Forward

A great door opens on a darkened landscape

I stand at the precipice of the unkown

A journey forward or an eternal void

I cannot know what is to be revealed

I am ignorant and childlike in my perception

Despite a wealth of experience and knowledge

The future holds no assurances

Faith speaks of eternity but who am I to know

I step forward with resignation

Th...

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What we face

A tangled web of attraction and addiction

draws us to an epicentre of confusion and distraction

Repulsed by hatred, ignorance and prejudice

we walk on broken glass in the place where pigs lay

Lured by compulsive desire and rampant lust

we are thrown off course in a haze of dust

Cheated by lies and the voices of eternal deceit

clarity of thought becomes a d...

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A Solution

A trickle of faltering smoke wound its way upward

many were left standing bereft

As the families of who were left

became as a column of smoke toward the sky

Harsh voices broke their numbed silence

a ragged group soon assembled

Mentally and spiritually disabled

there had been no time to even say farewell

A small orchestra on a worn lawn

began ...

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Integrity, Where is your Sting?

Philanthropists beware wolves come in sheeps clothing

Poets speak out with your mighty voices against deceit

The Masters of self aggrandisement have arrived

Party and personal fortunes their  ´raison d´etre 

These ferrets curry our favour and give pretence a new meaning

Their placard has two sides, each with a face

For these unscrupulous so...

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They gave their all

A solitary autumnal leaf of reddish brown

As if a visitor from the past

Fluttered along the street lined with a silent throng

Propelled by the morning wind 

It gradually settled on the steps of the War Memorial

A heavy scent of used gunpowder

Still pervaded the village from a night of bonfires

We stood silently and somberly before many names

Reme...

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The Front

Faces ripped off

intestines disgorged

Lice and rats eat

the entrails of heroes

Helmets with bullet holes

filled with cerebral refuse

Frozen joints, numbed fingers

burnt out dog ends

Squelching mud

foot rot to boot

Incessant explosions

mountains of fresh corpses

Humanity debased

for flags and monarchs

What a fucking hell

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For the Better

On my study wall hangs a portrait

of a man, his son and a family of refugees

Walking with their meagre possessions

Syrains in a foreign land; a people in despair

They are displaced souls the victims of civil war

this family is one of millions throughout the world

crossing borders, leaving family and friends behind

Can any good come from such a trage...

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A Collage of Autumn

A silent thunder of darkened clouds approach

light is diminished into a perpetual shadow of gloom

Sinister cohorts of ghosts dart about in macabre dance

the drums of the damned fill the air with stark foreboding

The obscure memories of past years appear from the sepulchres of time

a barely noticed cenotaph assumes a different identity

War is never...

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A Reason

A ponderous existence is our enigma in life

to experience the fullness of all is perplexity

Highly subjective we are intensely observant

the world is seen as a cinema screen

A performance in which we all take part

a drama of strange participation

Do I serve a purpose through my being here

is my individuality purposefully made

Am I a cog in a wheel of p...

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One of Many

I detest that cold biting wind

which chills me through bark into each ring

Those gusts that denude me of any propriety

as autumnal scales are blown away

to fall upon a carpet of other discarded leaves

A time to acknowledge my stark reality

to be resilient in the face of snow and hail

Along with others we give of ourselves

in uniformed fidelity to the sea...

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You´re Living in the Past

(from a has been to a know it all)

In some cultures the elderly are regarded as the

custodians of wisdom based on life´s experience

In our advanced culture of high technology

the elderly are put aside as having served their purpose

Fashion is to be attractive and up to date

modernity is the way forward, the means of progress

Old Fashioned...

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Nan´s Kitchen

The kitchen was small and austere

an old sink with a single tap

for cold water alone

The window was draped in a net curtain

beside the sink an old gas stove

with four burners and an oven

Opposite stood a kitchenette

and little else that served any purpose

Linoleum covered the wooden floor

which was cracked and threadbare

In the corner behind a do...

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Loathing

Indoctrination and radicalisation

instruments in the hands of evil men

Distorted political ideologies and religious zealots

creators of inferiority and superiority

Where many are deprecated and made worthless

who are persecuted or even exterminated

In the name of Righteousness

by the self righteous

From those in power

the manipulators

Arbita...

