This is not about
What I alone
Can give to you  

This is about
What you do
With the gifts
I am offering

Living beings
Choose to live

Our parents
Sustain us

What do we give
In return?

Parent child
Parent child
Which is which?

When do we change
From one to another?

The hand that takes
Becomes the hand that gives

From receiving  
To giving
To sustain
A life

If no one
Gives
Who can grow
From child to parent?

If no one receives
Who can learn
To be a parent?

Giving receiving
Growing growing

Receiving giving
Forever
Growing

This is a world
Of children
And parents

Let the children
Be children

And let the parents
Be parents

Only your voice resonates
With truth
In a world
Of cynical soundbites

Your outrage
At the falsity
Of the so-called leaders

Penetrates our hearts
And changes us

You demonstrate more dignity
In five minutes

Than years of pathetic political hypocrisy

Close your eyes
Remember yourself
Ten or fifteen years back

You were different then
Life was different
Does it feel connected
To now?
Do you feel connected to then?

We can live
Many lifetimes
In the space of just one
If we put our minds to it

We can weave
A rich patchwork
Of experiences and learning
Expressing
Who we are
If we dare to challenge
Our circumstances

Every second
Every minute
Every hour
Every day
We paint patterns
On the great canvas of our lives

Patterns that direct us along
Familiar avenues

Patterns that lead us
To draw predictable conclusions

Patterns that drive us
Into the same dead ends

Patterns that can make us feel
Helpless
And subject to the forces of destiny

Until
One day
We realise
That we cannot live happily
In this way
That we must change our canvas
And describe a new pattern

Through the re-orientation of our minds
And a revolution of
The beliefs we hold firmly
In the depths of our hearts
Somehow
We decide to change our pattern

A new canvas
Is born
And a brilliant
Work of art
Is created afresh

Quiet
At home
In love
And loved

We walk
In dazzling sunlight
Under winter blue skies
By returning tide

We cook
We eat
We talk
We rest

I am in love
And loved
And how beautiful
This day is

Tick Tock
Tick Tock
Day Night
Day Night

Awake Asleep
Breathing in
Asleep Awake
Breathing out

In love In pain
In work At rest
Alone Together
In pain In love

Coming Going
Open Closed

Walking Sleeping
Sleep Walking

Tock Tick
Spin Spin
Around the sun
We spin and spin

Up Down
Down Up
We start again
We start again

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

People can change
But
You can't change people

People driving trains
People lighting fires
People telling stories
People making tyres

People making music
People shining shoes
People steering satellites
People reading news

People cleaning toilets
People sweeping streets
People planting flowers
People cutting meat

People stitching dresses
People drawing maps
People tying knots in ropes
People cleaning taps

People washing babies
People driving trucks
People underwater
People roasting ducks

People washing bed sheets
People making kites
People digging gardens
People working nights

People singing opera
People counting tax
People picking cotton
People rubbing backs

People in the underground
People picking litter
People mending broken bones
People brewing bitter

People flying aeroplanes
People making beds
People working down the drains
People getting wed

Where
Would
We
Be

Without
People?

It seems we have perfected the art
Of creating machines
That damage the planet
And destroy humanity

The companies that create the machines
Have put so much effort into being efficient producers
That they cannot dream of stopping
So they make and they make
And they make and they make
And they sell and they sell
And they sell and they sell

And we buy because we are sold a false vision
That the object is good for us
Good for our happiness
Good for our lives
Which must be good for the planet
Mustn’t it?  
Because it drives the economy
And that’s good for everyone
…isn’t it?

Eventually the truth seeps through the cracks in our consciousness
That what we have been sold
Is not good for us
Not good for the creatures that we share the planet with
Not good for our health
Not good for our neighbours
Not good for our families

But then, it feels like it’s almost too late
Because everyone else has bought one
And we need to buy another newer one
To keep up with the race
And not be left behind
Because if our economies fail, then what will happen to the people?

