I look in the empty wardrobe
And it looks so bare
I remember all of the clothes
That used to hang in there

The coat you wore to walk the dog
And the one you wore for best
The hat you always loved to wear
I said it looked like a bird’s nest

The blouse with lace you wore for weddings
And the jacket made of tweed
The numerous scarves of many colours
How many did you need?

Your faded wedding dress
That you hoped one day I’d wear
The veil to match hung with it
And the pearl slide for your hair

The purple dress you used to wear
When you sang in the youth choir
Strands still remained on the collar
Off that faux-fur stole you used to hire

Your pleated skirts of navy blue
Were folded in a drawer
Belts of matching colours
Hung inside the door

I look in the empty wardrobe
And think of what’s no longer there
And I can still picture you
In the clothes you used to wear

Why, oh why can't I get to sleep?
I've tried everything like counting backwards
And even counting sheep


Lavender oil on pillow
Or a hot and milky drink
Why is it when I go to bed
I always lay and think?


Have I locked all the doors
And switched off all the lights?
Tired all the next day
Due to sleepless nights


I really need to switch off
From the worries of the day
But things that have happened
On my mind they play


I need to cut down on my caffeine
Cos my B.P. is hitting the roof
It's one of the reasons I lay awake
I don't need anymore proof


It's a small price to pay for a decent night’s sleep
So now I will finish this rhyme
Off to Dreamland I’ll go with a calm rested mind?
Till the alarm on my clock starts to chime

Molly suffers from depression
She's had it for ages
It's okay to sit next to her
What she's got isn't contagious

She sees you look at her with pity
But that isn't what she needs
She tries to look after herself
Her appearance it misleads

She feels constantly tired
The fatigue it gets her down
She hopes she might feel better
If she has a trip into town

She thinks that she might pop
Into the cafe for a bite
But since she's been depressed
She hasn't had much appetite

A good night's sleep
Is a distant memory
Going to bed at ten at night
Then up and wide-awake at three

She feels so worthless
And waits for the phone to ring
Usually a family member
Wanting a loan of something

She remembers how she used to feel
Before she was depressed
When she didn't feel so irritable
And was hardly ever stressed

She feels a sense of anguish
A let-down to her family
They all seem to see
Her depression as a malady

The loss of her old self
Causes her great sadness
Her family tells their friends
That Molly suffers from a madness

They think that it is funny
But don't realise the hurt
That they cause to Molly
If only to her former self she could revert

They ring her up for no reason at all
They say it’s all in fun
Her depression lost her all of her friends
At the mercy of daughter and son

Depression is an illness
That can happen to us all
No matter how much money you have
It’s something you can not forestall

If by chance one day
You see Molly in the town
Why not stop and say hello
Make her smile instead of frown

Ask her how she is today
Enquire what she has bought
Depression is an illness
Not a disease that can be caught

I remember as a little girl
On a visit to an aunt’s friends house
I was sitting reading a story book
As quiet as a mouse

I asked to be pardoned
To go to the loo
They were all playing dominoes
So I knew what I must do

I opened up the door
And placed my foot on the first stair
Then I heard someone in a low voice say
“Are you sure that she's all there”?

I felt a tear run down my cheek
I was doing what I ought
Only speaking when I was spoken to
That's what I was taught

When I’d done what I had to do
I went back down the stairs
The domino game was finished
And there were four empty chairs

They were all in the kitchen
Drinking cups of tea
My aunt she turned to me and smiled
And handed a cup to me

She noticed my tear-stained face
And stroked it with her hand
I told her what I’d overheard
She said I was too young to understand

I was insecure throughout my childhood
Never felt like I fitted in
Undernourished because I wouldn't eat
Now I’d just be classed as thin

From the age of five
My time at school was fleeting
Feigning illness to avoid the bullies
And escape another beating

I remember cowering
In the corner of the school yard
Cigarette butts stubbed out on my arms
Left painful, sore and charred

Name-calling and violence
Made me feel inferior
Set upon by bullies
Who thought they were superior

When I became a teenager
Things they got much worse
The bullies were now older
Younger ones they would coerce
To taunt me and lie in wait
And leave me in a battered state

When i got my first job
The bullying it went on
Because my face didn't fit
I was put upon

Got lumbered with the ***** jobs
That no-one else would do
Like swilling down the filthy yard
And scrubbing the outside loo

One afternoon, the manageress
Secretly asked me whether
I would do ****** favours for a delivery man
And I reached the end of my tether

