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The first minute you're out to impress
The hair
The scent
The way you're dressed
The films you have watched
The traffic you have stopped
The firearms cocked
The time is now
The reaction needed is wow
The only thing is to work out is how

Impressions

JJB
We can be what we want,
with no exact perfection
A musician
A comic
A poet
Just stick it online
It'll find it's section
Most will sink without discretion
Some surface for limited attention
Give it a go, let's see what you've got
If its no good, then off you trott
But come on, step up,
and take that once in a lifetime bow
Because,
hell,
We're all Famous Now

JJB
#tiktok #instagram #YouTube
Look at all the places that I have been
London where I live, that one, I'm not so keen
But are you not in awe of my well travelled life
Pinned an atlas to the wall and just threw a random knife
Australia, New Zealand and home through L.A.
No magnet in Fiji, just a pic of me and the bay
Getting by on the fragments of lingo
Then the essential call home, but mums normally at the bingo
Not much room left for anymore reminders
But no magnet for the Bermuda Triangle, hmm
And on that strange thought
I will leave you to decipher

JJB
5d · 23
Back When We...
It's hard to know where to start...
Was it when we smiled at our farts
Our world seemed less offended
By just everyday laughs
Suddenly, we become so precious
When a joke was a joke
And good humour was priceless
On what day did we become so picky
Revising the words in our head
Not to say something deemed tricky
From the nineties nobody could even see
This future we accidentally mapped out
That upsets the whole of Gen Z
Preferable when we,
just went out and rode our luck
Back when we,
didn't give a ....

JJB
6d · 29
Screens
Remember when we used to get bored?
Sitting on the loo with nothing to do
Reading bottles by the bath,
ingredients to your mums shampoo
Watching the dew roll down,
the inside of the moving train window
Whilst staring at the fields whizz by, wondering, who built that scarecrow
Now a wandering thought is a novelty
We don't want to think, need distractions
A screen now our go to guarantee
Be it in our hand, the phone or laptop
A must in life,
our brains,
sadly,
Are starting to rot

JJB
7d · 41
Treading Water
Connection......twitching
Perfection........glitching
Direction..........drifting
Momentum......pushing
Reality...............drowning

If it's over, it's over,
there is nothing left to do
Just count your blessings,
say your prayers
Go your separate ways
And know, for the grace of God
It's best,
that you just be you

JJB
Jun 23 · 44
Bye-Bye Great Britain
Every High Street is becoming the same
Turkish barbers,
charity stores
Now vape shops for the addicts game
A nation slowly losing its girth
As it fritters away, blindly
Losing trust, untimely
History,
falling,
even failing,
on this once hallowed turf
Our heroes, now turning in their graves
****** would be laughing
At a nation now Churchill could not save
For someone must turn this ship
To stop it going down the pan
So who could it be as we've given up hope
Because,
Christ knows,
this old girl,
need a new ****** plan

πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§

JJB
Jun 18 · 21
Lost
Our words have faded
No looks
No love
Unknowingly jaded
What did I do
Something I said
Something in bed
We cannot roll back the years
So please talk
Show me which way to walk
Before this all ends up in tears

JJB
Jun 11 · 40
Keep on Dancing
Through tragedy
Through thick and thin
To reflect on what if's
And what might have been
Always raise your head
Above the parapet
Fight off those tears
That make you upset
Think of the joy, the tears and laughing
Never loose hope
And please,
Keep on Dancing

(Thinking of you)

JJB
Jun 9 · 60
Jigsaw
If a circle had a corner,
then easily it be found
But that would be like cheating,
Instead of going around and around
The rectangle,
that has a quadrilateral meaning
Two lines of different length,
I now have a sinking feeling
Then onto a square
Not much thought involved, to be fair
Pentagons, hexagons, heptagons
All of different sizes and shapes
Like this planet and its people
The genuine and the fakes
We all shuffle our feet on this Earths floor
Coming together on a daily basis
Our lives in a muddle
A complete Jigsaw

