He is cool
He rocks
He’s like a rock
Solid

He is kind
He is deep
Like the sea
Mysteriously

He’s a young
Seventy-one
Number one
To everyone

He’s a mate
He is great
We celebrate
Our dearest John

A shot in the arm
Is on the way
Hip hip
Hop hop
Ouch…Hooray?!

What will it mean
For life on this earth?
Have we learned
What nature is worth?

A shot in the arm
Is on the way
Hip hip
Hop hop
Ouch…Hooray?!

This year has been full
Of loss and pain
But we have to do better
Not repeat the same

A shot in the arm
Is on the way
Hip hip
Hop hop
Ouch…Hooray?!

I hope this pandemic
Made us stop and grow
We have to put love
At the heart of tomorrow

A shot in the arm
Is on the way
Hip hip
Hop hop
Ouch…Hooray?!

‘I’m almost back to normal’
I told a friend today
He said …’if you’re almost normal
don’t go all the way…

…Stay a bit abnormal
It’ll be a clever touch
Normal and abnormal...
We’ll love you just as much!’

Every moment
Is more precious
Than a shining jewel

The play of afternoon sunlight
On high tide water

The gathering of birds
Perched atop a weather vane

The embrace of a loved one
After a shared struggle

The multi-coloured setting of the sun
Over silhouettes of winter trees

Steam rising
From a freshly made cup of tea

The swelling of hearts and dropping of tears
In recognition of a shared emotional experience

This world is full of more beauty
Than I could ever put into words

All that is required
Is surrender to one’s senses

A willingness to see all things
With wonder

The courage to open one’s heart
To the workings of the universe

I need to be here
I need to be there
I have to do this
And mustn’t waste time

I rush from this
And jump to that
A hot tin roof
A sore paw cat

With this and that
My day bundles up
With parcels of time
That are no longer mine

Let today
Be a day
Where everything
Goes smoothly
Where all our hopes
And dreams
Come true

Let today
Be a day
For triumph
And victory
The happiest day
For me and you

I don’t want to go on
But it’s all I can talk about
It’s the same old song
That my brain just won't clear out

I should be strong
But being weak is appealing
I shouldn’t go on
But it’s just how I'm feeling

How long will they listen?
If I go on complaining
Will they whisper ‘how boring’
And stop enquiring?

It’s a drag being ill
Much better, being 'better'
To have good health
Is something to treasure

So ***** to you Covid
And off with my head
Its laptop and Netflix
That I take to my bed

What does
One person
Amount to?

It is through
Our interactions
With others
That we become
Something more
Than we are
Alone

I approach
The end of this day
And abandon it
To sleep

The end of
This Friday
Never to come again

And I want to see
The back of it

Rather than cling to it
As a precious tranche of eternity

How human it is
To have good days
And bad days

It’s been a very tough year
For everyone

Our nations
Have suffered
So much

It is bonds of friendship
That hold us all together

And your one kind act
Has greater significance
Than you realise

Encouraging me
And my friends
Greatly

Thank you

It is said we face
The worst economic decline
In 300 years

So be it

Would we prefer
An economic acceleration?
Has our economic activity created
The world we really desire?

Perhaps we should slow down
And let the environment
Recover?

After all
Economic prosperity
Does not equal happiness

At the start of each day
People awaken
To begin their travels
Along invisible pathways
Weaving an invisible fabric
To swaddle the community

People push buggies
Along pavements
Delivery drivers
Arrive and leave
Writers write
Runners run
New replaces old
As ******* collects
To be cast aside

Towns and cities
Transform
Evolve
One millimetre
At a time

Life withers
Ages
Dies

And
Is reborn

The planet breathes in
And out
Beneath the weight
Of our existence

In the end
Everything
Is about art

How we live
How we love
How we speak
How we move

All
Art

Every choice
Every thought
Every wish
Every deed
Acts of creativity

Ours is the choice
To create a drama of great beauty
Or not

We hold the paintbrushes
Decorating our unique canvas
With the paints of life

I want to
I don’t want to
Go out
Stay in
Meet people
Meet myself
Explore
Take risks
Live on the edge
Be safe

I want to
I don’t want to
Take responsibility
Take care
Build for the future
Live for the moment
Go crazy
Stay sane
Live long
Escape

I want to
I don’t want to
Do the right thing
Get drunk
Start again
Forget everything
Fly high
Dive deep
Visit everywhere
Buy cheap
Dance and sing
Disappear

What is left
When everything is taken away
What do we miss the most?
What have we taken for granted?

