Weary of this town of peopled pain
I set my path towards the country plain
to wander there, to gaze, to think alone
to hear again  the woodland's drone

Lost in meadow, field and glade
I sought the calm of dappled shade
Sometime, I crossed a log-made bridge
Or, viewed a valley from fir-toothed ridge

So still the air - I heard the bluebell's ******
and caught a hidden thrush's eye atwinkle
as from thorn hedged cover with a thrill
silence welcomed its quavering trill.

Half across an old wind-weathered stile
I paused to gaze upon the scene awhile:
"Who could have made this?" Was my thought.
"What breath breathed this? What hands this wrought?"

Before me stretched a wonderous natural land
un designed by humankind - some primordial hand
Who once this world's existence stipulated
then taking elements, atoms, molecules them manipulated.

Into myriad mists of time has humankind dissolved
bearing a triple question unresolved:
How did We come? Why? Where Goest We?
If I knew the answers - would few believe me?

Called by larks from thoughts of life's meaning
I saw a sparkling brook down a valley streaming
Silvery-voiced it beckoned - come and slake
your thirst, come quaff amid my bubbling wake.

I, deep in the babbling water's bottom spied
a bright round pebble washed and pied:
it invited - perchance you'll take me
to London in a place called Stepney.

In my boiling mouth it found a place
cooling the bulge it made upon my face.
Refreshed in spirit - I made my homeward way
pebble-tongued across the new mown hay.

Tobias.

Such bliss of delights:
those sacred nights
in the all together.
How we exposed  
ourselves indeed.
We took, we gave;
swept away by Eros
on sensual tides of
ardour’s ebb and flow.

I, surging upwards,
onward, inwards,
plunging down into
desire’s *******
foaming waves.
You, urging me on,
drawing me deep
into intimate inlets
of Venus’s ectasies.

TOBIAS

In your childhood
I saw You formed
as fragrant flowers:
while sun showers
fell on your growth
to natural beauty.

Gently as You bloomed,
I placed daisy-light
kisses of sweet love
on your chaste petals.
On your first birthday
an acorn - I planted.

Now in a mythical
Garden of Memories
I carve into the mature
towering oak tree bark
clean fresh stanzas
of unforgettable words,
That tell You truly:
Never Doubt
You Are Loved.

I lift my proud hands
as if to reach the sky
and bring down
showers of stars
for they ever shine
so bright, so clear
Just like You do.

TOBIAS

You are like the seasons:
blithe nuances  of Spring,
close warmth in Winter.
The cool side of a pillow.

You are like a butterfly,
sun dancing, Summer fresh,
chrysalis freed,  fully flight
formed, passing perfect.

You are like Sentiment’s  
Muse of  tender fancy:
gifted  in  beauty, charm,
wisdom, knowledge, poetry,

Even as much as I like -  
in the Autumn of my days -
your sylphe-like anatomy,
I love your innocent soul.

TOBIAS

While walking in the jungle
I saw a monkey peeling
a banana and holding
a tin opener. I guess
not needed for
the banana. So
it must have
been for the
custard.

TOBIAS

Oh, Dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny Scarlotti is following me.
He won’t buy a trinket to please me
but with a smile would ease me
onto a slab at the morgue.

Oh, dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny's on his way from the fair.
He’s bringing me a basket of posies
a garland of lilies, a bunch of red roses
a wreath for where my body reposes.

Oh, Dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny Scarlotti is following me....

TOBIAS

I never understand
when girls say
they have lost
their virginity.
It's not like
it walked off
somewhere
and can
be found again.
But what's gone
is gone.

I could understand
if they said
that they had
given it away.
Or, that being
misled into bed
it was mislaid.

Now I know
first hand by
charm and chance,
it can be stolen.

TOBIAS

Mine host in a B&B on the coast,
excelled in the making of toast,
But one morning - half awake -
he made this mistake:
instead of bread
he toasted his head.
I assure you, no take-on
his patrons thought it was bacon.

TOBIAS

God! How will it all end?
In the hour glass,
grain by grain,
the sand is falling
unchecked, relentless.
I’m running out of time...

I shut out the clock’s
steady tick and stop
it hands. But, the sun’s
rise and fall cheats
my  deliberate denials.
I’m running out of time…

Seconds, minutes, hours
days, months, years are
measured out  in full.
Any chance of a lapse
or even an extension?
I’m running out of time….

My doctor gave his diagnosis
it was a shock prognosis:
“Six months, maybe eight,
if you watch your weight;
It could be longer.”
I’m running out of Time…

Yes: I’m running out of Time:
But does it have to be a race?
“Time like a rolling stream
Sweeps all this life away.”
So runs the hymn apace.
I’m going. Please God at a tortoise pace.

TOBIAS

The words "I love you"
can - through repetition -
sound and  seem shallow,
when compared with the
immensity of your caring,
for the one you love...

Words can sometimes
fail and actions deceive:
so all is best expressed
in sharing between each
your devoted loving trust.

