I thought you had departed,

truly, for better skies,

and I sadly started preparing

for the celebration of you,

but then you returned,

knocked about by your journey, yes,

but still breathing,

so I happily started preparing

for the celebration of you.

Oh, these fleeting days!

We cling to them like chains around our heart,

breathless with fear,

until one day

we ...

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Can't wait to be free from the shackles of university. 

The weight of the future is in your hands! It is up to you to save the world from global warming, freezing temperatures and from lightrays that can pierce through overpriced sunnies.

My head aches from the anxitey of university. 

The token of diversity, the physical persona of the 'I have a dream speech', and the face of fake progres...

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All along the Rainbow Bridge

The people are crying;

But the dogs are out running,

Running and tumbling,

All the way home.

https://youtu.be/Go-jJlGd1so

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On waking,

she shivered a rainbow 

upon the knoll where bodies lay.

Yawning flowers took note,

flaunting their colours as a veil.

Her fingers dug deep into the fertile soil

until she could feel the root.

The old oak swaying its gnarly arms.

The moss, so moist and sweet, sang.

She could hear the breeze whistling  the grass.

A lullaby of morning dew.

From the forest ...

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those poor people

must be desperate,

forced to flee

their homeland,

they have so little and

have been through

enough already and

deserve a break

it must have been

a nightmare

risking life and limb

to even get here,

but one thing is sure

it wouldn’t be right

to let them live

around here!

© Graham R Sherwood 03/23

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Expressions of Love: Part XXXVII

Written On/For: 3/29/2023

Title: I Write In Pen

I write in pen.

Because, like our relationship,

It is final.

There is no going back,

only forward; ink building

and growing like our connection,

every single day.

-Jaxy

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They said I’d never make

A good poet

So I told them they could throw it

To the wind

For all I cared

I knew the sun would shine

On those who dared

And so I dared

To share

I gathered words

I wove them with emotion

Gently placed them

Into empty spaces

Sat back

And watched the wonder

On peoples faces

I took tears

And smiles

Grief

...

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I’m screaming at the top of my lungs

But she can’t hear me.

I might as well be yelling in French or Spanish because

She just doesn’t understand me

When I tell her I can’t do this.

She doesn’t get it when I tell her

I don’t know—

Je ne sais pas,

Yo no sé

—how I’m going to see this through.

It’s like my brain es en fuego from all

Of the información being ...

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I’ve been wondering about ancestral memory recently.

Take Alfie.  He’s my daughter’s little white dog.  She describes him as a bichon frise-something-or-other cross.  I call him a mongrel.

Alfie doesn’t mind.

He’s about 7 years old, although he’s rather guarded about his age.  Vanity, I suppose.

Anyroadup, Alfie does that timeless thing that all dogs have done since cavelady times.  (S...

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As I write, each line reaches for memories

lost, fallen beyond the edge of the world:

kamarupa dwelling in infinity, fading

when my lines do not find them

and my words fail passion and desire.

Eons, lost pasts. Which of them

could dream my frail dream of this

verse? Which, thrown

across the fabric of time, could make

nothing everything?

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A horse can gallop up to 30 miles per hour,

This involves ingenious mechanical power ,

The muscles in the legs act as dampers vibrating to any length,

A highly specialised muscle design that provides agility and strength.

Horses can sometimes be seen standing up as they sleep,

So that they can run away as predators upon them creep.

The design of the horse's legs engineers ha...

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In the great tempest of eighty-seven,

Mum and Dad remembered milk bottles

Bouncing and blowing down their quiet street.

Incredibly, none of them were broken,

Though hordes of healthy trees were smashed to bits.

But soldiers do not escape so lightly:

One bullet shot is easily enough

To shatter for good their unprotected shield.

The broken glass has to be collected

And put...

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I don’t know if she understands
the music she makes for me like I do.
Even though I can feel it plainly
simply when she breathes.

I listen to it over and over.
A melody so beautiful
it makes me feel sorry
for the shortcomings
of the best blueberry pie.

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Dear Emma

Rember the words you said?

The kind, loving words?

The I love yous?

The I'll always be there for yous?

The let me do your makeup?

The let me dye your hair?

I always aspired to be like you

But you changed

The I love yous

The I'll always be there for yous

The I'll always protect yous

You changed the way you do your hair

You changed the way you held me...

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So called because both events run together and I come home on April 28 which leaves two days of NaPoWriMo, so  there willl be extra poetry after The Journey Home.

Image: A look to the future, some of the events planned for West Texas, they went well last year in November, here's hoping they go well this April.

The Run Up

26.12.22 – 1) The year got colder as it got older

I booked m...

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Those who deserve respect seldom demand it;

Those who demand respect seldom deserve it.

Those who merit reward rarely expect it;

Those who seek reward rarely reject it.

Those who choose to preen and preach

Can frequently miss the chance to teach.

Better by far to debate and discuss -

And be of far more use to us!

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

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Expression unconstrained

you once called style

‘cause that was all you truly had

an illusory life always felt for

trespassing being

encroaching onto otherness

in all its expansive power of constraints forgotten

and yet.. you never killed

nor hurt

nor enslaved

you only killed your dreams for theirs

a liberator

misunderstood  

but not forgotten

is this what...

