

For her ticket home.

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Oh how we twist,

In the roiling firmament, this unrelenting mist,

Where no shape drawn is permanent, where nothing can persist,

Oh how we twist,

Oh how we turn,

A flicker flame of turbulence, watch it all burn,

In bitter flames of recompense, when will we learn?

Oh how we turn,

Oh how we coil,

Serpentine around the wrist, slicker than oil,

The tightening grip you...

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No need to argue that point.

Years ago I dismissed it and

I know my rationale precludes 

any thoughts of revisiting it.

As an educated person any

contrary viewpoint deserves

an answer, so I’ve developed 

several I use without thinking.

Honestly,  my logic is defensive.

I protect my legacy like you.

I don’t want to and won’t 

accept a flaw I’ve lived with.

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I've just had a visit from pest control

You know - those people who take the role

Of addressing nocturnal visits by mice

(And maybe other things not seen as "nice").

It seems another tenant made a complaint

About an absence of rodent restraint.

I live in a house two centuries old

And frankly would be surprised to be told

That it was free from timorous wee beasties

That s...

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A man burst into the doctor's surgery and flung open the door.

Jumped on the doctor's back and counted."One!Two!Three!Four!"

"What do you think you are doing?"shouted Dr Pugh.

"Well doc,everyone did say I could count on you."

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About her stood

charred pillars

With the tourists

brushing past

while carrying

sodden momentos

dousing bonfires

from her past.

Her burning invisibility

and thier backwards

glancing toss

remains a wishfored

present

but glowed in its

unseen loss.

Words and image: Tommy Carroll

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Where am I

I am Here

although some would say

I am not all Here

but if I am not Here

where would I be?

the answer of course is

over There

I wish I was more Here

but sometimes my mind wanders

and I end up over There

the grass always seems greener

over There

There is similar to Here

only farther

yet there is nothing wrong with

being somewhere in be...

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My love life is a dusty relic of the Stone Age

The risks of COVID are too much to handle

My new blow-up doll's not quite the same

But dames are just not worth the candle

I miss the gossip working from home, and

I'm growing obese eating non-stop cookies,

I'm depressed from thinking about my fate,

Facing queer street from on-line bookies

The allotment affords me a b...

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I will defend your right
to say things that I don’t like
and though I may disagree
it doesn’t mean that I detest you
I’ll try my best to understand
how you reached that point of view

However uneasy listening
don’t bite your tongue
Let us see and hear you
come and speak freely
You may offend me
but then I’ll know we’re not in tune

Perhaps we’ll both learn something
if but how to be...

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i invite you in my life to feel something again

to turn my numbness into happiness;

you are my happiness 

you make me my happiest

no one loves me as much as you do.

day in and day out i consume your love and affection.

soaking up every last bit. the feeling of feeling something for someone again excites my soul.

feeling anything is so hard these days.

but then i a...

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Season 5 has gone for a reason Where losers cry for freedom And winners jump in fear The eye is so deceiving For it is set to receive the friendly foes BB Naija Is a deceiving eye in Nigeria! Where people are set to receive BB Biafra Inside Africa. Laycon has set to lay beside a corn Where Dorothy has set to consume the whole area. BBN is the deceiving eye Which has deceived so many pe...

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Slightly hungover

scruffy brown

leather jacket

chats up

somewhat amused

smartly dressed

pin stripe

bespoke suit

mobile numbers

contacts exchanged

text sent

False Eyelashes x

date confirmed

Shiny Shoes x

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The mornings we spent laughing
with eggs and bacon
and cups of sweet tea
because we didn’t really
like coffee yet
and with flour on our faces
because we were making pancakes
and you decided to start a fight

These are some
of the warmest places
in my heart

It´s so sad
I can´t remember
what kind of tea you liked

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knees buckle beneath the heaviness

of your creamy taste between my lips.

Inside I'm like a waterfall: gushing, dripping, a soiled mess

I tremble, drunk on your desires

and, the vivid scenes you whisper to me-

- makes me only want you more.

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i believed every word thats when the tables turned

i fell for the pretence of feeling me at first

part of me always knew this was heading for the worse

cause i know im not the only girl youre lying

to the only girl you crying to

i was stupid to feel special

but fresh out of heartbreak how was i to know who you genuine too

you got such good timing shouldve noticed the mind game...

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They could try again in a few years,

Yet she left the box untouched

And sewed her skin with salt

-Even though she was cleaned 

By the torrent of tears.

The tissue dissolves in his touch,

It leaves residue as it brushes his lips,

It breaks away on his finger tips;

He absorbs it,

a more sinnued heart

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Drip

Drip

Plop

Drop

Spitting

Splatting

Sploshing

Splashing

Hydro power

Drizzly shower

Tropical, magical

Storm clouds soaring

It’s raining it’s pouring

It's raining cats and dogs

Great for ducks and frogs

Streaming down my pane

The never ending rain

Splish, splash

Drip drop

Drip

Puddles

puddles everywhere

from which your dog can...

