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Advent 2020
Image courtesy of Marilylle Soveran and Flickr; Creative Commons.
Hard to believe that it's December and we're coming to the end of a year that has presented many challenges. In the Christian tradition, candles are lit for Advent, representing hope, love, joy, peace, and the light of the world. This year we're waiting for vaccines, an end to lockdowns and tiers and I've tried to ...
Friday 4th December 2020 3:38 pm
Covid-ity
During the lockdown, I didn't do much writing and wasn't inspired like some to write about Covid or the lockdown in general, as I figured there would be enough people doing this already. The poem below is a new and first draft. It is meant to be messed up like the whole crisis and covers things I have heard said from a whole host of people and media. Comments please and anything I could add to ...
Wednesday 21st October 2020 8:43 am
The unkindness of Covid
Your polo shirt is slightly askew.
Eyeliner you try and hide.
My daughter baby’s prime;
we have fought for this.
You now sit in classrooms,
open windows, warmth drained.
Queue, face mask clad, in corridors
dreaming of seeing faces
The boy you pass notes to
you are no longer free to kiss
or find the ecstasy in another.
Your childhood is on hold.
W...
Monday 19th October 2020 12:41 pm
The Lockdown Spring Renga Project
March - June 2020 :
During the early months of the UK lockdown, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - I've been organising and running an online community writing project through various Facebook community boards, but in two different communities: Fakenham, in north Norfolk, where I live & work, and the Isles of Scilly, which I've known and loved for over twenty-five years. The two poems produ...
Thursday 9th July 2020 12:11 pm
Isolation
Few heavy clouds are covering the sky
Above the lonely white house with brown door
Where at the window an old lady sits
And stares outside with gloomy sorry eyes.
Next to the house a couple stands and looks
Towards the house with their little child.
It is the lady’s son, his wife along
With their daughter that are visiting.
The family is staying in the str...
Saturday 23rd May 2020 1:24 pm
End of Lockdown
What shall we do when this time has passed?
And from lockdown we'll be free at last.
We'll leave our homes and go outside
To roam all the towns or countryside.
We'll join our families and all our friends,
And this time there'll surely be no ends.
And our freedom we'll appreciate,
And each day will feel great.
We'll eat and drink in our favourite pubs,
And meet all member of our clubs,
...
Wednesday 13th May 2020 5:36 pm
A Story of Hope
A writer yearns to tell their story, any story
that will stand the test of time
full of hardships conquered
and inspires generations with hope.
The story shall feel whimsical,
not so much with fairies dancing
but that there is a happy ending.
The story shall have brevity,
not so much as a long weathered tale
but one that details just enough.
The story shall...
Wednesday 13th May 2020 12:28 am
Bird Strike
Like fish out of water they cluster, gasping for
Herd immunity,
Scrap aluminium
Shadowing hot tarmac.
High on kerosene we were
Flying blind to Armageddon
Until a bird-strike did for the engines
Clipping our wings
Wake up and
Reclaim your baggage,
Be humble
(Latest score: Coronavirus 6-Humanity 0)
Ground your brain, breathe deeply and
Learn to get by with...
Friday 8th May 2020 11:24 am
Renee By A Thread
Audio reading: https://soundcloud.com/tomalexwrite/renee-by-a-thread
Down the corridor, comes a scream
Was it physical pain
or the horror of finally learning
the way this game is turning
They took your clothes
gave you a gown
there was nothing to do but lay right down
Now, the machine breathes
for you
hung by a thread and leaving soon
Faint flashes behind tired eyelids
recalle...
Tuesday 5th May 2020 4:53 pm
Thoughts in Times of a Pandemic
Here I find myself thinking about what I have always said: human beings are fragile and things can and will change in a blink of an eye.
As if things were not complicated enough in our beaten-up world; the terrible and endless civil war in Syria, the provocative bravado of North Korea, the continuous fights and rants of Trump with allies and adversaries, Putin's permanent interference in everyt...
Tuesday 28th April 2020 10:14 pm
The Daily Count of Lives
746 (six fell in love more than four times)
673 (twenty had no regrets)
714 (five could still feel their first kiss)
643 (twenty-seven looked at photos of their loved one each morning)
547 (seven had contagious laughter)
517 (hundred regretted that their beauty had faded)
468 (thirty-five had worked in the same job all their lives)
...
