Outside, bright gold and crimson bows hang large on frosted trees.

White snowflakes dance merrily in a gentle winter breeze.

Bells chime lyrically, heralding midnight, Christmas Eve.

Santa delivers presents to children who still believe.

The sound of reindeer hooves on the roof, clip-clop repeat,

Unaware, the girls and boys who are blissfully asleep

Dreaming of Christmas mor...

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“You know Manny?” he said

“The tall bloke”, she replied,” whose hair is a fiery red”

“No, the shorter one with dark hair and eyes that are darker”

“That makes me none the wiser”

“The one who has that good-looking sister?”

“Sister, which sister?”

“His sister, I think she's called Astyoche”

“The trashy, brashy one, who thinks she's grandiose?”

“No, not that sister, the othe...

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I can see the coloured arcs of minute rainbows

Refracted within the tears, this spurned woman cries.

And those sharp-edged multifaceted diamonds 

That glint in the corners of large, red, saddened eyes.

Once convinced her tomorrows were future-proof,

Her knees buckle; she softly crumbles to the floor.

She's never felt as helpless or as hopeless as she does right now

Realising i...

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Borne upon bronzed wings.

Her reddened feathers flame 

Against the noon blue sky.

Her piercing whistle exclaims

As she wheels, searching, scouring,

From her elevated height.

Her noiseless shadow fleets 

Imperceptibly in silent flight.

A flash of rushed russet,

Colours white cirrus streaks.

She follows the wild winds' song

Riding high on lyrical thermal peaks,

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The sun shone warmly over the ‘City of Sails’

All around, a gentle Pacific sea breeze blew

Softly, we replied to THE question, without fail

But of course, there was no doubt. We do.

Friends gathered, yet still we felt an inner loneliness

A happy day tinged with sorrow, as we toasted absent kin

We, the newly married, now complete, but with an emptiness

Thousands of mil...

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Born the second child of Mary and Jeremiah.

Life in anti-Catholic Cork became financially dire.

They were forced to emigrate to London in 1804.

But Mary’s brother denied reconciliation: old sores.

However, he left an inheritance in his will.

The children gained a future, a hope of a skill.

James enrolled at the Edinburgh School of Medicine.

Barry's continuous and com...

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Two hands cupped together, tentatively holding cold, streamed water.

A china teacup steams as the brewed leaf, once piping hot, cools slowly.

Glass schooners filled almost to the brim with Spanish fortified wine.

The gilt chalice supped reverently, for it holds the blood of one most holy.

A small measure of the finest brandy clinked by friends in cannikins

Whilst in happy surro...

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The moon man smirks, casting his ghostlike, silver-shimmered light

In dark, unlit recesses, imagination takes flight

All around, the cold wind whistles its melancholic tune

An eerie lament: Tonight, no one’s safe, no one’s immune

Dried autumnal leaves dance like random whispers on a breeze

A ticker tape for dead souls: the underworld's absentees.

Black shadows slowly crawl a...

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Our fortunes settled in this crowded space

Lunged at defences with violent pace

Forward, you advanced with an iron will

Your fury matched by my consummate skill

You feigned retreat, I ardently followed

The joy of victory dashed and hollowed

Screaming your orders with an agile tongue.

Regrouping men quickly, I was undone

I heard that you'd left, I heard that you'd ...

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She could have witnessed the bright blue iridescence that clashed

Against verdant green, as the kingfisher flashed

Returning from slow, clear water to his riverbank home.

She could have, but she was far too busy on her phone

She could have witnessed the multicoloured rainbow painting

darkening heavens, with daylight abating

Blackened sky with sparkling starlight, a silvered ...

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Taken; Forsaken; waiting for the world to awaken.

Have they lost sight of our plight, our lost rights?

Our misery, stop saying repeatedly, I’m glad it isn’t me.

We are of little consequence, the Nazi regime's abhorrence,

Brutally enforced, all compassion divorced,

Loaded as cattle, like unwanted chattel,

Father, Uncle, Brother, Aunt, I and Mother.

Herded, no calming words, wor...

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1984 

By George Orwell

Winston Smith, Rebel.

Oceanian citizen.

2+2 is? Who cares?

A thoughtcrime nonpartisan

Airstrip One, his home.

In a perpetual state of war.

2+2 is? Does it matter?

The Party knows the score.

Big Brother watches you.

Constant surveillance and fear.

2+2 is? Never mind.

Not what it first appears

At the Ministry of Tru...

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Tender are the eyes as seen in a lover’s gaze.

Enveloping, like an early morning haze.

