I want
Happiness
To be
My default

If you are happy
And you know it
Clap your hands

If you are unhappy
And you know it
Why not clap your hands anyway
And decide to become happy

It's 2020
The first day of a new decade
And I wonder
What will the next ten years bring?

The time will fly by
That’s for sure
And on New Years Day 2030
Will we still be wondering
Why we are in such a mess?

Will a technological revolution for good
Have swept the planet?
Will the clean and green energies
Have replaced the oily polluters?
Will the super-rich have redistributed their wealth?
And will the poor have found their feet?

Will children dance with joy
As they grow and learn?

Will the old be comfortable
As they prepare to depart?

Will the homeless be housed?
The damaged be repaired?
The species be recovered?
The ice caps refrozen?

Is all of this possible?
Is any of this possible?

Is it possible to make the world
Turn differently?

The moon is watching everything
Safely distant
Silently observing

Human ******* lies everywhere
Decaying so slowly
Sodden albino leaves press against asphalt
And discarded plastic bottles
Gather dirt

Winter is coming
Winter is upon us
Will Spring ever come again?

Tiny creatures
Navigate
This world of human detritus
Only the moon is pure
For earth is become
Polluted

Have the trees lost hope
For their future?

Our hearts are closed
By the turn of world events
And fear swirls up
Laughing somehow
At the weak

'More! More! More!'
They cry
And we accelerate
Towards an end
We never wanted

I’ve been called to see the ‘Head Master’
It makes my stomach churn
I somehow thought I’d outgrown this
But perhaps I haven’t after all

I want to get it over with
Will I be told off?  Expelled?
Or is there good news just for me?
Who can tell?  Who can tell?

I have a clear conscience
I hold my head up high
I’ve done the very best I can
I’ve tried and tried

Someone’s got it in for me
I really think they have
I think they want to kick me hard
And beat me to the ground

Get up again and carry on
Get up and face the storm
I really need a victory
To prove the mystic law

Only the mystic law
Can transform a broken heart
And make it whole

A mistake is made
And then it is repeated
Treated like an experiment

Wait a minute
This is not a mistake

It is a gift
So let it repeat

Let’s hear it again
And again

Give it energy until it becomes an engine

An engine that drives back the boundaries
Of what has ever been created before

And bring on the drums
Let them beat wildly as the new creation emerges
Experience the whole thing as it builds to an incredible peak
And then is surmounted by an even higher peak

Sounds and rhythms
Never even dreamed of
Are being played
And experienced
For the first time ever

And we are here witnessing it
Drawing it out of the musicians
By being open and willing to its creation
And somehow
Quite naturally

Anything becomes possible

There are hidden lines
Between you and me
Energy lines
That bind us

Invisible
Yet tangible
Our hearts
Are joined
By threads
Which reach through
An unimaginable dimension

My devil carries a sword
Which for some unknown reason
Slashes at our bonds
My angry tongue burns
Hissing complaints
That erode our heart ties

And we have to start again
Repair our ties
Time and again
And I slowly learn
That I need to stop my devil
Slashing and burning

Although I cant see the breaks
The scars
I feel them
And my day starts badly
I feel remorse, sadness
At the destruction I have wrought

There are ties that bind us all
Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters
Brothers, sisters, friends, lovers

The heart is capable
Of reaching the fiercest enemy
Scaling the highest mountains
Breaching the thickest of walls

Sending invisible messages
Creating bridges of connection and love
Joining everything and everyone
Building hope

And it is stronger than all other forces
And yet more fragile and vulnerable
Than I knew
Until now

These walls
Have endured
The tears
The screams
The cruelty
The terror
The unspeakable brutality
Of our humanity
Gone mad
And become base

They stand
Quietly
Testifying
To a horror
We can barely imagine

Brick
Timber
Iron
Remain
Icy sentinels
Of Auschwitz
Concentration camp

And survivors
Their aged bodies
Tattooed with fading numbers
Walk through the gates
Once again
Supported by grandchildren
Leading them into
The place of oppression

They move forward
Carefully
Quietly
Dignified
Strong
Their arms linked together
As their lungs breathe the winter air

And we are all silenced
By the weight
Of the past

Fight
With your last ounce of strength!

Stand up
For what you truly believe!

