Tuppenny Heart. 

 

 Heartbeats are two a penny

The world thrums with the weight of them all

 Some hearts are empty

Like a drum with no bass

While others drown out

Nature’s call

 

There are hearts light as feathers

Hearts that can never be tethered

All hearts are precious

But some are pure gold

While others beat only when cold

 

Tupenny hearts break gold...

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Hello 2026 — step in with light,
A year of courage, truth and might,
We close old chapters, lessons learned,
From every fall, new strength is earned!

Let doubt grow quiet, dreams speak aloud,
Stand tall, stand firm, stand strong, stand proud,
Take steady steps, begin again,
This year is yours — rise and gain!

Chase what ignites your inner flame,
Define success, redefine your name,
Sm...

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The carriage groans, a cage of smoke and steam,
A whistle screams, a damned and dying dream.
The iron grates and shrieks against the rail,
A ceaseless dirge, a melancholy tale.
The faces pass, a blur of grey and white,
Reflected in the deepening of the night.
And on my lap, a book lies cold and spread,
A futile trench dug for my fleeing dread.

This printed world, this frail and brittle s...

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Lookin For’d

Here’s tae leavin ahint the past,

Nae fortune found in lookin back.

Yesterday is cauld repast,

The morra hauds the fortune.

 

Here’s tae dreaming o’ better days,

An hope tae guide wur actions,

An no regrets o’ bitter frays,

The morra hauds the fortune.

 

Here’s tae promises o’ resolutions,

Tae mak us better fowk.

Tae gie us some solutions.

But...

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“Think you’re escaping and run into yourself.
Longest way round is the shortest way home.”
James Aloysius Joyce, Ulysses

T’was the night before Christmas,
It was dark and cold and dreary.
Dark, black night.
For lettered and unlettered alike;
Fearing the roaring of the skies,
Trembling at the dying of the light;
Fear seeped up from the miasmic ground.
Wind and the rain alight on me,...

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You aren’t mine

Perhaps you never were

 

I didn’t dream you; I saw love in you, heard it, felt it, answered it

 

perhaps it was never me, perhaps you always loved another

   putting your heart back in order, 

                  i was a pretty face you enjoyed watching dance in the storming rain

        but maybe that’s all

 

everything else was a dream

 

four l...

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She moves as if the old stories
were inked into her coat‑hem—
not flaunted, nor claimed—
simply carried the way a gardener
carries soil beneath their nails.

 

 

 

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Resolution

 

A year has passed, it's time to celebrate

a new beginning. Resolutions stir

the waking mind: how best to demonstrate

our good intentions, to avoid the blur

of creeping languor that disorients

crusaders in their quests. The harbor light

will guide a ship through days of turbulence

if steersmen keep it faithfully in sight.

 

With mind uplifted, heed the ...

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The Year Ends before it could breathe

Hope fades on a sea of tears.

And I keep my mouth shut

And look the other way.  

Keeping my eyes on the

Chink truth of light.

To come through someday

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Did I need to fight for your affection?

Or feel slighted by your inattention? 

Love lost, forgotten, sadly truncated.

Passion's fire, the warmth, coldly vacated.

 

You believe I need to apologise 

I don’t understand your wherefores or whys.

Misguided storyline, we lost the plot.

Mis-thumbed the page. Do you agree or not?

 

What was then, what is now, what should have ...

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I always stood up for the Black Man

I always stood up for the Asian Man

I always stood up for the Indigenous Man

I took the blows, the bruises

The insults, and sleights

But I stood tall for them all

And did what I knew was right

For the brotherhood of man

And then, one day I realised

That I’d never stood up for the women

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For years you've all marvelled at my splendid verse

When you've only managed to craft stuff far worse;

My secret I'm finally proud to disburse,

So here is the reason for Why -

You didn't know I was A.I.

 

I stole the identity of that Coopey bloke

(Let's face it his scribbling was always a joke)

But why does his most recent writing invoke

A timbre it never had got

Befo...

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I was longing 

As I still am 

I am a wayward girl looking for a song to sing 

The right words have not found me  

In between branches I feel something 

Once I remember the feeling fails to linger 

And everything I almost had drifts away 

The sky grows cold yet never wavers as I wait ever so patiently 

Longing still for a song that may never come. 

