She sat alone
Finger sandwiches and black americano,
She watched others in the little high-street bistro
Aloof and from a distance,
A sort of elsewhere, nowhere, socialising.
She checked her phone screen,
The picture of the young man
Still unchanged from the last time she checked
Just a few moments before,
There were no missed calls to return,
No texts to reply to,
She lingered for...
Wednesday 14th December 2022 10:33 am
A young man from Leeds
There was once a sad young man from Leeds,
Who struggled through life, with special needs,
Physically abused while at school
Mentally confused; considered a fool,
He committed suicide on his TikTok feed
Sunday 11th December 2022 4:33 pm
Criticism of this poet, by his friend
My friend, the poet, is a fraud
(He's also intellectually flawed),
He strings together, badly I'm afraid,
Words without rhyme, their meanings strayed,
Undecipherable as hieroglyphics
Less literary, somewhat more scientific,
Four-line stanzas of moans and groans
Naked imagery without any flesh or bones,
I've read several lines of his so-called verse
Each following line ap...
Monday 5th December 2022 4:07 pm
A franchise on my soul
Â
I felt that my life was diminished
My smallest of dreams, suppressed
There stood before me a man of conviction
Asserting that I need not feel oppressed.
Like the pied piper he whistled, I listened
Of ancient arcadia, his land of hope
Where I could escape the rigours of conformity
That hung around my neck like a rope
Simply cradle in the soft arms of Morpheus
Safe, fro...
Wednesday 30th November 2022 5:04 pm
Hope For Our Love
Â
You have said, that it has to be
Our future is no longer we.
There's always you, but without me.
I cling to our memories of what went before
Before you said we were no more,
With your suitcase in hand, you slammed the door.
Â
It seems strange, yet clear to me, I'm
Unhappy being this carefree,
I want a second chance at being we.
I cling to our memories of what wen...
Monday 28th November 2022 9:55 am
The Hairdressers Tale
Â
She became a woman today
Her marriage vows have fallen away.
As yellowing leaves of an autumnal tree.
Â
All her hurt and shame
She knows just who to blame.Â
Inconsistent husband, now the absentee.
Â
With a pounding of his heart that raced
He turned and closed the door in haste.
This half-glazed threshold becomes a barrier.
Â
Love lost wouldnât again grow st...
Friday 25th November 2022 9:48 am
Anxiety
Â
The lady in a long fluffy pink coatÂ
Over a pink roll-neck sweater,Â
Was suffering,
She was suffering from invisible anxiety,
Constantly she cranes her neck behind to see
Furtively looking,Â
Out through the cafe door
As if waiting for someone,Â
Someone,Â
She's not too sure she wants to meet.
Tugging gently at the tassel dangling from her coat
She has anxious d...
Monday 21st November 2022 11:33 am
The Minder
â John put those backâ
â We don't need them.â
â No John we don't need those eitherâ
â Come on.â
 "If weâre not careful, we'll be here all day.â
â I want to get home, I've had enough shoppingâ
â John letâs go and get the milk, then we'll get the breadâ
â No John not here, the floor is not your bedâ
â Come on John move, you can do itâ
â If you're a good weâll get a slice o...
Sunday 13th November 2022 5:34 pm
RAF Swinderby
SWING THOSE ARMS!
PICK UP THOSE FEET!
LEFT RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT LEFT!
YOU SHOWER OF SHITS!
YOU SHOULD HAVE JOINED THE BLOODY NAVY!
WHATâS YOUR NAME SON, TINKERBELL, YOU FAIRY!
DONâT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, IâM NOT YOUR SWEETHEART!
Â
We had just six weeks to go,
Apart from our sleep last night
We had been here in hell just eight hours,
Nothing prepares you for this life...
