I smell talc and lilacs.
In the bathroom, in the home.
Where the old and finished perish.
Where they're cherished, free to roam.
With their rheumatoid aethritis.
And their spitoons, ever full.
Gazing out to see new inmates.
Fleeing breakfast, break the rule.
But for some there is still hope, yet.
Where the twinkle will still shine.
When the feet can shuffle forward.
And the freedom is divine.
And they'll hide there in the bushes.
And they'll pass the boilings, sweet.
For the shuffle means escaping.
On their wizened calloused feet.
But they've brought their thinnest jackets
And their slippers, tatty, worn.
So they'll plan escape another day.
And they head back in, forlorn.
But when the nurses back is turned.
They'll check their mapped out paper.
And they will have their exit soon.
Through this seniors breakout caper.
Nov 19, 2025
Nov 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM UTC
Mesmerised by the bread
Latched between incisors and canines,
I stare and listen to him as I conceal my guilt
and consider the lunch he consumed in this stuffy, joyless prison.
I am drawn in and hypnotised by the thoughtless walls around me.
Blank looks and blinks. Boredom sets in.
I, however, am entranced.
Swirling with emotion, confusion, medicated.
Just enough to go through with this interview as to how I cope,
and how long I have lived with this illness?
When do I dress and eat? Tick.
How kempt do I look? Tick.
Have I undertaken a long and complicated journey,
and without assistance, to get here? Tick.
All of this races by in a blur.
Until I'm told to stand and the manipulation begins.
I've been manipulated from the moment I entered -
This bleak and barren room,
and it will take me around 4 weeks to discover this.
I leave the building and become myself again.
My desire is to be seen, but not harassed.
To be acknowledged but let go,
and live a life of satisfaction, without pain.
I remember how sweet it is to find joy in art and music,
To enjoy the sweet perfume of the present.
As I walk with purpose I hear the trees whispering that all is well,
and the sun embraces me with its warmth.
Once I'm home, I sit, settle, and let safety envelope me.
I am truly blessed with life, however dark my days may be.
More than a number, more than a tick in a box on a document.
I know that I am loved,
and shine like a diamond in other people's lives as they too shine brightly.
For they calm and nourish my heart.
Nov 19, 2025
Nov 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM UTC
***** was the fanciest hiker.
He'd dream of himself as the Laird.
He'd lace up his boots, and back comb his roots.
So all of the quines scarper, scared.
He wasnae much fond of the ladies.
They'd fuss in their fanciest togs.
He'd much rather be at the side of a tree.
Or knee highed half stuck in the bogs.
When it came to the Hoolie wi dancin'.
He'd shift off and scale up the hills.
So pitched in the dark, he knew he'd embark.
On a life of fresh air, not the mills.
So now, at the ripe age of ninety.
***** in his bachelor state.
Would think back and find
That he, of sound mind.
Now thinks that a wife would be great.
But ***** is quite chuffed with the nurses.
Who love him and spoil him, to boot.
He's cared for Laird-style, he'll be here a while.
He'll hang up his crook and stay put.
Nov 19, 2025
Nov 19, 2025 at 3:41 PM UTC
Blaw-weary of time.
The understanding of past.
As I look forward, walking to the present.
Ever aware of a day wasted.
Is a day rested.
Followed by a night.
Of blinking at the bedside clock.
Tripping as I do over scuffles.
Swarmed as I wash, by thoughts.
Invitations to fight or ponder.
Mulling as I towel dry my hair.
Feet resigned as they remain cold.
Despite those efforts.
To keep them warm.
To turn trudge into purpose.
Walking the tight rope.
Invisible as spider web.
Yet inked on the path.
On the way to winter.
Nov 1, 2025
Nov 1, 2025 at 7:54 PM UTC
At Night I Fly.
Once the book closes to the final resting place of my eyes.
There is a brief solitude where my bones settle
and the silent starting pistol fires
as my muscles unlock themselves.
And they finish their paperwork.
When it is time, and when it is no time.
Those familiar places, these fuzzy stored faces
begin their journey into morning faded confusion.
After the mechanical processes sign in for the day.
Where I see my future, when I start my climb.
I remember the feelings of longing, of love, and of fear.
Nov 1, 2025
Nov 1, 2025 at 7:54 PM UTC
Dream Boat
I smell the scream of the fresh cut hedges.
I tread the path of the wearied day.
I see the sun set on autumns' blessing.
Song of the geese as they soar away.
I feel the calm as the sunset praises.
Talk of the wind and the leaves that drift.
Blessed as the trees at the seasons' slumber.
Blink of the stars as our night time gift.
Far as the mind of the lovelorn dreamer.
Far as the eye in the mist of time.
Sleep as he rests in the ink dark silence.
Safe 'til the joy of the morning chime.
Nov 1, 2025
Nov 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM UTC
I am ready to sit where I stand.
In the corner.
Like a woman with an empty dance card.
In the first breaths of war.
I am of a confused conversation.
Bones clicking like a switch
Weary although I have slept
In a corner of the bed.
Dreaming.
The murmurs of vitality.
Whispers rising like steam
In the echoed room.
Where passion clings like static.
Wooden floors shine.
Waiting to take the weight
Of the padding, plodding audience.
Enrobed by the heat of discovery.
Nov 1, 2025
Nov 1, 2025 at 7:49 PM UTC
If I were like air then I'd breathe you.
As I sit in the the bowl and observe.
I'd never succeed in the quest that I'm freed.
I'll rot though, if I had the nerve.
Just take me and pick as I ripen.
Bite me, as nectar escapes to your chin.
Enraptured by spell to entice you again.
And feast on sweet secrets within.
But leave me and pass with your ignorance.
Overlooked as I signal my true end of days.
For I will repay you with sorrow.
As my beauty fades, waving farewell decays.
Aug 13, 2021
Aug 13, 2021 at 11:38 AM UTC
I see love.
But I think they are just married.
With their piled plates and their.
Pancakes there.
Squeezed faces and head flicks.
Head flicks away from the groom's groomed hand.
This doesn't bode well.
Despite the pancakes.
In the value hotel with their soft luggage.
Eating pancakes as they check their phones.
Jan 2, 2020
Jan 2, 2020 at 9:21 AM UTC
Deepest darkest chocolate fur
Honeycombed with jasper eyes
On my terms you'll make me purr
Love and calm became your prize.
Through dark days I was here for you.
I'm strong when you were weak
I was around when lost, then found
I shone when times were bleak.
Evermore in your heart I'll be
No thunder, treats, or fireworks wake me
Pain and hurt, of which I'm now free
So now this slumber comes to take me.
Our lives are not forever, friend
And time's up with no choice
I'll visit you in dreams again
I'll recognise your voice.
Dec 13, 2019
Dec 13, 2019 at 12:52 PM UTC