Politicians
Will come and go
Eager for their moment in the spotlight

But
The brave
Give their lives
For truth and justice

Fight
With your last ounce of strength!

Stand up
For what you truly believe!

Give honour
To yourself

Surround your life
With dignity

Be a great human being

Be a great human being

Trump’s angry war cry
Has incited the storming of the US Capitol
By a crazed mob
The scenes are shocking and disgusting

Joe Biden emerges
To speak with honour and dignity
Trump refuses to appear
To call off the protest

This has become a battle
Between good and evil
Reason and riot
Honour and shame

We have to generate hope

Hope that our future
Will be bright
Joyful
Happy

Filled with the freedoms
That we have lost

The more hope we generate
The more things will move
In a positive direction

Negative perspectives
Act like weights
On our bodies
Hindering our progress

Bright optimism
Will refresh us
Lift us
Carry us
To the safety
Of future shores

Where there is despair
I will flood it with hope
Where there is insecurity
I will drive in a firm stake
Where there is anxiety
I will listen
Where there is criticism
I will reflect and advance
Where there is sadness
I will quietly encourage
Where there is thirst
I will bring water
Worry, fear, anxiety, doubt, insecurity
You are words
You are feelings
But you are not the champions
Strength, compassion, kindness, friendship, wisdom
You are my weapons and I have to sharpen them
Daily

Even though
I thought I was done for
The sun has warmed me

The flame of my faith
I thought extinguished
Burns on

Even though the heavy clouds
Of my confusion and my delusion
Gathered and swirled
To obscure the truth
And the gusts of complaints
Have shaken my branches
To the very core

I am still here

My roots in the earth
Breath in my lungs
A beat in my heart

Even though
I thought I was at war
Anger has gone
Driven to nought

Strange and mysterious
Unfathomably curious
New hope
Arises
From hidden depths
Of places unvisited

Like the secret of the universe
Impossibly possible
Hope arises

Do not fear
The dawn
Of a new beginning

Life
Will inspire
New growth of the heart

If you feel broken
Don’t worry
You’re human

A great store of wisdom
Lies in every moment

Seeking a new path
And giving to others

Will unlock your nature
And renew
The self

Breaking through obstacles
Towards a new future

Brighter than ever
Imagined before

Planning each detail
No stone left unturned

A Dance with an  
Unknown potential begins

Sadness abandoned
And fresh hope arising

Live how you wish
And be who you are

When you are at your lowest ebb
Who do you turn to?
Who would you trust
With your life?
Where are the role models?

The young step through
The mirror of ages
To confront
Crushing anxieties
Of self doubt

Wondering
Wondering
What if?
What if?

Dialogue with oneself
Can drive one crazy

Problems
Are there to share
They are
The keys
To our connectedness
A pathway to friendship

No one should suffer on their own
We are one race

Your pain
Is not separate from me

Your happiness
Your victory
Is something
To be celebrated
Together

There is hope

It is stronger
Than all human pain

The future is
Ours to create

And it should shine
With the bright rays
Of true humanity

Hossty mogarty
Fistral brist
Ay sluggery bithlle bat
Tinkletun misk

Foraven mo groggle
Terappitur drast
In camperidge burbow
Ill wungledon masst

Ee burbinger hoddle
Yie tungldown gossts
Am risstle oopsingen
Ter platiffer hoast

En dungledoon oppers
Woa bloaten ett ghabb
Mer tickerrn billborron
Furen dishten lab

How do we want our children to live?
Must it be the same way as us?
Did we succeed in showing the way?
Or should we be seeking an alternative path?

Our planet is green, blue and kind
The air all around is fair and mild
The creatures beside us are full of great beauty
The earth is a miracle home to the trees

How do we want our children to live?
Must it be the same way as us?
Did we succeed in showing the way?
Or should we be seeking an alternative path?

Our industries build still more powerful weapons
The leaders talk of building up walls
The money men force us to pay higher prices
Whilst profiting daily from eternal wars

How do we want our children to live?
Must it be the same way as us?
Did we succeed in showing the way?
Or should we be seeking an alternative path?

Our seas fill up with plastic pollution
Our cities require that you wear a mask
Our reactors leak waste that will damage your baby
They frack the land brutally to quench their thirst

How do we want our children to live?
Must it be the same way as us?
Did we succeed in showing the way?
Or should we be seeking an alternative path?