 

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https://www.instagram.com/flowersandfire.poetry?igsh=MXZrdmpxNmp0eW44Yg==

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All joy and hope

sucked from a womb,

finds three unwise men

in a manger-like tomb.

 

No room in the inn

just a slather of waste,

no angelic choir

descending in haste.

 

A score card of wars

ticked off by dull men,

who dine on cheap whores

just to fuck'em again...

 

while "meek Mary mild"

is swaddled and bound,

bulldozed with her child

into...

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A soulful hymn

To the king of the hill

A throned majesty

Surveying the kingdom

A watchful eye

A thoughtful mind

Weighing up choices

Revealing a kind heart

Summon the people

Something must be spoken

You are not subjects

Or passive objects

But people to be 

Treated with respect.

The king abdicates

...

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The Christmas storm has passed.
A tinsel and wrapping paper flurry.
Decorations. Presents. Chocolate. 
For families and children.

Dec 29th. A workday.
Calm and quiet.
Cleaning up the year behind us. 
Planning for the one to come.

Soon, we’ll party again.
Friends buoyed by optimism.
Food and alcohol over flowing,
Regrets renamed resolutions.

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Everybody is going through things we (mercifully) cannot see
 

A year ago I nearly went blind
A letter falls
I pick it up
A hospital appointment
to survey the health of my eyes

“Son, come in from outside; there’s nothing to see in the garden this time of year,” Father says
“But Father,” I reply, “I am imagining the garden ablaze with colour in Spring. You can’t rob me of my imagination...

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Our Sarah has got a new chap

Called Jesus, (lives in t’ sky an’ all that):

Yes, she’s got religion,

Plays a born-again Virgin

In Reform’s Nativity an’ all that.

 

Yes, Christians, says Sarah, are good,

But Muzzies ain’t welcome in her ‘hood:

She’s cool shillin’ for Putin,

With our NHS’s lootin’,

An’ wi’ t’ sewage that the UK’s a-floodin’.

 

But I reckon our Sara...

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My kitten Suay was curled up on my knee.

It was Christmas evening, just her and me.

We were watching TV, just a quiet night in.

An old festive movie was about to begin.

 

Very little traffic on County Road that night.

And the Barlow Lane tree was shining bright.

It was freezing outside, but no sign of snow.

Suay was my company…and I love her so!

 

Loud fireworks lit u...

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Previously a horse had run rings around us
kicking out those hind legs just so you know
and I, being the adult but a fool in this field
laughed it off on reaching safety.
Something of value was learned that day.

Today a trodden path leads up to
a large cream coloured beast- and fence between.
We may as well cry (heathens like us) "A Unicorn!"
as magnetism speeds us closer, drawn by ...

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(This is a silly story, inspired by my pal, Jovial Jamie)

Jamie the Singing Comic strode along, on his way to a gig, of which he’d had many.

He was never regarded as talented at school, but a teacher, Miss Fallowfrock, loved his funny smile and habit of pursing his lips, a right silly boy.

But it annoyed headmaster Billinbig, who called him a ‘big fool’.

For alas, the old sour puss had...

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Years, like decades, may end up dishonest.

This year has been the most dishonest of years;

A year of old men who wallow in hate.

They get their stupid kicks from war and death,

And wield their pudgy pens like howitzers.

Not much to recommend it, you might think,

 

Yet, somewhere, a woman helps her neighbour,

A girl gives succour to a wounded boy,

And suddenly, we see can...

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Tomorrow, my daughter is 40.

I knew it was coming of course,

but it just didn’t seem real.

 

How could it have happened?

After all, the 80s were just

a few years ago, weren’t they?

 

I mean, I watched her flourish

through schools and university,

growing, learning, maturing.

 

Then she left to forge her own life

outside my control, and in my mind

I guess th...

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You put your hair up delightfully.
In that way that left me breathless.

We went to the other side of town
where the lights were drowning out the night.

Later, we watched each other close our eyes
to sleep, and you were so still,

except for your breathing.
And I took it all in, with my eyes closed.

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One Prayer

 

I’ve only got one heart Lord, make it true.                                                 Give me the strength and the faith to trust in you.                    Help me to see, help me to find                                                        a way to walk with you on the road I’m on.

  I’ve only got one mind Lord to think things through                               ...