TOBIAS

What was that haunting sound
outside in the gathering gloom?
Its mournful tones rang round
the pale moonlit silent  room.
No spectre, ghost nor ghoul,
but only a wandering owl
that had lately left its lair
to sit high in an oak tree bare
of leaves. While from nearby,
feathers unruffled wide of eye,
it cast a shadow from its head,
as I lay only half-asleep in bed.
Counting each and every breath.
Its presence “a harbinger of death”
often in fables told and legendary.
Was there an omen in its elegy?
For this listener, blanketed prone
in fearful darkness, still as stone.

TOBIAS

You are sunlight’s glow,
softly melting snow.
Awake from Winter ease.
You are the mild breeze
summoned up to tease  
Spring buds in hosts untold.
their shy blossoms to unfold:
reaching out to Summer’s face
forming fruit in weight apace.
Your escorts - butterfly and bee
silenced by Autumn - now flit
to bush and buzz to tree:
seeking out sunbeams befit
for You and Me.

TOBIAS

So, you think you
are turning into a
packet of biscuits?

Yes, Doctor.

What sort of biscuits?

Square ones, Doctor.

Have they got little
holes in them?

That’s the ones.

You must be Crackers!

TOBIAS

Both Maggie and May,
were fond of a drop,
and met one day
over an alco-pop.

“Maggie, your nose
is as red as
the last  rose
of summer!”

“As is yours, May,
so  it’s not
blooming alone!”

TOBIAS

Spellbound in dreamtime caught,
I wander free in endless thought,
for now no other cares intrude
nor steer me from my solitude.

Memories drift about as in a mist
of how it was - our Autumn tryst.
I taste afresh your searching kiss,
arousing carnal acts, desire's bliss.

I ease again your body close to mine
intimate, divine. Our lips combine.
Caressing thrills  -  skin on skin,
releasing  ardour’s needs  within.

Once more I'm held as in a dance,
melding with you in tantric trance.
Dreaming of that dear time anew,
I lose then find again myself in You.

Tobias

To
truly
Forgive
someone
who harmed
you, is to Forget
where you buried
the avenging hatchet.

TOBIAS

Come My Love:
They say,
“We do not
choose love.”
They say,
“Love chooses us.”
Then who are
they to say:-
“We can’t
refuse love?”
So, let’s make
it: - Love.
Tobias

In your
Ballad of
Reading Gaol
you wrote
everything
on  pages
of sorrow,
love,
rage,
insights,
compassion.

I truly believe
your poetry
set you free
of the
tormenting
jailers and
your Muse
Erato turned
the keys
that opened
your cage.

TOBIAS.

War is pointless:
once you truly
accept no life is
less important
than your own.

TOBIAS

To lie or not to lie? - that is the question:
tis never  nobler to belie the truth
nor ***** out its light in the dark,
and by so doing spark pain for pleasure.
Or, by opposing both affects quite end them
and by so doing gain unwanted reaction.
To lie, deceive - no more - and by a secret  
code say what we want to say unvarnished
by pitting  truth against all lies
that fall from lips - 'tis an infection
to be avoided  by all. To lie, deceive
perhaps too much. Aye, there's the problem.
for in deceit what further hollow lies may come?
When we have caused such rank displeasure
from one perceived lie, must force us thought. That's the reality making chaos of such an error.
For who would hear or speak an ugly truth,
to cause a love go wrong to fiendish trash,
Why give them heart ache? Who would give them  hurt to bear as unwanted burdens?
But the chance they would enjoy the truth,
The unknown glee from fate's unlucky victims
For the victim's rebuff confuses the liar
So conscience makes the  liar want to speak truth thence rather see that redeeming reaction  Aye.
Thus turning dissembling into soothsaying
And then the addicting infection
is cured with the balm of truth,
so contagion seems less appealing
With this regard the suspected lies soon stop
And lose what effect they once had.

Tobias

When I arrive at The Pearly Gates,
I will still be troubled by
the one thing in life I never
really understood. I mean
the second Theory of Relativity.
My nightmare is that St. Peter
is not on duty the day I die
and I seek entry.
He will have, I hope, passed
on the usual questions....

...all of which I have sure-fire
prepared answers,
to one of his locum guardians.
Hope it’s not Albert Einstein.

TOBIAS

She
wore
only
her
fragrance.
He
watched
her
slip
between
satin
sheet's,
leaving
everything
to
his
imagination.  

TOBIAS

Darlings All,

I am quite capable of writing
a Christmas inspired poem just for you.
For a change, I read lots of poems lately
all by the Bronte sisters: Charlotte,
Anne & Emily. I liked the one I have
copied below just for you.
Happy Christmas!

Love and Friendship

LOVE is like the wild rose-briar;
Friendship like the holly-tree.
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again,
And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then, scorn the silly rose-wreath now,
And deck thee with the holly's sheen,
That, when December blights thy brow,
He still may leave thy garland green.

