She was the music of the night
Sang the sirens bewitching songs
Luring men high up the mountain slopes
Her beauty to gaze upon
But was she real or just a myth
This lady of the night
None will know for none returned
Of the young men who left in the dark
But still her haunting melodies
Fill the mountain glens
Beautiful clear crystal tones
That invade the minds of men
Who is she? What is she?
Whose songs have such haunting power
Songs that echo 'cross the mountain slopes
The minds of men to snare
Perhaps its just the mountain winds
Echoing round trees and slopes
None will ever know
For none has ever seen the one
Who sings the music of the night

Black the words of dark despair
Red written with power from the beating heart
Blue the words of sadness
Green for natures bounty free for all mankind
Yellow for the timid and shy here for the first time
Mix the colours
And read HP rainbow poetry

Written for Mary my 85 year old mother in law who lost her husband John to cancer 10 years ago*

Of long walks across Scotlands  rain washed hills
Long days walking the Lakeland peaks with your dogs constant at your side
Strolling the gentle Surrey hills beneath sun dappled boughs
Accompanied by bird song music

Of days long past and memories held dear

Let's all climb aboard the freedom bus and leave this mad ratrace world
We will build a new world at the oceans edge free from all worries and cares
No more petrol pollution or ***** grey streets, no more tasteless plastic wrapped food
A new world of freedom, fresh air and fresh food, a world so clean and so good
If you want to be part of this brave new world then climb on the freedom bus now
Say goodbye to this mad ratrace world, say goodbye to your worries and cares
Say goodbye to your ***** grey streets, board the bus for your freedom is here

I hate the ****** things
But I love them
Tangled round my feet
And I have to be so careful where I step
Midnight killers
The remains of night feasting on my conservatory carpet
To greet me in the morning
Who wants to spend hours with a ball of black fur sat on their lap?

Yes, that's me
Maxemillion, Merlin and Spartacus
My black shiny boys
Three brothers who I don't own
I don't own! Simple really, we don't own cats because they own us

I hate cats

Yes, come
Come walk with me on the high lands
where so few have ever trod.
Where the air is crystal pure
in this place where majestic eagles soar.
Listen, listen to the silence
of this pure un sullied place,
gaze at the beauty that man has not yet defaced.
Yes, walk with me in the splendour
created by natures hand
breath deeply of the beauty
before its to destroyed by man

For the old timers like me
The day they burned their bras and gained equality
And so with my ex wife we decided to build a rockery
A rock garden
I turned to her with honest voice
Said fetch the rock that's over there
She shook her head flashed her golden hair
Said I'm just a woman and that's not fair
I said it weighs 140 pounds and I can move it easily
You said you were as good as me
On the day your ***** were freed
Anyway I moved the rock and set it in its place
Then she turned and looked at me with mud upon her face
Oh what a mess she said to me, mud smeared front and back
And so I said my darling you spend a fortune on mud packs
I said I'll take the burden of the heavy lifting work
She said typical man your just a ******* ****
So being a gentleman I said don't worry darling all is not yet lost
Just fill the gaps in those there rocks with all that good compost
She turned to me with a look to **** a look forlorn and lost
I burned my bra for equality but what the hell is good compost

I can't write the words in the way that some of you can
do
I can only write the words that in my mind come into
view
I can't write words of devotion and never ending
love
The inspiration for my words comes from somewhere up
above
Yes, words about the sea and the gently rolling
hills
These are the words I know and love and sometimes get to
use
Words can be things of beauty but sometimes cruel and
harsh
Some words can tell of sadness while others make you
laugh
The words of fellow poets here cover every point of
view
My words are plain and simple but I share my words with
You

Tranquil Freedom

I think back to my early teens
To what I had but what we've lost
As kids we would walk about four miles to fish a special pond
In a special place
Sneak in through the gap in the iron railings
We thought we were so clever but the truth is the landowner always knew what we were up to
But he didn't mind. We weren't there to vandalize and destroy
We had the freedom to roam
That quiet tranquil place
Sunlight on the breeze driven rippled water
Bird songs
Lying on the bank, up to the armpit in water
Searching in the mud for fresh water mussels
Always looking for that special pearl
Never did find it
I look now at what our kids have got
Can't go here, can't go there
Nothing left, nothing, nothing
No more the woods and wide green swathes
No more the freedom
No more the tranquility that once was mine