Meanwhile the creatures are dying
And our desire to be ever more satisfied are growing
And the great catastrophe of profit driven capitalism
Marches on

Person for sale

Able to:

Breathe quietly
Talk when needed
Wear acceptable clothes on work days
Use transport facilities in a timely fashion

Willing to:

Spend time with people
They don’t like
Set aside any feelings of
Boredom
Restlessness
Apathy
Disinterest
Disillusionment
Malais­e
Fatigue
Stress

And feign:

Interest
Enthusiasm
Concern
Delight
Contentment
Joie de vivre
Passion
Commitment

Willing to:

Sit stoically
In front of a square screen
Sending typed messages back and forth
Quietly count the days, months and years
As they tick by
Cover unsightly grey hairs
With unnatural dyes (at personal expense)
Spend hours in the same rooms with the same people
Use communal toilet facilities
Sit on trains
Day after day
Use caffeine and sugar
As the acceptable drug of choice

Prepared to scream out in silence
When it all gets too much

Person
For
Sale

Pick up your pen!
And tell your truth
To the world

Spread it loud
And Wide

Pick up your pen!
And let it be known
That we will not accept this
Anymore
For all people
Must be allowed to live
With dignity

Safe
Secure
Happy

Take up your pen!
Do not hide your belief
Let the whole world hear
That we must protect
This planet of ours
And all life
That is to be found in our community

Take up your pen!
Imprint the truth of the day
On your page
Write to create a future
Filled with courageous hope

Take up your pen!
Let not this moment pass
Take up the challenge
And create the future
We desire

My emotions lie gathered beneath my surface
And it won’t take much to pierce my skin
Causing my essence to flow out freely
For all to see

The trials of these days have driven me
To work and work
And somehow I now need to release the pressure
That has mounted in my bones

Soft words from a wise man
Brought tears to my eyes this morning
And I dabbed my face
With an old tissue

I guess we are all hanging on
To what we knew
Looking for guidance and signals
Before we enter the unknown

A thousand and one things
Happen
In the playground of our lives

We are given what we are given
And then
We make what we can
With what
We have received

We embroider strands
Of proffered and discarded materials
To create
Uniquely fabricated realities
For ourselves

Through our education
We kid ourselves
That standards are the standard
And grades are the grade

But should we not ask
What do children need to know from us?
What do they need to learn?
To become happy?

And what was it that we learned?
What was it?

All this information
All this expectation
Are we yet beating ourselves down with it
Battering our children?

As one climbs higher
The air thins
And so I yearn to feel the closeness
Of your body

I desire to be with you
In my illness
As winter grinds on

Spring!
I call to you
Embrace me
In the milkiness of your *****!

Refresh me
As I present
My naked self

Though we are weak
We struggle
Onwards
Together

Perhaps towards uncertain victory
Imperfect as we are

‘…If you are feeling unwell during your journey
Please seek help at the next station…’

But what if you don’t know when the next station is?

What if you don’t believe that there even is a station up ahead?

What if you don’t know what help you need?

Sometimes I feel like I am hurtling down the wrong track
Towards the wrong destination
And I don’t know how to get off

Perhaps I need to pull the emergency brake
And sit still and think

Perhaps?

Words
Cutting through
Still air
Express
The hearts
Of a people


Fluttering through
The portals of endless minds
Unifying
Through shared experience

Piping the marrow
Of deepest consciousness
Tapping a reservoir of
Human hope

While we live
We can be poets
In death
Our words and deeds
Remain

So it seems
To me
That when I see
I perceive
Things differently
To you
It must be true
Because
I am me
And you are you

If I saw things
The same as you
I would be you
And you would be me
And where would that leave us?
You and me
We’d not be two
There’d not be you
Only me
Stuck with my view
And no one
With whom
To talk it through

Two views
Are more than one
Your view
Colours mine
And mine
Colours yours
Creating new views
To share
Enhancing horizons
For both
To gaze upon

So let me learn to love
What you can see
And perhaps you can trust
What I see too
Together
With our shared views
We could even create the world
Anew

If only the dawn air was free of pollution
If only earth’s paradise could once again breathe
If only each human built kind, honest legacies
Then each child would grow up
Free from all fear

Some days
I am like a tiny stick
Carried atop the currents
Of a rushing river

Other days
I am like a stake
Firm grounded
Leaning into the force
And causing waves
To part

Today
I won
And lost
And won
And lost

I was singled out
Caught out
Tripped up
By myself

And I crashed down
And got up
Again
And apologised

It’ll be all right
In the end

Today
I lost
And won
And lost
And won

And I still experienced
The smiling faces
Of those
Who care

Those In power
Are only in power
If I make
Them so

Today
I lost my power
Gained my power
Lost my power
Gained my power

I lose
By failing

I win
By learning

Such is
The human way

And now
Sweet laughter
Rings through the air
And I
Can smile
Again

Praise the youth!
Give them the space
And they will lead the way

Youth are respectful
Kind and warm
Praise the youth!
Praise the youth!