JJB
Jun 3 · 36
Becoming Strangers
We lost each other at a time we both never even noticed
I have no more words to attend
A love that filtered into a friend
Some journeys just come to an end

JJB
Jun 1 · 51
Opposites Attract
All my friends support the teams I hate
As I consciously look away,
It's thin ice that I skate
Knowing I'm usually sometimes wrong
Not to concede this tick
A conscious I can live with for long
But that's why we love,
Living with the unknowing
No weakness to concede
Never a side you should be showing
Because I love you darling, that's a fact
We have our subtle differences,
But hey,
That is why
Opposites Attract

JJB

❀️
May 30 · 147
Orange
Think of a word that rhymes with orange
Sporange?
Blorenge?
Syringe?
Door hinge?
No. Me neither
Could be scratching my head for a month
Hmm.
Now find a word that rhymes with month?
Stumped
Flumped
Gumf...............
Orange you say?
🍊

JJB
May 26 · 239
False Front
Never trust the pictures you see
A made up scene they want you to believe
Jealousy your only response
None of it real,
scroll on with nonchalance
Their lives, all an improvised stunt
Don't be suckered in
This made-up,
social,
  false front.

JJB
Let's start again...
Adam and Eve onto all we can please
Extinguish these dominant powers
No religion, sexes and land
Not having to play the assertive hand
Wiping out this all empowering rule
Helping those in our time of need
Humanity, our enriching tool
Our well being not suffering in war
A neutral planet
Not goverened by federal law
Kindness is a trait now fading from our soul
And I am not sure how much more this world can take
As she surrenders to this burden,
we have taken on her earthly toll

JJB
May 9 · 82
Nick Knowles
A mountain could not move this man
Whether building a house or catching a tan
Adventures that never seem to fail
From travelling the world,
or installing a school sign in braille
Brushing his hand through that ruffled brown hair
One objective in life, to love and to care
From Julia Kendall onto Billy Byrne
His laugh and his frolics
They all get their turn
But only one man could make me feel this whole
It's him,
The one
The only,
The God that is,
Nick Knowles

JJB

πŸ”¨πŸ”§πŸͺšπŸͺ›πŸ”©

πŸ˜‰
May 3 · 59
Die Happy
You can't die happy
You're dead
That's it
The end

JJB

πŸ‘»
May 2 · 146
Midges
Summers here, hello Mr. Sun
T-shirts and shorts, time for some fun
Pump up the tyres, out on our bikes
Scratches on legs, bitten by mites
Steaks on the grill, fire up the barbie
Think that I'm cool, think I'm Tom Hardy
Beers now cold, well stocked in the fridge
All bitten to hell, must've been a midge!

JJB

🐜🦟πŸͺ°
Apr 29 · 51
Mountains
I seem to build a problem
If easy is one
Then throw me a ten
Not liking a normal life
Stumbling into chaos
It seems to be my bias
Even my daughter asks why I'm in a chair
One night not to be ordinary
Living, without a care
Audre est Facere
To do is to dare
To be reborn from a fresh new fountain
Instead of climbing these heights
These fights
These blights
These mountainsΒ Β 

JJB
She has her mothers genes
No problem shall block her way
Nothing will stop her achieve
Any task she may see
That focus that she always believes
When you say no
Her answer is yes
A cheeky answer back
Something we may need to address
But her determination is second to none
Puts on that serious face
And then up for fun
Decisions vary as they sit on her fence
Traits to outgrow
But she will always be our,
Little Miss Independence

JJB
Apr 26 · 64
The Older That I Get
The older that I get
The more I **** regret
Decisions I have made
The price that I have paid
Some words I may have said
Drunken nights waking in another bed
For these are the songs that we sing
And we can never change a thing
As this was the chosen bet
And there is nothing that I regret
The older that I get