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Bigger and Better Bombs

Should we build more new schools

with indoor and outside pools

More hospitals are urgently needed

let´s hope and pray our voices are heeded

Let´s plant more trees and clean up the beaches

including our land to its furthermost reaches

New universities for many to improve the mind

and money for research to restore sight for the blind

...

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In Love

A time comes to fall deeply in love

consumed by a sensuous longing desire

A burning passion of emptying oneself

to be enrapt in the gilded frame of love

When all else is of secondary importance

nothing left to chance or distractions of any kind

A union of body, mind and heart

beating yea pulsating to a climax of exhileration

A time when all is brou...

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No Frontiers

Birds carry no passports

the wind blows where it wills

Rain falls where it pleases

the fox and owl know no boundaries

Music is heard internationally

God is worshipped in universality

families are separated by national documents

Passports exercise border control

tickets with taxes permit travel across them

Pollution flows through the air

colds and ...

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History in Denial

General Franco is to be exhumed and his body removed

for years his statues have been argued over and often approved

Streets bearing his name now have new and different names

and so the politicians play their deceitful games

This handiwork is for the sake of distraction

to divert away attention in another direction

A failing economy with chaos can no...

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A Green Planet

War has been declared on all fossil fuels

The planet must be protected at all costs

Too little, too late

For centuries we have littered the world

It has been used and abused

Ocean beds are covered with sunken ships

Unexploded ordinance lies deep in the soils of many lands

Chemicals have scarred the home of humanity

Fish grow into grotesque mutations b...

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Let them be....

Let people be as they are

Let dogs bark as a warning

Let cats purr with satisfation

Let frogs croak by their pond

Let us be who we are

Let us be what we want to be

Let actors be on stage

Let the angry demonstrate

Let communists seek for equality

Let gays be happy and in love

Let gypsies roam where they will

Let the believers pray for us all

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Daylight Robbery

Conformity robbed me of my personal freedom

it took away my ambitions and desires

My talents were ignored as if they did not exist

and I allowed this to happen under my very nose

Time has passed by for there can be no recovery

I am not alone by any stretch of the imagination

Conformity, fear, conventions and tradition

with their societal prejudice...

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Latent Talent

There are budding scientists

and fledgling artists

who cannot be heard

because they live

in what is called 

the Third World

We are deprived

of their potential and talent

because they live

in poverty with

no hope or grace

This is a disgrace

We send money

to Third World dictators

who are oblivious

to progress and beauty

...

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Do me in....

I am a lesbian, a communist and a subversive

I am a gypsy, I masturbate, I think I´m gay too

This should be enough for you to do me in

rid yourself of your conceitedness and prejudice

go and don´t delay, be spontaneous and have your way

Make the world a better place and do with me away

Clean up your town, turn it white and straight

and in so doing why not ...

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Drawing in....

Gradually, imperceptibly the nights draw in

they encroach with the chill of winter to foretell

As a blanket they cover a dormant landscape

there is no retreat, no turning back, the die is cast

the rubicon is crossed

Until the Feast of Epiphany we sink into a darkened world

only beyond is the light of a resurrected dawn

A time to slumber, dream, to drink ...

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The Final Act

I do not want you to stand there as if dumb

required out of a conformist etiquette to be present

I have arranged my funeral as a theatre for all

for family, friends and bystanders alike

This time within these sacred portals will stain your eternal memory

as no other farewell has or ever will

My body will be borne on the shoulders of those who I love

this ...

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An Autumnal Rhapsody

Clusters of sacrificial colurs

in a bleated cry from a dormant world

In unison the days of autumn do ebb

from the gaiety of a summer´s warmth

It is the finale, the last movement

of a rhapsody which droops in sorrow

Threadbare leaves in a myriad of colours

give the landscape a farewell hue

A floor of sadness is littered between weary trees

as ...

