Now the end of December is here,

So I’ll toast you, my friends, with a beer,

Then I’ll scribble a rhyme,

While I have a good time,

And I’ll wish you a happy New Year.

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Welcome to the season of excess,

When insincerity displays a mask,

A false façade to hide the public face,

Disguising with a smile revulsion’s rage.

This travesty of tolerance and care,

That lasts but for the briefest tract of time,

Discarded when the fateful day has passed,

Resuming the routine of disregard.

A festival of friendship and goodwill,

Concealing the percepti...

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We sit silently in the flickering light,

shadows cast by the box in the corner

that we are earnestly not watching,

and we studiously avoid a conversation

neither wants to start.

Meaningless sounds form a backdrop

to thoughts that hurtle round my head

on a repeating loop,

in hope that something might be different

on the next pass.

Questions, whose response

would rel...

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Burning rocks in summer sun

‘neath lazy blue sky.

Waves lapping on the shelving shore,

with whispered hints of a ‘woosh’

from the turning tide,

and the merest suggestion

of tiny bubbles,

muted in the noontime heat.

Exposed bladderwrack,

clinging to the craggy outcrop

revealed by receding waters,

crackles and pops as it dries,

releasing a briny bouquet that hangs...

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i. Spring

The joy that springs as dormant world revives,

Renewing all that winter’s sleep had lost.

The vivid green that sprouts and quickly thrives,

When freed from chilling chains of snow and frost.

The ice begins to melt, the streams to surge

In spate, to swell the rivers to the seas;

They pass, and feed the flowers that emerge,

And succour the renewal of the t...

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Monday, work day,

Need to earn your pay day

Weekend was okay day

Wish it could have stayed day

Tuesday, blues day,

Seems like lots of queues day

Weekend is too far away

Enough to turn your hair grey

Wednesday, some say

Middle of the week day

It’s a gloomy grey day

Almost like it’s doomsday

Thursday, better day

It’ll soon be Friday

Watch the ...

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meadow flowers wave

in early evening breezes

a bee meanders

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I see her every morning on the early shuttle train

A face that’s so familiar but I still don’t know her name

I can’t remember when it was that I first noticed her

But suddenly it registered that she was always there

Some days like all the others she has deadened daybreak eyes

But other times they light up like a beautiful sunrise

I wonder when I see her what it’s like to liv...

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Please, no more tears, he softly said

Let’s try a little smile instead

We’ll wipe that sadness off your face

Just mop it dry, leave not a trace

So don’t you fret your pretty head

And if your dreams dark thoughts have fed

I’ll help you meet the day ahead

With confidence, and strength and grace

Please, no more tears

With that he tucked her into bed

A bedtime s...

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John Michael Porter, died, aged 42.

Beloved husband, and a father too.

Engraved upon a stone, obscured by weeds

That cover up a life of unknown deeds.

He lived and died not all that long ago,

His grave untended, so we’ll never know

Who lies here, in this final place of rest,

And was his unknown life then cursed or blessed.

John Michael Porter, died, aged 42.

Th...

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What magnetism draws us to the sea

To watch the far horizon and to dream,

And build tall ships to take us on the tide

To sail across the foam to distant lands.

Is this the fate of all who walk this realm,

A doom that’s laid on all our island race

To journey off to find those foreign shores

And there to spend our labour and our years

What is it drives us from so sweet a home

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Bridge of Sorrows, Bridge of Tears

Named for sadness from the past

Forgotten now for many years

Your story can be told at last

In days gone by so legend goes

Oppression, famine did abound

And many thought to flee their woes

Away from Ireland’s hallowed ground

From Falcarragh they set out

To make for distant Derry’s shore

With minds filled up with fear and do...

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She drifts through each day in a dreary depression,

Her mind is a void, on her face no expression,

And so as she wanders she wonders inside

If all of her erstwhile emotions have died.