When I was 10, maybe 11 we had a cat
A big old ginger tom
I don't think he ever saw a vet and he probably fathered hundreds of kittens
He hardly had any ears, they were so notched and torn, scars over his amber eyes
Anyway, our holiday fun was in the fields and woods
He would catch young rabbits and we would skin and gut them
Spit roast them over an open fire
Yes even at that age we could prepare a rabbit
After all we'd watched mother do it dozens of times
That old ginger tom always got his share
Come school time he would walk the mile and a half with us to the bus stop
And always meet us there when we came home
He was a flea bitten tick ridden scabby old thing
But he was family
1961 I joined the army and he saw me off at the door
That was the last time I ever saw that old boy

A collaboration between myself and Sharina Saad**

It's been raining all night long
And I've been singing sad love songs
Looking at the sky so dark and gloomy
The air so wet and cold and hazy

Looking from my window
At streets so wet and sloppy
And the rain came slowly down
As though it had not the spirit to pour
That's exactly how I feel tonight,
Sad, emotionless, empty, lonely

I pray for a little sunshine
For a new light at the end
For warmth once more to fill my heart
Banish sadness from my soul
Bring new joy after long wet days
Bring new life, a new start
For what is yet to come

Begone dark clouds of sadness
Begone wet cold begone
Welcome to a brand new life
Welcome a new beginning
Although the rain has played its part
The sun will warm the living

The storm has left my aching heart
No more sorrow, no more pain
Dark clouds have been lifted from my mind
By sunshine after rain

It's been raining all night long
And I've been singing sad love songs
Looking at the sky so dark and gloomy
The air so wet and cold and hazy

Looking from my window
At the streets so wet and dreary
And the rain came slowly down
As though it had not the spirit to pour
That's exactly how I feel tonight
Sad, emotionless, empty, lonely

I pray for a little sunshine
For a new light at the end
For warmth once more to fill my heart
Banish sadness from my soul
To bring new joy after long wet days
Bring a new life, a new start
For what is yet to come

Begone dark clouds of sadness
Begone wet cold, begone
Welcome to a brand new life
Welcome a new beginning
Although the rain has played its part
The sun will warm the living

The sun has warmed my aching heart
No more sorrow, no more pain
Dark clouds have been lifted from my mind
By sunshine after rain

Grey forbidding skies
Wet, dreary
I dream of warm sunshine
Tropical nights
Of your soft body pressed against mine
The sweet taste of your lips as we kiss

But all I see is rain

I close my eyes, open my mind
You are here beside me
Making love
You are mine
A million stars look down
A lovers moon above
We care not for anything as our bodies entwine
I gaze into your eyes
Sensual, satisfied
The sweet aftermath of love
Relaxed in my arms
Bodies still joined
One last kiss
We sleep with a smile

But it was just a dream

Yes
they sang of the stories told
of ages past and of men so bold
They sang for those who could not read
For the blind who could not see
The peasants tilled the land, and food produced
but for reading and learning had no use
And so it was left unto the singing bard
to tell of history from our past

50 children will die in Africa in the next 10 minutes
From drinking ***** water
In Sudan a thousand children will die today from starvation
Your £3 pounds can feed a child for a week
Supply facilities to give a child clean water
Of course their government officials need no such thing
Give £19 pounds this Christmas to help feed a homeless drug addict
Oh and of course to make sure the directors of the charity
Get their 50 grand a year salary
Well I'm an old age pensioner
So please all you begging charities
Instead of asking me for money
Please give me a £1000 so I can have a better Christmas

When I got home this morning
My wife was tearing hair from her head
I said what's the problem darling
She said the ****** toasters dead
She said I've tried everything to
Get that thing to cook
I said just take it easy
I'll go and take a look
Tool bag in hand I entered
That electrically haunted space
I surveyed the situation
The answer  was clear to see
I unplugged the multi cooker
AND PLUGGED THE TOASTER IN

