A clock with no hands
six is nine and thirteen chimes
faces in places and silent voices
feet moving backwards
eyes stare ahead
the past
Is gazing at us
for we were there once
maybe more - like staccato dots
etherised in our senses
we edge into reality like
waves that wash away footprints
for this is ours alone
to dream
to sail
to fly and to hold
with feet of wings
from discarded feathers
that once spanned the skies
searching for love
for it is hidden
amongst the rainy clouds
and the deserts that plague
our imagination, the fire of which
burns it away
to make the past
our present and
the dreams
our Forever.

I see waves of gold - water that traps a fading sun. I see a shimmer - a spread of fractured light that drifts like a net that no longer steals from the ocean. I see your feet - toes spread and curled into the sand - holding you in place even if it is just for a moment. Your eyes - blue as the angels on the diptych - gaze across to places that embodies our separation. You have so much in fragments of beauty. The vast empty spaces are filled by nature’s broken parts and you - embrace it all. I can only imagine where you stand; the air you breathe; the scenes that lift your spirits - and I sink further into the recesses of my mind. If only my salt water was that of the sea. Mine - is closer to home as it cascades and travels through the heart and blurs.

Let us freeze
The minutes, hours and years
You and I cannot reverse

Let me take us
Into that space
that occupies
Now and another place

What was it how or
Who was it then
that cut Cheshire cat smiles
on our childish faces.

Ahh! The rabbit
the centrepiece of this snapshot
Majestic like a mantlepiece clock
Your fingers on its fur
My arm on your shoulder
I'm the elder brother
It's right, isn't it, that I'm taller.

Lucky me, the light did  
not betray my eyes
They hide within the shadows
On a faded colour photo.
But it's only the light
That made a contrast
You're glowing;
Me? Oh, never mind.

You and I never played
Hide and seek.
That game was reserved
when Dad's late evening feet
drew close to our door.
He balancing himself
against his stupor
Exhaling intoxicated
Dumb, gibberish in
Deafening slurs.

Take me back dear brother
When I held us.
I, the elder
and you, the survivor.

There is a mist that settles
close to the earth
It has no hope of surviving the sun
Whose warmth and glow
Displaces its watery blanket
Freeing the short grass
and hidden flowers
To strain with the breeze
Two feet venture across the moors
Heavily booted
Over non-matching socks
There is silence to be gained
on the plains
Suppressing the tarred brickwork
Of houses nestled together
Homes to hop-filled words
Pointing fingers
Contorted faces
Harsh ugly spewing outbursts
Love was for outsiders
And loneliness a gift within
The sky seems so close to the tips
Of your raised fingers
A gesture - a reach
For places you will leave behind

Dear Mohammed,
Did you know.
Brits own 8 million dogs and
lavish 10 billion on pets
In Syria this must cause mirth
for its distorted priorities
but in Britain it awakens the soul
to love one’s animals most
It's a companion with few conditions
and reinforces  quaint traditions.
Do you find them funny?

Dear Isaac,
Did you know.
Why the sky is blue
You must have coloured it that way
It isn’t easy explaining but I try
The seven colours of the rainbow is light
Like the ocean it’s made of waves
Blue is the shortest so it’s nearest
Red is the longest so it’s  far behind
Arsenal still beat Chelsea though.
Are you laughing?

Dear Khadija,
Did you know.
You are beautiful and gifted
Bet you were surprised when they said
yes - let the world see your mind
and picture your thoughts
of the dark skinned man and woman
which is the colour of their diversity
When you reduced them to flat shades
Their conflicts became your success
What are you thinking right now?

Dear Mierna, Fatima and Zeinab,
Did you know.
Curling tongs are cool
Confidence is better than looks
Girls are doing better in school
Fifty-six countries had women leaders
Boys prefer curly to straight hair
but Beauty is mostly within
Make up is for the beholder
Smiling eyes are a winner
as a sure sign your heart is open.
Who said smile and the world smiles with you?

Dear Yahya, Firdaws and Yaqub,
Did you know.
Football was born in China
The first club was Sheffield FC
Messi is only five six
The number one rapper is Jay-Z
Your eyes and heart Firdaws
left its mark with its brushes
Inside is a free spirit
that roams across your sketches.
Who is your favourite artist?