JJB
Apr 14 · 61
Toxic
A girl without a name
It makes no odds
When they all act the same
Some cruel desire to manifest your life
Sweet on the surface and to the face
So **** hot but ready to twist
Stab, puncture, that unseen knife
A quick fix of ******* lust
Hell, you're only here once
To dip into this toxic life

JJB
Apr 3 · 87
Blessed
Those gorgeous blue eyes
That smile I could never tire of
Already bossing me in my place
Chatting like a madam
Her words have no bounds
Saying what you see with no consequence
As honesty just comes from the heart
No finish line,
just a babbling uncontrollable start
A girl who already knows how to dress
No trousers, jumpers or leggings
I will choose what I want daddy,
now go just away,

Blessed

JJB
My Clodagh
Mar 31 · 44
An Answer Please!
Unconscious decisions
Divisions
Of where I want to be
Tables
Almost unable
Of a future I can not see
Rankings
Who am I thanking
For this life I am not living
Revelations
Personal excavation
To dig out this life I have lost

JJB
Mar 29 · 37
House of Gosh
What being do we serve
To gasp in their name
That one in a million
When they're all just the same
Oh my (blank)!
Oh my (blank)!
Oh my (blank)!
Who do we offend
With this blasphemous outburst we send
That we're all so under the kosh
We now all shout
Oh my Gosh!

JJB

#FORGODSAKE
Mar 27 · 180
Mr Vinted
Living like a king
Dressed in others bling
Some may dress you down
Well they can just go and sing
You are who you are,
one fantastic human being
Clothes are for the aesthetic
Just pleased in what you're seeing
Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss onto YSL
I now spend frivolously,
not in fashion hell
As you don't have to be flash and minted
Just get online and spend spend spend
Hence,
hello,

Mr Vinted

JJB
Mar 25 · 101
Going Cold
Like your dinner as I wait
Into the bin will surly be it's fate
As everyday we just grow old
And like this love we had
It's sadly going cold

JJB
Mar 15 · 189
Miami
Miami away
Miami by day
Miami muscle
Miami hussle
Miami bakes
Miami fakes
Miami sun
Miami gun
Miami tourists
Miami purists
Miami vice
Miami twice
Miami again
Miami ten out of ten
Miami
❀️

JJB
Mar 6 · 65
Miss La La
Aerobatic
Entertaining the aristocratic
Hanging from reinforced ropes
Living in danger
Not living in hope
Beige crimson and somewhat frilly lycra
Circus crowds a good place to hide, yeah
Running from that man who wants his revenge
New hair colour and a crop top fringe
But I will travel no matter how far
As I am now the utterly wonderful
The truly delectable,
Miss La La

JJB
Feb 28 · 290
Fluctuate
I have to lose weight
Probably an on trend diet
Atkins down to vegan
We all have to just try it
Chatting online to my friends on Zoom
They all look so ****** great
Time to get on this new one
Its what is known as Noom
As my waist size goes up and down
I have to lose this frown
No more of eggs beginning with Scotch
Got to stop this daytime grazing
It's my weight I have to now watch

JJB
Feb 24 · 94
Those Days
Remember those days we'd all dress for a flight
Now all hoodies and trackie bottoms,
an almost ghastly sight
Remember those days your mum would call you in for tea
Sat down with just four channels,
with only one ITV
Remember those days when you only had one best friend
Not over a thousand nobody's, who just want to be on trend
Remember those days,
checking scores on Teletext
And looking for flights, that little bit cheaper, flick over onto Ceefax
Thoughts of better times,
when Freddie sang that,
these were the days of our lives
Well those day's will always ring true,
and hold hope,
in our nostalgic side

JJB
Feb 16 · 86
The Hitman and Her
One job
One chance
One hit
One love that he would never miss

Money is a currency that can rule the heart
Fluidity an exception from finish to a new start

