Roses were never within her

For only the cloying fragrance of lilies  

emanated from every pore

and ethereal breath 

A succulent moss gave comfort

like an earthly blanket

Seducing her cold, dead bones

Pale, decaying flesh turning

fertilizer for sprouting fungi: 

such tempting, flavoursome morsels 

of a fine meaty bouquet

The swirling breeze whispers:

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She could not remember how she arrived

at the house

She wasn't cold 

But, perhaps a little damp

She looked down, and wiggled her toes

The varnish chipped & blackened

Then looked up at the wooden door

painted silver by moonlight

In her palm was a sixpence

It was warm and shone brightly

She glanced over her bruised shoulder

to where the well was a silhouette 

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...and under a starry, starry night

As passion became his pain

The artistry of a creative life

Extinguished like a flame 

Infinite strokes of colourful hue

Brushed out to a pallette of gray

A sunflower in a winter's field

Amidst the cold decay 

Starlight swirled & flowers bloomed

Pigments, of intimate blend

Blew away upon a fragile wind

No colours. N...

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She languidly lounged in linen

While her husband was in the pub

Singin' 

She thought this was fine

As he'd be in by nine

And her takeaway

He would, certainly,  

Be bringin' !

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She had moonlight in her eyes

Starlight in her hair

Her smile became the sunrise

That burned away despair

She took me to the clouds

Weaved rainbows from the grey

And showed me all the colours

That life had on display

And under starry skies

Where galaxies unfold dreams

We ran into the cosmos

To find its hidden seams 

But I lost you to the star...

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From the eerie, cool night

She drifted in

With her coal-black eyes 

and pale white skin

From a shallow grave, inhaling sin

To the village she crawled, 

to feed within

As the moonlight shone

most soundly slept

Into the flesh of their minds, 

she wriggled & crept

To expose a secret 

they had quietly kept

And devour their souls,

'til nothing was lef...

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(Verbal decipher kit at the ready…)

One's horse drawn carriage

Left London one day

Edinburgh bound

But got lost along the way

Ended up in North-East?

Streets filled with shit 

And soot covered peasants

Adorning most of it

In peered through one's window

With coal dust for skin

A ruffian to behold!

With a crooked, toothless grin

"Where's th'...

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The toast was warm and buttery

The coffee, hot and strong

The radio played a reminisce

From sunny days long gone

I sipped away the aches & pains

And watched the morning light 

Brush honey upon the basking birds

That sang with all their might

The open door leaked warming breeze

And a hint of dewy blooms

But, time tick-tocked reality

To rejoin life's spinning lo...

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I cried a single tear

That trickled to a stream

The stream became a river

A tributary of dreams

The river became a sea

That sang a shanty bold

The sea became an ocean

That swept me from its hold

The ocean turned to sand

Sifting through my soul

The sand turned into land

Where I dug a jagged hole

The hole became a grave

Where I lay to watch the sky

My g...

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In the morning I held you so tightly

As the dawn light drizzled our bed

Wondering if your dreams fluttered lightly

From the kaleidoscope in your head

Did the rays of the sun come and catch them?

And filter a rainbow of dreams

Then gently release & dispatch them

Into shimmering rivers and streams

Did the water taste like sweet nectar?

To the ones who drank ...

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Through your window, the puffed up clouds

And sun drizzled fields are beckoning poetic verse to be written. 

Behind you, a gentle scratching sound distracts

But you don't turn. 

It's probably that sneaky, little dormouse that sometimes visits

Yes, that's what it'll be

And yet...

...Is something staring?

Something glaring?

Slyly peeping

Slowly ...

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I think it's the third twinkle down

(Alioth)

In the constellation of Ursa Major

Where she sits

All sparkly with stardust

And cheesy-gobbed from moon food

Gran said that God had came and 

plucked her right off the earth

A car was an odd choice of plucking

But, that's what he chose

With all her beautiful smiley curls of gold

And shimmery eyes of sapphires

I t...

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I took a break from poetry

Let words slumber in silt

Let the cobwebs gather in corners

Let the wind under my kilt ( metaphorically 😉)

Sailed stanzas out to sea

Let them drift casually

Let sentences settle

Switched on the kettle

Had a cuppa tea

A slice of banoffee

Colloquially free 

Just beautiful silence & me!

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I woke this morning

Amidst a splattering of sun

Dust motes twinkling

Like stars on the run...

...From the brooding night sky

Of a day far too long

But the warming rays of light

Told me, that night had gone

So I showered in the sunbeams

Like a meerkat at dawn

Walked out into the morning air

Feeling like a man reborn

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Hark! The screams

Of distant lands

Where hope resides

On shifting sands

A Danse Macabre

Played out for all

The Taliban host

Their Masquerade Ball

Smile ye devils! 

At prying eyes

For once averted

They need no lies

Knives are sharpened

Whilst in this lull

Once backs are turned

So starts the cull! 

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The blue sky yawned

And out they came

As the mortal hoard 

Looked for blame

It's us! It's them!

It's God's fair hand

His silence broken

To make a stand!