Dear Baby Leena and sisters three and five,
Did you know.
Halloween was a Celtic belief
to mark the start of winter
School trips in year 6
can make friendships forever
Fingernails grow faster than toenails
Hair grows at half inch per month
just in case you like them painted
or wanted long locks for fun
You will soon take your first steps.
You cannot wait to run?

Dear Maria,
Did you know.
The home of the Bird of Paradise
is in faraway South Africa
The lotus sacred to Buddhists
is a symbol of hope and peace
Roses adorned Cleopatra
created by Chloris and Aphrodite
Hydrangeas are from the Himalayas
when pink the Beating Heart of Asia.
Do you like flowers?

Dear Jessica,
Did you know.
Australia was born in Dreamtime
onto a land that owned Man
Incas once reigned supreme
In the heights of a mountain
Fish and chips married in 1860
in London by the Bells of Bow
Bruno Mars was number one
but now he is second.
Where would you like to go?

Dear Amayah,
Did you know.
Perrault wrote Cinderella
and Beauty sleeping in the Forest
A princess likes to impress
like a jewel she’s so precious
Rapunzel had very long hair
Snow White very fair skin
Little Mermaid had very sad eyes
The Goat Girl a very clever mind
Would you like to read them all?

Dear Jeremiah
Did you know.
Writing is fun because you connect
with other inquisitive minds
Twenty-eight curved and straight letters
compose Arabic words in a line
The Chinese started before everyone
have characters nine thousand
Whether with a pen or a stick in the sand
No longer are the words confined.
What words will you write first, I wonder?

Dear Mr Councillor
You do know, don’t you?
Isaac has lost his pencil case
Jessica cannot find her tickets
Princess Amaya is looking for her dress
Jeremiah wants some paper
Fatima needs to read the Quran
Maria is desperate to water her plants
Mohammed keeps longing for the Sun and
Khadija is preparing for that accolade.

Forever there is a drought.

You, Mr Councillor, were the outline in their lives
and the shadow in our fears

Pinkhat
22nd June 2017

In amongst the billions of stars
and the circling souls of our world
In amongst the trillions of dollars
and the failures of our humanity
In amongst the hundreds of ideas
that philosophise innumerable thoughts
In amongst the towering glass houses
and the poverty that they brought
In amongst the thousands of successes
and even more rejections
                                                      ­      
Lies a singular truth

You and I belong together
Through the love we created
We grow for ourselves and the other
Inspired and
Undefeated.

Poetry is a quirk of the soul
A seamless song of connections
Where the word rules its truth
And  its spirit encounters you

Just because I believe in religion
Does not mean it is sacred

Just because I believe in God
Does not make me holy

Just because I speak
Does not mean I am right

Just because I am silent
Does not mean I agree

Just because I criticise
Does not mean I hate

Just because you are angry
Does not mean I fear

Just because I think
Does not mean I am free

Just because you pray
Does not mean you are blessed

Just because you ****
Does not mean I will hide

Just because you threaten
Does not mean I will surrender

Just because there is religion
Does not mean we are happy

Just because there is God
Does not mean we live in peace

Hate is ruled by fear
Fear is governed by ignorance
Ignorance can lead to dogma
And Dogma has lead to death

Freedom from Fear
Je suis Charlie

There are many ways to enter someone's heart but what do they mean?

Do you love me with your heart or
Do you just think you're in love?
Do you miss me in your silence or
Do you just miss me with your words?
Do you desire me with your passion or
Do you just desire me with your touches?
Do you wait for me in anticipation or
Do you just pencil me in your diary?
Do you cherish your memories of us or
Do you just let them fade with time?

There are many lives for those who love
There are many more for those who believe
There is just sorrow for those who fear
And dreams of what could have been.

In the silence of long absences
In the retreat of unspoken words
In the confusion of dreams with reality
There are little thoughts and big thoughts
Little thoughts of how it feels to hold and kiss you
Big thoughts of how it feels to love and miss you.

Sometimes I fear you will never discover how much.