What lies ahead
Beyond the storm?
What will we build?
What will we treasure?
What will we discard?

All past adventures
Seem like dreams
And all chasing of recognition and notoriety
Seem even more shallow
As we gaze backwards
Through our new lens

Paradise must be built
We cannot compromise our planet any further
Air must be clean, water must run pure
Trees must prevail in much greater numbers
And humans must remember
This painful time

My sense of smell
Has departed
My sense of taste
Disappeared too
And now I know
What loss it is
To eat and drink
Without these things

Mealtimes lose their pleasure
Eating become purely functional
This Covid shows what is important
Through what it has taken from us

The fever is gone
Taste and smell too
Two takeaways per week
To help get us through

A Netflix subscription
Great books to read…
Love and support
Are all that I need

I’ve got it

And I must isolate by law

How will the next few weeks go?
Only time will tell

I pray for my family’s health

This winter
Might be tougher
Than I had predicted

The part of you
That was never looked after
As a child
Suffocates
Beneath heavy layers of protective material
Laid down over years
Of earthly living

And so
You do not know
How to love fully

But you can learn

Reach deep into your spirit
Befriend the frightened child
Bore a channel through your armour
And allow the limitless love
Trapped in your life
To flow forth freely

I always cry
When I run a fever
Needing to become childlike
Vulnerable

I reach out
For feminine energy
To comfort me
And help me recover

My head is pounding
My legs are aching
I’m a down with something
I don’t know what

So I take some air
Walk the streets
Slower than usual
Sipping the evening air

The good people of this town
Are inside their houses
Watching TV
Playing with their children

I walk down the street
And wonder at the myriad stories
That lie behind every window
In every house

Goodbye Mr Cummings
Your days in power are done
You’ve got a cardboard box with you
Departing looking somewhat glum

Goodbye Mr Cummings
Your Brexit work is done
It’s seems you are no longer known
As Bojo’s pal and bestest chum

Goodbye Mr Cummings
Where to will you go?
The military?  The media?
Who could possibly know?

Goodbye Mr Cummings
Enough words have been said
I wonder what strange thoughts and schemes
Are rushing through your head?

Goodbye Mr Cummings
Who’s next to fall I wonder?
Has your brand of toxic rhetoric
Cast your dreams asunder?

So take a pause you would be chaps
Who cuss with sharpened tongue
The clock will tick as you advance
To make sure you’re undone

Love is the greatest gift
One human can give to another

It brings the greatest of all joys
To both giver and recipient

Let us love each other fully
And create a world full of joy

I remember myself
As I was
Many years ago

I remember myself
Making discoveries
Of what I could do
And feeling
Excited and free

I remember myself
As I realise
What I have become
Does not contain
All of that former self

And in this time
Of long reflection
I realise that I want to be
Who I was then
Again
Within who I am now

They say a vaccine is coming
And I feel like dancing
They say it is 90% effective
And I feel like laughing
They say life could return to normal next Spring
And I feel like hugging

This has been a long time coming
But am I celebrating a false dawn?

When you are beaten
In a fair contest
You must step aside
And may way for the victor

Refusing to budge
Criticising the process
Blaming others
Betrays inner weakness

Humility and grace in defeat
Willingness to learn and contribute again
Should be the way
And are signs of strength

When something is wrong
We can’t turn a blind eye
Or look the other way

We have to step up
As America and cry
People over party!

Those who have lost
Should congratulate their adversaries
And reflect deeply on themselves

Well done Joe
You are nearly there
Your dignity is intact
As you patiently await
The coming of the hour

Mr Trump
Your actions reveal
An embittered man
Ungracious in defeat
Pulling desperate levers
To try and stop the tide of democracy

The next few days
Will be very telling

Four more years?
Or
Something else?
I hope
For humanity’s sake
A greater consciousness
Prevails
And that true leadership
Emerges

You have dug your heels in
And you are staying put

I’m trying to move forward
And I want you to come with me

But you won’t
So, I have to go it alone

Perhaps we will meet again
But perhaps we will not

We shared some time
On earth together

Yet who knows what will happen
To anyone of us in the future?