I got my coat and quit the job
Never looking back
I later heard that the manageress
Was found out and got the sack

Now that I am older
No-ones victim will I be
I stand my ground, nobody’s fool
And i am happy being me

Sitting on the bus not knowing where to look,
Lady in the seat in front engrossed in her book
Woman in seat opposite glances then looks away
Upon realising that the book is Fifty Shades of Grey,

“Is your book a good read?” she says “I can't tell by the cover”
The reader mutters “It’s a story about a girl and her wealthy handsome lover”
The woman gives a wry smile and looks down at her coat
She’d read it herself six months ago but wasn't one to gloat,

“I’m reading J.K. Rowling but it's not a Harry Potter,
It's called The Casual Vacancy, Simon Price is such a rotter”,
Silence falls and five minutes is spent,
Observing the appearance of an elderly gent

Immaculately dressed, both suited and booted,
Back-seat youths start to swear and the air is polluted,
The man shakes his head at 'the youth of today’
“Bring back conscription” the driver hears him say,

He reaches in his pocket and takes out a mobile phone
Twenty missed calls from cold-callers,
Why can't they leave him alone?

He looks across at the bookworm
The girl can sense his stare
He hesitantly asks her “what's that book called you've got there?”
She showed the man the cover and then he did declare
"Fifty Shades of Grey's an apt description of my hair"

Each and every day, Lizzie opens up a can,
Of tasty Salmon cat food for her beloved tabby Dan,
She's lived alone since Harry died, a victim of world war two,
Neighbours live at either side, but she's no idea who,

She remembers in the olden days, when people cared for one another,
Her many years, devoted carer for her father then her mother,
Her memory is not the same, a symptom of old age,
Each day in her past is just another page,

Everyday she takes her pills, the doctor says they'll cure her ills,
Red are for her heart and blood thinners they are green,
Complicated names but who knows what they mean?
Balsam for her chest, pink cream for her itch,
If someone made a pill for loneliness, they would be very rich,

A shadow on the window, a knock upon the door,
Dan's curled up on Lizzie's knee, but jumps down to the floor,
Cautiously she peeks out through the yellowed lace curtain,
She thinks she spies a relative, but she cannot be certain,
The chain is on the door, the door it is ajar,
Maybe it's a nephew visiting from afar?

“Hello there, can we come in to talk about your faith”?
She tells them “I’m an atheist” then slams the door with haste
Lizzie is alone in a world where no-one cares,
She's clutching several bottles as she makes her way upstairs
She walks into the bedroom, Dan is curled up on her bed,
Then lines up all her pills and gently shakes her head

She looks down at her wrinkled hands, and remembers them as in her youth,
Each line on her face tells a story, only she can see the truth,
As she looks in her full-length mirror, she's dismayed that her figure has gone,
Once an English rose, Oh where has the time gone?

She hears a sudden noise and Dan jumps down and hides
“Harry is waiting for you”, a soothing voice confides,
Lizzie feels at peace and she begins to smile
She brushes through her silver locks in their old familiar style

She reclines upon the bed ,all she can do is wait
She thinks of her true love Harry as he waits at Heaven's Gate
Will he still be debonair with sparkling eyes of blue?
The only man she'd ever loved, to whom she'd never said “I do”,

The wait was short and there he was, St Peter at his side,
Lizzie felt at peace and very gently sighed
Harry took her hand and through the gates they went
Lizzie was now free of a life of discontent

Her story has a moral, time is not ours to waste
Live life to the full because time can never be retraced.

Bullies shouldn't prosper, Bullies shouldn't win,
Do they realise the pain they cause as they stand and grin?
Picking on the weak ones, some half of their size,
If a victim stood up to them, they'd get a big surprise,

You have a fear of going to school or fear of going to work,
Victims lives are being ruined while the perpetrators smirk
You sneak out of the school and the lonely streets you roam
You pray to God that they don't follow you home

You lay in your bedroom both day and night
Tears streaming and in pain, no-one cares about your plight
You endure being held down, feeling blows dealt to your head
But no-one cares to intervene, so they stand and watch instead

Bruised and battered and terrified after each attack
Then later on in life the scars are still present on your back
PTSD and night terrors soon become the norm
The very rare restful night is the calm before the storm

Bullying can continue later on in life
A helpless victim at the mercy
Of a husband or a wife
Bullies think they are invincible
When to a victim they attach
But bide your time and one day
They will meet their match