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Down Memory Lane

Trams trundled along the centre of the road

as whistling kettles sounded a cup of tea

People queued outside cinemas as human snakes

with a policeman directing a swarm of black cars

Streets pockmarked with the shrapnel of war

vacant spaces between buildings where buildings once stood

Cobbled streets of Victorian days to rumble over

buses, trams and trol...

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An Ancient Language

It is not Latin or Ancient Greek

that we find a language so rich and deep

It is not borne of a vocabulary or tongue

but from the heart, soul and mind of man

Found in the mists of time it comes to us

rich and varied are its sounds and cadences

For it can speak across all boundaries

reaching beyond impassable frontiers

Its sounds are an orchestra r...

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A Moment in Time

A Railway Buffett Bar

on a rainy November evening

we sat amongst a throng of tables

as the air filled with smoke

Silently we sipped our drinks

wishing to be somewhere else

a place of tranquility and alone

but people pushed about us

The rush hour was in full swing

he looked searchingly into his beer

I at his profile deep in my own thoughts

W...

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The End

Bombers race in unison along

expectant runways

Laden with a deadly nuclear cargo

to dislodge our planet from its axis

As we are cast like confetti

into an inter galactic gloom

Leaving our earthly home abandoned

desolate and forever stricken

Leaders shout the futile slogans

of their defunct ideologies

Beauty is gone in a blinding flash

verdant meadow...

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My Other........

I live mostly inside my mind

where I am fully consumed

Solitude draws out my creative spirit

as I sit uninterrupted and alone

I am the kernel of my being

cut adrift in a sea of discovery

I cannot be an island fortress

as I lack the strength and will

My other is always close at hand

as a rampart and shoulder of solace

Without his pres...

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She Died Recently......

He weeps inwardly

behind sad eyes

His voice falters

as memories are recalled

He is broken

lost and unseeing

A veil of tears separates them

she has been taken away

Alone he stumbles

sleepless nights of dread

He is fearful

unused to loneliness

All sense of direction

has gone from sight

He mourns like 

others have mourned

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Our Destiny

The leaves of integrity fall

leaving the stoic tree of virtue

They fall or are blown about

to the earth of abundant corruption

The sun hides behind clouds of shame

as the winds warn of impending doom

Seas surge with the waves of war

as the earth trembles on its foundations

A moon of lurid light deceives

a gullible landscape below

Creatures turn aga...

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A Spiritual Home

The soul searches for a home without

confined and content it seeks another abode

A palm lined, sun drenched beach

the lofty peaks of a mountain range

or within a pine forest of a needled floor

Perhaps a river flows to soothe this soul

or a city square bedecked with cafes

A foreign land rich in culture and cuisine

or a tongue, a language to entice

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Needless Burdens

I used to carry them as mindful burdens

weights which pressed against my back

Shackles on wrists and ankles

to impede my progress even drawing blood

They became a part of my daily slog

my inner feelings numbed by their heaviness

A once erect stature crippled itself

to become a shadow of my true identity

How much longer was I to endure thos...

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The Final Blast

A gun salute reverberated through the trees

as unprecedented temperatures soared

With birds and wild life cowering for shade

The tsunami of summer had peaked

an audible sigh whispered amongst the branches

All remained as before except for an air of expectancy

Green leaves retained their lustre

hedgerows verdant with a harvest of fruit

A silent rubico...

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He Stepped Inside

The key was inside the lock

He went forward and opened the door

Alone and unobserved he entered

To find the gullible and the willing

He latched onto those who deprecated others

The resentful he nurtured

Unseen he cast his net far and wide

He appointed leaders to receive adulation

Their prupose and strength he fortified

He gave them full rein for thei...

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Moods

I join each day in the flow of its current

Compatible or not I try to adjust myself

The day often conflicts with my waking mood

I walk along a darkened corridor

Feeling my way with uncertainty

I welcome the unexpected yet cherish routine

Spontaneity can disturb or delight

Outside I embrace sun, shower or rain

Only the wind aggravates my soul

I react, respon...

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A Web of Deceit

A transparent woven membrane

partially concealed in a corner of the room

Barely noticeable and constructed with no warning

its architect lay concealed and out of sight

It was a trap of indiscriminate stealth

as the faintest movement alerted the predator

Nothing was spared, no prisoners were taken

the architect devoured all who came his way

...

