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STOP SIGN

Georgia, when submitting digital driver's license pictures

Please wear clothes when due

The word mirror should be the only time

We use phrase, rear view

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Also by Short Attention Span Poetry:

HARD TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT | SIT STAY REST | OVER THE HUMP | ATE FEET AWAY |

humorfunnyshortnews

A DAY IN THE MIND (5 scenes seen on a day trip)

 •
the singer on the train track record
is number one in my book
                                          while i am zero

i am the sheep
with a bruised blossom
bus ticket
busking knee deep
on highway sixty-one.

i am the pensioner
wearing musky deodorant spray
playing crossword puzzles
on blue foldout pages
of recycle bin salvaged papers.

i am the waterlily
cut with culinary s...

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Also by Rob Cohen:

Dreams of Kyanite Crystal Eyes | a somewhat sensual vision on Margate Street : Sunday, 11th | propaganda is a hoax // to sell you insurance | ((Dante themed, Dylan styled)) Protest Song |

Insouciance

as I wonder

what became of you

I ask the question

of myself

 

time’s knife carving out

a stingy portion of my heart

leaving me with

a bit of meat and fat

 

years wiped off the blade

polished surface

I still recognize my reflection

still insouciant

 

it sounds better

in French

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Also by Robert C Gaulke:

Innocent | Stick Around | Frames | Hey Youth!!! | Plot Reversals | A lot of people |

Mother's Children

Beds forgone,
In bed's reframe,
In God's veins.

In blessing arms,
The child falters,
Yet surreal besides God's alters.

Forlorn,
And for me,
And for desecrated decree.

I hold onto hands of small children,
I am the hand of small children,
Not the inside out flesh toddler dead agony to me.

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Also by Alita Moore:

transient blue | Relived Dying | Faggot |

Why to this court this case you did bring ?

My friend was taken to court by her neigbhour next door,

The neigbhour complained her dog's constant barking he did abhor.

My friend's dog's  constant barking she adamently did deny,

The judge asked the neighbour a question,he did not reply.

 

The neigbhour stood up,"Is it me your speaking to,I can't hear a thing ?"

The case was dismissed.Why to this court this case you did bring...

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Also by hugh:

"I wear my hijab as an act of purity and modesty." | The formation of a family | What’s coming next ? | A big thankyou to our Creator |

My life on track

My early life relied so much on trains,

to catch just one to write about’s a problem!

Too many have been subject to delays 

or cancelled altogether, to applaud them:

 

the “bogs” I took to school were crammed and smelly;

my backpacker travels, the aura no more fresh;

a record seven hour wait once, in New Delhi;

I almost got killed on the Tangier-Marrakesh…

 

But overa...

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Also by Tim Ellis:

Falling short | The River Fleet | The lure | Peregrination | A change of frame | The minstrel of the meadow | To Robbie x | The shock of silence | Anastasia rises | Green sheets | Gestures | No exit | Today | Late | Under cover of the night |

Trains

RHAPSODY IN BLUE

Blue as forget-me-not blue
Blue as an Alaskan blueberry
Blue as an English May morn
April egg shell blue.

Endurance is a flower
A bulb in winter’s depth
A rare-repeated wonder:
A sin we must forget.

In this-world-of-my-creation
In this world-of-make-believe:
Cancer, the death of children,
Are fallen autumn leaves.

I see this road before me
A road I walk in vain
A road throu...

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Also by John E Marks:

My body is a pebble | FOSSIL | No Whiskey in Heaven | MAGIK | Infant mortality | Morning glory | Signs and Signals | After reading the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore | Lunatics, Sleepwalkers, and Vivid Vampire Dreams | Angelus Bell | The may flower | A blackbird sings on Blue bird hill | Lost in translation | Calculus | September rain | Tumble in the wind | May day |

Circumspect

My current mood. 🙄

Circumspect.