The sun rises daily to show us our weakness
The moon weeps at night as we lie in our beds
The stars ask us questions to trouble our conscience
The galaxy waits for the next generation

How do we want our children to live?
Must it be the same way as us?
Did we succeed in showing the way?
Or should we be seeking an alternative path?

I've been worrying
About how I am feeling

Sometimes...
Oftentimes...
I want my feelings...
To stop
And I can't make them
Because I feel that my feelings
Aren't always good for me
With their torments
And criticisms
And not 'good enough's
They seem to rise and crackle
Like fireworks let loose
And I wonder if there is a way
To make me stop feeling them
For good

And so, one day
I prayed to feel like a Buddha

I don't know what I was expecting...
Peace, tranquillity, joy?

Instead my feelings intensified
And I don't mean, just the 'good' feelings
I mean, all of my feelings
The good ones and the awful ones
And I wondered - can this be correct?
Have my prayers been ignored?

I forgot about my prayers for a while
And carried on feeling things just as before
And then one day I pondered
And I wondered…
What if my prayers have been answered after all
But in a different way?

Perhaps I am feeling like a Buddha after all...
Because isn't the Buddha an enlightened human being
Capable of feeling all things
And I am feeling
So many feelings
All of which make me who I am

And the feelings that I feel
Provide me with information about the world
The terrible things and the good things
And if I felt only joy, only peace or only tranquillity
Then I guess I wouldn't bother to try and change the world for the better
And that wouldn't be the way of a Buddha

So, maybe now I have begun to feel like a Buddha
I can act like a Buddha
And perhaps make a difference?

Being able to change
How I feel
About how I feel

Being able to feel
Without wanting to stop
My feelings

Being able to be
Alive

Human

Wanting to be free
Wanting to be safe
Wanting to be
Free

In touch with Freedom
Safe with Freedom

Experiencing joy
Experiencing humanity

Feeling everything
All of
Me

How I relate to you
Equates to war or peace

How I relate to myself
Equates to illness or well being

How I relate to the earth
Equates to pollution or a healthy environment

How long will this last?
We ask?

As long as it needs to…

How to belong
Amongst other peoples
Happiness?

How to listen
To outpourings of love
And sit comfortably
Oneself

How to restrain
Confusing tears
In times
Of celebration?

How to
Find one’s own space
In the midst of others spaces?

How to find comfort
Alone with oneself

Yesterday
I felt like another man

Today
I feel different

Tomorrow
I will feel something else

Have I forgotten
How to feel?

My feelings
Are isolated

Like a ball
Locked in a shell

Prevented from bouncing
And merging with a new lover

To love
Is to place your feelings
In the palm of another’s hands

To offer up your body
For examination
Touching
Scrutiny
Warmth

To love
Is to present
The totality
Of one’s fragility

To love
Is to say
I am me

To love
Is to wash and clean another’s soul

To accept and respect
Their uniqueness

To enter in
To the other person
And remain there

For a while

And then remove oneself

Like the tides
Together, apart,
In and out
Day and night
Life and death

I am alone
Without love

Floating like a bubble on the breeze

Drifting into the future
Perhaps never to enter
Into the life of another

Before I pop

Drop

And evaporate

Back into the everything

How
Can I respond?

How
Can I connect?

What
Will I do

Now?

Why do I do things?
The way that I do?

Why am I happy?
Why am I sad?

Why do I search
For reasons
Each season?

Why am I free
The next time, mad?

When will I reach
Pure satisfaction?

Is this too much
To ask of my life?

Will I be stuck
With continual yearning?

To want this
To want that
To want more
From time?

Each moment
That passes
Will never return
Take it
Grasp it
Make it
Eternal

Take it
Grasp it
Make it
Eternal

Brooding skies
Tell me

I am falling

The weight of grey clouds
Like gates of a foreboding vault
Tell me

I am falling

I feel it
In the walls
Of my heart

Drops of sweat gather
About my forehead

My thoughts ache

And yet
I am
An artist

And this is the adventure
For which I have yearned

To be free

Free

Free

So why does freedom
Feel so dangerous?

Why will my tense body
Resist it

Do I wish to cling to the security
Of imprisonment?