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The other day I caught myself staring at your image
Embedded in the cliff-side pool.
Surrounded by flowers and foliage,
Miles away from you.

Your skin porcelain,
Flaws hidden,
Eyes clement,
You didn't even seem human.

And maybe you weren't.
You were perhaps just an abstract concept,
An evanescent concoction of pigments,
Who swam away, leaving behind no remnants.

When I thought ab...

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Jack Dempsey’s NY 1980

Oh god. Oh Dear.

A hangover in New York New York.

Small recollections through

hazes of alcohol pulsed pain.

Shaking fingers fumbling 

for coffee and cigarette.

In a dark wood cased  cabin

from sweat stinking bunk.

A million other people

who jerked through the same dance.

Night before around the world.

I stepped in time with you.

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Monster

He stands alone, enormous greystone arms across his navel,

Colossal beast of Swift's Brobdingnag, condescending

To righteous Lilliput, flung like a hand of gravel

Around his feet; tiny houses housing tiny people who cradle

The distant organ that plays the first bars of The Lark Ascending.

A rough-hewn monster drips moss from his back, slicked black slate

Displays ...

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Death, You'll Die!

You'are mortal,
Bound to die a day.
You are far from artist,
With his work he keeps you at bay.

The artist drinks life to the brim,
You just can't touch his fame.
As you kill body,
But just can't touch his name.

You harm the soul of near and dear,
But the harm's ephemeral,
Soul overcomes the harm
Which causes for you an alarm!
To disappear.

Stabbing in...

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Damascus moment

Here on the snooker table

I'm a ping pong ball

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They treat our tears with

Contempt

Hand in hand with

Greedy frustration

They roar like lions and

Block all roads to

Equality

They trespass on us

Night and day

Creating for their

Conscience a

Mocking symbol to

Love’s power

Masked creators

Who conjure their lives

On torn pieces of paper

Our kings and queens

Can never be conquered

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Ujjal Mandal,  India

Keep dreaming till the dark night 

Fades in the morning light. 

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There's beauty in heartbreak
Though you don't see how something so excruciating can be overcome. 
A heart severed by love's misfortune, the knife still clenched tightly in her hand. 
Such a guilty culprit escapes the clutches of grief. 
You turn away
Under the pouring rain your tears are still obvious. 
I watch you break before my eyes
Your world shattering among the turmoil
Feel the pain 
...

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Herring-packed collisions gravitate together

In her own Wonderland she avoids the looking glass,

Red rain washes the stain away

Tonight we re-zoomed our relationship

Renewed our unspoken vows

The gods of Zoom count their coins in the jungle

Pollocks ! she cried, I'm at the wrong disco!

Marching onwards in this town of mine

The anger of the forgotten people

And those...

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If made to have
An axe to grind
Rubbing with nails
A social scar
Left behind,
Ethnic groups
Itching to go for
One another’s throat
Hard may not be
To find.

With the aim to gain
Cheap popularity
By using impish trick
Employing scare tactic
To hack social fabric
Phony politicians
Exhume the hatchet
Among ethnic groups
To blow
Previous petty clashes
Out of proportion
From ...

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It was a cold and crisp evening, 

9:30pm and the full moon shone down

brightly on my path, 

Guiding me, 

As my feet crunched through

fallen scattered leaves. 

A sharp chill filled the air

And the smell of wood burning brought me 

back to the good aul days. 

If I had just awoken from a coma I 

would have known for certain that it 

was Autumn. 

Amber lea...

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Under her skin
She dreams of violence
Punching her boss
Drowning her co-workers

The most tragic headlines 
Pale in comparison
With her balsamic
Idylls

Where to put all this
As it burrows deeper into 
Her waking thoughts 
Past her jokey edges

She thinks somehow
Her mind’s preparing her
For the earth’s future 
Or the next election

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Through that small window of time I see

the Rendezvous Cafe a napkin and me. 

Perfect Italian cup to my right

the smell of coffee pure delight. 

Quintessential Mayfair heat

in the early sixties' historical street. 

On the napkin doodles and words

as if a moment could care -

but the rounded coffee spurred me on

establishing me there. 

Still I write and that w...

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It’s been a bumper year

for plants bought from

or donated by neighbours

we met at the Thursday night

clap for health workers.

Re-potting, tying, staking,

feeding; rewarded by

a glut of all shapes and sizes

basking in shafts of sunlight

thrown down our sideway.

The enrichment of salads,

casseroles, stews. But is it

ever worth all that effort,

when yo...

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eight limbs lower so small and afraid,

a two limbed child chases your dance,

dragging their feet and fate to you,

but your step to a web is slow,

to small to catch the beat of their murder,

might they show mercy and turn it down?

for you to dance in silence.

[2020]

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I confess that the transphobia kerfuffle with JK Rowling largely passed me by, so I’ll admit to being a bit shaky on the facts of the story.  As I understand it, JKR lampooned the fabricated terminology and imagery of menstruation rather than calling a spade a “woman” and for this she was accused of transphobia.

