Looking in the mirror
I see the man I am
Not perfect but surviving
Doing everything I can
To provide for my family
Give them everything they need
Hoping with my being
That they see my tiresome deeds
I wish to put my feet up
To finish with my work
But I know my family needs me
And for that I’ll never shirk

The demons are real
They whisper to me
The monsters are here
Don’t try to flee
I try not listen
To block out the noise
To keep my composure
And act with good poise
But every so often
Just now and then
I might hear whisper
That does make some sense
Then ever so slightly the mask gives a slip
The madness exposed
My sanity stripped
Just for a moment the monsters are free
Until I I can cage them
And return to be me

Life is change
The seasons
The years
All you can do
Is change with them
Lives are taken
New lives are created
Mourning, rejoicing
An eternal conflict
That brings us all
To the inevitable

Is my pain reality
Or is it in my head
Will it disappear
Or stay with me till I’m dead
My existence is a struggle
Day to day a living test
But the love of my family
Keeps me trying my best

Last night of the year
And out in the pub
I spied in the corner
A man on his todd

So I went and I asked
If I could sit with him
And he returned with
He was patiently waiting

For all of his brothers
Each of his comrades
To return from their duties
To drink and make merry

Each year along
the fewer arriving
Till this year alone
The glass he was raising

So I sat and I drank
With an old weary soldier
And listened intently
To the stories he told me

When the night ended
With smiles and with tears
I wished him farewell
And a happy new year

We are all different
None the same
So who are we
To judge insane
To see the world
Through different eyes
The things you’d see
Such sweet surprise
Describe a colour
With my senses
Feel freedom from
Enclosing fences
Built by peers
Sane and normal
Doctors probing
Pills and potions

Am I see through
Or am I seen
Does anyone remember
The places I’ve been
The deeds all done
From past to present
Are they noticed
Most likely forgotten
Over time
Your actions erased
Even if mentioned
Met with a confused face

The point I try to make
Is that there is no point at all
When you are gone from this world
You are gone and that is all
You may be remembered
But that will not be for long
So I repeat
The point I try to make
Is that there is no point at all

These 4 walls
Have no windows or doors
Yet I pound and I pound
With hope


Of escaping

Where or why the tears flow
I have no control
They seem to come from nowhere
Mostly when I am alone
Many people stand around me
Not seeing all my pain
I want to scream aloud
Although it would be done in vain
My ailments are invisible
You cannot see what’s wrong
And every day I wonder
Can I keep on being strong

Social injustice
It is a fact
The rich get richer
The poor get jack
To tackle this problem
We need a plan
That will actually benefit
Each working man

Will the soft dark take me
To slumber so sweet
The oblivion of dreamlessness
Wonderment of sleep
A dream so close to take me
From my painful daily world
And wrap my mind in velvet
Till the dawn reclaims it’s hold

A new year a new me
The mantra of the masses
But people rarely ever change
Unless it really matters
So let’s have a real new year
Don’t set the silly goals
Just pledge to do the best you can
And keep a happy home

From the moment that I met you
You stole my heart away
It’s you I want to wake to
Each and every day
I will be complete when you’re my wife
Forever you are mine
Together we created life
Our futures looking fine

Why is there fighting
When we are all one race
Can we not sit together
And talk face to face
Though we may all look different
Our hearts beat the same
So why is there fighting
And looking to blame

Multitudes of galaxies
Floating in the unseen universe
Hidden by the pinpoints
Of lights from the cities
Insignificant through infinite time
We wander along our minuscule lives
Gone so quickly into nothing but memory
Nothing but names forgotten to history

As they stand there
In skimpy clothes
Ignoring the letching
The leering
Calling to the lonely
The lost the sad
The desperate
The depraved
Are you looking
For a date
A good time
Always in danger
Taking the risk
To earn the
Money for the next fix
The next meal
The babies clothes
No one asks their
Stories

In the dead and blowing leaves
The rain and wind aplenty
Autumn brings the long coat sleeves
And leaves the branches empty

