The Ice was broken

A glance of recognition ignited us

as strangers in an uncomfortable silence

Aware of where we were, and almost alone

as empty tables surrounded us

Sounds from the kitchen in the background

with a waiter who hovered in boredom

We glanced once more, only furtively

as we took in each other's presence

I became increasingly concious of his pr...

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The Writer writes on

My body has two arms

and they have hands

These hands have fingers

which can hold my pen

Thoughts and ideas from my mind

travel along my arm

to my hand and fingers

They reach my pen

from where my mind

is a source of creation

As I write the ink from my pen

 flows like blood from the nib

and onto the page

There is an intimacy here

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The Poet

Poets are those who speak their minds

Astute they find those willing to hear

Poets search their souls and investigate

They transmit their findings into a message

One which caresses the ready ear

Words which strike cords in the heart

They require conviction and integrity

Fearlessly to expose wrong doing

To champion causes thought to be lost

Poets are obse...

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Wisdom

We live in a world of uncertainties and confusion

tossed about hither and thither

Often not knowing which way to turn

doing what is right and avoiding wrong

Wisdom offers solutions to life's problems

sound advice is readily available

But from where do we find wisdom?

has it a source in the milieu of today's world?

More than ever do we need wisdom

yet seldo...

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All will be well

I came to in the early hours of the night

the darkness of my room was full of shadows and silhouettes

Silence permeated each long hour

as I lay there with a mind fraught with a myriad of thoughts

Then came that rain, the acid drops of anxiety

and with it a sense of panic

Money worries, contentious relations

and other trivia out of all proportion

My ...

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Austerity Returns

I have lived through years of austerity

in the long and distant past

Those post war days of rationing and frugality

when clothes were mended and food was scarce

Days, weeks, months and years of being without

bereft of the solace of television or mobile phones

Gardens designed to sport flowers were turned

into vegetable patches

People walked for mil...

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I need to see clearly now

We are caught and entagled in a synthetic web

the recipients of fake news, the victims of deceit

Confused and bewlidered we stagger about

mentally dull and spiritually exhausted

We flounder and stumble from pillar to post

lost in a world, a web that entices and seduces us

My eyes are dimmed, my heart flags

yet resistence is only a step aw...

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In the twinkling of an eye

There one minute and gone the next

aged 19 years in uniform in Belgium

The movement was toward Dunkirk

as he stood in the midst of fleeing people

A bomb completely obliterated him

leaving no trace whatsoever

No body to be laid to rest only dust

blown away in the twinkling of an eye

He was dearly loved and sorely missed

a name engraved o...

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The Edge of Emptiness

It was always at night that I could hear the silence

Enveloped in an inky blackness under a canopy of a trillion stars

We sat around a fire of already scorched wood

An oud played and someone nearby sang mournfully

Often with exhileration there was a unison of hand clapping

A goat which had baked all day in its eartly oven

Was exhumed and with a salad...

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Quiet Desperation

Most live out their lives in quiet desperation

the perpetual victims of human frustration

We clamour for joy and fulfilment

always seeking for some kind of contentment

We chase rainbows and the unobtainable

only to be left with what is on our table

We hanker for love and eternal bliss

but the most we have is a mere kiss

The grass is alway...

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The River of Babylon

I dip my feet in tranquil waters

as I sit on the banks of the River of Babylon

Yet on the horizon I see a stormy sea

where dark heavy laden clouds resound

with the sound of thunder

In the far distance and out of sight

the incessant rumble of gun fire brings fear

My heart is troubled by images of suffering

of those whose homes are reduced to rubb...

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This War

This war is endlessly pursued

each day reveals horrors endured

It is not what this is for

but from whom it came to the fore

We all know his name

which speaks of his infamy

Soldiers on both sides die every day

civilians join this melancholy fray

People are being deceived

as they join those who are bereaved

War crimes reveal the horror

and result in ...

