A New Year Meditation
Here we go again!
Twelve more months of winds and rain,
Of cereal bowls and coffee cups,
Of morning blues and getting up,
Chasing our tails in the hamster wheel,
Trying to understand the deal.
Here we go again!
Will it be different this time round?
Will the hamster wheel hit the ground
And take us to our promised land
Where music is made and we're in the band?
...Saturday 11th January 2020 7:36 pm
Tinsel Time
T'is tinsel time when midst the grime
Of muddied minds shines ...
What can it be?
Electro-lite silver, gilding
This tarnished life of strife?
Celebrating the survival of the fittest,
The feel good factor?
Forgetting for the festive moment
The fate that awaits?
Or, could it be
The eternal light of an eternal star?
Startling joyously
Faces, who wa...
Friday 20th December 2019 5:01 pm
Christmas Songs
Together let us gather to sing the Christmas songs.
Let us open hearts to strangers, together we belong.
Let us kneel with kings and shepherds upon this strawy earth.
Let us sing with joy, and worship He who gives the second birth.
Never mind the hustle bustle, the clamour all around.
Let us gather us to worship and sing the joyful sound.
Lay aside your daily woes and the heaviness of life...
Friday 13th December 2019 9:16 pm
A Christmas Cat
Cool cat sat on the cold snow.
Coal black cat, Cheshire Cat grin,
Looking up to see within.
White flakes floating down, carpeting, covering all around.
Snow can cover such a multitude of sins.
Cool cat sat on the white mat,
Softly he began to hum a song.
He though of his lost love long gone
Over the seas to nonsense land.
There no snow but always winter,
...Friday 6th December 2019 7:41 pm
The Enemy
All around us and within.
Ever with us, birthed by sin.
All embracing, cold finger tracing
A line we all must cross.
All around us and within,
To ignore it that is sin.
Ever with us, all consuming,
Looming, looming ever looming.
Do you laugh and deride it?
Do you fear but try to hide it?
Is it in your calculations,
Figured out, accounted for?
Is i...
Wednesday 27th November 2019 7:33 pm
Faces
I saw before me faces float
White to black they passed by rote
They mouthed their words, they smiled their smiles
As shadow passed across the dial.
Saw I too their souls aslumber
Each one written with a number
They dreamed their dreams, they made their plans
As trickled through the glass the sands.
Saw I a scavenging lion come
To take their bodies one by one
He roared his roar, he pa...
Sunday 24th November 2019 7:42 pm
What to say? What to do?
People are anguished and perplexed.
The sea and the waves roar.
Men's hearts are filled with fear,
Wondering what is coming next.
What to say? What to do?
What to do? What to say?
'We must unite', earnest faces announce.
'We must incite', troublemakers grin grim.
'We shall not be moved', grey haired hippies sing
Then sheepishly they rush to shop
Be...
Saturday 16th November 2019 9:36 pm
The Peoples Song
Come let us sing the peoples song,
We'll chant it as we march along.
A new world order has come in,
So people, Dance and sing.
So people, Dance and sing.
Wave your banners against the skies.
Shout slogans that mesmerize.
The people are one!
The people want fun!
They want someone to idolize.
They want someone to idolize.
When the peoples choice ...
Tuesday 5th November 2019 5:13 pm
Meadow Reflecting - A Villanelle by Road Runner 3
Though paucity of spirit plagues my steps,
And load of daily lifting breaks my back,
Her scent upon the meadow fills me yet.
Immersed in somber cycles that beset,
I strain to ascertain that higher track,
Though paucity of spirit plagues my steps.
It seems the chill of age, its frosty heft,
Does hound my soul while I resist the pack,
Her scent upon the mead...
Friday 1st November 2019 4:10 pm
Leaves
LeAvEs
How they have fallen,
Laying thick,
Pressing the jostling grass
Under them.
Obliterating it from sight.
Their browns and yellows brighter
Than the grey above.
Achieving a moment of glory,
In death a dominance.
Looking up to freed branches
Framing veiled light,
Had they thought to fly,
Letting go their source of life?
How they have fallen!
><>
Saturday 26th October 2019 5:25 pm
Party Time
A fiery clown has come down
Over forests, lanes and towns.
No trumpets blown, no drums rolled,
Out of the morning mists he strolled.
Yello! Yello! It's party-time!,
He smiled. His reds and golds he sprayed around.
And God's whole house was swathed with hues untold.
All about the orange glowed, crimson leaves displayed.
The ceiling now was light with blue.
