Following up with my doctor

with an online message

…this is good, that’s still a problem…

 

Sharing all the little embarrassments

as we often must, with those

who’ve taken the Hippocratic oath

 

While composing my missive

I let out a shout of triumph

startling my wife, just a bit

 

“What is going on?”, she asked

“I spelled diarrhea correctly”, I quickly rep...

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We are taught that this is the way

The system of decay

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It’s always grounded in the two-four beat

of boot soles tramping across a field,

the plod of units across terrain

a general stakes his name on.

 

Holding the line, the kettle pounds

its rhythms of mutual fear. Embellished

with fifes, the snares are brash,

their prattle false as speeches

on recruitment day. Add some chimes

and majorettes, high-stepping,

winso...

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when I had nothing left to give 

You gave me everything I will ever need

when spite and hate defined me

You loved me the most

 

the sound of a door closing scraped my bones

and You showed me the way of re-association 

distant planning and laughter set fire to my mind

You simply taught me the power of unending Love

 

I will never again condescend 

those gorgeous bei...

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Eternal Full Moon

 

Fitful angels squirming fraught with red burned demons                                           caught by fishermen drawing final breaths from Arctic seas.                                                                                          A catch once wild and free culled fatefully finally                                                                 crept up beh...

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Bluebird whistles in the air,

We were there, when

The bluebird dipped into the lake,

It reminds me of us, once singing sweetly

Then down,

Overcome by the black waters of indifference.

Bluebird rises up, not confidently

Spluttering shoreward, down, gone,

It reminds me of us, quick to love

Then speedily to oblivion.

Love remembered but hopelessly lost,

In those dark ...

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Death,
I feel cold,
Sitting beside you.

An image of that man,
Yet unseen nor heard,
I speak it just out.

I am moon,
Which came way down,
The morning coffee.

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Pleasantries

nodding

feigning interest

eye contact.

What are they thinking? 

Look away.

The conversation - such that it is, slows…

eye contact again

a general inquiry as to some bullshit that I also do not care about.

Off it goes again

I’m not listening again

thinking about other things, 

anything.

Why don’t I care enough to listen?

Because they are the sa...

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How can we make parliament more professional?
this question was asked on the news tonight 
A question that surely should not need to be asked 
in any workplace that was managed right 

Surely our government is the highest office 
where the examples should be set
Surely parliament is the most important workplace 
where rule compliance should be met 
 

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A son of David pitched against a midget Goliath

but one who has such might behind him.

The ogre claiming he has come for a deliverance

(he was a man of cunning from his youth).

The other fighting in the simple name of freedom,

full well knowing the effect of The fetid Bear's breath

forever felt on their necks during decades past,

his razor-sharp claws ready to subdue, imprison...

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12.38: The clock ticks slowly, my mind spins fast
Imaginings hover just out of reach,
how long can a minute last?

01.32: A dialogue in mind as I try, to unwind.
Imagine if I could send you a screen-shot.
of my mind. I'd save all these words.
No. that'd be absurd. 
I'd need a screen-shot of time.
To rhyme. 

01.48: I'm going to oversleep,
I'm going to be late.
Tick-tock. Tick...

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The night time air grows still, chilled

The sun now well below the horizon

Children lie snugly in tidy beds and cots

Quiet, slumbering from a day of work and play

 

Grown-ups nod in the firelight’s glow

A ginger cat toasts his whiskers

Draped across the hearth

Like a discarded feather boa

 

Outside the black tom cat

Spits at a lone rust-coated fox

Who prowls its...

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Not many shepherds live around these parts,

But down the road the buildings are ablaze.

In semi-darkness, citizens with pails

Run like hares towards the smoky haze.

I stop one in passing. ‘I’m Jan,’ he says.

His features throb with duty and despair;

His younger friend stands polishing a gun.

Our lives are here, but could be anywhere.

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Take me to the hidden lake
let us wander through 
the valleys of your heart
Let us revel in the splendour
of all that rests within
Accumulations, it’s what we are
everything we’ve felt and seen

Let us swim in the hidden lake
in that secret world
deep at the core of you
Make it rain, bring forth the sun
We’ll watch the waters flow
across your canvas 
into the sea, into reality

Whe...