I went away but I never left you all those long years ago
I always kept your picture in the place next to my heart
You were mind to love and hold but I never took the chance
To fulfill my pledge to you and the promise of romance
Remember that time in the misty rain when we walked my south country hills
That beautiful rainbow as the sun shone through and you became my *** of gold
We stopped at a place called tranquillity and watched the seagulls soar
We talked of dragons and mermaids and tales of our yesteryears
In my mind I still see you, an angel emerging from the sea
You were mine, I was yours, it was our destiny
I remember the time when we held hands and talked of being a child again
How we dreamt of a ride on the freedom bus in search of a new promised land
Then came the day we were torn apart like a photograph ripped in two
One half being me, one half being you
I remember that dark and stormy night when I was lost for words
Now we will never experience the seasons together or another early morning walk
No more will we enjoy the country life or natures sweet beauty
No more will we listen to bird songs or sail on  a ship cross the sea
All I have left are the sweet memories, dreams of how it meant to be
I went away but never left you, you went away my love but I know in my heart that you also never left me

All through the night she works, tireless, never ceasing to spin her silken thread

The perfect creation of nature's lace. A new silken shimmering
web

No hand of man could ever produce such a perfect work
Of art

With all the computers and modern technology we wouldn't know where to start

A silken thread floating on air is gathered up and put in its
place

All this in the darkness without pattern or plan she creates natures
beautiful lace

Each silken strand is stronger than steel, stronger than anything man could produce

All this from a spider spinning a web, silk made from natural
juice

With the coming of dawn and a new rising sun a sight that is sure to amaze

Every tree, every bush, every gate post
Draped in a gown of gossamer lace...

Yes 60 years ago I did believe
About fairies and mermaids
Elven fires burning bright
Well yes I do still choose to believe
Well why do we adults choose the path
I lose myself in the works of Stevenson
In the the works of Kipling
Masters of there art
But hopefully I bring that art
Into a new world
My world

Bad times
And yes also some very good times
Sunday evening was always bath time in our house
BATH TIME!!!
Well yes we had a bath
With a cold tap
But
Hot water came from a wood fired boiler in the corner
Hoping
Will it be my turn to go first tonight
Because with nine kids the rest went in two by two
So
Out with the first one then in went a saucepan full of boiling water
Then in went the rest, two in two out in with the water
But we never complained and rarely fell sick
Cooking
Mum had an old black wood fired range
On rare occasions coal if there was a little extra money
But oh what mum could do on/in that range
Come home from school and the air would be redolent with the aroma of home made bread
On the hob a great pan of bubbling rabbit stew made with veg from the garden and rabbits the older kids snared
Yes, good plain wholesome food
Television
Oh boy televion
A screen about 12 by 10 in a dark brown Bakelite case
Not new of course, we couldn't afford that
The back was permanently off so that every time it went wrong
Dad could jump up, reach inside and wiggle the valves
I'll never know to this day how he never electrocuted himself
I will never forget our toilet to my dying day
Out of the back door and turn left then in
A wooden seat under which was a large cast iron pail
Usually it was torn squares of newspaper but on special occasions
REAL toilet paper
Three times a week that pail would be taken to the veg garden and the contents buried
The following year we would have fantastic veg
Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days

Black sad Christmas and mothers will weep
For sons and daughters taken so young
Paris, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Iraq
Pointless wars???
Perhaps
But then, but then
A thousand other conflicts
Shootings in America
YOU , yes you who ascribe to the right to bear arms
Oh yes, the right to own a gun
The right to turn it on your own
Weep not my daughter
Shed not bitter tears my son
For daddy died an honorable death
For you
Mothers, fathers weep not
For they died for a noble cause
(wrong, they died because the military was the only job they could find)
And still the parents grieve
And still the children weep
No longer just black and white
Now every race and colour who ever lived

Happy Christmas

I'm thinking back to the times when I was camping last year
Sitting by a crackling log fire with Mollie at my feet
Watching the sun set over the trees
The smell of woodsmoke
Occasionally seeing a ghostly owl on silent wings
Hunting small creatures of the night
At such times I don't miss the company
Of mankind
I'm content with the solitude of the fields and woods
My only entertainment is what nature provides
The warm aroma of pine resin
The sweet song of the Nightingale
Who needs more than that?
I certainly don't
Out there in the woods I'm at peace with myself
I can put away the dark thoughts, the nightmares
Sometimes I will sit there until the early morning hours
Happy, content, not bothered by what tomorrows headlines
Might say
Unaware of the sadness, the daily death and destruction that makes the news
I look at faces on the moon
And in my mind see magic in the stars
Read stories in the crackling flames of the campfire
Solitude, peace, the time I love the most