...Sunday 20th October 2019 7:15 pm
Decisions! Decisions!
If I meet a stranger in the way and he asked me for my name,
Should I tell him with a sad sad smile that we are all the same?
When a ravenous roaring lion comes hurtling down the street,
Should I stand my ground a trembling and sweep him off his furry feet?
If our pearls of wisdom scatter, strewn askew on stony ground,
Should we weep and wail, O woe is me!, or act like are fool...
Monday 23rd September 2019 8:26 pm
Long Days Disapearing
When summer turned to autumn
It took me by surprise.
It made me feel so sad.
It made me feel so wise,
To smell the fallen leaves
On the misty morning air,
To think of coming winter
And not to really care.
There's a beauty and a sweetness
In the dying of the year.
There's a mellowing completeness
As the long days disappear.
There's a turning, tur...
Sunday 8th September 2019 4:42 pm
A Conversation
God said, Be good.
Man said, I should.
God said, You can't.
Man said, So I shan't.
God said, You'll learn.
Man said, You're stern.
God said, If not stern
How would you learn?
Could you ever pay the fee
To live with me
And be, for good?
God said, Be true.
Man said, I will.
God said, You won't.
Man said, I'll mount.
God said, You'll fall.
Man said...
Thursday 5th September 2019 8:47 pm
Squat Frogs
Our thoughts are squat frogs sploshing around in the foggy marsh of our minds. A croak here, a croak there, then they disappear into murkiness plopping up later, random and undetermined to splosh and croak some more.
Oh! that they were leaping salmon heading up through swirls and rocky torrents, progressing against currents and foam; the fish and river sparkling in the sun. Achieving at last ...
Sunday 1st September 2019 8:15 pm
The Plains of Babylon
They gather on the plains of Babylon.
“It's party-time dear friends!”, the invite reads.
“Let's shake it down and cross the Rubicon.”
“A stairway up to heaven is our need.”
The plots they thicken, artful plans are honed.
They build their zigurrat to breach the blue.
Bizarre bed-fellows meet and greet, combine
In shifting shapes to overthrow the throne.
“Rise up! Throw down...
Monday 26th August 2019 2:41 pm
(Remembering The Screwtape Letters by C.S.Lewis) Urgent Memo from High Command
His Most High, Excellent Awfulness, Lord of the Winged Hordes
Reminds all viceroys, manipulators and controllers
That we are at war!
The coming invasion will fail for we are everywhere.
Darkness covers the earth, complete domination is near.
Fear Me with full awe!
For My reward for failure is excruciating pain,
So make very sure My reign extends and deepens all unseen
Till ...
Friday 23rd August 2019 8:17 pm
Dogs and Decadence
The old man stood, hands on hips, looking around the yard. He saw someone across the yard waving and recognized Remy's bushy gray beard. Remy and Eloise were sat chatting with Steve and Jenny. The old man went over and joined them. He sank down into the white leather sofa. Each of the couples had their own sofas. The sofas, like the awning over them, had all seen better days but oh what luxurious,...
Sunday 18th August 2019 8:46 pm
Spectator? Participator? Instigator?
The old man sat on the terrace his eyes closed. The throbbing purr of the mini-digger sounded like some very large, contented lion. Rob the driver was telling Jake the plumber, who was in the trench, to saw through the large root from the acacia tree that was stopping the digger scooping out more trench. The old man opened his eyes and saw his friend Dave, owner of terrace and trench, holding out ...
Tuesday 6th August 2019 5:24 pm
New Buds
The old man stepped out into the garden and stood in the sunshine. Warm, yes, but not too warm to work. He collected the battered barrow from the shed. In it a kneeler and a bucket containing gloves, a trowel and secateurs.
There had been five weeks without significant rain and at the end temperatures had been up in the mid to high thirties. Now, after some good downpours, the garden was just ...
Wednesday 31st July 2019 8:59 pm
In the Red
I'm almost spent yet all I've bought
With all these days of walk and talk
Seems not enough to justify
The toilsome years that have gone by.
One thing at least of lasting worth,
Have I found in this much turned earth.
A precious stone with lustrous sheen.
It shines to show what is unseen.
It cost me naught though priceless is.
Its beauty to me courage gives...
Saturday 27th July 2019 5:33 pm
And There Was
Let there be water.
Let it be called pond.
Let trunk and branch and leaf arise around it,
Walling the sky’s mirror against too much.
Let small plump birds paddle its silk surface,
Their calls echoing ancient creation.