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Stifled Voices

A thousand clouds cry out

from those who dwell beneath

their muffled moans fade

as they live in perpetual shade

Above the clouds oblivious

they shower rain below

on those who sigh and weep

and then fall readily asleep

The elite with harps atuned

entertain an audience unseen

to those who desire not a tune

as they face their personal ...

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The Vault of Dreams

Subliminal moments flutter past

Shadowy faces forgotten or lost

Emerge to live anew in our darkest view

This we unnaturally self imbue

Passive observers we partly engage

In a place with others on a stage

Time has no domain in this dimension

We are subject to another retention

The natural elements seem remote

As we sail about without a stroke

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Sounds for the Soul

Music carries on its wings the nostalgia of memories and

through clouds propels us forward

Haunting concertos relive past conflicts and struggles

The mind responds and conjures up images to suit the melody

A piano easily awakens both mind and soul

The violin evokes tearful times of deep sadness

Drums rumble their warning of impending doom or triumph

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Seminal

A fertile mind of original thought made manifest

in colours and shapes from which nature cannot escape

In those creative crevices seeds are born

whose fruit soars above the expectations of all

These artists own ideas held in minds

which are hallowed caves where beauty lies

Chaos lives here too for little can obstruct

what has been given life

Dreams of both d...

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A New Horizon must Dawn

I no longer live in the world I grew up in

The old guidelines and differences are blurred

Certainties have been replaced with chaos

I feel cut adrift from my reality and am permanently confused

A steadfast sense of security has given way to apprehension and fear

I no longer wish to engage only to retreat

Before my eyes history tragically repeats it...

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Evil Rulers

How easily the criminally insane seize power

How they inveigle their nefarious way through the

                                              corridors of the corrupt

How they take the richest pickings and deprive

                                               the poor and  weak

How they pocket the wealth of the tax payer and

                                   ...

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A Cruise Ship

It arrives in the harbour as a monstrosity

resembling a floating block of flats.

It disgorges a human cargo

of over fed geriatrics whose manners and attitude

cause me to disown my own

Arrogance is unleashed and atrocious examples

of ill mannered behaviour

are exemplified

This is a witness to who and what we have become

Time draws nigh on this appall...

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I dare not speak

I am catapulted into another time and place

A shanty town in Latin America where I spend my remaining time

I am old now, robust yet frail with years that drain me

I live in a street of chabolistas, amongst the poor

I subsist on renumerated pensions

and drink my time away

I smoke a pipe and feel the sway

An Indian neighbour proffers me her teenage daugh...

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Re incarnate

I am often hauled from a past which is familiar but remote

It has a Germanic flavour of reminiscence

 I carry a past which is not my own

A language I have not learned but speak

I am plunged into a time and place where I find a warmth

Yet wonder at its familarity

I sing the songs and hum the tunes

I am in another age and time

I am fully there, but is it ...

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Days of Innocence

Childhood was mostly uncomplicated

I was as naive as my friends

We played simple games

A toy box under the stairs

Nature rambles at school

Learning to ride my two wheeler bicycle

Feeding my goldfish won at a fair

Playing on swings and roundabouts in the park

Adventurous excursions into the countryside

Swimming lessons paid for by Dad

Helping ...

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Night into Day

During the summer months I turn night into day

I sleep little but come alive in the darkness of the night

A time of quietness and stillness

When the soul is able to breathe

and the mind is released from daily bondage

I hunger for such a time as my soul is replenished and restored

I am enveloped in another world

when others slumber I am truly awake

Fre...

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Permanently Locked Down

I worked hard all my life

and never took a wife

I paid all my taxes on time

and was seldom ever heard to whine

I served my country in the Army

which I now consider to have been barmy

I was never in trouble with the law

if anything I was something of a bore

My retirement came to free me

but the purse strings now strangle me

I live by han...

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It flashed before me.....

My life flashed before me as I let go of its final moments

There appeared a screen with a celluloid recording of all that had gone before

Visions of cameos darted before my eyes

in a chaotic mixture woven through the annals of my earthly clamour

A time to remember in a myriad sequence of events

A flurry of illustrated times held in sepia, black and ...

