memories (Remove filter)
The Bayonet In The Shed [REPOST with audio]
I'm reposting this poem with the audio I recorded of it (as a song) to commemorate my father and the other soldiers who fought during WW2 in Asia - The Forgotten Army of Burma - for the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day
The Bayonet In The Shed
He put it there in forty nine,
in a woodworm riddled drawer,
wrapped it in a greasy rag.
A remnant from the war.
On top of it he laid h...
Friday 14th August 2020 4:14 pm
Marketplace
Marketplace
This space is like a ghost town
Trestle tables row on row
Echoing with the hustle bustle
Vendors cries of long ago
I held my mother’s hand
And listened to them shout
‘apples sixpence a pound
Come on get your money out!’
Comics stored in cardboard boxes
Toys stacked high on stands
Gleaming in the Friday sun
Just out of reach of sticky h...
Monday 6th July 2020 12:50 pm
Needles & Thread
Needles & Thread
I remember her sat at an old Singer sewing machine
Turning the handle in the half-light of autumn
Making dresses and skirts for herself
So that precious pennies could be invested in children
She made me a Lone Ranger mask
From remnants of black cloth
She had left from one of her creations
I wore it with pride and a whoop and a holler
When ...
Friday 3rd July 2020 1:59 pm
The Small Things
The Small Things
A pinecone from a Bavarian forest
A small rock from a glacier in Alberta
A round pebble from a Jamaican beach
A strip of bark from a tree in Wakefield
These are the places touched
The places that have touched
A love letter from a pretty girl
A toy bat-mobile from a friend now lost
A medal given to you by your father
A charm bracelet wor...
Sunday 19th April 2020 2:41 pm
The Dancing Light Of Candles
The Dancing Light Of Candles
Flickering shadows cast upon the night
Phantoms leaping on oak panelled walls
Where the final breath of evening gently falls
The white and orange glow of candlelight
Will soothe the nervous child and ease his fright
Or so your aged memory recalls
Flickering
There is no more a sweet magical sight
Than darkness where a defeated demon ...
Saturday 18th April 2020 3:38 pm
hide and seek
hide and seek
one thousand and one
one thousand and
my head pressed against the bark
on the tree by the pond side
where the ducks quack back
at the boy with the ball
whose dreams are
not yet fully formed
two one thousand and three
one thou
sat by the brown muddy water
with schoolbooks spilling from bags
a kiss on the cheek
and we carve ...
Wednesday 3rd April 2019 12:30 pm
Back To The Park
Back To The Park
It’s mid July,
a summer’s day.
School is just
a memory away.
We lay on grass
and watch the sky
and count the clouds
as they pass by.
We talk of bands
we’d like to see -
Led Zeppelin, Quo,
Sabbath and Free.
Insects buzz,
a distant bark,
children playing
In the park.
You turn to me
and kiss my lips
and move in close,
h...
Tuesday 3rd April 2018 2:55 pm
Down In The Hole
Down In The Hole
I was sixteen, they threw me down the hole,
I stood in darkness, breathing in the dust
while learning who I could and couldn’t trust
in this black new empire of worm and mole.
My dad said it was this life or the dole -
if our family was to earn a crust
then I would have to work until I bust
and sacrifice ambition, heart and soul.
Years of hardship f...
Sunday 8th January 2017 1:23 pm
Cold Hearted
Cold Hearted
the calming time
cotton wool squeak
beneath my feet
the air
crisp with cold
crystal palaces
cut from ice
nose and mouth
streaming mist
vivid blue sky
the lake cupped
by mountain hands
in a caring gesture
frozen feet deep
covered with snow
the calming time
distant voices
carried on a
biting breeze
cheeks frost rouged
...Tuesday 20th December 2016 12:18 pm
Once Upon A Time
Once Upon A Time
Pop wagons
rattling and clinking
with their gaudy shades
of potions slopping.
Coal lorries
groaning up the hill
breathing their dragons breath
of carbon dust.
The aged magik
of a ramshackle
cobblers hut
and the clanging of the last.
The shout of
“Rag and Bone”
echoing down
a Monday morning.
Tobacconist
selling chocolate cigars
to little mimics
of the...
Wednesday 6th May 2015 7:09 pm
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