Let stiff winged things fly and dart about
Above stiff legged things that skim
A criss cross the water’s top.
And let beneath flash silver through...
Saturday 20th July 2019 3:56 pm
That Gal Gladys
Tongue Twisting Twaddle
This one is for Don M. who bemoans the lack of serendipity on WOL and would like to see a bit more frippery.
That Gal Gladys
Could it be we take ourselves too seriously?
Maybe our pomp possy posing needs a little pricking, A little snacker snicking?
As Twiddly Thumb said to Twiddly Toe,
“That gal Gladys wuz really weird. Wherever did she go?”
“Ye...
Thursday 18th July 2019 4:05 pm
Travelers All Are We (villanelle)
Is God with you, dear soul? Are you with Him?
In mazes, mists and twists of this life's track,
Who shows the way and guides your steps there in?
Go you solo, on your own, will and whim?
Hid you in the herd? Run you with the pack?
Is God with you, dear soul? Are you with Him?
Without a guide thick shadowed woods are grim.
To find the path needs knowing that you...
Tuesday 16th July 2019 12:48 pm
No Star Was Seen
To You who art
To me, when I see
The made star night
Looming, enfolding,
Displacing the confusion
Of maps and charts.
A darkness that is as light
As the day when
The sweat and the blood
Tasted by a dying thief
Glistened, glistened, glistened,
While the hot sky
Darkened, darkened, darkened.
No star was seen
But looming,
Falling, falling, w...
Saturday 13th July 2019 12:40 pm
Drive-Through Movie
They grow a lot of sunflowers around here and they have just started coming into flower. For the next three weeks or so we'll have the blessing of this drive-through movie.
Drive-Through Movie
The sunflowers are out, tilted up
To fluffy clouds, busy about
The royal blue sky.
The golden crowds applaud their busyness.
Golden hoards in green seas floating
Below the roya...
Monday 8th July 2019 8:03 pm
What I Have
I am a Have and a lot I've got,
Not as much as many but
More than those who have not.
Riches may come, they will go.
Does the weight of my estate trouble,
Bow me low?
If I gave it all away
Then to The Father began to pray
Would he find my prayers more sweet
Because I begged upon the street?
What I have is mine until its gone.
Given, taken, found, lost,
...Friday 5th July 2019 9:00 pm
Over the Hills and Far Away
One man went to mow his meadow
But when he got there he found
A machine had been and cut it clean
So instead of scything he sat down
And sighed for rabbit pie
Made from conies caught in the hedgerows
Hedgerows as old as the old ways
Which wend over hills and dales
Where little boy blue asleep in the hay
Was dreaming of metal monsters
That ate up little boys ...
Saturday 29th June 2019 2:20 pm
It was not so
At the start it was not so
That we did know the stone to throw,
To kill the beasts and men like us,
To think it fine to strike the blow
That spread man's blood upon the dust.
How was it that death entered in?
Cruel killing, how did it begin?
Did not the Tree of Life stand there,
In God's garden where was no sin.
In God's garden where all was fair.
...
Friday 28th June 2019 4:14 pm
Imprisoned or Prism
This poem is a response to Cynthia B.T's. polite polemic, Mind in a Cage.
https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=91731
I am grateful to her for having incited me to use my mind.
Imprisoned or Prism
Our mind is the eye
By which we see, or not, all worlds;
The humdrum, the yet to come,
The mathematical, the fantastical.
By which we perceive, or n...
Tuesday 25th June 2019 4:21 pm
Thoughts about Thought
Thought ought to be,
Pure, precise and princely.
Sadly, mostly,
It's a battered ball, but, bit, batted about,
Deformed - to conform - to today's haze.
Thus, inevitably, it's always somewhat crazed.
But still, thought ought to be.
So let me leave you with this one:
Where do yours come from?
A Definition
To think is
To sink into,
To link into,
...Thursday 20th June 2019 9:22 pm
The Brink of Time
Long ago and far away
Are the worlds of yesterday.
We stand upon the brink of time
Where shadows rule and blind leads blind.
Nations quake, the seas they rage,
What help now our yesterdays.
Cosy dreams and pageant's show
Since far away and long ago
Have brought us to the brink of time
Where clown and prince play pantomime.
We cheer, we boo, we clap our hands,
...
Tuesday 18th June 2019 5:41 pm
Blurred
In evening light at still of day
Shadows are sweeping time away.
A man through his window sees it all,
The fading blue, the shadow fall.
At the upper edge of vision
Perfect pearl, divine precision.