Somewhere in my mind
There is a place where life is kind
It is my favourite place to be
For I think it’s where I feel most free
 
In my minds eye, birds fly
High
The sky is blue
And the people few
 
Flowers bloom
In the mountain dew
Lakes and waterfalls
Erase any thoughts of gloom
 
Daisies tickle at my toes
Scent of mimosa
Assaults my nose
A...

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Also by Clare:

My Sweetest Inner Child. - repost with audio | Road to Nowhere? | He Rolls. | Not Worthy of a Title. | Freedom. | Never Enough. | Friendship by The River. | Thank you! | Kindness. | Twenty Four Hours Can Change a Life | Kind gestures and suspicious looks. (The First Morning) | Tenter Hooks Once More. (The First Night) | Tenter hooks and Pitiful Looks. (The Refuge) | Crown | Preparing to Leave. | The Three Faces of Me. | As The Bell Tolls. |

Writers block

The hardest part is turning life’s pages

Gazing at an empty canvas of uncertainty

Failing to form words of solace and structure

We always know where to end

But how do we know where to begin

 

 

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Also by Cody Roach:

Rain | Where did we go wrong? | Leech | Dancing with the devil | Heartbreak |

Returning home on the Flying Scotsman 1983

Wrapped securely within your liveried green

Refined golden-arched nameplate highlights your pedigree,

London North Eastern returning home

Non-stop, Kings Cross to Diesel City

Clackety Click, Clackety Click, Clackety Click

Passing by Highbury, the Arsenal

through the long Potters Bar tunnel

Where pressure causes your ears to pop

Travelling quicker northward, abandoning the ‘...

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Also by JD Russell:

Bliss | Wendy K | Accept me as I am | The Green Man and Jenny Greenteeth Get Married | The Unexpected Ballad of Laura and Ben | YOU MUST READ THIS | Through the Abbey’s great doors | Last breath | Eleven thousand fourth century British Virgins |

reflected nostalgia

The Escape Committee

At the inaugural meeting

Of my mother’s Care Home

One-Day Escape Committee,

Just two stragglers gathered,

At a sun-drenched table

Outside the Old Lodge,

With a coffee and a chocolate cake,

Pure brown nectar and some sugary stodge!

We’d escaped the Community Lounge malaise!

 

Item One:  Inordinate praise.

“Mum, you’re amazing!  I’m so proud of you!”

This wasn’t e...

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Also by John Botterill:

Healing | Sky | The Bottom Line | First Love | The Garden | Consumer Rights | Hickleton Main | Mr Plague | The Dance of Life | Early Morning Quietude | A Chance Meeting |

Playtime

As kids, enjoying usual larks,

We fell on floors and grazed our knees,

And came a cropper climbing trees.

Slingshots and conkers tied to strings

Were weapons made from our own hands;

We fought in playgrounds and on swings.

 

Now we are adult and fight wars,

But our manoeuvres stay the same.

There are high stakes in our new game,

It’s true, and more expensive toys,

...

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Also by Stephen Gospage:

AI | Whoops! | Days of Sorrow | War Graves | Retreat | Purfleet | Monarchs |

war

Thief

 

The worst kind of thief is this.
Crept up and stole our last kiss.
Footsteps it took, silent and sly.
Stole from me our last goodbye.

Alarm bells, they did not ring.
If they did, I didn't hear a thing.
It ran off, with most of my mind.
The cruellest thief you'll ever find.

Broke into my heart, stole the lot.
Flashes of the past, is all I've got.
In those flashes, I see many a fa...

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Also by Mike Bartram:

'This Is Your Home' | The Glade of Light | The Carnival | A Different World | The Party Is Over | Let Us Be One | Distant Tears (Liverpool Loves Ukraine) | Sea and Dune |

Painting with Words

1.

The color blue,

a hue,

to feel the sky.

The color green,

to see,

the beauty all around.

The color red,

looking ahead,

things are getting better.

The color black, 

I got your back,

no worries at all.

The color white,

there is light

at the end of the tunnel.

The color yellow,

keeping it mellow,

letting it all go.

A kaleidoscope,

ever cha...