Friday 24th April 2020 12:09 pm
Evidence
Advertised everywhere
No chance for it to be ignored
The blaring signals and sirens
Please don't use the excuse that you're bored
The excuses and reasons don't work
Not anymore
We've endured the lies but now
You even deceived the law
You did not leave out of choice
You were removed
Lying to yourself and to others
You seem confused
The rules apply ...
Sunday 19th April 2020 2:15 pm
Harm's Arms
Let me admit, to you, my fear
of those ghostly hands
twisting the knife
in the belly of our lives
These house-bound blues
echo louder some days
these house-bound blues
and their hypnotically sad song
My memories reach out for you
you’ve changed your number
my happy memories are reaching out
yet we may never speak again
And though estranged
often, I still wonder
of your gently c...
Saturday 18th April 2020 11:34 am
Coronaverse
Humanity's gone into hibernation
Our focus has shifted to survival
Coronavirus has a bright side
We've changed since its arrival
Mortal danger pushed us together
New-found solidarity is a boon
Survivors will emerge stronger
Dont self-pity or despair too soon
Love can prevail over evil
But humility must come into its own
The era of complacency is over
...Saturday 18th April 2020 10:31 am
Stay Safe?
SAFE?
When has any human been safe?
Lions, Tigers, and Bears… OH MY!
Mosquitos, Ticks, Killer Bees…
Cancer, Bacteria, Viruses…
But the greatest of these
Has always been humans
This is the High Holiday Time
For most of our belief systems
A remembrance of great - Unsafe times
When the masses were protected
And individuals’ sacrificed
We lived to see another d...
Wednesday 15th April 2020 4:19 pm
Blank Paper
I start the day with little to no inspiration
Much like everyone else in the world
I also start this poem
With the repetitive voice of exasperation
The sirens are blazing late tonight
As souls are being set on fire
But because of some peoples' perseverence
Loved ones' bodies are also being set alight
Recreational parks are not essential
Travelling out of the wa...
Monday 6th April 2020 10:30 pm
Acknowledgments
I accept that they may feel lonely
The constant reminder from the media that they are isolated
Alone in their puddle of thoughts
Suddenly drowning in their echoes of silence
Against all odds I am managing just fine
A stream of thoughts flowing all day
Nothing to block my mind from floating away
Not today, anyway
My thoughts are not all positive
I am unbalanced ...
Sunday 5th April 2020 7:52 pm
This Mortal life
This mortal life
Seems thinner now
As we move away from
The old and sick relatives
Keep a safe distance
See everyone as a potential disease
This moral life
Seems thinner now
And in a darkened room, all alone
She sits tapping her fingers ,
Hoping the bell will ring
Or someone will call
Her mortal life
Thinner now
Passing away
All...
Thursday 2nd April 2020 1:51 pm
For the Staff. Let Tests Give Us Hope
HEAL PARK
The skeletal frame of a Rollercoaster
Onto which fitted wheels, seating
Garish moulded plastic coloured
Inert silence no power from running current
Except for birds in the sky theme park
Abandoned except for giant tent building
The envelope opened up hand around throat
Sent to every house in town
And from source iron doors
Air conditioning to breathe ou...
Saturday 28th March 2020 11:45 pm
Spring Will Be Delayed
our streets
are empty now:
spring sun tempts us - "lower
your guard, fall into this loving
embrace"
a cinquain
Wednesday 25th March 2020 7:04 pm
In the Stillness
In the stillness,
My tongue tastes each sip
of my coffee
In the stillness,
My teeth grind every bite
of my food
In the stillness,
My eyes linger over each word
I read
In the stillness,
My fingers
languorously write every letter
In the stillness,
My hands slowly
color each petal
In the stillness,
My heart speaks
And
I hear my thoughts
...Tuesday 24th March 2020 3:52 pm
Corona Virus AKA Covid 19
The news told of a distant menace headed our way,
that might overwhelm our world,
like the Spanish flu a century ago
or the plagues of the Middle Ages.
They said it was implacable, sure to wreak havoc soon.
It was like a monstrous hurricane far in the distance,
threatening everything in its path.
It was a virus called Corona, a crown of thorns.
They say that, like a zombie, it i...
Tuesday 24th March 2020 3:22 pm
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