Some cowered. Some ran

Some stood in awe

As tears of seeds

Filled Earth's floor

For exactly 6 hours

The seeds were sown

For the 7th

Time stood alone

Leaves stopped in flutter

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Before the demolition

Turned my old Street

Into rubble

I went to steal some memories

Of our laughter & our struggle

I went to hopscotch down

The chalk lines of the past

Play tag with the echoes

Of ones who didn't last

Time had aged the street

Like a persons face too old

It wore the strain of many toils

From the ending of 'black gold'

I wal...

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How you doin'?

How you doin', ok?

I hear you struggle

To find some light 

In your day

They say you're dancing

All alone on the floor

And treat your friends

Like they're not friends

anymore

Your Mother's wine

helps your mind to escape

And washes down all

the pills that you take

Such plagues of sorrow

To find in the young

That life ...

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Poetry is a funny thing

It can cause debate

Or make hearts sing

It can take you to

A wondrous place

And brighten up

A moody face

It can make you smile

Or make you fume!

And sometimes even

Make you swoon

It can make you cry

And make you shout

Or, sometimes, be 

Just about nowt!

It can make you think

And make you ponder

What lies beyond

The ...

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In the light of the waking sun

steam plumes

 from his dormant mug

dancing to unseen draughts and breath

It sways hypnotically

There's a glimmer of rainbow within

Perhaps, blue skies

and exotic dawns

He lingers in its gentle drifting

Too long, really

Until evaporation, 

and beyond...

...She sits upon the hillside

overlooking the valley.

In the dis...

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She flew over meadows

Over rivers & brooks

And held conversations

With articulate rooks 

Who told her a tale

Of when mankind resided

And the balance of nature

Irreparably subsided 

How they ravaged her soul

And ripped out her heart

And watched their green world

Slowly depart 

How the creatures of woods

Of forests, and meadows

Had to fle...

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The golden orb

Has rendered me red

Upon arms & shoulders

And on me fore'ead 🥵

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I watch her slowly

 fall from grace

Her body still

Her mind displaced

New memories 

no longer stay

they simply  

          just              

drift  a w    a         y

Like a mist around

a mountain old

that dissipates

as the dawn unfolds

She's there in body

but sparse of mind

Sometimes it's hard

to seek, and find

The vibrant woman

she...

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It's Friday

Beer and pie day

Ok to let it slide day 😚

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Be still, and feel

This gentle breeze

That brushes by

With careful ease

And ruffles leaves

Upon their trees

And scatters far

Their fruitful seeds

Which vein the earth

To start anew

So you and I 

Can live here too!

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Goodbye Mr Frost

Did you leave the children screaming?

Give their life some meaning?

Do they realise the cost?

Stay there 

So you can hear him breathing

Prepare you for the grieving,

for the wailing of your soul

Slow down 

His darkness is just growing

Your stomach churning, knowing

That the end is coming soon

...And he's right here in your ro...

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Behind a small window

Within a large house

Upon a thin ledge

Scuttles the tiniest mouse

To whom, 

Everything seems big

To such a thing so small

Even a baby girl

Seems so very, very tall!

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Beyond this realm

Beyond the sea

Beyond this frail reality

Beyond the blue

Beyond the air

Beyond the things no longer there

Beyond the dusk

Beyond the dawn

Beyond the Twilight's sleepy yawn

Beyond the dark

Beyond the light

Beyond the tapestry of life

Beyond the planets 

Beyond the stars

Beyond the galaxy's vibrant scars

The...

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Do we do nothing

But stare at the sky?

Do we do nothing

But avert our eyes?

Do we do nothing

But stifle our cries?

Do we do nothing

But conform to lies?

Or, could we become

All we can be?

And settle the wake 

Of this turbulent sea?

And rise above waves

And rise above fear

And shout at the sun:

"Look! we are here!"

A...

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As football poems always do well on here...😆

I thought I'd torture you with this one I wrote about the best club in England 😉

On Sunderland docks 

They riveted iron & steel 

In surrounding villages 

Whirred the pulley wheel 

Graft and toil made 

The industrial North East 

Sweat and blood spilled 

All with little release 

But teaching minds resolved 

...

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Evelyn is a doll

Just a rather large doll

She's not made of porcelain

She's only made of wood

With a shock of black hair

Hidden under a hood

Cigarette burns & scars

Pot-mark her face

And, she lives under the bed

In an old leather case

She's missing an eye

From when thrown at a wall

Her tattered old dress

No longer fit for a ball

Oh...

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Something comes creeping

Through the dark night

I look from my window

But it's just out of sight!

Something comes knocking

Knocking at my door

I turn the handle... slowly

But, it's there no more!

Something comes crawling

Crawling so slow

Shall I turn to look?

I no longer know!

Something is breathing

Under my bed!

I dare not look

'case it ...

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Two little dickie birds

Sittin' on a pot

One did a poo

The other

Did not…

...yes, my WOL friends, that's the grand total of poetry I'm able to summons this week 

Not quite up to Hugh standard 😂

I think the title may be one of my best though 😆

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I ate some strange old mushrooms

Got chased off a shark

It jumped outta my beer bottle

And began to bark

I ran through a dying mist

And into a wall

Then into the deepest sleep

I began to fall.