I must call upon courage

Deeply possessed
Birth right of all

Limitless oceans of strength
Awaiting those who seek it

And I will believe in the sun
Although invisible to the eye
This morning

It is there
To warm
My juddering soul

For in the storms
We are like mice
Huddling together for safety

Our tears should not be shed in pity
We should hold each other close

For we are human

We have fear
And courage

We possess despair
And hope

We live
Yet we will die

Like a tree in the dead of night
Like a rock buried beneath the ice
Like lost treasure on the ocean bed
Or a meteor approaching earth

Like a scattering of unknown seeds
Like an old discarded key
Like a secret underground tunnel
Or a diary with a lock

Like a missing jigsaw piece
Like the inside of an egg
Your heart is more mysterious
Than I could ever imagine

It is important to know
That the hurt
That is caused
Injures the perpetrator most of all

It enters their life
And blends with their soul
Becoming part of who they are

Their legacy, their role on the stage of life
Becomes tarnished
Only redeemable by realisation, absolute apology
And commitment to work on reparations without ceasing
Until the wrongs that have been wrought
Are put to right

Time marches onwards
And is sometimes generous to wrongdoers
Although, sadly for others
Is less so, and redemption evades them

I am a lion
Fierce, proud and strong
I am a dragon
Fearless pre-historic
I am a firefly
Illuminating darkness
I am a butterfly
Metamorphic, miraculous
My skin changes
For I am
A shape shifter
I can transform
Into anything I please
I can be an oak
Or a holly tree
Catch me if you can
But if you do
I will change shape
And slip through your fingers
Like frogspawn
Or algae
I morph
And mutate
Vibrate and quiver
But whatever I am
Whoever I am
I am full of life’s energy
A frothing amalgam
Of evolutionary potential
I am a lion
I am a tiger
I am an eagle
I am a cheetah
I am…
I am…
I am…

Free

I am the blazing red of leaves
The incisive freshness of air
The rich green of grass
The pure white of clouds

The crisp crunch of fallen leaves
The steamy panting of morning dogs
The zingy tails of running squirrels
The throaty cry of geese on the wing

The diamond reflection of fishing ponds
The gentle sway of willow’s branches
The metallic shine of giant full moon
I am autumn

The morning sun
The glass of the pond
The waves in sand
The criss cross of clouds
The sparkle of frost
The curling of fallen leaves
The wrapping of scarves and hats
The ripples of ice
The chill of the air
The puff of breath
The jag of metals
The fire of the morning
The silhouettes of bare branches
The purple haze over rolling fields
The sound of stillness
The dance of a bird
The sleep of spiders
The blowing of noses
The huddling of bodies
The shiver of wild horses
The undulations of rest
The promise of spring

Back and forth
Like a child on a swing
I feel the breeze on my face
And thump of my heart

Tho turning greyer
Puffier each year
I will never forget...

Riding my bike
On a Sunday afternoon
In the park
With my friends

Coming home
Hot, sweaty

Mourning the sunset
Wishing there was still
Time

To play

Wishing the weekend
Could last
Forever

Until I blink
And it is over

I blink
And I am older

I blink
And decades have passed

I blink

I blink

One day
I will be gone

Nothing but memories

But while I am here

I will protect the child

I can’t help thinking
Of a man
That I pass

He sits
Growing iller
Each day that goes by

His skin grows more mottled
His hair
Turning Greyer

And yet
He still greets me
Each time I walk past

What is his goal?
What it his mission?
And what of mine?
What of mine?

He is homeless
I am a worker
He sits quietly
As I rush on past

Perhaps we are brothers
Eternally connected?
Yet he grows cold
As I fill my belly

I can’t help but question
This world that we share
My smile is empty
His is warm

He touches more people
Than I do most likely
And bids them good morning
As they walk on by

What is the answer
To such a strange riddle?
Who is the fool
In this game of life?

What if we swapped
If just for a second
Would his smile
Turn as empty as mine?

Would he be happy
To feel warm
And be comfortable?

Would I be lost
Watching people
Go by?

The ice
Around my heart
Protects me from
The piercings
Of your knife

Golden sunlight
Surrounded by electric blue
All the colours of autumn
Unite in browns and gold
Cold and fresh air
Horses grazing in the morning sun
Coats and hats everywhere

Where are we all going?
What is our destination?
Who are we listening to?
What are we talking about?

