He walked the streets a begger
they buried him like a king
he played a six string guitar
he wore no golden ring

She had the voice of angels
survived a valley called death
then fearing no evil
she passed every test

They wrote the songs with sunsets
they walked the line together
they stood in a ring of fire
in love they burned forever

Just in the pubs and clubs
******* our own gear around
Seemingly, always upstairs
For weddings and birthday parties
Sorting out miles of wires
Well-worked practise

But when those amps were turned on
With an audible amplified thud
As switches are flicked
And their lights gaze like tiny red eyes
That's when I am ready

First number and the drums and bass
Connect to create new heartbeats
And now I'm into it
Not the man in the mill anymore
I'm the frontman for the band
And the music soars through me

As the night goes on and grows
The crowd has grown and is dancing
Gaining energy from the music
And feeding it back to us in turn
Now THIS is being alive

And so it was

                                 By Phil Roberts

I am emotion
No matter my wisdom
No matter my age

A tear in every moment
As I have lost my voice
Where once I thought of joy
Now I have a choice
To laugh or cry
In the face of pain
To see the sun
When all I have is rain

I am emotion
No matter my education
No matter my wage

A laugh in every moment
As I find my voice
Where once I thought of sadness
Now I’ve made my choice
To laugh
In the face of pain
To see hope
In the drops of rain

I am emotion
No matter my freedom
No matter my cage

A poem in every moment
As I hear my voice
Where once I thought of nothing
Now I accept my choice
To express my fears
In the face of pain
To see my heart
Dancing in the rain

Once upon a time I wrote poetry
To fill the emptiness that did reside

Once I learn to say how I felt
Long after the tears had mostly dried

Once I marveled at what I could write down
I even marveled at the rthym of the sound

But now the words falter , stumble at the gate
They no longer please me , I take it as my fate

Their purpose has somehow been denied
And to continue on a fruitless path would be living in a lie

So I take stock and close the book and put away my pen
For I will not be found in grace on page written in poem again

Once I was lost but now I'm found

You say you're having problems
With both family and friends
Let's see if we can boil this down
Now where do we begin

No sense in pussyfooting
If we're to get right to the truth
By my calculations
The common denominator is you

If it's you that is the problem
Then the solution is the same
So let's start working in that noggin
And come up with a plan

Perhaps a whole new attitude
A softening of heart
A loosening of the chains of blame
Would be the place to start

If you feel they're out to get you
Before you draw weapons to defend
Search first for the problem
Because it might come from within

sometimes we run
into the arms of
a terrible person
just in an attempt
to escape a
broken heart.