Youth do not complain
They know how to work
And then they know
How to play
Praise the youth!
Praise the youth!

Youth overcome shyness
And make friends quickly
They solve problems
Without ego
Praise the youth!
Praise the youth!

The future is bright
Thanks to the youth
Praise the youth!
Praise the youth!

Tonight at 7pm UK time
People around the world
Prayed for ‘gentle rain’
To fall and extinguish the Australian bushfires
That have killed five hundred million animals
Destroyed one thousand homes
Ended seven human lives

Sometimes
All we can do
Is pray

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

This most beautiful morning
Stirs my heart

A lone black horse
Stands motionless
In a frost encrusted field
Waiting for the sun
To warm his body

The grasses and trees
Ice covered
Are waiting too

They are waiting
For the orange sun
To revive them
To free them
Of their crystalline encasements

My frozen heart
Is melting
At the beauty
Of Autumn

Brown, orange, red, straw

Everything stands still
On this early Saturday morning
Waiting for the thaw

Reminding us all
That we are small

And telling me
To offer my prayers

To the magnificent sun

A day
Of waiting
With nerve endings
Tingling
Slips by

Finger tips
Tremor
With evolving
Expectations of
Celebrations
And gatherings
Of loved ones

Time advances
So slowly
As we wait
Together

And then
Suddenly
Like a bullet
Time accelerates
Rapidly
Unstoppably

And we approach
The moment

And the show
Begins

Don’t make the politicians
Responsible for the future
Our collective imagination
Will change everything

There will always be days like these
In which you feel
Nothing
But emptiness

Days for which you have to put on
A brave face
And pretend
To be cheerful

There will be always be days like these
When the wolves will circle
And you struggle to imagine
If they will ever leave

And you question whether
You can hold it together
Or whether it will all simply
Fall apart

There will always be days like these
When winter seemed destined to last
Forever
And spring feels just too distant
To even be real

But remember

These days will pass
They will always pass
And one day you will feel the sun on your face
And joy in your heart
Again

Somewhere
Far from here
Is a heavenly place

Where I bathe my head
In primrose water

Poetry flows
From rosebud lips

And dreams float
Before my eyes

Somewhere far from here
Birds sing delicate melodies
While Gallic harps play ancient music

Friendships abound
Abundant as the wild grasses

Somewhere far from here
Each single moment
Is precious
And special

Gentle folks gather to hear
Great stories of heroism

Somewhere far from here
The efforts of men
Combine to make
The wings of peace
And families relax
Into their most creative natures

Somewhere far from here
People yearn to inhabit
A place that can be created
A place that can be found

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

Professional Bully
Whispering gossip
Slandering others
Behind their backs
You undermine confidence
Turning weak followers
Against the kindest of souls

Professional bully
You cringe and fawn
With the high ranking order
You flutter your eyelids
At the biggest boss

Professional bully
You are sweetness personified
At the top table
Yet you spit scorn
At subordinates
Despising their weaknesses
Exposing their faults

Professional bully
You play out your childhood
Disguising your agonies
With cold clinical acumen
Titles are everything
And positioning critical
You defend your arrogance
With vicious fury

Professional bully
You have ‘friends’ in high places
Networks of networks
And hidden connections
You are part of club ugly
You tremble in isolation
Workplace your temple
Real life your void

Am I a dreamer
In your drama?
It’s no calmer
In my karma
Am I a worrier
Not a warrior
Feeling wearier
Of being ‘inferior’?
I might be doubting
Not doing
Though my eyes
Can still see through ya
Cos, you’re the prophet
Chasing profit
A human
Inhumane
Playing games
With our brains
When it rains
In your reign
You’re the sovereign
Who’s not botherin’
We need a leader
Who can lead us
But we won’t wait
For that date
It’s got too late
To trust in fate
So, we will fight
Through this fright
And put things right
As is our right

It begins with a group
Who stand alone
Doing things differently
Calling for change
As if ‘their’ lives
Depended on it

And ‘we’ laugh at ‘them’
Comment on ‘them’
Make cheap jokes about ‘them’
As if ‘they’ are somehow crazy
Or even, *****.