It’s been such a long time since she felt so free,

And danced through the day in a gusto of glee,

When fun was the norm and joy was her byword,

And each bright new day she’d thrill to look f...

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“What are you up to, Liz my dear?”

“She’s gone and nicked my pen!

Can you just please come over here

And get it back again?”

“Don’t worry dear, I think you will

Have plenty other pens.”

“Do as I say, and right now Phil!

I won’t tell you again!”

“I really don’t know why you make

A great big ballyhoo!

This is the last time I will take

You to the flaming zoo...

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They sang about Lucy ‘neath marmalade skies,

With slowly responding kaleidoscope eyes

That dwelt on the flowers of yellow and green,

Where the rocking horse people skipped to the scene.

But the cellophane diamonds were pie in the sky,

Made of marshmallow piled ever so high,

In newspaper taxis where we read it all,

And sun in your eyes kept your face to the wall.

T...

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She sits at the kitchen table,

aimlessly stirring a lukewarm coffee cup,

her thoughts a thousand miles away.

Shading her eyes

against the sun’s glare,

as she gazes at the cobalt sea.

The figure running up the beach casts a shadow,

a spectre that evokes visions

of the distant kitchen table.

As he sprawls beside her,

she becomes conscious

that she hates cold coffee.

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When England played our boys in green

In Dublin the teams did convene

They huffed and they puffed

But got roundly stuffed

With nine points to Ireland’s thirteen

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To wander free down by the sea

Along the scorching golden sand

‘Neath cloudless skies and hand in hand

And in the crystal waters see

Despite the bright reflecting light

Small fish retreating as they flee

From these strange creatures from inland

Who wander free down by the sea

We wander free down by the sea

A holiday that’s long been planned

Relaxing in a foreign ...

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The sunlight strays through soaring trees,

And birds call out their lonely pleas

That echo strangely in the dawn,

Now that the gloom of night has gone,

And leaves are stirred by morning breeze.

The silent watcher stands and sees

Their careful flights, in twos and threes,

From branch to branch their path is drawn

Through soaring trees.

Another day’s uncertaintie...

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Validation

is the golden prize we seek,

like a peer review for technical matters

we yearn to see if our contemporaries value our work

and appreciate it.

Only they can understand

the emotional turmoil

we have bound up in the things we write,

and the stresses we have overcome

to deliver this final draft,

even though we are never happy with it ourselves,

and continue ...

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It was only fifty years ago,

Sergeant Pepper brought his band to the show;

With its psychedelic songs,

It’s a record that belongs

Amongst the very best we came to know.

And in that year did anybody see

That amazing steeplechase at Aintree?

It was really a surprise

When Foinavon took the prize,

As all the others fell at twenty-three.

And when Sandie did her E...

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Just a bit of fun for today.....

On Valentine’s Day I would take

A gorgeous girl out for a steak;

As she looked in my eyes,

It will be no surprise,

That that is when I came awake.

On this Valentine’s Day I’m alone

So I spend all day long on the phone

I still don’t have a date

I’ve accepted my fate

I’ll just stay here at home on my own

On Va...

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As evening’s chill descends to icy night,

A plaintive cry rings out a mournful tune

Through trees disguised in coats of wispy white,

To resonate ‘neath iridescent moon.

The heavens fade from blue to vibrant black,

And stars appear, to shimmer distantly,

Illuminating as the wolves attack

Their prey, despite despairing bids to flee.

Then silence shrouds the land and...

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She sits at the kitchen table,

desultorily stirring a lukewarm coffee cup,

her thoughts a thousand miles away.

In her mind, she shades her eyes

against the sun’s glare,

as she sees the cobalt sea.

The figure running up the beach casts a shadow,

a shadow that brings chilling memories

of the distant kitchen table.

He sprawls beside her,

and all she can think is

that ...

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There was once a young lad at the Ritz,

Who admired all the ladies’ outfits;

He gave a big grin

When a blonde walked in

With a dress that displayed ….. rather more of her wonderful personality than he could reasonably have expected to see!