Let me say from the off that I have no issue with anyone getting a new willy or fan...

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She walks masked, meandering,

unacknowledged through her neighbourhood

Wishing earnestly that she somehow could

share her true self

 remove the make-up painted veneer

she hangs nightly on a shelf

how emancipated she would feel

no longer enslaved within her mind

because of this facade

strangers think her, the vapid kind

no thoughts of value

within her head, you'd fi...

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(for the little girl who haunts my dreams still) 

Dear Daddy,

Not that you'd care, but

All that I wanted was to make you proud

But, I was too stupid

Too fat

Too loud

All you ever did was bring me down

I was your scar

Your permanent frown

I was your verbal punchbag

In your whiskey fuelled state

Never felt I was your child 

Just a vessel for...

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One day you may hear on the radio
an otherwise trivial song in which
the great Aretha Franklin delivers
an almost throwaway off-the-cuff line

"I know you did"

Here the words of a mother to a child
of any age bring comfort to the soul
defeated in anguished misery
who may only mumble  "I did my best"

"I know you did"

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the spirit of death
kissed you
on this ridge
your work is done
no triumph no glory
but for ever
silent
 
© by Jan Theuninck

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I’m the old man with the beard

Who lives in the sky

I am the universe

And the universe is me

I’m the man who sees everything

I’m the eye in the sky

I can see everything in ten different ways

And I gave the names to seven different days

I can see things big and I see things small

And no matter where you are

I can hear your call

There are some who reve...

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Beginnings are endings

Endings are beginnings

Forgiveness is healing

Healing is forgiveness

Grace is loving in pain

Pain is to love with grace

Love is to sacrifice 

Sacrifice is giving for love

Faith is to grow

Grow is to let go

Let go is to start

Start is to end.

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I see you flowering her 

the way you once did me. 

Playing virtual footsies,

oozing lyrical chemistry. 

Move on they say, 

look the other way. 

And so it shall be, 

my focus is on me.

Sowing wildflower seeds, 

shining in the rain, 

dancing through the pain, 

singing in a field of weeds.

https://youtu.be/nXZ6o8GHKE4

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Respect 

When little children, no angels where we!
In the mid to late sixties that would be.
So often chased up and down our street.
By the poor local Bobby pounding the beat.

Little devils maybe, daft tricks we played
But to our elders, respect we always paid.
That respect included the police for sure.
As they would often knock on my front door!

'Michael's done this, Michael's done...

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I’m all alone and in despair
A desk, a computer and an office chair
A reading lamp when life grows dim
But at least people can see that I’m in

I never dreamt it would turn out like this
All the years of learning, now it’s hit and miss
Instead of a new life and making friends
I’m stuck in the house going round the bend

My tutor looks older on the screen
His clothes seem shabby, where’s...

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Messiah Of The Fields

They left me hanging on a cross

The saviour of the summer crops

Just rag and straw so no great loss

My blood is in the wheat and hops

I faced the black and vicious hoard

Their coal cruel eyes and sharpened beaks

I am the ragged overlord

Who scares the crow yet never speaks

They pray to me to save their soils

From dark boned devils ...

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She spun and spun
And weaved a web
So intricate
So delicate
And at once impenetrable.

No one could see
The pedalling feet beneath
The turning of the many cogs
The machine whirring and wearing away inside of her.

Her past an ever present.
Her future already decided.
Fate was never to be on her side.
They'd seen to that.

They stole her innocence
Her joy
Her pride.

Bitter was ...

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Society is lost,

Consciousness is gone,

They have rejected their spirits,

It didn't take very long,

Electronically connected,

Yet physically farther than ever,

People don't want to face themselves,

It's a thought they dread to endeavor,

The clock is ticking,

Just take a deep breath,

Your losing your mortality,

The omnipresent threat of death,

Materialistic clyde...

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The vast

Forgotten reaches

Of the universe

Hold no answers

To the mysteries

That inspire curiosity.

You will not find

What it is that you seek.

The mysteries of life

Shall stay as they are.

Wondrous

How we come so far

Travel for so long

On such epic journeys

To arrive with the same wisdom

Happiness is the closest thing

To an answer

We may ever fin...

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When my tears come they will
   be defrosted snowflakes from
 a self-sequestered squad of four
   deliberate deep-sea divers
   hired to harvest each
                                     teardrop
grown from a kernel of salt 
                             with care 
from beneath an iceberg.

     This map of Alaska is a scale model 
highway of my heart.
      These tears that would b...

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 A shadow came to me

A shadow that bought me light

I want to hold

But shadows are untouchable
I want to see
But it disappears under the light

My shadow, my sweet  darkness
You showed me the light,
That I didn't notice.

My shadow, my sweet darkness
Why the distance gets bigger
When I took a step towards you?

Am I following u
Or you are following me?
Am I around u
Or u are...