A mask to cover any emotion once worn
This life I commit to a bond now sworn
Love an attachment to which I am torn
Sometimes I wonder to another life born

Occasionally a glimpse of a face vaguely similar
A heartbeat regretting a love to find familiar

As I retire from a life with times I'd rather forget
Still thinking of her smile, a warmth I now regret

The Hitman and Her

JJB
You had one job.
Feb 13 · 54
My Final Flourish
My time is at a finish,
I need it to be up
From always half full,
to a drained, now empty cup
If water be blood,
mine has evaporated away
Those urges don't flow,
for that quick roll in the hay
Stagnant, stale, sat rotting like bread
I have cried my last tears,
no more can be said
But please remember those times,
when we laughed and we played
For we did have some great times,
back in the day
But when fate can no longer be swayed
Then think of my peace,
as now,
I will forever stay

Thank You

JJB
Feb 12 · 66
Daffodil
Winter is done as the sun now appears
Jackets and scarfs put away for the year
The birds start to sing a now cheery song
Those glum faces, now suddenly all gone
Weddings arrive as we hear the bells ring
A sign to smile as we step into spring
Temperatures rise as we lose the chill
As a sure sign were blooming,
with a sight to behold,
our first yellow daffodil

JJB

🌼
Feb 11 · 88
Coma
Waking from my slumber
Thinking God now had my number
Every machine beeping, attached to these tubes
The rest of my life, now using easy access ****
Used to love reading the paper whilst on the loo
Now manual evacuation, just to do a poo
My skin and my bones now always laid bare
Getting used to this life, in my wheelchair

JJB
Feb 7 · 57
One Last Breath
As I lay here thinking
Blinking
Rapidly sinking
Before I say goodbye
I tried
With a teardrop I cried
Not to wake from this sleep
Those demons creep
In thoughts, now, so deep
As I struggle for air
To do is to dare
Like anybody cared
To leave this life unto our certain death
I just wondered why,
with that,
One
Last
Breath

JJB
Feb 4 · 108
The Quiet Man
Reticent, but with a few tricks
He picked his pulls, all brain stored licks
Watching, with an eagle eyed gaze
Scaning the room, to pick his weekly feed through the haze
Cheekbones as sharp as a knife
A model looking man, he'd known all his life
Playing on his suave, deep set demeanor
The female would brood, some subtle, others much keener
But always watching, keeping just still
Some like him to swallow, for their need, an easy pill
Others devour any chance they can
But some just want the silent type,
yes him,

The Quiet Man

JJB
Jan 23 · 45
Hope
She wallows in self pity
Loves to catastrophize
Likes to live in the lows
Avoiding the everyday highs
But you can still stand, still talk, still walk
Just practice again and again
From 5 onto 6, 7 onto 8
you'll soon be 10 out of 10
It's life changing when having a stroke
But carry on fighting,
As we all have that one thing,
Hope

JJB
Jan 11 · 108
Hollywood Fires
A glimmer of hope
Through the lingering smoke
The cough I know as my wife's
As she ran to my arms
In the background smoke alarms
Still ringing like we couldn't see the fires
Whilst the news just made hearts sink
Of this, you really wouldn't think
In California, no technology, to battle such things
From the beach up unto the forest banks
Celebrity houses gone, Mel Gibson to Tom Hanks
No money can put out such ferocious natural turmoil
But there is always hope
So let's splutter through the choke
And rebuild after the fire and the Hollywood smoke

JJB
Jan 4 · 105
Little Creatures
Sitting, waiting, hoping
With my head in my hands
These little things in life
That no one understands
Your son
Your daughter
Your dog or your cat
The love you just lost
Looking at where they once sat
That empty space where no hole can ever fill
Recalling memories for a quick fix,
But no soul, could ever fit the bill