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Bird song echoing

Through trees tinged with green

A bright sun dawning

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They’re black and shiny, and they fit,

And match most of my clothes,

So when I’m dressed in my best kit

My footwear really goes.

They’re multi purpose, versatile,

I wear them every day,

And some day they’ll be back in style,

When I am old and grey.

I’ll handle them with loving care,

And wear them till they rot,

But until then I’ll always wear

The only sho...

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I was born.

I have lived.

And one day,

not too far away,

I shall die.

This is the bare bones

of my existence.

Yes,

I have been places,

seen things,

even had a family.

I have done things.

Some I’m proud of,

and some that make me blush.

And all this

has made me what I am.

Warts and all.

But in brief,

I was born.

I have lived.

And one day,

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My mind’s a blank

I just can’t think

To be quite frank

I’m on the brink

Right at the edge

Without a chance

Out on a ledge

Stood in a trance

Stood in a trance

Out on a ledge

Without a chance

Right at the edge

I’m on the brink

To be quite frank

I just can’t think

My mind’s a blank

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For me, it’s in the eyes!

Yes, it’s great to have a figure like Monroe,

or the curves and allure of Bardot.

If she has a face to launch a thousand ships,

or hair that gleams and swishes, that’s a bonus.

But for me, it’s in the eyes!

Lambent pools that seem to suck you in,

Whose intensity demands rapt attention.

Eyes that really sparkle with delight,

or flash li...

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Sun lances through trees

Scent laden breeze disturbs leaves

A warbling bird soars

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Snow on jagged peaks

Icy wind wailing through gorge

A mountain goat leaps

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I went to see her.

Paris, on a grey autumn day,

Not raining, but a hint of moisture in the air.

She was there, in her room, as she was every day,

Holding court in her own controlled environment.

Her room was crowded.

A lot of people had come to see her that day,

So I wasn’t able to get close enough

For any intimate reflections.

All I could do was admire from afar.

I t...

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Sometimes I just wanna tell the world

“You know what? Just fuck right off!”

“Get outta here with your lies,

your half truths,

your unchecked, slanderous gossip,

your egocentric crap on social media.”

Once upon a time we talked to each other,

and actually listened!

Now, in this copy-and-paste era,

you don’t even hear what you’re saying yourself,

never mind what anybody...

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Dim light filters through lightly trembling curtains. Distant moaning, like a keening banshee, disturbs peaceful slumber. Outside, trees bend to resolute force of northerly gale. Barren, straggling limbs send stilted semaphore messages for all to read. Trapped detritus flutters in hedgerow, struggling for freedom to cartwheel like urban tumbleweed along sparsely populated street. Lowering clouds s...

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the green shoots of love

cannot be forced

they take root in

a nurturing heart

and blossom

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Two lonely clouds up in the midnight sky

Stray slowly ‘cross the waxing of the moon;

A silhouetted owl dives from on high

Towards the prey astray on silvered dune.

The colours of the day are shades of grey

That glimmer in the mantle of the night,

With breeze so light the trees now barely sway,

Like feathers of the predator in flight.

The hunting bird then strikes ...

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Floral aroma

Wafting on hesitant breeze

Buds shyly open

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(With a bit of a nod to Rudyard Kipling!)

“Don’t you think it’s time,” I said to my son,

“That you settled down and got wed?”

“Oh no” said my son, “that doesn’t sound fun;

Whatever put that in your head?”

“I’m getting quite old,” to him I replied,

“And thought a grandchild would be nice.”

“Oh dear,” said my son, as he looked horrified,

“That would come with too hi...

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In the land of the ravening Scots,

Where the haggis once used to roam free,

All the glens now are laid out in plots

From the mountains right down to the sea.

For there’s such an increase in demand,

That the wild beasts are tamed on these farms;

And the ghillies on this meadowland

Are all trained to see none come to harm.

For these creatures are raised with the she...

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