Tender their hearts becoming one from two,

With quiet voices in unison as they say, ‘I do.’

Tender are the words a mother whispers soft

Wiping away emotional tears of joy, wept oft. 

Tender is the conveyed smile of a father, proudly.

Though an echoing pulse pounds through his ears, loudly.

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School holidays will shortly be over

Our remaining weeks transformed into days.

We experienced fun, so well remembered.

Memory of a youthful summer haze

We rode carefree, those paths and byways

Without thought of discomfort or malaise

Ambled through a certain chilled conviction

Warmed only by that youthful summer haze

We swam, shivering, in shimmering pools.

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I raced to catch the London-bound eight fifty-two.

It pulled out slowly from unseen moorings

Slowly, slow, fast, faster, faster.

Those on the station waved enthusiastically

At those seated aboard,

Who waved back, less exuberantly.

Through dark-tinted glass, they peered.

The finality of their excitement, a mere hour away

Whilst mine should be a lot sooner.

The announ...

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Underbrush aflame,

Trees alight, burnt briar,

She shows no shame.

Her nostrils spew fire.

Sunlight glinting,

His sword held aloft,

Darting, flitting, sprinting,

Smoked-filled lungs, cough.

Skyward to air,

Knight outsmarted.

No cause to spare.

Her thoughts black-hearted.

Dodged, ducked, dived,

Hardcover sought.

Clamouring to survive.

Breat...

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A cold winter wind on a warm summer day

A tidal surge that flows the opposite way,

The opportunity to talk, with nothing to say.

A darkened corner in the fullness of light,

More concerned with what's left instead of what's right,

Outwardly imaginative, yet inwardly trite.

A hairspring trigger on a stone-laden sling,

a butterfly gaze with a bumblebee sting

The potential to b...

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Death by a sniper's bullet

Or a drone-dropped bomb,

A predetermined missile

That you will never hear come.

Death by judicial hanging,

Or the electric chair

Dispensed by guillotine

It’s all too uncomfortable to bear.

But to watch cities die of starvation

Emaciated for want of life-sustaining aid.

Death by disease or malnutrition,

Of the young, the old, the...

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Hues of differing grey.

Nighttime dresses down from day

Into many shades of black,

Where star shine lacks.

The enlightened majesty

Blocked by leafy canopy,

Branch and twig crisscrossed

Brightness whitewashed

By darkness.

And in this starkness,

Lumber 

Slumbers.

Deathly quiet, it seems,

There’s no life, but it teems.

Creaks and groans

Shrieks and moans.

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Silently, I walk, wringing anxious hands,

Crossing acres of once familiar land.

Fast-flowing memories of what was then,

That'll forever stay as my former when.

Mainly unminded though unforgotten,

Desires driven that were once begotten.

An age where optimism is attained,

Where possible, feared dreams are not contained.

My future holds with little certainty,

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The Death of Fanny Adams

She was laid to rest in Alton Cemetery.

Her body pieced together, stitched and glued.

Killed, her headless body hacked apart.

Sweetness was lost from the Adam's brood.

Frederick Baker was hanged on Christmas Eve,

As five thousand spectators looked on.

Finally, he showed due regret and remorse,

Scaffolded, a hemp rope necklace t...

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I’m indifferent now

To how you stare at me,

Or how aggressively 

You glare at me.

Or how extensively 

You swear at me,

The way you shout, holler, 

And verbally blare at me.

Why do you evaluate others? 

Then compare them to me.

Give voice to 

Your despair of me.

I’ve given you no reason

To consider repairing me

Annoyingly, you recite 

Derogatory prayers ...

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I cannot, nor do I have the ken

To unlearn the tilt of this gilded pen,

In a right-handed world, my crooked lines 

Are not examples of any whim of mine
Like a tie or a tune, I think you’ll agree
It's simply just personal to me.

You could not, nor should you

Diminish joy, or with whom.

You love, as the moon loves the sky,

Cradled, never once stopping to ask why,
Tr...

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Ole Miss Myrtle: She didn't dress like all the rest,

She looked twee in dark Crimplene with a floral vest.

"I'm off," she would declare, garnering attention,

"To fulfil this shopping list's great expectation!"

Walking the two miles, alone, into town.

Smiling pleasantly, no sign of a frown.

wearing a black beret pulled to the front.

Her steps, marked with an occasional huf...

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All dead!

Raw, uncut men poorly led,

All their youthfulness fled,

Wishing others were here in their stead.

Sobbing.

Their hearts, throbbing.

Heads pounding.