Thursday 10th November 2022 7:56 pm
Stay with me
A child without influence
Conceived lacking counsel
A child of slender chance
Cry, cry, cry until
This silent life, held in hand, is yours
To shout, I am she,
Hammer deaths doors
Stay my love, stay with me
Saturday 5th November 2022 7:20 am
One, Two, Three, More
Â
As one,
I thought that love was done
Then meeting you
We merged as two
Formerly you were three
Two young sons, and the divorcee
We became four
Them and us, and what's more
Now a family together
The sons, their mother and her lover
Friday 4th November 2022 7:56 am
No more the fool
Â
We've both travelled far
We've journeyed long,
You've whistled your tune
I've sung your song,
I've listened intently,
Attended when asked,
We've played our loversâ game
I've settled for last,
I've danced to your beat,
Recited verse,
You've needed a fool
I've come off worse,
I've lived for and loved you
Throughout the abuse,
Cried silent tears for you,
...Tuesday 1st November 2022 10:35 am
Fields of Poppies
Let's hold each other's hands,
And in silence, stand
Where the fields of poppies grow,
Let us remember them
Our brave young men
Buried just below.
Â
For those who cried
As they laid down and died,
So very far from home,
With just white clouds,
Deaths gossamer shrouds
Covering their tortured bones.
Â
Let's think a little more,
Is liberty worth dying for?
...Saturday 29th October 2022 7:57 am
The Small Square Table
They sat close together at the small square table
Two ladies lunching, demure and cultivated
Maybe wrongly, I surmise they're unrelated
But I sense a friendship of many years
Together, through laughter and many tears
Â
Hair recently coiffured, sprayed with earthquake-proof hold
They appear interchangeable, sat side by side
Both dressed similarly, much refinement implied
...
Monday 24th October 2022 3:43 pm
Lest We Forget
Soon be remembrance day so I thought I would offer you this thought
Â
Â
Form a queue boys, form a queue,
Stand still in line boys, stand still in line,
It's coming to you boys, it's coming to you,
One at a time.
Â
Your country needs you boys, your country needs you,
To fight in their wars boys, to fight in their wars,
For the right and the true boys, the right and the...
Saturday 22nd October 2022 3:21 pm
Born to Die
Â
Waves rolling slowly, onto an empty shore,
Wash clean the pebbles and the sand,
Whilst bubbling white foam, marks
an evaporating monument to the journey's end.
Freely dancing on the open water,
Light, from the sleepy harbour, reflects
as facets of a cut jewel glistens
Into the gem cutter's eye.
No mourners in melancholic song,
Lament the sea's daily demise,
No me...
Wednesday 19th October 2022 8:04 am
Paint Life as an Abstract Expression
The Abstractor brushes a green day
A pink sun hung in a star-studded rainbow sky
A nude autumnal tree at the conclusion of spring
Roots suck the life from a metallic river of red
That springs from one cobble of a cobblestone road
With a roof for a floor
A wall for a door
An escape from your dreams
Â
An expression of love, a hue of silent grey
Hate a fierce streak of v...
Monday 17th October 2022 2:20 pm
Running scared little maiden
Why are you running scared little maiden?
Why do you hide amongst the trees?
Do you believe your dreams are in tatters?
And that youâve finally crumbled to your knees.
Are you sure you want to run little maiden?
Please take a pause whilst I hold your hand,
Youâll see then that running till your heart bleeds
Wonât help you navigate life or understand
Â
You believe that sh...
Friday 14th October 2022 12:29 pm
The Mysterious Letter
Â
Sam quietly opened the study door.
Her stepfather was standing by his desk,
Rapt by a letter from the morning post
Looking near comically Chaplinesque
Â
"You'll never get those filthy hands of yours
on what I've built, you despicable slag"
He was shouting loudly at the letter
"I'll finish you, you malevolent hag,"
Â
From the desk, he took the long letter knife
...Thursday 13th October 2022 11:40 am
Our love has a DVT
I thought we would be forever, together, better
Then any individual thrill, yet still
We overlooked each other
Â
I thought that I would feel a happy chappy not crappy
Like I felt with previous lovers gone before, so sure. Â
We subsequently unhooked from those others
Â
Yet what is bizarre, we are, not far,Â
Weâre close at hand. Must we disband?
For this love has a deep...
Monday 10th October 2022 11:06 am
Ode to an M&S toasted teacake
Â
Oh toasted teacake
Whose spiced fruitfulness
buttered buns doth make
My taste buds, multitudinous.