Ice sculptures melt
Melt in the heat
Polar caps will melt too
And we will all be in trouble

If the truth is not told
And the wrongs are not put right
If human hearts are closed
And people's minds are fooled

I come from nowhere
Im certain
No country defines
Who I am
I was born in a time
But not in a place
I come
From nowhere
I just
Am

Don’t say
You own this, I own that
Don’t tell me
That yours is the land
Don’t hurt
My brothers
And sisters
Just because a map says you can

For I come from nowhere
I know
I was born in a time not a place
Our mothers just want to nurture
All children
Regardless of their race

Don’t kid me that
You ‘own’ a building
Don’t fool me that you understand
That money means value
And owning it
Makes yours a wonderful clan

For I come from nowhere
I think
I was born in a time not a place
The world are my brothers and sisters
And nothing can take their place

So don’t lock the food in your cupboard
Don’t steal all the fish from the deep
Don’t siphon off oil
And triple the price
And rip off the poor and the weak

For you come from nowhere
Im sure
We drifted in ether together
We wondered what kind of life to lead
Before choosing our father and mother

So tear down the walls that divide us
And rip all the maps up and see
Just what we can do together
To make this place happy and free

For I come from nowhere
I'm certain
No country defines
Who I am
I was born in a time
But not in a place
I come
From nowhere
I just
Am

I could give you hugs
To shelter you from the cold
But you don’t want me to

I could give you love  
To soothe your tortured soul
But you don’t want me to

I could give you smiles
To brighten up your day
But you don’t want me to

I could stroke your hair
To make you feel safe
But you don’t want me to

I could kiss your body
To make you feel free
But you don’t want me to

I could
But you don’t want me to

Ideas exist
There is no doubt about that
But without people
There can be no ideas

People without ideas
Do exist
And ideas cannot become active without people.
Although they can exist.

I have an idea that I exist
And that is real
And my existence, my ideas
Are my legacy
Even when I cease to exist

People and ideas
Interact
Without people, ideas are just ideas
With people they are life

I see
The green of ivy and bindweed
Drenched by the
Flooding water

I hear
The cries of honest children playing
And dishonest men shouting

I feel the tired people
Travelling on the rat race commuter train

Whilst grey skies
Threaten
Overhead

And amongst
The chaos
Bestowed  
By the wild fantasies
Of the emboldened egomaniacs

I decide to hope
I decide to believe
To campaign
Fully

To use my life
For the sake of the future
To make a vow
For our children

To fight for the right
To battle for peace
To persist for our planet

We are who we are
When we are born

Pure
Human
Vital
Strong

Yet, as time passes
The ego emerges
And we wrestle to become
Who we think we should

‘What shoes should I get?’
‘What clothes should I buy?’
‘What music is cool?’
‘Does my hair look right?’

All these things
Give temporary identity
A hiding place
To mask our uncertainty

Yet if we are lucky
And receive encouragement
We can grow in harmony
With our original self

But if we become lost
Abandoned or bullied
Our identity
Attaches to external things

The partner we have
Our job, the salary
Our car, our clothing,
Our status, our house

But truly, we still yearn
To be the person within
Free of all falsehood
Happy and whole

We adults can win
By liberating our children
Helping them live,
Encouraging them to grow

Proud of their potential,
Their uniqueness and originality
Proud of their lives
Just as they are

I do not want
The world to go mad
I want peace, inclusion, respect

I do not want
Outbreaks of hatred
I want learning, freedom, happiness

Battle against
This ‘progress of division’
Art and culture to warm cold hearts

Educate
To liberate from slavery
Abandon all destructive pursuits

Wisdom, compassion
Are lying dormant
Within the depths of each human heart

A bird dips its breast
In diving softly
Falling fearless through the evening air

I sit
In this moment
Of borrowed time
And think back
On the day

The interweaving busy-ness
The rushing from here to there
Without cease
Has tired me

And yet
I did see the sun
Setting
As I walked homewards

A brilliant decoration
Of gold
Amongst swathes of rippled clouds
And it made me stop
And wonder at
Everything

I rush to meet
My human priorities
A tiny dot
Buzzing around
In this great universal soup