Noise of battle resounding.

Full of tears.

Full of fears,

Shivering,

Head to toe in trench mud, quivering,

Head down,

Lowered crown,

Bayonets fitted,

Will the enemy be outwitted?

Each rifle has o...

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Inspired by Sympathy. By Paul Laurence Dunbar.

I know why the caged bird sighs.

Heart lost by years of promises spoken

Chilled by the deception of expressed lies

Their truths, falsehoods shrouded in disguise

Guarantees, unlike the cage bars, broken.

Resignedly watching the years roll by.

Opportunities lost to fly

I know why the caged bird cries

Ignored, ...

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Aged forty-one, she stirs; one eye inspects the alarm.

There’s no error; the constant ringing was previously planned,

Rising slowly, gracefully, and deliberately, she reaches for the switch,

Then grabs the drab dressing gown that hangs close to hand.

Showered, moisturised, and deodorised, she peers sheepishly 

Into the dressing-table mirror, and resigningly sighs.

In less th...

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In the land of Zip-a-dee-doo

Live the Nunctbubbles. Unaware, they have no clue

Their home is a bubble without a restrictive view

Their blind eye turned, in the land of Zip-a-dee-doo

In the land of Zip-a-dee-doo

The Nunctbubbles have transformed red from blue

They’re afraid of aliens, which includes me and you.

Scared of shadows, in the land of Zip-a-dee-doo

In the...

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Unabashedly, God's an atheist,

A non-believer, that's not the craziest.

Holy Bible, his nighttime fiction.

No spare time for superstition,

Omnipotent and yet the laziest.

Is it possible that throughout these years,

We've been mistaken, driven on by fears.

When did we get hooked on the brand?

The all-seeing spiritual band,

That feeds on our doubts and laps up our tea...

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Sitting, watching as the world goes by,

Life passes in the breath of a sigh.

Casually takes everything in his stride,

Bowled slow, missed stumps, scoring wide.

There’s no rush while others steadfastly run,
Content to view what had already begun.

For those who chase their eventual prize,
See only stillness behind his glazed eyes.

Others measure worth in what they’ve wo...

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I met him up on High Cross Hill,

On the dusty track to Caelum's ridge.

Together, we crossed Acheron’s Brook,

Over the single-width wooden bridge.

Dressed in khaki drab, peak cap pulled 

Over sallow eyes, moist from weeping. 

Pallor'd face unsmiling, and there,

The small red medal, chest high, seeping.

I, this young man's father's father,

He, our family's pride.

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Time drunk down with ravenous thirst.

Time: Though we desire it, it’s cursed, 

Cursed: Precious love, unused,

Cursed, precious love, refused.

Refused love shelved, love unrequited,

Refused love, once decisive, now flighted. 

Flighted: unable in love to partake,

Flighted, everything before now, a mistake.

Mistake: I thought you and I were true,

Mistake: I thought the futu...

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‘’Do you know where love lies?’’

Said the farmer to his cat.

‘’I'm not too sure’’, said Kitty. 

‘’It could be this way, or it could be that.’’

‘’Do you know where love lies?’’

Said the farmer to his dog.

He said ‘’I’m probably not the best to ask,

Love for me is a dead horse flogged.’’

‘’Do you know where love lies?’’

Said the farmer to the sheep.

‘’Don’t as...

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If all the world's a stage, my dear

Contrived words in scripted scenes

Voice and thought directed, my dear

Exit stage left, and follow your dreams

The lady doth protest, my dear

Maybe an unworthy cause

There before you, your future, my dear

Dominate life, act without a pause

If music be your food, my dear

Allow lovers' tunes to play

Object to pizzicato, my d...

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Behind the tarnished gilt-barred cage,

The little songbird sang of love as yet unpaged,

Whistling tunes from the songbook of life, 

Cutting through the chilled dawn as with a knife.

He sang of despair, but sang also of hope.

He sang with depth and with far-reaching scope.

He shrilled to the heavens for love to come,

Though he willed his trills, the sky remained mum.

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Nothing should have been finer

Then Alcolu, South Carolina,

In the springtime.

People, segregated by rail tracks

White, on the west side, east side, black. 

All too poor to spare a dime.

George was raised to respect,

His church taught what was correct,

In life, he deserved so much more.

But he was let down badly,

By white justice, sadly,

Contradictory evidence...

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A century-old reel of film unwound,

In darkened light she stands, no sound,

My heart, captured in a thirty-five-mil frame,

This misplaced romance has only time to blame.

Tragically, my desire resides in a land mislaid,

When black and white movies were all the rage.