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Starved of Love

My inner being was that of a nomad in a vast desert

My landscape as undulating sand and arid, stifling throughout the day

I longed for an oasis but did not know where to find one

The desert nights are cold, dark and uninviting

I discovered a cavern, a darkened enclosure

the interior was indiscernible

I felt my way forward into a sultry space, I was no...

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The Rocky Road to Ruin

I see a world consumed with greed

caught in a web of deceit and guile

Violence flows as a pyro plastic mass

as men seek unlimited,and unrestrained gratification

People trample carelessly on each other

they grapple and cajole for power and dominance

Wealth is the new immoral goal

its pursuance a new religious cult

There is a craving f...

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The Clock tells the same Time

A haunting melody spoke of a time long ago

A time of great suffering now barely remembered

A violin alone was able to take people back into a darkness

To a time of persecution and torment

As cattle trucks transported people to their deaths

War crimes, when is war not a crime?

Humanity debased itself in a blanket of hatred and perversion

Th...

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A Second Chance

I did not listen to His voice

I allowed it to be smothered by other voices

I listened to my own voice

and to my own detriment

I had joined the foolish

and participated in their futile games

I followed their callings and conformed

as those led to a prepared slaughter

I jeopardised my soul and life

In old age I repent of this daily

time wasted, t...

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Post War Bliss

We had gained a great vistory over an evil foe

and those who came home from war were glad to let go

They laid down their arms and put on civil clothing

and went in search of peace and an absence of loathing

Those warriors had defeated a fascist power

to now go in search of a good lawn mower

Those days of welcomed peace were almost beyond belief

as the na...

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Out of the Shadows

I have withdrawn myself to a new place

far removed from the perfidy of the rat race

I no longer pay any attention to the news

and by far prefer my own muse

The lying and cheating of the political class

can now go an kiss my hairy ass

I have started anew in a realm inhabited by a few

where intellectuals, poets and artists have a vision which is new

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Smoking Kills

As the blue smoke reaches the ceiling and spreads across the room

non smokers reel in horror and contemplate their doom

Cigarettes cannot achieve this as they are so mundane

but cigars and pipes are certainly not the same

Savour the flavour of hand picked mature leaves

as non smokers breathe in the fumes and heave

My joy is an appropriate drink and conducive...

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True Friendship

Blood is thicker than water so they say

Does this diminish friendship along the way?

In friendship there grows a bond of trust

that when apart remains a must

Families grew with us from day one

yet a friendship takes time to come

Friends are many but the special are few

and every day they are renewed like the dew

Kith and kin are a given fact

but a...

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Endless Conflict

They are at it again

as we gaze upon the slain

War has once more visited us

and infiltrates itself amongst us

A new dictator emerges

an insidious power surges

Men argue and grapple for power

and take up arms in the tower

Generals say this way follow me

and so the troops do and so will we

Fear and ignorance sieze control

and in man's heart d...

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Self Discovery

Welcome to the real me

for I have made a discovery

From beneath the veneer of conformity

I have realised my true identity

The old self of endless falsehood

has been transformed into a new personhood

I have come to accept my own ecstasy

where I acknowledge my predilictions and some fantasy

A new person has emerged for all to see

and there are some w...

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Palm Trees

They bend as if in a willing act of obeisance to the ocean

Their fronds fluctuate and quiver in the simmering breeze

The scenery is adorned and given a name by their luxurious presence

Each has its own identity and bouyant beauty

They live and thrive in a tropical idyll

A secret voice is whispered in the rustling of their palms

It speaks of peace and harmony wi...

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Artists, Writers & Poets speak out

In the heart of Mother Russia

there beats the drum of fervent dissent

Intellectuals, artists, writers and poets

speak out against a tyrannical regime

These men and women are held in high esteem

but find themselves persecuted indeed

Free expression through the arts is aggresively supressed

because the authorities think they know best

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Renewed Hope

My heart aches as tears freely fall

What is this conflict for?

Why should such a tragedy befall us?