Into strawberry Fields

With lemon drizzle streams

And coconut shells

Full of incoherent dreams 

Oh

What a strange

Old day

Making conversations...

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I passed by a window

Where an old man smiled 

and misted up the dirty pane

Behind his eyes the sadness showed 

of every steep & rocky road

He'd had to climb

Next day I thought I'd call on him

And out he came

So pale and thin

-but with that smile

And graceful guile 

He said

Son, 

in my mind, 

I'm as free as a summer breeze

A...

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(re-edit)

I came upon a man, unsettled

Wandering a barren land

He'd lost his hope and joy somewhere

So, I took his trembling hand

I told him I had lost my heart

And my soul had flown away

But, together, perhaps, we could find

A better place to stray

We came across a weeping girl

With skin of obsidian black

Her flesh was torn and gaping red

Where the wh...

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The man in the mirror

No longer looks like me

His best years are behind him

There's nothing more to see 

His daughter is a woman

With family of her own

The years now seem to fade away

Into the bleak unknown

Although I'll keep on dreamin'

Of better things to come

Sometimes I feel like runnin' free

Into the rising sun

A slither of a silhouette 

Against a s...

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I dream of idle chatter

In a bar where nothing matters

Where sweet vibrations beat

In rhythm with my feet

And laughter comes so easy

Conversations light & breezy

Like a languid summers day

Where your mind can drift away

And eyes are full of winks

And lips are full with smiles

And beer flows like nectar

As we dance in different styles:

Some without rhythm

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A Love Song

   (forever) 

There was a time

When love defined 

All of the things 

life could show

So undermined 

By routine & time 

Upon our own tide 

we ebb and we flow 

A fork in the road

A different abode 

What would these old eyes

Of mine now see? 

Perhaps without love

Perhaps then I could

Get over how much

You mean to me 

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The car jolted.

Her weary eyes 

opened slowly

Like mechanical shutters 

Flickering through trees,

the dying sunlight

stabbed at her sight

with golden shards.

Mouth dry

Limbs weak

Clothes damp

Daddy?

A stench of sweat 

Lingered in tobacco air 

Made her cough

Made her gag

Where's Daddy?

she croaked

Muffled laughter

Gon...

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Who am I?

Who knows? not I !

Perhaps, I'll find out

when I die

When in the ground 

cross armed I lie

and become 

the congregation spy

Will friends & family

sincerely cry

Or, perhaps pretend

and also lie?

Will I hear truths

I now deny?

Or, will they say

'Oh! What a guy!'

Will happy thoughts

of times gone by

Just turn to thoughts

of ...

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(Song for politicians)

There's a...

Great view from my Ivory Tower

The window is frosted, but I still feel the power.

Got my...

Savile suite so I feel the part

But I like to pretend I got it straight from Primark

I feed my…

Flock through the magical lense

My sincere smile upon your telly transcends

And I'm…

Fully trained not to give a ...

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The dusk turns to dark

As I look to the sky

With starlight reflected

in the blue of my eyes

And, softly, into focus 

glow the heroes of old

Each golden cluster

a tale to be told:

The Hunter & his Hounds

search the night sky

For dragons & serpents

and horses that fly

While Perseus gives Andromeda the eye

And grabs her a moonbeam

as one passes by

Thi...

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A Cadenza

A melody drifted through the sky

All who heard, could not deny

The feeling of joy within its sway

As we sang & danced the night away

The song broke free upon the wind

And all indifference did rescind 

It came from mouths like blossom freed

Unchaining hearts of every creed

We danced until our hearts were clean

And thoughts ran clear as crystal ...

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Something wicked this way comes

For Dante's Inferno fills God's lungs

Heave o' heave! The mortal tide

Stitch & weave his ruined pride

Or, too late fall

Into the gaping wound

Until the time of man

Has been consumed

This world is of our making

Its resources slowly breaking

Yet, we continue to prod & poke

Though, it is ourselves we slowly choke.

If Nature...

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(Originally song lyrics for a friend, wrote after the tragic suicide of Chester Bennington)

Broken friends 

In the backstreets of my mind 

I kicked a ball against a wall

It bounced into a neighbours yard, 

Where, I cut my hand upon a shard

of glass that glittered in the sun, 

Into my mind again I'd run

And wake within this broken life

Upon my wrist I held a kni...

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She danced under the moonlight

Deep, deep into the trees

Until the morning mist

Made her the dew upon the leaves   

She dripped unto the fertile soil

Where fragrant flowers bloomed

Then bees refined her into honey

And your eager mouth consumed

Your sticky lips, like summer, shone

As you sowed your field of corn

And the innocence of restless youth

Lik...

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He flung the rope 

over a branch of a tree

And fluttering down

came a few dead leaves

He watched them rest

upon the cold, crisp earth

And cursed his mother

For his wasted birth

This year of pandemic

Had him stripped to the bone

Made him jobless & useless

A bear in his home

Frustration begat anger

And anger begat fear

Unable to provide

For...

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