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Also by Hélène:

Bird Song | A Bucket of Love | Heart | Mind | An Interlude with a Book | It's Okay | Wrapped in Golden Ribbon | Infinitely | A Hardy Conversation | Changing Directions | Mind and Body Sleep Mode | A Soul's Journey | A Book at Dawn |

7-11

 

i'll make my problem everyone's problem 

return the tally hos and swap them out for ventis

just to reap the extra 40c from the cashier

she doesn't hide her annoyance and i don't back down 

i don't feel bad 

the man outside asks for some money and i give him what's in my pockets and smoke with him 

what goes around comes around

 

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Also by Al:

expiry date | (untitled) | u & i |

bad day

Time travel

Going back in time 

An adventure made 

Holding the broken pieces 

Putting them back together 

Only to realise 

Time is reversible 

An endeavor of holy mind 

 

Pick up all the lost pieces 

Getting the clues right 

It's possible to go backwards 

And put back brokenness 

To make it wholesome 

 

There were times in the past 

Where our younger self wasn't pr...

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Also by Sunshine:

Reflections 2 |

The pretty, little flower girl

There was a pretty, little flower girl

Many moons ago

She always found the brightest blooms

And sold them down The Row

 

The Row was full of scurrilous knaves 

Who thought her smile so priceless 

One day they took that smile away 

And left her cold & lifeless 

 

No man nor beast was ever caught

And flowers bloomed no-more

The Row fell grey with dank decay 

An...

Read and leave comments (8)

Also by Stephen W Atkinson:

These Boys | Precious Stone |

Flowersghosts

CARPE DIEM

Carpe diem - seize the day!

For when today has slipped away

And time has taken its wilful pleasure,

Today will be tomorrow's treasure.

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

Read and leave comments (2)

Also by M.C. Newberry:

FOR MY SISTER EVE: 5/7/1933-27/5/2023 | REMEMBRANCE OF TIMES PAST | LIKE TO HATE | WOE IS ME! | SOCIALISM | SNOWFLAKE | ENRICH THE EXISTENCE | MANIPULATION | BLOODY WOMEN |

There are no Frontiers

There are no Frontiers

 

For the poet, the writer, artist and composer,

there are no frontiers, no limits of expression or will.

As the natural world in its beauty is a gift,

so the artist, writer and composer are free.

Their gift is inspiration which dwells in their soul,

an inner vision or voice which yearns for release.

The brush stroke, the pen and the musician,

are ...

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Also by keith jeffries:

Taras Shevchenko | The City of Shadows | Birds of a Feather | La Ermita | Black to Britain | The Subversive Artist | Autocrats | A New King | A Book and its Cover |

Bitter Beer

I used to utter your name delicately 

like it was poetry.

Just as how perfume lingers on a person,

The sweet smell of cherry blossoms 

accompanied your name 

whenever it walked out my mouth.

But now all it leaves,

Is a taste so foul.

 

Your love was like alcohol to me,

It left me feeling euphoric at first,

But after the effect had worn out,

All I was left with w...

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Also by Yasoda:

My Last Act | Words Hidden Beneath Ink | Sweet Sorrow |

loveheartbreakpoetrylifepain

Taormina

 

A curl of orange peel
falls like a helpless marionette
with each pip deposit the plate rings 
your window frames the young sun 
sweeping a heaving ocean of prose
also through glass arcs of breaking waves 
appear as poetry beyond collection
their shoosh heard all throught the night
never one concerned to get somewhere
you balance some time later
upon volcanic dust by those hooked wav...

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Also by Adam Whitworth:

Violet Tulloch, Queen Of Lerwick |

Painting a Dream

I dreamt of a meadow under a night sky.

A blanket of red flowers was dancing South.

Through roses, poppies, and cardinal flowers I savoured passion and exuberance, I savoured warmth and energy, I savoured respect and generosity. I named that meadow: “daring and couriosity.”

A blanket of bright yellow flowers was dancing North.

Through daisies, dandelions, daffodils and sunflowers, I sa...