The days are shorter. Dull and grey
The clouds all gather
Bringing rain
The ties to summer severed

The tears flow freely
The pain is a thief
Tearing away my sanity
Piece by little piece
Will there ever be a time
When there is no pain
That I do not cry
Will I be insane
There are no words
to describe my plight
But for now at least
I survive to fight

If you were a watcher
What would you see
My day to day acting
Or me being me
My smile as I work
And chat to my colleagues
Or when I sit silent
Fighting the memories

If you were a watcher
Would you be surprised
To see me put my mask on
When I arise
After my meagre sleep
Awake with pain
To face one more day
Put my act on again

Feeling lonely, feeling blue
All because I’m missing you
Wishing to be by your side
In the flesh not in my mind
To touch you would be such sweet pleasure
Something that I’ll always treasure

With the loss of a love
That was sent from above
Grief is a hole
That appears in your soul
That can never be filled
No matter your will
To try and replace
The familiar face
That was sent from above
To fill you with love

In the darkness of my mind
I wander
Of the nature of mankind
I wonder
If the truth is ever present
Why deception

Your radiance is greater
Than 1000 suns
Your beauty
Always leaves me stunned
Your grace would silence
Heavens angels
Your love
Will last throughout the ages
You are forever in my heart
Nothing will ever
Keep us apart

Sitting sipping watching
With one eye on door
Waiting for old comrades
He knows he’ll see once more
Those left upon the battlefield
Fighting by his side
The men he toasts a drink to
With a tear in his eye
He’ll tell you all his stories
To keep his mates alive
And how it is his honour
That they helped him survive
So if you see a veteran
Sit with him for a while
Listen to his wisdom
And keep his memories alive

I wonder at the universe
So vast, empty, cold
And realise it’s easy
To feel so all alone
We are all just a tiny dot
Living tiny lives
Insignificant to the universe
Just as tiny flies
So while we live our little lives
Try to make a big impression
So you will be remembered
For a few more generations

This is a story
That needs to be told
Of the men and the women
For whom the bell tolls
They fought to the last
‘Gainst our numerous foes
The names no longer
Called on nominal rolls
Are our brothers and sisters
For whom the bell tolls

When the curtain falls
Can you say
I did my best I gave my all
When your numbers up
Did you live
Or just hide from every mishap

Will you be proud
To tell your loved ones
The life you you led was full
Or tell them
All you did was hide afraid of everything

So live the life you’re given
Do the things you enjoy
Don’t be afraid of happiness
Cause in the end
We all know that we are going to die

Autumn brings the vivid colours
Reds and yellows
Trees all covered
Till they drop onto the ground
Piling in drifts all around

Walking with our hats and gloves
All wrapped up as if in hugs
With the people that we love
Kicking leaves from empty boughs
A time of love and laughter

Will they ever just be silent
The voices in my brain
They talk so much of violence
Look what you’ve done they say
It was in our defence
Is always my reply
Although another question
In my mind is always
WHY?

Is this world reality
Or is it just a dream
If so I’d like to wake up
Though it doesn’t seem to end

Upon the end of this dream
On waking from this life
Will I remember my mistakes
And minimise the strife

Why am I isolated
Why does my voice
Die in my throat
Before I can explain
Why I feel so down

Why can I not convey
The hurt, anger, pain
I keep it inside
Only to hurt my loved ones
Not because I wish it

Why must I push
Everybody to a distance
Thinking it will save me
But only isolating me
Further from my family

without you time is endless,
my heart yearns for your touch,
as i draw nearer to you,
my love grows oh so much,
to feel your breath upon me,
the warmness of your skin,
to kiss your lips, caress you,
know that you are mine.

