Don't you wish that life was easy
that things were black or white
all our choices would be simple
one choice is wrong the others right

But never seems to work that way
or maybe its just me
so many shades of grey
the path so very hard to see

But it boils down to this.
Do you want it yes or no?
If you do then go and get it
If you don't then let it go

What's left within the heart of man
that's not been stripped away
or trampled into blood soaked soil
or fallen to decay

Has compassion found its limit
or is it just fatigued
by constant solicitation
coming from those in need

Has love become a ***** word
in an age of such mistrust
those one time shiny wedding bands
are now just rings of rust

What happened to integrity
and the worth of someones word
The keeping of a promise
is now almost unheard

I sometimes sit and wonder why
and where it all went wrong
how we let ourselves as mankind down
in order to belong

Have we given up our self esteem
our honour and our pride
just to impress others
at the cost of whats inside

Our love blossoms without water
Our love blossoms without rain
Our love blossoms when we say goodbye
Until we meet again

Our love blossoms from the words we say
The feelings we let show
May our life become a garden
Where such blossoms always grow.

If my life became a book,
how many pages would there be?
In the gallery of friends and loves,
how many faces would you see?

Would you recognize the chapter,
that covered me and you?
Would reading it bring happy back,
or turn your world blue?

Would there be revelations,
that helped you understand,
the choices that I made,
when I let go of your hand?

And the chapter covering regrets,
would you see your name in there?
Under "People that I truly miss,
those for whom I truly care".

Maybe you would read this book,
and maybe you would not.
Perhaps I'm a part of your life,
you already forgot.

If your life became a book,
how many pages would there be?
In the gallery of friends and loves,
would there a pic of me?

Would you include a chapter,
that covered you and me?
Would it bring a smile to my face
reading how it used to be?

Would there be an indication,
of just what my leaving meant,
would it make me regret me choice,
wish I'd acted different?

In the chapter on Love & Loss,
would my name appear there?
Perhaps under "Losers,
where they went I do not care."

I think that I would read this book,
not just for time to ****.
But because after so many years,
thought of you appear to me still.

Genocide at sea
In the name of profits
Killed by mankinds greed

BREATHE

Just take a breath
take a moment to reflect
and take a breath
take a second just to think
is it worth kicking up a stink
then take a breath

Just take a breath
take in everything around you
and take a breath
look around at all you see
hear birds singing in the trees
then take a breath

Just take a breath
close your eyes and look inside
and take a breath
feel the breeze upon your skin
feel her love warm you from within
then take that breath

Just take a breath
'cause one day t'will be you last
and then comes death
will you close your eyes in peace
or struggle not to be deceased
just one more breath...

And I thought I was doing so well

I had this mask on and everything was fine and nobody suspected anything was wrong. Nobody knew you’d gone, why would they?

I’d even started to convince myself that I was going to be ok. That this time it wasn’t going to be as painful. That this time it wasn’t going to hurt quite so much.

After all we’d just never see or hear from each other again right? That always makes it easier to forget, once the pain goes. I mean its not like I didn’t try to talk to you to get you to hear my side but I never got the chance. So it was on with the mask and on with life as best I could.

Sure a couple of people noticed something was up but they just figured it was too much work or allergies and being guys knew better than to ask just in case I actually told them. We do things like that to each other, guys do.

But then today happened.

Today you came back ever so briefly, at least I think you did. You saw the mask and never bothered to look beyond. Just like everyone else.

You saw the mask and thought everything was fine when you couldn’t be further from the truth.

You thought everything was fine and that I’d moved on and I haven’t. I’m still in the ******* ******* hole I’ve been in ever since you left. But how would you know. Why would you even care to find out. You left. You went. You and me, we were done. Because that’s what you wanted. Because you couldn’t see a future in it.

But then why did you come back?

If you had something to say you should have said it. You really should have said it.

I can still smell your perfume, you know.

I can still taste you.

I close my eye’s, and, you are still there.

This mask, this façade, this act that you think is about someone else is all about you. It always has been. These things I’ve written since you’ve been gone are things I wrote before you left. But couldn’t finish.

Now I finish them as a way of keeping you around. Pathetic isnt it.

And now the irony of it all, the true irony, it’s not what you think you know, but it’s that you may never know whats really happening.

Because I didn’t want the world to know just how broken I was.

Just how broken I am

Because until today,

even I didn’t know.