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I came alive by night

brought the night to life,

music bled through every pore

a career of sound in black and white

black and white the piano keys,

and when the light came calling me

summoned again to stoke the fire in my veins

I played and prayed for the passing of time

its metre was my game. 

 

And now i've served that clarion call

I miss the calling not at all

...

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Silk wraps baseball caps
Cotton bow ties on wedding hats
Vintage buttons on modern jackets
Handbags designed like crisp packets
Fishnet tights and lycra cling on
Printed t-shirts Jeans with bling on
Rara skirts with vivviene shirts
Tight mini dresses for all you flirts
Over the knee boots
Boots with studs on
Jogging bottoms and tops hoods on
Pattern socks odd socks if you're feeling sil...

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Stood up

Held back

Turned away

Bit lip

Silently swore

Left alone

Waited a lifetime

For her return.

 

words and images TH Carroll

 

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Don't fall from your perch
Oh sweet bird of youth
For life doesn't always 
Tell you the truth 

 

There's many who lie
Deep in their lies 
And hover around
Like unwanted flies

 

But, pay no heed
Oh sweet bird of youth
Ignore those who taunt
Or call you uncouth 

 

For you are the blossom 
The sweet morning dew
Unique to yourself 
The most beautiful you!

 

You're t...

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Dear souls of the city of Ibrahim

Why is it that you are still asleep

What more do you need 

Don't you have a legacy to carry

 

Dear souls of city of Babylon

Your history is oldest in the world

Where once the civilizations thrived

Of Mesopotamia along Euphrates and Tigris 

 

Dear people of the two great Rivers 

Can't you see what you inherited 

There are many a ...

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Look to the sky...clouds dark and grey.
But nature soon chases them all away.
It's God's way for a better day to create.
Then comes the sun, well worth the wait!

Now the day is warm, sunny and bright.
Because all those clouds are out of sight.
A bit like clouds, some people seem to me.
Casting their dark shadows, for all to see.

Frowned upon and disliked by one all all.
Clouds blow aw...

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Our government should have looked ahead,

Before numerous care-homes became hot spots for the dead.

To 20,000 vulnerable , elderly residents we said a sad goodbye,

Spending their final hours confused and alone to die.

 

N.H.S. hospitals were allowed to discharge untested patients of declining years,

Throwing the care-home residents to the wolves and festering covid fears.

The r...

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It's the age of the humour-free ditty,

The depressing dirge of self-pity.

Why make others feel low

When you;re just too slow;

To run with the chance to be witty?.

..................................................................

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Within the rainbow heart

Grows little happiness

Plucking the weeds 

Giving way to the seeds

 

Rainbow heart dances and sings 

It's time to play the heartiest tunes

Rain and sunshine to form the lovely crowd 

A party worth the love to see it grow 

 

There's a rainbow heart 

Playing my favourite tunes

Young and fresh voices sings 

An orchestra for a rainbow me 

...

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As a projectile on its trajectory
the very kernel of a heart’s story
unfurls and beckons to those who care
allows for both sides, their minds declare
each line, each verse, each accentuated pause
altogether bring, joint longing; their inimitable cause

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Out of the vastness

of silence, emanates

the restlessness of sound, 

to life duty-bound, 

conferring upon it

an affirmation of existence,

and a smiling potential 

that with a little persistence, 

those vagabond reverberations

may just be tamed

into a dulcet serenade...

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When I was little

I fancied the moon was home to my mother

Peeking out from under my covers

I would search for her face

I imagined her sitting

Next to the man in the moon

-Perhaps he was my father

 

Night after night

As my heart took flight

My eyes would shine bright

To imagine them hugging each other

 

Sadness would smother me

When the cloudy nights

Wo...

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Golden chips and golden hours

You beamed over us like gold sunflowers

 

Always stiving to provide

Always making us pleased

You took us on a plane

Over the gold Pyrenees

 

To the park a meander

And tea in the veranda

Games on the grass

Like the Mill Lane Olympics

And the 4 yard dash

 

The essence is there though some memories fade

You gave us pennies for...