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Also by Matilda Simakaj:

ME AND THE OTHERS | Mother Earth | BE |

Little Hates

They've served me well, and comfortably.
These small, everyday biases and prejudices.
Still, I want to find a way to break away from them.
Away from these little sways
before they become immense.

It's not going to be easy.
They always exact a price,
on myself and others.
I hope I haven't waited too long
and that it's not too late.

Read and leave comments (2)

Also by Mike McPeek:

Bon Mot | Redwood Counselors | Secret Panel | Tree Hugger | What May Be Ours |

Never Say Never!!!

Life, a magnificent ride,
Buckle yourself,
And never ask, "Why?",
Paths you'll stumble upon,
The dreams that'll crumble,
Those dark days,
Compelling you astray,
Yet, deep in your heart,
Raging emotions ignite a spark,
Heartbreak, sadness, fear, pain,
Hesitancy to try again?
Wipe those tears, 
Clear your mind,
Calm your heart,
Ready to fight?
Gather in some air,
And then let out,
C...

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Also by Nitika Prabhakar:

Aren't Trees Alive? |

neversaynevernevergiveupHardWork

seasons, cry out for us!

theres periods 

of mourning, 

every morning. 

when the seasons change, 

when they days get longer, or shorter. 

i feel a deep dread, a doomed life ahead of me.

no matter how much i begged the maker for the days to change length, 

when they do I can see so far ahead, 

that the ends in sight.

and that end is kind, but cruel. 

so far ahead that the seasons no longer, 

...

Read and leave comments (0)

Also by Nadia Coia:

beautiful because he is |

If there was a rain like such

Oh God, 

If there was a rain like such,

the heart gets purified,

from the charcoal of betrayel,ego, pessimism, hurt,

from the deeds of others or self,

burdening it with the clutter.

washing away the worldly sins and pain,

making it pure and innocent like a baby's soul.

Why life is full of suffering when it can be a fair of joy?

God, smiled and replied

The kindness and...

Read and leave comments (1)

Also by Ankita Srivastava:

To Fix or wave goodbye? |

The Old Cock and Hen

Wedding anniversary sixty years on

Let's do what we did

On our very first date

Johnny was up for it

Bright red beetroot face Sharon

Said we can't do that

Ravenous pair of randy rabbits

Dimly lit back of pub

You had your wicked way

O.K let's give it a go

Brenda ear wigging barmaid smiled

Regulars got together, special lock-in

Security cameras set maximum zoom

...

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rumour landlord has got a home-made video

Dream

I had a dream bay it had me and you, two small kids a house on the beach with piece of mind claim sea and blue sky 

In this dream their was no homeless or illness no addiction so the two of us will be free no suffering either 

A dream were love is a cure for all and problems are few and few between 

But as nice as this dream was it was just a dream so till I make it all come through me an...

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Also by Keith Byrne:

Care for you | Oh it's hard | Am Okay | A jobs lot | Me and my job |

February

(A very overdue piece. )

No inspiration or affection or thought of any kind brushed my path.
I hated it so
I watched the sky melt into a thousand shades of grey, dismal prayers planted in the clouds.
From beneath saturated dreams I wander, dying to leave this world behind.
Is it just the cold or am I only one caught in a sleep state?
My tired eyes hesitate to see the truth, if I ignore the...

Read and leave comments (0)

Also by Jordyn Elizabeth:

Pink lemonade | scandalous crime | Wild woman (21.) | sad little soul | Oblivion | darlin you'll be okay | death of a Poet |

Angel Meadow

Scuttler gangs roaming streets

Torrid tales to tell of pain

Suffering, in a hell on earth

back in Victorian Manchester

 

Air unbelievably polluted, poisoned 

sickening smell dominates the landscape

Row upon row of slum and tenement,

amid gas works and dingy ale houses

 

Vast areas of warehouse, mill, and chimney stack

protrude throughout the city black

Acrid smo...