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You laughed at my

pointless remark

and showed me the setting

on the new, new dot machine,

like a 'ghost filter', black,

grey, chrome and you're

hardly there;

the leaves of

some exotic plant

filling the solid plates

of silver face, torso.

I said such things are

pointless art.

You said that the only thing

that's certain

is that nothing

is certain,

t...

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On a cliff edge, arms open wide
Free fall to hell with just one more stride
Close my eyes, feel the wind blow
Which way will it take me
I don’t know
Fates out of my hands
I won’t decide
I’ve lost control, I’ve lost my pride
I’ve lost my voice
I’m scared to speak
I’m tired and fragile
I feel too weak
Just when I think I can learn to adapt
My feelings sink straight back into a relapse
...

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Just breathe

Slowly

Deliberately

In

out

In

Out

Breathe as if it were your very first breath

Everyday

Just breathe not as if it were your last

Not as if you were running a race

Breathe

Feel your lungs fill with air

And then

Slowly

carefully

Release

Expel

Discharge

In

Out

In and

Out

Just breathe

Don’t let all that would pull you...

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Contracting sheets of limestone rough, tough rugged eyes among tumbled bluffs
Crumbled stuff, sending you down into the yellowjackets, swatting mad tumble
Mud and algae, sweat, lost glasses, lost off our asses on some strong stuff
Ending up on the long end of someone else's courtesies, lucky they didn't murder me
Words are brief, meaningless most times, too centered on our own rhymes
Focused ...

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You can call yourself 
I'm burning from the 2nd floor 
Can you hear me?
God is gone to a better place

Please don't hold the wave 
Please don't hold the wave
I am coming down 

I cut myself today 
I let the blood dry up 
Picked the crest just to see if I would bleed again

Something in the way you say you're okay 
Makes me want to end it
So cut the tie today

Please don't hold the...

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Strange life indeed-

It allows our lives to pass through it,

Sometimes it’s easy like breathing

With few letters to be sent home,

Soon everyone forget to remember us.

However at times-

Most times to some of us,

We go through the eye of the needle,

Extruded and shaped for purpose,

Conditioned for difficulties and life privation,

Where the weaker the process of preparin...

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The heart stops,
stomach drops,
and fear attacks
tearing and scraping the insides.
Stepping back, it’s not the right time.
It’s too delicate; my hands are tied.

I stall. I ruminate. I do all the things not to destroy this.
I dread that I will, gravely… to the point of not moving.
This is what it’s like when people become a ghost.
It’s too much to go forward.
So, I turn
in the opposite...

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The fox was hungry, so went to grapevine,

thinking, it will be, a feasty dine,

went there, and jumped and jumped,

and tried to catch till it was nine.

She failed and roared in thunder voice,

grapes were sour and full of noise,

not they but I am rejecting them,

as an eater its my choice.

And this story resounds with we all,

making excuses when we fall,

but what if it w...

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It's a lovely night I do feel, angels spread their wings as i sleep. Harmony and peace flowing here.  Darkness has a heart touching song to play. As i gently lay to sleep, i can here the symphony of love so deep. 

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Tread gently

through the graveyard.

Beneath your feet

a dreamland lies.

The fortunate who

dwell in it

are free of all

worldly pains and sufferings.

They bask in eternal rest.

Tread gently

through the graveyard.

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I shall not ask for your hand in marriage without a mask on your face.

Surprises are like viruses that diminish the potencies of passions.

Do not touch my body when you brush pass me on a cool summer

evening of shaded trees and spotlighted cars rushing by who knows where.

Gather your feelings when your bloom flowers, when your jogging body

pass mine so close.  I can smell ...

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The excitement for the young to be involved in a protest

With the belief that all these causes seem to make sense

Just remember to think of your future

Because good jobs are rare with a felony offense

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I thought that in these trying times, when so much is doom and gloom, a little taste of something light and wholesome might be a good idea! I hope it comes across as quaint - and not sickly-sweet!

The Walled Garden

I played within a walled garden;

The sun shone on the honeysuckles and the lilacs and the tea roses.

And it shone on me.

I’d been dressed in my lemon organza dr...

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The pubs are shut
The grass aint cut
The pints not flowing
The lawn needs mowing
The pies are cold
The snacks are old
The crisps are stale
The lack of ale
The jukey's quiet
The waitress fired
The buzz is gone
The fire ain't on
The food disposed
The doors are closed
Goodbye my Local

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The planet turns, the planet turns;

The adults fiddle while Rome burns.

And children yet to be conceived

Have every right to feel aggrieved.

And us? We tiptoe through the mines

And join the back of frantic lines

In shirtsleeved January sales,

Pursued by ever-warming gales.

Exhausts and power stations spout

Unheeded warnings all about.

But politicians mu...

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IN SEARCH OF A SUBJECT

Brought up on fish fingers

and church on Sunday.

A lawnmower land

of new beginnings.

Robin Hood and Batman

carried the day.

Not from here, nor there;

not middle-class or worker

and wrong accent

as my part-time pals

would remind me

and not much good at fighting

or football or maths.