‘They’ continue
Driven by a true cause
A deeper wisdom
A universal truth

And whether ‘we’ realise or not
‘We’ become informed
‘We’ are forced somehow
To change ‘our’ minds
Whether ‘we’ like it or not

And one day
‘We’ encounter ‘their movement’ once more
Active, growing
Pushing for widespread change

And ‘we’ stand
Separately from ‘them’  
Still observing from the safety
Of 'our' intellectual bubble
Analysing ‘them’ as if ‘we’ had some kind
Of journalistic purpose
To understand ‘them’
And 'their' ways

We know that ‘they’ are right
And ‘we’ have been wrong
And yet still ‘we’ stand observing ‘them’
Trying to convince ‘ourselves’ that still
‘They’ are trouble makers
And ‘we’ can find a better way
To change the world

But still ‘we’ know that ‘they’ are right
And eventually ‘we’ can no longer
Justify
Our actions
The guilt becomes too heavy
And our evidence too weak
And ‘we’ become sickened
By what ‘we’ are doing

Until one day
‘We’ step across the threshold
And ‘we’ quietly, weakly, become
Them’
And those who remain in the ‘we’
Become a minority
And age in isolation
Clinging to the mistaken beliefs
Of the past

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

What is the pinnacle
Of man’s desires?
What is the loftiest
Of our goals?

Is it to live
In material comfort
Hunger, cold, poverty
Kept at bay?

When we are warm
Well fed, comfortable
To what do we turn
Our unique energies?

It is towards power?
Fame?
Authority?

Is it more wealth?
That drives us on?

Or is it the happiness
Of those around us?
Families, friends
Humans, animals?

We must ask ourselves
Honestly
For what purpose
Beyond self service
Are we here?

A piece of a favourite puzzle
Has slipped beneath our floorboards
No matter what we do
We just can’t bring it back

It’s strange to think
That it will sit
Just beyond our reach
For years and years
And years
Long after I draw my final breath

I’m sorry tiny puzzle piece
You’ll never be reunited
With your brothers and sisters

Never more will you join them
Side by side to reveal a bigger picture

To me you represent
A tiny mishap in the grand scheme of things
In its own small way, this loss has become
Part of the universe’s great disorder

Does anyone agree
That we have to stop
Killing each other?

Eat less chocolate?
Give up caffeine?
Exercise?
Learn a new skill?
Give up meat?
Get a new job?
Spend less?
Earn more?
Go to bed earlier?
Stop drinking?
Stop smoking?
Spend more time with the family?
Live healthier?
Live longer?
Say ‘Thank you’ more?
Be braver?

Yes
Be braver

Did I learn anything today?

Does anyone disagree
That we have to stop
Killing each other?

What lies beyond the end of a day?
What could exist either side of extremes?
Which dimensions are emptier than space?
Why does the sun never seem to fade?

How can I learn to live better than now?
How will my legacy of living endure?
What will my final hour be like?
How will my own extinction occur?

How might we better inhabit this planet?
How can we change sickness and death?
How can we balance the rich with the poor?
How should we live the millennia to come?

Why does the moon seem to change in appearance?
Why do my thoughts spin in pre-dawn hours?
Why is living so painfully beautiful?
What is decided and what is to come?

Rain
Fall
Upon
Our
Earth

Rain
Wash
Away
Our
Sadness

Rain
Purify
Our
Sullied
Communities

Rain
Keep
Us
Still
And
Silent

Rain
Show
Us
How
To
Give

Rain
Lead
Us
To
The
Truth

Rain
Draw
Us
Close
To
Nature

Rain
Bring
Us
Re
Birth

I am living
My life
For me
I am connecting
With others
Who see me
For who I am
The insults
The nastiness
The bruises and scars
I bear
Show that I can survive

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

Clouds heap upon one another
Air moves
In and out
With the tides of time

Earth breathes a sigh of relief
Home beckons weary travellers

Blossoms open
And gently close

Giant concrete pillars
Stand silent beneath the bridge

Moonlight
Is reflected
In a muddy puddle

Washing hangs quietly on a line
And I...

I remember

Loving
You

My first
My only
Soul
Companion

My
Love
I remember
Loving
You

When all of this is over
And we have returned to ‘normal’ ways
When it is once again safe
‘To profit’ from society

Remember this...