Could this be the butterfly
that brings about a change
The birthplace of the hurricane
that cause things to rearrange
Could it sweep across the nation
from the bottom to the top
Could it be the inspiration
that makes us finally say "Stop!
It's time to end this madness
turn off the war machines
We the people, we want peace
do you remember what that means?"

From everything to nothing
in the blinking of an eye
sometimes thats how it feels
and its that which makes me cry

From hope to desperate loss
really isn't all that far
you can get there in a single step
from no matter where you are

Our lives change in an instant
sometimes out of our control
which is why when you find happiness
you do your best to just keep hold

But sometimes we forget this
while we're waiting for a sign
and the thing we wanted most of all
ends up getting left behind

And thirty years from now
when we sit there feeling blue
The best that we can manage
is "Whatever happened to..."

Smugglers paradise
Casablanca '41
Sam plays it again
A black and white love affair
That is far from black and white

Winter and spring
play hide and seek
upon a frigid breeze

Mother natures
tug of war
brings mankind to its knees

The howling winds
cross frozen waters
cut us to the bone

Melting snow
and sprouting bulbs
shows we are not alone

And finally
the battle won
tween seasons old and new

Release the thoughts
of things gone by
for life begins anew

Its ok to say you love me
its ok to say you care
its ok to wish that you were here
instead of over there

its ok to say you got it wrong
on the day you chose to leave
at the time it seemed the only choice
that you needed room to grieve

but the years have not dulled the loss
any more for me than you
and so we have to ask ourselves
what it is that we're to do

but for now it is too early
too soon to think ahead
the words may still taste bitter
but at least they have been said

Don't let pride become your prison
don't let doubt push you aside
it ok the way you're feeling
from it please no longer hide

I don't know what the future holds
for I too am full of doubt
so come and sit right here beside me
speak the truth, we'll work it out

I always feel so lost
no directions know my name
I have no clue whats going on
each path looks just the same

My life is lived in free fall
always out of control
I spend my time avoiding things
that come too fast for me to hold

I yearn for some stability
in my life and in my work
and yet I'm doomed to sabotage
any hope, Im such a ****

I don't know how it came to this
I'm just a normal guy
But I truly have nothing to show
for the forty years gone by.

Is the pain of not knowing
worse than the pain of choice
Does hurt more to say nothing
than it would to raise your voice

To share yourself between two places
means a heart thats torn in two
It also means that nobody
will get the best of you

For the best of you is many things
far too many here to list
and to spread yourself too thinly
means that many will be missed

You can certainly love two people
just not two people the same way
so the choice to make becomes
which kind of love you want to stay

I think either is a lucky man
no matter which you choose
but choose is something you must do
else everyone will lose.

Its not about the presents, the money spent, the choice
its about the thought behind it, so listen to your inner voice

Will you buy her something sensible, or something with a cord
Will you shop within your budget, or spend more than you can afford

Or will you pay attention, to the commercials on TV
and think if she had one of those, how happy she would be

Well I hate to break this to you, because all of those are wrong
You cannot buy true happiness, ignore the jingle and the song

The truth is that she loves you, and wants you to love her back
and the perfect gift will show her, that you do exactly that

It may be something trivial, simple, without flash or flares
it may be something made by hand, but the hand of one with cares

For every coin you would have spent, use an hour of your time
and create something magical, not at the end of any line.

So from every Christmas on, a treasure she will find
beneath the tree on Christmas Day, and her heart to yours will bind.

Poetic
Inspirational, Emotional
Reaching, Sharing, Connecting
You are not alone
Comfort

Remember not so long ago
when empires ruled the world
and thoughts of independence
led to new flags being unfurled

To be ruled by leaders far away
just simply wouldn't do
Leaders should be from the new world
if we're to make this new world new

And here we are two centuries on
after all that human cost
trying to rule the world
is the irony all lost

We talk of global government
common cash and world police
the very things we fought against
are now a way to peace?

But I guess things must look different
when you look down from the top
Lets remember our own history
and we'll know why they don't stop

Give power back to people
let each man choose his way
or just take the time to listen
to what he has to say

You'll see we put our homes first
our family and friends
and only when we've got that right
do we then start to extend

We don't bail out the millionaire
so he can keep his pool
and then turn round and tell our kids
there's no money left for school

What makes me your enemy
is it the colour of my skin
the clothing of my people
or just the country I live in?