Enamoured of the pen

from an early age,

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Beauty is something that I thought I knew until my eyes took yours in

Tenderness was just a thought until I felt your touch

I never knew how it felt to be complete until I held you in my arms

True love was just a wish until God brought you into my life

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WILL KNOW IN SEPTEMBER

Will know in September

Just heard today but it won't be long

Stare out above daylight passing

Will I always be there?

Covering back daring to face

Encroachment of night?

I watch the flying birds

Sense panic exert towards light

You keep staring towards

We must get back to house

The encroachment displayed receipts

You wrote a letter to ...

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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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Incredible views standing looking out to sea

Always though what a great home it might be

No1 and 2 both residentially converted long ago

No3 invitingly waiting for me to give it a go

Round Buildings work for me in an appealing way

Windmills, lighthouses, and it will happen some day

A Martello Tower in Folkestone all of my own

Who could possibly want any other kind of home?

...

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only one way out 
just like you heard
down the mountain

don't think. 
follow the center
of your future river
down

pass the shed of your 
cousin.
walk.

the country turns dead earth into wood
and i turn it further thus
snapped off in haste once
pegged for eager duty
and held up to the sun for 
those gathered to admire

a tree, a length of tree, a stout
handle to the living, 
...

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Midnight eyes wide awake.

Curtains flicker in time with my fluttering heartbeat as

menacing wind moans round the window frame.

Floor creaks to nobody’s tread, and

There’s nothing under the bed

If I don’t look……

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WASHA-QUON-ASIN*

Many who had hiked through Canadian wilderness

[ A cenutry ago ] Took notice of a bird in flight

A rare one the Ojibwa called

Washa-quon-asin--He who flies by night

At once: a hunter, a guide, a trapper

A living made from the furs in his sight

A rare one the Ojibwa called

Washa-quon-asin--He who flies by night

Into his forest lair, he...

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No matter your patience
Or how long you wait
You can't change his motion
Or alter his gait

He'll scamper and shuttle
He'll dodge and he’ll weave
And just why he does it
You cannot conceive

Watch with some wonder
While rolling your eyes
He'll veer side to side
While you swallow your sighs

He won't get embarrassed
He won't feel ashamed
He's doing it his way
He will not be blamed
...

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You left nothing but your last breath that I cherish and hold dear

But tell me how I’m supposed to breathe when you’re not here 

I’m constantly living in fear

The person who loved me the most just gone

But I can still hear her calling 

I still hear her song

Everybody says life is too short but I think it’s too long

I don’t know if I’m going to see her again though I need her n...

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I was enjoying sitting in the garden, pondering the beauty and the timelessness of nature, compared to the fickleness and unreliability we see in our leaders and found myself writing a villanelle. First draft below – may yet be edited but I wanted to share it now.

Constancy

Reminders of a life, a dream now torn
Scabia, flags and tulips, forget me nots
Behind the privet hedge a rolling lawn

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Confined to a tiny apartment

terrified of a viral threat

she rocks in her chair listening

to voices in the corridor

Who is going out?

To voices in the street

Who are they? Are they infected?

She turned off the TV months ago

when depression became too much to bear.

In the silence she waits

for the danger to pass

listening to the constant

chatter of...

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Why are all the Selifish . Causing Disruption . Why so selfish It Hurts .

We only have one life and it Matters to Me. So why try and take it so we can't be free. No one knows how to kill or Cure these Horrors we are facing . No one can say When it will End . We know the know All's think they know Everything . They cause more bother than sense. We have to live with the Consiqensas No matter what...

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My heart is in hiding, wounded and bleeding. 

Anger’s anesthesia is wearing off

and I can only get so numb,

but it’s never numb enough.  

I cannot retreat far enough

into my dark comforter’s lifeless arms. 

They no longer hold me like they once did,

no longer embrace me in the safety of shadows. 

My lovers surround me

and gaze at me with cold, empty eyes. 

Their comat...

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The world has gone from worse to worst
With people dying left and right
We know the cause but what's the cost
A dying race from an embrace
We hope that cure will come for sure
And see that worst will come to pass

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Not so infamous as ‘81

when Liverpool went feral

and anger blazed for nine whole days,

the riot of ‘85 arose

in Toxteth when someone

was stabbed and four men’s freedom hung in peril.

I didn’t know that then, although I was 

stranded in the middle

thinking “What the fuckin’ fuck?!!”

In ‘85 there was a lack

of means to know the cause.

We had no internet to solve...

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Love is peace

That burns with desire,

The passion can char your soul.

Love is free

And the payment required,

To give and to embrace a soul

Love is blind

It sees into your heart

At the kindness, the beauty within. 

Love is hope

That despairs when we part

And yearns for your arms to return

Love is calm

It torments the head

It breaks and it shatters...

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 There is a way in the window

I sit here thinking of them all

How to set myself free from the weight of it all

Is there time for it or am I just a glaze of dust in it all

I rather believe that time isn’t important

It’s just something that keeps us going

Time isn’t the problem it’s the value of it that controls us all

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On a flowing river,

Crossing by the Mosis,

Trying to carry out a dozen of pain.