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A gorge of towering cliffs;

the Guadalmina unseen

below the road. We visit

a park to feed rabbits

with carrots, take our turns

with party pieces

at the open-air theatre,

while other families wait

impatiently to photograph

and film first communioners,

one young girl bedecked

like a bride.

 

I read a poem from my phone

about Simon Armitage,  

Gillian perf...

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As a child I found a stinking gas mask.

It consisted of decaying rubber and plastic.

Uncomfortable though it was, I tried it on,

Constricting my breathing.  As under a green sea, 

I saw my sister, smiling…

I didn’t keep it on for very long!

I flung it back into the drawer

With all the farthings and the ha’pennies

And a ration book, redundant relics

From the Second World...

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(resubmitted on account of probs with audio)

 

 

Magnification

 

 

     Solemnities hero be already dead -
for she never lived, was never there,
     Her favoured plunge had already
swanned to fantasy where meeting
minds were no longer chaste, nor
wanting loins expressing lions dare.

     The citadels of spite remained as
peoples strewn in tatters – navigate an open
h...

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Swiftly she comes

Smoothly she ascends

Bright yellow petals flap in the wind

 

White brick soft shadows

Afternoon sun

Reflects tabletops, the glassy ones

 

Sleek wooden benches

Independent all day

Save when she sits to contemplate

 

Massive light fixtures

Flirty and fun

Urban Outfitters retro undone

 

Sculpture Park sweats next to

Cosmico sip...

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We’re hoping to see you returning again

To give us your hard-earned bunce

So make sure that you gamble responsibly though

Don’t lose all your outlay at once.

 

The last thing we want for our business

Is a punter that goes to the wall

Depleting our customer numbers

And not good for cash-flow at all.

 

Our public position is “Take Control”

And “Gamble Responsibly” to...

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Keep the tips of my fingers callused,
The rings to my eye sockets,
Deep and purple.
I do not have the luxury of being lightning in a bottle,
I must make my presence known through substance,
Filling the sea of aspirations with my own,
Intoxicating and plentiful,
The key to any readers hearts,
My own suffering.
I will expose myself bare,
Devour my offering so that I may find release.
Unde...

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Think real hard

You best not forget

Some red that’s left

Off with the showerhead.

 

I sometimes forget all the people I saved and vice versa

But I never forget the stories I’ve spoken in tongue you’ve never heard of.

 

And now I remember nails pressed into skin

With your mouth wide open and spit rolling in.

 

I saw verses printed into ribcages and necks

And Shak...

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Laughter and fun

Beautiful yellow sun

Gentle and warm touches

Which the heart clutches

Sweet jokes and banter

Let go of the anger

Does not feel the same

Just ease the fiery flame

The secret eye contact

Cannot resist for a fact

Soft and cuddly hugs

Not forgetting delicate arm rubs

The heart wanting to talk

How to start, let’s go for a walk

What shall we cal...

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Work long hours
In a job
That you hate
Make a shedload
Of money
Spend it on stuff
You don’t need.
If that doesn’t 
Make you happy
Work longer hours
Make more money
Buy more stuff.
Do this until you are 
Too old to do it 
Any more.
If you’re still
Not happy
Then there must be
Something wrong
With you.
But I guess
You always knew that
Didn’t you.
(On behalf of the Economy
I t...

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This world they say is cruel

This world they tell you people lie

But i prefer to have a taste myself 

This world, they tell you love is beautiful 

Dont i know it; that is all i long for

But i know better.

Everytime i let you in

Everytime, you showed me that the world was right

But i cant control my heart

For Everytime i let you go

A piece of me cracks

Now, everythi...

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I had a dream 

I was serving

in a government 

of the dead, 

 

I was the bulldog

the firefighter,

the master of

the excel spreadsheet

a puller of 

gold teeth 

 

I built the pivot table

I built the filter curve

that measured every wave

that thinned out

the herd.

 

I dreamt I 

was a lorry driver,

hauling through the night,

a forty tonne

...