I still miss you

JJB
Dec 2024 · 62
View from Satellite 9
John Bartholomew Dec 2024
Looking at planet Earth,
I just wonder why
Over seven billion people,
all with that one last cry
How did we do that in one nuclear war,
Up here now thinking, what was it all for
Time will tell and dust will cool,
once winds have blown the territories
As we depart to regrow those lands,
with one seed, for, those many trees

JJB
Dec 2024 · 167
One Last Kiss
John Bartholomew Dec 2024
If I say some words, they're normally never remembered
I love you just loses tone, except the ones that always offend you
It's been years since that one night out, yet some things always trigger
If its the smallest of things, you'll always say, to make it so much bigger
Yet time rolls on, and we never bless, these times we have together
Spending money on the here and now, just put it on the never never
But who was to know I'd be gone for good, just living in ignorant bliss
As we said goodbye, not knowing such fate, with that one, last final kiss

JJB
Dec 2024 · 71
Drive Thru Love
John Bartholomew Dec 2024
Fell in love with the girl at the till
Queuing for food that's against my will
Order at first booth, I'm in for the ****
Not the 'whats your food baby', she doesnt fit the bill
Rolling up to the next to grab my fill
Acting cool, looking smart, I'm just pure chill
She looks me in the eye, I loose my practised drill
I ramble, I stutter, just noticing her name is Lil
Those words I blabbed, just came to nothing, think I lost this one nil
As I opened up the burger I'd just bought, stupidely ordering the dill

JJB
Dec 2024 · 257
Hiding
John Bartholomew Dec 2024
A smile can hide so much pain
Deceptive
Depressive
Conformist
As you can not see the weight on my shoulders
Praying everyday,
for this,
just to be over

JJB
Dec 2024 · 88
Random Photos
John Bartholomew Dec 2024
Everyday I take a picture on my phone
Just random shots in multiple tones
All consumed and conjealing in my pocket at home
Never to be aired or plugged for print or download
Such a shame whilst my kids now grow
As they'll always be stay stuck on SIM,
never to be shown

Random Photos

JJB
Dec 2024 · 82
(Now I'm), Old News
John Bartholomew Dec 2024
That day you become old news
Just a piece of the puzzle
A chain in their queue
That love that now has no requirement
Just a kiss on the cheek
Time to pull Eros out of retirement
For this isn't how it's supposed to be
From mad young lovers
To playing golf on the 18th tee
Discussing our best retirement plan,
just who to leave our money too,
Once we've kicked the can...

Don't waste time
You're only here once!

JJB
John Bartholomew Nov 2024
Waking from my coma
A life now changed from one silly misnomer
***** bag attached to a catheter
And to now carry my daily output
It's what is known as a permanent stoma

JJB
Nov 2024 · 75
Manscapping
John Bartholomew Nov 2024
Just when did this time come, when it seems so apparent
As we were never self taught, by our guardian or our parent
That at some point it may look a mess
And from what we now see online, it's a something to address
Even in shops, such as Superdrug and Boots
It's on the man shelf, to shave how it should suit
As now the wife is comparing, to what she has seen in ****
We have never been so careful, not even cutting the front lawn
And it's not a point I'd like to take up with my local barber
I think I'll keep it to myself, a secret I can easily harbour
As who's going to know if we keep a big old bush
I'll just keep it as it is, as I'm in no manscape rush

JJB
Nov 2024 · 62
Hideaway
John Bartholomew Nov 2024
Is this my sanction
Is this my safe
Is this where I hide when my thoughts turn insane
Is this where I direct those crazy cackled cowels
Is this where I finally succumb and throw in the white towel
Is this my dark place where the world is cut off
Is this the place I end when I have finally had enough

JJB
Nov 2024 · 105
Reli-gin
John Bartholomew Nov 2024
Okay,
so pour me another and say that again?
Billions of people believe in a myth
A tale
A story
A fear to make them scared and tense
A belief with no actual evidence
A God so different to everybody else, starting war without sitting on the fence
And you want me to believe this?
Okay,
Pour me another and say that again...

JJB
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