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I’ll hold up my hand and I’ll freely admit

to my grammar police inclinations,

because knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit

are two quite discrete revelations.

And if I make the statement “I’m going to”,

I should follow with my destination,

while if somebody else says “I’m going too”,

I might greet that with some trepidation.

To say I want a peace, or I want a...

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The pouring rain

Erasing the pain

Windows soaking wet

Similar to the Summer sweat

Wiping away all the dirt

From which the trees and grass are hurt

A perfect shower for the road

Vehicles have literally slowed

All cosy and gazing outside

Watching the rain as my guide

A great way to release your soul

Before I get up and go for a stroll!

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Don't despair when the cupboard is bare

here's a meal you can make out of nothing -

just suck on a piece of damp cardboard to start

then eat an unfilled skinless sausage

with a hot ice cube to follow.

When you wake up if you're still feeling hungry

have the same for breakfast tomorrow.

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Too Tall Tool by LADpoem

I wonder just how many people

think that it's ok

to comment on a person's height

having only met that day.

Coz so far I have noticed

that there seems to be a rule

that you can say just what you want

if someone's 6ft 7 tall.

"Oh my god how tall are you?"

I regularly hear

from rude insensitive people

when I'm out for a casual beer.

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Dozens of trains went back and forth daily

to and from the junction in its heyday.

Fifty-five years ago, the last service.

The terminus building still stands,

grand, too grand for just a branch,

but maybe not too high and mighty

for royalty visiting a duke of Northumberland.

Now far more browsers than ever waited

on the platforms throng the old parcels

and waiting r...

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To me, paradise is a form of happiness

The elite kind only for the determined

I tattooed the word on my arm

Foolishly pretending I inhabit it

But really it’s a reminder

That I’m not even within reach

I look for paradise in all the wrong places

I look for paradise in all the wrong people

I look anywhere but within myself

You won’t catch me getting spiritual

That never ...

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I lay the knives, sharp, on the table, flat. 
Notes of cinnamon and spices should keep the tempo light,
As I conduct the kitchen, for my dinner party tonight. 

Knock knock, they melodically rap upon the door,
I go to greet my fine guests, yet moments before,
I turn back from the handle, for I'm not so sure,
Which of the four seasons should delight my decor?

To choose only one,...

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Hello pal, you okay bud, you alright great to see you 

Am friends with everyone 

A chramer, a smiler,a real disco dancer a real nice guy 

I have all the qualities am likabke all a round

generous to a fault, Nothing can get me down so they think 

But you wouldn't believe that the life of the party is dieing inside his on the brink

My crown is begin to slip, I love a drink 

One ...

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Death is so jarring, though we are cognizant of it’s looming presence, when faced with it, we cocoon our very beings in a state of stillness…

As a creature of habit, I embarked on a morning walk, silently welcoming the beginning of spring. The wind caressed my face ever so softly with the sun making an inconsistent appearance.

Ruminating over things past and present! 

I walked gallantly, ...

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Imagine being totally untethered

After feeling chain linked 

I feel split

That part removed 

That half is trying to renew

But it hurts 

To grow scab over wound 

Missing you is mourning you 

Leaving you is still losing you

And I’m just as lost

As I made you 

If it could be 

I would make it be 

Should I be chain linked again 

I would make it good 

Should ...

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Cast me away on a sea of dreams

And let me float away

I’ll be back later on

Sometime today

Cast me away on a sea of thoughts

And let me drift away

I’ll explore my inner workings and try to find

A little peace of mind

Cast me away from living people

Let me walk among the dead

And hear their stories from the past:

Thoughts and dreams and memories that last

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Traffic lights go green, 

An empty late midnight highway

Gives the man the license to speed up. 

The speed limit marked 80 or below, 

Nevertheless, he gave in full throttle. 

The girl sitting next to him had to reach out 

To someone who'd been waiting to hear from her.

A sudden unexpected interception and 

The situation was under grave repercussion. 

The radiator gr...

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Jeremy Clarkson Said..."Striking Public Sector Workers Should be Shot in Front of Their Families".

Why wasn't he sacked,and arrested for incitement to murder +or grievous bodily harm?

https://youtu.be/ovacofuB63A

L'internationale: French; and English below. https://youtu.be/Ptc1c5wi_X8

Debout, les damnés de la terre
Debout, les forçats de la faim
La raison tonne en son cra...

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Conwy Castle, Stonehenge and the Jurassic coast

Aberdeen, Newquay and Scarborough fair

Dover, Holyhead and the City of Lincoln

We’ve been there

Not sleeping after we’ve quarrelled

Shouting at each other without a care

Walking away when we should have been closer

We’ve been there

Pompeii, Herculaneum and Rome

Caves of Drach, Pollenca and Port de Soller 

...

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You don't have to love me

For me to love you back

You don't have to colour

I love you dark & black

You don't have to like you

Or anything in life

You don't have to love, my love

And you don't have to strive 

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Rat Tank

1. Take five live female rats.

2. place in aquarium like tank and tend day and night.