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Life´s Quandary

Would we board a ship not knowing its destination

or catch a train without first determining its intention

Why then do we emabark on life´s journey

if we don´t know where our end will be

What provides the spirit of eternal hope

when we are least able to cope

From where comes our need for self preservation

if we lack any real sense of determination

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The Bottle

From out of a bottle

comes not a genie

but a cloud arises

as a fog to the mind

A hazy perspective is formed

as illusions are created

a temprament is tainted

The bottle is replenished

fog and mists do envelope

an abstract control is formed

which distorts and damages

even others about

Put the genie back inside

reseal the bottle

breathe a c...

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Das Reich ist gefallen

Red, white and black

splinters and shards of cristal

Blood stains the pillars

the white is tarnished with filth

Black shines in uniformity

pellets cascade a rain of death

Beleaguered ruins stand as silhouettes

as dragons roar their fusillade

Papers flutter in a calamity of despair

red skies sound their sirens

White sheets in capitulation...

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Heart Attack

A pinkish intricate organ of finite life

complex and forever pumping life

Valves and arteries a tangled web

without which all life would ebb

Then all of a sudden it stops

as the last blood of life drops

A blinding flash unpredictable

hastens the ultimate destructible

Life submits to death´s dark kingdom

no more activity, inertia or boredom

One min...

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Damaged for life

The house was drab and in need of paint

the curtains yellow with the stains of smoke

The garden lacked lustre, unkempt and ignored

as the gate swung to and fro in a whimsical wind

Inside it was stale, discoloured and unclean

full ash trays with old socks soaking in a tub

She sat alone smoking with a mug in her hand

propped up so as to see the comi...

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All around us

Bones and ashes will ever remain

as with our memories they are the same

Vanished from this temporal life

we still possess their name despite

Nought can escape this earthly coil

we cannot outside its boundaries toil

All who have gone before us remain with us

their atoms and molecules still a part of us

We are physically held captive in this place

in ...

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The Elite

These monsters wear their guilt on their sleeve

In their grandeur they are bedecked with duplicity

They live in impregnable ivory towers of deceit

With cohorts of the damned their integrity sold

Morality lies hidden in their disgusting latrines

Weilding power in our name with limitless guile

They forge alliances with tyrants like themselves

Squandering t...

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A Reverie

A butterfly flutters in orchestral flight

a symphony of delicate charm only to delight

Capricious of uncertain design it meanders

as we transfixed do similarly wander

Rich in colours, dragon red and charcoal black

with an elegance which we so often lack

It serves no master and obeys no creed

as it dips, climbs, hesitates with little speed

We become absorbe...

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The Emperor came to call

Doors slammed, windows banged shut and curtains were drawn

as the grand cavalcade drove by in earnest procession

Those outside turned their backs to show utter disdain

no welcome for the Emperor was forthcoming

The Queen sat by him with a pinched expression

the Empress followed with the Queen´s Consort

Cavalry at the trot to hasten these even...

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There is only one

Occasionally when a moment of silence arrives

I pause for a time of deep reflection and lost hope

Through the corridors of my mind

I seem always to arrive in the La Plaza

which is embedded in my mind as an ageless painting

The sun shines as people promenade

beneath the fronds of overhead palms

Children with cornets, some on their fathers´shoulders

...

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A Friend called to say.....

From the determined and resilient

a feeble voice came from someone I love

From a dear and faithful soul, a lament

who had reached a darkened moment

I no longer possess any reserves of energy

without any dramatic sense of urgency

My zest for life has begun to ebb away

I cannot muster thoughts along the way

I am not afraid to die you know t...

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Hidden Recesses

Concealed in the recesses of my mind

I search for precious artefacts to find

In darkened corners beneath old dust sheets

are cherished memories now well deceased

Past lovers, their memorabilia and letters

with a dust laden portrait of an English Setter

Fragments of jewellery, cufflinks and more

in an old discarded chest of drawers

A gas mask, dog tag...

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