Read and leave comments (2)

Also by Rick Varden:

Hush! | All that Malarkey | If I Could Paint | Identity Crisis | Age is Only a Number |

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

I’d gone out on my bike for a quick peddle when I called in at “Guns ‘n’ Roses” for a coffee break.  It’s actually called “Spuds ‘n’ Berries” because it’s a farm shop.  I normally avoid these like the plague as they try to charge you a tenner for a jacket spud that’s been “locally grown”.  Persilanny, I don’t care how far away my spuds have been grown as long as they’ve had a ton of good English c...

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Also by John Coopey:

HOLLY AND PHIL | PLEASE RELEASE ME | HAPPY TIMES | BOP IT ! | THE BEST OF TIMES... |

From: Jaxy To: Love

Expressions of Love: Part VII

Title: From: Jaxy To: Love


Ms. Love,

I've written a million letters and more about my feelings for you. I even once told you I could write a book. While it is not in the traditional way, I'm working on that book. Through poetry, letters, notes, and spoken word I am writing the saga that has been our life to this point. Our story will continue to grow, just ...

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Also by Jason Phillips:

Time | The Night Is Ours | The Honor of a Knight | Hear My Thoughts |

love lettersHappiness

Poetry,

Title: Valley of Doubt

 

Shadows speak to you in tongues. Even the light of truth yields to the thicket of no trust.

End.

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Also by Michael Angel:

Unsure. |

poetry

Looking for a meaning where it loses its grip

These words are yours
And way of noticing is mine
I come to an understanding
As you say it to the one
But how shall one speak of
words have lost their grip on meaning
Like it finding its way in a space
Where it is not even reverberating
With its previous shadow
Painters starts to paint at that full moon
Like it is pointing to the light in the water
Trying a way to caress without sensing
...

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Also by Kritarth Jaiswal:

Thy art thou |

See it through my eyes!

Graduation

After my graduation

I walked around and waited for my family to come and find me

And It felt oddly familiar

 

Standing alone in a crowd 

Where everyone was being 

Embraced and hugged and together

 

It is an empty feeling

That was the epitome of my high school experience

And I felt like maybe I was not ready for the world just yet

 

I was scared to begin my life

...

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Between Ego & Epiphany

Deep down you always know 

And I knew,  

I  could provide for me more than you could

I knew,  

I could protect me more than you could 

And I should, trust  ME more than I did!!!

 

 I fell for all the talk without seeing a walk.

But now you’re  jaded because I’m walking my talk........right on outta here! 

 

Don’t think that I’m not sad or disappointed. But I have to s...

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Untitled 6

(music: "Burned letters" - Johannes Bornlöf)

Step into existence

one scared thought at a time

picking vanities to bear with

one uncovered self-deception at a time

living the present to the rhythm of moments pained through

like melodies played out with a passion wavering anew

earning to trespass the emptiness of fear

towards a bright side so seemingly clear

aligned to hor...

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Also by osne:

Forgotten |

Zhìhuì

It's an old Yànyǔ, 

Says the master to his student 

Relationships are a beautiful task woven 

 

The student says to the master 

I'm done with all the fixing in relations 

 

If you are done, my son 

Then that's how important it was for you from the beginning

 

Relationships needs constant fixing 

You can't fix it all up and think it's constant 

Rather it's a dail...

Read and leave comments (4)

Also by Watts:

Tiānhuābǎn |

City-Dwelling, Unwillingly

The plight of the hopeless man

Pleading for patronage at the highway on-ramp

Staggering to his feet, waving a wand in his hand

Forcing it through the ground.

To convince them, to convince himself

He's in a state of desperation.

Stomping his feet 

To an echoless beat;

An earnest declaration muffled by layers of concrete.

No one turns a head,

No one's eyes to meet.

M...

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can someone please help me

 

 

i don’t know what to do

i don’t know how feel

can someone please tell me

 

i don’t know how to act

i don’t know to speak 

i don’t understand new words

i feel like a freak

 

i don’t know what to do

i don’t know what to feel

can someone please tell me

 

i can’t control my emotions

i don’t know what i’m feeling

i spend my time alone

aimlessly ...