We need each other

We need those who look after us
Those who feed us
Those who care for us
Those who teach us

We need clean air to breathe
We need nature to bloom
We need our rivers to run clear
Our seas to be pure

We need to lay down arms
Refuse to fight each other
To think once, twice and three times
About all of our actions

We need art, we need song,
We need humour, embraces,
We need love and family
We need fun and connection

We need to be confident
That who we are is enough

We need not chase
Shallow recognition, fame or fortune

We do not need to oppress others
To gain for ourselves

We need not put ourselves first
Whilst others perish

We need each other

We need to take care
Of everything that we do

We need to know that our lives
Are working towards a greater good

And that through our actions
We make things better for the future, not worse

Remember this...

As forgetting
Will bring us back

To this point

Like firm footsteps through deep snow
Like the burst of a sprinter’s speed after the starter's gun
Like the opening downbeat of a great conductor's baton
Like the ‘clack’ of a champion golfer’s drive
Like the gushing of a mighty waterfall
Like the mass migration of antelope across the plains
Like a lion protecting its cubs
We will not give up
We will prevail
For we are full
Of resolve

It’s counter
To flow

Stronger
Than feelings

Unseen
Yet energetic

Borne
From the mind

Invisible
To the eye

Pushes
One forward

Changes
All things

Even time
Itself

It creates
New patterns

New possibilities
For living

It’s in me
In you

Waiting
waiting

Joy
Complete joy
Glowing
Flowing
Pouring
Unhindered

Friends
Unseen for twenty years
Meet

A restaurant
Cold white wine
A magician
Entertaining us
Throughout the evening
Food
Laughter
Tears of laughter

Conversations
And conversations
Two decades
Of each of our lives
Recounted
Processed
Remembered
Recreated
Through our own telling
Around a dinner table
Together

We listened

Commented
Wondered
Gasped
Laughed
Hugged

And then
Almost
As if it had been a dream
We left

Each heading
To different corners of London
To take trains
To remote places
To face the cold night air
And the bright full moon

Old friends
Reunited
After twenty years
Still connected

Still

Connected

What are you looking at
With your staring blue eyes?

Are you not yet awake?
Are you somewhere else?

In a dream land?
Faraway?

Time passes quietly
As you gaze into...
Who knows where

I won't break your reverie
I will respect it

Let it happen
Watch it happen

Let you be
In it

It is magical
And beautiful

As are you
As are you

It’s happening

It’s happening
We can not deny
It IS happening

The country has left the EU
The drawbridge is coming up
Politics is racing to the right
Way too far
To the
Right

Priti Patel
Donning the armour of 'home secretary'
Is laying down her rules

"People will not be able to come here
Unless they score sufficient points
We only want people with the right skills
We only want people who speak English
We only want people
Who will contribute to our economy"

70 points and you qualify
Less than 70, no thanks

Points
Points?
Points!

These people...
This 'Government' is deciding
Who is to be deemed worthy
And who is not
And it stinks
It is inhumane
And rotten

Let us not dress this up as some important policy
This simply stinks

Great countries appreciate the inherent value of all people
They welcome each individual
Not just those
Who can make them money

Society needs
Carers, lovers, families, mothers, grandparents, uncles, aunties, diversity, difference, colour, movement, growth

We are not to be judged
By a number
Or an assessment of our economic output
By a pointless bureaucrat

Look at where this unregulated economic race has got us!
To the brink of environmental disaster
To a point in which the top ten percent
Own half of the country’s wealth
And the 90 per cent
Make do with the scraps

We must stop labelling people
As units of production

People are people
They are precious
Wonderful
Valuable
Beyond all measures of currency

Politicians
What score would you give yourself today?
What 'value' are you bringing to the country
Through this demeaning system?

What if you were to become ill tomorrow?
Or need to stop working to care for a loved one?
Will we then assess you on your usefulness to our economy?
How would you like that?
How would that feel...to you?

This country is becoming a place
Where the word welcome
Has no real meaning

It is being shaped
As a place for the 'me first' attitude
The 'greed first' country
The take what you can get attitude
The place of judgement
Where the economy is
The golden shrine
And the rich observe the poor from their ivory towers
With contempt

I fight this mess with my words
I will spread my belief
Without fear
For the beliefs of this right wing Government
Bring shame upon our country