You do not even know me
don't know what I believe
but you revel in my childrens death
without leaving me to grieve

You came to liberate us
but you cant call this free
we get stopped and searched at roadblocks
by soldiers for your country

I understand you are scared
citizens of new Rome
but that does not, give you the right
to invade anothers home.

Especially as your reasoning
was a fabric made of lies
is it really any wonder
you're the ones we now despise?

You and I are different,
you have gotten that much right.
You have a democratic system
you can use to stop this fight.

You can call upon your government
citizens of new Rome
to end this forced invasion
and bring your soldiers home.

For although we are quite different
in how we look and how we speak
Neither of us want to die
there's common ground we seek

We share a common wish
for this war to end and cease
So we can raise our children
to live a dream of peace

I did not say goodbye
to beat you to the line
and just in case you're wondering
no I'm not doing fine

I simply stepped away
to give you the space you need
to see if what you're looking for
is in him or is in me

I'd love to be impartial
give advice thats motive free
but I know now I cant do that
because I want you for me

So in a bid to give you clarity
give you time in which to choose
I simply stepped out of the spotlight
to wait for any news

I didn't say that I was leaving
just that first contact should be yours
that way you'll know just how I feel
you can press play or you can pause

And by choosing not to choose
you've already made your choice
You're happy with the status quo
no need to raise your voice.

Ten items or less
Deliberately ignored
Causes checkout rage

This yearning has me at a loss
its a fog thats in the way
Like a bank of cloud has swept on in
and put a haze upon my day

Try as I might to push it aside
it keeps on coming back
To replace the cloud with clarity
may be down to something I lack

Perhaps you could help me out here
tell when the fogs gonna rise
When this yearning will be satisfied
so I can see through clearer skies

Christina Twistleton-Wickham-de-Fluff
couldn't decide what to do with her ****

Wherever she went the darned thing would shed
she even found hair from it inside her bed

So she took out the scissors and trimmed it a bit
but did a bad job and her **** looked like shhh....e had messed it up

So she took out the clippers to give it a trim
fired them up and got stuck right in

Be she lost her attention when a friend of hers called
and now theres a spot thats totally bald

But panic she didn't, nor get filled with dread
She simply decided to wear gloves instead.

The phrase "collateral damage"
is used so not to cause offense
to desensitize the public
'bout the ****** of innocents

We're spoonfed daily numbers
of those who won't come back
but for innocent civilians killed
we dont bother keeping track

Because they're "collateral damage"
a nameless faceless entity
so easy to ignore
if they don't look like you and me

But when the shoe is on the other foot
and our innocents get killed
we put pictures in the papers
and monuments we build

Have we really sunk so far
as not to comprehend
that "collateral damage" means people,
and that war just has to end.

I lie awake each morning
looking up at the tiles on my ceiling
count them for a little while before losing count and moving on to something else
the dim light through the window tells me not  to rush
rain awaits or at best grey skies full of nothing good

Dawn colours my room
Its hue a clue to the day
That awaits outside

slowly I stretch, already sad at the lack of sunshine.
Wishing that today, like yesterday I awoke to an orange glow within my room.
On those days I skip the count, stretch, rub my eyes, slip on my robe and greet the day with a hearty hello and firm handshake.
Today I skulk off to the shower, head down, wishing it was yesterday.

Forty something years ago
in a bed in Montreal
John asked that we give peace a chance
and thousands heard his call

But here in the next century
there’s no one to make the plea
But I’m sure if he was here now
with what I say he would agree

Nobody ever wins a war
and far too many always die
It’s better to give peace a chance
than fight a war over a lie

So what is it we’re waiting for
brothers. sisters make a stand
join hands and sing his song with me
make it heard across the land.

All we are saying, is give peace a chance

Nothing less than everything,
is what i give to you.
Everything I am is yours,
and everything I do.

You chirp away all night and day
with chat from those who've naught to say
You annoy me to the bone

You drop, you break, on shore or lake
you cost me a fortune I can't make,
You are my new cellphone

I turn you off I turn you on
my ability for peace is gone
of that there is no doubt

I leave you and lose you wherever I go
I even lost one in the snow
whatever happened to just being out?

You say you pick your battles
I say you run away
You say that its not worth it
So what is this game you play?