Read and leave comments (5)

firstpost

The Jester and the new refugee

I met an interesting fellow in the Mountains of Frustration, that remote but beautiful part of northern England, who told me he was a court jester, and proved it with a barrage of jokes and magic tricks, confessing, ‘I like to keep my hand in.’

‘You have a look of a chap I met,’ he said,
‘whose disappearance fascinated the nation,
that of the missing Match Of The Day TV presenter, Harry Shoot...

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Also by Kevin Vose:

Little Rob | Bus Stop Love |

Sinking

I’ll let the waters heavy tide wash over me
But a rip current pulls me out to sea
I remain still in the flow of the water
I float along like an animal being led to slaughter

Adrift in the ocean and in my own emotion now I search for the land
My head a mess and scattered like grains of sand 
The water fills my ears and I hear nothing but a dull hum
The farther I go, the less likely it is t...

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Fragments of a Soul

In pursuit of a better life

I refused to delineate boundaries

No bubble to protect my very essence from being frayed

My soul begins to rupture

Ever so slightly at first but slowly

I start to lose me at my very core

No longer recognising my own reflection

Surrounded by hyenas ready to snuff out my 

goodness at a moments notice

My laughs grow more quiet

The light in my ...

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Nurturingsilencefragmentssoulruptureessence

Bigger than you

You should know better

Than to think you’re alone in this universe

You’ve seen breath come from nothing 

Animals evolve 

More complex than fathomable

Human species shapeshift and roam

With inventions inexplicable 

Grass, water, and life itself

Come to be 

And people like you 

Who all think different

And think they’re the only ones

Don’t assume you’re not connect...

Read and leave comments (1)

Also by Alexandra K. Parapadakis:

Part of us | One |

CorelistenguidebeliefUnitedkismetwiseknowingSpiritsoulfaithconnectedlifeworlduniverseintrospectionthinkingmysteryalivealiensplanbiggerselfdiscoveryopen mindbig picture

Shirley's Dishes

Shirley's Dishes

 

She often found herself washing up 

at one in the morning, for she'd never 

 

allow her guests to help, though did

once let me dry, when he had to go 

 

to a meeting, for that couldn't be left

till next day either. I wish now I'd

 

bought her that tea towel for her birthday 

and not the butterfly scarf I decided on

 

instead. I'm told he...

Read and leave comments (1)

Also by Peter J Donnelly:

Interview about my chapbook | Esther Breuer | Meadowsweet | Great-Aunts | Language and Music | Curlew | Just A Few Lines | Despite the Myths | The Other Bennett |

LONDON

South on the map 

Google maps app 

A city were royalty base

Big Ben the clock 

10 downing Street mob

Fast living then this is your place

The rarest of sounds  

They got underground 

They busk to the beat of the trains

Night foxes roam 

The streets are now home

Upon primrose hill daisy chains

Rappers and chanters 

Camden stall banters 

A plate full the hung...

Read and leave comments (3)

Londonlondon Bridgelondon poetry

Almost Famous

I’d love to try fame on for size,

check it’s not something I’d end up wanting to despise.

Happy to start on the bottom rung,

so, I get to see first-hand, how fame gets done.

 

I’ve been close, I’ve been almost famous,

I once shared a New York cab with Billy Ray Cyrus.*

I know vaguely the muse for Adele,

you know the one she obsessed over that didn’t go so well.

 

...

Read and leave comments (4)

famecelebrity

the best way to find a job

you have to be clear about what you want in life. see a clear picture of your dream, know what you want for real. then you will be able to identify what kind of lifestyle you really want to live. then just identify the kind of job that gives you that lifestyle. that's how you find the right job.

Read and leave comments (0)

job-hunting

Digging Holes

They said when I was younger

Automation would be the thing

The robots would do the heavy lifting

While we could play and sing

 

But now I’m older and the world is greyer

I dunno who’s at the controls

‘Cause the robots are writing poetry

And I’m still digging holes

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