And I know
That I do not wonder enough
At the very wonder
Of it all

I do this
Because I choose this
I want to
Because I need to

The other way
To sit and wait
For hurricanes
And wolves

I choose this
To meet you
To work each day
And rise early

To challenge t
The tiredness
Of body
And of mind

I do this
Because I choose this
To try and think
What can be done

I do this
Because I want to
This hardship
Is no hardship

It is honour
Challenge
Opportunity
A wonder

So if my shoulders hunch
And Im feeling tense
So what, I say
I choose this

I know that gifts
Await me
I do this
I choose this

To live this
I choose this
To do this
With dignity

If I stare at the trees for long enough
I see them glowing
And I forget all the things
That trouble my human brain

I think of all the years
That they have grown
Without complaining
Or yielding

I see their strength
And I wonder at their message
I am alive with them
And for a moment I feel like I am special

A special man
With a purpose
And a life to live
And I feel like I am glowing with the trees

I am one with the vibration of nature
Alive with the earth
Part of the universe
If I stare at the trees

If I were
To touch this silver track
I would be transported to London

If I were to hold your branch
I would travel down through your roots
Deep into the earth

If I were to brush your wing
I would fly through every pathway
You have ever made in the sky

If I were to hold your hand
I would know everything
There is to know about you

If I were to believe in you
Then everything you ever dreamed of
Would come true

Substances pass through me
Pulses of energy
Liquid
Air
Food

And I go on
Wondering

What am I doing?
Where am I going?
Why do I live?
Why?

I eat, drink, sleep, wake
Breathe

Breathe

Oxygen in
Carbon dioxide out
In, out
In, out

Even great thinkers
Struggle to answer
Why are we here?

Why am I here?

Food makes me strong
Air keeps me conscious
Water keeps me clean
Sunlight warms me
All very well
But why am I here?
Why am I here?
Why am I here?

I try to remember
That I can give love
Care for others
Change things round

And still
And yet

Air passes through me
Water and food
Sunlight
Starlight
Cosmic rays

And then I recall

What I am

A dancing star
Manifest
For one short lifetime
Only

Child of this earth
Made of all things
That go up to make
The universe

As child of the earth
Should I drain my mother of all life?
Should I not repay her kindness
With work?
With love?

How could I repay
Each fruit tree
Each ocean
Each ray of sun
Each cloud
Each winter chill
Each burning flame
Each tiny seed
Each birth?

With words?

With care?

With work?

With love?

Each bacterium
That keeps me safe

Each system
That keeps me safe

Each being
That keeps me safe

Opens my eyes
And protects my life

The planet
The air
The oceans
The sunlight
The rivers and earth
And all living beings

They are my mother
They are my father

And to them all
I owe everything

If Vincent saw these fields
Such illuminated clouds
He would reach for his brushes

A straw coloured morning
A spattering of rain
A brawling sea of clouds

The king of the sky burns
Brilliant gold through heavy grey
Rainbows shimmer

Autumn coloured leaves
Flutter and sparkle
On their final days

We must stop doing the things
That are killing the planet

Whoever we are
Wherever we are
Whatever we do
It is up to us

We must no longer put
Money in the pockets
Or power in the hands
Of those who plunder and destroy

We must change our behaviours
Change our choices
Awaken to our own wisdom
And create the future
That is needed

Destiny is only fixed
If we fail to act

I
Have

This day
This body
This family
This food
This drink
This air
This sky
This water

This earth
This community
This challenge
This opportunity
This moment
This chance
This hope
This life

I
Will
Not
Waste
It

I have been lost
In this mad world

Constructs
Surrounding me
Have engendered beliefs
That are not my own

Falsities
Introduced
By the faceless few
To guide me from
Truth

These constructs
Of gain and acquisition
Make up
Our modernist slavery
And blunt our humanity

Why aquire?
Should we not
Concern ourselves
With giving?

I have been lost
And wandered for years
In the fog
Of so called development

Trying to find
Solace
In the answers
Of others

How foolish I have been
How naive

I have been lost
And yet,
Moments of connection
Have returned me
Awakened me

And with one look
You may
Observe my heart

Looking
Deeply into my eyes
You will
Find my soul

There you will know
Who I am
There you will find
Humanity
Humility
Grace

These worldly affairs
So transient
Are of no import

I am but a spirit
Lost for a brief moment of eternity

And for a brief moment
Once more
With you

I am found