So all I can do
Is bid you Farewell

Realising that those who should have faith in you…
Don’t
Means, that you can liberate yourself
From the chains of mistrust and judgement
That have been wrapped around you
Through developing unshakeable faith in yourself

And then forgiving those who doubted you

After all
It is those who doubt others in their care
Who were most likely
Incorrectly doubted themselves
In their formative years

Knowing that it will be tough
Is one thing
Dealing with difficulty
Another

When we feel strong
Challenge seems but nothing
But when the challenge comes
We will have to face our weakness

Never gone hungry
Never slept rough
Never been beaten
Nor outcast

Never been enslaved
Or forced to flee
Never been attacked
Just for being me

Life is full of problems
Survival is not guaranteed
The only thing we can do
Is try and solve
One problem after the next
For that is what we are born to do

Rose
What do you do at night
When I can no longer see you?
What happens to your rich colour
And your delicate scent?

Do you wait
For the return of the sun
Eager to display
Your natural elegance?

Or perhaps you disappear
Into some other dimension
Where you dance and sing
To crowds of admirers
Rushing to reappear just in time for dawn?

If I were to shine a torch upon your body tonight
Would you still shine with such beauty?
Or would you be lesser
Than your daytime self?

Rose
What do you do at night?

Maybe you sleep
And dream of butterflies and warmth?
Maybe you cast spells
Over the crawling creatures of the night?
Maybe you wait, quietly, patiently
Shivering in the autumn chill
Calling for a lover
To come and rescue you

Rose
What do you do at night?

I am happiest
During days full of creativity
In which I am working with others
To create something new

You don’t know who you are
Until you give things a try

I hear the distant rumble
Of an aeroplane
On its way
To an unknown destination

And I wish I was up there
Travelling through the clouds
In the evening sky
Starting a new adventure
Experiencing the sensation of journeying
Ready to meet new people
Opening my life to new opportunities

But I remain here
Grounded in my reality
Held by my responsibilities
Still, in the midst
Of this strange time

This is
A hard time

I feel it
In the bones of my skull

A dense suffocating
Fog
Weighing upon us all

This is
A hard time

We enter this darkening tunnel
Wondering what
Our purpose is

For when the lights
Have been extinguished
And we are held
In darkness
We know we have to face
Our inner demons

This is
A hard time

And yet
The colours of the autumn leaves
Dazzle my eyes and lift my spirits
Their shades of gold, red, copper and purple
Signify transformation

The beautiful death of winter
Will be restorative and silent

And herald
A spring of renewal
Rich with life and fresh growth

It’s time to be unafraid of conflict
To be honest and true
To state that you just don’t like
What has been said and done

It's a bitter pill
To feel oneself drifting away
From those one should be close to

Behind my eyelids
Shades of deep pink and purple
Pulse and glow
With the vibration of the sound energy

I am travelling into a higher world
On a magic carpet
Woven of music

One of those crows
Knows
How to glide
In the air outside

One of those crows
Knows
How to ride
Slip and slide

One of those crows
Knows
What to do
To catch the flue

One of those crows
Knows
How to be free
Easily

Two three
Three five
Five Six
Seven Eight
Two three
Two three
You me
We three
Three five
Five Six
Tick tick
Click click
Tick tock
Clock Stop
Tick
Tock
Tock
Stop

Sea temperature:
16 degrees

I felt it fully
With my whole body
As I took my October swim

For a while
The clouds parted
Allowing golden sunlight
To warm my face

I emerged
As if re-born
Tingling
With divine heat

We’re not that different
From each other
When it comes down to it

Tired Eyes
Long day
Fuzzy head
Short sleep
Up again
Off we go

I wish I could
Stop and stare
At the trees
For an hour

How can this sky
Offer so many variations
In a single day?

Deep blue skies
Hosted a golden sunrise
Borne of the East

In early afternoon
Sharp whites, greens, browns and silvers
Decorated the waters edge
With glistening clarity

Early evening
The sky was halved
By a double rainbow
Deep grey on one side, lilac and pink the other

At sunset
A cherry red sheen
Illuminated the leaves
On the great tree
Outside my window

At night
Plum colours
Hold the silence

This world
Is a place of wonders

Living things
Inhabiting every tiny corner

Each day filled
With extraordinary feats of survival

Each creature
Striving to reach maturity

Desiring to leave behind
More of its own kind

Life
Everywhere
Single-mindedly struggles
To endure
To reproduce
To survive

A celebration of being
Dancing through the fearsome storms
Unrelentingly
Living

It’s Friday again
Another week
Draws to a close

I am still here
And so are you
We made it through to this moment

We can smile
As we relax together
In our quiet home

Ready to enjoy
Some free time
To restore ourselves once more