Your contours that mark the sand
Depresses the earth into an outline
You are traces of a man
Hollowed out by the horror of your pain

Oh! Son of man, where is ye shame?
You are bound like an ox to a chain
Your body sways like a pendulum
As you lower and  harvest their grain

Chains bind you to your fellow men
So that feet that once ran move now in defeat
They motion as a reminder of your labours
And the bond you have with your captors

Liberty, justice and all that was good
You were made to abandon for a morsel of food
"Yes Master, no Master, three bags full Master"
Baa the woolly sheep bleated in surrender.

Why let the dust of your labours
That fill the air with its derision
Settle willingly on your once dark skin
Mixing your blackness into a confusion

Black is the colour of your conscience
Black was the colour of your rituals
Black feet ran and black hands played
Black babies were the dawn of a new age

You let that slip through your fears
Your memory blurred by ashes
Your brain that incinerated your courage
Condemned you to the life of a savage

Rise up, son of man who fears freedom
Your traces will have no roots
An outline of your existence
Is a hollow grave without its occupant

Don't preach the Bible as your saviour
Unless you have more to offer
Don't mark your  history by enslavement
And the heritage you were made to abandon

That chain that links your past
To a future that is bleak
Is a God of eternal bonds
Secured by your hidden Masters

Your children dance in the shadows of your enslavement
Morphing  your chains into a cross
A freedom founded on great men and courage
Is short-lived by bitter recriminations

The ghettos, the drugs, the guns and deaths
The rap that is the anthem of your anger
Makes a chain between right hand and left
As your youth disappears  forever

My fingers reach out
To my left
Searching gently for
Your  missing contours
That  radiate as shoulders
Your missing contours
That dip as a waist
Your missing contours
That arch over me as arms
Your missing contours
That are the strength in your legs
Your missing contours
That is a chest full of passion

My fingers retreat in defeat
But they never abandon you.

The long journey
Through uncharted waters
Found you floating in the horizon
A discovery not of new shores
Or precious minerals
But an enticement
of irresistible Beauty
We float in unison
We float with  purpose
We unravel simple truths
That lie behind
Our mystery
Of New Beginnings

Forty minutes at a station
Lasting an eternity
As I waited in anticipation
You a beautiful vision
Fulfilling our dreams of passion

Forty minutes at a station
Lasting an eternity
You arrived walking casually
Breezy and in a hurry
You stopped for me indifferently

Forty minutes at a station
Felt like an eternity
You told me the time of your departure
And an e mail to your employer
And  we had limited time together

Forty minutes at a station
Felt like an eternity
I wondered why you loved me
My mind's eye was forcing me to see
My love had been blind to your falsity

Forty minutes at a station
Was never an eternity
It was short and uninspiring
You were detached and unengaging
My love for you was withering

Forty minutes at a station
A lifetime of an education

In the hour of my retreat
My mind gives way to memories
Forcing your smile onto me
Forcing your passions to flow freely
Forcing my captured heart to flee

In the hour of my despair
My mind churns away at memories
I resist your smile my lover
I resist your passions over and over
I resist my heart and take cover

In the hour of my surrender
My mind thrives on memories
I long for your smile my lovely
I long for your warmth so desperately
I long for your love in eternity

In the hour of my hope
My mind plays tricks on me
You retreat from other women
You despair as your heart is frozen
You surrender to love me once again

In the hour of my surrender
Won't you wait for me forever?

In the turbulence of a Storm
My heart rests upon a Rock
In a place where the grass is long
Swaying  passively to a breeze
In a place where the earth is warm
Lit eternally by a furnace
In a place where a  stoic Rock
Submits to its desires for me
In a place where the frozen rain
Melts away in an instant
Dissolving the hovering myths of pain
To free my lonely heart yet again

This is a place for love to grow
Forever, together and more

Was it an illusion?
Words that trigger an attraction
A reply that lays a connection

Was it an illusion?
A look that exposes a sensation
A whisper that defines an emotion

Was it an illusion?
A touch that pushes a button
A kiss that captures a moment

Is it an illusion?
To transform words into reality
To turn moments into eternity

It is an illusion
When words are lost in silence
When affection is met with fear
When All is subsumed in memories

Whilst memories may fade
The illusion remains
We hope for those moments again

Poets love the illusion
Though  Cynics judge us weak
We shall silence their mocking speak

Thank goodness for poets

Gentle is the heart that weeps
Mournful is the soul that yearns
Gorgeous is the memory that lingers
Joyful were the hands that held
You