Felling again in your thoughts,

Smelling of the roses,

Standing by your side in your arms.

Would you like,

To me my life,

Crossing the might just for you.

Would you hold and be my soul,

Crossing the river that flows in you.

She said would you hold me,

God has just called me...

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Masks of grief

Inside the chapel they stare back at me, blankly

eerily in alien unison

unrecognisable, camouflaged

thirty faceless faces incognito

Some are shrouded in blue, antiseptic in appearance

others are black in a practical, washable material

occasionally there’s a soft bandana or a patterned attempt at prettiness

painted on the masks of grief

We ha...

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Fear looms quick,

As the great war comes a knocking again,

Raised from the hands of many,

Sister of King George V,

Arising to plunge a lance to the enemy,

The German Blitzkrieg comes,

Leaving her wanting,

Dogs of the sea,

They will meet their match,

Fear looms swift,

In the fog of war she strikes,

To sink the Kreigsmarine,

Glancing blows to Bismar...

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Make my eyes turn to sandpaper

Watch me cry my rivers dry

And leave

Me lifeless, gasping for air

Grin at my dying breaths 

And be the wind that makes my lungs

Balloon and burst

I am hanging by the last threads of my heartstrings,

So I beg, do as you will with me.

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The Layers of Age

I feel the layers of age as I draw each breath

every movement is a reminder of years past

I am crouched through frailty and surgery

my body aches intermittently with each twist and turn

Life is slowing down quite perceptibly

but I worry not about this inevitable process

My mind and soul are still invigored

temptation still attracts carnal desires

T...

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Thoughts being to swirl deep within. Subconsciously my thoughts work endlessly, collecting stray fragments of information hoping to unlock part of a riddle. 

All the while I lay in bed half awake and half asleep. 

On the surface my train of thought seems non existent.

unable to focus or so I believe the truth is my mental capacity has reached its limit within me. 

My daily routine...

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You have to move forward in the world 

 Because no one else will

 Keep pushing yourself or time will remain still

Make efforts to get where you want to be

It’s not hard, all you have to do is believe

It won’t take just words, you need action

In life, doing nothing won’t have a reaction

All opportunities will pass by if you waste your time

You’re on a path to you futur...

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Mesmerizing she looked in that yellow attire

Captivating my heart she translated into a desire

My eyes were glued to her chiseled shape

Such were her curves that I felt seduction…

Bewitched I remained testimony to her youthful charm!

Those rosy lips of hers showcased a favor

Whatever she spoke looked like a flavor

All through my thoughts I kept thinking

Peeping at her,...

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KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

(For John Lewis 1940-2020)

When Dr King led the March on Washington in 1963

You were the youngest leader to address the crowd

And you died the last remaining speaker,

Eighty years old with strength and individuality

Acquired slowly and painfully;

The still visible baton scars

From freedom bus rides

And other peaceful protests

Prove it.

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Fires seething, breathing, spewing forth
Molten vulgarities unto this earth,

Feeding on the despair and indifference of
A society that has rid itself of all those things
Which are true and good,

Nothing is intolerable anymore, for the flames
Have consumed all, beggar and borrower alike,
And smothered nature's sight,

For the heart which cannot see shall be mute to
All that could open...

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Whipped by a raging virus.

You could have contained it.

Weeping for America.

Today the virus is forgotten.

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The five, physical senses of animals:

Sound, sight, smell, touch, taste -

Excite fight or flight

For survival of the individual and the pack.

Or they invite association, sexual mating,

For continuance of the species.

We humans with our superior brains

Take our senses well beyond the physical

Into the broad sphere of emotion,

Which we call our 'feelings',

Literall...

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You know that song by John Lennon whatver gets you thru the night well this small story tells of a good little creature  that helps me get through these  almost apocalyptic days and nights.

&

I'll never forget the day I got mi cat, they let her out the little carry box and she walked on my coffee table, then she wondered off so casual like an estate agent checking out my flat. Into every roo...

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I'm not going to be the one who fix it this time
Or try to keep it together
I'm not going to be the cause of more problems
Or try to break it apart
I'll let it just be the way it is
And if you want it this way lets stay this way
You do you
And I'll be me

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MAGIC INK

disappeared
as if
not here

pencil
on page
completely
erased

frenetic
path
no
photographs

vanished in
air thin
invisible
like the wind

inside
the eye
stormy
skies

land of
oz
tornadic
toss

magic
ink
back from
brink

yellow brick
road
to
paper gold

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Putting Out the Lamp

In the dusk of early evening one day

I awakened from a belated nap,

And came to find nobody back home yet,

Only the wall lamp flickering away.

I, the child, quickly getting quailed,

Started running away from the dark haunted place,

But soon stopped for looking backward

For some reasons I couldn't quite grasp.

Probably it was the left-a...