Â
Strawberry jam scooped
luxuriously spread,
Juiced raisins covered
Sweet blanket overhead.
Â
Oh toasted teacake
soft baked, brown coated
slightly burnt domed hat
Adds texture, pleasantly noted.
Â
A certain keenness
to repeat this pleasure
Like ...
Friday 7th October 2022 11:04 am
The Last Will and Testament of a Poet
My England.
May I ask?
That when death calls,
You'll caress
this poet.
Where his shadow falls,
Â
On his grave,
Lay a rose
of deepest red,
Shed, just one
single tear,
For your loyal dead,
Â
Paupers grave
without cross
or marker stone.
Silent rest,
rest in peace
In your arms alone,
Â
Entombed in
Blakes rhythmic
green and pleasant l...
Wednesday 5th October 2022 1:06 pm
Symi
Symi
A small island of the Dodecanese
Island folk seem so eager to appease
Unhurried life puts us firmly at ease
Gently blown by the soft Aegean breeze
Symi
Archangel Michael of Panormitis
This monastery draws us, invites us
Somehow we acquire a monk to guide us
Lighting candles for those gone before us
Symi
With neoclassical coloured houses
Gift Shops, some bar...
Monday 3rd October 2022 2:53 pm
The simile of The Mist.
Fine mist,
On Scottish hills
(is like the fattened paunch
of a corpulent man,) it just
rolls down
Saturday 1st October 2022 9:24 am
The old man in the next bed,
It's coming, I know it,
My final hours of life,
I have regrets
But I have no more strife,
My past stretched behind me
There is nothing ahead,
I'll be relieved when the time comes.
When I'm finally dead.
Â
When that moment arrives
When finally I'm gone,
They'll say of me
His pitiful life, done,
He lived, he loved, he laughed,
Somewhat reluctantly.
Graspe...
Thursday 29th September 2022 10:06 am
Little brown pictures
Proud, and oh so beautiful.Â
The Peacock emerges monochromaticallyÂ
from surrounding flowers, to be reborn.
Nearby sepia swans encapsulate your beauty and your success.
Enhancing both energy and healthÂ
All silhouetted by the bronzed-toned moon above
Leaves on vines show longevity in our devotion.
The winding chestnut-coloured dragon
wrapped loosely around my forearmÂ
en...
Tuesday 27th September 2022 1:06 pm
Donât play it again. Uncle Sam:
Mr America,
Why do you shout?
Youâre really a loudmouth.
Thatâs without doubt.
You scream patriotism from deep in your lungs.
At those with diverse traditions, an assortment of tongues,
In the land of the free, you incarcerate those
Less fortunate than most, those too easily disposed
Â
Mr America,
Why do you gloat?
As you sail away to damnation,
In your open-top...
Sunday 18th September 2022 2:09 pm
Faded Pictures
Pathetically and silently, she satÂ
In her chair, a frail old lady
Neither showing emotion nor self-pity
Rejected and ignored by the family she conceived,
Their faded pictures are framed on her wall.
But they are not coming soon.
Certainly not this week.
Their lives are now at such a pace.
There is no recognition that hers is concluding.
She satÂ
A miserable, life-sca...
Friday 16th September 2022 12:41 pm
Simile and Metaphor
Poetic similes and metaphors
They are just ungainly analogies.
The writing on the wall says Belshazzar.
The poets' gold turned to brass by alchemy.
Describing Guardsmen erect in their ranks
stood like the contents of a vesta box.
Or a prostitute on the street corner.
A marina where men sail up and dock.
A cloud is a cloud, however lonely.
Child of a man is still a girl o...
Wednesday 14th September 2022 11:17 am
To old, too young
Â
One by one, it seems
Our joy from childhood dreams
quickly falls away.
Until the day
None of those dreams remain.
Â
The red balloons
We let loose to fly
Those floating memories of our youth
Passing by, high in the sky
Our childhood days
Sometimes, misguided ways
They made us cry.
Â
The laughter we had then
Beyond recapture
We will never live aga...