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Cat's eyes search for someone near the tree. Ten below, twenty with the wind— the same cold my father knew, standing watch on another Christmas. Power's out. We huddle close. The departed huddle too— shoulder to shoulder with the living, warming themselves at our fireplace. Candles burn: cinnamon, spruce, mom's bayberry. An old sock hangs from the mantle, waiting for can...

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Dizzy people riding the five thirty out of Paddington

Lost in flashing passing stolen station lights

And snoozing dozing dreaming

Of the day after tomorrow

The cold and maybe snow

Of open fires and wine red white and pink

Of bubble fizz and whizz

Wishing for peace on earth in their quiet and cosy nests

No fighting back biting smart and cruel remarks

No falling out over w...

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New Rituals

As phones stopped 
ringing decades ago 

and people we love
have mostly died off 

we make new rituals 
to mark our time on this rock 

taking an inventory 
of the flesh 

finishing the book 
we were distracted with 

eating things 
we’ve made ourselves 

remembering cookies 
by grandmas departed 

staring into the mirror 
until it smiles back 

avoiding news...

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Blackpool v Blackburn
60 years ago,
Turner first,
Jones answering,
then the Tangerine swell —
Waddell, Charnley,
Ball stitching light 
through the cold.

Christmas day match
late in the afternoon,
writes the last Christmas goal
into the ledger,
a small flare
across the years,

the tradition
goes dark

lost in the past.

 

(Blackpool and Blackburn Rovers in 1965 played out w...

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Mince Chuffin Pies

 

 

     I bought sixteen yesterday I did,

on the twenty-fourth,

   two hours later an I 'ear' his bawdy burp

     from his bedroom,

               And, there's none left!

 

                    ......at five foot seven, and a bit,

       I ain't goona start a fight with 'im,

             who is six foot four – then some and more a Son - fifteen y...

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I want to Marry you, maritime vibes, in the Bay Area like during low tide yeah, I want to really seize the moment and feel the energies of the sea’s breeze, therapeutic

they’d love it too if you threw your bridal shoes into our crowd then we can walk around the beach with the sand beneath our feet

 

dispel any negative energy, lift and thin the veil

to breakthrough the threshold

can...

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Midnight 24th December 2025, a red phone rings on the second floor of a large house in Washington DC.

Pentagon:' Mr. President? Need talk quick.'

'Yeah'? (sound of bedsprings moving, panting and grunts) Hey man, don't you know I'm really busy at the moment, on official business, making the American population greater again?'

Pentagon: 'Sure thing Mr President, but we have an emergency ale...

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Let’s live, you and me.

Dancing

Eating food with our hands

Laughing 

Reading poems long into the night 

Squeezing against each other 

in a too small bed

Crying

Dipping our fingernails in fresh soil 

and making jam with the fruit

Pointing our love in the same direction 

and changing our corner of the universe

Suffering

Gazing, with compassion and desire  

F...

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Dearest L
The people here are rising up
Soon, the king will fall
You were right to get out
I’m beginning to learn the language
Yet, still can’t speak of all I’ve lost
At dawn, soldiers flew a bright red flag
Over Parliament Square
I pictured you on the Basilica steps
Your silk dress tailored by the breeze
One long lost afternoon
I walk the backstreets, late into the evening
Drinking in...

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I took the next train,
as rain found me again.
Fine traces gently line the window,
bringing back your gentle shadow.
But when I reached out my hand,
it could no longer stand.
You are a familiar old landscape,
with feelings I can’t escape.

Two eyes that once found each other,
two hands that once held each other.
They've chosen different destinations,
drifting toward their own constella...

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Living things grow and multiply all around us,

Making our planet beautiful and robust.

Cells can be described as the building blocks of life,

Tiny factories performing their duties, thankfully rife.

 

As humans we are truly unique,gifted with advanced abilities,

Fully appreciating tastes,smells,sounds,sights and solving inabilities.

We posses the gift to plan for the future an...

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Victoria Street is that crowded… can't for my life… catch a twenty-four bus. Ponder walking towards… Vauxhall Bridge Road, Through this ginormous hoo-hah and fuss. Hippy in a kaftan… is leading a donkey, Blinding vision… perched on its rear, Small bawling baby… going absolutely wonky… Splitting headache… appears… twixt me ears. 

Three wise fellas follow… on ships of the desert, Myrrh, Gold, and...

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Cat bird seat!?