My soul laments and I am downcast

Misery inhabits my inner being

as the young and innocent are

sacrificed on the altar of irrelevance

Why should this be?

How can we be led into this valley pf perpetual destruction?

Do we not recall the past?

Is hist...

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Deprecated

We have sold the old furniture

beautifully crafted with nurture

We have thrown out the baby

with the bath water completely

God has faded into our lost landscape

and nothing has replaced his divine space

Culture and heritage are now scorned

and no longer a part of our daily norm

We seldom read, write, play an instrument or paint

and not one thing has re...

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Never Again & No More

They rush headlong into the fray of battle

or coerced and seduced into

some patriotic endeavour

Their leaders sit on the sidelines 

as passive spectators, politicians at best

liars and deluded fools

together as young men are denied

their maturity and hopes

Mangled and distorted corpses 

are retuned to loved ones in bags

of plastic despair

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Futility

The tyrannical psychopath

spews forth his bile on a world in fear

Once more from his lofty secured throne

evil plans receive their final brush strokes

Skilfully implemented he herds the innocent and young

into a uniformity of malevolence

Lies are breathed through corrupt organs

to distort and exhort valour and courage

Apathy is transformed into purpose

a...

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The New Czar

Have we not been here before

thrown against the evils of war

Dictators are back as ever before

who act in defiance of the law

They care not for life nor limb

but act according to their whim

They lie, deceive and cheat us all

as people die beneath a smokey pall

Dictators are the serpents of evil

and care not who or what they kill

To stamp...

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An Elegy for England

As you sink beneath the waves of time

I lament your demise with a heavy heart

Dearly loved I carry in my heart memories of you

Tears well up in my eyes as I witness your passing

as the morning dew is squeezed from your verdant pastures

The honour and dignity of your past glory

ebbs like an out going tide leaving a bare pool in the sands of time

Far...

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The Enemy Within

Is freedom of speech alive and well

are we through free expression able to tell

Are we politically aware as we should be

through deception and corruption can we see

Are our dreams and ambitions represented

or are we ignored by those chosen yet disinterested

Is our tax money honestly and well used

or is our hard work and good nature daily abused

A na...

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The Winter's Sun

What a morning and with such light

as if I had torn up an old canvass

and chosen the brightest and lightest

of paints, to begin afresh and create anew

These few wintry days of radiant blue skies

with a frost underfoot and a brisk feel in the air.

The frosted grass glistens in the sun 

as the trees stretch their branches in

anticipation

...

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Sirob

Would someone please give him a comb 

to smooth his hair

Or perhaps a visit to the barber's chair

to give his rumpled mess a touch of flair

Could he be schooled in the manners of

a Statesmen like dignity?

And given an injection which induces

some much needed integrity

To lead our nation we would all appreciate

people who exude at least some sartorial grace

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The Deep Well of Winter

An old grey blanket has been drawn over us on a darkened night

A cold chill emanates from a folorn and heavy laden landscape

Dullness as a weighty burden dwells with in us

A gloomy forecast is concealed in shorter days and longer nights

We shiver and shudder as we retreat into our nests of comfort

There is little light to cheer the frozen countenance ...

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Shrivelled

There is a tendency as we grow old

to withdraw and hide one's soul

A peculiar need arises to be inside

almost a desire to no longer be alive

It could be a sign of some weariness

as if the soul is no longer part of us

To while away the hours with a glass

and let the mind wander in the past

This inertia is often self induced

not particularly overly influ...

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The Remnant

I belong to the remnant of a time long past

a dying breed who stood at the mast

A redundant lineage known for good manners

now old and given to stutters and stammers

We were born at a time of great austerity

about to cross the threshold into eternity

We still believe in liberty and freedom of speech

whilst reclining in deckchairs on Brighton beach

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Sweet Ambition

Our attitude to life is of real significance

as it can be the embodiment of our magnificence

Ambition is the motivation we need

in order to turn ideas into deeds

Our personality must also come into play

as does our behaviour in every way

Humility may seem contrary to ambition

nor is it an attribute of submission

It displays within us a permanent human...

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