As hidden jewel in tapestry,
Shines the orb through the trees.
Two thirds round, white edged, sharp and clean.
The last third blurs into the unseen.
Precise imper...
Friday 14th June 2019 12:53 pm
Meeting Greeting
How are you?
Oh, you know,
The tides of time
Wash along my coastline
And one day
The cliff of my existence
Will crumble and tumble
Into its waves.
How about you?
><>
Monday 10th June 2019 9:04 pm
Three Times
Three Times
On a thunderous evening
In the still of the storm,
We bounce our baubles of time-passed
Upon tables animated by waved forks,
Dis investing the plates
Of their succulence and garnish.
In the chilly morning, outside
We say again, “Autumn is here”,
Putting away our ideas
Of what the world should become.
We break the earth and rake together
The...
Friday 7th June 2019 11:35 am
Startingblocks
Starting Blocks
I was born in nineteen forty four
When black and white films were the norm
And the black and white bloody world war
Was in the last bloody phase of its storm.
But what does a babe know of such things?
A mother's breast is all that it cares.
Her steady gaze to bask in,
Her voice to soothe its tears.
As child I saw the bomb torn sites,
...Wednesday 5th June 2019 9:55 am
Stairways
Stairways
Stairs going up, stairs going down,
Spiraling stairs going around, around, around.
Which ones to take, which ones to leave,
Ladder or snake? Where does it lead? What is achieved?
Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down,
Sometimes you just go around and around.
Nobody knows the troubles you've seen,
Nobody 'cept Jesus.
I passed a man coming...
Saturday 1st June 2019 9:04 pm
On Being a Poet
Poets are renowned for navel gazing and being introspective. Here are three poems to prove the point. But hey, all navels need an occasional inspecting now and then. :)
The Unpublished Poet
He took a clipboard and a ballpoint pen.
He sat in the sun and then …..
He gazed at the sky, the inexplicable clouds,
Listened to trees sigh, untranslatable tones,
Thought of all that he...
Wednesday 29th May 2019 1:47 pm
Children
These two poems I think pair up well together. The first written to celebrate the birth of our first grandchild five years ago, the second written last year after a visit and time spent with him and his two brothers.
Nathaniel's Villanelle
Now welcome into this world little one.
You know no-one, nothing yet,
Yet from Him who knows all you come.
Your father, your mother als...
Friday 24th May 2019 1:53 pm
Here is the News
We take your faces to paper our walls.
We take your stories to hang in our halls.
We are the presenters, presenting the truth.
Believe us or not, it's up to you.
But most do.
We take your thoughts and turn them around.
We tell you which investments are sound.
We are the impartial in-telly-gents.
Believe us or not, it's up to you.
But most do.
Press...
Tuesday 21st May 2019 8:39 pm
An Ode to The Puppiteers
An Ode to The Puppeteers
Your marionettes, so nimble, so well known.
The show's real cool when that fat lady sings
Those moody blues to mellow toned trombones.
But tell us, who is it who pulls the strings?
The Quiz-Master with twinkling eyes, smiles sweet.
He tells us, we could win the million prize.
That honey coloured blond is baking cakes.
The treacle tart looks good enough to eat.
N...
Saturday 18th May 2019 11:44 am
An Amazonian Proverb
This is dedicated to all who have entered or are thinking of entering a poetry competition.
An Amazonian proverb screeched by a flailing bird
By all the forest creatures one balmy day was heard.
A multi-coloured parrot flying just for fun
Fell towards the river and into it did plunge.
An Amazonian gentleman canoeing by the spot
Turned to his companion and said - not a lo...
Wednesday 15th May 2019 2:08 pm
Home is ....?
Is that our home, there, where we hang our hats?
There, where we boil our eggs and stroke the cat?
Knowing each cranny of our ingle nook
We turn the pages of our well thumbed book.
Home, sweet home!, yet, there is still an unease.
Cat-like it comes, our peace to paw and tease.
Close the castle door! Put the kettle on!
This is my chez-moi!, - for, how ever long?
We stand at...
Sunday 12th May 2019 8:12 pm
Ding! Dong!
Hello to this, for me, new universe of WOL. This poem was 'uninspired'. I was give the first line as a challenge to see if I could make a poem from it. Can there be good 'uninspired 'poetry?
Ding! Dong!
Who's that ringing my doorbell?
That ding-dong-dinging's hard to ignore.
Better get out of my shell.
Have they got nice stuff to sell?
Or are they collecting for the poor?
...Saturday 11th May 2019 3:48 pm
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