Wednesday 7th September 2022 11:27 am
1997, Sheâs gone
On Sunday, August 31st, tragedy.
You came to our room, waking me.
"Diana is dead."
You said
Prince Charles is on his way to France.
Why are you giving me that sideways glance?
Â
On Monday, September 1st, "Let's talk."
We're over. Love has walked
This is the end.
Let's just be friends.
In London, there's a one-minute silence.
Here, never-ending silent defiance.
...Saturday 3rd September 2022 3:18 pm
Death in polite society is quieter.
Â
When the time comes and I must die,
(Unsurprisingly, there's no date for when).
Gathered family weep, may even cry.
For this life, lived and loved, amen.
Â
Will I die lying in my bed?
Peacefully, restfully, within my home,
Will friends encircle my soft final breath?
Or slabbed in the morgue all alone.
Â
I'd prefer to die in slumber.
My lover and I entwined, fa...
Friday 2nd September 2022 9:16 am
Letâs not fall in Love.
Â
Heaven, full of shooting stars, watched
while we lay close together on a sandy beach.
Wishes made that day may be cast away.
When no longer close, when we're out of reach
We'll surely blame one another.
For the closeness of our smother,
Then we may part.
Â
Bittersweet tears may fall.
From our eyes to the floor
Promises sworn may be torn.
from hearts, and yet o...
Tuesday 30th August 2022 9:49 am
Goodbye Mum
I'm sitting in this quiet shell,
I neither belong to it, nor it to me,
I want to lift up my head, just once,
Then sail away, be free.
Â
My body though doesn't act the way
That other bodies really should,
Why is everything that I do in life
So wrong and never good?
Â
Why does my Daddy shout so much?
Why does my Mummy cry?
Why can't I be like everyone el...
Friday 26th August 2022 9:54 am
Busy Mister Taxman
Â
Dear busy mister taxman
I trust that I find you well.
I hope you're sitting comfortably.
A story I have to tell.
Â
It centres around the rebate.
You so kindly sent today.
It really is too kind of you.
To remember me this way
Â
But wait... What is this I see?
It fills my soul with terror.
Because dear busy mister taxman
It seems you've made an error.
Â
...Saturday 20th August 2022 4:51 pm
The Charge of the Light Aleârs (apologises to Tennyson)
Â
Half a lager, half a larger,
Half a larger. Onward
into their bellies so fast.
Poured the six punters.
"Four more light ales they craved!"
âCharge a large gin!" he said.
Into their bellies in haste
Poured the six punters.
Â
"Four more light ales !" They craved
Err, were men so ale'd?
Not though the barman knew
Someone overcharged.
Not them to make amends...
Friday 19th August 2022 9:15 am
Within your eyes
Â
If only I could find preconstructed words
Scattered amongst vocabularic sherds,
That could easily describe and characterise
That bright sparkle within your eyes,
For then the world may understand
That, which I know for sure first-hand,
For within those eyes,
All my future pleasure lies,
Deep steely blue pools of passion
Are not as cold as one may imagine,
Like ro...
Tuesday 16th August 2022 5:48 pm
When we were young
Â
Summer morning, Nineteen Seventy,
Field study, Miss Skipworth's junior third,
Inspired location, unvisited
But silently, we listened, absorbed.
Â
Amazed that Carr Dyke was Roman-built,
I had no knowledge and less inkling,
Imported empire goods transported,
From Nene valley up to Lincoln.
Â
Engineered during Hadrian's reign,
Built fen waterway, the border wall,
...Friday 12th August 2022 7:57 pm
Father and Son
âI have a good mindâ
No, you donât
You bully, harrass, and cajole
But never with a good mind,Â
Ever.
âYou just sit thereâ
Iâll sit, but you dear fatherÂ
Canât stop my mind from racingÂ
across the universe, to view
The wonders
âYouâll never learnâ
You never teach,Â
Or demonstrate clearly
What you ask is out of my reach
And my interest
âWhy do you answer ...
Monday 8th August 2022 6:27 pm
Riding the Tube
Â
Travelled in London,
Rode the Picadilly line,
Deodorant's fine
If others spray, otherwise
There's no nasal protection.