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"Dry Season"

Season of crimson blossoms,
Nature sprouts in seconds,
Signs of a shriveled harvest.

Happiness like a stone,
Is tossed into an ocean,
How do we begin to break the kernel of our silence?
Or find a costume that fits this madness.

Going forward a pit lies ahead,
Returning is a walk through the shadow of death,
So we stand shivering
Like a crucify on the neck of a hanged ...

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We’ve journeyed down to short-sleeved Chertsey

for my sister-in-law’s 60th birthday.

Get there early, 7.30, suitably thirsty,

knowing few of these middle-class, middle-aged bodies,  

I’m wondering how I shall get my jollies,

take a leap of faith, and I’m exchanging volleys

with this bald-headed guy, big scar on his forehead.

We’ve talked of favourite bands and beers,

now we...

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The clanking compound of the brewery

– where Dad did casual shifts,

when building work was scarce –

is buried now beneath the floors

of a multi-storey car park

and chat that drifts across

from cappuccino pavements.

Born to a scant inheritance

of rushy Sligo acres, my dad was bred

like his brothers to follow the work,

sending remittances home

from London, Readi...

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With every flicker
There lies a silent note ..
Of a spark 
That will ignite the hope..
Of dreams fulfilled..
Of promises sealed..
Of lives beginnings..
Of sweet endings..
Of aspirations taking wings..
Of twilight that now makes you sing..
The golden ray, bleak as it may be ..
Radiates  in itself..
A sign of life..
Waiting for that surge of power..
To ultimately light up the tower..
...

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There she was sitting in her chair

The passage of time seen in her gray hair

She sits not in a chair on a throne of honor

Tea cookies and lemonade the silent child ate

Cookies salty-sweet this is how she will grow to be

Lemonade just enough tart you can see it from her heart

Words of wisdom in a melodious feminine tone

Encouraging us to rise up and tell me ...

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9/11/20

I've passed away just like all my pretty flowers.
I've spent time all alone for hours.
I feel isolated, like I'm trapped in a tower, looking out at everyone but they don't see me.

Becoming a woman is realizing that when you're alone, there is no reason that you shouldn't be alone.
Or expect anything more from anybody else than what already is and has been.

I can't be the girl...

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Seems it's a pink fresh morn

and a cool breeze gently touching

and alluring the spirit, 

raising it high in great hope.

A bright ray slipped in through 

a yellow curtain of my window

resting calmly upon bare forehead;

warmth of a blessed childhood.

The cosy memories of past,

once again, riding upon in ecstasy

the jocund tides of emotions 

rapturing in the...

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What happens next

Last breath

Remain in space

Traverse to shapes

What carries on

Last beats

Trapse away

Shattered peeps 

Unknown

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Every time I fall

I land with a thud

I shake my head

I get back up

I won't stay down

I'll rise up again

Like a phoenix

See me rise

Into the sky

Like a burning flame

Your one desire

Higher and higher

Until I lose consciousness

And come crashing down

Towards the ground

I fall into you

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To Winston, Paul B all admin and, everyone.

Imagine you come from Poverty, complete and sheer poverty. Imagine too, your creative mind, wiping the floor with Eton and Oxbridge Candidates.

Imagine that, you have too many coincidences of being 'put down' under bogus accusation. Imagine too, knowing that all you do, is being filtered so only a select few know of your intellect, compassion, tale...

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Its been a new start of another day,

where sun rises high from its bay,

to insist there is a new hopeful way,

where you can mould your life like a clay,

buzzing bees buzz for their sweet nectar pay,

relegious places start their day's pray,

and I celebrate my day as I have another day to stay

                                       -cancer survivor

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Pigeons, to me, were always signs of hope:
even the whirl of wings against the air
would right me, show me once again the scope
of who I was and whose I was and where;

as when, in one deep shock of vertigo
I saw the city lie beneath my ledge
as flocks of pigeons played a mile below
and kept my feet from straying near the edge;

as blinking blinding water from my eyes
I rose again to re...

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Mosquito

Mounting an attack when I am weak,

It is your habit.

Wishing to suck the life out of your prey,

I am watching you.

A creature of the night flying in after dusk,

I trust you not.

Hovering over me with elongated feelers ready,

I know what you want.

Awaiting an opportunity to pierce my skin,

It is malevolence.

You have mounted many successful attacks.

I wa...

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Rhythms of pink the color prejudiced

I looked at my heart and into two it was sliced

In the backdrop of life simple yet rustic

The girl in the display picture looks fantastic…

The factor oomph! The factual smile

She is new to me perhaps new for a whole while.

I felt I knew her but I cannot recapture any thought

I kept thinking and thinking, thinking a lot…

Utterly pretty sh...

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How are you?

A question worth a thousand answers 

A thousand possibilities summed into one

Fine

Somewhere in between the good and the bad 

Between the lines 

Of the lies 

Fine -

Just fine.