Buster Keaton smashed deftly through every screen

This bobbed-haired goddess, unheard, but seen.

Sil...

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Oh, how I despise this yellowed majesty,

This new dawn, this new day, this travesty.

Why must nighttime take its leave?

Why should our one night of passion grieve?

Oh, how I despise the unbrightened moon,

This new dawn, this new day, had arrived too soon.

Why couldn’t the now vanished face above? 

Continually shine down upon us and love?

Oh, how I despise tho...

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To effect an alteration,

To tweak or redefine,

To vary by transformation,

Or an adjustment by design.

To modify on reflection,

Adapting a future path,

Embracing the unsuspecting,

Reshaping the aftermath.

Change is like a book chapter's end,

Realise that it's time to turn another leaf,

Move away from thoughts that others defend,

Regard their stubbornness a...

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The wind, blowing from a cruel westerly,

mild breeze to full-blown misery

We had the sun once: a light in the world 

we’ve lost sight of you, once the tempest blew.

Unable to catch our life given breath

This storm takes hope to its grave in death

We had the sun once: a light in the world 

that’s now estranged once the tide had changed, 

In a concerted effort of wi...

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Newborn,

Body warm,

Slow moving,

Mother soothing,

Crawling, not walking

Calling, not talking,

First realisation of his reflection,

Mirrored face, mirroring self affection,

Universal imagination

Onward, onward without hesitation, 

Time to knuckle down and study hard,

Give his future its due regard,

Find a wife and settle down,

See the world and paint the town,

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Alice and Ted went early to bed,

Where Ted hoped that Alice and he

Could be satisfied, be gratified,

But Alice thought differently.

Alice once said that both she and Ted,

Were as happy as they could be,

But time flew by, that's the reason why,

Alice's love for Ted had fled.

Ted thought Alice, acted with malice,

Refusing his conjugal rights,

Her back was turn...

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There was a time when,

this world stood still,

when life had neither intent nor will.

When a cold snap became the age of ice,

when seas froze, not once, not twice.

When giant dinosaurs roamed the world,

and luscious leaves on giant ferns unfurled.

When meteors haphazardly crashed,

and Cretaceous life died out en masse.

When early man discovered fire,

warmed gently as ...

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Birth and death: covers to life's book

When reading we all wonder, where,

that cherished future’s disappeared.

Once baby's crib, now rocking chair

We thumb through those pages slowly,

skipping quickly past self-regret,

Flicking promptly through printed grief

That we're desperate to forget.

The contents page; our promises

made by one, to each, to others

...

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To sustain love,

make communication your key

understand that it's not just you

But you and me.

Conversations

Our two sides to one perspective.

Neither is more nor less valid

Both effective,

Respectfulness 

Shows our overriding kindness. 

Should we wander off course, let's let

love, remind us

Glib promises

overambitiously made

create uncalled...

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Dark schemes, meticulously planned,

Those who understood, could not understand

The anniversary of her birth returned

Any thought or concern for others spurned

Mediocrity took her by the hand

Those who understood, could not understand

Readying herself for life’s divorce

Yearning to travel a different course

Prescription tablets relished though bland

Those who un...

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Dark shadows surround

my days and my sleepless nights.

I desire to feel you near me

a willingness to hold you tight.

I long for your presence

harbouring me in my storm.

hoping your strength will yield relief

from life’s chill by offering warmth.

Recline close beside me

gaze into these tear-filled eyes.

Be inclined not to question

nor to ask for reasons ...

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Like driftwood on a deserted beach

Our love’s abandoned, far from reach

The past, engulfed by fires of liberties took
Reciting hollow words from half-read books

Fearlessly we had wandered love’s convoluted path
Arriving sooner than most, unaware we wouldn’t last
Through unclenched fingers, love slipped away
Togetherness uprooted, lost and gone astray

No consideration nor ...

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Eventually, memory of everything fades.

Footprints in the sand lost to intertidal waves,

What was once visually sharp has now ebbed away

The colours of daylight bled into nightly grey.

All that we once held, and all we once knew,

Wanes, forever disappearing from view.

ever-fading, just like yesterday's dreams

Vanished subconscious, no more to scheme.

In the fallin...

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To our young men, war is an opportunity

for posturing youthful swagger.

With arrogance and recklessness

head first or by cloak and dagger.

Half-cocked, without a sensible thought.

No consideration for what’s ahead.

Forward. Running into eternity. 

Future decided, they’re already dead.

To our old men, war is considered a just cause,

detached by age from rea...

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