Emily Bronte

Your smile gives the warmth of sunshine:
I see In thine eyes  moonlight’s glow.
Serenity surrounds your graceful ways
here, and wherever you come or go.

The gentle breeze of Springtime
whispers thy name into the air,
while  colours of the seasons
shine reflected in thine hair.

You: the woman I shape with words:
with thee as the subject matter
no amount of poetry nor prose
could ever suffice in language.

The past is thy tutor. The present
pure nature of thine. The future is
faith in our troth. Eternal Woman.
Thou.

TOBIAS

Lord. With your love and power
be always at her side.
Grudge not time nor the hour
to be her  hope and guide…

In sickness and thro’ sadness
still let her see Your face.
Bless her fleeting gladness
with Your all-protecting grace…

Fill with joyful clearness
her shadowed hours of sight.
Keep her safe in Your nearness
from Evening’s fall to Morning light.

Tobias

Holding on to you
so tight - a dream.
Unable to part
with this love,
My joy is endless.

On life’s  path ahead,
all I can see is,
myself  with you.
Let  Winter winds
blow cold...

...come Spring
They’re old
and we are new.

Missing you:
knowing of
your  sensual
accomplishments,

Surely we will
become reunited,
until then
this  love
will grow
truly,
eternally.

TOBIAS

Near a green hollow where a ditch runs
it lies off road: grassy fronds toss
shade back towards the sun’s
rays that  fall on cushioning moss.  
Hit by a passing vehicle - I surmise…

A badger, mouth open, jet hair
bathed in blue water cress
seems asleep, white blazed, unaware
of clouds and wind’s caress.
On closer look  - a grim surprise…

Like a stroller taking a rest,
its nostrils uncloyed by scents.
Motionless. Laid out on its chest.
In its right side are two red rents.
Lead-shot peppers the entry wounds.

TOBIAS

Two souls sundered
while coming to life:
formed as two bodies.
created as Twin Flames.
yet drifted apart,
still destined to meet.

Longing always:
feeling the torment
of separation.  
Getting weaker
in time and distance.
Each passing second
incomplete without
the precious  Other.

Like a missing
piece of a puzzle
finally in place.
We meet
We merge
into One.
At last again
united - Forever

TOBIAS

Unaware I was:
I never knew it
for slowly You
became every
single thing
I ever wanted.
I have no idea
how it happened
but now for sure
I cannot live
without You.

Tobias.

Within me is a heart
pleading and true:
a man forced apart
willing to free you.

Remembering our life,
recalling fifty years
as man and wife
eroding in tears..

From this illness
turn from pain:
you to stillness
revived again.

Bring your mind
home - a release
safe once more
in Hearts-ease.

TOBIAS

Definition of Hearts-Ease in
the language of flowers: Peace of mind.

God
Of Man,
Woman, Soul,
Thank you for creating me.

You
Called me from sleep
to meet this day,
whatever comes or may.

To
You I offer all
my actions: let them
be done as Thou will.

For
Thy greater glory
keep me from sin
and every evil.

May
Thy Grace be always
with me and all those
dear to me .
Amen.

TOBIAS

Some nights, want of sleep
weighs heavy on my eyelids.
My mind refuses to submit
to long desired slumber.
I review my past mistakes
in a haunting nocturnal
ceaseless replay.                                            
Some nights, until the
darkness breaks to dawn,
I stare upon the shadowed
shrine of personal angst.
The hours vanish along
with my sane thoughts:
the neural connections
slip and slide awry.                                                      
At last, while rearranging
the wiring of my mind,
a switch is thrown
releasing me from
anxiety’s depths,  
permitting sleep to clear
my weary conscience.

TOBIAS

But It’s an Emergency!

Call Centre Operator:
“Sorry. We cannot deal
with personal callers.
Nor can we reveal the
address of this centre.
We just happen to be
above a fast food shop.”
              -------
Due to overwhelming
volume of calls..
Police will attend in
about five hour’s time.
Fire fighters about the same.
Ambulance when it arrives.”
               ------
Customer: “I need a pizza.”
Call Centre Operator:
“That’ll be five minutes.”


Tobias

Enchanting You:
beautiful,
more lovely,
than a Spring
morning sunrise.

Or, rainfall on
a Summer day
as leaves filter sunbeams
dappling the vacant  sky
in screens  of shade and light.

Alluring You:
a flower that
steals through cracked
stones in an Autumn garden,
revealing shy beauty there.

Inspiring You:
more magical than
fresh Winter snow.
Mentor for lines
that formed this poem.

TOBIAS

“So your husband’s missing, madam,
I will need some details.
Can you describe him?”

“Well, sergeant he’s very handsome,
has blonde hair, blue eyes,
is six foot three and aged
twenty five years old.”

“Wait a moment, madam,
I’m sure I know your husband.
He’s about sixty, fat and bald,
if I’m correct!”
“You are! But I don’t want HIM back!”


TOBIAS