3. keep under guard twenty four seven.

4. tank is size of pen but aquarium so no rats escape.

5. keep at body temperature - akin to daily temperatures in equatorial regions.

6. infect one of the female rats with aids/hiv like condition the animals in equatorial regions are expre...

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Tired souls sigh together,

lovers have given up on getting better,

but I will continue to stay with the withered tree until the end of times.

We have exchanged the word 'forever'

and thus I will patiently wait untill we are back together.

I will wait for you, my nobody,

until my body cannot anymore.

Until my body decays

and my bones slip into Mother's embrace.

Even then...

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It has to be

large print

not
      too clever
and not too crude

It can't be a sure-fire hit
you have to take a chance
or forget it forever

it doesn't need to be
a cavernous 
          hope 
growing inside 
a Ben Nevis

it just is

Right there in black and white 
     and you all for shading
might two agree to disagree
     and still hear the ring of truth?

You know 
...

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Carpe Diem

To be young again, carefree, and be

Only me, free of responsibility.

You see, context is key,

I hope you agree that we

Live and grow like a tree,

Branch out and roots go deep

Which may at times keep us steady,

Ready to go or stay

And after hours, night and day

Passes, months become years,

And age amasses. Our fears

Allay and gray days hide the sun

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Who had waged countless wars

That  have all ultimately become

Pounds of wounds

Sitting on both shoulders

All the wars turned into

Pure exhaustion

And lots of embarrassment

Came into being later on

Prayers can beat off 

The soul's meanigless wars 

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for Ziyad

The first letter he has known for months

in zig-zag lines getting nowhere.

Turned on its side and crayoned blue

he can stretch it out like a river;

or if he changes colour can make

a mountain, some grass, a fire.

Cut back to its simplest form

and laid out in rows like ghosts,

he follows the dots over and over

before he does it on hi...

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The Self — Fulfilled Prophecy

Baby— I know they hurt you bad

It makes me mad

 That one person's actions

Could leave you feeling— so small and sad

My darling— it’s not just my view 

How you were treated— was not your fault

Please belief this

It’s true

But you can’t shake it

You think the way they behaved

Was because of you

You were made to question ever...

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 With a highly volatile temper

A person may lose the beauty of mind

Just like a sweet flower in the winter.

With all sweetness a flower blooms,

But the warmth of the sun

Does burn the soft petals.

The air does fade its aroma away.

The water hits the soft petals

With a mighty splash

Time and again.

But

If the beauty of mind blooms once,

Neither the sun, the ai...

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The millenia lurk

by the rafters

in the sky, marvelling

at the choices

of marionettes trying

to illumine a prophecy, 

infuse it with fact;

epochs poke through,

to peek at the calcifying 

of evil-doing, all 

in the name of good;

not a name, of course, 

but a pseudonym, cunningly

whispered by the dreaded,

hydra-headed, shapeshifting 

free-will-usurper...

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This is a testament to my will

I'm jumping ship and swimming home

All the way to Winchester, where the doors lead to plaster

To neither here nor there

Nor any hereafter

There's commotion on the other side

Interference on the other line

I can't tell where I am

Where I'm situated 

Whether I was written into the grand plan

Or an honorable mention 

An afterthought some...

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Poem 115 of 230:  SUNDAY CRICKET AND BERRIES - SUMMER 2000

From a bus (98 -
    Bury to Manchester),
I got off at the gate
    To Hamilton Road Park,
Where in situ I ate
    Several blackberries
(The taste too good to wait),
    Before making my way
To a further park-gate,
    Where for a while I watched
How Stand's cricketers rate.
 

(C) David Franks 2003 - https://walkaboutsvers...

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Rain on my window 

Hissing like black and white interference

Unable to tune in

Searching the dial for a glimmer 

A flick of a picture 

A glimpse in the mirror

A speeding car

A lovers kiss

Peering into another world 

The other world

A world of madness

Brainless humanity 

Busily going nowhere 

Chasing dreams

Or chasing reality

Pursuit of perfection

Or ...

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I put a post of myself on again

And then think of all the critics

Those so called friends frowning in consternation at my narcissistic tendencies 

As if am putting a mirror up to their own insecurities 

That need to nuke the system sings in my synapses

Normality makes me mad

Friendship can’t be had

I am miles away from my mission but closer than most

God is not the Father, ...

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She walks past the icy road.
She floats by the freezing sea.
She carries a cold heart inside
Her expression is the reflection I see.

She laughs as it passes by 
She haunts the rolling, painful cry.
She goes for the treasure that hide
Her expression is the reflection I see.

Her tears are made of Howling Blood
Her face reads out for help.
She would tell if her mouth wasn’t filled with ...

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~ imPRESSions ~

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LOST IN TRANSLATION

It didn’t hurt if he stayed alert,

and kept on top of the pain.

Some days were better than others,

but I never heard him complain.

When asked why he went, he’d just say,

‘someone had to’.

But I’m not sure if he’d do it again.

So, what do you see when you look at me?

I’m curious to know. Is it someone whose father

fought for this countr...

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