I see their faces, crying
Though I’ll never know their names
Those images of heartbreak
Seared into my brain

They never had a chance to live
Before their innocence was taken
Casualties of conflict
Never knowing any peace

Waiting for the guns and bombs
To wipe out their families
Leaving them homeless
Living on the streets

After seeing with my own two eyes
The lives that they endure
My heart breaks every day
For all the children of war

The voices speak
Some are not friends
I sometimes wonder
When is the end
I go to sleep
Awake each morning
To the clamour
Of them returning
Never knowing silence
Can I ever know peace

The fight has gone
I have no energy
To even move is effort
I’m overcome with lethargy

Work is hard and long
It drains the life out of me
When I finish for the day
By darkness I am claimed

Arms and legs are dragging
My head throbs aching
Is there an end to this grind
The light I cannot see

Lying here without you
On a lonely single bed
The only thoughts I have
Are of you running through my head
You’re not there when I reach out
I cannot hear you breathe
This time away from your side
Is a hell that doesn’t cease
My wish to be beside you
Even just to watch you sleep
And etch your image into my mind
Another perfect memory to keep

We been sledging in the snow
Kids all shouting GO GO GO
Up and down the hill we run
Laughing as we have our fun
Sliding on the snow so fast
Wishing it will always last

How many voices in my head
You are not worthy one has said
Another just wants to be dead
I listen not to these

One says that no one is like me
That’s just because I’m crazy
I’m trapped in here never to be free
I listen not to he

Another says he is a friend
But whispers to me it’s the end
No more he thinks my life should wend
I listen not to him

But in the clamour and the buzz
I here a voice that says I’m loved
I think it comes from heaven above
To that I have to listen

My struggle happens day to day
For love is why I kneel and pray
That’s why I know I’ll be okay
I listen just to me

The laughter of my children
Will always make me smile
No matter what I’m feeling
It melts away for a while

If god is our father
Why won’t he answer
Does he just not care
He leaves us to choose
But offers no guidance
Just leaves us to blindly flounder
He takes us all eventually
But offers no solice
Just an eternity in paradise
To wonder if our lives
Were ever worth living at all

Our time is limited
To walk along our path
Onwards to the future
Unable to change what’s past
We give to our children
The knowledge that is ours
With hope that our legacy
Will light their darkest hours
We hope to give them wisdom
To build a better world
Though really all we can do
Is watch for what unfurls

If time is healer
As they always say
Why does  it still hurt
After all these years

The loss of love
Is never replaced
No love is the same
From another’s face

Each love is different
None are the same
So the hurt from a lost love
Still feels fresh through all time

People come and people go
Though friendship is forever
Those special people in your life
Are in your mind whatever
We may lose them physically
But never from our minds
As long as you have memories
Their souls will stay alive

What am I here for
What is my purpose
Is my presence needed
Or am I superfluous
Will I have an impact
On anyone’s lives
Or just be forgotten
Whenever I’ve died
I’m not looking for anonymous
Nor do I want infamy
Though I would like comfort
For all of my family

One, two, three, four,
We all have them
Count once more
Two arms, legs,
Hands, feet,
So we can run, wave, greet
Not all are lucky
Some have one lost
Or even two or three
Lost in war
Born with a disability
So when you see a limbless person
Don’t look down upon them
Help them if they need
Embrace their stories
See the people

The truth is that
We are finite
One life we have to live
To fill the world
With love and light
Not tarnish it with hate


The truth is that
We are human
Each and every one
So teach the next generation
To do better than we’ve done

On the wind
The voices of the past
Remind us of our triumphs
Our failiures, loves and losses
Those choices made
That makes us, us

We all hear those whispers
Of what we could have been
And reminisce of time gone by
Of hopes endured, dreams come true
Or sorrows that forever live
For people lost friends gone

These guiding spirits of the past
Direct us onward down our paths
They tell us what is our best course
For happiness and contentment
To reside with us forever more

The mask adorned
I start my day
From dusk till dawn
The mask is away
They would be shocked
If they only knew
The real me hidden from view
The laughter hollow
Just for show
Very few people really know
The pain I suffer day to day
A price I know that I must pay