A year from now you'll be back
complaining nothings changed
Forgetting how you walked away
and left things still the same

You've been fighting the same battle now
for going on two years
because you choose to walk away
when she turns on the tears

It's not about you being mean
or cruel, even unfair
It's about your right to be happy too
You don't lose that just cos you care

It's time you stood your ground my friend
and finally saw it through
before this fight thats going on
gets the best of you

I struggle to see the reason
our paths were meant to cross
Initial hopes that gave me joy
now leave me filled me with loss

Surely disappointments lesson
is one I've truly learned
Just take a look inside my heart
to see the scars I've earned

To show me I can love again?
I don't see how it can be that
If so you'd think my path would cross
with one who loved me back

So if you have some insight
or know what its all about
Please speak up and don't be shy
tell me what its all about.

The deep dark soulful abyss
draws me in, falling,
losing myself in your gaze
Everything around us drains away
like sand through an hourglass
Wrapped in solitude, silence
only the sound of our breath remains,
getting heavier, heart beating faster
chest heaving in anticipation
anticipation of this moment
this moment where finally
finally we can be free.
Free to love, to make love
to feel love, to share love
Free
Free to be together, to eat together
go to sleep together, wake up together
to be together, completely.
Completely without reservation or hesitation
Completely without fear, or nervousness or doubt.
Completely.
Until that day...

They say that life is short,
and while this may be true,
is it not also correct to say,
its the longest thing you'll ever do.

Life isn't happy endings
and the streets aren't paved with gold
and fortune favours the other guy
no matter if he's brave or bold

While we all dream of fairy tales
and once upon a times
its my sad duty to tell the truth
in this disappointing rhyme

Ladies if you kiss a frog
you'll just get frog goop on your lips
there'll be no dashing prince
broad of shoulder, thin of hips

And gentlemen I kid you not
there is no sleeping beauty
the only girls who sleep all day
are those who work night duty

(and trust me, you don't wanna be waking them up)

No magic lamp, or secret word
will help you change your lot
so **** it up my buttercups
what you have is all you've got.

Do tragic poems fill a selfish need
a desire to show others how we bleed
By showing that we're weak
is it martyrdom we seek
Do tragic poems fill a selfish need

Do poems of lost love serve a purpose
to remind of the past that deeply hurt us
Wearing hearts upon our sleeves
so publicly we grieve
Do poems of lost love serve a purpose

And what about the poems we don't write
of the things that really keep us up at night
About the pain that is too real
when we can't express just how we feel
The poets undisclosed internal fight

There's a wall around my garden
and in that wall appeared a door
I've lived here many years now
but not noticed it before

Its paint is worn and faded
you can see wood right through the green
and though its peeled and cracked in places
you can see nothing in between

And for some reason, until today,
I never gave much thought at all,
About what the world might look like,
On the other side of that wall.

But now I gaze upon that door,
Which has suddenly appeared to me.
And place my hand upon the latch,
And step out ....cautiously.

So you think you want to fall in love
did I hear you right?
What's wrong with being happy
are you yearning for a fight?

Cynical, who me?
Is that really what you think?
Just because I'm a little bruised
and flushed two marriages down the sink

But seriously all jokes aside
when loves new there's nothing better
but when it starts to hit the fan
you'd think we would know better.

So you want me to work late again,
because you're understaffed.
Yet everyone else in this place,
is sat upon their ***.

I work twice as hard as everyone,
while they just coast along.
Yet you come to me each weekend,
and sing me the same song.

You say its because I'm good,
which I guess makes the others bad
You try and stroke my ego
do you think that I'm that sad

Well sorry boss but I got plans
so no can do this time
Perhaps you can get one of them
to tow the company line.

Of course they do not want to
what made you think they would
They don't have to give their weekend up
but for some reason I should?

Well like I said I'm busy
got me some stuff to do
Dont worry, while I'm at the beach
I'll be thinkin' of you.

My return doth find me wandering hill and dale.
Ten years have passed from whence I did set sail,
and as I crest the peak of Cotham Hill,
fore my eyes a field of naught but Daffodils.

Their vibrant yellow dazzling the sun.
A fanfare of golden trumpets play as one.
I sit amongst them with no further plans to roam,
for in this spring time field of beauty lies my home.

Awakened in the early hours,
the smell of grass, the scent of flowers.
A smile from you being sent my way,
and so begins a perfect day.

