I was gripped by a wild frenzied fear
Twisting through my flesh
Digging around my bones
Tingling my skin
Blood shot come my eyeballs
As the beast entered within

A solitary walk on the empty moors
When the howl echoed the night
And then the piercing growl
Through dense smothering fog
Something unearthly lived
That was no ordinary dog

It knocked me down
Onto the wet slippery grass
The putrid breath in my face
And the devil red eyes
That ****** themselves into my soul
Plotting my demise

Bang went the shotgun
Loud and full of life
I laughed from my stomach
A laugh of joy
Then cried as I turned
To see the naked boy

Always in a hurry
Like a butchers knife
Cutting through life
The world is in a hurry

Why don’t we just slow down
Don’t treat your time
Like it’s bad or a crime
Just try and slow down

Take a step back
And breath in it
For more than a minute
Time now to step back

Where did I go
When I ate my breakfast this morning
Where did I go
When I got myself dressed
Where did I go
As I looked in the mirror
Where did I go
That man I used to know
My hair looks very different
And a beard covers my face
My eyes seem all puffy
And my hair is out of place
My skin is showing wrinkles
And my nose now has hairs
My face is faint and thin
Like a stranger just moved in
Where did I go
When I closed eyes after forty
Where did I go
When my body started to change
Where did I go
When I struggled with my clothes
Where did I go
Is the age just starting to show

I passed a man in the lobby
He was as silent as the midnight hour
His face was as white as Christmas snow
And his demeanour was dull and dour

I passed the man again that day
Not one word left his lips
It was like the world around me stopped
As a coldness passed through my hips

I never saw the man again
He disappeared into the night air
The most unusual feeling was left with me
When normally I wouldn’t really care

Who was the man I’d only seen twice
And why did he have to go
Without the simplest flash of a smile
Or the courtesy of saying hello

And then I saw the painting
Hung like a memory on the wall
Of the man who passed me quietly
As I wandered down the hall

His face was all tired and grey
Looking like a chap of deception
He must be someone of importance
As he overlooked the hotel reception

I enquired to the desk clerk
Who is the gent up above
That is the owner of the hotel
Mr Henry J Love

Then I was hit by thunder
As my heart beat with dread
He won’t be with us tonight though sir
The mans been thirty years dead

She’s gives me the ice cream
Then takes it away
Playfully and full of fun
But a bit naughty also
Curly haired and sweet
With a mischievous grin
Portuguese I’m told
She can be whatever she wants
For me

From under the salty tasting waves
Skin fused with slime and sand
Comes the serpent
Teeth like jagged rocks
It’s spring loaded jaw snapping in the air
A boat on the water
Floats along silently
Unaware of the danger to come
All is calm until...
CRUNCH! Goes the wood of the hull
Broken like twigs on a branch
Bodies slung up into the air
Like bread being tossed to the ducks
Screams awash the portrait like sky
And then silence
Blood covers the foamy waters
Like paint onto an artists canvas
The serpent has come
And fed its belly
It’s rotten dark putrid belly
Awash with bone and flesh and wood
Down it’s drifts
Back into the depths of middle earth
Sleeping like a baby
Until interruption brings it forth
To wreak havoc once more

She had glasses
I had none
We talked a little
And then she was gone
Didn’t even catch her name
And she didn’t catch mine
But for those few brief hours
The world felt so fine
I could walk past her in the street
She could walk past me
Without the slightest recognition
Of a conversation we had at sea