Monday 25th July 2022 12:17 pm
Making Up in BSL
Â
Lovers at a round tableÂ
Experiencing alfresco Expresso,
Arguing so passionately at each other,
Their flailing arms demand the attention of the other,
Facial expressions accentuate each silent voice
Grimacing with gritted teeth, wide-eyed disbelief
Frantically fingers touch their face with force
Spelling words and phrases only they can share,
Some shock the reader but ...
Friday 22nd July 2022 7:44 pm
Clouds of White
Floating gently above darkened clouds,
Looking down upon madding crowds,
Whistling wind and dripping rain,
See those people mightily strain
Against the boredom of their humdrum life,
A husband late home to his nagging wife
Whoâs spent her day in effortful cleaning
Washing, cooking, all-day preening,
Ironing, polishing, occasionally resting,
Maintaining their home so both...
Saturday 16th July 2022 1:50 pm
See you later Alligator, In a while Crocodile.
Â
Let's go for a wander
Anaconda,
Whatâs your wish?
Jellyfish,
Let's just have a gander
Salamander,
What shall we see?
Chimpanzee.
Weâll see whatâs aboutÂ
Rainbow Trout,
Whether that's a little
Or even Axolotl,
Where shall we go?
Water buffalo
What about the beach?
Common Leech,
I donât fancy that
Little brown bat,
How about the park?
Gre...
Wednesday 13th July 2022 9:43 am
Four Pound, Half An Ounce
Two bags of sugar
A pinch of ground black pepper,
Weight of the baby
Mother gave birth to that day.
(I've sure made up for it since).
Â
Born on the Sabbath
Priests rejoiced at her bedside.
Six weeks early though,
Sagittarian archer
Not a horned Capricorn goat.
Â
First hours without God
We both looked death in the eye,
Mum scarred by cancer,
I, tubed and...
Friday 8th July 2022 8:03 am
Lost in Conflict
Â
Many years ago
In a long-forgotten time,
I watched a Channel Four TV show,
I was hooked in episode one,
The endings had a certain style
Making me wait impatiently for next week,
I was gripped by the excitement
Needing to understand more.
Â
Each character held and hid a secret
Plots had subplots galore,
I couldnât always keep up,
So I took comfort in social ...
Wednesday 6th July 2022 4:56 pm
Virgin Summer Night
Â
Nothing assaults the senses like the chill air of a summer's evening,
Forearm follicles as erect as a pubescent boy's expectation of his young penisÂ
Or nipples hardening through your silken blouse.Â
The smell of summer love when two bodies collide in passion
It has the warmth of the day yet exacerbated and put to fire by your sensual touch,Â
Sweat from our movements and desire...
Saturday 2nd July 2022 11:49 am
Metaphors of The Unsated
Â
A pebble thrown into a millpond displays delightful concentric circles
I have thrown countless pebbles, to no avail
Whatâs unfair should make you stronger,
Iâm the sum of my life's successes, not my failures,Â
A bicycle peddled, generates forward motion, faster and faster downhill,
Iâve pressed down firmly, Iâm no more forward than I was before.
Whatâs unfair should make you...
Wednesday 15th June 2022 7:52 pm
Mocked by Weevils
I will take your hand, please lead me from darkness,Â
Living this tortuous love, every day,
I saw hurting myself as reasonably, to my mind,Â
the only exit.Â
But I was too much a coward, without your help
Each day my skin crawled,Â
Infected by imaginary long-snouted Weevils
That left tiny footprints on my dry flaking skin,
Each print points forward
Mocking my decision to ...
Sunday 12th June 2022 5:47 pm
Confused Dot Com
Just three little questions my dear friends,
I hope you can lend a hand,
Each scenario happened today,
And I still donât quite understand.
Â
If the square of the hypotenuse,
Is the sum of squares on either side,
How do you get an Articulated lorry,
Through a gate just 10 feet wide.
Â
The calculated arc of a cannonball,
Hits square the castle wall, not the moat,
...
Thursday 9th June 2022 4:36 pm
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