The thing I most look forward to, is looking back with you
how we did the things we talk about, and of the things we’re gonna do

Remembering a time, when goodnight turned off different lights
and spending time together, meant wasting time on flights

When the years we’ve spent together, are more than those we spent apart
when the best years of our lives are now, and not just about to start

When this poem's a  distant memory, just a record of the past
of how we found our soul mates, finally, at last.

Dear page

you listen so attentively
to all I have to say

when it comes to telling others
why can't it be this way

I share with you my every wish
my every hope and dream

and secrets that I dare not share
are on pages in between

I hold nothing back and bare my soul
without a second thought

but when it comes to telling others
with fear I am wrought

how I pray for liberation
to find the one with whom I share

that I may tell my story
to someone who really cares

Sharp pains in my chest
Pins and needles in my arm
Could this be the end?

I long to hold you in my arms
feel your skin upon my skin
to place my lips upon your neck
and slowly breathe you in

To feel your chest against my chest
your hips against my hips
to feel the arching of your back
and the quiver in your lips

To see the love within your eyes,
reflected in your soul,
everything that is of me
is yours to have and hold

As we come together
and our bodies become one
emotion becomes motion
beating to a different drum

In passion bound, oblivious
to all that is without
consumed within each other
no hesitation and no doubt

And as our dance comes to an end
and in its bliss we bask
having shared all of each other
there's nothing left to ask

Single loads of laundry
sad freezer meals for one
no dishwasher for me
chocolate ice cream, just for fun

the never tested voicemail
on the outgoing only phone
one knife, one fork, one plate
signs that yes I live alone

take-out menu fridge door
a doorbell never rung
ipod playlists for the company
that never ever comes

early nights and books
an optimistic queen size bed
a collection of matching pillows
that only ever see my head

the one cup coffee maker
a single slice of toast
bills paid on time or early
nothing handwritten in the post

a will with nothing in it
and no one to leave it to
burial or cremation
I think I'll leave that one to you

no life insurance needed
retirement arranged
no girlfriend, lover, wife
ex, current or estranged.

this is the life I've chosen
free of contact free of pain
free of almost all emotion
this is my refrain

Because I've seen what people do
in the name of what is love
so to save myself the heartbreak
my life is as above

You can't eat your way out of depression
Take it from me cos I've tried
and whoever said chocolate, was just like ***
well quite frankly my dear, they lied.

Today I wrote a list
a list about a friend
a list of all their good points
that seems to have no end

A list of all the ways
they bring happiness to me
A list that I can't show you
because then you too would see

You'd see that maybe just perhaps
they were more than just a friend
because the way in which they touch my life
it really has no end

I could tell you how they make me smile
by just the simplest word
and how they never make me
feel my voice has gone unheard

I could tell you how I think of them
with every miracle I see
and how I would give anything
to have them here with me

Each time my mouth is opened
their name is on my lips
and each time my eyes are closed
my hands are on their hips

Whenever skies are cloudy
they take away the rain
and I wish when they are hurting
that I could take their pain

Could it be they are my greatest friend
and that I in turn am theirs
Or could she be the one true love
the answer to my prayers

Every time I walked these cobbled streets
its just after the rains
as if God himself is trying to wash
this city down the drains

Narrow streets and terraced houses
back yard postage stamps
overflowing dumpsters
cashless carry for the tramps

No vibrant colours to be found
just different shades of brown
the colour of depression
destined to drag you down

No wonder everybody leaves
can't wait to get away
escape this drab and dying maze
in search of sunny days

Is this my midlife crisis,
my “what’s it all about?”
Everything that once were certain
is now vague and filled with doubt

The friends I thought I’d have forever
one by one have stepped aside
I’ve lost my grip on oh so many things
despite how hard I’ve tried

The urge to run away, escape,
grows stronger every day.
Am I unique in my frustrations,
or do others feel this way?

The things around me, they mean nothing,
most of the people, less than that.
These four walls around me are not home
it’s just the place I hang my hat.

When I consider my life’s purpose
there’s really nothing I can say
It's enough to do to figure out
the purpose of this day.

This soul of mine lies bleeding
scorched beneath the sun
Found lacking and unworthy
its journey now is done

No salvation lies ahead for me
just a ****** trail behind
My best I guess not good enough
demanded strength I could not find

My battered carcase dragged along
hand over bleeding hand
As desperately I sought to find
acceptance in loves promised land

As hope and faith they ebb away
my dreams exsanguinate
I cast myself into oblivion
before this pain turns into hate