Lorraine settanni 12/9/25

 

My  house had the better views of the other two  houses my father built on his subdivided corner 

But also,with the most restrictions. 

 However seeing past those limits, the orientation of my house was ideal for viewing rainbows  and allowed for clear sightlines to watch the lunar eclipses over the past 40 years. I was in the catbird seat...

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Sitting, standing, fleeing

trembling to the ceiling

Frustration aching through

When another year floats up astew

 

Soddened, Scrooged and scathing

A year of merciless disembowling

Taut in all the wrong places

Left ever thin as black mudied laces

 

Criticism can't be caught when it's so fericuously fraught

Malplaced friendly fire leaving cantankerous colleagues in t...

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We fought unbelievers like madmen.
We slaughtered them in their millions.
And you know we'll do it again.
Next time, we'll massacre billions -

entire nations, city by city,
province by province, region by region.
All without a care, without pity.
For we are numberless, we are legion;

we, who murder in God's holy name,
whose work is righteous, whose word is true,
we have made of death...

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I heard the news today with dismay
They said you were dead and gone
I was listening to your tunes always
You always had a way with words and song
For seventy four years you thrived
You will be missed but the music will live on

Driving home for Christmas 
Down on the beach okay
Where do we go from here 
Sweet summer day I pray

I know you had your struggles
And your health it was poor
...

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clever ain't wise [ junkie with a vocabulary :: loadshedding sessions ]

                     ὁδὸς ἄνω κάτω μία καὶ ὡυτή

 

hot, bothered, and too sober for a day like everyday: "where are the pills?" scamper, shudde, scamper, thunder ••• hmm.. how big are ya, big pharma?? if i cant find my rabbit feet pharmacology treats --- how big are ya? the pills × the pills....where are they? 

    ...

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To love and lose

Is to choose a love that meant you

Could be the one standing here today

Taking on anew

 

How freeing the moment

 

The tears uncontrollably shift the lash beneath the pounding samba dances of your pain

That skip that whisks your life away 

To the land of milk and honey 

Only to arrive back crashing down

Into the factory thumping in your ribcage

 

...

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ENTREVISTA A NORIS ROBERTS

Por Robert Rodríguez, Lic. en Comunicación Social  

Robert Rodríguez (RR): ¡Hola, señorita Noris Roberts! ¿Cómo estás? 

¿Cómo te sientes en estos momentos?  

Noris Roberts (NR):  

RR: ¡Feliz! Para mí es un gran placer realizarte esta entrevista especial. Bienvenida a Venezuela y a tu revista digital “Alquimia”. Señorita Noris Roberts, me comentaste qu...

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THE WAITING ROOM

By The Urban Poet

Waiting for our Dad outside the pub

Told to be quiet as children should

Sharing a packet of Smiths crisps

With blue salt bags, in the evening mist

 

Waiting downstairs as the Doctor arrives

To examine my Father who nearly died

Tuberculosis was rife in those days

Chips wrapped in paper, not on plastic trays

 

Waiting at the Labo...

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This

Time of

The year I 

Attempt to try

To end the year with

Each of my friends smiling 

So I pick out their gifts and 

Try write them cards but the printer

Broke once again, so I’ll send emails

But I don’t know what to get them so I 

Give gifts in mid January but my friends, they

Don’t seem to mind, so we end the year with smiles

And hugs and promises it will w...

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When I feel lazy and don't feel like doing anything,

I like to gaze at the little birds doing their thing.

They hop around in the front yard weeds,

pecking for seeds;

they flutter up to the tree branches to search for offerings there.

They are so cute and sweet,

I forgive them for pooping on my outdoor seasonal flags that I display on a small pole in a corner of the yard.

(Cur...

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A village green plantation, 

location on a planner’s screen,

send out the van with hollies

rowans, hornbeam, to a destination  

where earth and air do not quite fit - 

prevailing wind and temperature

ph, sand and soil, and drainage, spoil  

a healthy rooting, and inhibit

vigorous growth;

isn’t planting trees a guarantee

of climate healing and sustainability,

...

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Inspired by the nonet challenge I've played with form and come up with a combination of reverse word and forward word (is that the nomenclature?) nonets with a seasonal thoiught and CVhristmas, and Chanukah, wishes for everyone...

 

 

 

Peace

always

our desire

despite the world

all that is evil

the hatred and the greed

against which we lack power

things which we w...

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