By Faith Olajuyigbe, author of Words of Faith

For poetry and more visit: https://www.wordsoffaith.co.uk

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The ghosts of white ravens fill the air like fragrant smoke. 
Ethereal apparitions, ever higher they serenely soar. 
Prophetic beauties, sacred creatures, declaimers of truth.
Singing a mellifluous melody, unrestrained and honey-soaked.
Poe’s melancholic elegy of his lost Lenore. 
His solitary black raven’s mournful lament. 
In requiem, these majestic corvids threnody. 
My alabaster, ivory ...

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Resulta, en noches como esta, tan molesto el silencio como el ruido. Esa incipida nada, dispuesta a pensar pero incapaz de deshilachar con claridad la propia verdad de la misma vida. En noches como esta, la ansiedad por la calma necesaria al disernir se contrarresta con la obstinada opulencia de la distracción.

Estoy harto de la obligación de ser feliz.
Estoy harto de la obligación al éxito.
...

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Stillness in the motion of everything 

Calmness is how I'm feeling of all things 

Quietness in my thoughts as I'm writing

My heart beats a rhythm of a normal pace

What Seems like a good life

Think twice

Before you ask

We wear many masks

We Put on the 'smile now'

Then we Put on the 'cry later'

Whichever you decide to show me 

Take your mask off 

The storm already...

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In a place not far away,

a place they call Trump-land.

Where the leader of that place is called,

liar,

cheat,

corrupt,

or worse, on a bad day in Trump-land.

Some of his subjects have been heard to say,

that he has abused the sacred office he holds.

Worse, say some, that he has suborned the institutions of Government.

These days are the darkest of days, in Trump-l...

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All people find their pleasures
From a unique and different place
Perhaps listening to music,
Or winning in a race.

For some it may be movies.
For some a lovely meal.
For some it may be shopping,
For which many have great zeal.

Or being at one with nature,
Or sailing on a boat,
Or going on a holiday,
Whether crowded or remote.

Some find it in religion,
Or perhaps reading or writ...

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Aegean  Overspill........

Written in September 2015 when the mass exodus of refugees from war zones began.

Seems apt to re-visit looking at current events on the shores of the English Channel.

Crescent starred Gendarmerie manhunt, confront

overblown cover blown shyster sharks

frenzy-feed in back alley Bodrum,

fleecing Damascus dads of ventured shekels,

a one-way lilo lott...

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Sex, Alcohol and Sugar

I seem to spend my life

In giving up of things

Things I like, look forward to

Ring-a-ding-a-ding

I'm told such things are bad for me

That I should wave goodbye

To smoking, sugar, alcohol

Give up, lie back, and sigh

Funny? but there's just one thing

I don't give up (one thing)

That's sex, it just gives up on me

Ring-a-di...

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A grass turns golden when sunshine inclined with dews ,

       Like a full of diamond's bag shattered few.

An intoxicant fragrance to make feel everyone divine,

               Like a perfume sprayed with shine.

A prosperous surround sound attracting the ears,

               Like a music make you & soul near.

A saffron sky revealing every contrast ever have,

               Like...

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Two people

who know what they want

and express how they feel

don't fight.

There's just no point in arguing about feelings.

You don't choose your feelings

so you can't be judged for having them.

So why keeping them from others?

Express yourself! 

It helps people understand.

It's called communication.

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It is not all a dabbling in sap and ooze - 
those green effulgences of spring -
nor sifting through the silver blooms
of winter’s snow and goose:
hot and cold the summer blows
and many a tree, on its day,
may play the burning bush.

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As I stepped into adolescence
I used to spend hours, daydreaming,
the perfect love, the perfect life
walks among raindrops
slow stepped waltz
piggyback rides and, winks caught off guard.

Then, life happened.
the zest for life, escaped from the windows of the mind
the daydreams,  stayed dreams
belief in love simply vanished

Then you came along
with careless sweet talks
toothy grins ...

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Sometimes it’s easier

To slip back under

Instead of fighting-

To remain afloat. 

The deeper you go,

The harder it is, 

To claw your way-

back up again. 

So you sink

Back into the depths 

Of the sea-

Deeper and deeper.  

And you slowly suffocate

Under the pressure,

You drown-

Your cries, Unheard. 

The only thing left,

A memory,

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August

She wished it to be a month of hope,

Not that of despair, or distress

Her days blurred in nothingness

Like a bird fallen in a trench, flapping its wings

Move, run, walk, read, write, stop!

Her body powerless, prisoned by her mind

Reduced to a mute spectator,

For her mind has a mind of its own

She dallies her day away

Eager for her sleep

No dreams, ...

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I’ve always liked boxes.

I collected them for years,
Tiny jewellery boxes, music boxes
Jars, chests and woven baskets

I like how they keep things inside.

I like the mystery, the excitement of

Discovering them, of wondering what 

Treasures are inside, what trinkets

Are guarded by their walls and their door.

I like knowing what’s inside.

I like when stra...

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A glint flows twice for the right

                                                      shadow

There are no candles in the 

                                                       sun

A farm is more than one 

                                                      meadow

and always burns as

                                                       one

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