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Peace is here

Sunday,24th Apr 2022

Where is He not there?

Why do we fear?

And refuse to go near!

When everything is clear!

nature is around

where peace is readily found

the fragrance is spread on the ground

we are all bound to go with it

Leave everything to him for consideration

you concentrate only on human relation

live peacefully as a good human being

and ...

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Everything feels spinning around
The table The clock The bed all seems to revolve round.

Last thing I remmber was drowning two pints of beer
With me and my pal it was all about cheers
Suddenly now am laying in my bed
And the sun at top of my head

With a heavy heave I pulled myself
Holding on for my life as if it was in hell
Somehow i managed to glup down a pill
Before my head again st...

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Thank you India

 

I didn't realise so many people could fit 

In such a small place

Apparently it's even crazier in the North

It blows my mind 

But I'll believe it

 

Markets full of incense and flowers

And rainbow dyes to praise deities

Sweets made of sugar cane

 

Slaughtered chickens 

Being packed 

On the back of a tiny scooter

Being followed aroun...

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I was in a bad way the other morning. 
I got lost in my head, thinking up horrible ideas that left me feeling ill. 
What is it that makes us act so miserably?
Is it by nature? 
The human condition is a crippling disease without a fix
The past will live to haunt you if you fail to make peace
I would know the pain of holding on better than anyone, because I myself cannot fathom the idea of let...

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On “Victory Day”  Knee deep in blood

 

The arms and limbs of the dead

Climb up you

In day and night terrors.

Murdered by you

 

Mothers

Fathers

Lovers

Sisters

brothers

children

&

Babies

 

All silenced by you

 

Your final solution…

Like the Jews in the ghetto.

All must go

 

But on your death bed

“Your god” whispers

...

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My sister says she’d always refuse
to give us any biscuits.
It still annoys her now.
But I don’t remember that.

On her own since ’79,
when Grandad fell, fractured his skull.
One way to end a party.
I don’t remember that.

We bonded over puzzle books,
Wordsearch and Logic Problems.
If there was anything else we shared,
I don’t remember that.

In her sitting room, in ’83,
Thorburn s...

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Death is a magnet

A black hole of no escape

Concentrating emotion in a vice like grip

Crushing the hearts of those left on the ship

 

With progress up the hill

Slowly step by step

Towards the final stillness of the grave

Above the tower St George, he waves

 

The last goodbye to all below

Framed against the clear blue sky

Peers down on grief and willow

Careful...

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barely in focus

the sun dazzles you walking

out of the forest.

 

 

 

 

The full archive can be found at:

https://onewriterandhispc.blogspot.com/2022/03/napowrimo-national-poetry-writing-month.html

#Haiku #Haikupoetry #Haikusequence #haikuada

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Some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield
Some days you're the spider, on others, the fly
Some days you're a mountain, on others a molehill
Some days, you're the fog. On others, blue sky

Some days you're a David, on others Goliath
But often you might fail to see which is which
Some days you're the slingshot, some days you're the target
Some days you're the tire, on others,...

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To my boyfriend, post fight 

21-04-22
 

 

Is it love? 
When feathery words laced in abundant trust 
And love bound kisses of confidentially 
Is thrust 
Forcefully into nasty shit 

Thrown from my mouth straight into my face 
Like a cowardly punch thrown 

My family 
You say
Lower, beneath you.
My mentally ill mother who sustained brain damage,
Claws through a heartless Irish...

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Something happened unexpectedly-
Unexpected to some, some time ago.
Someone was glared at accusingly 
By someone who didn't already know.

Something, someone, some time 
Has changed and moved forward.
Yet still exists a charge of a crime.
Someone is still looking backward,

Or is it us that are looking away? 
Who knows where it all started.
The truth is, its been too long to say
We ne...

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A blow up doll in a blow up world

With a blow up face and blow up curls

That dangled around all over the place

But complimented her blow up face

 

A blow up kid in a blow up school

Who always struggled to keep the rules

Who one day took in a huge sharp pin

Cos all the children were making a din

 

So he popped all those blow up kids

Showed no remorse for what he did...

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